by T. K. Chapin
“Elly? Oh, wow. That should make Saturday interesting.”
“What? Why? What’s on Saturday?”
“Big barbecue. Family and the church.” Standing up, I went over and looked at myself in the mirror above the mantle of the fireplace in her living room. Putting on my sunglasses, I turned toward her. “All my family will be there, and probably a bunch of people from the church, the youth also. Owen will be there too.”
“Oh, wow.”
“You should come.”
“I have a meeting with a client on Saturday, but if it wraps up earlier, I’ll try to stop by.”
“Great.” Coming back over to the couch, she stood up and we hugged.
“I’m so glad to see you this way, Grace.” Her words were genuine and heartfelt as they came off her lips.
“See me what way?”
“Happy. It’s like you’re glowing.”
“I can’t take the credit. Meeting someone like Owen, plus this women’s study group. So much growing and blessing. God is doing a work in my life lately that is good, and he’s showing me it’s okay to move forward, even when I might be a little bit scared.”
Jenny nodded slowly. “God is so good. He wants to help us every step of the way. He lifts us up when we cannot stand. He triumphs over our successes and overlooks our failures. He loves us no matter how many times we mess up.”
“Amen to that, sister.”
We high-fived, then proceeded to laugh.
“Who high-fives?” I asked.
“I did in grade school, I think.”
Laughing some more, she walked me to the door and wished me a good rest of the day. Leaving Jenny’s with my favorite pair of sunglasses on, my feet found a bit of a skip as they made my way out to my car. Life couldn’t have been better right now, and somehow, I wasn’t even upset about my dad in the moment. All I could think about as I got into my car was the fact that I was now on my way to see Owen.
Chapter 22
TRAVERSING THE SHORELINE UP TO meet my prince charming, I prayed over our new-found relationship. I peered across Diamond Lake and took in the view as I watched an eagle soar high above the water. There was still a lot to learn about Owen, still a lot for him to learn about me. The farther I got on my walk, the more worry began edging into my mind. I recalled how pleasant Harvey had been for the first couple of months of our relationship. How he had fooled me into thinking he was a gentle, nice, and kind man. Owen wasn’t much different, in that regard. I knew these thoughts weren’t fair to Owen though, that they were just fears brought on by my past. Right then, I remembered Katie’s words at her house. She had told me in order to grab hold of the future God has in store for us, we have to let go of the past. The words washed over my soul and took the anxiety away instantly.
Owen, after all, was his own person, and I had to keep that in perspective if I desired a healthy relationship with him. He also was a man of God, something Harvey never was.
Climbing over the log, I came around the bend in the lake and to the lake house. I immediately spotted Owen and the wooden rowboat now tied to the dock by a rope. It had been the same rowboat I had seen flipped upside down in the grass last year. As I walked over to the dock and him, he turned and smiled at me.
As my flip flops hit the dock, my heart fluttered. Coming up behind him, I said, “Hey, you.”
He stood up and turned around. With a gorgeous smile and a tilt of his head, he came closer and his hands found my hips. “Hey.”
Leaning in, he kissed me. It was enough of a kiss to make me want more, and yet at the same time, it satisfied me.
Raising his eyebrows, he pointed over to the inside of the rowboat. “I brought a bottle of sparkling cider, a couple of glasses, and a dessert for our voyage on the lake.” I could see a picnic basket tucked beneath one of the seats in the rowboat.
“You’re so cute.”
Climbing down off the dock and into the rowboat, he turned and planted one foot on the dock then extended a hand. “Ma’am.”
I couldn’t stop beaming. Then I took his hand and let him help me into the boat.
We sat down inside, across from one another so we were eye to eye. I watched as Owen maneuvered across the boat to loose the rope from the dock.
“I brought a couple of blankets in case it gets chilly. Under your seat.”
Pushing us away from the dock, he sent our boat adrift into the lake. Then he carefully balanced his steps as he came over to me. As he tried to sit down across from me, he slipped, catching hold of the side of the boat right beside me. His eyes were only a few inches from mine, and looking into his eyes, I could feel his affection for me, then I kissed him. He adjusted to his knees and cupped my face in his palms, kissing me deeply. Gently, he let his fingers glide in through my hair, then he grabbed a handful of hair, sending chills running freely through my body. Being with Owen was like my Route 66 jeans I had years ago as a teenager, a perfect fit and something I never wanted to lose.
Chapter 23
AFTER WE HAD OUR FILL of kissing each other, Owen rowed us out to the middle of the lake. I watched as his arms bulged beneath his rolled-up dark blue long-sleeve shirt. The sound of the water lightly lapping against the boat was the only thing that could be heard as we made our way further out into the lake. Setting the oars down in the boat, he pulled out the picnic basket and then slid out his Bible from inside.
“You mind if I read you something?”
I shook my head. “Not at all.”
“Cool.” He took a moment to survey the lake all around us. I could see him drinking in the beauty through his eyes, and then he turned his gaze to me. “Out here on the lake is my favorite place to read Scripture. Surrounded by His creation, both above, below, and on every side. And now I’m here with you, and it’s exactly where I want to be in the world right now.”
His words painted in my soul a portrait of his affections for not only God, but for me. “I’m right where I want to be right now too.”
He smiled, then read. “John 15, starting in verse 9, and this is Jesus speaking. ‘As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.’ ”
He closed the Bible and held it in his lap as he kept quiet for a moment. I, too, was quiet, letting the verses filter through my heart, through my soul.
Owen looked down at his Bible and smoothed a thumb over the corner of the cover. Then he peered up and out to the lake. With a somberness in his tone, he began to speak again. “He called us His friend, Grace.” He swallowed hard and peered over at me. “We are friends of Jesus. If we truly meditated on that truth! Think about the fact that He laid His own life down for us to live!” He shook his head, dropping his eyes to his Bible as he rubbed his neck. “I know when I think about it, I know I’ve neglected my relationship with Him, and I deserve Hell every time.”
Reaching out, I touched Owen’s hand, directing his attention toward me. “We all deserve Hell, Owen. That’s what makes God’s love so beautiful, so reckless. You have to remember we were still sinners when He died for us. That Scripture you just read even said He chose us. We were dead in our sin. It’s only His blood that gives us life, not any amount of Bible reading or good deeds done in life.”
He nodded in agreement. “But I could worship Him more than I do.” He shrugged, turning aw
ay from me. “My heart breaks for so many of those kids who come through the door in my classroom. I see them struggling with sins and battling depression and needing a Savior every day of their life. I just want to tell them all about Jesus, share the good news, and I can’t.”
“No, you can’t preach to your kids, but you know what you can do? You can pray, and you can show them God’s love.”
The sun started its descent across the treetops in the distance. Flares of orange and red mingled with the rippling waves of clouds in the sky. Before Owen and me was a sky painted with the majestic paintbrush of creation. I loved the moment as we were floating atop Diamond Lake.
My eyes stayed on the sky as Owen started to row us back toward the dock. I looked at him. “Isn’t what God has made beautiful?”
His gaze locked on me, he said, “Yes, it is.”
Chapter 24
THAT EVENING, OWEN WALKED ME down the shoreline and back to my parents’ property. We took our time, making sure to walk slowly and to squeeze every second out of our time together. I had mentioned the chill in the air as we docked back at his Grandpa Jack’s dock, and he wrapped one of the blankets he had brought around me. Everything I wanted in a man, everything I wanted in a future husband. He listened more than he spoke, and I learned a great deal more about him than I did over dinner the night before. I discovered that he wanted three children, same as me. He wanted to settle down somewhere like Diamond Lake and begin the next stage of his life. It was exactly what I wanted for myself also.
As we arrived at my parent’s shore, I turned to him and stopped. The moonlight shone down upon us as the water folded against the shoreline from a late-night boater going by. The moment could not be more perfect, and I wanted to freeze time and stay in the evening forever.
My lips curled on both sides as I peered into his eyes. “Thanks for today, Owen. It was great.”
“I’m glad you had a good time, and I really have enjoyed getting to know you these last two days. It’s like I can’t get enough of you.”
My heart melted as his words tasted of honey. Owen made me feel seen, made me feel appreciated and even loved.
“I can’t get enough of you either.”
Pulling me in, he kissed me slowly. Then he moved his lips quickly for only a second, then back to slow again. The mixture of movements he made was intoxicating. They were pulling me down beneath the current of his passion. Then when he pulled away from my lips after we were done kissing, it felt like a part of me was being torn apart. I wanted more of him, but I knew he was right to stop.
“Still coming on Saturday, right?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Good. I got confirmation from Jenny earlier today that she’ll be there at least for a portion of the time. I’m so excited to introduce you to everyone I care about! The church, my family, everybody is going to be there, Owen!”
“No pressure on me, right?” He laughed. “I’m just kidding. I’m excited to meet everyone. I’ll call you tomorrow. All right?”
“Okay.” He pulled me in for one last kiss and then we parted ways.
As I climbed the shoreline and made my way into the grass of my parents’ yard, I lifted my eyes to the star-filled sky. Thankfulness filled my heart as I gave praise and thanks to God for sending Owen into my life. He was a breath of clean air in the toxic fog that had settled over my life in the last decade or so.
Finding my guest house door opened a fraction, my heart skipped a beat. My parents never entered without my being home. Slowly, I reached for the door knob and carefully proceeded inside as my pulse soared. Hearing the faint sound of my sister crying, I was relieved, yet at the same time, overwrought with pain for her.
Hurrying the rest of the way inside, I went to my bedroom and pushed open the door. There, on the bed with a mountain of tissues, was my sister. Her eyes were red. Her hope had been lost, but over what?
“You’re still worried about Dad?” I asked, walking inside.
She shook her head. Gaze locked on me, she said, “It’s not him I’m upset about.”
Chapter 25
OVER THE NEXT HALF HOUR, Bethany poured out her soul as she told me about the journey she had started on with my niece, her oldest daughter, Elly. Her teenage girl had been rapidly losing weight and struggling in school over the last few months. Beth and Mark supposed it was a weird phase. But just a few weeks ago, Elly had fallen down and bruised her leg. The bruise never went away. Last week, she decided to take Elly to see the doctor even though Mark thought it was nothing. Bethany had just gotten a call from her doctor that her daughter’s liver was on the way to failing.
“What? Liver failure in a fifteen year old? How is that possible?” Shock radiated though my core. I couldn’t believe a word of the terrible news.
“They’re not sure as to why. Believe me, I tried getting it out of them.” Blowing her nose into a tissue, she looked up at me. “Something like fifteen percent of cases are from unknown causes, and I just hate that we won’t know. I’d like to be aware if my other children are at risk, and I want to know why this is happening and how to stop it before it ever gets to liver failure! She can’t die. I cannot lose my baby!”
“But the doctor said it’s uncertain when it could go out? Right?” My attempts at comforting her in the moment were falling flat, but I had to give her hope in the otherwise hopeless situation she was in. I patted her head and held my older sister in my arms as my heart ached for her.
Nodding, she pulled away from my hold. Wiping her eyes, she looked at me. “It could go out in a year, could be three months. They aren’t sure. I’m beginning to wonder if the doctors know anything at all.” Bitterness crept into her tone, and looking away, she spoke toward the window, her voice but a whisper of hopelessness as she continued. “For now, she’ll have to take a bunch of medication and get on the list for a liver transplant if it comes to that.”
Thinking of Elly, my heart flinched at the notion of her being on a transplant list at such a young age. Then I thought of Bethany, and of Mark too. They had been through so much in the last few years. First an ovarian vein thrombosis, a blood clot that happened after giving birth to Easton three years ago. Then it was finding out about Dad’s heart issue. Now, she faced this with her oldest daughter. Will her suffering end? I wondered toward God.
“Oh. James is in jail.”
My eyes widened and I stuck my head out. “What?”
She shook her head as she smiled. “He’s so dumb. Brody caught him and Alex trying to steal Mr. Gilsdeed’s copper tonight from his garage.” Brody was Newport’s police chief.
“What? When?”
“About two hours ago now. Dad was flaming mad when I got here a little bit ago.”
Shaking my head as I looked toward the house, I worried about my dad’s heart. He didn’t need the stress over our brother right now. My eyes back on my sister, I felt hopelessness edging into my heart. This family was in a complicated mess and nothing seemed to be working right now other than my relationship with Owen.
“This family needs God more than ever right now.” Looking back to her, I asked, “With all this going on, are you still coming on Saturday? You don’t have to. I would understand.”
“Of course we are.”
“We? Does that mean Mark is coming?” I couldn’t help but be a little excited at the chance of Mark coming. He was a great dad and man of God. It always made me glad when he could make it to family-related activities.
She nodded. “Mark got the day off so we could go as a family. Plus, there is nothing we can really do for Elly, so we might as well be distracted with a party.”
“Awesome. I think it will be a good distraction and it’ll be fun for the kids too!”
Suddenly, Bethany began to cry again. I knew it was about Elly. I was scared of the future for her, but I knew I had to be strong for my big sister right now, so I hugged her and encouraged her. “Everything is going to be okay with Elly. You have to believe. Scripture says al
l things work together for those who love God.”
“I know, and I do believe.” She retrieved her phone from her pocket and looked at the screen. “I have to go. Thank you for the cry.”
“Anytime, Sis. Anytime.” Standing up, we walked to the door of the guest house and went outside. She headed to her car while I crossed the yard over to the house to go see how my parents were doing.
Walking in through the back door that led into the kitchen, I saw my dad. He was sitting at the kitchen table, rubbing his brow. Concern soared in me as I approached him.
Chapter 26
“ELLY IS GOING TO BE fine. We have to trust in God and His plan.” My father’s absoluteness over the situation brought my heart a measure of comfort.
“I think you’re right. Bethany told me about James.”
“Oh, if that is why you came to me, you might as well turn right around and march yourself back out that door.” My dad didn’t even turn to look at me. He remained seated and appeared bitter over what had happened with my brother more than anything else.
I furrowed my eyebrows and shook my head. “How can you trust God with Elly, but you choose to be so angry and bitter about James?”
He rested his arms atop the table, waving one hand as he spoke. “You raise your kids up to be decent people. You want to see them contribute to society. To be good.” He smashed his balled fist into the table. “It doesn’t seem to matter one iota!”
“Ed,” my mother said as she strode into the kitchen and over to my dad. Resting her hands on his shoulders, she continued. “James will figure life out. You have to give him time. Give this to God. You know, Ed?”
Glancing at her, he patted one of her hands. “I know, Mellie. But what about my job at the church out here now? How am I supposed to be an associate pastor there when I can’t keep order in my house? It’s Biblical to keep your house in order and I’m not doing it.”