by Amanda Tru
He was glad she’d come home.
Thirteen weeks later
Autumn was in no apparent hurry to arrive in Massachusetts this year. By the smoldering heat, even though it was nothing compared to the humidity in South Korea, Caroline could have assumed it was smack in the middle of summer vacation, but her calendar told her otherwise.
“You’re sure you don’t need me to take another week off?” she asked. “The principal already told me I could if we needed.”
Calvin stared at her from the couch, mug of coffee in hand. “Do I look like I need a full-time nurse?”
She eyed his flannel pajama pants, his arm hanging in its sling, and gave him a playful smile. “Do you want the real answer to that?”
He grunted.
She inched her way toward him. Better to do it now than to lose her resolve entirely. She’d already texted Sandy, asking her for prayers. Today was the day. How many weeks ago had she resolved to take this next step?
She cleared her throat, and he glanced up from his mug.
“Did you want something?” His voice was brusque, but Caroline wouldn’t read too much into that. If she did, she’d lose her courage.
She clenched her fists, hating how slimy they felt when they got sweaty like this. She reminded herself about the good times they’d had lately. She and Calvin together. Watching cop comedies on TV, where he made fun of all the procedural details the script writers got wrong. Explaining how the detectives were all bumbling idiots.
Laughing together.
Not often, but sometimes.
It was a start.
Since Calvin’s return from the hospital, they’d only gotten into one fight about church. Actually, no. She couldn’t even call it a fight. A snide remark when he found her reading her Bible one afternoon when she thought he was napping.
Nothing too caustic.
Certainly nothing she hadn’t heard before.
Things were improving.
Which possibly explained why she was so nervous now.
“Have I grown a set of horns?” he asked sardonically. “Is that why you’re staring?”
She blinked and shook her head, trying to clear her mind. “No.”
“No, what?”
She sat down in the recliner across from him. Leaned toward him. Sent a silent prayer floating up to heaven.
Knowing she couldn’t take this next moment back.
“I had an idea,” she began. Where was her courage? Where was the confidence she’d felt when she pictured how she wanted this conversation to go?
“You don’t have to say yes,” she hastened quickly to add. Too quickly.
This was ridiculous.
She dug into her pockets and pulled out the brochure.
He raised an eyebrow. “Las Vegas?”
The name triggered the argument she’d planned to save until last, but now she was going to run with it. “Remember when you told me about that conference you went to?”
He shook his head.
“We were newlyweds,” she explained, hating the way her voice sounded so breathy. “And I was going to go with you, but I had tests for school and couldn’t reschedule. But you said you liked it. And that we’d go one day.”
He eyed her suspiciously.
“You don’t remember?”
Another shake of his head.
She tucked her disappointment deep into the pit of her gut. “That’s okay. But listen, Carl knows this guy. He’s a marriage counselor. A really good one. And he’s got these conferences. They’re all over, but I thought that… Well, I mean…”
She licked her lips, forcing herself to stare at the brochure in her husband’s hands instead of into his hardened expression. She could do this.
She had to do this.
“I thought that maybe we could go. It’s not until spring. You’ll be strong by then. Back to yourself, I mean. And I thought after all we’ve gone through, we could use some time away…”
She paused, studying him as he squinted at the brochure like a lawyer reading the fine print of a two-hundred-page contract.
“We don’t have to go,” she added softly.
“You say Carl knows him?” he asked. “Carl Lindgren?”
“Yeah. They know each other from seminary. Except he’s not a pastor, he’s a counselor. And his conferences aren’t just for Christians. It’s for anybody. They don’t talk about God. I actually sent them an email to be sure, because I know we’re not at that point yet. But it’s supposed to be really beneficial. I read a few testimonies… I mean, I read a few stories. Of people who’d gone and said it was a real blessing… Not a blessing, but a boost. A real boost to their marriage. And it just got me thinking that maybe…”
“Sure.” He held the brochure out to her.
She took it with tentative fingers. “Sure?”
“Yeah. Sure.” He gave the closest facsimile he could to a shrug after the injury to his shoulder. “Why not?”
“You mean it?” She glanced at the back. Had he seen the part about the cost? “It’s not free.”
“Do you want to go or not?”
She tried hard not to recoil when he snapped. “I do. I mean, I want to if you do.”
Another shrug. “Then let’s do it. But you make all the arrangements. And don’t try to pinch a few pennies and put me on one of those red-eye flights. They never give you enough coffee on those.”
She blinked, trying to force her brain to keep up with this unexpected turn in the conversation. “You really don’t mind?” she asked. “You’re not doing this just because…”
“Because why?” he interrupted when she hesitated. “Because you’ve put your life on hold to nurse me back to health? Of course, that’s why I’m doing it.”
“But you don’t mind?” This time her voice was a little stronger. A little more certain.
The faintest inkling of a smile crept onto Calvin’s face, rendered slightly off-centered after his reconstructive jaw surgery. “You know why I like watching those TV detective movies, right?”
She wiped her sweaty hands on her pants. “Because you like to make fun of all the writers’ mistakes?”
“Besides that.” The smile still hadn’t completely disappeared, nor had the playfulness in his voice. “Do you know why else I like them?”
“No. Why?”
“Because it’s a mystery. Who’s the good guy. Who’s the bad guy. Sometimes you don’t find out until the very last scene.”
This time she found the courage to match his smile. “But I thought you had an impeccable sense of intuition.”
“I do.” This time, there was nothing but seriousness in his tone. “That’s why I’m so good at my job. I follow my hunches because they always lead me down the right path.”
Caroline still didn’t understand what any of this had to do with a marriage conference coming to Las Vegas in over half a year, but her husband looked so happy—at least compared to how he normally appeared—that she tried to keep up the playful banter.
“So, what is your gut telling you about Las Vegas?” she asked.
This time his smile faded. Had she misread his jocularity? Had she stretched out this moment of closeness, of apparent harmony too far?
“I don’t know what my gut’s telling me about Vegas,” he replied, “but I know what it’s telling me about you.”
This time, Caroline couldn’t read his expression. He was back to his closed, stoic self. She bit her lip, trying to swallow her disappointment, bury it deep down where it couldn’t resurface. Couldn’t steal her peace anymore.
Calvin set down his mug and sat up a little in his seat. “Right now, my gut’s telling me that you should hate me. That you should despise me and resent the fact that you wasted your entire summer and the first two weeks out of your school year babying me. But you don’t,” he added before Caroline could protest.
“And that,” he concluded, with just the hint of that momentary playfulness, “is a mystery to me. I have a few hypotheses I’m wor
king on. Maybe you’re just addicted to punishment, like one of those battered wives. Or maybe you’re trying to earn your brownie points with God.”
Caroline tried to interrupt, but he held up his hand. “I’m still trying to figure it out,” he admitted. “You’d think that after all these years, you would have stopped being a mystery to me. But you haven’t.”
A warmness crept into his eyes. It was gone in an instant. One blink, one fraction of a second and it vanished.
Had it actually been there to begin with, or had Caroline made the moment up?
“You’re a mystery to me,” her husband admitted, reaching out his hand. At first, she thought he meant to take hers, and she was afraid he’d be disgusted by her sweaty palm.
Instead, he picked his mug back up, took a sip of his cold, double strength coffee, then confessed, “And you know me, Caroline. I’m always drawn toward a good mystery.”
The End
1. What are some of the specific struggles a Christian faces if married to a non-Christian?
2. Why do you think Calvin was so opposed to adoption? How would a child have impacted their marriage struggles?
3. Who was someone instrumental in either bringing you to Christ or deepening your walk with him?
4. If you could spend your summer on a short-term mission trip, where would you go and what would you do?
5. Imagine you are Caroline’s friend. What one piece of advice would you give her on days when her marriage has her particularly discouraged?
www.alanaterry.com/
Alana Terry is a pastor’s wife, homeschooling mom, self-diagnosed chicken lady, and Christian suspense author. Her novels have won awards from Women of Faith, Book Club Network, Grace Awards, Readers’ Favorite, and more. Alana’s passion for social justice, human rights, and religious freedom shines through her writing, and her books are known for raising tough questions without preaching. She and her family live in rural Alaska where the northern lights in the winter and midnight sun in the summer make hauling water, surviving the annual mosquito apocalypse, and cleaning goat stalls in negative forty degrees worth every second.
www.alanaterry.com/
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by Alana Terry
Find the latest information and connect with Alana at her website: www.alanaterry.com
North Korea Suspense Novels
The Beloved Daughter: Behind North Korea’s closed borders, a young girl is dying for freedom.
Slave Again: She traded in her prison uniform for shackles of a different kind.
Torn Asunder: Hannah’s secret mission could rip them apart and cost them both their lives.
Flower Swallow: Join Woong on his journey through flood, famine, and a shaman’s curse to freedom and redemption.
Orchard Grove Christian Women’s Fiction
Beauty from Ashes: A baby was never part of Tiff’s plans. Especially not a sick baby struggling for life on a ventilator.
Before the Dawn: When depression steals your identity and leaves you without a name…
Sweet Dreams Christian Romance
What Dreams May Come: Her heart is set on becoming a missionary. He’s determined to recruit her for the job.
Kennedy Stern Christian Suspense Novels
Unplanned (Book 1): Kennedy’s pro-life worldview is shaken when she receives a mysterious phone call from a girl who’s far too young to be pregnant.
Paralyzed (Book 2): It’s hard to heal from the past when the past wants you dead.
Policed (Book 3): A rogue police officer can ruin a lot more than a perfect evening out.
Straightened (Book 4): Worldviews collide and body counts rise when a conservative politician finds out his son is gay.
Turbulence (Book 5): Kennedy’s arctic adventure might come to a crashing halt before it even begins.
Infected (Book 6): Isolated in a hospital lockdown during a global epidemic, Kennedy can only guess who will survive.
Abridged (Book 7): When the fight for women’s rights becomes a struggle for mere survival.
Don’t forget to request a free book when you join the Alana Terry Readers’ Club! Visit: www.alanaterry.com/readers-club
Introducing Carol Moncado
By Alana Terry
Dear Reader,
The Christian life isn’t easy. Being married to an unbeliever can be especially hard, just like you read in Seoul Refuge.
For more suspense featuring Caroline and Calvin and their spiritual journey together, grab a copy of Save Me Once, Book One in the brand-new Safe Refuge Christian Thriller series.
These suspense novels bring you more of Calvin and Caroline and introduce you to a new cast of supporting characters Calvin helps as a detective.
A single mom whose daughter goes missing, a teen girl who realizes too late what kind of man her boyfriend really is—these are the people you will meet in the Safe Refuge Christian Thriller novels.
Fans of suspense and mysteries love diving into the adventure, while romance and women’s lit readers love to follow Caroline and Calvin as they navigate the waters of a spiritually mismatched marriage.
Start this brand-new series now with Book One, Save Me Once.
Get your copy today at this link: http://readerlinks.com/l/397449
I hope you’ve enjoyed this bundle so far. One of the things I love most about the Crossroad Collection novels is that it gives me a perfect excuse to hang out with some of my favorite Christian fiction authors.
Carol Moncado’s novel is up next. If you like royal characters, craft conventions, and quirky cats, you’re going to love this one!
Author of Seoul Refuge
a novella by
Copyright Notice
Guardian of Her Heart, original copyright © 2019 by Carol Moncado
All rights reserved. This book is a work of fiction. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or recording—without express written permission by the authors and publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed or broadcasted articles and reviews.
Each book in this collection is the intellectual property and the copyrighted material of the respective author and/or publisher and is reprinted as a part of this collection (anthology) only once and only by permission of the owners. The publisher makes no claim on, or to, the property of the owners which exceeds that permission. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the authors’ imagination or intended to be used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, organizations, places, or persons living or dead is purely coincidental and beyond the intention of either the authors or the publisher. The characters are products of the authors’ imaginations and used fictitiously.
Spring sometimes came early to the Missouri Ozarks, but rarely stayed long.
Mark Bertolini found himself wishing the warmer temperatures of Tuesday and Wednesday had lasted through the weekend. Instead, he put on his warm coat, gloves, and knit cap before going outside to double check perimeter security. At least only a couple more days of this were in the forecast. Monday was supposed to warm up again, leaving only the weekend as a return to winter.
Not that he had regular weekends.
A voice crackled over the radio in his ear. “Mark, the queen wants to talk to you when you finish your rounds.”
“I’ll be about twenty minutes,” he told Brian, his second-in-command.
He didn’t hurry through his surveillance of the g
rounds, but Mark made sure he didn’t dawdle either. When the queen wanted to see you, you made sure you’d done your job properly then hurried to see her.
Mark made his way to the main house, the one he’d lived in with the queen for years.
He mentally adjusted the thought. He and Todd had been Crown Princess Adeline’s bodyguards all the way through her years at Serenity Landing University.
That’s when he’d fallen in love with a woman he could never have.
He’d known that all along, but the final nail came when then-Crown Princess Adeline met Charlie, a single father from Serenity Landing. She’d literally run into him with her car on an icy January evening.
The rest, as they say, was history.
He’d spent the better part of her first year as queen as part of her secondary detail, with the Monarch’s Protection Detail taking over as primary. After she and Charlie announced that she was expecting their first child, Mark decided the time had come for a change. When the opening came available, he applied to be head of security at the queen’s residence in the States. The job had since expanded to include security for a number of other homes in the neighborhood, all belonging to royalty with ties to the Serenity Landing area for one reason or another.
Mark went into the house to find Queen Adeline putting a small package into her handbag in the foyer.
“Good morning, Your Majesty.” Mark bowed at the waist, more than he was required to do, but a simple incline of the head didn’t seem like enough.
She sighed. “You’ll never call me Addie again, will you, Mark?”
He shook his head. “No, ma’am.”
“I miss those days sometimes, you know. Where it was the three of us here, and I didn’t have the responsibilities I do now.”