by Delia Latham
In all honesty, he had to admit to himself that “relieved” didn’t even begin to describe the emotion whirling like a tornado in his heart. Pia had become so much more than a friend to him. He cared for her more deeply than he had ever thought possible in such a short time.
He loved this woman. Adored her. She seemed almost to glow in the silvery moonlight, and in that moment, he realized he could not live without Pia Peretti. The sordid past she’d shared with him was exactly that…her past.
“David?” Those beautiful eyes narrowed, and she tilted her head in a way that had become so familiar, probably wondering why he had fixated on her as if he’d never seen a woman before. “What’s…what are you doing here?”
He managed a short laugh. “I’m fine.” He cleared his throat, struggling to get a grip on his wild emotions. “I came by to make sure you’re all right.”
She stared at him, saying nothing.
“Pia?” He stepped closer.
“Yes,” she said, barely above a whisper. And still she hadn’t taken her eyes off his face. She pulled in a deep, shaky breath. “I think I’m OK.”
“You think?” He reached out to stroke her cheek. To his surprise, she closed her eyes and turned her face into his caress. “Pia…”
She looked up, and David’s heart lurched. In the moonlight, Pia’s almond-shaped eyes shone with unshed tears, green as the eyes of a cat. Spellbound, he watched as they overflowed, and tears streaked down her face in a rapid stream.
Pure instinct prompted him to pull her into his arms. Without plan and without a shred of hope that she would allow the gesture, he folded her close and rested his head on top of her hair.
11
David’s heartbeat boomed like thunder in his own ears.
Pia wrapped both arms around his waist and nestled against his chest. Silent, shuddering sobs wracked her body, and she clung to him.
For comfort, of course. Only for comfort.
He held her, stroking her hair, until she began to relax. Gently then, he turned her around, opened her gate and led her to the door of her apartment. “Let’s get you inside.”
Not that he would have minded standing there with Pia in his arms all night long, but he wouldn’t risk her reputation. He bit back a grin as she pushed her door open. Cuddling a beautiful woman in public most likely wouldn’t be the best thing for his standing as the new Falls Tabernacle Assistant Pastor, either.
With the door closed behind them, David searched her face. “I owe you an apology.”
She shook her head. “Not now. Would you like coffee?”
He nodded, then lowered himself onto one end of the sofa and waited, giving Pia time to pull herself together. From the kitchen, he heard the squeak of a cabinet door, objects making contact with the counter, a drawer opening…sounds of a woman puttering in her kitchen. Sounds he could get used to.
She returned shortly, set a mug in front of him and took one with her to the other end of the couch. David felt the distance between them like a massive hole in his heart.
He sipped at the hot drink and watched her through the steam. A tear slipped past her lashes and trembled its way down the delicate curve of her cheek.
He needed to be closer to her, as much for his own comfort as for hers. He set his hot mug on the coffee table and, gathering all his courage, he scooted across the sofa until mere inches separated them. Pia searched his eyes, but finally rewarded him with a tremulous smile.
“Pia, I—” David leaned in and kissed her forehead, the tip of her nose. Then he trailed soft kisses over her cheek, and brushed his lips across her trembling ones.
She stiffened for half a heartbeat then placed a hand on each side of his face and searched his eyes. David held her gaze, wanting her to see all the love and longing in his own.
“David?” She breathed his name in a question.
“I love you, Pia. You stole my heart that first day in the rain.” He took a deep breath, breathed it out again. “I don’t want it back, my darling…I just want yours in return.” He brushed a strand of hair off her cheek, and managed to inject a teasing note into his voice. “That’s only fair, isn’t it?”
Her sweet laughter embraced him like a warm hug. “I suppose it is. But—”
She paused, and David’s heart stopped. She wasn’t ready. I jumped the gun, and now she’ll pull away. The thought dried his mouth and sent his heart on a rapid downward spiral.
Pia drew back only far enough to look into his face. “ David, you’re a minister.” She touched a finger to his lips “A handsome…amazing…gorgeous one.” A tiny giggle escaped, and he loved the sound of it, but she sobered in an instant. “But a minister nonetheless. You deserve someone better, someone without a past like mine.” Tears spilled over and made wet tracks on her cheeks. “Preachers don’t want girls like me.”
He swallowed hard. “Look, if you don’t feel the same, I understand. You’re not ready yet. I can wait, just don’t say…”
Tears chased each other down her cheeks. “Hush, sweet man. Hush.” Her hands stole around his neck and a tingle zipped through his body when her fingers buried themselves in his hair. “I know you haven’t forgotten what I told you Sunday after church. Before I found the Lord, I wasn’t...I wasn’t good, David.” She dropped her head onto his chest, overcome by heartbreaking silent sobs.
For a moment, he couldn’t breathe. Now was the time for him to speak up and do what he hadn’t done on Sunday. His heart thudded against his chest, and he sent a mental prayer for guidance.
And Guidance arrived.
David felt the fluttering brush of air against the dampness of his cheeks. Until then, he hadn’t known he shared Pia’s tears. Something soft and warm wrapped him in a soothing cocoon, and in that moment of sudden clarity, he knew what to say.
He pulled Pia close and whispered into her ear. “There is none truly good, my darling, except God. I certainly am not.”
“But you are.”
“No.” He cut off her protest. “I’m not. I handled our conversation on Sunday very poorly, and I ask your forgiveness for that. I should have assured you of God’s forgiveness, and mine. But I didn’t, because I was afraid.”
Confusion clouded her troubled gaze. “I don’t understand.”
“I left Dallas because I thought I had failed one of my parishioners in a counseling session. She left my office, went home, and committed suicide.” His throat closed, and he cleared it, determined to finish what he’d started. “I blamed myself.”
“Oh, David, I’m so sorry.” Tears once more overflowed her eyes and made wet trails down her cheeks. “But it wasn’t your fault. You can’t keep thinking that.”
“I don’t.” He managed a weak smile. “Not anymore, because Uncle Andy opened my eyes to the truth. I wasn’t placing Rayanne in God’s hands and trusting Him to take care of her. I wanted to save her, but only Jesus can do that.” He paused, shaking his head. “It was really pretty arrogant of me to think I had that much influence over her, wasn’t it?”
“Not arrogant at all. You cared about her, as a child of God. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“I care about you too, Pia.” He used his thumb to dry the tears on her face. “Listen closely, because I want you to remember this every time Satan tries to say you aren’t forgiven.”
She bit at her lip but gave him a tentative nod.
“You are a new creature in Christ. Your past doesn’t even exist. His cleansing blood has given you a brand new life, a clean slate…and in Him, you are a woman of purity. The only power through which the past can tarnish your present or your future is the power you give it, so…don’t.”
“A woman of purity.” Pia seemed to have heard only those words. Her soft repetition of them rang with pure joy.
Peace washed over David in a soothing flood because he, too, had been forgiven and given a chance to do things differently.
Lifting Pia’s chin with one finger, he smiled into her tear-wet eyes. “I di
dn’t fall in love with the hurting girl you were, Pia Peretti.” He touched his lips to hers again, pouring every ounce of love he possessed into a tender, reverent kiss. “I am heart over head over heels in love with the woman you are.”
She stilled in his arms then pulled away to look into his eyes and beyond…and he knew she was examining his soul. When at last she offered a weak, watery smile, David lowered his head and kissed her again…not so gently this time. A crushing wave of emotion threatened to drown him, and he smiled against the sweet pressure of her lips.
****
Pia lost herself in David’s touch until passion threatened to overcome her sanity. David must have known when that happened, because he broke contact and moved her away, just far enough to take her face in his hands.
He searched her eyes, and Pia wondered if he was trying to see into her heart.
“You are so incredibly beautiful. I love everything about you, from that gorgeous face to the stubborn fire in your soul.” He cleared his throat, and his voice took on an endearing hesitancy. “Is it possible you could maybe…someday…love me?”
Her eyes caressed his face then focused on his lips. Just looking at them set up a powerful, responding tingle in her own.
“Oh, David, I’ve loved you since the moment I saw you, with rain and blood dripping off your face, and those amazing eyes of yours all dazed and confused.” She stretched upward to feather-brush her fingertips across each of his eyes. “You have incredible eyes.”
He chuckled. “If you only knew how much flak I took over these eyes as a kid.”
She smiled. “I bet you didn’t have that problem in high school, did you?”
“Not so much.” Was that a smirk?
Pia laughed. “Which is your way of not saying all the girls wanted to date the boy with the mismatched eyes.”
“Not all of them.” He grinned and pulled her close again. “And none that mattered.” He nuzzled her neck, and she gasped in response. “You’re the only woman in the world who makes me want to do this…” His lips moved to one corner of her lips. “And this…” Taking her hand, he brought it to his own cheek and turned his face into the palm, pressing another kiss there. “And this…”
Pia pulled away with a shaky laugh. “We have to stop.”
David hauled in a calming breath and moved backward, putting some distance between them. “You’re right.” Then, as if he couldn’t resist touching her, he took her hand in his. “You really love me? Surely I’m dreaming.”
“I love you so much it frightens me.” She narrowed her eyes and shot him a mischievous grin. “But I suppose I could pinch you, so you know you’re awake.”
A burst of laughter created an immediate relaxation of the visible tension in his body. Pia smiled but only briefly. She sobered and raised her gaze to his. “I can’t believe you love me, after the way I—”
“Stop.” He touched his finger to her lips and shook his head. “No more about the past. Not tonight…not ever. So you’re not a virgin. Well…neither am I. But in Christ, we’re both made new again. Let’s look forward, sweetheart—to where we’re going, instead of where we’ve been. Do you think we can do that?”
She smiled through the tears that burned her eyes. “I’m certainly willing to leave that poor, sad girl behind if you can.”
“I already have.”
She nestled against his side, and he drew her head onto his shoulder. “Now. About that little gift I found in my mailbox...”
Pia bit her lip against the smile that insisted on showing itself. “What gift?”
He chuckled. “Oh, a little sermon all wrapped up in a piece of jewelry.”
“Jewelry, huh?” She raised her head and allowed her gaze to move in a caressing wave over his handsome face.
“How did you know, Pia? How could you possibly know I needed that—and for a much better reason than to hold my tie in place?”
She captured his face in her hands and resisted the strong pull of emotion when his warm breath brushed her lips. “Well, we are in Heart’s Haven.” She leaned close to give him a soft, butterfly kiss—there and then gone. “Angels have been known to speak around here.”
With a muttered groan, David pulled her closer. Bringing his face to within a hairsbreadth of hers, he stopped. She caught her breath, desperately wanting him to kiss her. “Angels speak,” he whispered. “And love finds all who enter here.”
Then he closed the shadow of distance between them, crushing her lips beneath a kiss so divine that surely even the angels—if indeed they were there—folded their wings in reverence.
Author’s Note
All the jewelry mentioned in the first four Heart’s Haven books are actual jewelry pieces sold by The Master’s Jewels (www.themastersjewels.com), and each of the girls in the various stories wears a special necklace given to her by my heroine. The necklaces make a special “connecting thread” for these stories.
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May God’s glory shine through
this inspirational work of fiction.
AMDG