Diamond Lake Series: Complete Series (Bks 1-7) Boxset

by T. K. Chapin

  Realizing my phone was on silent in my bedroom on the charger, I went to go grab it. Four missed calls from my father and a text saying to call him immediately. My heart tumbled over a cliff and anxiety began to soar as I called him back.

  “Kate.”

  “Hey, Dad. What’s up? Everything okay with construction?” They had started on the construction for the four-plex, and part of me worried Joe was hurt.

  “It’s not that. It’s your brother.” The pain in his voice was evident. “He’s at Deaconess. He attempted suicide.”

  Though my dad kept talking, I didn’t hear anything. Realizing I hadn’t called or reached out to him much since I saw him crying on the steps, I felt horrible. Frantically, I grabbed my car keys from the dresser in my bedroom as I tuned back into my father’s words.

  “. . . about an hour ago.”

  “What room is he in?” I asked as I went down the hallway and toward the front door of my condo.

  “I said they moved him to 414 about an hour ago. I’m going to head down there as soon as I get back in from Seattle. I just can’t believe this happened.”

  “Thanks.” Hanging up with my father, I began crying as I hurried down the stairs and out to my car. I’m so stupid! Why didn’t I reach out to him again? I knew he was depressed. Getting into my car, my phone rang—it was Joe. I answered. “Hello?”

  “So I was thinking for tonight, we could head to the Clinkerdagger.”

  “Huh?” Sniffling as I continued, I said, “I can’t. I can’t go anywhere. I’m going up to Deaconess Hospital.”

  “How come? What’s wrong?” His worry was genuine, but I felt distant from him in the moment.

  “It’s Connor. He’s not doing well. I’ll call you later. Okay?”

  “Okay,” he replied softly. “I’m here if you need anything.”

  Click.

  My rediscovered flame with Joe was the reason he was up there. I felt so ashamed. My brother had almost killed himself, and I couldn’t help but think that I could have prevented it if I wasn’t so preoccupied.

  Up at the hospital, I found his room and dropped my purse as I turned the corner and walked in. Sprinting across the floor and up to his bedside, I wrapped my arms around my wrist-bandaged brother. Tears poured out of me like a faucet as I apologized. “I’m so sorry, Connor. I should have called and checked in on you. Been a better big sister.”

  “It’s okay.” He gently pushed me back. “It’s my own fault. I should have reached out for professional help.”

  “Geoffrey’s death was hard for you. I should have been there.” I touched his arm. “I wasn’t though.”

  He grabbed my arm softly and shook his head. “There was more to it than that, Sis. I’ve been bad for a while.” He pulled the cover off his waist and revealed scars on his legs.

  More tears came trickling down my cheeks as I shook my head. “You should have talked to me. I knew you were lonely, but I had no idea.”

  “Nobody did,” he said gently as he looked away from me toward the window.

  “Where’s Mom?” I asked. “She come up yet?”

  He shook his head. “No. She’s with Dad in Seattle.”

  “Oh. Didn’t know she went.”

  He nodded. “They’ll be here soon. Probably to lecture me about God.”

  Rubbing his shoulder, I tilted my head. “God can help you, Connor. He is The Great Comforter.”

  “I know . . .” He looked sorrowful. “I don’t know what happened to me. I miss the younger version of me.” His eyes caught a glimpse of the TV hanging on the wall, and I turned to look. It was The Office. It had always been his favorite show. It was on re-runs. Grabbing the remote, he turned it up and I took a seat in the chair beside his bed. Promising myself and God right there, I vowed to make sure to be there for my brother moving forward.

  A few hours later, a knock came from the doorway of the room. It was Joe, comic book in hand. My heart melted. He tipped me a nod but went right for Connor.

  “You still like Superman? Or are you too old for that?” He handed him the comic.

  Connor sat up in the bed and took it from Joe with wide eyes. “I still love the old comics. You remembered how much I wanted this one? I had forgotten about it. I never did get it.”

  He nodded. “How could I forget? You wouldn’t shut up about it whenever I came over when we were younger.”

  “Thanks, man.” Connor set the comic book down on his lap as his eyes watered. “So she told you . . .”

  Joe shook his head. “I don’t know what is going on, but I’ve wanted to give you that for a while since I saw you at the inn, and then I heard you were up here, so I saw the perfect opportunity to do so.”

  Connor smiled at me and then over at Joe. “Thank you.”

  “So, you going to be okay?” Joe asked.

  Connor nodded but didn’t offer any information. Awkwardness started to fill the room and I got up from my seat. “Can I talk to you?” My eyes focused on Joe. He nodded and followed me out into the hallway. Nervous Connor might hear, I walked a few more paces down the hall and peered into Joe’s eyes. “Thank you for coming today. I appreciate it.”

  He half-smiled and brought his hand up to my arm. His touch brought a sense of comfort in a scary moment. Reluctantly, I told him, “You have to go, Joe.”

  Shaking his head, confused, he said, “I want to be here for you, Katie. Did I do something wrong?”

  Touching his arm as what I was about to say pained me, I shook my head. “It’s nothing you did.” Stepping closer, I framed his face in my hands as my eyes filled with tears and my heart twisted in agony. My throat felt as if it were closing and my heart as if it were shattering at what I had to say. “My focus can’t be on a relationship right now.”

  Joe’s eyes began to gloss over with tears, but he turned away to hide from me. I pulled his eyes back to me and looked at him. “I care about you. About us. I just need time to focus on being there for Connor right now.”

  Pursed lips drew a thin line across his mouth and he nodded firmly. Rubbing his neck, he glanced down the hallway for a moment toward the room Connor was in and then back at me. “If you think that’s best, Katie.” His words dripped with a sadness that made the already growing knot in my chest tighten.

  “A relationship right now just wouldn’t—”

  He raised a hand. “Stop. You don’t need to explain.” Stepping closer to me, he brought me in for a kiss. It was a chaste kiss, nothing like the one I wanted or needed. Then he looked one last time into my eyes. “I’ll be seeing you . . . or not, I guess . . .” Joe turned and began walking down the hallway as tears continued down my cheeks.

  “I’m sorry,” I said in a whisper as he rounded the corner to the elevators.

  Going back inside the room, Connor looked at my tear-filled face, perplexed. “Where’s Joe?”

  “He’s gone.” Connor had enough to deal with in life. He didn’t need to know about my breaking up with Joe.

  Connor must have decided to let it go because he gave me one last look and then his eyes went back to the TV mounted on the wall. I knew I was doing the right thing being here for my family, so why was my heart hurting so badly?

  Chapter 15

  Connor was released that next evening after a twenty-four hour suicide watch. The next morning was church. He agreed to start attending with me, but only if he could carpool with me on the way there. It was my first real step to being there for him outside of staying at the hospital with him. My father came over to the hospital when he and Mom got back into town and agreed to stay the night with him.

  Wagner kept me company that Sunday morning as I got ready in the bathroom for church.

  My doorbell rang. Glancing at my phone, I saw it was thirty minutes before Connor was due over. Ambitious, aren’t we? I thought to myself as I turned off the bathroom light and headed down the hallway to go answer it. Wagner followed as I went to answer it. “Stop jumping!” I said playfully at Wags as I shooed him away
with my foot to open the door.

  It was Joe.

  My heart felt like it began to beat again. The pounding was so intense. My lips didn’t move as I was speechless.

  Raising his hands out to his sides, he said, “Can we go for a drive? I need to talk to you.”

  “Okay.” I had nothing to lose, and it was great to see him again. “Just have to be back in the next thirty minutes.”

  “That’s fine. This won’t take long.”

  Turning around, I went over and grabbed my purse from the counter and followed him out the door.

  For the first few minutes, he didn’t speak at all in the car. He just drove. A few times, he moved his lips like he was about to say something, but then retracted.

  “Come on, Joe. Just get it out.” Slapping his leg, I tried to jolt him to action.

  He took a big gulp as he took a left turn down Division. “I know you want to be there for your brother right now, Katie. I get that. My sister had health issues a few years back, and I was by her bedside praying and there for her every minute of it. But you know what?” He looked over at me right then.

  I raised my eyebrows at him.

  “I still thought of you. I was there for my sister, but I still wanted you. I wished you were there to be my side through the pain. You see, even though I dated people since you left Newport, I always compared each woman to you. I never stopped loving you. Never stopped thinking about you. I got our boat, Katie, and the other night, when you were finally on it with me, I felt like life finally made sense. I can be there for you while you help Connor. Don’t push me out. Don’t use Connor as an excuse not to live your life the way you want.”

  I touched my hand to my forehead and shook my head. His words were sweet, but one question lurked in my mind. “Why’d you sleep with that girl back then? Why’d you do it?”

  He bit his lip as tears rolled down his cheek. “I never did. I just asked her to spread the lie because I was scared of being with you. I didn’t want to end up like the miserable high school sweethearts I see all the time that never got to live. Then I realized it was all stupid, but it was too late then. I saw you at Dillard’s in the mall later that summer with a guy. I didn’t want to bother you. I am so sorry about that whole thing. Call Alexis up if you don’t believe me. I’m sure her number is in the Spokane phonebook. I promise I never cheated on you.”

  “You thought making yourself out to be a cheater was better than just being honest with me? You really didn’t think that one through at all, Joe. But I really do have to focus on Connor.” My composure was staying intact as I was trying not to show how desperately I wanted to make both work.

  “And you can focus on him, Katie.” Shaking his head, he continued. “Answer me this. Do you have feelings for me?” His voice was firm and even a little demanding, but it made sense. He needed to get to the bottom of this all. We both did.

  “Yes. Without a doubt.” Revealing that truth to him was scary. I felt vulnerable. “But Connor—”

  “So let me be your someone, Katie.” He shook his head. “Let me be the man who can wipe away your tears and make you feel better when you have a bad day. Bring you chicken soup when you’re sick. The one who is always there for you. Because I can’t go another day not being with you, Katie.”

  He pulled the car back into the parking lot of my complex and put it into park. Looking over at me, he lifted my chin with his index finger. “You give me the word, and you don’t have to see me ever again. I won’t bug you, but I’ll wait for you to come back to me. I’ll wait another twelve years for you to figure it out if I have to, Katie.”

  “I just don’t know if I can be all that you want me to be right now, Joe.” Raising my eyebrows, I said, “You seem so full of affection and really into me in a way I don’t know if I can match right now because—”

  “Of Connor. I know.” He reached over and put his hand on top of mine. “You don’t have to worry about matching anything. If you want to be together, we’ll make it work. Listen, I don’t know what the future holds for us, but I know we shouldn’t waste time. It’s limited and precious. The Bible says in James 4:14,

  Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

  Our life is short and time is limited. I know that, for me, Charlie and Serenah’s wedding was inspiring. God’s the one who helps things work out, Katie. But that requires us to allow Him in to do the work.”

  He leaned across the arm rest and looked at me with his piercing blue eyes. “I’m crazy about you. I always have been, Katie.”

  His words cut through to my heart. Tears filled my eyes, and I reached over and hugged him. “I’m crazy about you too, Joe.” Grabbing onto his jacket, I pulled him in close to me. He was right. Time was precious, moments fleeting. If I waited until Connor was healthy, there’d just be a different excuse to why things wouldn’t work. The truth was I was scared, just like he was all those years ago.

  His hands framed my face as he kissed me deeply. Our kissing continued until a sudden loud knock on the window startled us. Pulling apart quickly, we looked over and saw Connor waving at us with a smile on his face.

  Waving back, we both went beet-red and got out.

  “Romeo attending church with us?” he asked with a raised brow over toward Joe. “Or maybe he just came by to suck face before letting you go to God’s holy place? Isn’t that against the rules somewhere?” Connor smiled.

  We all laughed.

  “I’ll go if I’m invited.” Joe looked over to me.

  “Of course you’re coming.” I grabbed Joe’s hand, lacing my fingers through his. “I have some coffee on inside. Let’s go grab a cup before we leave.”

  We all went inside. “Afterward, we should take my boat out on the lake. It should be the last decent day of weather before fall sets in.”

  Connor and I both agreed as we crossed the parking lot and headed up to my condo.

  Before leaving for church, I went into my bedroom to pack up my camera equipment for the trip out on the lake.

  Connor came into my bedroom.

  Handing him the Canon to use on the lake, he raised an eyebrow. “Yeah? The Canon? This isn’t because you feel bad for me, is it?”

  I shook my head. “You earned it. You did great at the wedding. Hey, did you take those photos of Joe at the wedding on purpose? Because you knew I’d see them?”

  He smiled and shrugged as he left the room.

  The way I measure quality in a man isn’t the size of his wallet, but the size of his heart. My brother, Connor, my father, and Joe are three men of high quality. Connor showed me how to stop and notice the small details in life. My father taught me to give second chances, and Joe taught me to be fearless with my heart and to go after what I want.

  Whispering a prayer to myself, I thanked God for my life and headed out the door. Joe and I aren’t perfect people, but we are perfect for each other. It only took twelve years, a wedding, and one Sunday drive to figure it out.

  The End.

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  One Monday Prayer

  Diamond Lake Series: Book 5

  By:

  T.K. Chapin

  www.tkchapin.com

  Author’s Note

  Thank you for choosing to read One Monday Prayer. I wrote this book to help people that are going through difficulties in their life. Oftentimes it’s not until we stop trying that God can truly begin to work in our lives. The story centers on a widow that visits her cousin (Serenah) for the Holidays. Through a near death experience she finds comfort in a prayer of a stranger. The truth this story draws on is one near to my heart, that’s God is always working behind the scenes. It also touches on healing after loss. My hope for this story is that it blesses you as much as it did me writing it.

  And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to
his purpose.

  Romans 8:28

  When we use the Scriptures as a blueprint for our life, blessings follow. God doesn’t promise everything will be perfect, but He does promise to lift us up when we fall. If you need help aligning your life with the Bible, I recommend picking up a free thirty-day devotional that will be delivered to your inbox to get you jump-started. To claim, visit tkchapin.com/devotional

  CHAPTER 1

  At gate forty-seven in the Tampa International Airport, I dabbed on a little frankincense oil to help settle my nerves. The cashier at the gift shop insisted that the oil worked great for anxiety. Unfortunately, it wasn’t working very well. The knot of anxiety in the center of my chest tightened and expanded as I waited for my plane.

  I loathed flying almost as much as I hated the holidays the last three years without Ted. We were married for only two years, but each holiday was a reminder of the life I would never have with Ted and the dreams of a future we once made together.

  “Zone one is now ready to board,” a woman’s scratchy voice said over the intercom. The knot in my chest grew in width and depth at the announcement of my zone.

  Watchful eyes focused on me with looks of envy as I stood up and made my way over to the line. First class had that effect on people. While the rest were stuck with all the crying babies and seats that were packed too tightly, first class was comfortable. This wasn’t my choice, but my cousin Serenah’s.

  She wanted me comfortable.

  It took her over a year of phone calls to get me to visit her in Newport, Washington, and I think she felt bad about what helped me finally agree to come—my apartment caught fire. With a timeline of two plus weeks until the landlord could get me into a new place, I didn’t see any reason why I shouldn’t visit.