Crossroads: Christian Suspense (A Holly Novel Book 5) by C.C. Warrens

Author:C.C. Warrens [Warrens, C.C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: 2023-10-27T00:00:00+00:00

18

Cassie plucked a white wildflower from the grass and pressed it to her nose, breathing deep.

“And this one.” She handed it to me, and I added it to the crown of flowers I was twisting together for her.

I secured the two ends together with a piece of string and held it up. “All right, let’s see how it looks.” I placed it on top of her head with a flourish and grabbed the hand mirror from the grass beside me.

Cassie gasped with delight at her reflection. The crown wouldn’t last long, but at least for a day she could imagine she was a princess and not a foster child no family wanted.

I placed one last bloom on Cassie’s grave, completing a ring of wildflowers.

“Good-bye, sweet girl,” I whispered, so softly the words were carried away by the breeze. I prayed they would reach heaven, if that was where she was now.

A quivering breath escaped my lungs, and I rested my hands in my lap. I felt heavy enough to sink through the dirt beneath me.

All the praying and the searching . . . only to end up here. I knew life wasn’t fair, but after everything . . .

God, we both lost so much in this life. Why couldn’t we at least have had each other?

Tears streaked my cheeks, and I leaned my head on the solid shoulder beside me. Jordan sat on my left, offering the comfort of his silent presence.

His right arm was behind me, a gentle support against my back, but he pressed his hand into the grass rather than wrapping it around me.

I stared at the cross through a film of tears, memories twisting my insides into knots—Cassie’s gap-toothed grin, her hiccupping giggle, the way she used to misunderstand the lyrics to YMCA.

Why mice eat cake.

It was hard to wrap my mind around the reality that she was alive five months ago. If I had come to find her in February instead of May, this grave might be empty.

Sniffling, I dried my face with my shirt sleeves and straightened. “We should go. We need to call the sheriff. And I’m ready to go home.”

I pushed to my feet and brushed the grass and loose petals from my jeans. After one last look at the ring of flowers and the grave marker with Cassie’s name, I turned away.

The lonely cross outside of the enclosure called to me—the poor girl who was rejected by her religion because she took her own life. As if that made God love her any less.

I had no doubt God’s heart broke every time someone He loved gave up on life, but those souls were still precious to Him. This girl was precious to him. He would’ve understood her pain and sadness in a way that no human being could.

I stepped over the enclosure and picked a few more wildflowers to lay on her grave. As I crouched, I read the name carved into the cross.

Moriah.

“Jordan.” When he moved to my side, I said, “Clara and Reuben’s granddaughter is named Moriah, isn’t she?”

He crouched beside me.

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