Blossom Street. Debbie Macomber

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СКАЧАТЬ I getting my own?”

      “I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t.”

      Alix tucked the menu behind the sugar canister. “I’ll have the same.”

      “Two bacon cheeseburgers,” Jordan said. “And two Cokes.” He gave Alix a questioning smile and she nodded.

      Jenny wrote down the order and left.

      As soon as the waitress was gone, Jordan rested his hands on the table. “So,” he began.

      Squarely meeting his gaze, Alix sighed heavily. “So I’m not interested in church,” she said.

      “Why not?”

      “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not exactly the church-going kind.”

      “And what kind is that?”

      Alix rolled her eyes. “Ladies who wear hats and gloves and exchange polite conversation with a few ‘praise the Lords’ thrown in.”

      Jordan’s head reared back and he snorted with laughter. “You’re describing a garden party, not church. I can tell you haven’t attended in a while.”

      “I went to Sunday School back in grade school but skipped the church part,” she told him. The truth was, she’d gone a few times but left early, bored by all the preaching. “Like I said, I’m not interested.”

      Jenny brought their Cokes and Jordan waited impatiently before he responded.

      “How do you know?” he burst out when she was gone.

      “Jordan, I think you’re great.” She took a long sip of her drink. “I remember your dad and he was nice, too.” Jordan’s father had come to the house once to talk to her mother, after Alix had been awarded that prize Bible. It was the one and only time he’d stopped by, and she didn’t blame him for never visiting again.

      “How do you know you’re not interested in church unless you try it? Why don’t you come one Sunday and see?”

      “Listen,” Alix said, trying to be as honest as possible. “I don’t need anyone to save me.”

      He frowned. “So that’s what you think?”

      “Damn straight.”

      “You’ve certainly got me figured out,” he said, a little sarcastically.

      Being rude was natural for her, but she was determined to keep the peace until after she’d eaten the cheeseburger. After all, he was paying for it. And she was hungry.

      “Why is it so important for me to go to church?” she demanded, and then answered for him. “It’s because you want to change me.”

      “No,” he argued. “I want to see you.”

      Sure he did!

      “I liked you in sixth grade and I like you now. Do I need an excuse?” He leaned across the table, unwilling to break eye contact.

      “I’m not your type.”

      “Did you decide that on your own, or did someone else make up your mind for you?”

      She bristled at his question. “I make up my own mind.”

      She could see he was growing angry. His hand clenched the silverware wrapped in a paper napkin. “Let me see if I understand you. I was all right to hang with until you found out I’m someone you knew ten or twelve years ago—who just happens to be a minister?”

      Alix lowered her eyes and refused to answer.

      “You liked me just fine in grade school, and now you don’t?”

      That bacon cheeseburger had better show up fast, because holding her tongue was damn difficult. Alix bit the inside of her lip.

      “The least you can do is answer me.”

      “What do you want me to say?” she snapped. “That it doesn’t matter? Well, it does.”

      “What changed?”

      She opened her mouth and then faltered, unsure of herself. “You’re … You’re …” She gestured toward him, making circular motions with her hands. “You’re … good.”

      “Good?” Jordan repeated. “What do you mean by that?”

      She folded her arms and searched with growing desperation for Jenny. It never took this long for an order to come up. Her stomach growled and reminded her it’d been midafternoon since her latte and she was hungry. As soon as her meal arrived, she could say what she wanted and take her cheeseburger home. Only he was confusing her. All she could think about was how badly she’d wanted to attend that valentine party. She hadn’t told him, but she’d had a valentine for him, too.

      “You know what I mean,” she challenged.

      “No, I don’t,” Jordan said, “so you’d better explain it to me. What the hell makes me good?”

      She blinked and realized he was serious. “God,” she whispered.

      His expression went blank. “God?”

      She nodded. “You’re this lily-white guy who grew up with a perfect family. I didn’t. You had parents who loved you. I didn’t. You—”

      “None of that’s relevant,” he countered, cutting her off.

      “My mother did jail time for shooting my father. Did you know that?”

      He nodded slowly. “There was plenty of talk about it, but all I wanted to know was what had happened to you.”

      “Oh.” This was unexpected.

      Alix nearly sighed in relief when Jenny appeared with two plates. The cheeseburger was left open and the cheese had melted perfectly. The French fries glistened and sizzled, fresh from the fryer. Her mouth watered just looking at her meal.

      “I asked my dad to find out where you were. He tried, but didn’t get anywhere. Apparently you and your brother had already been sent to foster homes in another part of the city,” Jordan said.

      Alix reached for the salt shaker but her eyes didn’t leave his the whole time she salted her fries. “You did?”

      He nodded and picked up a fry.

      Hungry though she was, Alix hadn’t touched her food. “What made you decide to go into the ministry? Like father, like son?”

      “That’s a story for another night.” He added lettuce and a slice of tomato to his burger and closed it before taking his first bite.

      Alix bit into her burger, too. “Just remember I don’t need you to save me,” she said, still chewing.

      “I couldn’t even if I wanted to.”

      She СКАЧАТЬ