Open Arms

by Traci DePree

  Open Arms

  Mystery

  and the Minister’s Wife

  Through the Fire

  A State of Grace

  Beauty Shop Tales

  A Test of Faith

  The Best Is Yet to Be

  Angels Undercover

  Into the Wilderness

  Where There’s a Will

  Dog Days

  The Missing Ingredient

  Open Arms

  A Token of Truth

  Who’s That Girl?

  For the Least of These

  A Matter of Trust

  Funny Money

  To Have and to Hold

  How the Heart Runs

  A Thousand Generations

  Home to Briar Mountain

  Flight of the Sparrows

  A Firm Foundation

  Off the Record

  A Distant Memory

  Tea and Sympathy

  The Master’s Hand

  Strangers in Their Midst

  Mystery and the Minister’s Wife is a registered trademark of Guideposts.

  Copyright © 2008 by Guideposts. All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher. Inquiries should be addressed to the Rights & Permissions Department, Guideposts, 110 William Street, New York, New York 10038.

  The characters and events in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to actual persons or events is coincidental.

  All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.

  Guideposts.org

  (800) 932-2145

  Guideposts Books & Inspirational Media

  Cover design by Dugan Design Group

  Cover illustration by Rose Lowry, www.illustrations.com

  Interior design by Cris Kossow

  Typeset by Nancy Tardi

  Printed in the United States of America

  For Megan Rebecca

  Chapter One

  Are you sure we’re up for this?” Kate Hanlon asked as her husband, Paul, unlocked his office door.

  She and Max Wilcox followed Paul into the dimly lit room. Paul flicked on the light.

  The office was painted in a warm cocoa color. Lined with bookshelves and a large oak desk, it had a comfortable feel. Sunday-evening light floated in through the partially open blinds. Paul tugged a cardigan off a hook behind the door and slipped it on.

  “Of course you’re ready,” Max said. “You’re great with teenagers. I’ve seen how they take to you.”

  The curly-headed intern had been serving as Faith Briar’s youth-group leader for the past several months, but he’d recently gotten a call to serve as a teacher at an orphanage in Guatemala, so they needed to replace him. Though they’d tried to find a suitable youth pastor or even a volunteer to take his place, no one had come forward.

  “That wasn’t there before,” Paul said, pointing to his desk.

  Kate followed his gaze to a pink envelope with a darker pink Hello Kitty cartoon stamped in the lower right-hand corner, and “To Pastor and Mrs. Hanlon” written in a loopy script across the front. He picked it up.

  “That’s really odd.”

  “What’s inside?” Kate asked as her own curiosity rose.

  Paul reached for a letter opener in the top drawer and neatly slit the envelope open. He scanned the page silently as Kate and Max looked on. His face fell.

  Kate and Max leaned forward to get a peek at the letter.

  “This girl sounds desperate,” Paul whispered. He handed the stationery to Kate.

  Dear Pastor and Mrs. Hanlon,

  I don’t know how to start this letter, so I’m just going to jump in. I don’t have anyone else to turn to, but I’ve heard that you care about people, even people you don’t know so well. So I thought maybe you could at least pray for me. I’m in so much trouble. My dad will spaz when he finds out. I’m afraid he’ll kick me out of the house. But what can I do? Where can I go? It’s not as if my mom’s around for me to talk to.

  Let me back up. The thing is, I’m pregnant. My boyfriend doesn’t know. How can I tell him? Though he should know that he’s going to be a father, shouldn’t he? He’s older than I am. I feel like I’m on shaky ground with him as it is. I just can’t lose him. I’m afraid this will destroy everything between us. Everything is slipping through my fingers—my future, all my big plans once I’m out on my own. I don’t know how I’ll be able to keep working and take care of a baby; it’s not as if I make enough money to pay a babysitter. I’m too young for this. I don’t know what to do.

  I’m especially worried about my relationship with my father, which isn’t too hot to begin with. I’m too afraid to tell anyone else, but I thought maybe you’d understand. I know that you really care. Please pray for me.

  Yours truly,

  Anonymouse

  Kate noted the misspelling of the last word. As she lifted her eyes from the text, a sense of dread came over her. This poor girl! To be so alone and afraid...It was unfathomable. She handed the letter to Max, and her eyes met Paul’s.

  “Do you have any idea who it could be?” she said.

  Paul shook his head. They waited for Max to finish reading.

  “Wow,” the youth leader whispered as he raised his head.

  “Do you think it’s someone in the youth group? Is there anyone who doesn’t have a mother?” Kate asked him.

  Max’s eyes were wide. He scratched his stubbled chin and handed the letter back to Kate.

  “Could be,” Max said.

  Paul handed the postmarked envelope to Kate. She studied the loopy script of the return address, which matched the writing in the letter. The i in “Mill” in Copper Mill had a heart where the dot should’ve been. On the lower left-hand corner was a drawing, similar to a Celtic cross but more ornate, with flowers and ladybugs coming out of it. It was a doodle, but a really well-done doodle. Kate read the letter again.

  “This girl needs help,” she said. She shook her head. “I can’t imagine how she must feel.”

  “Must be awful,” Max said.

  They made their way from Paul’s office, down the stairs off the foyer, and toward the fellowship hall as the noise of teenagers arriving for youth group floated toward them. Excited laughter bounced off the basement walls.

  “I know the older girls pretty well,” Max lowered his voice. “Honestly, I can’t picture any of them in this situation.” He paused as if to do a mental calculation. “Marlee Jones seems to like the boys...” His words fell away. “I...there’s no way I could approach her...” He lifted his eyes to Kate’s.

  “It would be awkward to ask her something like that,” Kate agreed, “and if it isn’t her...”

  “It could be anyone, after all.” Max said.

  “She may not even be in the youth group,” Paul added. “It could be a total stranger for all we know.”

  “What can we do?” Max looked between Kate and Paul, his face furrowed with concern.

  “You have enough to think about, with your new adventure starting tomorrow,” Kate reminded him.

  Max laughed. “Oh, I forgot about that,” he joked.

  “We’ll see what we can find out,” Kate said. She glanced at Paul, then added, “This is a plea for help if ever I saw one.”

  “And the girl was right,” Paul said. “We can pray for her.”

  In the basement of Faith Briar Church, the three of them ducked into a vacant classroom. They bowed their heads in the darkness as they asked God for wisdom and
comfort for a girl they didn’t know.

  THE BUZZ OF TEENAGERS swarmed around Kate and Paul. Their own children had been teenagers once, of course, but it had been a while since she and Paul had spent this kind of time with the energetic set. Youth group had been going on for an hour, and already she was exhausted.

  Max stood at the front of the fellowship hall that served as the youth group’s meeting place each Sunday night. With pale blue eyes and a mop of dark hair, he was a good-looking man in his early twenties. He held up his hands to settle the teens.

  When the noise subsided, he winked at Kate and Paul.

  “All right. As y’all know, I’m headed to Guatemala tomorrow morning...” He gazed around the room. “And we haven’t yet found a replacement for me.”

  “I still can’t believe you’re deserting us,” one of the boys in the front grumbled.

  Max took a deep breath. “Guys, please understand. I’ve always wanted to do something like this, and when the opening to teach at the orphanage came up...”—he shrugged—“well, I knew it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. That’s how God is; he gives us open doors to walk through. If we didn’t take them, who knows what great things we’d miss.”

  Max had an easy way with the youth that Kate appreciated. He’d come as an intern from a nearby Bible school a few months earlier and had shown himself to be the perfect man for the job. He had creative ideas that the teens were excited about, and a combination of energy and determination that kept him focused on finding the balance between meeting the students’ social and spiritual needs. More and more Copper Mill teenagers had shown up for the Sunday-night meetings because of it.

  One of the boys seated on the floor directly in front of Max raised his hand. Kate wasn’t sure of his name. She glanced around the room at the others. Brenna Phillips and Marlee Jones sat silently next to each other at the back of the group of a dozen or so teens.

  Kate had been watching all the girls to see if there was some way she could intuit if the sender of the letter was among them. Max had suggested Marlee. The typically exuberant teenager did seem a bit more reserved than normal, from what Kate could tell.

  The Jenner boys were there—James and Justin, the sons of Kate and Paul’s dear friends Livvy and Danny. James was sitting next to a pretty blonde named Anne Jackson, a new girlfriend, from what Livvy had told her. Kate hadn’t seen Anne at youth group before, but she’d seen her around town. Perhaps she was someone to consider.

  There was another new girl next to Anne with brown, silky hair and pale green eyes. She wore a light brown top with an intricate embroidered design that ran across the collarbone. Kate studied it for a moment—it had a Latin feel, like the cotton blouses she’d seen during a vacation to Mexico when she was a girl.

  “So...,” the young man with the raised hand began, drawing Kate’s attention. “Who’s going to lead the youth group while you’re gone?”

  Max cleared his throat. “Thanks for the segue, Brian.” He grinned and motioned toward Kate and Paul, who were seated on metal folding chairs to the side of the group. “Pastor and Mrs. Hanlon have offered to take my place until they find another volunteer...”

  Eyes shifted nervously to them. Kate felt their awkward stares and glued a smile on her face in an attempt to encourage them that it wouldn’t be the end of the world.

  Paul rose to his feet, ever the consummate pastor, and turned to face the group. He was a handsome man, at least Kate still thought so after almost thirty years of marriage. His brilliant blue eyes shone with a sparkle that said he was enjoying his new role.

  “We’ll need a lot of advice from you guys,” he said. He gazed around the room as if taking in each face. “Any ideas you have for us to improve youth group, help you deepen your spiritual walks, and bring in new kids will be welcomed.”

  This time a girl raised her hand. Paul acknowledged her.

  “Will we still have the afterprom party here?” she asked.

  Paul looked to Kate, and she came to stand beside him. She had taken over the party that Max had planned to keep the high schoolers off the roads late at night while allowing them to continue the fun that would begin at the prom.

  “Of course, we will,” Kate assured. “I’ll be heading up the committee in Max’s stead, and I’ll need as many of you to help make it as memorable as possible. Our next planning meeting will be Tuesday at five at the church. Even if you can’t volunteer, you and your friends should still come to the party. It’s a free event, and we already have a lot of great stuff planned—a photo booth that takes free pictures, a Velcro wall, and lots of other things still in the works. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

  The girl who’d asked the question sat back with a look of satisfaction, glanced at the friend next to her, and nodded. Apparently Kate had managed to appease them. At least for now.

  Finally the meeting ended. The group got up and chattered, laughing loudly and roughhousing with one another. Many of the teens approached Max to hug him good-bye.

  Marlee Jones was still in the back with Brenna Phillips. Kate glanced at her and noticed that her freckled cheeks were blotchy, and she kept her head down as if she didn’t want anyone around her to see her face. Brenna placed an arm around her friend’s shoulders. Kate went to talk to them.

  “Did you hear that Marlee won the county art contest?” Brenna said when Kate came near. Marlee turned to wipe her tears.

  “Really?” Kate said. “You don’t look too happy about it.”

  “I’m okay,” Marlee said with a shrug.

  “She even won prize money,” Brenna added, obviously proud of her friend.

  “That’s wonderful, Marlee,” Kate said. “You like to draw?”

  “I suppose.”

  It wasn’t like Marlee to be so curt. Kate studied her for a long minute.

  “Well, congratulations. I’d love to see the piece sometime.”

  “Mrs. Hanlon?” Anne Jackson came up.

  Marlee and Brenna gave quick waves and meandered to talk to someone else. Kate turned to Anne, who stood next to the brunette Kate had seen earlier. The girl smiled shyly, and Kate noticed the stud in the side of her nose.

  “I’m so glad to see you here tonight, Anne,” Kate said.

  Anne smiled and said, “Thanks. I have a good time here. Everyone’s so friendly.” She glanced at the girl beside her. “I wanted to introduce you to Angie Petzel. She works with me at Emma’s Ice Cream Shop.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, Angie,” Kate said, extending a hand to the tall, thin girl.

  “Anne has told me a lot about you,” Angie said, shaking Kate’s hand.

  “Good things, I hope,” Kate laughed, and Angie nodded. “I’m glad you could come. What grade are you in at school?”

  “I’m a senior.”

  “Do you have a home church?”

  “Yeah, my family goes to a church in Pine Ridge, but their youth group...”—she shrugged—“it’s not my favorite.”

  Kate patted her hand and said, “I hope you can come again.”

  “I’d like that.” Angie smiled and nodded at Anne.

  “We’ll see you later, Mrs. Hanlon.” Anne waved farewell.

  As the teenagers left, chatting and carrying on, Kate paused. How would she figure out who had sent the letter? At least without offending some teenage girls and even their parents.

  “Well, that went well,” Max said, coming up alongside her.

  “To quote Karen Carpenter,” Kate said, “we’ve only just begun.”

  Chapter Two

  Kim and Chad Lewis sat on opposite ends of the tan slip-covered couch in Paul and Kate’s expansive living room. Chad crossed his arms tightly over his chest. His wife’s gaze was glued to the floor. Kate and Paul were across the coffee table from them in matching overstuffed chairs.

  Kate and Paul had met briefly with the couple two weeks earlier, and yet there seemed to be no difference in how they related to each other. Each blamed the other for their problems,
and both hinted at separation. It broke Kate’s heart.

  Chad pushed his blond hair back from his forehead and leaned his forearms on his knees. He let out a heavy sigh.

  “We aren’t getting anywhere,” he said, his blue eyes sagging in despair. “She hates me because we can’t have kids. It’s all I ever hear. I’m tired of the constant medical tests and the latest thing she saw on Oprah or 20/20 about infertility breakthroughs and all the hocus-pocus this couple or that did to have a baby. I can’t cope with it anymore. I want my life back.”

  Kim’s face fell, and her eyes reflected sadness. “How can you say that? You’re giving up on our marriage?”

  Tears flooded her brown eyes as she turned them to Kate. “What am I supposed to do? He’s rarely home lately”— she began the litany that had been the previous meeting’s sticking points—“and he said he wanted children when we first got married.”

  “I do want children! But it’s not happening. Can you—”

  Paul held up a hand to stop him.

  They were so young, in their late twenties. They’d been married all of six years, right out of college. In the past two weeks of counseling, Kate and Paul had learned that the Lewises had a seemingly perfect life until they’d started trying to have children. Then one year passed into the next, and still their cradle remained empty.

  “This isn’t about whether or not you can have children,” Paul said, directing his gaze to Chad. “This is about your commitment to each other.”

  “But what if our love for each other is gone?” Chad said.

  Kate shot a glance at Kim, who was visibly wounded by his words.

  “True love starts when the feelings dim,” Paul said. “I know that’s not what popular culture says, at least not what we see on TV, but it’s the truth. Love is a commitment first, to God and to each other...something we have to work on every day.”

  Kate’s admiration for her husband grew each time he spoke of the commitment of marriage. They’d counseled many couples through their years in ministry, and in every session, Kate had been struck anew with the wisdom her husband held inside of him.