The Cinderella Plan by Margaret Daley

Author:Margaret Daley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2005-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

The slamming of the door behind Dylan reverberated through the TV room. Stunned, the kids fell silent. Anne rose and started after the boy.

“I think this is a good time to eat the cookies Tiffany’s mom baked for us,” Caleb announced, hurrying after Anne. “Tiffany, why don’t you start passing them out?”

Out in the hall he caught up with her as she reached for the front door to the center. “Anne?”

She glanced back at him. “Let me talk to him first. Wait here.”

He inclined his head and moved to the side while she opened the door and left. Fear clawed at her heart. The anger she had seen in the child’s face tore at her composure and threatened to release the tears so close to the surface.

Dylan was perched on the edge of the steps, his head hanging down, his elbows on his knees, his hands loosely clasped between his legs. Anne eased down beside him, but like the time before when she had caught him crying in the TV room, she remained quiet, letting him control the conversation.

“If there is a God like they believe in there, then why do bad things happen to good people?” His voice resonated anger.

“Who are you talking about?” Anne asked, knowing the answer to her question would be important in discovering what was really bothering the child.

His mouth firmed into a frown, his shoulders hunching even more as though the boy were curling in on himself. “My mom. She died two years ago and—” Dylan sucked in a shaky breath.

Anne couldn’t keep her distance any longer. Even if Dylan pulled away, she had to comfort him the best way she knew. She slipped her arm about his shoulders and hugged him to her side. “What happened?” she asked in a gentle voice, meant to soothe the hurt, if only for a little while.

Again he drew in a breath that rasped, twisting his hands together. “She tried to save a child from drowning even though she couldn’t swim very well. She drowned.”

All the heartache that Anne had endured was nothing compared to what Dylan had gone through in his short life. What do I say to him, Lord? Shocked by the question that flitted through her mind, she nearly released Dylan.

“Why did God take her away? She believed in Him. Went to church every Sunday.”

Dylan’s raw words lay bare the inadequacies Anne felt answering a question about faith in the Lord. And yet, she wished she could. She glanced over her shoulder toward the door into the center, hoping that Caleb was visible. He was. Relieved, she motioned to him to join them.

Caleb came to sit next to Dylan on the other side. He didn’t say anything for a long moment, waiting for the child to talk first. When Dylan didn’t, Caleb captured Anne’s attention, a question in his expression.

“Why do bad things happen to good people who believe in God? Why doesn’t their faith protect them against bad things?” She wanted to know the answer, too.

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