Forgiven [Baxter 7] by Karen Kingsbury

Author:Karen Kingsbury
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780739457733
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers
Published: 2005-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

RAIN WAS IN THE FORECAST AGAIN, but the morning was clear and cool. John Baxter had picked up Elaine Denning at six o’clock this morning for a second trip to the farmers’ market. He had enjoyed the squash and tomatoes, for sure. But he still had some left. If he was honest with himself, his reason for agreeing to go this time was less about the vegetables than it was about spending time with a friend. And Elaine was turning into an important friend with every passing day.

They’d talked on the phone several times this week, working past the formalities and shallow conversations to a place of talk ing about their children and their loneliness. “Sometimes,” Elaine had told him last night, “I can’t believe God took my hus band from me. I almost want to be mad at Him.”

“I know.” John had closed his eyes, not wanting to admit the truth about the matter. “My kids all think I’m strong, that I’m a rock living here by myself, able to carry on in every area that once belonged to Elizabeth. But most of the time I feel like lying down and never getting up, as if when God took her, He cut my legs out from under me.”

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FORGIVEN

Conversations like that one had worked a closeness between them. John had enough alone time to examine his feelings, and what he felt for Elaine was nothing more than companionship. Elaine was his friend. Neither of them was looking for love to re place what they’d had with their spouse. He could live the rest of his days looking, and he’d never find what he had shared with Elizabeth.

Still, the kids were grown and busy with their families. Hav ing a friend was a good thing, and today he felt fresh and alive as he walked beside Elaine down the aisles of the market. Even so, something bothered him. Over and over, Elaine had commented on his honesty, how rare it was to find a man of his integrity.

And each time she said that, he wanted to tell her she was wrong.

He was hiding the fact that he had six children. Hiding it from his family and his coworkers and now from her. The more time that passed, the more John thought about it, and today he was determined. It was time to tell someone, and Elaine was the clos est friend he had outside of his relationships with his kids.

They bought coffee and a few baskets of blueberries and sat at a picnic table a little ways from the chaos of the market. John breathed in the morning air and smiled at her. “I still need my squash and tomatoes.”

“You do.” She picked at the blueberries and popped a few in her mouth. Then she waggled her finger at him. “They’re good for you. Everyone should come here Saturday morning.”

Something about her comment made him sad. It was what Elizabeth would’ve said.

Fresh fruit, vegetables—they were the stuff she always tried to feed him and the kids as they were rais ing their family.

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