Hope slipped onto the porch.
She had a lot to think about.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
THREE WEEKS. IT HAD BEEN three weeks since Ian had talked to or even seen Hope. He had to let her go. He just didn’t now how.
The bells over the door chimed. “I just ran into the realtor.” Rob sauntered in. “She said she sold Hope’s house last week. In three days. Hope priced it to sell. She’ll be singing the papers and then leaving on the twenty-first, just like she wanted.”
So it was done.
It wasn’t so much that he’d lost the girl. He could live with that. It was that she thought so badly of him. He could deal with the fact that she didn’t love him if she at least thought he was a decent person. Didn’t put him in the same category with her father and her old boyfriend and that loser from work.
Was there any way he could change that?
What was it she’d said he’d done? The job offer, the money, the kitten... well, he couldn’t take back telling her about the job, that was over and done with. The money ... if he hadn’t loaned her the money the law firm would have taken her car and her paycheck.
What about the kitten? He could offer to take the kitten for her. Find a home for her so she wouldn’t worry about it. Maybe that would prove to her he’d hadn’t meant to use the cat to keep her here.
That meant he had to go to her. Did she want to see her? Would she yell at him again?
She couldn’t think any less of him, could she?
“What do you want, Ian? You better not be here to try and talk me out of leaving.” She stood in the doorway, blocking his way.
“I just wanted to let you know that if it helps, I can take Muffin for you. I’ll find him a good home, so you won’t have to worry about her riding four hours in the car, or leaving her here in a shelter.”
Her face softened. “Oh. You can?”
He pulled at the collar of his t-shirt. “Yeah. And if you need help with anything here after you leave, you can let me know, or Rob, if you’d rather.”
“I think probably my real estate agent could handle anything I needed.”
“Oh, OK. Thought I’d offer, just in case.”
“Well, umm, thank you.”
“So, do you want me to take Muffin now, or do you want to wait until the day you leave?”
“Well, I hate to give him up, but I close the day after tomorrow, so I guess it makes more sense if you take him now.”
“OK.” Why did his shirt feel so snug?
“Why don’t you come on in and I’ll get his stuff together?” She opened the door and stepped aside.
Her perfume surrounded him as he passed her. He hadn’t realized how much he missed that.
“Have a seat.”
He perched on the edge of her couch, and she picked up Muffin and plopped him in his lap. Ian held him up. “Hey, boy. You coming home with me today?”
Muffin gently pawed his face while she banged around in the kitchen.
“Yeah, I wish you could stay, too,” he whispered.
Hope lugged out a flat-bottomed canvas bag full of Muffin’s belongings. “Here’s everything. I washed out the litter box and his food bowl, and there are some new toys. And here’s a carrier to keep him safe in the car.” She sat the blue and gray contraption on the coffee table. “He hates it, though.”
“You’ve used it?”
“I had to take him to the vet. To get his shots.”
His stomach soured. “Oh. I’m sorry. I didn’t think. I didn’t mean to cost you money.”
“It’s all right. He was worth it.” She scooped him out of Ian’s arms and buried her head in his fur. “I’m going to miss you.” Her words were garbled, but he could make them out. She placed the cat on the flap of the carrier, coaxed him in and zipped it shut.
She stood up, her eyes misting. “Ian?”
“Yes?”
“Why are you doing this?”
“Doing what? Taking Muffin?”
She nodded.
“I’m just trying to help you get home.”
“But I know you don’t want me to go.”
“Would I rather you stayed here? Maybe. I do care for you, Hope. And that means I want what’s best for you, and I want you to be happy. You want to go back to Bethesda, so Muffin needs a new home.”
“And what do you want from me in return?”
“In return?” Was she serious?
“Most people don’t do something nice without wanting something.”
“I just want you to be happy.”
“That’s all?”
“Well, one other thing.”
She rolled her eyes. “I knew it.”
“I want you to learn to trust God. Put your hope in Him.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
THE MILEPOSTS RACED BY HER on her way to the Bay Bridge. She’d forgotten how flat it was out here.
Her plants would be dead when she got home. She didn’t get anyone to water them. Who would she ask? She didn’t have any friends close enough who would come to her house for fifteen weeks in a row and water plants. Maybe if she’d been more active in church.
She should probably find a different one. Maybe one like Ian’s. Was it at church he’d learned to do the things he did? Did his parents teach him to be so selfless? So caring?
She turned Ian’s gesture over and over in her mind. He wasn’t a cat person. He’d told her that. And he admitted her wanted her to stay in Brandon Beach. Yet he took Muffin to his house so she could leave.
And expected nothing in return.
Two days later, she sat in the pew, alone. She didn’t know how to find a church like the one she’d attended in Brandon Beach with Ian, so she looked for one with a similar name. The music was familiar. She listened for a tenor voice like his, but there was none.
The sermon was about Hosea and Gomer. She tried to take notes, but she didn’t know what to write.
Maybe she could write down the verses the pastor referenced, and look them up again later.
After church she ate her burger and fries on the couch watching a chick flick. She started to call for Muffin and then remembered she’d left him in Brandon Beach.
She sighed and put her feet on the coffee table. It wasn’t the same without Muffin. She missed him curling up in her lap on lazy Sunday afternoons like this one, and chilly nights. Missed his meowing while she got ready in the morning. Missed him curled up at her feet while she wrote.
Who was she kidding?
She missed Ian. The Friday night movies and pizza. Mexican food in the middle of the week. Church on Sunday. His dimpled smile and blue eyes.
Was there a chance God had sent her to Brandon Beach? There were so many things that had lined up to cause her to end up there. The breakup with Chris. The fight with Steve. The residency requirement coming at just the right time. Then the job opening up there.
Coincidence? Or God?
But Ian said the job was only this semester. What then?
Put your trust in His unfailing love.
If this was God, surely He had something else planned.
She reached for her Bible. The notes with the Bible verses fell out. The pastor had taught from Hosea. Most of it had gone over her head. She never really read the Old Testament, but apparently the book was about Israel worshipping other gods. He’d started with chapter 10.
She skimmed the chapter listing the punishments God had in store for the unfaithful nation. Nothing she could use.
Then that familiar phrase popped out at her.
Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers His righteousness on you.
Was that a message just for her?
It is time to seek the Lord.
Did that mean she should go back to Brandon Beach? Trust Him to finish what He started?
Oh, God, please tell me what to do. If You want me to go back, plea
se let me know somehow. I want to trust in You. I want to have hope.
But I need You to show me how.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
FIVE MORE MILES. FIVE MORE miles and she would cross the city limits of Brandon Beach.
She’d prayed all day for four days. And every hour she felt more confident she belonged here. Would Ian still want her here? Would the job still be open? Where would she live? She had no answers to any of those questions.
She had never taken such a huge risk in her life.
She was putting her trust in His unfailing love.
Christmas Eve. Ian would probably be in church. She turned south, then left.
There were plenty of cars in the lot.
She parked in the last row and jogged, scanning every row for his Jeep. Not in this one, no ... no ... there—he must be here.
The last chorus of Silent Night was drawing to a close as she reached the door. She paced to the sounds of the pastor’s benediction.
Taking all three steps at once, she jumped off the landing and stood to the side. The double doors swung open. A few people wandered out, not in any hurry. Chatting, wishing Merry Christmas, hugging.
Come on ...
The crowd grew bigger and moved faster. Still no Ian. She chewed on her lower lip.
Wait...that was Logan, his brother. Wasn’t it? And his sister, Isla. She could ask ... no, she’d just wait.
She returned to searching the exiting church-goers. The crowd was thinning. Still no Ian. What was he doing in there?
A tap on her shoulder startled her. She looked over her shoulder. “Rob?”
“Hope? I thought you were in Bethesda.”
“I was. I came back.”
“To stay? To visit? For Christmas?”
“To stay, I hope. Ummm, is Ian here? I saw the Jeep.”
“Actually, he just left. He went out the side door.”
Her heart sank. “Where did he go?”
“Home. To our apartment.”
Now what? She’d never been to his place. They always watched movies at her house.
“I’m sure he’d be delighted to see you.”
“Are you sure?”
He chuckled. “Oh yeah. He’s so in love with you.” He grimaced. “Don’t tell him I said that. Go to him. I was going to his parents’ house, anyway.”
“He’s not going?”
“He was coming over in a bit. He’s a little ... down. Go. The apartment is on Third. Second floor.”
She got back in her Cruze. In five minutes she was outside his building taking deep breaths.
Three knocks—no one answered. Her heart sank. Maybe she’d been wrong all along.
Footfalls sounded inside. The doorknob turned, the door swung open.
“Hope. Wh -what are you doing here?”
“I came back.”
“Why?”
Why? Wasn’t he happy about it? “Well, I thought about what you said, and what Rob said, and I prayed about it, and I think it was God’s plan that I come to Brandon Beach. So...I’m hoping that the job is still open.”
“Come in. It’s cold out.” He closed the door behind her. Running his hand though his hair, he turned to face her. “You came back for the job?”
She shrugged off her coat and dropped in on a chair behind her. “If there are other things that are still available, I’ll take those as well.”
One corner of his mouth tipped up, revealing one dimple. “All of them?”
“Pizza nights, Mexican food ...”
His blue eyes sparkled. “Help from a friend?”
She nodded, smiling up at him.
“Kisses?” He closed the distance between them.
She giggled. “Oh, yeah.”
Hooking his fingers in the belt loops of her jeans, he pulled her against his chest. “I love you, Hope.”
“I love you, too.”
He lowered his head and covered her mouth with his, enfolding her in his arms.
He was warm and solid and real, and there wasn’t a doubt in her mind this was where she belonged. He laid his forehead against hers. “So I take it you’re not here just until Christmas?”
“Oh, yes, I am.”
His head popped up, eyes wide. “What?”
“Christmas fifty years from now.”
Laughter rumbled in his chest. “That, I can live with.”
Coming soon...
Journey to Cannan - Book 3
The Promises of Canaan
releasing late winter 2016
Forty years have passed since Israel crossed the Yam Suph. Their punishment is over, and the time to take the land is finally here.
Miriam is close to death. She wants to be assured the abused and abandoned young woman she has taken under her wing will have a good life, and she entreats Zadok to marry her. Zadok is the grandson of Bezalel, architect of the Tabernacle, and great-grandson of Hur, advisor to Moses. His family has been close to Joshua and Moses for generations, but he prefers to stay out of the limelight. It is this gentle spirit Miriam believes can help heal Abigail’s heart.
The Canaanite king of Arad has heard about the mighty deeds of Israel’s God, and fears he will be destroyed as Egypt was. He waits until Israel is on the move, and as they march north he launches a sneak attack and takes hostages. Zadok is one of those captured. The people of Israel match God’s promise of the land with one of their own: give us back our people, and we will utterly destroy this city.
Abigail has to learn to trust not only the people around her, but ultimately God alone.
Zadok must learn to step out of the shadows and fight for what he treasures. He must also learn to trust Abigail to God’s protection, since he cannot be there to guard her.
Arad has no idea who they are dealing with ...
excerpt from
Chapter One
Oasis of Kadesh-Barnea
Late winter
22nd day of Shevat
“You want me to what?” Zadok stared at the white-haired woman sitting beside him, her face as serene as if she had just asked him to pass her a cup of water.
“Marry her. I want you to marry her.”
“Why me? I’m sure there are any number of young men who would be more than happy to take her as a wife. I’ve seen her a few times. She’s very pretty.”
“She doesn’t need them. She needs you.”
“Needs me? What do you mean she needs me?”
Miriam’s eyes twinkled. “Are you going to repeat everything I say?”
Zadok jumped to his feet. “Are you going to tell me what you are talking about?”
“Sit down.” Miriam spoke without looking up or raising her voice.
Clenching his jaw, he took a deep breath and reclaimed his seat at the fire pit. The evening breeze drifting through the long rows of tents cooled his skin, but not his frustration. “You know what happened the last time I wanted to marry someone.”
Miriam flipped the manna cakes in the pan over the fire in front of her tent. Apparently satisfied they were nicely browned on both sides, she put two next to a handful of dates on a plate and handed it to Zadok. “Marah was a selfish, spoiled child. She didn’t want you for you; she had her own motives. That was obvious.” Miriam’s gray eyes held his.
Zadok’s breath hitched. That was the first time anyone—other than his immediate family—had ever placed the blame at the girl’s feet instead of squarely on his shoulders.
She grinned. “But you will be perfect for Abigail.” She put one cake on a plate for herself. “Abigail is ... has been deeply wounded. She has lived with me for three years now, and has healed much, but it is time for her to marry. She needs the gentle nature Yahweh gave you. She needs your shepherd’s heart, so her heart can fully mend.”
He shook his head.
“I have talked to Yahweh about this.”
He waited until a pair of priests passed by on the walkway between their row of tents and the outer wall of the tabernacle.
“You’ve talked to Yahweh?” He finished his manna cake and pick up the second. “Have you talked to her?”
“No, I wanted to speak to you first.”
Zadok pondered her words as he swallowed the sweet manna. “I cannot marry someone I do not love.”
“You will.”
Zadok blinked. “I will what? Marry someone I don’t love?” Could she possibly be ordering him to do that?
Miriam laughed. “No, no. You will love her.”
“How can you say that?”
Miriam waved her hand. “I know these things. This isn’t the first time I've done this. It’s just the first time I’ve been so open about it. I usually just ... nudge people toward one another. And I’m always right.” She set her plate down.
“Why be different this time?” He ripped a date in two and removed the seed, then handed her the meat.
“I don’t have much time left.” She popped the fruit in her mouth.
He studied her face, but he couldn’t tell for certain what that meant. Was she ... ?
“I’m failing. I can feel it. I want to know Abigail is in good hands before I go.”
Suddenly the manna felt like rocks in his stomach. “Does she know?” Why did he care? He barely knew her name.
A smile slowly crept over Miriam’s face. “Why do you ask?”
“I just know how close to you she is. This will be hard for her.”
“See? You care for her already.”
Zadok dropped the plate on the sand at his feet. “You may have been thinking about this for some time, but this is the first I’ve heard about it, and I need to think.” He slapped his hands against each other and stood. “I’ll let you know.”
He left her tent on the inner row and cut back into Judah’s section. He strode south through the tents of Judah and continued through Zebulon. As he walked, he tried to make sense of what he’d heard.
Just Until Christmas Page 7