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.”
Trying to picture him doing something so whimsical, she burst out laughing. Then again, for him, it had been practical. “Just when I think I have you all figured out…”
He opened her door for her.
She searched the street, but didn’t see his car. “Did you walk here?”
“Yes. Thought I could use the time to think.”
She squeezed past him and slipped into her split, vinyl car seat. “So why are you here?”
“I thought I’d offer to help check on Lisa.”
Josie considered his offer for a few seconds. “Can you manage not to upset her again?”
One side of his mouth quirked up. “I doubt it.”
That was for certain. They were like oil and water. “Oh, all right, get in.”
As Michael climbed in, he thanked God that Josie was willing to help out with Lisa. He’d replayed the morning’s scene over and over in his mind since he’d left the diner.
“You know where you went wrong this morning, Mike?”
He watched her profile as she drove. “Are you a mind reader?”
“No. Just assuming you’re here because you feel guilty.”
“I never should have used the word home synonymously with school.”
“Bingo.”
“Contrary to what you might think, I do learn from my mistakes.”
She sucked in her breath. “You? Mistakes?”
With a smile, he faced the road again. “Never. Just lapses in judgment.”
“I see. Well, I suggest you tread carefully from here on out. Remember, Lisa is an injured girl who craves a family who loves her and wants her.”
Michael’s heart and stomach hurt simultaneously. How could I forget? “You know, taking care of a teenager is quite an undertaking even for family. Doing so just because you were a runaway yourself doesn’t make much sense.”
“Oh, it’s more than that. I told you, it’s my calling. To help people like Jesus would.”
“How did you discover your calling?”
“After I settled here in Gatlinburg, I realized that I didn’t really have a purpose in my life. So I asked God to give me one.”
“And he sent you Lisa?”
“Yes. But he sent a few other girls first, through a ministry at my church.”
“What happened with them?”
She slowed to a stop behind a line of traffic. “Are you sure you want to know?”
He wasn’t sure at all. “I should probably know your track record.”
“Two have gone home, reunited with their families. One, Regina, is living on her own here in town and attending the community college. Another couldn’t get off drugs and ran off when I got tough with her.”
“At least you tried.”
She smiled at him. “Thank you for saying that. I still worry about her.”
They pulled up to the craft school, and this time she let Michael go all the way up to the campus with her. They stepped out of the car and into what looked like an art gallery and found doors leading to, presumably, studios. Josie seemed to know where she was going.
“Have you been here before?” he asked.
“Yes, I took a jewelry making class a couple of years ago.”
“Impressive.”
“Lower your brows a notch. You don’t have to look so surprised.”
“I’m not at all surprised. Your passion for what interests you is to be admired.”
Color flooded her cheeks, and he had a powerful urge to run his thumbs over their warmth.
Instead, he clenched his hands. “Let’s find Lisa.”
“I have a feeling she’s in there.”