Sweet Blessings (Love Inspired) by Jillian Hart

and let the filtered sunlight from the reaching branches of the trees next door flicker over him. The rustle of leaves, the distant drone of a tractor, the hum of a passing bumblebee, the warm murmur of voices from inside the restaurant…these sounds soothed at the knot of tension he always carried with him.
    He felt better than he had in a long, long while. He took a deep breath, letting the clean country air fill him up. A movement through the leaves caught his attention—it was a kindly-looking elderly lady in the next house down the alley a ways. He watched her amble down her porch in a baggy blouse and jeans. The brightly colored garden gloves on her hands and the wide-brimmed hat shading her face told of her intentions.
    It was timeless, the picture she made as she knelt at her flowerbeds and bent to work. Maybe weeding, he decided, as she produced one of those metal claws from behind a bush and attacked the ground. A smoke-gray cat sauntered from the shaded porch and curled around the lady, who took off a glove to scratch beneath the feline’s chin.
    Heath could almost hear the contented purr. Or maybe it was the memory of how his grandmother used to tend her vegetable garden on hands and knees, humming one of her favorite tunes—she was always humming. And he was reminded of how she’d stop to indulge one pet or the other as well as hergrandson, whose baseballs often went astray in her flowerbeds.
    Those were good memories, and he ached from remembering in a different way. He’d been happy as a boy visiting them. And sitting here remembering made the agony within him ease. Not that he’d ever be happy. No, never that.
    The sisters were laughing again, their voices closer, coming from the kitchen by the sound of it. There was some clanging and a bang of cupboards, and then a triumphant, “I found it!”
    He wondered what they’d been looking for as the voices faded away to a distant murmur. They must have gone into the dining area.
    Quiet filled him. It wasn’t happiness, but it was something positive. It felt right that he was here, working for people who were honest and worked hard. And, judging from those roughnecks who’d caused trouble in the lonely diner at night, maybe he could do some good here at the same time. Keep a protective eye on the sisters while he built up his cash funds. It felt right to have the chance to do some good.
    It had been a long time since he’d made a difference anywhere.

Chapter Six
    â€œL isten up, bird, you don’t want to make a nest on my nice table. Really.” The woman’s kind words matched the gentle morning.
    From his place at the open window at the small table in the kitchen, Heath couldn’t see who was talking to birds this early in the morning but he recognized Amy’s voice.
    He shoved back his chair, neatly missing the refrigerator, and with cup of instant coffee in hand let his curiosity lead him downstairs and around the corner of the building. Maybe she could use some help.
    The rumbling rhythm of the train rolling down the steel tracks hid the sound of his footsteps as he rounded a tall hedge of blooming lilacs to the gate through the latticed fence around the outside eating area. Small climbing roses, their buds closed tight, clung to the tall crisscrossed wall, and beyond thegreen leaves and canes, he could see Amy’s profile as she cleaned up the beginning of a bird’s nest on one of the patio tables.
    The robin hopped from the corner edge of the wall to the top of a chair back. The red-breasted bird looked determined to build her nest. She carried a sturdy tuft of a twig in her beak. The creature did not move, even though Amy was only on the other side of the small metal table.
    â€œI’m sorry, this is my table. You can’t build a nest here. Besides, it’s not far enough off the ground. There’s a cat just across the alley.” Amy gathered up the last of the twigs the