One day， while walking with the girls， I stopped in at a local pizzeria to find outif I could get a cup of water for the baby. And then I saw him——muscular， handsomeand Italian. He was the most beautiful man I had ever laid eyes on！ I knew that Ilooked terrible， but still， he gave us a friendly smile. I asked him if we could havesome water， and he said to have a seat while he got it.<br> He brought over the water and started talking about how hard it was to raise afamily in this city. He left for a moment to answer the phone， and when he cameback， he brought a lot of food with him. More food than I had seen in the wholemonth！ I was so embarrassed. I told him that I didnt have any money to pay for it."Its on the house， "he said. "Only pretty ladies like you get this kind of treatmentthough."l thought he must be crazy！<br> We sat there for a while， making small talk. Then， he began asking questionsthat made me nervous. "Howd you get all those bruises on your face？ Why dontyou have a coat on？"Things like that. I answered as calmly as I could. He listenedthoughtfully. Then， he wrapped up the food and put it in the pocket of the stroller. Iwashed the girls up in the washroom， and I tried to clean myself up a little bit. Ilooked awful. We were not dirty though， just disheveled. On the way out， wethanked him and he said to come back anytime we wanted. I didnt want to wear outour welcome though. Winter was coming fast， and I either had to come up with asolution about a job， or figure out how I could get to Georgia to be with family. Weleft and started looking for a place to sleep for the night.<br> A little while later， as we wandered aimlessly， the baby spit up. I had seen theman put some napkins in with the food， and when I went to look for" one， I foundnine dollars folded up in a little wad. Maybe he acc/denta//y put the money/n therewhen he gave me the food， I thought. But I knew I couldnt accept it. So I turnedaround and started back to the restaurant.<br> There he was again. I told him that I had found this money， and I wanted to re-turn it. "1 put it there on purpose， "he said kindly. "Im sorry I didnt have more onme."<br> Why was he doing this？ An angel. That was my first thought. All I could do wasto stammer another embarrassed thank-you. "Bring the girls in tomorrow for lunch，"he responded. I was stumped ！ Why was he being so nice to us？ But with no otherhope， I agreed， said good-bye， and we started out again.<br> About halfway down the street， I could feel that we were being followed. Itmade me nervous because I had two children to protect. Quickly， I ducked into analley with the kids and tded to keep the baby quiet. She wanted to make noisethough， and there was no hushing her. I felt someone approaching and held mybreath.
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