Let us hold unswervingly
to the hope we profess,
for he who promised is faithful.
And let us consider how
we may spur one another on
toward love and good deeds.
Hebrews 10:23-24 NIV

Four lives change when Bev Miller’s mother, Millie, moves to back Loving and cares for Dotty, the terminally ill wife of her old friend and pharmacist, Al Levin. Millie renews the friendship, and her widowed daughter, Bev is drawn to Al’s son, Dale, a bachelor who plans to stay that way. As Dotty nears death, she guides her family onto a course they’d never dreamed possible, and four people are bound together by compassion and love.

Excerpt from Chapter One

"Where’s your brother, Kristin?"

Kristin gave a shrugged. "I don’t know."

No surprise. Bev Miller bit back her irritation and shifted the shopping cart. She pulled bills from her wallet and paid the cashier. The clerk dropped the last of the groceries into a plastic bag, and Bev situated them into the basket, then moved away from the counter. Her mind tumbled with things she had left to do. Today was another hectic Saturday.

Bev craned her neck and spotted her seven-year old son by the plastic toy display. "Michael, come here, please."

He didn’t move. His gaze stayed riveted to a cardboard sheet where something intriguing had been attached.

"Michael!"

This time not only Michael but customers heard her raised voice. Embarrassed, Bev kept her eyes straight forward and rolled the basket toward the exit. Michael plodded behind her while Kristin pulled at the front of the cart probably thinking she’d get home sooner if she sped them along.

When Michael reached Bev’s side, his voice whined with disappointment. "Mom, I want a toy."

"Do you want to eat or have a new toy?" She wanted to swallow her words, knowing Michael preferred the junk in the plastic container. "Never mind. It’s a moot point," she muttered.

"What’s a mute point?" Michael’s curious face tilted upward, waiting Bev’s response.

Bev’s whole life seemed a moot point at times but never mute. She maneuvered through the doorway and held the children back before crossing the aisle way to her car. "Moot not mute. It means it’s debatable. There is no right or wrong answer."

"Then how come you always think you’re right, Mom?" Michael asked in his I-didn’t-get-my-way tone.

"When you’re an adult, Michael, it’s your turn to be right."

He gave her a quizzical look, then appeared to ponder the possibility.

"Grandma’s coming tomorrow to live with us for a while, so we have lots to do, and everyone needs to cooperate."

"I can’t wait to see Grandma," Kristin said, clapping her hands.

Bev knew why. Grandma spoiled the kids rotten.

A chill shivered down her back from the damp Michigan weather, but also from thoughts of the coming event. Bev hadn’t lived with her mother in many years, and she worried about two women under one roof. Could it work? Then again, being a single mom, Bev could use the support.

The mid-April wind forced them through the parking lot, and when she reached the car, Bev hit the remote, opened the trunk and loaded the groceries.

"Michael, would you push the basket over there, please?" Bev pointed toward the cart return across the aisle a few spaces down.

He pulled his shoulder away from the car as if he were adhered to it. Then apparently having a second thought, he perked up. He grasped the shopping basket handle and, making motor noises, took off like a race car driver, zigzagging between the parked vehicles.

"Be careful," Bev called. She looked away long enough to open the car door so Kristin could climb inside, and when she looked toward Michael, her heart thudded to a halt. Before she could yell, he’d performed a wheelie into a car backing into a slot.

Michael’s face drained of color as the driver leaped from the sedan. In a heartbeat, Kristin jumped from the car’s backseat and raced toward her brother. Bev darted after her, but the stranger stumbled over Kristin before she could pull her away.

"Why did you do that?" the man yelled. He faced a frightened-looking Michael.

"Move out of the way, kids," Bev said, her defenses rising. She peered at the trunk lid and saw no damage. "I’m sorry. Do you see any problem with your trunk?" She motioned to the car. "I don’t."

He gazed at her with the bluest eyes she’d ever seen. "You should watch your kids."

"I said I’m sorry. And I do watch my children." She pulled them against her body with a protective arm.

"Maybe you should be more careful in a parking lot."

She sensed the stranger wanted to roll his eyes.

Instead, he bent over and surveyed the trunk lid, giving it a polish with the sleeve of his jacket. "Looks like he hit the bumper." He straightened his back and pointed his finger at Michael. "You could do damage to my car and hurt yourself with that silliness."

Bev felt her eyebrow’s raise in defense as a facetious offer flew from her mouth. "Would you like my car insurance information just in case." She assumed he’d say no since it was obvious the car had sustained no damage.

He tucked his fingers into his jeans pockets and rolled back on his heels. "No," he said, "but how about your driver’s license."

She drew up her shoulders and fumbled through her wallet for her license.

He pulled a pen out of his shirt pocket, then patted the others as if looking for something. "I don’t have any paper."

Bev reined in a smart remark and dug into her handbag. She grasped a scrap and handed it to him.

The man jotted down the information, slid it into his pocket, then handed back Bev’s license before turning to Michael. "You’d better be more careful young man. You could get hurt."

Michael took a step backward without responding.

Kristin, four going on forty, bustled toward the man, her fist planted on one hip. "You know what?"

The man’s eyebrows shot upward.

Kristin didn’t let his expression sway her. "Jesus says you should forgive others so God will forgive you."

His blue eyes widened, and Bev contained her amusement while the man stood speechless. As irritating as he was, she saw a spark of something she liked in his eyes that made him amazingly appealing.

Without further comment, she aimed the children toward her car and marched them back across the aisle in safety. When she looked in her review mirror, the good-looking stranger was still scrutinizing her.