by Lois Richer
“Checked on the order yesterday. You’re all set. Wouldn’t want those mama sheep to go hungry now, would we?”
“No, ma’am.” Audrey headed for the door, ticking through the list of errands still on her list.
“Oh, and Audrey?”
“Yes?”
“Hoopy Easter to you and your neighbors.”
Paul stared at Sandy Burnside as they each ate a slice of pie at the diner. When she’d told him she had something important to talk to him about, he didn’t know what to think. “Really?”
“Yes, I think it’s a perfectly wonderful idea. But I wouldn’t dream of asking her without your say-so.”
“Why on earth would I object to Lilly being the Grand Marshal of Middleburg’s Easter Parade? She’ll go crazy at the idea.”
“Well, I have to say I’d have been surprised if you refused, but you never know. Just seems to me, she’s had a rough go of it losing her mama, and seeing as she’s our newest and youngest citizen, well, it made all kinds of sense. My store’ll fix her up with whatever new dress she’d like, and she’ll get to ride on the back of Mac MacCarthy’s snazzy little convertible at the head of the parade.”
It sounded like the best Easter ever for a seven-and-three-quarters-year-old girl. God had indeed led him to the perfect new home for Lilly and him. “You should ask her yourself. I think she’d like that. She’ll be home from school around three-thirty.”
“I’ll swing on by. Audrey wanted me to come by and see her new babies today, anyhow. And, of course, there you are right next door.” She said that last part with a broad hint of conspiracy. Maybe that small-town business about everybody knowing everything instantly was true. “Just works out perfectly, don’t it?”
He didn’t know what to say. Had the new relationship between him and Audrey been that obvious? Sandy could have been talking about his veterinary ability to help with the lambs, but it sure didn’t look as if that’s what she meant. Her eyes held a mischievous sparkle that left little to interpretation. “What do you mean?” he said slowly.
Her smile held such warmth. “Oh, now, we ain’t so slow on the uptake as you might think. Besides, I like to see people happy. Especially ones that have seen as much sadness as you have. We’re not meddling. We’re just pleased to see two folks get together, that’s all.”
Paul gulped. “How many people know?”
She smirked. “Nearly everyone. I imagine choir practice tonight’ll finish off the last few who don’t know.” Paul’s worry for Audrey must have shown on his face, for Sandy reached out and patted his hand. “Audrey’s dear to us. I’m just tickled God’s found the right man for her, and so’s everybody else. Just be happy. That’s all that’s ever needed.”
Good Friday had always been a difficult day. Even though Easter and Good Friday came on different days each year, Paul had always connected Caroline’s death with Eastertime. Good Friday was such a somber, death-centered day, but Easter was the whole point of knowing Caroline’s place in Heaven. It made Easter week a seesaw of emotions for Paul. Only this year, he didn’t feel as tossed by emotional waves. He felt as if the whole process was coming full circle somehow, that the conflicting emotions were just two halves of the same whole.
Audrey sat with Paul and Lilly at the Good Friday service. She seemed to know, instinctively, what a fragile time this was for him. She didn’t force him to talk much, waiting patiently for his comments to surface. It was a very good feeling to know she was there when he needed her. Never before had the phrase “Death hath lost its sting” been so real.
Lilly, on the other hand, talked a lot. After they sat having the now-traditional hot chocolate after the service, Paul was stunned to watch Lilly tell Audrey her version of the story of Caroline’s death. Lilly told Audrey how Caroline had been sick and sad but that now because Jesus did the things He did she was having fun in Heaven. Her simple, trusting grasp of Easter’s eternal truths astounded him.
“Do you think Martha’s lamb is in Heaven? Meeting Mom?” Lilly asked.
Paul watched Audrey tear up but still smile. “I like that idea, don’t you?” she choked out, her hand stealing to Paul’s under the table.
“If he’s as cute as all the other lambs, I bet they’re having so much fun. Your lambs are fun. A lot of work, but fun.” Lilly licked a dollop of whipped cream off her cocoa. “Are you gonna have more?”
“More lambs?” Audrey gasped, “Oh, no.” A smile crept across her face. “I’ve got all I can handle between my Easter lambs and my Easter Lilly.” With that she leaned over and planted an exquisitely tender kiss on Lilly’s forehead while squeezing Paul’s hand.
Paul’s heart broke open and healed in the same wondrous instant. A fitting miracle for the time when the world broke open and healed on an eternal scale.
Chapter Fourteen
Easter could be a tricky business in Kentucky. April was mostly warm, but a cold rain could make springtime feel far away. Today was one of God’s Saturday-morning masterpieces, a picture-perfect blue sky hosting fluffy clouds and brilliant sunshine. The most perfect day for an Easter Parade Audrey could ever imagine.
Sure, three floats had serious technical problems. The head had fallen off the Equestrian Club’s float twice, so that now an unattractive contraption of chicken wire and duct tape held the horse’s head on at a freakish angle. The riding-mower-brigade noise had sent the kennel club’s dogs into a barking hysteria, necessitating a last-minute reordering of four floats. One of the 4-H goats had munched off a corner of the high school glee club float. Still, Ballad Road was awash in pastel streamers and balloons, and even the crudest float glowed in the bath of sunshine God had given the world.
Paul and Lilly had come over to the church parking lot hours before the parade, bringing Audrey tea and muffins. It felt so very lovely to be “tended to” that it evaporated most of the stress right out of Audrey’s body. Yes, details had gone awry, but the important things were in place. The important people, too.
The attraction she felt for Paul had felt like a loss of control at first. Another layer in an already too-layered life. She’d realized, in the days since the lambs had come, that what she felt for Paul was a foundation, not a distraction. It gave her the grounding that enabled her to ebb and flow with life’s changes. Yes, faith had always given that to her, but needing Paul would never mean needing God less. Just loving more.
And loving Paul had meant loving Lilly, too. Lilly, who brought light and joy right alongside her commotion and craziness. Easter was so much more wonderful with Lilly and Paul to share it. It gave her enormous pleasure to make sure what she’d come to think of as “Lilly’s Parade” would go off without a hitch.
Or, as she had now learned to expect, without too many hitches.
The now-familiar surge of affection for Paul and Lilly warmed her all over again, and Audrey looked up from her clipboard to scan the parking lot for the pair. There, standing next to Mac MacCarthy’s shiny orange convertible, was its VIP occupant and her father. Paul looked charmed if a little overwhelmed by it all as he settled Lilly in for her Grand Marshal ride. Lilly, however, drank in the day for all it was worth. She wore a rose-colored dress with cream trim, a tone that showed off her hair and complexion to great advantage. Sandy knew her stuff. Just frilly enough to be dramatic, but not too much. Lilly looked like a princess, which is exactly how she should have looked. And felt.
Pastor Anderson said a blessing over the parade floats and groups as they lined up in the church parking lot. It was the one still moment in a morning chock-full of last-minute hysteria for Audrey. As he finished, he handed the microphone to Lilly. With a beaming smile, she called out “Let the Parade begin” just the way they’d rehearsed. Behind her, Paul’s smile was nearly as broad as his daughter’s. Audrey felt the warmth of his expression just as surely as she felt the sun on her face.
As she raised her clipboard, ready to tick off the parade entrants as they went by, a set of hands removed it from her grasp.
“You’ve got better things to do,” Janet said as she pulled a pencil from behind her ear.
“What do you mean by that?”
She looked over to see Paul extending his hand to her. “Go take a walk, Audrey,” Janet said. “You’ve earned it.”
“You mean…? I couldn’t.”
Janet shrugged. “You could. You should. Besides,” she said, pushing Audrey toward Paul’s place behind the orange car, “I’m not giving this clipboard back. Doctor’s orders.”
Paul grinned. Janet nudged Audrey again. “C’mon!” Lilly yelled as Mac moved the convertible slowly forward. “Dad’s been waiting forever.”
So had she. Audrey took the hand of the man she’d come to love, and together, they stepped off in the first-ever Annual Middleburg Easter Parade.
Dear Reader,
I love yarn and knitting, so it’s no surprise sheep would show up eventually. I was unprepared, however, for the many lessons and insights these animals gave. God wisely uses many metaphors of sheep and flocks—they have a startling amount to teach us about faith, trust and community.
Got has given you—yes, you—unique gifts and qualities to share with your community. Sometimes we need to redefine “community,” or redefine what we consider “gifts.” Why? Because God hides surprises and blessings in places we often consider empty. These are challenging times, but when we remember that God is mightier than any challenge, His glory enables amazing things. Therein lies the most beautiful qualities of the Body of Christ.
Tend to your own flock—whatever its shape and size—with care and creativity. God is just waiting to astound you when you do. As always, I love to hear from you at aliepleiter.com or P.O. Box 7026, Villa Park, IL 60181.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
Can you think of a time when life exploded beyond your capacity to cope? What did God show you during that time?
Do you have a gift, like Audrey’s knitting, that you can share? Why or why haven’t you shared it? If there are opportunities to use that gift right in front of you now, what can you do?
Do you agree with Paul’s decision to move to Middleburg? When is a fresh start a good thing? Is it ever a poor choice?
Would you have been in favor of Howard’s Easter Parade idea? Why or why not?
Where do the Easter themes of redemption and restoration show up most strongly for you in the story? Why?
ISBN: 978-1-4268-5055-4
EASTER PROMISES
Copyright © 2010 by Harlequin Books S.A.
The publisher acknowledges the copyright holders of the individual works as follows:
DESERT ROSE
Copyright © 2010 by Lois M. Richer
BLUEGRASS EASTER
Copyright © 2010 by Alyse Stanko Pleiter
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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