One Tuesday Morning by Karen Kingsbury

Author:Karen Kingsbury [Kingsbury, Karen]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Zondervan
Published: 2003-07-20T04:00:00+00:00

EIGHTEEN

SEPTEMBER 13, 2001

Clay Michaels wasn't sure how much more he could take.

It was Thursday evening, and he and Laura were helping Josh with his homework. Clay had spent every moment with Laura and Josh since Eric disappeared. That's what they were calling it now, a disappearance. Rescue workers hadn't given up hope, and Laura wasn't going to either, but Clay had long since stopped thinking his brother had simply vanished.

The man he'd looked up to since he was a small boy, the brother he admired and loved like a best friend was dead. And not only that, but Eric's marriage had been in trouble, and Clay hadn't done a thing to help. He hadn't even acknowledged how bad things had gotten. The truth about Eric's life was something Clay was desperate to talk about, but other than the conversation they'd shared that first night after the attack, Laura had said nothing. She was too busy believing Eric would call at any minute. And pretending she was right was wearing on Clay almost as much as it was wearing on Laura. But there was nothing he could do about it, no way he could let his guard down and grieve. Because if he gave up hope, Laura would have no choice but to do the same. And right now she was counting on him to not only be there and to be strong for her as well as for Josh, but to be hopeful.

He'd arranged for vacation time the afternoon of the attacks. He had explained the situation, and his police chief had told him to take as much as he needed.

“If we can do anything, let us know,” the man had told Clay the day before. “The whole country's reeling.”

“Yes, sir. My brother …” His voice broke, and it took a moment before he could continue. “We were very close.”

Josh had gone to school both days since the terrorists' attack, but Laura was barely holding herself together. They'd been visited by the pastor and several others from church. Each person prayed with them and promised to do what they could to help. The church secretary brought a casserole Wednesday night, and a couple from the mission committee had picked up a pizza for them that afternoon.

By Thursday night Clay had called every hospital, Red Cross center, and rescue mission in the New York and New Jersey areas. “I'm calling from Los Angeles,” he'd say. “My brother worked in the World Trade Center south tower, and he's missing. I just wondered if you have any victims not yet identified.”

At that point Clay would launch into a description of Eric: six-foot-three, two hundred pounds, short dark hair, a nice-looking face. Blue eyes. But each time the answer was the same. “I'm sorry, all our patients have been identified.”

Clay reported his lack of findings to Laura after every call. Most of the time she sat in the same chair looking out the window at a world gone mad, nodding her head as though he were giving her a weather report.

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