Free The Doctor's Unexpected Family: (Inspirational Romance) (Port Provident: Hurricane Hope) by Kristen Ethridge Page B

with a practiced seriousness, as though he were giving her a diagnosis she didn’t want to hear. “I think you can get a lot more done for your people here. You’ll have a space to work, and your daughter will feel safe and secure. You’re not taking advantage of anything. You’re not pulling any strings. You’re not giving me anything in return. I’m offering this of my own free will. Well, that and because I have a soft spot for teddy bears who need a good roof over their heads.”
    Celina walked to the bed and grabbed Brownie. “Why can’t we stay, Mama? This place is perfect. It’s like a hotel.”
    Angela looked out the narrow window in the kitchen. The orange light had faded to a dull golden glow. Just like the light, things changed. Maybe she needed to give a little too. Maybe Pete was right. With a quiet place to go over paperwork and make notes, she could cut through the red tape faster and get together the plans and approvals she needed to make temporary housing—not emergency shelters or refugee tent communities—a reality for people all over Port Provident.
    She felt a tug at her heart. The fading light seemed to be taking her doubts with it. “Okay. We can stay. Just until we get the temporary housing situation worked out. Then we’ll go with everyone else.”
    Celina ran and gave her another big hug, this time complete with additional stuffed bear love. “Thank you, Mama! Thank you! Brownie loves you too.”
    The smile on Celina’s faced pushed away the rest of Angela’s lingering objections. She hadn’t seen her little girl this happy since before the storm. Even though their stay here would be temporary, maybe the stability of four walls and a bed would help reassure Celina that everything would be okay.
    And maybe knowing that there were generous people out there like Pete Shipley—people who just wanted to help and asked for nothing in return—would help reassure Angela that everything would be okay, too.

    Celina had asked to play with a fitness-themed game on Pete’s video game console, so he’d gotten her set up, and she was bouncing and running and wiggling in the front part of the living room. She was burning off energy and the fear that Pete had seen trailing her like Linus Van Pelt’s blue blanket—only in this case, it was an in security blanket.
    Her enthusiasm made Pete smile. And Pete had plenty of enthusiasm of his own right now. While he and Celina had been working downstairs earlier today, an idea had begun to take shape in his head.
    It had all come together now, and he wanted to run it by Angela. He hadn’t known her long, but he knew she cared about the people of Port Provident, and her opinion meant a lot to him as he decided whether or not to move forward with his idea.
    “So I’ve been thinking,” Pete said after the last strand of spaghetti had been eaten and the dishes had been washed.
    “About what?” Angela pulled some papers out of the bag she’d brought home with her.
    “About the people at La Iglesia .”
    She looked over the tortoise-shell frames of the reading glasses she’d slipped in front of her eyes. The glasses framed her face, bringing boldness to her features. “You’ve got my attention. What about the people at La Iglesia ?”
    Pete sat down on the coffee table, next to Angela’s overstuffed canvas bag, full of briefs and reports. “I’ve spent the last two days organizing all those donations, and I haven’t known exactly what to do with them after I got them organized. But this afternoon, Gloria’s mom introduced me to some of the women at the church, and they all had small health needs. I spent an hour after lunch checking blood pressure, handing out ibuprofen tablets and counseling them on what to do while everything is in limbo and their regular doctors are gone.”
    “I’m sure they appreciated that.”  Her lips curved in a soft smile. For the first time since he’d met her, Angela’s face was free of worry. No furrow in