“Oh, Nate. I’m so sorry.” The urge to hug him and take away any pain he might have been feeling reigned strong, but more contact would end his story. He deserved to be heard out.
“Here were these kids who had just started on their new commitment to God. I wanted them to have a clean slate. When the cops walked up to my car, I told both the boys to say all the stuff was mine. I shouldn’t have.” He shrugged. “It sounded like a good idea at the time.”
“They didn’t tell the truth?”
Nate shook his head. “See, Jerome’s dad hits him. I didn’t want him to face that over doing something right. So I took the blame. Once the police had me in cuffs it was too late to go back. I could have plead not guilty, but then what? Dylan started applying to college scholarships and I didn’t want to ruin his chances. Who would have believed me?” He drew her closer and lowered his voice. “I only care if you believe me.”
She touched the side of his face. “I do. I shouldn’t have doubted you. Forgive me.”
Nate ran his fingers down her arm with a caress so gentle it sent her heart fluttering. “I didn’t give you any other option. I should have told you sooner … trusted you.”
“Right, because I reacted so well when I found out.”
“It doesn’t matter. A relationship is built on good communication.” He took her other hand and placed it over his heart, then rested his hand on top. “If you give me a shot, I’ll do better in the future.”
Whitney licked her lips. “At a relationship?”
“I mean … if this isn’t what you want … or if you’re not ready….” He broke eye contact.
She just smiled.
But Nate kept his gaze trained to the floor. “Or if you don’t want to be with me. I know with my record I’m kind of a sinking ship. I understand if you don’t want—”
“If you’re asking me out, I’d love to.”
“Really?” He looked into her eyes. Dimples deep. His hands dropped to her hips, which he swayed a bit. “Are you sure?”
Whitney tucked her hands around his back and pulled Nate into a hug. “I’m sure.”
She closed her eyes and breathed in his familiar sent of fabric softener, citrus, and something woodsy. Calm washed over her. Nate. Stable and there for her in all the ways that mattered.
He pressed a kiss to her temple.
“You were right about Lewis,” she whispered against his neck.
Loosening his hold, he pointed at the pizza box. “Care to join my hallway picnic and tell me all about it?” He tugged her down beside him.
Whitney opened the box. “Hawaiian! My favorite.” Between bites, she told Nate everything she’d discovered about Lewis. “So he wasn’t evil. He was working for the Secret Service. We can clear his name and everything.”
Nate handed her a napkin. “Not so fast. You said you found this out through a letter he wrote to Ellen?” He dusted his hands together. “That’s not enough proof.”
She swallowed too soon and coughed. Nate handed her a warm cup of Pepsi. A huge slurp revealed the drink was more melted ice than pop.
“What do you mean? He spells out exactly what happened.”
“That’s just it. No one will believe an alibi in his hand.” Nate leaned his head against the wall. “If I wrote the truth about my arrest and sent that to the judge, what do you think he’d say?”
“You have a point.” Whitney crossed her arms.
Nate gave her a gentle nudge to the ribs. “Why the frown?”
“This whole time I’ve wanted to solve the Lewis thing. Now I have, but it doesn’t mean anything to anyone.”
“Does it mean something to you?”
“Yes. But that doesn’t matter.”
“Believe me. I can see it in your face. It matters. And hey.” He bumped his shoulder into hers, a grin pulled his lips calling his dimples out to play. “We can still save Lewis’s reputation. We’ll do it together.”
“Together,” Whitney whispered.
The word had never sounded so good.
THE END
Dear Reader –
Life never seems to go the way we want it to, does it?
Ellen thought she could control her future by getting married to a Chicago blueblood but it turned out there was a much better path for her life after all. James never imagined it possible that he could have the one thing in life he’d dreamt of—a future with Ellen. And yet he could. Whitney believed she needed to sacrifice being loved for stability, but has begun to discover there may be more to life than security. And Nate’s seeing that good can come out of the lowest points in our lives.
Hold tightly to the truth that life and dreams matter and are worth chasing. Always.
I want to thank the Chicago History Museum and the DuPage County Historical Museum—both places have an amazing staff ready and willing to help dig for information and answer the most off the wall questions (the fictional museums in Searching for Home are based on these places). Studying history has always been one of my favorite pastimes, second only to writing.
Thank you for spending some time with Whitney and Ellen. I hope you enjoyed their stories and look forward to the rest of the series.
Dream Big –
Jess
Jessica Keller
A Starbucks drinker, avid reader, semi-professional fangirl and chocolate aficionado, Jessica spends way too much time on Tumblr and Twitter. She is multi-published and writes both Young Adult Fiction and Inspirational Romance. When she’s not writing, she can be found dancing in her car at stoplights.
As a child Jessica possessed the dangerous combination of too much energy coupled with an over-active imagination. This pairing led to more than seven broken bones and countless scars. She has worked as a zookeeper, a librarian, camp counselor, horse wrangler, and finance clerk, but now enjoys working for a local municipal government.
She lives in the Midwest with her amazing husband, giggly daughter, and two annoyingly outgoing cats that happen to be named after superheroes.
Jessica loves connecting with readers. You can find her at:
Website: www.JessicaKellerBooks.com
Twitter: @AuthorKeller
Facebook: www.facebook.com/JessicaKellerAuthor
Amazon Page: Books by Jessica Keller
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Without you, there would be no more books.
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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