by Mary Alford
As Grace walked into the sanctuary, Martha spotted her.
Facing her friend’s questions would be an almost impossible task, but she had to do it. Help me, Lord, Grace silently prayed as she slipped into the pew next to her friend.
“How is he?” Martha asked with concern.
“The same. The doctor says the next few days are critical.”
Martha patted Grace’s hand. “I’m glad you organized the prayer service. Jessup needs our prayers. So does Kyle,” she added.
Grace stared down at her hands.
“How’s he holding up?” Martha asked.
“He’s doing OK.” Grace was grateful when the pastor took to the pulpit and Martha’s attention shifted from her.
“As many of you know,” Pastor Mark began, “Our dear friend and church member, Jessup Moore, is in the hospital. He had a stroke late yesterday, and his condition is serious. We’ve called this prayer vigil for after the service because we believe God wants us to bring our worries to Him, and He still answers our prayers. For those of you who wish to stay, we’ll be praying for God’s will to be done in Jessup’s life. If you can’t stay, please keep him in your prayers.”
Grace had never attended a prayer vigil before, and it was a moving experience. As she listened to the heartfelt prayers of her fellow members she was filled with God’s peace. Jessup was in His hands. He would take care of him as only God could.
“Are you heading back to the hospital?” Martha asked once the service ended and they’d stepped out into the winter afternoon.
Grace couldn’t look her in the eye because she would blurt out to Martha what had happened between her and Kyle. “No. I think I’ll go home for a while. If anything changes, I’m sure we’ll hear about it.”
She started to leave, but Martha caught her arm. “Something has happened between you two, hasn’t it?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Grace mumbled.
“You do. What happened, Grace?”
“Nothing…”
“That’s not the truth. I can see something’s wrong.”
She finally looked at Martha. “I really don’t want to talk about it, Martha. I have to go. I’ll see you on Tuesday.”
Martha didn’t answer, but her look was compassionate and hurt at the same time.
Grace got in her car and left the church parking lot. She was behaving terribly with her friend. It wasn’t what Martha said that had upset her. It was what Kyle had done. Just thinking about it reminded her of how Nick behaved.
Nick was so sweet until he started drinking. Then he changed so drastically that she could barely conceive it was the same person. She’d since learned that was the nature of the disease. Drinking caused the behavior to be unstable. Volatile. She couldn’t go back to that type of life ever again. But what disappointed her the most was that Kyle wasn’t the man she believed him to be.
18
“It’s time to fix what you did wrong, Kyle. It’s time to move on. Make things right with her. With him.” He was dreaming. He knew that because he’d been talking to his dad, and then something had interrupted them.
“I will, Dad. I promise, I will,” he muttered, and then he felt it again. Someone squeezed his hand. They were trying to wake him, but he didn’t want to let go of his dad just yet because it was a sweet dream. He’d gone back to the time before his father had passed away. It had been a beautiful day, and they’d been sitting on the porch and talking a little, but mostly just enjoying being together.
“Kyle?” someone said his name softly.
“Dad?” he opened his eyes and looked around. He was sitting next to Jessup’s hospital bed. He’d fallen asleep clutching the old man’s hand. For a minute he’d thought…
“Wake up, boy.” Jessup said with only the tiniest of smiles on his face. Yet it was enough.
Kyle sat up straight. “Jessup? You’re awake.” Tears filled his eyes and spilled over, but he didn’t care. Jessup was awake. He was alive. He’d made it through the night.
“Of course I’m awake. I’m not done yet,” the old man chuckled.
Kyle leaned over and squeezed Jessup until he yelped.
“But I will be if you don’t stop that.” Jessup laughed harder.
Kyle was happy to join in. Thank You, God. Finally, it dawned on Kyle that he needed to fetch Jessup’s doctor. “I’ll be right back,” he told Jessup and then ran out into the hall. “Nurse! He’s awake. Jessup’s awake.”
The look of surprise on the nurse’s face told Kyle that no one had expected the old man to make it through the night. God was good. He had answered the prayers of His people. And Kyle had never felt more blessed or more humbled than he did right then.
Within minutes, the room filled with medical personal. None was more surprised by Jessup’s recovery than his doctor. After an extensive examination the doctor came out into the hallway where Kyle waited. “I can honestly say that in my thirty-plus years of practicing medicine, I’ve never had a patient recover so quickly or so completely. I think Jessup is one blessed man,” the doctor said with a smile a mile wide on his face.
“He is indeed,” Kyle readily agreed. “Can you tell if there’ll be any physical or mental damage?”
The doctor shook his head. “We’ll run some more tests, but right now, well, he seems mentally alert. And physically, too. I’m amazed.”
Kyle couldn’t stop smiling. “There’ll be a whole lot of people back home happy to hear this news.”
The doctor grinned as well. “I can only imagine. We’ll keep monitoring his vitals and run some tests, but I can say pretty confidently that Jessup will make a good recovery.” The doctor clasped Kyle’s shoulder. “I’d better get back in there and get started on those tests. Jessup’s ready to go home now. If I don’t show him some reason why he needs to wait, then I’m afraid he might just leave of his own accord.”
Kyle laughed and reached for his phone. He started to dial Grace’s cell number but stopped. She wouldn’t want to hear from him. He called Noah instead and told him the good news.
Noah finally stopped shouting and whooping for joy. “Tell him I can’t wait for him to get home. There’s so much I need to learn, and he’s the best teacher I’ve ever had.”
Kyle chucked at the kid’s answer. “I’ll do it. He’ll be thrilled to hear it.”
“You should have seen the folks who turned out for prayer meeting yesterday, Kyle. The church was packed. I saw Grace there. Have you told her yet?”
Kyle hesitated. He was pretty sure Noah had picked up on the tension between him and Grace but he wasn’t ready to air his dirty laundry just yet. “No. I’ll give her a call in a little while. I need to get back to Jessup right now.”
Would Grace even take his call? He understood why she was so angry. His actions reminded her of her ex-husband’s. He deserved her anger. He just didn’t want to lose her from his life completely because of it. He called the store and Martha picked up. “Martha, its Kyle. Is Grace there?” He held his breath and hoped she would take the call.
“No, she’s off today. Is there news on Jessup?” Martha said in her usual straight to the point way.
“There is. That’s why I’m calling. Jessup’s awake and the doctor seems to think he’ll be OK.”
“Oh, thank You, Lord,” Martha breathed the words aloud. “You had better call Grace. I know she’ll be happy to hear it.”
Kyle hesitated. “Well, I was hoping you could do that. She’s not too happy with me lately.”
“What did you do?” Martha demanded in her usual blunt way.
Kyle drew in a steadying breath and told her everything. “I know I messed up, but I was just so scared.”
Martha’s reaction was not at all what he expected. “I’ll go talk to her this morning. You just take care of Jessup.”
Kyle swallowed hard at the unexpected tenderness in a woman who had plainly resented him in the past. “I will. Thank you, Martha.”
****
Martha pushed her inside and closed the door. “Nothing bad. It’s good news, Grace. Kyle called. It looks like Jessup will be fine. He woke up and the doctor believes there’s no damage from the stroke. He’s going to be OK. God heard us and answered our prayers.”
Grace hugged her tight. “Thank You, God.”
She and Martha held each other for the longest time before Martha let her go.
“Now, tell me what’s going on between you and Kyle.”
Grace turned away. “Nothing. It’s nothing, really.”
“That’s not what he told me,” Martha said quietly.
Grace looked at her in surprise. Kyle had talked to Martha about them? “I really don’t want to talk about it.”
Martha sighed deeply, took her hand, and led her over to the sofa. “Come sit with me. I have something to tell you.”
The seriousness in Martha’s eyes scared her. “What is it?”
It took Martha a few seconds to answer. “I told you that I volunteer at a drug rehab place in Navajo Falls?”
Grace nodded, but she couldn’t seem to find her voice. She had never seen Martha look so serious.
“Well, that’s where Ed and I met.”
Grace stared at her in confusion. “You mean Ed volunteered there, too?”
Martha shook her head. “No, I mean Ed was a patient there, Grace.”
Stunned, Grace was shocked into silence.
“Ed had been addicted to cocaine since he was a teenager. He’d gone through countless times in rehab but it never took. It almost cost him his family and friends. He was married when he was twenty, and it ended badly because of the drugs. He lost everything. His home. His career. He was a broken man,” she said with pain in her voice, and her eyes started to fill.
“Anyway, when we first met, he’d been at the center about six months. We started talking and became good friends. Then when it was time for him to be released he asked if he could call me.” Martha smiled at the memory and shook her head. “Well, my first instinct was to say no, but then I thought he was a really sweet man. He’d told me this rehab was different because it was a Christian based center and that he’d become a Christian while he was there. He said he knew he was flawed, but that he was taking things day by day and trusting God to help him through it. So I agreed.”
Martha glanced at Grace. “That’s been five years ago, and I can’t imagine my life without Ed in it. We don’t tell people how we met, because it would embarrass Ed, but I’m not ashamed. I love him, and he loves me. We’ll work through whatever problems come our way together. I’m telling you this because I see the change in Kyle since he’s returned…and since he met you. He’s not the same man he was before. And he loves you. He may not have said it yet, but he does. Right now, he needs you to be strong for him when he can’t. And there’ll be more slipups. It comes with the territory, but he’s a good man, Grace. Don’t write him off because of something he did out of fear.”
Grace swallowed back the lump in her throat. She had to tell Martha everything about her life with Nick so that she could fully understand why she reacted as she did. And she did. And when she was done, she was exhausted from recounting the emotional turmoil she’d gone through. “Now do you understand why Kyle’s drinking scared me so much?”
Martha squeezed her hand. “I do. I had no idea you had been through so much heartache in the past. I wish I had. But none of that matters now. Kyle’s not Nick. If you give him a chance, he’ll prove that to you.”
Martha got to her feet. “Now, I’m going home to my husband. I pray you’ll give Kyle a second chance. Talk to him, Grace. He needs you.”
Grace walked her to the door. “Yes, you’re right, and I will soon. I think we have a lot to work out.”
19
Kyle showered, dressed as quickly as he could, and then headed for the door. Noah was waiting for him at the hospital. This was a big day. Jessup was coming home. Kyle had driven back to the house to make sure everything was ready for Jessup’s arrival.
Jessup would be using a walker until his full strength returned. Jessup hadn’t liked the idea of relying on a walker, but he’d finally given in when his doctor assured him it wouldn’t be for long.
Kyle grabbed his jacket and keys, opened the door, and almost slammed into Grace, whose hand was suspended in midair poised to knock.
Her hand flew to her heart. “Oh, my gosh,” she exclaimed.
Kyle was as surprised as she was. “Grace? What are you doing here?” He hadn’t seen her in more than a week. He knew she had been checking in on Jessup’s progress because the nurse told him, but he had been so caught up in taking care of everything that he’d left things alone with her. He was giving her time. He’d prayed to salvage something of their relationship. He loved her, but he’d take whatever she was willing to give him.
She stared at him for a long time. “You’re on your way out,” she said as if she finally noticed his keys in his hand. “Sorry, I’ll come back later.” She started to leave.
He couldn’t let her do that. “Wait, Grace, don’t go.”
She turned to look at him. There were tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry. I was so wrong to judge you. It’s just that I kept reliving the past and…”
He didn’t let her finish. He took her into his arms and held her close. He loved her so much. “Shh…it’s OK. I’m the one who should apologize. I screwed up and took the coward’s way out.”
She shook her head against his chest. “No, you needed me, and I let you down. I judged you instead of being there for you.”
He wanted to keep on holding her forever, but they needed to sort this through once and for all to put it behind them. Reluctantly he let her go. “Come on, let’s go inside. We have a lot to talk about.”
“Are you sure? I know you’re on your way to pick up Jessup. He must be so excited,” she said softly.
“He can wait a few more minutes. We need to talk.”
She nodded and waited quietly at his side while he unlocked the door. They went inside.
“Come sit down.”
She followed him over to the sofa but seemed to regret the decision. “No, Kyle, you should go to Jessup. I know he’s anxious to get home. We can talk once he’s settled in.”
He reached for her hand. “Jessup can wait a little while,” he said firmly. “You can’t. I don’t want there to be any misunderstandings between us ever again.”
She sat down once more and looked deep into his eyes. “I feel the same way. I was so wrong to judge you by my past.”
He pulled her into the circle of his arms. “It’s OK. I understand why you did what you did, but Grace, I love you. I know it’s too soon for you, but I love you and whether or not you’re ever ready for more than friendship with me, that’s OK. I just need you to understand something. I’m an alcoholic. I’ve struggled most of my life with it, and I’ll continue to struggle until the day I die.”
A sob escaped and she hugged him tight. “I know. And it’s OK. And I love you, too. I’m just…”
She loved him? His heart soared. There was hope still. He just needed to be patient. “I know. You’re not ready yet,” he finished the words she couldn’t say.
She nodded. “Yes...but I’m getting there. I have so much to t
ell you, but first I want you to know how sorry I am that I hurt you.”
He tipped her chin so that he could look into her eyes, and then he kissed her with all the passion and love that flowed in his heart. “I love you, Grace. And I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you. Whenever you’re ready.”
Epilogue
Nine months later…
He still couldn’t believe she’d said yes. He was the happiest man in the world.
They’d decided to marry on the first anniversary of when they’d met. It seemed fitting. Grace had never looked more beautiful than she did walking down the aisle on Jessup’s arm. The whole ceremony went by in a blur.
He said the correct words when the pastor instructed him to but he only had eyes for Grace. She would be his wife. Their future together looked so bright.
“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.” Pastor Mark beamed at him.
And he did. Right there in front of their entire church family, he kissed her with all the passion spilling from his heart. He just couldn’t help it. Life had never been this beautiful before.
And she kissed him back as well.
They’d gone through almost a year of learning each other’s secrets. And now there were none. They were just two people, once broken by life, who had been given a second chance.
He walked down the aisle with Grace’s hand tucked around his arm. Happiness overflowed so much he felt there was no room for more.
But he was wrong.
A young man in a uniform was seated alone in the next to the last pew.
It took Kyle a second to recognize him, but when he did he stopped dead in his tracks. “David?” he asked in amazement and watched as a younger version of himself got to his feet.
“Hello, brother.” David’s smile held no bitterness. Was it possible his brother had forgiven him for the mistakes of his past?
Kyle let go of Grace, grabbed David, and hugged him close. “You’re here. I can’t believe you’re here.” Kyle was weeping openly, but it was OK. David was here. He finally let his brother go long enough to look at him.