As Time Goes By (The Californians 2) by Lori Wick Read Free Book Online

have convinced an audience at any theater. "They are young and I've heard
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    that neither one of you has the least bit of control where Wes and Paige are concerned. So I guess it's for the best." "'What's that supposed to mean?" Troy demanded.
    "Only that you take a toy every time you go see them and are spoiling them rotten. And I've heard that Dad can't bring himself to say no, so they get away with everything when they're with him."
    Bobbie might have gotten away with her bald-faced lies if she hadn't dropped in a chair just then and begun filing her nails with far more deliberation than necessary. She was a study in concentration until Troy sailed a sofa pillow across the room and hit her in the head. Bobbie whipped it back at lightning speed, catching her brother totally off-guard.
    Smiling with satisfaction, Bobbie growled in her gruff-est voice, "Now, do my niece and nephew go with us or do I have to get rough with you?"
    "They can come, they can come!" Troy cried in mock terror. "'You still have to ask Alice," Jake reminded Bobbie. "I thought you might ask her. She's always been putty in your hands."
    Jake smiled at the description. It was true. He had always been close to his oldest daughter, even though she was painfully shy. She was more open with him than she was with Maryanne or her siblings, and Jake had always nurtured their relationship. The only thing to ever come between them was Jake's decision for Christ. Alice had been very hurt when her father had explained how he had come to see his need for salvation.
    "But what have you been up until now, Dad, if you haven't been a Christian?" Alice had asked. "I've been someone who thought I could get to heaven
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    if I did my best and watched my step. I was leaving Jesus Christ completely out of the picture."
    "So what you're saying is, if a person is good, it still won't be enough?"
    "That's right, honey, the Bible says we get to heaven God's way, and that's through the death of His Son, Jesus Christ, who died to take away our sins."
    "That's barbaric! I can't believe God would spurn our efforts just because we didn't choose to believe some thing so awful as Christ's death on the cross! I've read the Bible's account of the crucifixion, and, Dad, you can't tell me that God would honor such a horrendous act against His own Son!"
    Jake had gone on to explain the best he could but Alice would have none of it. They had parted on good terms, but Jake's heart had been heavy. He found himself wish ing they had attended Pastor Keller's church years before, when Alice had been younger and possibly more recep tive to the gospel.
    Today father and daughter were as close as ever, but Jake knew he had to tread lightly when the conversation turned to church attendance and salvation. Alice had made it quite clear that she thought her parents attended a church full of snobs who had the ridiculous notion that they knew the only way to heaven.
    And as always, when Jake visited Stuart and Alice, their beliefs and the church they attended weighed on his heart. But he knew he did a good job of hiding this fact, since she and her husband always welcomed him with open arms.
    "What brings you out on this cold January night?" Alice asked her father when he had settled himself on the sofa.
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    "Your sister. We're going camping this weekend, and Bobbie wants Paige and Wes to go with us." Jake would never have spoken so plainly if the children had been present, but he knew it was at least an hour past their bedtime.
    Stuart and Alice looked at each other for a long time. They, like Jake and Troy, had never considered the idea. Suddenly Alice chuckled.
    "Leave it to Bobble to come up with something like that."
    "She's pretty pleased with herself. She sent me be cause she was sure I could convince you."
    Alice chuckled again. "Well, this time she's going to be disappointed. Paige has a drippy nose and I think it's too cold for them to go camping."
    "Bobbie