The Fountain of Infinite Wishes (Dare River Book 5) Read Free Page A

satisfactorily. Maybe she couldn’t. But maybe Vander was right. Maybe Mama was being secretive to protect them.
    “We were taught that pursuing the truth is always the best course of action.” Sadie made a face. “Even though we weren’t given that truth.”
    “Maybe Mama doesn’t really know why Daddy left,” Shelby said, as much to convince herself as her younger sister. “Maybe this would help her find closure too.”
    “She must suspect something,” Sadie said, her voice raising. “A good man doesn’t just up and leave his family without a word.”
    “No, you’re right.” That part of the puzzle had never made sense. If Mama had said he’d had a drinking problem or been in trouble with the law, Shelby might have understood. But no excuse had ever been given. He had been there one day, gone the next. That was all they knew.
    “I sure wish Mama would answer our questions,” Sadie said in exasperation. “It would save us a lot of money and heartache.”
    “But Mama hasn’t said a word about him in all these years, even though she knows it’s caused us heartache.” Shelby felt her diaphragm tighten. “I don’t see that changing.”
    “Neither do I,” Sadie said. “And that scares me. Mama preaches about talking about things so they can heal, and all her silence has done is allow this hurt to fester and grow.”
    Truer words had never been spoken. Shelby didn’t like to think about what it must cost their Mama not to live her values. Or why. In fact, it scared her spitless.
    “What do we do if Susannah asks us about this again?” Sadie looked over her shoulder at the door to see if Vander had returned. “I’m terrible at hiding things.”
    “She’s too happy with Jake to ask,” Shelby said. “Besides, I think she’s going to be an ostrich about this.”
    “But what if we find something?” Sadie asked, tears filling her eyes. “What if we find Daddy? Don’t we have to tell her?”
    Shelby’s heartbeat ramped up, and she pressed her hand to her chest, taking deep breaths to quell its urgency.
    “We’ll tell J.P. first and see what he thinks is the best course of action,” she said when she was able to speak. “Like we agreed.”
    “And Mama?” Sadie asked, wringing her hands now.  
    “If we all agree—and I mean even Susannah—we tell Mama we love her, but we needed answers.”
    Sadie got a little more teary-eyed at that. “I’m just going to pray God can soften this whole situation. We don’t need any more hurt coming up from the past.”
    Yet, they both needed to find out the truth—or at least try to—in order to move forward with their lives. “So we hire Vander.”
    Her sister reached for her hand. “Yes. I still want to contribute what I can.”
    “You really don’t need to,” Shelby said, patting her hand. “You know Gail pays me well.”
    “He’s my daddy too,” Sadie said with a stern nod. “I want to contribute something.”
    Since Shelby knew better than to hurt anyone’s pride—especially her sister’s—she smiled. “I’ll take them in baked goods and crafts.”
    “I can make you a quilt!” The corners of her sister’s mouth tipped up.
    “Sadie, you’re always giving your quilts away. You should keep one for yourself.” In fact, her sister usually thought of others before herself, just like Mama had taught them they should.
    “I know you’re right, but there’s always someone who could use a quilt. Besides, the only reason I got good at them was because I made so many for the people at church. Now, I get to sell them at the craft shop. It’s a blessing. Every quilt I make is stitched together with love.”
    Yes, every swatch her sister selected was done with intention. Her quilts were all the more special for it.
    “I can make you peach jam too since we’re just coming up on peach season,” Sadie continued. J.P.’s wedding had been three weeks ago on the first Saturday of June, but because Tammy loved peaches so much, he’d