Her Unlikely Family. Missy Tippens

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СКАЧАТЬ why don’t you tell Lisa why you want to send her back to boarding school,” Josie suggested.

      “Everyone needs a good education. You’re getting the best money can buy.”

      Josie winced. “Tell Lisa why you worry. Why you want her somewhere safe.”

      He watched as Lisa slunk a little lower in the booth. Another inch or two and she’d slither onto the floor.

      Somehow, the pitiful green hair and slight frame made her seem vulnerable. His heart lurched. No matter how you dressed her up—fingernail polish, hair color, body piercings—she still looked just like her mother.

      “I worry about boys taking advantage,” he blurted. “I worry about you being on your own at sixteen. It’s my responsibility to keep you safe.”

      “It sounds like Mike is scared you’ll have some of the same problems your mother had,” Josie said. She searched for confirmation.

      He nodded.

      “I don’t want to talk about my mother.”

      “Even though I wasn’t able to help her, maybe I can help you,” Mike said.

      “I’m not going to talk about her.”

      Silence.

      “Okay, Lisa,” Josie said. “Can you try to tell your uncle how you feel?”

      She shook her head no.

      “Come on, tell him some of the things you’ve told me.”

      “Won’t make a difference.”

      “I do care, Lisa,” Michael said.

      “Big whoop.”

      “I really do.”

      “Then prove it,” Lisa said.

      “Okay. How can I prove it to you?”

      “Take me home. Home. Not to that snob factory.”

      She stared directly at him. A spark of something—challenge?—lit her blue eyes, but then it was gone. Couldn’t she see that he wasn’t suitable? That he couldn’t possibly take care of a teenage girl?

      Lisa jumped up and stalked toward the kitchen. “Yeah, I see how much you care.”

      He tried to hustle out of the booth, but flinched in pain as his knees struck the underside of the too-small table. “Lisa, wait.”

      “Whatever,” she called back over her shoulder.

      Standing by the grill watching the scene, Bud frowned. Michael raced past him and stormed through the kitchen door with Josie close on his heels.

      “Stop right there, young lady,” he said.

      “Uh-huh. And what are you going to do if I don’t?”

      “I’ll, I’ll…”

      Josie approached and put an arm around Lisa’s shoulders. “Come on, let’s go try to talk some more.”

      Lisa shook off Josie’s arm. “I’m outta here.”

      As his niece rushed out the back door, Michael thought he saw tears on her cheeks. He looked at Josie, who stood there looking at him, shaking her head as if he’d blown everything.

      He threw his arms out. “What?”

      “Is this how it always goes with you two?”

      “I tried. I don’t seem to be good at relating to Lisa.”

      “That’s an understatement.”

      “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

      “You’ve got a lot to learn about this parenting business, Mike.”

      He glared at her. “And I suppose you think you’d be a great parent?”

      “Well, you have to admit I’m doing a little better with your niece.”

      “Only because you don’t have to be the bad guy. Try sending her back to school where she belongs and see how long you stay her hero.”

      “Where she belongs? Does she belong separated from everyone she loves?”

      He reeled from the unexpected barb. “Fine. Maybe I should simply wash my hands of this mess and get back to running my business.”

      “That’s not a bad idea. She could live with me for a while, and I can get her enrolled in the local high school.”

      The worst part was that Josie probably could get Lisa to go to school when he couldn’t even manage to have a normal conversation with her. Which infuriated him. “No Throckmorton’s going to mooch off a stranger. She’ll finish school where I put her.”

      Josie shook her head and looked away as if she couldn’t stand the sight of him. “I’ve gotta get back to my shift. I’ll find Lisa when I get off at two o’clock to make sure she’s okay.” Josie pushed back through the door to the diner.

      Michael walked in a circle, so furious at his ineptitude that he started to kick the refrigerator. But he stopped right before his foot connected with the stainless steel industrial-sized appliance. It would most likely win the match. And he wouldn’t feel any better anyway.

      Mortified at his outburst, he checked the back of his shirt to make sure it was still neatly tucked in.

      No, he wouldn’t feel any better. Not until he got out of this tourist trap town, with Lisa in tow, and back to the bank.

      When Josie left the diner after her shift, she shielded her eyes from the bright sun, then took a deep breath of fresh air. When she got to her car, she found Mike leaning against the driver’s side door.

      He held up one hand to stop her. “Before you chastise me, let me say I’m here to try to make amends for how poorly I handled this morning.”

      The anger she’d fed all afternoon vanished. He stood with ankles crossed, arms folded in front of himself—he in his designer-brand clothes against her clunker car. She grinned. “I can’t imagine a more mismatched pair than you and Betty.”

      “Betty?”

      “My car.”

      “So you’re one of those people.” He smiled.

      “You got it. Betty and I, we’re pretty attached to each other.”

      “Then maybe Betty would like to meet Jeffery sometime.”

      Her mouth fell open. “No way. Not you.”

      “Yes, ma’am. I repeatedly refused my parents’ offer of a driver. Finally told them I already had Jeffery. They never asked again.”

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