Read Carnations in January for Free Online Page A

know, but I was a student once.” She tossed Mandy the phone. “Do the order for me. I’ll pay the delivery myself.”
    “You’re a good woman, Grace Chadwick,” Elliott said.
    “Tell me that when I’m making a loss,” she quipped.
    He chuckled. “I will do. So, will you come to church with me tomorrow?”
    “You don’t give up do you?” She sighed. “I’m beginning to think this is a conspiracy. My sister said the same thing on the phone just now.”
    Elliott grinned. “No conspiracy. Do your parents go?”
    “Yeah, they all do.” The wind howled outside, sending rain pounding against the windows. The huge oak tree outside creaked. Grace shivered. “It’s really nasty out there. Does the sun ever shine here? It’s done nothing but rain since I moved in.”
    “The sun does shine occasionally.” Elliott turned back to the shelves. “So, why did you stop going to services?”
    Grace rolled her eyes. “Why are you so insistent on talking about church? Do you have nothing else to talk about?”
    Shana laughed. “My dad’s the same. His favorite saying is C-h-space-space-c-h, what’s missing?”
    Grace looked blankly at her.
    “You are,” Elliott grinned. “C-h-u-r-c-h. Spells church.”
    She shook her head. “My sister—it’s just hard to believe in an all-powerful, all-loving God when…” She broke off as the bell over the door rang. “Forget it.”
    “No, I don’t want to forget it.” Elliott packed away his tools. “OK, I’m done here. Ladies, can you cope if I whisk your boss away for an early lunch?”
    “Sure we can.” Shana grabbed Grace’s coat and handed it to her before Grace could even open her mouth to argue.
    “It’s raining,” she managed.
    “I’ve got an umbrella. And you have to eat at some point,” Elliott said firmly. “Come on. Besides, you did say you’d never go to church with someone you hardly know. So, now’s your chance to get to know me better, and I’m offering lunch. On me.”
    “OK. I’ll go to lunch with you.” But that didn’t mean she had any intention of going to church, or that she trusted his motives. She slid into her coat and pulled the collar up. Glancing back at the two girls, she pointed a finger at them. “You two behave while I’m gone.”
    ~*~
    She walked with Elliott through the park towards the High Street. Rain thudded against his umbrella. Puddles lined the path, and she gave up trying to avoid them. She’d simply dry her shoes when she got home tonight. “If I’d known this was going to happen, I’d have worn my boots this morning and not suede shoes.”
    “Have to live in the moment,” he said, his smile brightening the gloomy weather. “Tell me about your sister. Didn’t you say Faith was a believer?”
    “I meant my other sister, Hope.”
    “Tilja never mentioned her.”
    “No, she wouldn’t have. No one talks about Hope. She ran away when she was seventeen. We haven’t heard from her since, despite appeals and so on. Faith, on the other hand, is an artist and a believer. However, she’s mixed up with this bloke who hits her, well she won’t say so; she says all the bruises are accidents. I don’t believe her. He says he loves her, and she always falls for it; won’t hear a bad thing said about him. Rick, my brother, is a cop and puts his life on the line every time he goes to work—goes above and beyond the call of duty sometimes. Things kind of fell apart for everyone after Hope left.”
    He glanced at her from under the umbrella. “Sounds to me like losing Hope made you lose a lot more than just hope. You lost your faith, too.”
    “Ironic, isn’t it.” Water seeped into her shoes. “So, no, God doesn’t fit into my life in any shape or form. He saw to it that I lost one sister and could lose the other at any time.”
    “You think He did it deliberately?”
    “Maybe He did.” She shrugged. “Or maybe He just ignores me.”
    “No, He doesn’t. He sees you.” Elliott folded the umbrella,