Broken Wings by Carla Stewart

Author:Carla Stewart [STEWART, CARLA]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FIC000000
ISBN: 9780446575973
Publisher: FaithWords
Published: 2011-06-03T00:00:00+00:00

[ CHAPTER 25 ]

Mitzi

The door to the chapel at the Guardian Light eased open behind the padded pew where I sat soaking up God’s presence. Having just poured my heart out on behalf of Gabe and Brooke and Lily Davis, Hadley’s wife, I needed the calm, the reassurance I always got in this quiet place. With only six small pews and a kneeling altar, the chapel had become my refuge more and more. Not unlike Mt. Olivet, the small church I’d found after Finster Poole had shown up.

The answer I received at Mt. Olivet years ago was a gentle nudge to seek God. Wholly and completely. As I wept in God’s tender presence back then, he’d reminded me he cared for Penny the same as he did me. That I must let him water and feed my spirit as he carried hers. As I pressed into him, warmth enveloped me.

Penny weighed heavily on my spirit then, as Gabe, Brooke, and Lily did the Sunday Drew showed up. Poor, fragile Lily, who fought not only Alzheimer’s, but now the flu sweeping through the care center. On Friday she’d been fine. By dawn on Saturday, a hollow cough racked her skeletal chest. She’d grown feverish, her agonizing screams wafting through the halls of the Guardian Light.

Hadley stayed by her side from Saturday on, coming out for air only when the battle became too fierce. We’d talked over a cup of coffee at noon on Sunday, his eyes bloodshot and sagging at the corners.

When I told him I was praying, his chin jutted out. “I’m prayed out, Miz Steiner. I’ve done beseeched the Almighty to put an end to her suffering. It’s just the hole she’s leaving behind. I don’t know how I’ll manage.” He looked away, his face hollow. Helpless.

I ached for him. The terror of being alone hovered endlessly beneath the surface of my thoughts; yet when I looked into Hadley’s grief-stricken face, a twinge pinched me, provoking guilt that Gabe had escaped the respiratory demon holding Lily in its clutches.

A hand rested on my shoulder in the chapel. Expecting Hadley, I turned and looked up into the face of Drew Caprice.

My heart leapt like a deer over a pasture fence, suspended in midair, then crashing to the ground. Dear, sweet Drew.

Fanning my face with my hand, I said, “You right near gave me heart failure. You’re early, aren’t you? And how did you know where to find me?” I slid over on the pew, giving him room to sit.

“One of the gals at the nurse’s desk told me. And yes, my interview was changed. In the rush of switching my flights, I didn’t get a chance to call you.” With a sheepish grin, he draped his arm around my shoulders, asking first about me, wanting to know about my broken arm. I glossed it over, telling him I’d had a fender bender.

His look over the top of his glasses told me he didn’t believe me, but he let it pass and changed the subject.

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.