Search and Rescue by Marianne Evans

Author:Marianne Evans
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: christian Fiction
ISBN: 978-1-61116-204-2
Publisher: Pelican Ventures Book Group
Published: 2012-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

9

Their moves forward stalled a trace, but it helped that Ryan didn’t stop walking completely, didn’t pause dramatically or leave her to feel awkward. Instead, he maintained their pace. That helped Jennifer focus, and relaxed her mind enough to go clear. Plus, she was spared the discomfort of direct and intense focus.

“So, you remember me mentioning complicated? That was a while ago.”

“Cop trait, remember?”

She grinned at him—but then she braced herself. It was time. “I’m a runner.”

“Really?”

“Well, I used to be.” Sure, the comment in no way answered his request, but while they meandered, she decided to use that factoid as a starting point. And she gave Ryan a batch of gold stars for not pushing. “I’ve always loved running. It’s freeing. Ever since my days in middle school, I ran cross country and track. Doing so really helped me.”

“In what way?”

Jennifer bent to scoop a handful of stones she spied near the lapping base of the water. “Well, running was a way for me to maintain some semblance of health, and control, when everything else in my life spun every which way but straight.”

The admission inched her ever closer to the topic of complicated.

“Your mom,” Ryan offered.

“Yeah, my mom.”

She ambled a few steps ahead, wanting just a touch of solitude. She stopped at the bank of a wide swath of water, tossing a few of the rocks she held. If only her burdens could be cast aside as easily…

Ryan stepped up and rested his hands on her shoulders, saying not a word. She ignored his touch. Instead, she squared herself, fortifying against a moment of truth.

“Imagine a little six-year-old girl,” she began quietly. “She’s standing in the lobby of a dance studio in downtown Detroit. She’s waiting for her mother to pick her up from tap lessons. Students are long gone. An impatient teacher is packing, eager to get home at the end of an evening class. An hour passes. So do a bunch of unanswered phone calls. Finally…finally…the little girl’s mom shows up. Mom is flustered and wild-eyed—frantic.” Jennifer turned toward Ryan, but didn’t really see him. She was swept backward, into the landscape of her youth, into memories undiminished by the passing of time. “Still, she’s the most lovely person that little girl has ever known.”

Ryan’s chest rose and fell. He flexed his jaw. Jennifer came aware of the reactions, but remained grateful for his continuing silence. She continued. “At that point, the little girl’s mom launches into the teacher as if the transgression is anyone else’s fault but her own. Still, the little girl is so relieved, and so grateful for her presence that nothing else matters. Yeah, the little girl is embarrassed and everything, but this is her mom.”

Ryan stepped close. Jennifer inhaled a ragged, unsteady breath. She deliberately stepped away from his comfort. “Fast forward a few years. Now, picture a mother who missed school events—choir solos, drama productions, and track meets where that same girl qualified for state championships. Picture the life of

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