Raising Attabury: A Contemporary Christian Epic-Novel (The Grace Series Book 5)

by Stallings, Staci

  “I’m God. You’re not, Pastor Steve. I see the whole picture, you don’t Pastor Steve. I’m putting pieces in place for your good that you can’t even see or imagine right now, Pastor Steve. Stop trying to control everything and let Me. What you most need to do right now is to remember that I am God. You are not.

  “And while you rest in remembering that, here are a few more things to remember. It was My Grace and Love that sought you out, not the other way around. I am for you, not against you. Full stop.” The pastor stopped and smiled at them, and Eric grinned back, nodding. “I love you. Full stop. Today, tomorrow, yesterday, all the way back to the beginning of time and all the way forward to the end of time. I love you. Full stop. You are worthwhile in My eyes. Full. Stop.

  “In fact, you are so worthwhile to me that I sent My only Son to die on a cross to redeem you, I love you that much. Full stop. I made you with a purpose. Full stop. And I know that purpose, and I will get you there if you let go, surrender your agenda, and let Me.”

  “Full stop,” Eric whispered, and tears began stinging his eyes. He took a breath and the letting it out felt very good.

  “Be still and know I am God. I am a Rock that you can build your life on and your future on, and your family’s life and your family’s future upon. Full stop. I don’t change with the seasons or your age or your relationship status or your work schedule or your money issues. I. Don’t. Change. I am Who am. Do you get that? I am Who am. I am. I am right now. In this moment, and that has never changed and will never change. You can call on Me, and I will be right here. I am for you. I am working out My best for you. I am working out My best for your friends and your family. Let Me! Put it in My hands. Put them in My hands. Trust Me with all of it. Because all that stuff I said about you, I could say about them too.

  “I am for them not against them. I made them with a purpose and a plan. I love them more than you can ever know. I believe they are worthwhile and they were worth Me coming here to save them. Pray for them. Put them in My hands, and watch miracles happen, in your heart, and in theirs!”

  The pastor stepped back a moment. “God is in the business of working miracles, and He is the narrow way. So if you’re off in the weeds and the briars and the brambles of doubt and sin and angst and busyness. Take some time today to be still…”

  “And know that I am God,” Eric whispered. Gently he nodded, took a long, deep breath and closed his eyes. “God, You know what we most need. You know all about Dani. You know all about me. Lord, I put this whole crazy thing in Your hands. I believe You can work a miracle where we can’t. Thank You, Lord, for the times You’ve been there when I didn’t even know You were. Thank You, Lord. Thank You.”

  “Pastor Steve was on fire this morning,” Eric said when he and Caleb took a break for water around two. “He is something else.”

  “Tell me about it. He makes me want to jump up, say, ‘Hallelujah’ and go out and change the world.” Caleb laughed and took a drink. “Never thought I’d see that coming, that’s for sure.” He put the water down and thought for a second. “You know, the more I think about this thing, on this side of the wedding, the more I’m beginning to think the whole romance thing isn’t about the wedding at all. That’s just the beginning. It’s not the end.”

  Eric nodded, mostly to keep his friend talking.

  “I mean, you watch the movies, and you think the getting together is the point of a relationship. They don’t really tell you what you’re supposed to do after that.” He stopped a second and grinned. “Well, I mean, you know.” He took a quick drink. “It’s like I see now that the getting together is just the first step. It’s really about what you do after you’re together. After you’re married and the two have become one and all of that, what are you going to do together that you couldn’t do apart? What impact are you going to have on the world? Like you have kids. What kind of kids are they? Are they just trophies on the shelf you take down and play with or show off, or are you teaching them the impact they can have on the world? Are you really getting in there and bringing out the purpose God has for them and encouraging that?”

  He took a drink and laughed. “I know. Now I sound like Pastor Steve.”

  However, Eric wasn’t really laughing. “You know, in all these years, I never really thought about it like that. I was kind of like you. The wedding was the point, and once we got there and got through that, we just kind of lost our directional compass. We’ve kind of been drifting ever since then. Oh, we’ve done stuff—we got jobs and a house and then a different house, and we had Jaden, but I don’t think we’ve ever really decided where we want to go, where we want to be, what we want to do as a couple in this world. More than just surviving or bringing home a paycheck every month. What kind of impact we’re trying to have, individually and as a couple. I mean, I build bridges. Why? I never saw that as a calling before. It was a job to make money so I could afford things. But when I think about it, I see that because of what I do, people will be able to get to their own jobs and live their own lives safely and effectively. That’s important in ways I’m not sure I ever really saw before.”

  “Is it me, or does life seem a lot bigger now than it did in January?”

  Eric laughed and nodded. “A whole lot bigger.”

  Monday morning Dani awoke feeling the futility of life creep over her. Why was she still here? What was the point of all of this? She missed Jaden something awful, and if she was really honest, she missed Eric too. They had talked on the phone the night before, and Eric sent her a picture of yet another picture Jaden had colored for her. All the memory in her phone would be taken up with them if she didn’t make it home soon. The thought made her feel like crying, and she sniffed the emotions back.

  Needing that confirmation that she was doing this for her daughter’s welfare, she pulled out her phone even before she got out of bed. A beep and it was on. However, worry and confusion hit her when she saw the number of messages that had come in overnight, and she sat up like a shot. What bad thing had happened back in the States since she’d been asleep? She swiped the sleep from her eyes and swiped at the bright light.

  Praying for you, Dani.

  More confusion wrapped into the worry.

  Praying for you today, Dani.

  Praying? What were they talking about? She looked up at who’d sent it. Caleb. Caleb? That didn’t make any sense.

  Just so you know, we’re praying for you today, Dani. Go get ‘em Tiger.

  Three times she scrolled before she reached the end of them. Caleb and Rachel, Pastor Steve and Jane. Derek and Jaycee, Luke and Sage. Even Greg and Emily had sent one. Some of them sent two—one from each of them and one as a couple. Tears pooled in her eyes as she read them and re-read them.

  At that moment, her phone rang, and she answered it before looking at who it was. “Hello?”

  “Hey, babe.”

  “Hey,” she said, and she sniffed softly in the darkness. “Shouldn’t you be asleep?”

  “I know. But I set my alarm, so I could call you and tell you good luck today.”

  Dani didn’t say anything. She didn’t know what to say, and everything she thought about saying was currently drowning in tears.

  “Just know that Ja and I are praying for the right thing to happen, no matter what that is,” Eric said softly, and her heart swelled so she could hardly breathe.

  “Okay.”

  “We love you so much, and we miss you. But we know you’re out there doing what you love to do. So…” He laughed. “I guess go be fabulous.”

  She laughed though it was choked. “Okay. I will. You have a good day too. Tell Ja I love her.”

  “I will. Love you, babe.”

  Her heart turned over inside her. “Love you.”

  “We have considered the motion to dismiss as well as the motion to speed this matter forward as presented by the counsel for Drake Systems Incorporated,” the tribunal head said. “We have decided to summarily deny both requests.”

 
; Dani let out a gasp that was very near a yelp of pain. How could they do this? Didn’t they know what this meant? She closed her eyes for a second to gather her scattering confidence before opening them to face the rest of the preliminary decision.

  “We will give counsels six weeks to assemble their cases to be presented in full to this tribunal at that time. That puts this matter out to… let’s see… with the Easter holiday… Monday, April 23rd we will hear opening arguments.” The tribunal head marked that down and then looked up. “Any objections?”

  Of course they had objections, but what good would they do? Counsels on both sides of the aisle shook their head, and the next case was called.

  When they turned, counsel for the other side raised her eyebrows. “Tough break, lady and gentlemen. See you April 23rd.” And with that, she flounced out.

  Dani gathered her things in utter silence, her heart breaking. Six more weeks, seven really. In Scotland. Away from her family. Away from Jaden. Away from her life.

  Snippets of her discussion with the minister began to twine through her mind. Two objects cannot be in the same space…. Sacrifice… The center of your heart… What you’re already choosing…

  Eric had hoped he would hear something by noon his time. When he didn’t, he decided a call wouldn’t be out of the question. “Hey, babe,” he said when she answered, but instantly he sat forward feeling the bad, earthquake-like shift in his life with her hello. It sounded hurried and unhappy. “Just called to check on things.”

  “Uh, I can’t really talk right now. Can I call you back?”

  “Yeah. Sure. Call when you can.” He hung up and closed his eyes. Whatever it was, it was bad. Knowing nothing else to do, he typed in Please pray and sent it to all of the guys. He knew they would tell their wives. Pitching the phone to the desk, he put his elbows on it and clasped his hands. “God, please, we need You here. Dani needs You, God. Please…”

  “I know,” Joel said into his phone when they were back at Blair’s office. “I know. We did. Yes.”

  Dani sat at the conference table with Blair, his head hung low. If she could have thought of something more to do, she would have done it. As it was, she was desperately trying to get the case into the center of her heart. Two months. Late nights. Scotland. Away from Jaden. She would miss everything.

  “What is to be sacrificed so that something else can be the only thing in the center of your heart?”

  “God,” she whispered in only her heart as she fought the tears, “I don’t know what to do here. I made a commitment to the company. I don’t want to let them down. They need me.”

  Something has to be sacrificed for something else to hold the center.

  “So to be a lawyer? I have to sacrifice my family? I have to sacrifice being Jaden’s mom?” Her heart panged so forcefully, it ached inside her. “How am I supposed to make that choice, God? How am I supposed to choose my job over my daughter?”

  Something has to be sacrificed for something else to hold the center. What if, to be a mom to Jaden, I have to sacrifice being a lawyer who travels the world making deals and…

  “But this is what I’ve worked for,” she said in her heart, arguing as if her world depended on it. “I worked so hard to get here, to be here. What will people say? What will they think if I quit now?”

  Then you will sacrifice your family for this to be at the center.

  Her breath jerked as Joel disconnected the call.

  His head was down, and he let out a breath. “That was Anston.”

  “I take it he isn’t pleased,” Blair said.

  “That’s one way to say it.” Joel glanced over at her. “Looks like we’re going to be here for the duration.” One more glance at her, and he looked at Blair. “And they’re sending Taylor and Finch over too.”

  Taylor and Finch. Her heart tripped over the names and held there, suspended. The top tier of lawyers at Drake. She knew them. Everybody knew them. Inside and outside of the company. They had egos the size of Mount Everest, and they played cut throat. Take no prisoners. Both were on their fourth or fifth wife, she wasn’t sure which was which. At Drake, they were legends—for good and not so good reasons. They didn’t play to win. They played to destroy the other side. No trick was beyond the pale, no trap outside the realm of trying, and the word dirty just came with the territory.

  Thus far at Drake she had managed to skirt their lack of ethics. Now she would be skating on the same thin ice they had made their reputations on. Her head swam when she remembered the stories of the young lawyers who had taken the fall when things went bad on a case a few years back at Drake. It was never broadcast, but stories like that didn’t die, they just took on a ghostlike quality to rattle new lawyers into becoming complicit and holding their own counsel tightly to their chests. She understood that now in a way she had always thought she could somehow avoid.

  Inside her pocket, her cell phone buzzed, making no real noise at all. Carefully she pulled it out though she was no longer breathing.

  “Yeah,” Joel said to Blair. “Anston said both of them.” Joel shuttered. “I’d hate to be PeoplePower. They’re going to get buried... legally if they’re lucky.”

  Slipping her gaze down to the cell phone, she read: We’re praying for you.

  Dani dragged in a breath, looked up at the tag. Rachel. News sure traveled fast with these people. Before she got the thing shut off, two more came in. One from Greg. One from Jaycee.

  Blinking, she lifted her gaze from the texts and thought through the whole situation.

  “Oh, yeah, and it’s a good-sure bet we’ll be doing our share of dumpster diving,” Joel said with a laugh. “Last time I worked with Finch on a thing, our hackers were into the other company’s cooked books before I even got my laptop on. I’ll bet they’ve already gotten the dirt on these guys. I’d bet my life savings on it. It’ll just be up to me and Dani here to track it all down and make it stick.”

  What holds the center? What holds the center of your life, of your heart?

  A moment of decision, and Dani pushed away from the table and stood. “Gentlemen.”

  Darkness crossed over Joel’s countenance as his gaze came over and traveled the length of her. “Where are you going?”

  She looked right at him. “This is where I get off this train.”

  “Off?” he asked, the word sounding very much like a threat. “What are you talking about? We’re here for the duration of this thing. I already told you that.”

  “Correction,” she said, and the further she went, the more courage came into her. A buzz in her pocket brought a small smile to her face and a bigger one to her heart. “You are here for the duration. As for me, I am tendering my resignation from Drake Systems effective immediately.”

  “Effective…?” His face went ashen and then a deeply dark scowl overtook his expression. “You… you can’t do that. You can’t just walk out of here.”

  “You’re right.” She nodded, sat and pulled up her company laptop. “What was I thinking?”

  A second and he sat back again, realizing she was going to be reasonable. “Good. I’m glad we got that settled. Wow. For a minute there I thought you’d lost your ever-lovin’ mind.” He laughed with Blair. “You’ve gotta admit, she’ll jerk your chain if you let her.”

  With fingers flying, she typed, read it, and hit print. Then quickly, she saved that copy and deleted one line before printing the second. Save and close, and she stood to get the printed copies from the printer across the room. The two men were discussing their new strategy as she took the two papers back to the table and signed them both.

  Standing as her phone buzzed once again, she strode over to Joel and handed him both papers. “Which one do you think sounds better?”

  “Which…?” Without understanding, he took them both and scanned the first one. His gaze jerked up to hers as fear knifed into it. “What? You can’t…”

  She lifted her chin. “You didn’t read the other one.”

  Disbe
lief and incomprehension clogged his face as, looking at her, he flipped to the second page. His gaze fell to it and scanned it first quickly and then slower and slower still. It was clear he was suddenly having immense trouble breathing.

  “As my supervisor and everything,” she said, her voice never wavering, “I thought it best if I asked you which one you thought would be the best to submit, just to get your professional opinion on which would be better.”

  Blair looked from her to Joel and back again, clearly not understanding anything other than there was a skirmish going on without a single word being fired.

  For his part, Joel sat there, speechless for a long moment. Finally, he handed her one of them back. She didn’t even look at it. She knew which one he had chosen to accept. His gaze came up to hers, shaken.

  “I… I think this is a very good move for you, Danisha,” he finally said, the words coming out in hard bursts. “We at Drake Systems Incorporated wish you the very best… with your… family and everything.”

  “Thank you, Sir, and I you. I’ll have my desk at Drake cleaned out by tomorrow afternoon.” She went over and collected her coat. “Oh. And don’t worry about booking my flight. I think I can handle it.” Going back, she put her hand out to Blair. “Mr. Frazer. Good luck with everything.”

  He scrambled to his feet, still looking between them, perplexed. “Uh, you too, Ms…”

  “Danisha.” She nodded as a smile came to her face. “Danisha Richardson.”

  Brayden was talking about the materials list for Phase 4 in the darkened conference room with only the projector’s light on. It really wasn’t that much different than the others. Maybe that’s why Eric was having so much trouble keeping his attention on the presentation and off of his cell phone on the table. Something was wrong. He knew it. He could feel it. “God, please, please, be with Dani. Please.”