Angels in Pink: Holly's Story (Lurlene McDaniel (Mass Market)) by Lurlene McDaniel Page B

to become an EMT?”
    Kathleen’s stomach tightened. She wasn’t prepared for this conversation. Choosing her answer carefully, she said, “I think he’d be very good at it. He’s good with people. He likes the excitement it would bring. And the variety. He’s dedicated too. Plus I think he likes medicine more than he lets on. Yes, he’d make a wonderful EMT.”
    Teresa tipped her head, studied Kathleen for a moment. “This is what I have told his father. A child should be encouraged to follow a dream. This is why I am a doctor, because it was something I had always wanted. My family let me believe I could do it, although we had little money to send a girl to university. Carson should be able to do as he wishes. He is young and he can experiment until he finds the right fit.”
    “He told me his dad backed off on forcing him to take some of his college prep classes this year.”
    “Yes.” Teresa’s eyes twinkled. “I checked into what courses were absolutely necessary for him to graduate, enter community college and be acceptable for the EMT program. Then I suggested a senior year schedule to both Carson and Chris that was agreeable.”
    The confession proved to Kathleen what she’d already surmised—that Carson’s easy charm had been given to him with his mother’s DNA.
    “Where’s your brother?” Holly’s father asked as he walked into the kitchen, adjusting his necktie.
    Holly, sitting at the kitchen table, had her nose buried in the Sunday comics as she answered. “He got a call from his boss, who said the morning guy was sick and couldn’t open the restaurant, and would Hunter please open and let the cooks in, and he’d take over as soon as he could.”
    “Hunter said Friday was his last day on the job.” Mike sounded irritated. Attendance at Sunday morning’s family breakfast before church was mandatory.
    Evelyn placed a fresh stack of pancakes on her husband’s plate. “Just eat, hon. Hunter will join us as soon as he can, I’m sure.”
    Hunter was leaving for college on Tuesday, and no one was looking forward to his going. Mike was taking off from work to drive him to Indiana. Holly itched for the day when she would leave for college and personal freedom. She had to admit, though, that Shy Boy’s visit and conversation with them had helped her situation a little. No one had spoken after he’d dropped the bombshell about his health. He’d spent days, even weeks at a time in the teen wing of Parker-Sloan, and she had never noticed him. She felt bad about it.
    When Chad had left the house, he’d asked Holly’s father for permission to call her and maybe e-mail her again too. Mike had said, “All right, but give it a couple of weeks.”
    This had shocked Holly, because she hadn’t thought she’d have any privileges until Christmas. The downside for her was that she wasn’t sure she wanted Chad to call or write her at all. He just wasn’t what she’d hoped for all the months she’d been fantasizing about him. Just her luck—a guy finally liked her and he was sick with a terrible disease. She had read up on CF and knew it wasn’t a pretty thing. CF patients had a malfunctioning pancreas that prevented food from being properly digested, and their lungs were clogged with thick secretions of mucus that had to be removed through special respiratory manipulations.
Ugh.
Chad had been correct— CF was a turnoff.
    “Holly, you’d better get a move on. I don’t want to be late for Sunday school.”
    Holly started. She’d been in deep concentration, and her father’s words propelled her into motion. “On my way. Be right back.”
    She hustled upstairs, brushed her teeth, put on lipstick and ran to her room to find her Bible. She grabbed it and her purse, happened to look out the window and saw a police car turn into the driveway.
Now what?
    Her father beat her to the front door just as the doorbell rang. He opened the door and Holly saw three men on the porch—a uniformed cop and two