A Rose by the Door by Deborah Bedford

Author:Deborah, Bedford, [Deborah, Bedford,]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Christian fiction, Mothers and sons, Christian, Accident Victims - Family Relationships, Granddaughters, Domestic Fiction, Loneliness, FIC008000, Daughters-In-Law, Family Life, Fiction, Romance, Sagas, Sons, Daughters in Law, Accident victims, Family Relationships, General, Religious, Sons - Death
ISBN: 9780446677899
Publisher: Warner Books
Published: 2001-11-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Paisley Franklin stood where she’d been placed for the vacation Bible school singing program, in the center on the front row so everyone could see her, squeezed in between Sam Wyatt—who had wiggled his right front tooth so much that it made his gums bleed—and Amy Huff, a short seven-year-old who had been bragging ever since Monday because her mama was in charge of refreshments and she got to help.

Paisley’s heart pounded. She loved to sing. She loved this song.

The music began. She sidled over as close as she could to Amy; Sam’s loose tooth was sick. She lifted her chin and put on her special sunglasses. She gave a big smile just the way her teacher had told her to and began to sing a song about Jesus.

The pizza outside had already disappeared from its mountain of boxes—so fast that Paisley wouldn’t have gotten a piece except for Ryan Staley, the sixth grader who towered over her, who’d asked, “Here? Want one?” and before she could answer had handed her a sliver of pepperoni pizza. The sanctuary at Antelope Valley

Christian Fellowship was filled up with parents and acquaintances and someone had lined extra chairs in the aisles. A group of fathers with video cameras stood just inside the double door, focusing elaborate equipment on the front of the church, red lights blinking, lens covers dangling like Oreos from strings.

“Come learn God’s stories, come learn the Bible true . . .”

No matter how many parents filled the sanctuary, Paisley kept scanning the room, looking for one more.

“Come hear all about Jesus, come find out how much He loves you!”

She kept thinking that maybe Mama had decided to come anyway. She kept thinking that maybe that lady at work had said, “Doesn’t matter how busy we are today. This is important. Go on and hear your daughter sing.”

But as Paisley sang and searched with her eyes up one row and down another, down one row and up another, her heart began to sink.

Mama hadn’t come. She never should have hoped.

Paisley forced herself to keep singing anyway, her smile pasted on her face even though she didn’t feel like smiling at all.

After the song ended, Pastor Sissel asked the children to sit quietly on the floor so the teachers could give out special, individual awards. Everybody got an award as their parents and friends stood up and rooted for them. Sam Wyatt got Most Likely To Lose A Tooth. Jake Rucker got Mr. Capture The Flag. Hilary Hern got The Purple Heart Award for falling down and breaking her new eye-glasses. And Paisley Franklin got The Littlest Songbird Award for being the most likely to sing loud during the performance.

When Paisley’s name was called, the audience applauded politely. But nobody stood up to cheer and clap loud. Nobody videotaped. Nobody took a picture.

If Nathan had been here, Paisley thought, he would have cheered for me.

Pastor Sissel stepped up to the microphone and adjusted it to his liking. “Now we come to a serious part of the program.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.