I'll Stand by You by Sharon Sala Read Free Book Online

virtue of birth alone, he would become a target. Sick to her stomach, she tossed what was left of her food in the garbage. She remembered Johnny Pine as a quiet, good-looking guy who always seemed too serious. Now she knew why. Her heart hurt for Johnny’s little brother, for her little guy, and for all children who become victims of someone else’s ignorance and rage.
    Now that she’d delivered her gossip, the waitress grabbed the bread basket.
    “Thanks, Walt. I gotta get back out on the floor, but I’m making a prediction now that nothing happens to those boys. When power and money is involved, it never does.”
    Dori thought of Johnny Pine’s lot in life as she began scraping plates. He’d been a couple of years ahead of her in school, but she didn’t remember him ever having a girlfriend or being involved in many school activities. With parents like his, he must have felt like he had a lot to live down.
    And then her shoulders slumped. Her parents had been decent people, just like her granddaddy. They had good names and good reputations. She was the one who’d messed all that up. The only thing she could do was never make that mistake again.
    Her steps were dragging by the time her shift was over, and it was still drizzling when she left the restaurant. She could call her granddaddy and have him come pick her up, but it was more trouble than it was worth for the time it took to get Luther bundled up and buckled into his car seat. Besides, it wasn’t far, and walking back and forth to work was the only time she had left that was her own.
    She sidestepped puddles as she walked, trying to stay beneath the overhangs of various businesses as she headed home. The wind was just strong enough to make holding on to the umbrella difficult, and so she kept it clutched tightly in her hands and pulled close to her head. Someone honked as they drove past, and she started to wave until she realized they weren’t honking at her and kept walking.
    A gust of cold wind blew rain against her pant legs. They would be soaked by the time she got home, but getting wet was not a problem, just a situation easily remedied. She thought of the little Pine boy again and wondered if Johnny was as afraid of his responsibilities as she was of hers. Luther meant the world to her, but he’d already started life with one strike against him. She had to find a way to make sure that her mistakes did not hold him back. She put her head down and kept moving at a fast clip, and by the time she got home and walked in the back door, she was both cold and wet.
    The house was quiet except for the television she could hear playing in the living room. She left her raincoat, umbrella, and wet shoes in the mudroom, and as she went to change clothes, she saw Granddaddy and Luther asleep in the recliner. When she saw the show they’d been watching, she smiled. Watching people hunt alligators was one of Meeker Webb’s favorite pastimes, and it must have agreed with Luther. He was sprawled out in his grandfather’s lap, relaxed as a cat sleeping in sunshine.
    She hurried to her room to change into something dry and then began gathering up a load of clothes. There were always clothes needing to be washed. As she worked, she added items to the growing grocery list and then decided to run the dust mop on the hardwood floors. It was a quiet job, and one that needed doing. By the time she had finished, both of her guys were waking up.
    When Luther saw her, he let out a squeal that woke Meeker. After that, there was no containing Luther. He wanted his mama, which meant whatever else she needed to do, she would be doing it with Luther riding shotgun on her hip.

Chapter 4
    Johnny took the boys home, put Beep to bed, and left Marshall sitting beside him watching TV. He went to the kitchen to make some coffee, and while he was waiting, he called Miss Jane at the Before and After to tell her they were with him.
    “Are they sick?” she asked. Jane considered it her