Free Thanksgiving Groom by Brenda Minton Page A

though an adventure could fix it.
    And the Johnsons had been giving up everything for God.
    â€œI’m so sorry.” She reached to cover Wilma’s hand with her own.
    â€œThank you, Penelope.” Wilma wrapped her fingers around Penelope’s hand that still covered hers. “Aiden lived until we got to New York, and then he left us. Our only child. It’s amazing, our story and Tucker’s. God brought us together here, all three of us running from something.”
    â€œAnd then I showed up.”
    â€œAnd you’re running, too, aren’t you?”
    Penelope sipped the cocoa and she didn’t know how to answer. She thought about Tucker losing his father and the Johnsons losing their son. They had real problems to run from and real needs for God to meet. She was running from life and from marriage. She was running to find herself.
    â€œI’m running, but I feel selfish now, because my life has been so easy.”
    â€œHoney, when it is our pain, it counts. Whatever we’regoing through, we’re the ones going through it, and if it hurts, it hurts.”
    â€œThen it hurts.” Penelope set her cup down. “But I’m praying that God has an answer.”
    â€œHe always does. You don’t pray that He has an answer. You pray that you’ll recognize and accept the answer. That’s the real hard part of faith.”
    Footsteps in the hallway ended their conversation. Penelope looked up as Tucker entered the room. He captured her gaze and held it, and she couldn’t look away.
    She watched as he picked up the plate that Wilma had set on the wood stove. He grabbed a fork out of the drainer on the counter and stirred his potatoes, tasting them before adding more salt.
    Penelope focused on her cocoa. She took a sip, pretending he didn’t matter and his opinion of her didn’t matter. He carried his plate and sat down next to her.
    It was definitely time to head out away from Tucker. She didn’t want him to be her problem. And he’d fixed that for her. In a few days they’d leave. And a few days after that, they’d be in Treasure Creek. That meant getting away from him. She told herself she looked forward to parting ways with him.
    She was more than positive he’d be ready to rid himself of her. She had crashed into his seclusion and she was the reason he had to return to Treasure Creek.

Chapter Six
    T hey left at dawn three days later. Tucker looked back at the cabin that had been his refuge for the last few months. He’d been running from life. He looked at the three people following him. He hadn’t escaped. Instead, he’d been pushed into three other lives, with no possible escape in sight.
    Life had definitely found him.
    The biggest problem was that the time away hadn’t solved a thing for him. It had given him time to rest up and to enjoy nature, but it hadn’t solved problems he left Treasure Creek with.
    He still felt guilty. He still felt like the worst excuse for a son and a person.
    The pack on his shoulders was a heavy weight, but nothing like the one he was heading back to Treasure Creek with. His attention landed on Penelope Lear and he came pretty close to smiling.
    Wilma had found clothes in a closet. So Penelope had gone from fashion plate to homeless chic.
    She was using a walking stick that Clark had made for her. Her feet were shoved into heavy snow bootsand she was wrapped in an ancient parka that smelled of mothballs and musty closet.
    At least she was warm.
    He pushed on, refusing to look back. They had a long way to go. They also had company. He had seen the footprints again that morning. He’d tried to convince himself they were his footprints, but he didn’t have shoes with that tread on the sole.
    â€œHow far will we walk today?” Penelope asked, and he shrugged. He figured this would be an adventure, with her asking “how much farther” on a regular basis. It would be