by T. K. Chapin
Loving In His Way
His Tender Mercies: Book 2
T.K. Chapin
Copyright © 2019 T.K. Chapin All rights reserved.
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or locales is entirely coincidental.
This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with.
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Version: 12.15.2019
ISBN: 1675789622
ISBN-13: 978-1675789629
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Dedicated to my loving wife.
For all the years she has put up with me
And many more to come.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
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Acknowledgments
About the Author
Chapter 1
Praying her sister would make it over to her house safely, Courtney McAdams questioned God’s timing on her sister’s reappearance in her life. She had just finished her schooling to become a dental hygienist four months ago and started a job at Spokane Smiles last week. Having her sister reemerge only meant one thing to Courtney—drama. Her sister, Taylor, had two children and one on the way. Her little two-bedroom apartment would soon go from a quiet and tranquil refuge from the world to a place that was loud, chaotic, and full of uncertainty.
A knock soon sounded at the front door, and Courtney rose from the couch. Breathing a deep sigh as she walked, she prayed for strength for the coming moments and days ahead. Help me, Lord, she prayed as her hand turned the doorknob and opened it.
Seeing her sister face-to-face moved Courtney with compassion. Taylor’s blonde hair was disheveled, and a fresh open cut rested on her left cheek. Tears moistened her cheeks and mixed with mascara from her eyelashes. Her two boys were wrapped around each of her legs, Todd, age two, and Blaze, just barely one year old. With a diaper bag around her shoulder and a car seat in each hand, her sister looked like she had barely escaped Drake’s rampage with her life.
Courtney’s heart dipped into her stomach as guilt washed over her. She had only been thinking of herself, of her own discomfort in having her sister stay.
Taking a step toward her sister, Courtney crashed the threshold of the doorway and took hold of the car seats. She set them aside and then wrapped her arms around her sister and held her for a long moment. If only that hug could give her sister the love Courtney knew she needed.
“Thank you so much, Courtney.”
“It’s what family is for, right?” Pulling back from her sister, she wiped a tear from her cheek and then they all came into the apartment. Courtney shut the door. Going into the kitchen to heat water in the kettle for tea, she could hear her sister sniffling as she sat down in the living room. Turning her head, she saw Todd and Blaze stroking their mother’s hair and trying to comfort her. A wave of uneasiness rose up within her. It didn’t seem right that these little boys were in charge of helping their mother feel better. Exiting the kitchen quickly, she came over into the living room and to the two boys. She grabbed her nephews’ hands and guided the two of them down the hallway to the spare bedroom the three of them would be staying in. She hadn’t seen them in months, and although they didn’t seem to remember her, they weren’t afraid of her either.
She searched the room far and wide for something to keep the two boys occupied, but she didn’t have much in the way of entertainment for children. Finally finding some copy paper and pens, she set the two of them down on the floor and returned to the living room and kitchen.
Taylor wasn’t on the couch.
Suddenly, a scream sounded from the bathroom. Courtney’s heart soared as she turned and ran down to the door in the hall. Trying the handle, she found it locked.
She knocked. “What’s going on, Tay? You okay?”
“There’s blood! Lots of it.”
Courtney’s pulse skyrocketed. “What? What do you mean? Let me in!”
She stammered as she tried to speak through the crying. “He hit me in the stomach, Courtney.”
Trying the handle again, she started pounding. “Open the door, Taylor! Open the door!”
A moment passed and the door opened. Her sister’s face was downcast. Touching her belly, which wasn’t even a bump yet, she shook her head as her words tumbled out of her mouth, dripping with sorrow. “I don’t think my little bean is going to make it. It was dark blood.”
“We’ll get you to the hospital right now. Let’s go.” Grabbing her hand, Courtney started down the hall. “You head to the car. I’ll grab the boys.”
Courtney hurried down the hallway to the spare bedroom and opened the door. Blaze and Todd had been occupied by the paper and pens, but they had favored the pens. The two young boys had written all over the walls, bedsheets, and desk in a matter of minutes.
“Wow. The two of you really went all out in here. Silly boys.”
Scooping them up into her arms, she hurried out the bedroom and down the hall. Stopping in the living room, she grabbed the diaper bag and car seats and headed out to the car.
At the hospital they did blood work and an ultrasound and determined that the baby had indeed been lost. When the doctor broke the news to Taylor, she became distraught and so overwhelmed that she started groaning. Courtney took the boys down to the hospital cafeteria to get a bite to eat and let their mother digest the news.
Sitting in a booth with the boys as they ate their Pop Tarts, Courtney felt for the first time that evening that she could peel away and call her mother, Rhonda, who lived eight hours away in Blackfoot, Idaho. Staying within a few feet of the booth, she bit on a nail as she waited for her mother to answer.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Mom.”
“Courtney? Why are you calling so late? It’s ten o’clock at night.”
“I’m at the hospital . . . with Taylor.”
“Oh, no. What happened? What’d he do this time?”
Courtney’s throat clenched. She knew the words she had to say wouldn’t come easily or be enjoyable to her mother. She dug deep within her reservoirs for courage but came up empty.
“Hello? Courtney? Are you there?”
“Yes, I’m here.” Wiping her eyes of stray tears, she shook her head. Lord, strengthen me . . .
“What happened? Did he hit her again? Some father he’ll be to that new baby!”
“She lost the baby, Mom.”
The airwaves went silent between them.
Just then, a Pop Tart hit the floor of the cafeteria, sliding as it landed near a rack of potato chips. Glancing over, she saw Blaze jumping up and down on the booth excitedly
as Todd giggled hysterically. Courtney’s mind flashed back to the living room in her apartment and seeing those two boys comforting their mother. The pained faces on the young children’s faces as they tried to mend their broken mother back together. That wasn’t their job. Their job was to be children, to have fun. Suddenly, she got a sick feeling in her stomach.
“I’m sorry, Mom, but I have to go.”
A long-winded sigh sounded from the other end of the call and then her mother’s tone sharpened. “Is Taylor done with that buffoon yet? Or is killing their child okay with her too?”
“I’m sure she’s done with him, Mom. Pray for her. I’ll keep you updated.”
Getting back up to the hospital room a short while later, her heart and steps stopped short when she saw Drake standing by her sister’s bedside. He was holding her hand.
“Daddy!” the boys shouted in unison as they went into the room toward Taylor’s abuser and not their biological father.
“Hey, my dudes!” As Courtney saw Drake drop to his knees and embrace the two boys, her insides somersaulted as her anger waxed hot and that feeling in her stomach grew in size.
Trying to keep things civil, Courtney smiled politely at him and asked for a moment alone with her sister. Drake willingly went out into the hallway with the boys. Coming closer to her sister’s hospital bedside, she began to cry and shake her head.
“Why’s he here, Taylor?”
“I called him. He lost his child too.”
“Are you kidding me right now?” Courtney shook her head as she took a step back and pointed to the door. “It’s his fault! You could’ve died too!”
“You’re being dramatic. I was being really mean to him. You don’t understand at all.” Taylor looked past Courtney toward the door. “He’s the father those boys never had.”
“Because he’s not their dad!” Shaking her head, Courtney tried to reason with her. “Please don’t do this, Taylor. You can’t trust a man who abuses you.”
“He said he was sorry. It won’t happen again. It’s not like it goes on all the time or anything. You’re being dramatic.”
“But I don’t—”
“Enough!”
The shout rippled through Courtney’s chest, cutting to the core of her heart.
“It’s not like you really wanted us all staying in your apartment, anyway.”
“You’re right! But you’re family and we watch out for each other, and I’m telling you that Drake isn’t done.”
“I don’t want to hear it anymore! I’m sick of it!”
“He hit you less than a few hours ago! And killed your baby!”
“Get out!”
“What?”
“I said get out of here. Leave me alone.”
“Fine.” Grabbing her purse, Courtney dried her cheeks and exited the hospital room. Walking over to the boys, she got down to their eye level and hugged them tightly as she prayed over them. Lord, protect them. Protect these innocent little lives, Jesus. Somehow, deliver them out of this. Then, she did the impossible. Peering into their innocent eyes, she smiled. “I love you, boys. I’ll see you around. Okay?”
“Love you!” they both said to her.
Standing upright, she couldn’t even look at Drake. She started down the hall toward the exit, but Drake called out to her. “I need the car seats.”
“I’ll bring them in.”
On the drive back to her apartment a short while later, she thought about calling her mother but decided to let her sleep, at least for tonight. Arriving home, she walked into her apartment and the silence was a painful reminder. A reminder that she wasn’t interested in her sister staying just a few short hours ago and now, she’d give anything to keep her sister and those boys protected there with her. Grabbing a bottle of cleaner and a washcloth, since sleep was the last thing on her mind, she went into the spare room and started cleaning the artwork Todd and Blaze had left all over the room. After she finished the walls, she stripped the bed of the sheets and threw them into the wash, then began on the desk. As she finished, she had a layer of sweat on her forehead. Wiping the sweat with her forearm, she sat down in the office chair.
She was reminded of how her husband, Drew, had used that same desk for years. She recalled when they first got it when they lived in their house out in Nine Mile Falls, a small community outside of Spokane. Since the day they got the desk until the day he died, he’d sit for hours in his study, writing sermons and stories and reading his Bible.
Opening the lower right drawer, she saw a stack of his journals. He would write prayers and conversations he’d had with God in them. In the two years since his passing, Courtney hadn’t been able to read much of them. Each time she’d start, her heart would crumble into a million pieces and she’d break down.
Retrieving one from the drawer, she opened it up and began to read.
6/8/2010
Bible reading: Genesis 13-18
Focus: Abraham had a lot of waiting to do when it came to the Lord’s will being accomplished through his son Isaac’s birth. He had to trust God, and Abraham’s belief was credited to him as righteousness. Not his doings or conduct, which weren’t perfect by any means, but his faith was the key component to pleasing God.
Prayers:
My first prayer of today is for my wife, Courtney. We received the news yesterday that I am unable to have children, and I know it pains her more than it pains me. Though I am glad it is me and not her, I can’t help but worry about her heart, Lord. We had dreamed of one day having children, and I know she has dreamed of having a family since she was a little girl. In this way, my heart continually drifts to worry for her, yet I know in my soul that You are in full control of my life, of our life. Help this disbelief that is lodged in me and in Your servant’s heart. Help me become more surrendered to You not only in this way, but in all ways, Lord. I pray for my wife that she is comforted in her heartache. Only You can wipe away those tears in her soul. Strengthen her heart, Lord, and help me to love her more like You love the church.
Stopping as it was too hard to continue, Courtney peered up at the ceiling and shook her head as tears streamed down her cheeks. “Why’d You have to take him from me, Lord? What was the purpose?”
Instantly, she was reminded of her late husband’s words at his own father’s funeral years ago. “Nobody is ours, but on loan from God.”
She thought of her sister and those two precious little boys and then prayed again. “I need Your strength, Lord. My heart gravitates toward worry when it comes to my sister and those two innocent children. What I saw in such a short time tonight was heartbreaking and disturbing. Let my heart lean on You. Help me to trust in You. Protect those three, Lord. Protect them.”
Replacing the journal in the drawer of the desk, she shut it and left the room.
Courtney didn’t hear from Taylor for four months afterward, and her sister hadn’t returned her calls during that time either. Then late one night in October, pounding on her front door sounded in the middle of the night.
She awoke in a panic-stricken state and glanced at the alarm clock on her nightstand. It was just after midnight. Slipping her robe on, Courtney went out and answered the door.
Her sister was crying but not wounded this time.
“I’m homeless, Courtney.” Setting her hands on the top of her two sons’ heads, she peered into Courtney’s eyes. “We’re homeless.”
“Come in.”
Courtney had to work the next day, so right after getting them situated in the spare bedroom, she went back to bed.
The next morning, after she was done getting ready for work, she was pouring a cup of coffee quietly as her sister slept on the couch. Hearing her sister’s phone suddenly buzz on the coffee table, she walked into the living room and glanced at the screen. It was a notification from an app. She was about to turn and leave when she caught sight of a needle next to the phone on the coffee table. Her heart dipped as she recalled Taylor’s checkered past and her bout of drug u
se after losing their father, Frank, four years ago.
Peering down the hallway toward the spare bedroom where the boys were sleeping, she hesitated to deal with it in the moment. If she forced her sister out right then, the boys would be homeless too.
She left the apartment and walked out to the parking lot.
As she walked toward her car, her mind bombarded her with thoughts. What if the kids wake up? They could get the needle and hurt themselves. You have drugs in your home! You have to get to work, and you can’t take another sick day after that week you missed a month ago for strep throat.
Then her mind went quiet and one thought came into her consciousness. What would Drew do? Knowing he would turn to the Bible, she thought of Proverbs 3:27. Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act. She slammed the car keys into her purse and headed back to the apartment. Peering up at the sky, she shrugged. “I don’t know how this is all going to work out, but I’m going to trust You, God. Trust that everything is somehow going to work out.”
Going back into the apartment, she shut the door quietly behind her and dropped her purse beside the couch. Taking a knee on the carpet near her sister’s face on the couch, Courtney gently shrugged her awake.
“What do you want? I’m so tired.”
“There’s a needle on my coffee table.”
Taylor jerked her body upright and plucked the needle from the table. Rising to her feet, she hurried over into the kitchen and threw it away.
“Sorry, I’m on insulin . . .”
Courtney stood up and went into the kitchen. Her eyes tried to capture her sister’s attention. “Taylor.”