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It’s never too late to find the love of a family.
Elise Gilpatrick has never been a mother, so why did think she could be a foster parent? She knows she’s in over her head when her first emergency placement, a teenage girl named DJ, comes over in the middle of the night fresh from the police station. DJ is harder to love than anyone Elise has ever met, but as the two navigate their newly formed bond, they must be willing to trust in God, and each other, to overcome the brokenness of the past and create something beautiful in its place.
Keep scrolling to read the first chapter of this book.
ONE
Saturday, May 20
9:45 AM
DJ BIT her lip and tasted blood. Trees whizzed by the car window as Judy accelerated.
The red-faced woman let out a tight sigh.
Just say it.
The car flew over a bump, rattling DJ’s teeth.
Judy pressed her foot closer to the floor.
Say it.
DJ squeezed her eyelids together until stars sparkled at the edge of her vision. Her heartbeat sped up along with the car.
Judy blew out another breath.
And here it comes.
“He was eleven, DJ. Eleven. Look at me.”
DJ opened her eyes and pivoted her head toward the slender woman in the driver’s seat. She may be small, but even grown men shriveled beneath her stare.
“What did he do to deserve a black eye? He’s just a kid.” Judy directed her attention back to the road. “I mean, you can’t solve all your problems with violence. You need to try other avenues, okay? This was your fifth placement this year. Fifth! They were a nice family, weren’t they?” She massaged her temple and let her hand drop into her lap before muttering, “I’m getting too old for this.”
DJ rolled her eyes and sealed her mouth shut. It didn’t matter what she said to defend her actions. Because no one ever listened. Never had. Never would. She swallowed and closed her eyes again, resting her head against the car’s leather seat.
Judy clicked her tongue. “Be glad Mr. Anderson was more embarrassed his son got slugged by a girl than Mrs. Anderson was bent on your arrest. You’re too old to get away with these immature outbursts, DJ. Next time, you might not be so lucky. You’ll end up in County wishing you’d learned to like beans and rice because that’s all you’ll be eating until they let you out!”
DJ kept her sigh inside, not daring to make a noise and incur another hundred words. She imagined herself shrugging. What was she supposed to do? Let the little jerk and his middle school friends lock her in the dog pen with those blood-thirsty beasts? They’d laughed when they saw the panic in her eyes. They made fun of her. And they taunted her using her full name. She lost control. It wasn’t her fault the rage took over. So in a flash, Family Number Thirty-Two was behind her.
Now she was on the road again, her black garbage bag cradling everything she owned and bouncing along in the back seat. Her one constant.
She tried to stop wondering where she was headed next. It didn’t matter, though the curiosity and anxiety had tickled the back of her brain as soon as she stepped off the Andersons’ property. It didn’t make a difference if she knew or not, she reminded her wobbly knees. It wouldn’t make her feel any better if Judy said, “a family of five with three adorable little girls” or, “an older woman who has
fostered seventy kids and has eight grandchildren your age.”
Knowing wouldn’t erase her worries. Knowing wouldn’t solve her problems.
Besides, she wouldn’t be staying wherever it was for long. It was only an emergency placement. Every time the main office located an empty bed and a live human willing to cash a check for her sake, it was a miracle. No one wanted a fifteen-year-old with anger issues and a truckload of emotional baggage setting foot in their home.
No one wanted her setting foot in their home.
No one wanted her.
She set her jaw, ignored the burning in the back of her eyes, and tried not to think about her problems.