I Choose Us: Book 2 in the Crossing Midian Series - A Christian Romance

Chapter 19

–Lottie–

It was still a little while before Wesley made it to the house, but Lottie and Coop were certain they had never been happier to see their friend.

After they put out the fire and got the house back into some semblance of order, they loaded up into the truck and began the slow journey back to town.

Coop and Wesley talked most of the way about the storm and everything that had happened since the night before, but Lottie was much too tired to join in their conversation. Instead, she allowed her head to rest on Coop's shoulder and, after only a few minutes, she was fast asleep.

She didn't wake until Coop gently nudged her to let her know they were at Anna and Wesley's.

Lottie jumped out of the truck and headed inside to find Cassie.

"Anybody home?" she called as she opened the front door.

"Mama!" Cassie screamed as she came running from upstairs where she had been playing in T.J.'s room.

Cassie lept into her mother's waiting arms and Lottie held her tightly, rocking her back and forth as she breathed in the scent of her strawberry shampoo.

"Oh my gosh, my baby! I missed you!"

Anna and Ruth came out of the kitchen and wasted no time in embracing Lottie as well.

With tears in her eyes, Ruth said, "Thank you, Jesus. We were so worried."

"Our car spun off the road," Lottie explained as she sat Cassie back down.

"Where's daddy?" Cassie asked.

Lottie sat down on the couch and pulled her daughter close to her once again. She brushed her hair back out of her face and said, "He's coming, baby. He's just outside with Uncle Wesley. Did you have a good time with T.J. and Aunt Anna?"

Cassie nodded. "We built a fort and made popcorn and marshmallows. Mama, guess what? Santa made it snow! Did you see?"

"I did see! It sounds like you had fun. Did you get to stay up really late?"

"Yep. We didn't have a bedtime at all. Uncle Wesley said he doesn't believe in them."

Lottie grinned as she shook her head. "Of course he doesn't."

Anna laughed. "They were asleep by ten, I promise."

"And Beau made shadow puppets on the wall," Cassie added, "and he even made a unicorn!"

"Wow!" Lottie was only too happy to match her daughter's enthusiasm as she said, "I bet it was really cool."

Ruth pointed behind her and Lottie looked over to the recliner, and for the first time since she arrived, she noticed Beau was sleeping with a blanket tossed over him.

"The plan was for him to tire them out, but I think it worked the other way around."

Lottie laughed. "I'd say so."

When Cassie ran back upstairs to continue playing with T.J., Anna sat down beside Lottie on the couch. "So you ran off the road? Were either of you hurt?"

Lottie shook her head. "No, thank God. We were both okay, and we ended up getting to Mr. Callaway's house, but Coop didn't realize he was out of town, so we had to break in." Lottie felt so bad about what they'd done. Coop had covered the windowpane with a piece of plywood he'd found in the shed, and they would of course replace the glass as soon as they could, but it didn't erase Lottie's guilt over intruding into their home uninvited.