“Hey. Waneta told me about Mark’s diagnosis. Have you seen the paperwork? Did you talk to Mark?”
“I talked to both of them. The doctor is very sure, Calvin. Mark has, um, renal cell carcinoma in his right kidney. They want to schedule an operation as soon as possible. Like next week. Can you be there?”
“Of course.” Making the decision, he got to his feet. “I’ll leave tomorrow morning.”
“Thanks.” Lowering her voice, she said, “Mark and Neeta are going to need your help.”
“That’s good because I want to help. Tell Waneta that I’ll see her in the early afternoon.”
“I’ll do that.” He heard Lora murmur something to Waneta as they seemed to move into another room. “Calvin, I need to ask . . . Are you going to bring trouble here?”
He knew what she was asking. As far as she, Mark, Waneta, and the rest of the world knew, he was still involved in a gang. He still did a lot of things that were illegal and that brought on trouble of one kind or another.
“Hope not,” he said, purposely keeping his tone light as he strode into the kitchen to get a glass of water.
“You hope not?” Her voice rose. “Calvin, if your being here is going to bring your gun-toting, drug-running friends here, then you need to stay away. Actually, you should tell—”
He cut her off. “Gun-toting, drug-running friends?” he said with a forced laugh. “You make me sound like some kind of gangster. Have you been watching old movies on TV again?”
“Don’t joke about this,” she replied in a steely voice. “You might be pretending that I’m as naïve as half the population of Munfordville, Kentucky, but we both know that ain’t me. I’m serious. You can’t bring your problems and bad habits to your brother’s doorstep.”
As he filled his glass with water from the tap, he found himself wishing again that he could tell someone, anyone, what he was really up to. But because that wasn’t possible, he kept his reply light. “Nothing’s going to happen. Settle down before you get Waneta riled up. Everything is going to be fine.” Before she could go off on him again, he decided it was time to end the call. “Don’t forget to remind Neeta that I’ll be there tomorrow. Bye.”
Calvin hung up before Lora could reply or give him another warning. After tossing his phone on the counter, he drained his glass, then filled it up again.
When he slowly set the glass back on the counter, he smiled to himself. Yeah, that’s what he was drinking now when he got stressed out. Tap water. He wasn’t sure if Lora would have been more shocked or relieved to see that he was no longer enjoying shots of tequila or a six-pack of beer when things got stressful. It hadn’t been easy, but he had cleaned himself up.
Well, at least in private.
Out in public, though? That was a different story. His reputation depended on him being filled with vices and excuses.
When his phone buzzed again, followed by two heavy raps on his door, Calvin carefully set the glass in the sink, grabbed his phone, and approached the door.
He took a minute to get his head back where it needed to be. He couldn’t show weakness. He couldn’t allow anyone to see an inkling of fear or worry or strain in his eyes. After standing up straighter, he exhaled, then pulled open the door. “What?”
“Boss wants you, Cal,” Jenk, one of the men he’d been standing in the alley with, said. Stepping closer, he peered into his apartment. “What’s going on? You sure took off quick when you got that phone call.” Grinning, he said, “You got someone in here or something? One of your old Amish buddies?”
“If I did, it ain’t none of your business, right?” The gang knew he’d been born Amish but believed he had been shunned by his family and had cut all ties with everyone else.
Jenk shrank back, stung. “No. ’Course not.” Now looking at him warily, he shifted his feet. “So, you coming or what?”
Instead of answering, Calvin pulled out his keys and locked his door. He kept his chin up and his expression blank as he walked with Jenk down the hallway. By the time he was walking down the stairs, he was no longer thinking about his brother or Hart County or cancer. Instead, all he cared about was the reassuring weight of the pistol nestled against the small of his back and the fact that no one else was loitering in the area wanting to talk to him.
When they finally stepped outside, his transformation was complete. To everyone in Louisville, he wasn’t Calvin, the former Amish younger brother of Mark Fisher. Instead, he was Cal, the former homeless loser who had found a home with one of the strongest drug-running gangs in the state of Kentucky.
He was also an undercover informant for the DEA.
And he now had less than twenty-four hours to make up a reason to leave that was believable enough to keep everything that he did in this place very far from Horse Cave.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t only be bringing his trouble to his brother’s house. He’d be bringing danger to everyone there, too.
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Also by Shelley Shepard Gray
SISTERS OF THE HEART SERIES
Hidden • Wanted • Forgiven • Grace
SEASONS OF SUGARCREEK SERIES
Winter’s Awakening • Spring’s Renewal
Autumn’s Promise • Christmas in Sugarcreek
FAMILIES OF HONOR SERIES
The Caregiver • The Protector • The Survivor
A Christmas for Katie (novella)
THE SECRETS OF CRITTENDEN COUNTY SERIES
Missing • The Search • Found • Peace
THE DAYS OF REDEMPTION SERIES
Daybreak • Ray of Light • Eventide • Snowfall
RETURN TO SUGARCREEK SERIES
Hopeful • Thankful • Joyful
AMISH BRIDES OF PINECRAFT SERIES
The Promise of Palm Grove
The Proposal at Siesta Key
A Wedding at the Orange Blossom Inn
A Wish on Gardenia Street (novella)
A Christmas Bride in Pinecraft
THE CHARMED AMISH LIFE SERIES
A Son’s Vow • A Daughter’s Dream
A Sister’s Wish • An Amish Family Christmas
THE AMISH OF HART COUNTY SERIES
Her Secret • His Guilt
Redemption
Credits
Cover photograph and design by Laura Klynstra
Cover image © arinahabich / Getty Images
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
P.S.™ is a trademark of HarperCollins Publishers.
THE GIFT. Copyright © 2017 by Shelley Shepard Gray. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
FIRST EDITION
Digital Edition NOVEMBER 2017 ISBN: 978-0-06-246917-5
ISBN 978-0-06-246914-4 (paperback)
ISBN 978-0-06-269785-1 (library edition)
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