Dreaming of His Pen Pal's Kiss - Jessie Gussman Page 0,1
answer for a moment, and she gave him time. He’d warned her from the beginning that Alex probably wasn’t right for her. Not in so many words, but anytime she’d gone to him for advice, his advice would have turned her away from Alex.
To her shame, she hadn’t usually listened and hadn’t gone to him as much as she probably should have anyway.
Her dad breathed deeply and straightened the pen in front of him that was already straight before looking up at her. “This was a little different. And I think there’s potential on both ends for things to go badly, so while I know that you have never had a problem obeying the rules, I’m going to remind you. It is imperative that you not use your real name and that you not ask for theirs.”
She nodded. She’d not broken any of the pen pal program’s rules, and she didn’t plan to.
“It’s also important that you don’t give too many identifying details about your life.”
He smiled, the love he felt for her reaching deep inside and swirling around her chest. From the very beginning, she’d never had a doubt about how Race and Penny felt about her. It was amazing that they loved her no matter how stupid she was. How many dumb mistakes she made. And how often she messed up and didn’t listen.
After the debacle with Alex, she couldn’t imagine her dad giving her advice that she didn’t follow.
“I suppose I’m a little overprotective of you, because not only are you my daughter, but you’re the youngest. I know you’re all grown up now, able to support yourself, and you don’t need your old dad anymore...”
“I need you, Dad. Don’t ever say that I don’t. I would have avoided a lot of heartache in my life if I would have listened to you.”
“Water under the bridge.” He shook his head and reached his hand out across the desk. She put hers in it easily. Race and Penny had never hesitated to hug them or touch them, and she appreciated it. It was part of what made her feel loved.
“Regardless. Your advice means everything to me. Whatever you say, I’ll do it to the best of my ability.”
“Thank you. I know you will. You were such an easy child to raise. And you’ve grown into such a wonderful woman. But I don’t want to see you hurt. And...” He looked down at the name in front of him. “I think this person is vulnerable too. I know you would never do anything to harm them on purpose, and I don’t think that most people would look at this person and see how fragile they are, but I just want you both to be careful. At least for a year. If you’re still writing after that time, I think it would be safe to say you could probably open up a little more.”
He said the last slowly, like he hadn’t quite thought it through. His eyes were on the calendar, and Journee’s eyes landed there too.
February seventh.
The rest of the world would be celebrating Valentine’s Day tomorrow, but not in Mistletoe, Arkansas. For them, it was Christmas year-round.
“I don’t have a problem with that, Dad. No identifying details, and no names, and no real address, until we’ve been writing for a year.”
She looked down, running her finger over the picture frame on her dad’s desk that held the first picture of their family that had ever been taken. Race and Penny stood behind them with Ethan, whom they’d never adopted but had lived with them for a while, with Journee and her five siblings in front.
A hodgepodge of people maybe, but she loved that picture, because it represented a new beginning. She thought her birth parents would smile at where their children had landed and what God had done for them.
Still, Race hesitated, and she felt she needed to say something. “Dad, if you don’t think that this is something I should do, don’t give it to me.”
He was silent for a bit, although the air around them was alive. Sounds of children from the daycare playing on the playground outside came muffled through the window, and ladies’ laughter from the Bible study down the hall seemed to seep under the door.
That was one of her favorite things about the church. She could go into the sanctuary and just feel the stillness and peace of God, and she could walk out of the sanctuary and feel the life and