Redemption 03 - Return by Smalley Gary; Kingsbury Karen

Author:Smalley, Gary; Kingsbury, Karen [Smalley, Gary; Kingsbury, Karen]
Format: mobi
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers
Published: 2010-06-20T02:55:26+00:00

John was more tired than usual but he couldn’t sleep.

Elizabeth snored softly beside him, so he crept out of bed and made his way down the hallway to the living room and his old blue recliner, the chair where he liked to read his Bible and take in the newspaper on occasional summer mornings. Sometimes, on nights like this, he would settle back in the chair and look straight ahead at the mantel above the fireplace, at the framed senior portraits of his five children.

Brooke…Kari…Ashley…Erin…Luke.

Normally Elizabeth took on the role of family worrier, but tonight John felt uncomfortable in his own skin. The humidity was up, and even his heart beat out of sync.

Ashley was just home from New York, but they hadn’t gotten a chance to talk. When they did, he would have to tell her about the phone call. Some woman from Paris, who’d spoken to him in broken English. She needed to talk to Ashley, and when she learned Ashley wasn’t around, she pressed further. A cell phone or hotel, some other way to reach her. The call was critical. He’d questioned her about the nature of the matter. But the woman hadn’t shared the details other than one: It was critical she talk to Ashley.

He’d planned to tell Ashley the moment she got home. But she’d breezed in earlier today and collected Cole, stopping barely long enough to make small talk. Yes, they’d liked her paintings; yes, they were displayed at a gallery in Manhattan; yes, she’d seen Landon.

Then she thanked him and Elizabeth and left with a round of kisses and promises to come by sometime that week.

John stared at her photo now, the one she’d fought against her last year of high school.

“Come on, Dad, the whole senior portrait thing’s outdated.” She’d rolled her eyes and flopped down on the sofa that still stood next to his recliner. “Can’t you just take any old picture and put it in a frame?”

John and Elizabeth had insisted, and Ashley rose to the occasion. She looked stunning in the picture, her eyes a curious mix of pain and rebellion and the briefest glimmer of hope.

Was it his imagination, or had she been in more than the usual hurry earlier today? His heart told him things she hadn’t. That whatever happened in New York, some of it she hadn’t been willing to share.

His eyes moved to Erin’s picture. Dark-haired with a rounder, plainer face, Erin’s eyes told of her hesitancy, her desire to be accepted. More than the rest, she enjoyed being around family. How well would she do after Labor Day, when she and Sam headed off to Texas? Last fall their marriage had been in trouble, and now, certainly, the greatest tests were ahead. If they’d been able to have a baby, perhaps the move would be easier. At least Erin would have family of her own to take with her.

John studied his youngest daughter’s face. Lord, give her a child. Please, Father.

Sometimes when he prayed he could practically hear God echoing a reply in his soul.

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