Free A Heart Revealed by Julie Lessman Page A

thirty-three, maybe?”
    Emma dropped her head with a groan, pressing a shaky hand to her eyes. Sweet mother of Job, Susan will have my head! She shrugged off the fatigue weighting her shoulders and looked up with a firm lift of her jaw. “Casey Herringshaw—what were you thinking? You’re barely eighteen and you agreed to go out with a man older than me? Your mother would have a conniption, young lady, and you know it.”
    Casey grasped Emma’s hands in her own. The plea in her tone tugged at Emma’s heart. “Emma, please, he’s waiting for me now, and I really, really like him. Can’t we give him a chance? Please? ”
    Casey’s eyes disarmed her, glowing with hope. Emma drew in a heavy dose of air and released it again. “All right, young lady, you win— this time . But for the record, a real gentleman picks a lady up for a date, so I want to meet him next time— if there is a next time. Is that clear?”
    With another squeal, Casey launched herself into Emma’s arms. “Oh, Emma, you’re the best! I promise I’ll tell you all about it on our way to church tomorrow, all right?”
    A reluctant smile tugged at the corners of Emma’s mouth. “See that you do. What time are you going to be home?”
    “No later than midnight, as always.” Casey flew down the hall and opened the door. She suddenly whirled around, eyes wide. “Wait, I almost forgot—how was the wedding?”
    “Wonderful. I’ll fill you in tomorrow. Now scoot.”
    Casey shot her a crooked smile, tempered with sympathy. “You look tired, Emma. Get some rest, okay? And don’t wait up.” She blew her a kiss and hurried out.
    Emma poked her head out the door. “I will wait up, young lady, make no mistake,” she called after her, hand to her mouth, “so you best be home on time, you hear?”
    Casey waved at the door, and Emma shook her head, suddenly wide awake at the prospect of Susan’s daughter going to Revere Beach to meet an older man. An older, more experienced man. Rubbing her eyes, she trudged to the sofa and plopped down, eyeing Lancelot with more than a little jealousy as he snoozed on the arm of the chair. Her lips twisted. Well, at least someone’s getting some sleep.
    “Get some rest,” Casey had said, conjuring up thoughts of Emma’s promise to Susan. She pulled her Bible off the coffee table and settled into the couch, realizing for the first time what it must feel like to be a mother. She groaned and flipped a page, sympathy rising for mothers compelled to safeguard their children.
    “Sleep,” she said with a quirk of her lips. “As if that’s even an option.”

    God, help me . . . this is harder than I thought. Katie stared in the mirror and swallowed the lump in her throat, wondering if other brides were this nervous on their honeymoons. Anxious blue eyes stared back while the girl in the mirror gnawed on her lip, surveying the filmy negligee she wore—the one Charity had given her at her bridal shower. It had burned her cheeks then, and continued to burn her cheeks now, and she was pretty certain the heat wouldn’t end there once her husband got a glimpse.
    Husband. Her lips tilted into a wobbly smile. Mrs. Luke McGee. Who would have thought she would have fallen in love with a pest from her past, a man she’d butted heads with since the age of ten? But love him she did, and just the thought of Luke McGee’s long, muscled body stretched out on the bed in the next room— waiting for her —promptly produced another rush of heat to her cheeks that quickly traveled her body.
    With shaky fingers, she picked up her hairbrush and jerked it through her blond Dutch boy bob with a shudder, quite certain the task before her would not be an easy one. Task? To make love with Luke McGee? A sweet shiver slithered down her spine like warm butter. Hardly. Never had she met a man who wreaked havoc with her internal thermostat more than her new husband, reducing her to mere mush at the touch of his lips. Oh no, the real