Time to Heal (Harlequin Heartwarming) by Karen Young Page A

buy?”
    She turned quickly to look at him. “Have you got any money?”
    He nodded. “My dad gave me some.”
    My dad. A day and a half and he spoke as familiarly as if he’d been in Jake’s life forever. “Noproblem,” she told him. “You treat this time, and next time I’ll buy.”
    In the food court they got soft drinks, found a table and sat down opposite each other. For a while, Michael was busy drinking root beer. Then, his thirst quenched, he began toying with the straw. Obviously something was on his mind.
    “Can I ask you something, Miss Rachel?”
    “Sure. Ask away.” She sounded offhand, but she tensed a little. Michael’s questions, she knew, could pack a wallop.
    “Do I have any grandparents or cousins or…or any relatives? From my dad’s family, I mean.”
    “I’m afraid there’s no one, Michael. Jake’s parents died when he was very young. He grew up as a ward of the state, in foster homes.”
    He gave her a startled look. “No kidding?”
    “No kidding.”
    A few moments passed as he considered that. “They were going to do the same thing to me after Mama Dee died, but I thought it over and decided I could probably manage okay on my own.”
    “Well, you’ve certainly done that.”
    “I’m lucky I knew who my dad was and where he lived.” He fiddled with his drink, then looked directly into her eyes. “It’s funny that the same thing happened to my dad, isn’t it?”
    “It is odd,” Rachel agreed. She’d been thinking the same thing. And more. It was a strange twistof fate, and it made the bond between Jake and Michael even stronger.
    “But my dad didn’t let it get him down, did he?” Michael’s eyes shone with pride and admiration for Jake. “He’s a real important man in this town. Respected. I could tell when I was at his office. Those people jumped whenever he said the word. If I manage as well as that, I’ll do okay, won’t I?”
    “Without a doubt.”
    “Tell me some more about my dad. Please,” he added, seeing her hesitate.
    “Well…” She drew a deep breath. “Jake didn’t have a lot of opportunities when he was growing up, but as you noticed, it didn’t seem to hamper him. As soon as he was old enough, he broke away and managed on his own. Then he joined the army. After he got out, he went to college. He has a degree in history, of all things.”
    He nodded his head. “I like history, too.”
    “It must run in the family,” she said dryly.
    “I don’t know about that,” he said seriously, “but I bet I know why he chose it.”
    “Oh, really? Why?”
    He closed both hands around the big plastic cup, frowning thoughtfully at his root beer. “Because when you don’t have much family, you sometimes feel you don’t have a…a place in things. You know? But understanding the people who lived in the past sort of gives you something to fasten onto.” He gave her an intense look. “You’ve got to be related to some of those people, right? I mean, we all came from something even if we don’t know who and where and why.”
    Oh, Lord, she didn’t want to hear this. She didn’t want this kid tugging at her heartstrings. She didn’t want to hear adult philosophy from a boy whose thoughts should be taken up with things like passing geometry and sports and video games.
    She reached blindly for the packages that lay on the bench beside her. “We’d better get back out there and finish this up, Michael. It’s getting late and we still need to get to the high school.”
    “Yes, ma’am.” He gathered up his share of the packages and fell into step beside her, hurrying a little, since she seemed to be picking up their pace. “But I don’t need anything else, do I?” He thought of the stuff they’d already bought. “I’ve never had half this much to choose from. And everything’s so expensive. I don’t want to be a pain.”
    “You have to have new sneakers.”
    He gave his beat-up, no-name shoes a considering look. “Well…”
    “You