The Greatest Gift by Diana Palmer Read Free Book Online

we, Mom?” Bob asked gently. He smiled at her. “Dad didn’t think we could, I’ll bet.”
    The mention of her ex-husband made Mary uneasy. She’d been afraid at first that he might try to get custody of the children, just for spite. But perhaps he didn’t want the aggravation of trying to take care of three of them. Mary had never minded the responsibility. She loved her children, she enjoyed their company. As she looked at them, she felt so fortunate. Things got better every day.
    That evening, she and the children went to the homeless shelter to pick up the donated truck.
    “Can you drive it?” Bev asked worriedly, when she noted petite Mary climbing up into the high cab of the big, long bed, double-cabbed vehicle. It was red and a little dented, but the engine sounded good when it was started.
    “I grew up on a farm,” Mary said with a grin. “I can drive most anything, I expect. I’ll bring it back, but it will be late, is that okay?”
    “If I’m not here, George will be,” Bev assured her. “You keep the doors locked and be careful.”
    “Don’t you worry,” Sam Harlowe said as he climbed up into the passenger seat. “I may be old, but I’m not helpless. Mary will have help if she needs it.”
    “Sure she will,” Bob added, chuckling. “I play tackle on the B-team football squad.”
    “Good luck, then,” Bev called to them as Mary put the truck in gear and pulled out into the street.
    Mary stopped by the gas station. True to his word, the manager filled up the tank and even checked under the hood to make sure the truck was in good running shape. He checked the tires as well.
    “Thanks,” she told him.
    He grinned. “My pleasure. Drive carefully.”
    “I will,” she promised.
    She pulled out into the sparse traffic and headed toward the first of the five restaurants. “We’ll probably have to wait a while at first, until we get into some sort of routine.”
    “No problem,” Bob said. “We all brought books to read.”
    Sam laughed. “Great minds run in the same direction.” He pulled out a well-worn copy of Herodotus, the Histories, and displayed it.
    “I’ve got my piecework, as well,” Mary said, indicating a small canvas bag with knitting needles and a ball of yarn. “I’m making hats for people in the shelters. I can only knit in a straight line, but hats are simple.”
    “I wouldn’t call knitting simple,” Sam assured her.
    She laughed. “It keeps my hands busy. Okay, here we are,” she added, pulling into the parking lot of the first restaurant.
    The waiting was the only bad part. They had to arrive at or near closing time in order to gather the leftovers. On the first night, the last restaurant was already closed by the time they got to it.
    “We’ll have to do better than this,” Mary murmured worriedly. “I hadn’t realized how long it would take to do this.”
    “First times are notoriously hard,” Sam said. “We’ll get better at it. But perhaps we can find one more volunteer to go to the last two restaurants for us and pick up the leftovers.”
    “There aren’t a lot of volunteers who can work at night,” Mary fretted.
    “Listen, if things are meant to happen, the details take care of themselves,” Sam said. “You wait and see. Everything’s going to fall into place like clockwork, and you’ll wonder why you ever worried in the first place.”
    Mary glanced at him and was reassured by his smile. She smiled back. “Okay. I’ll go along with that optimism and see what happens.”
    Sam glanced out his window confidently. “I think you’ll be surprised.”

CHAPTER THREE
    A S THE DAYS PASSED , Mary and her helpers got more efficient at picking up the food and parceling it out. The truck ran perfectly, and Mary got better at managing her finances. She picked up two more cleaning jobs, which was the maximum she could fit into the week.
    Debbie, who’d loaned her the car, also suggested that a slight raise in her hourly rate would provide her