Building Bridges by Carolyne Aarsen

Author:Carolyne Aarsen [Aarsen, Carolyne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-8249-3380-7
Publisher: Guideposts
Published: 2008-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

Jane yawned as she made her way down the stairs Thursday morning. As she hitched up the waistband of her khaki cotton capri pants and tucked in her bright yellow shirt, she paused on the landing of the second floor.

The silence on this floor was a direct contrast to the noise the young people made last night as they played a game Isabel had brought along. Though they were playing two floors down in the living room, their cries had filtered up to the third floor where Jane and her sisters slept.

Jane had been tempted to go downstairs and get them to quiet down, but at the same time she didn’t feel right about chiding them as if they were unruly children. So she lay in bed, wakeful, fretting that Alice might not be getting enough sleep and hoping Louise wouldn’t be upset.

Now, with morning, the inn was utterly quiet.

Nonetheless, she had a schedule to maintain, so she went down to the main floor, taking a moment to step outside.

The sun was warming off the early morning chill, drying the dew that sparkled on the grass. The faint growl of a car starting up drifted down the street followed by a mother’s voice calling her child in for breakfast.

The neighborhood was slowly waking up.

Jane looked around, a smile on her lips.

“Thank You, Lord, for the promise of a new day,” she prayed aloud. “For work and for health, for family and friends. For freedom and blessings we can’t begin to count.”

As she spoke she caught the muted sound of the tinkling of piano keys laying down a tranquil soundtrack to her spoken prayer.

Somehow Louise had slipped downstairs without Jane’s knowing it and was already practicing the songs she would be playing in church on Sunday. The door was cracked open a bit, and the melody floated softly through the first floor. Jane should not have been surprised.

In spite of the noise from last night that surely had kept her awake, Louise was maintaining her disciplined schedule.

Jane crossed her arms, giving herself some time outside before diving into the busyness of her own day. She mentally ticked off her jobs, organizing her hours.

Finalize menu for the dinner Saturday night, keeping in mind that Stacy could call at any time with yet another food issue.

Help the kids get started on the scavenger hunt. Though she still had her misgivings about how well it would go over with the college crowd, Carita had assured her that they would have fun.

Get the laundry started and do some more baking to feed the insatiable appetites of these youths for homemade goodies.

Today she was going to make biscotti. Maybe the crunchy twice-baked cookies would slow their jaws down a bit. She had some lovely recipes she hadn’t used in a while.

Feeling as if her day was now ordered, Jane opened the door behind her, whistling the same tune Louise had just played.

She stopped as she spied a figure hovering at the bottom of the stairs, outside the partially open parlor door.

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