Sanctuary (Murrells Inlet Miracles Book 1)

by Larsen, Laurie

  Nora brandished an arm motion like Vanna White. “Right over here, my dear.”

  They stepped into the showroom and Carly walked over to a long rack and ran her hand along garment after garment, her face beaming. “You have so many clothes.”

  “I know. I had many generous donors.”

  Settling on a size 6, Carly went through all the options. They determined a classic business suit would be best, a solid dark shade with a splash of color from the blouse. She took an armload of clothes into the dressing room and tried them on, one by one, before settling on a black suit and a beautiful turquoise silk blouse, with black heeled dress shoes. She not only looked professional, but beautiful.

  “When you have the right outfit on, it makes you feel like you can accomplish anything,” Nora said.

  “Sort of like Wonder Woman. This is my Wonder Woman suit.”

  Nora laughed. “Let me put it all in a plastic hanging bag. But if it wrinkles on the way home, just hang it and swipe the wrinkles down. It should be fine by Thursday. On Wednesday night you can always steam it in the bathroom by running a hot shower with the door closed, while the suit hangs in there, safely away from the water, of course.”

  They finished, gathered all Carly’s things and walked to the door. Carly paused in the doorway and looked up at Nora. “This is it. Thank you. I can’t thank you enough.”

  “My pleasure. You’re going to do great. Call me if you need me before the interview, but definitely call me after the interview and let me know how it went.”

  “Will do.” She grabbed hold of Nora’s hand and squeezed it.

  Nora held on, and an impulse hit her. She decided to go with it. “Carly, do you pray?”

  Carly shrugged. “Sometimes, I guess.”

  “Would you mind if I said a quick prayer with you right now, for success in your interview?”

  Carly nodded. “Sure.”

  Nora closed her eyes, still holding onto Carly’s hand. “Lord, Carly has worked hard and she has much to offer the world. Please be with her at her interview on Thursday. Help her stay calm and present her best self to the interviewers. And if it be your will, if this is your path for her, please give her success. Amen.”

  Carly opened her eyes and looked into Nora’s. “Can’t hurt,” she said with a laugh, and waved good-bye.

  Nora watched her go to her car. No, it certainly can’t.

  On Thursday, Nora rose and went through her normal morning routine. She was drinking coffee when it hit her. Carly’s interview day! She instantly bowed her head and said a quick prayer, asking God to be with Carly, keep her clear-headed and confident, and to help her convince those folks that she was the best one for the job.

  She went about her morning. She’d helped a new client write her resume, and had just set her loose on reviewing an online job search site when her phone rang.

  “Nora! I’m in trouble. I don’t know who else to ask. I’m sorry.”

  “Carly? Is that you? What’s wrong?”

  “Oh Nora, I can’t believe this is happening. I’m don’t want to blow this after we’ve both worked so hard.”

  “Carly, slow down. Start at the beginning. What’s happened? How can I help you?”

  The girl took a deep breath and shot it out. “My mom was supposed to babysit Grace while I go on my interview. But my dad fell off a ladder and she went to the ER with him. I’m sure the interview completely slipped her mind, and I can’t blame her. I wouldn’t want her to miss helping my dad in his hour of need.”

  “No, of course not. What about Grace’s other grandparents?”

  “They’re on a cruise. They’ve been gone a week already and won’t be back till the weekend. I tried calling my best friend, but she works during the day. I don’t know what to do.”

  “Don’t panic. It won’t be good for your mindset in your interview. Do you have time to bring Grace over here?”

  “I suppose I do, as long as you don’t mind …”

  “I don’t mind at all, Carly. Now, calm down, put your thoughts together, and bring Grace over here. Then get to your interview. You don’t want to be late.”

  A shuddered breath came over the phone line. “Yes, ma’am,” she said quietly.

  Fifteen minutes later, Carly arrived. Grace bounded into the house, comfortable now, after visiting several times. Carly, however, looked stressed. She looked great in her suit, but her pale skin was a few shades paler. Her eyes drooped and her breathing was strained. Nora pulled her into a hug. She patted her back and murmured, “There, there. You’re doing fine. Don’t worry. Shhhh.”

  Carly sank into the embrace and within a few seconds her shoulders were shaking. Sobs and words mixed together, an incoherent rush of emotion and Nora just held her until the wave passed. “I don’t even want to look at what I’ve done to my makeup.”

  Nora laughed out loud and Carly starting laughing too. Nora loosened her arms and Carly pulled out of the hug, lifting her face for Nora’s inspection.

  “Actually? Not too bad. But here, come into the bathroom. I’m going to do a little touch up.”

  In the big bathroom on the main floor, recently renovated, Nora pulled a stool in front of the big mirror and flipped on the bright lights. A yelp escaped Carly’s mouth. “We can fix it,” said Nora. Carly sniffed. Nora pulled out her own make up kit and started brushing powder on Carly’s cheeks, and touching up Carly’s eyes. She ran a brush through her hair, and stepped back to survey her work. “You look great.”

  Carly stared at herself in the mirror. “What about the suit?”

  Nora studied her blouse, her lapel. “No damage. You’re fine.”

  Carly took a long breath, checked her watch and looked up at Nora. “I better get going.”

  “Just a second. How do you feel? Hold your hands out.” Carly did as she asked. “A little bit of shaking. Take a second more to calm yourself.”

  Carly closed her eyes and breathed in deep. A crash out in the living room had her eyes popping open.

  “I’ll get her!” Nora cried and ran out.

  Carly emerged three minutes later looking like a million bucks. Grace was happily flipping through a magazine in the living room. “Did she break anything?”

  “Nope.”

  “Oh no! I forgot her bag with her entertainment.”

  “Don’t worry. Grace is my responsibility now. Put her out of your mind. Your job is to do your absolute best on your interview. Are you ready?”

  She nodded solemnly. “I believe so. Yes. And again, I can’t thank you enough.”

  Nora shook her head. “Go get ‘em. I can’t wait to hear how it goes.”

  Carly took a last peek at Grace, then at Nora, then put what looked like a grimace, hopefully intended as a confident smile, on her face, gave a thumbs up and left.

  Keeping a two-year-old occupied for several hours in a house that wasn’t particularly child-proof proved to be quite the challenge for Nora. Especially when she had no age-appropriate toys or activities at her disposal. Since she had no appointments for the next hour, she took Grace outside to run around the field. They ran races and pulled wildflowers and sat under the tree for a while, before hiking back. Then they went inside the barn, wandered in and out of the empty stalls while Nora told Grace about the horses that used to live there. They returned to the mansion and had a snack of crackers and cheese, and water. It was now about ten minutes before Nora’s next Dress For Success appointment. What could she give the toddler to do while she worked?

  Sitting on top of her stack of mail was the local weekly newspaper. She grabbed a few pens and markers from her desk and opened the paper, spread it out over the dining room table and said, “Grace, come over here. Want to draw on the newspaper?”

  That enticed her for the moment. Nora got her set up, and then her next client arrived. Nora kept an eye on Grace while she worked with Mandy, who needed help figuring out her career goals, and what career she might be interested in based on her skills, education and in
terests. After a productive forty-minute session on the computer with Mandy, they documented a short list of potential career fields, and next steps. Mandy made a return appointment and left.

  Nora returned to Grace and perused her handiwork over her shoulder. “Very nice, Grace. I like how you used different colors on these pages. Very pretty.” Grace held her open palms up to Nora. “And look! You didn’t get ink on your hands! Nice job.”

  The little girl got down from her chair and wandered to the living room where she climbed up onto the couch and laid down. Naptime by chance? Running around in the sunshine may have worn her out. Nora watched her fondly as she settled in and closed her eyes. Soon she was sound asleep.

  Nora turned her attention back to the newspaper sheets, folded them up and was about to put them in her recycle bin when something caught her eye. It was the Obituary page and Grace had not chosen to use her art skills on that page. It was clear of drawings. What had caught her eye? She studied it closer and scanned the bold-fonted titles. Then she landed on one name: Melanie Flynn.

  Melanie Flynn’s obituary was in the paper.

  After five seconds of thought, she knew why this particular obituary had caught her subconscious attention. Melanie Flynn was Shaw’s wife.

  She gasped and read the short obituary in full: Melanie Ann Flynn died on Tuesday in Murrells Inlet. She is survived by her husband, Shaw and her daughter Sadie. Melanie had bravely fought a long life-changing illness, resulting from a traumatic brain injury. The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the charity of your choice, in Melanie’s name. Services will be held at Newble-Harrison Funeral Home in Garden City on Friday afternoon at 2 PM.

  She stared at the article until the words swam before her eyes. She blinked and tore her eyes away, then they wandered back. Imagine living an entire lifetime and only having a short paragraph sum up the mark you made on the world. She wondered who had written it. Shaw? Did he have so little love left for his disabled wife that he couldn’t muster up more of a tribute to her? Or why wouldn’t Sadie write it? Did Sadie even remember her mother from her pre-trauma days?

  She closed the paper and went ahead with her original plans to place it in the recycling bin. She walked away, then returned and pulled it back out. The services were tomorrow at 2 PM. She wasn’t familiar with the funeral home, but she knew where Garden City was and felt certain she could find it.

  Find it? And why was she concerned with finding the funeral home? It wasn’t like she had any intention of going to the funeral services of the wife of the man she thought she’d fallen in love with … before he revealed the existence of said wife.

  She sighed and returned the paper to the bin. She took two steps away, and then she turned, retrieved the paper, ripped it into multiple pieces and let them all drift down into the bin.

  Answering the doorbell, Nora pulled the door open to Carly wearing a happy smile. Gone were the tears of earlier in the day.

  “Hello!” Nora exclaimed. She reached for her hands and pulled her in. “Tell me everything.”

  They hurried into the living room, then Nora pointed at Grace, still napping. Carly nodded and they tiptoed past her toward the dining room table and sat. Carly took a deep breath. “I think it went well!”

  “Okay, before you tell me anything else, think about this question. Did you do the absolute best you could today? Did you leave it all on the table? Or was there something that you failed to tell them for their consideration of you for that position?”

  Carly hesitated, frozen in thought. “Oh wow,” she breathed. “I’m sure there’s something I could’ve done better.”

  “Nope. I want actuals. What did you actually do or not do that could impact their decision?”

  “I don’t know. I did like we planned. I used all the information that we came up with in my self-assessment, and I had three points that were my most important for them to know. I made sure that I used those points in my answers, and at the end I asked questions that proved I had researched the position.”

  “So … you are happy with your performance.”

  “Well, I guess so. I mean, I was calm and confident and I even laughed a couple times.”

  “Carly, it’s perfectly fine for the answer to be yes.”

  That beautiful beaming smile came back and she laughed. “Then, yes. I am happy with how I did the interview. I left it all on the table.”

  Nora nodded approvingly. “The reason I ask you this, is because the best time to judge how you did, is right now. When you’re walking out of the interview and it’s fresh in your mind. If you did something to sabotage yourself, or if you forgot to mention that one most important thing … you’d know that now. But if you feel good and positive and upbeat … and you end up not getting the job …”

  “Huh?” Carly frowned. “That’s not where I thought you were going.”

  “Hear me out. If you end up not getting the job, well then, it’s not because you botched the interview. It’s not because you could’ve done any better. You did your part to the best of your ability. If you don’t get this job, it’s because of something outside your control. And there’s something freeing about that, isn’t there? It just wasn’t meant to be.”

  Carly froze. “Do you know something I don’t know? You’re talking like you know I didn’t get the job.”

  Nora laughed, then couldn’t help herself and pulled the nervous girl into a hug. “Not at all. Don’t let me scare you. I have no idea whether you got the job or not. In fact, based on your mock interview, and the fact that you feel strongly about your interview today, I can’t imagine you not getting it. However, if by chance you didn’t, you need to think back on this moment and realize that you did your absolute best.”

  Nora pulled back from her and saw the worry was gone. “Okay, I understand.”

  They went on to talk about several of the questions that Carly could remember, and her answers. Nora’s unbiased determination as a professional career counselor, was that Carly nailed it.

  The workday ended and Nora fixed herself some dinner. She brought a turkey and cheese sandwich and a bowl of tomato soup to the table, and said a quick prayer over the meal. As she ate in silence, her mind clutched to the discovery of the day.

  Although she’d torn up the obituary and it was unreadable, there was nothing wrong with her memory and she had full recall of the short write up, and the details of the funeral services tomorrow. She knew exactly where Shaw would be tomorrow at 2 PM. At his wife’s funeral service. Should she go? Would it be ridiculously inappropriate for her to go? Or would that be a nice gesture to show her support for his loss?

  Awkward…

  She finished her simple meal and walked the dishes back to the kitchen. She settled in the living room and turned on the TV, but couldn’t focus on any of the programs. Her mind whirred with this decision. She wasn’t sure how to deal with it. It would be tacky to go to Shaw’s wife’s funeral. And yet, as a friend, what would be wrong with going and sharing her condolences?

  Because she wasn’t his friend. Not anymore.

  She said a quick prayer for God’s guidance on how to deal with this dilemma, and she asked for his blessing on Shaw and Sadie as they dealt with Melanie’s loss.

  By bedtime she had convinced herself to keep her distance. It had been hard on her to separate from Shaw months ago. Why would she take the chance of re-breaking her mending heart by seeing him again? It was best to let this event pass and continue living her new, fulfilling, helpful life without Shaw in it.

  Nora had just come downstairs for breakfast when the doorbell rang. She pulled her robe tighter around her and walked toward the front door. Frowning, she pulled the curtain back on the side window and peered out. An attractive young woman stood there.

  Working to undo the locks, she reviewed today’s appointments in her mind. She was positive she didn’t have one this early. If this was a walk-in, it was way too early in the day. She would schedule an appointment with h
er for later and send her on her way.

  “Good morning,” she said. “Welcome to Dress For Success. I don’t take walk-ins this early in the day, but I’d be happy to set up an appointment with you for a little later in the morning.”

  The young woman looked up at her from the front step, her eyebrows forming a confused crease. “I’m sorry?”

  “Are you here for Dress For Success?”

  “Dress …? Uh, no.” She shook her head.

  “Oh,” Nora chuckled. “Sorry about that. I should’ve asked before I assumed. How can I help you?”

  The girl looked down at her toe, shoed in sneakers as it squirmed on the front deck. She looked up and met eyes with Nora. “You’re Nora Ramsey, aren’t you?”

  “Yes.” She looked at the girl, and something about her looked familiar, even though she was quite sure she’d never met the woman before. “And you are?”

  The girl tightened her lips and loosened them again. “I’m Sadie Flynn.”

  A moment passed while the words floated in the air. The two women stared at each other, speechless, until Nora came to her senses and said, “Oh. Nice to meet you, Sadie.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, too.” The girl looked like she wanted to say something else, then didn’t.

  That’s when it dawned on Nora that her hostess skills were sadly lacking. “I’m sorry, would you like to come in?”

  “Yes, please.”

  Nora stepped aside and Sadie slipped past her into the house. Nora realized why the girl had looked familiar to her: she resembled her dad. Especially in the facial features. Same sky-blue eyes, same high cheekbones, same complexion. While her dad was blonde, she was brunette, but still the family resemblance was unmistakable.

  “Let’s have a seat in the living room.” She led the way to the grouping of couch and chairs and they both got comfortable. “Would you like anything?”

  “No. No thank you. I can only stay a few minutes. But I didn’t want this morning to pass without speaking to you.”