Just the Way You Are (Seasons of Hope Book 2) by Jessica R. Patch

Author:Jessica R. Patch [Patch, Jessica R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Bales Publishing
Published: 2016-05-27T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIVE

The sun streaked through the clouds, making for a perfect Monday—the weather unseasonably warm, just as the meteorologists predicted. Sometimes they did get it right. Audrey carried a vase of multi-colored tulips as she reverently walked across the ground that had hardened since the last big storm. The sparse and brittle grass was barely turning green. Oak trees created a walled-in fortress around the small cemetery.

Birds twittered back and forth and sprung from the branches of trees in a game of chase. New baby leaves rustled in the distance. A crow cawed.

Dotty had opened the shop so she could come here. To April’s grave.

She paused at her grandfather and grandmother’s grave then stopped at April’s headstone.

Audrey had set off a chain reaction of hurt and disappointment in her family. The first trigger happened when April died. It tore their family apart. It had been Audrey’s fault.

Sinking to her knees, she moved the lilies over and placed the vase of tulips down. “I haven’t forgotten you, April. I won’t forget. I’m still so sorry.” She collapsed on her behind, drew her knees up and rested her head on them. If she’d only listened to her dad.

“Audrey?”

Audrey sniffed and raised her head. Gabe stood a few feet away, a soft light filtering through his eyes. “I’m sorry. I called Dotty and she said you might be out here. I looked for you after church yesterday, but you kind of disappeared off the face of the earth.”

The last thing Gabe should have been doing was hunting her down, but her insides warmed anyway.

“I wasn’t home.”

“I know. I checked everywhere I thought you might be. Where did you go?”

She’d been humiliated. And to find out Dotty’s call was nothing more than a butt-dial made it even worse. An accident. Sheesh. She’d been on the brink of believing maybe she could be free from the drape of shame that hung over her like a soiled curtain.

Audrey had marched into church on time ready to show Gabe the support and respect he deserved. A flutter had filled her heart when his eyes lit up over her early arrival, and if she were being honest, deep down she’d hoped that she could actually rise to the occasion and be pastor’s wife material. Be the kind of woman that would make Gabe proud. The kind that sat in the front row and championed her man. Okay, he wasn’t exactly her man.

Oh, and the beginnings of a beard. Talk about flutters. She nearly fanned herself before she remembered he was standing over her. Looking. For her. Even though she’d disrupted the entire service. Messed with others who might be getting a good word downloaded into their soul.

Proving her point. She had no business hoping for something that was too far from her grasp.

“Audrey? Do…do you want me to go?”

Yes and no. She patted the ground beside her. “I drove around. I’m so sorry. I thought my phone was on vibrate.”

“Dotty told me she called you by accident. It’s okay.

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