by T. K. Chapin
As he left the hospital room, Olivia glanced out the window of her room and thought of the shadowy figure from last night. Pressing her eyes shut, she thought of the stranger. The fragments of the memory she held were like those of a shattered mirror. A piece here, a piece there, with no clear understanding of exactly who was there or what had happened. All she could focus on was the warmth she felt as he carried her when she could not walk.
Chapter 4
SITTING AT A TABLE ON the patio just outside the lower-level living room of The Inn At The Lake, Tyler sipped on his mug of coffee and read his Bible. He was reading in the book of John that particular morning. While he read, his thoughts kept drifting to last night and how he had rescued that woman from the burning car. Unable to concentrate any longer, he returned the slip of paper marking his spot in the Bible and closed it. Peering down at his hands, he fixed his eyes on the scrapes and scratches he had gotten from what had transpired. Then, Olivia’s sea-blue eyes invaded his thoughts, causing his heart to ache, knowing how frightened she had been.
Lifting his eyes to the morning sky, he closed them tightly and held out his arms. He poured himself out in prayer. “Lord, I am in Your hands. My life is clay and You are the Potter. Lead me in the direction I should go and I will trust You.” He paused, thinking about the strength he’d felt surge through his muscles to heave the woman out of the burning car and drag her away from it, all happening moments before the explosion.
He continued his prayer. “I know it was Your strength that enabled me to do what I did last night. You saved her, not me. You are the one with the power, the strength, and You deserve all the glory, here and now, and through eternity.” Then, tears welled in his eyes as his heart clung to Olivia’s sea-blue eyes in his mind. He clung to her beauty as he held her image in his thoughts. His voice broke apart as his selfishness bubbled within him. “Remove my yearning to go find her, to see her, to want to be with her. I know she’s married, Lord. I know Your will would never entangle me with a married woman.”
A little while later, at eight o’clock, the rest of the house was awake and Tyler found his way upstairs to the dining area for breakfast. Greeted by Charlie, the husband of Serenah, whom he had met last night at the door, he quickly fell into conversation about the events of the night prior. He went into great detail but made sure to give credit to God.
“It was a God thing for sure.” Tyler raked a hand through his hair. “We could’ve both died in my attempts to save her.”
“But you didn’t.” Charlie took a long drink from his coffee and set it back down on the table beside his plate of half-eaten eggs and toast. “God works in miraculous ways, Tyler. When I think of God at work in our lives, I think of the ants. They are always on the move, always working, and God is no different. Sometimes, it takes time to see what God is doing, but He is always up to something in our lives.”
Just then, little Emma, Charlie and Serenah’s daughter, came skipping through the dining room and went straight outside through the open French doors that led out to the patio. Tyler peered over and watched her as she pulled three small ponies from her sparkling pink purse and set them on the patio’s railing just outside the door. Emma reminded Tyler a lot of his brother’s little girl, Rose. In a few years’ time, she’d be just as old as this girl.
Turning his attention back to his conversation with Charlie, he shifted his thoughts away. “I read in the pamphlet that there was good fishing to be done on this lake. Where would I rent a fishing pole?”
Charlie tipped his chin toward the lake. “There’s a shed down by the dock that has a few poles and tackle boxes. You can get a box of worms up the road at the gas station.”
Serenah walked into the dining area from the kitchen and chimed in. “We had a guest catch a huge trout right off the dock last month. If you want to go out and fish, you can use one of the canoes down by the water too. Whatever you want to do.”
He thought of years ago when his Uncle Jack took him out on Bear Lake for a fishing trip. It was merely four months before his uncle passed away, and that last memory with him held a special part in Tyler’s heart. They had bonded over worms and silence in a cheap metal boat. Tyler looked over at Serenah.
“Thank you. I’ll be here for a couple of days so I’ll probably do both. Where’s a good place to eat for the meals I don’t get here in the morning?”
Charlie adjusted in his seat and pulled out his wallet. Opening it up, he handed Tyler a couple of coupons for a place called Dixie’s Diner. “Best burger in the state.”
Playfully slapping him in the arm, Serenah rested her hand on her husband’s shoulder as she smiled. “He’s just saying that because we have a vested interest. We own the diner.”
Tyler smiled and pocketed the coupons. “Thank you, and Serenah? The breakfast was amazing. You were right about that Amish butter adding flavor. You know, this inn is quite the awesome place to stay. So peaceful and calm and quiet. It’s a delight so far.”
“Aw, I’m glad. We hope you enjoy your stay, Tyler.” Serenah took his empty plate and left back toward the kitchen. Charlie stood up and shook hands with Tyler.
“It was nice meeting you. I’ll see you this evening for songs by the fire pit down by the lake?”
“Count me in.”
Leaving the dining area, Tyler returned downstairs and to his room to get his wallet.
After his trip to the gas station to get bait, Tyler headed down to the shed by the lake to find a fishing pole. Upon opening the shed doors, an earthen musky smell wafted through the dark and cramped space. He could see inside the shed and saw gardening tools and a wheelbarrow, and then, there in the corner beside the old wooden shelving, sat three fishing poles and two tackle boxes. Maneuvering his way inside, he stepped over a flower pot, a couple of bags of fertilizer, and then finally arrived at the fishing equipment. Lifting a fishing pole, he inspected it. The handle was in great shape, the spool functional, and each guide was in good shape. There was even a weight already attached to the fishing line. The only thing missing was a hook. Propping the pole up against the shed’s wall, he opened the tackle box and used his phone’s flashlight to search for hooks. He found a package of hooks. Closing the tackle box, he latched it shut and took it, along with the pole, out from the shed.
“Hi, Tyler.” An angelic voice startled him from behind.
Turning around, he immediately recognized the woman from the wreck last night. He stumbled and dropped the pole in his hand, his heart immediately beating faster than it had in a long time. Bending down, he picked it up and stood upright, trying to slow his breathing down at her sudden appearance.
“Olivia.” He tried to sound calm and collected, which was anything but how he was feeling at the moment.
“You know my name?” Tilting her head to the side, she looked at him with a curious expression on her face.
“Yes, you told me last night. How did you find me here?” Seeing her hands wrapped, an arm in a sling, and proof of the wreckage all over her body, Tyler shook his head. “Wait, why aren’t you at the hospital?”
“I’m on my way home now. I just had to find you and say thank you. I called the police and they gave me your name, so I looked you up and found your business number, and your outgoing voicemail said you were here. You know, you shouldn’t give so much information on your whereabouts.”
His heart beat even faster. She looked more beautiful than he had recalled her looking in the low lighting of the night. She crooked her head to the side, adding a little bit of playful attitude to her comment. Snapping out of his thinking, he glanced over her shoulder. The thought that her husband must be waiting for her made him refocus. “You’re probably right, but at least it did some good. After all, you found me. Anyway, you’re welcome for rescuing you, but the truth is that it was all God. He just used me as a tool to help you in a time of need.”
She looked dismayed by the mention of God. “God? How could you even mention God? If He existed, He was the one
who left me there to die in a field until you came along.”
With that one sentence from her lips, Tyler would have suspected his attraction and desires for her would be gone, but they didn’t go away so easily. “He works in mysterious ways, Olivia. Your husband up there waiting for you? Maybe you should be going.”
“What? I’m actually in the process of a divorce, not that it’s any of your business.” What looked to be confusion littered her face as she continued to stare at him.
“Oh.” Tyler felt his insides leap with joy at the mention of a divorce. He blushed inwardly at his excitement over such a matter. He knew divorce wasn’t something to be happy about. He felt ashamed of himself and prayed for forgiveness for the increasing selfishness he felt around this woman. He peered into Olivia’s sea-blue eyes a moment later. They held glints of sadness he hadn’t seen before. “I’m sorry to hear that. Divorce is ugly.”
A light laugh escaped her lips and she turned her head. “Don’t be sorry for me. He just wasn’t the one.”
“The one?”
“Yeah, you know, the one who would make me happy and treat me right forever and always.” Her gaze shifted over her shoulder, then back at Tyler. “Hey, I need to get going. My husband may not be here, but my parents are waiting. Again, thank you. The police said the car exploded and I wouldn’t have made it out without you.”
As she walked away from him, he was moved in a way that he didn’t like. He felt an intense desire for her to stay there with him. The feeling was similar to last night when they were loading her in the ambulance. He started to be suspect of his feelings about this woman. Maybe they had been brought on by the sheer fact that they had met when both of their lives hung in the balance. Tyler didn’t understand exactly what was going on inside him or why he’d be attracted to someone who loathed the idea of God, but he was, and not only that, but she brought out a selfishness in him he did not like seeing.
When she walked away that day from Tyler at the inn, she didn’t leave without leaving something behind inside Tyler. It was a pebble-sized rock of discomfort lodged in the very depths of his soul. The discomfort was brought on by his desires and his selfishness to want to be with her, despite her hatred of God. It drove him mad knowing that such a beautiful woman was saved from death’s grip by God and yet was filled with the darkest of darkness. She had spoken evil of Tyler’s Savior, and it was like rottenness to his bones, yet he still felt an attraction toward the woman. Why? Why didn’t God let his attraction fade away at the very moment she’d voiced her disdain for his Creator?
After she left, he walked away from the spot where he was standing and tried to push the thoughts of her away from his mind. He traveled the rest of the way down to the dock and strolled across the planks. Coming to the end of the dock, he placed the tackle box down and sat down beside it. He grabbed the end of the fishing line and propped open the tackle box. Pausing for a moment before he grabbed the package of hooks, he bowed his head. Thank you, Lord, for all that You do. I don’t know why You saved her or why You used me to do it, but You do know why. I pray that Your will be done in her life and that she finds You, Lord. Amen.
Chapter 5
A WHIRLWIND OF THOUGHTS SPUN together in Olivia’s mind on the way up the hillside next to the inn toward her parents’ car. She hadn’t expected Tyler to be so attractive or so misguided. Mama and Dad would be thrilled to hear he believes in their God, she thought with a sting of indignation in her heart. She just wanted to thank the man, and he had to go and give all the credit to God. If God really existed like everyone around her seemed to think, He wouldn’t have let her be hurt so often and so frequently by the men in her life and He surely wouldn’t let her almost die in a car wreck last night. What kind of loving God would do such a thing? Or maybe that was punishment for my sins, she thought grimly for a second before brushing the thought far away from her.
Her mother held open the car door for her and she climbed into the back seat. Olivia peered down at her wrapped hands, and as the car backed out of the driveway, she shifted her thoughts away from Tyler and to her injuries. She knew she wouldn’t be using her hands anytime soon. Hot tears filled her eyes as she stared out the window and rested her wrapped hands against her belly where her child was growing. If there was a God out there like Tyler and her parents thought there was, He sure was cruel.
After a few minutes, her father caught her gaze in the rearview mirror and struck up a conversation.
“Once you’re healed up, my buddy Gus at the car lot has a job for you as a receptionist.”
She smiled. “That’d be great. Thanks, Dad.”
“How’d it go with Tyler?”
Her heart jumped when Tyler’s face flashed in her mind. He was handsome, strongly built, and obviously, a white knight, the way he ran toward her wrecked car. She didn’t want to give her parents the satisfaction of knowing he was a Godly man, for she feared they would push her to stay in touch with him moving forward. She didn’t want that. So, she steered the subject elsewhere, to one that she couldn’t avoid forever even if she tried. She knew it’d drop the Tyler talk straightaway.
“I’m pregnant.”
The cares for Tyler vanished as she had predicted, and her father pulled the car over to the side of the highway leading back to Spokane. Trembling, he opened his car door and got out, slamming the door behind him. She watched as he started to travel down the shoulder of the road. He was distraught and flailing his arms about wildly. Her mother turned in her seat to look at Olivia, a pity-ridden expression on her face that made Olivia feel worse than she already did.
“Don’t mind your father. He’ll be happy in time. A new life is always a celebration, but sometimes, the circumstances can just be . . . unfortunate. You understand?”
Heart aching, hand resting on her belly, and tears rolling down her cheeks, Olivia nodded.
Kora turned to face forward in the car. Neither of Olivia’s parents had to say much to her to communicate all the disappointment and sadness the news had brought to them. Sure, her mother tried to comfort her in that moment, but it did little to ease the hurt Olivia felt on a deep level. Then again, a lot about her parents hurt.
It’d be difficult to raise a child on her own and without the child’s father’s daily involvement, but she could manage it, couldn’t she? Doubts began to blossom in Olivia’s mind, in her heart. How would she feed the child? Provide a home for the child? She knew her parents’ love would last mere weeks before it ran cold and she was sent packing out the door again. Then what? Her gaze found her hands, her broken and destroyed hands that were of no real use now. Fear rippled through her whole being like a storm crashing on a shoreline. What am I going to do? The thought sent a terrified sensation to the core of her being.
At her parents’ house, after settling into her old bedroom from her childhood that had since been converted into a guest bedroom, she called her mother.
“Mom?” Her mother came in. “Could you call Rach for me and hand me the phone?” Rachel was the one who’d warned her not just about Bruce, but about all men and how they were the same. Rachel was more of a best friend than a cousin, and it had been years since they last spoke—again, because of her relationship with Bruce.
“Sure, honey.” Picking up the old-school rotary phone, her mother dialed Rachel and then placed the phone on the pillow beside her ear. As her mother left the room, her cousin picked up on the other end of the phone.
“Hey, Rach.” Olivia’s voice was hesitant, wondering if Rachel would be mad at her for going so long without communication.
“Olivia! I was just talking about you the other day and how we went skinny dipping in Suncrest at Long Lake in November! Do you remember that?”
Her heart smiled with relief that all seemed to be forgiven as the memory brought back a chill from head to toe. “Cold day that day. We lost the keys in the snow and couldn’t find them for like twenty minutes!”
“It was five minutes max, Olivia. You’re such
a drama queen. Nothing ever changes. Anywho, what’s up? It’s been like what, six years since we’ve chatted?”
Olivia’s heart warmed. “Yes. Too long, way too long. We need to hang.”
“Come on over.”
Olivia’s gaze landed on her bedroom door and she thought of her parents. They were down the hall in the living room. Dad was probably reading his Bible by the fireplace and Mom was likely knitting a new sweater while she listened to him read the Bible aloud and rocked ever so slightly in the rocking chair. She started to think about how she could ask for a ride, but then reality surfaced as her hands began to ache, and she wept.
“What’s wrong?”
Olivia’s words broke apart as she pieced reality together for her cousin. “I don’t have a car anymore, and my hands . . . my hands are busted up really badly.”
“Oh, my goodness! Why? Wait.” Silence for a moment, then Rachel came back on the line. “I was wondering why you were calling from your parents’ phone number. What happened with Bruce? What’s going on, exactly?”
“Long story, but I’ll tell you all about it—” Her hands throbbed and she glanced over at the night stand and at the pill bottle. “I have to go. Come over when you can, and I’ll fill you in on the details. Okay?”
“I’ll be over tonight. Promise. Eight o’clock.”
Rachel hung up the phone, and the phone handset rang with a deafening dial tone in Olivia’s ear.
“Mom.” At her call, her mother hurried quickly in through the door and over to the bed. Lifting the phone from the pillow, she hung it up on the night stand.
“Need anything else?”
“Medicine. It hurts.”
“Where?”
“My hands mostly, but everywhere else too.”
Her mother grabbed the prescription bottle and tapped a couple of pills out into her hand, then set the bottle on the nightstand. Then, she helped Olivia sit up. Her mother lifted the glass of water from the nightstand and put the straw to her lips. Olivia took the pills and downed them, then took a drink from the straw.