A Family Reunited Read Online Free Page B

chest. “I can’t even begin to tell you how surprised we were. It was so unexpected.” Mom gazed at Dad, who nodded in agreement.
    Fury washed over her. She knew who had called them. Swallowing back her emotions, she nodded. “Okay.”
    “It was Jack.”
    She bit the inside of her mouth, willing herself not to throw a fit right in front of her parents.
    “You don’t seem surprised,” said her dad.
    She lifted her chin. “I’m not.”
    “He wants to meet with us.” Tammie’s voice was a little above a whisper, and Pamela couldn’t decipher the expression on her face.
    “We told him he could come here for lunch tomorrow,” Mike said.
    Pamela blinked several times as she peered at her parents. “Why would you tell him that?”
    Her dad stood and walked toward her. He placed his hand on Pamela’s shoulder, but she pulled away. “He says he’s clean. Finished his degree. Even has a good job. I called around after we got off the phone with him. He seems to be telling the truth.”
    Pamela looked away from her parents. She couldn’t believe they would betray her this way. “Doesn’t mean he won’t go back.”
    “We want to talk with him. It’s the right thing to do. It’s what God would—”
    “Don’t talk to me about God!” Pamela marched out of the house. She didn’t care that she sounded like a spoiled teenager as she slammed the sturdy door shut. She hated the bitterness she felt, the deep-to-her-core fear that Jack would walk back into her life and trample her heart all over again. It was not her parents’ place to meet with Jack. He was her husband, and the girls were hers. Not theirs. Just one more reason she could not wait to be on her own completely.

Chapter 4
    J ack stepped out of the car, then tucked the bottom of his flannel shirt into his good pair of jeans. He’d forgotten about the splattering of paint on the bottom of the shirt. He should have remembered! He needed to make a good impression on Mike and Tammie. They were giving him a chance, and he had to make the most of it. Sucking in a deep breath, he remembered his and Owen’s prayer for God’s blessing on this visit. He had to trust in God’s grace and not worry about flannel shirts and paint.
    Raking his fingers through his hair, he allowed his gaze to take in Jacobs Family Farm. It was just as it had always been. The white bed-and-breakfast looked inviting with the yellow-and-orange mums, pumpkins of various sizes and happy scarecrows surrounding the wooden sign that welcomed guests. He could see the edge of the small cabin behind the B and B, the white farmhouse to the right, along with the gift shop and café, the activity center and petting zoo. The apple and peach trees to the left seemed to go on forever, and his mouth watered at a sudden memory of Pamela’s homemade apple crisps. The family had always raved over her strawberry pies, and they were amazingly delicious, to be sure, but her apple crisps...
    Jack licked his lips. He could almost feel the warmth of the apple, the crunch of the granola. Could almost taste the perfect mixture of sugar and cinnamon, the apples, tart and yet sweet. He cupped his hand over his mouth, then ran his fingers from his cheeks to his jaw.
    He drank in the rolling mountains behind the property, adorned in yellows, oranges, reds and greens. Blowing out a breath, he willed his pounding heart to slow down. It was like God had picked up paint and brush and created a masterpiece of warmth and comfort in those Tennessee mountains. His mind replayed walks with Pamela through that land. Times he’d held her hand, kissed her lips, her neck...
    He shuddered. He hadn’t anticipated such a strong reaction to the place. His throat felt dry and coarse. He needed a drink. Water.
    As he curled his fingers tighter around the keys, unworthiness washed over him. He didn’t deserve to try to have this again. This life. This family. Pamela and his girls. He’d thrown it away. Worse than that—he’d