What God Brings Together

by Melissa Wardwell

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copy Rights

  About the Author

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Epilogue

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or Transmitted for commercial purposes, except for the brief quotations in printed reviews, without written permission of the publisher.

  All scripture quotations are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Version of the Bible. © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any similarity to actual people, organizations, and/or events is purely coincidental.

  Cover by Perry Elisabeth Design | perryelisabethdesign.com

  Editing provided by Pamela Coffey | http://pamcee11.wix.com/pam-edits-4-you

  To find other independently published Christian books, check out the Christian Indie Authors Readers Group on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/291215317668431/

  Copyright © 2014, 2015 Melissa Wardwell

  All rights reserved.

  ASIN: B00QJIT9V8

  Melissa resides in a small mid-Michigan farm community with her husband and three children, all of whom they home school. Besides writing, she enjoys reading, taking photos, and motorcycle rides with her husband. Her hope is that each story touches your heart, gives you hope, or just gives you a moment away from the chaos of life.

  Books by Melissa Wardwell

  (and more to come)

  Promises from Above Series

  What God Brings Together – December 2014

  Dance and Be Glad – June 2016

  I Know the Plans – Coming Soon

  Redeemed by Grace – Coming Soon

  Brides of Promise Novella Series

  A Christmas Wedding – November 2015

  Finding Hope in Savannah – September 2015

  Where to Find Melissa Wardwell

  www.melissawardwell.com

  www.facebook.com/mwardwell99

  www.twitter.com/mwardwell99

  melissawardwell_author – on Instagram

  www.pinterest.com/MWardwell99/

  “And the two shall become one flesh; so they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”

  Mark 10:8-9 (HCSB)

  Prologue

  Ryan put his shoes on as he watched his boys, Stephen and Aaron. They were playing with their toy cars on the living room floor. Ryan could not be more proud. He never dreamed he would have a family. He was a bit of a loner when he had met his wife and he had resigned himself to the idea of never marrying or having children. He was okay with the notion of coming and going as he pleased and not being tied down. Now, he could never imagine his life without them. He counted his blessings every day. He felt as though he had been given more than he deserved.

  Stephen, who was five, was a lot like Ryan - laid back and quiet. The boy had his mama’s looks though. He was Ryan’s little buddy. He liked cars, motorcycles and fishing. Aaron, who was three, acted much like Emma- curious and funny, but resembled Ryan just a bit. He had to admit, he had a hard time relating with his youngest son. He could tell already he would be an artsy kid who liked to draw and color. His boys amazed him daily in their differences.

  “Tickle me daddy!” yelled Stephen while jumping up and down waving his chubby arms. Having a couple of minutes before he had to leave for work, he figured, why not? With a deep growl, Ryan attacked - rolling around on the floor and tickling his boys. The three of them were being so loud that no one heard the tiny holler coming from the bedroom at the end of the hall, but his beautiful wife, Emma, did.

  “Come on! Can’t I get a half an hour of rest?” he heard her say from their bedroom.

  “Daddy, you woked Sawa,” stated Aaron in his broken grammar. “Mama not happy.” Leave it to Aaron to point out his mistakes.

  Sarah was only 3 weeks old and Emma was trying to get a “power nap” in before Ryan left for work. Second shift was not a good shift for the family, but what choice did he have. He hated that he couldn’t even help her with the boys during the craziest part of the day. He got up to go get the baby, his sweet princess, but Emma got to the room before he could.

  “I am sorry baby. I wasn’t thinking.” He told her when they meet at the nursery door.

  “Clearly! Just go ahead and go to work, I can manage from here. Just drive safe and have a good day.” Then she gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek and turned away to tend to baby Sarah’s needs.

  He thought his wife was amazing and her ability to multitask left him in awe every time he watched her, but wondered often if she really even needed him. He felt like the proverbial third wheel in his own family most of the time. Rarely did she ask for his help with the kids or chores. Was his only purpose in life to work and bring home a good paycheck?

  He walked up behind her and slipped his arms around her waist from behind and whispered in her ear, “You are an amazing woman, you know that? I love you, babe.” He kissed her on the temple and stepped back a bit with his hand still on her waist, “I’ll put in a movie and make a snack for the boys before I go.” She responded with a whispered, “Thank you” and kept changing Sarah.

  There was so much he wanted to say to her, but he figured if he said anything else it would make her more upset right now. He knew that much of her mood was a lack of sleep and stress, he tried to be understanding. Some days were just harder than others.

  Once the boys had settled, he kissed their little heads and told them good-bye. With a heavy sigh, Ryan walked to the truck and to go to work. There has to be more. I go to work, come home, sleep, get up, eat, and head for work again. There has to be more to this life, Lord. You blessed me with a beautiful, amazing wife and three awesome kids, and I can’t even enjoy them right now.

  The drive was long so he always had time to think about things like how bills were piling up and what was going on at home. Today, all he could do was worry about Emma and how she spread herself so thin taking care of them.

  Their six year wedding anniversary was coming up in a month and he wanted to do something really special. What he would like to do, what he could financially do, and what he knew she needed were all things to consider. Whatever they did, he wanted it to be special. He thought maybe a weekend getaway would be a good idea but with Sarah so young, he wasn’t sure how that would work.

  Then the idea to have her mom come for a visit for a week or two came to mind. He knew Emma would enjoy seeing her mother again. His in-laws lived on the other side of the state where they had bought a retirement home on the edge of Lake Michigan two years before. Her mom had been able to help out with the boys because they had lived a block away before, but not this time. He knew it would not be ideal for an anniversary gift. He didn’t mind though, Emma needed a break.

  Emma was such a blessing to him. From the moment he first laid eyes on her from down the hall in high school, he was ta
ken by her. Her ice blue eyes danced every time she smiled while talking with her friends and it just drew him in more.

  They did not move in the same “social circles” but he just had to get to know her. She was active in her church youth group which told him they believed in the same thing. She sang in the choir and he could only imagine that she sounded like an angel. He found out later that he was right. She was kind and outgoing. She did well in school. The thought had crossed his mind a few times to see if she could tutor him in something, anything, as long as he could get to know her better.

  After the Christmas break of their sophomore year, he had finally gotten up the nerve to talk to her, but only because she was transferred into his history class. That had to be God working because they never did mid-year transfers. After a couple of weeks of watching her across the classroom, he finally had the courage to say hello. As he walked toward the empty desk behind her, fear and uncertainty crept in. He remembered thinking that he didn’t stand a chance with her. He had not been a jock or an overly smart student. He had felt like he didn’t have much to offer her.

  He smiled as he reminisced about the brief conversation they had that day.

  “Hi! I’m Ryan,” he said as he started to sit down.

  She turned to look at him. “I’m Emma”, she said with a smile.

  “You don’t mind me sitting here, do you?”

  “No one else is in a hurry to. Go ahead.”

  “You transferred in here midterm. How did you manage that?”

  “My math class was a little too much for me, so they had to shift my schedule around a bit to get me in an easier class. Math is not my strong point.”

  “Well, I just happen to be a math whiz,” he said with a cocky grin. “I can tutor you a bit if you would like.”

  “Oh, that would be great! My dad would like it too. He has been helping me, but I think I frustrate him a bit.”

  “Great! How about...”

  “Okay class, how about we get started?” interrupted the teacher.

  “Will you meet me at lunch?” he asked in a whisper.

  “Sure, I would like that.” OH YEA!!! God, can I please have her? He silently prayed as he sat back in his seat with a grin that spanned his face from ear to ear.

  A car headed in his direction driving in his lane pulled him from the memory. He shook his head to focus at what was going on, the car crossed the center line to pass a tractor and clearly hadn’t thought to look for oncoming traffic. Ryan swerved to miss the car but hit the tractor instead. Just as Ryan’s head hit the steering wheel, all he could think was God, not yet! The lights faded away as he slipped into blackness.

  Ryan came to a couple moments later, but barely. He had a hard time opening his right eye and he couldn’t move to crawl out because his seat belt was locked and wouldn’t come undone. He felt panic build up in his chest as he frantically tried to reach for anything he could to get out but had very little luck. He could move his left arm so he slowly raised his hand to touch his face and felt the sticky wetness of blood but something didn’t feel right. He could feel a massive slash down the right side of his face along with many other smaller cuts.

  His attention to his face shifted to the sudden heat coming up from his feet. WOW! It is getting hot in here. Who turned on the furnace? What is going on? As the pain started to set in, he realized the car was on fire. He could smell the smoke and burning of tires and motor oil.

  “HELP!” he tried to yell. His voice felt strained.

  The faint sound of boots on the pavement coming his way was followed by a voice. “Help is coming man! Can you move?”

  Then he heard the stranger curse under his breath as he frantically cut away the seat belt with his pocket knife. Ryan’s head felt foggy and was spinning but he didn’t care, as long as he got out. He could feel the heat of the flames move further into the car. He knew he didn’t have long before it would blow up.

  “Almost got it. I have to pull you out, but it’s gonna hurt, you ready?”

  Ryan nodded as best as he could, but at that moment the flames surged to up his right side. He tried to stifle a scream of pain, and failed.

  Ryan heard another curse out of his rescuer and then he said, “Here we go, I pull, you push with your feet. ONE! TWO! THREE!”

  Ryan tried as best as he could to do as he was told, but he couldn’t find the strength. The pain was so intense that he couldn’t even think any longer. The stranger pulled him from the car and rolled Ryan in a cloth of some kind to put out the flames on his body. He hurt all over. He prayed God would let him die just to get away from the pain. He knew things were not looking good for him. He could feel the whole right side of his body begin to blister.

  I have to get a message to Emma. He opened his left eye to get a quick glimpse of the man helping him. The man was in his fatigues indicating to him that this man was someone he could count on.

  “Tell Emma...” Ryan’s eye shut. He was having a hard time staying awake.

  “Stay with me man, helps coming. You hear ‘em? You can tell her yourself. Just hang in there.”

  Ryan could hear the sirens, but he knew that death was coming too.

  “Tell Emma...love her.” He whispered out through ragged breaths and shooting pain. In his delirium, he pleaded, “God, take me.”

  At that moment, there was a great explosion that rocked the ground. Ryan could feel the heat of it and it intensified the pain he was already in. He could faintly hear someone yelling in pain. It was him, he felt it in his throat, but his ears were ringing from the explosion. He grabbed at the soldier as best as he could with his left hand as he felt himself slipping away,

  “Tell....Emma...Please.” The darkness and silence slipped over him before he could hear the man’s response.

  Chapter 1

  New job, new house, new school, old town. That’s where she was. Sitting at her desk. The work day about to begin. Life had not been kind up to this point, but she did the best she could with what she had.

  Today marked eight years since that fateful day. How Emma had gone this long without Ryan was beyond her understanding, but she had. There was no choice. Stephen, Aaron and Sarah counted on her. She had to keep going, for them, but when was it enough? She was so tired of doing it on her own. Eight years of single parenthood was a hard load to bear. She just couldn’t understand why God had allowed things to happen the way they had. The hardest part for her to wrap her brain around was how the days after the accident played out.

  She gazed out the window of her classroom as she reminisced about the last eight years.

  About an hour after Ryan had left for work that day, there was a loud knock on her front door. It was so loud that it startled Sarah. Feeling irritated at the person for waking the baby that she had just gotten to sleep, she answered the door. Before her stood a police officer and a military officer. She immediately felt self-conscious because she was still in her pajamas. She saw the concern wash over their faces and she began to realize something bad happened.

  “Ma’am, can we come in? I am not sure you want us to talk to you from out here.” The police officer must have seen the look of bewilderment on her face. She numbly opened the door. All the common sense lessons about letting strange men in her home when she was alone fled her mind. Something had happened to her husband. They were right, it was better to do this inside.

  She turned her back to the men as they entered and told the boys to go to their room. She heard the boys make comments of protest but she couldn’t tell you what they said.

  She looked back at the men and mumbled something about her needing to go change into some clothes. They nodded in response and she left the room she wondered about leaving the men alone but knew she needed to change her clothes and do so quickly. She took Sarah with her and checked in on the boys. They looked at her with total confusion.

  As soon as she entered their bedroom, she felt the dam begin to crack. She gently placed Sarah on the bed and went about chan
ging into the closest thing she could grab - Ryan’s sweat pants and his favorite college football t-shirt. She blankly made her way back over to where she had put Sarah down. The little bundle of pink blanket laid there sleeping on Ryan’’s side of the bed. It was still unmade. She grabbed his pillow swiftly and inhaled his scent. The dam cracked more. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could hold it in. An overwhelming feeling swept over her, one that every dream they had and their very way of life had changed drastically in the last hour.

  She put the pillow down and carefully picked up their daughter. The sweet little thing was still asleep. She went down the hall to the nursery and placed Sarah back in her crib. The realization of how cruel she had been to Ryan that afternoon slapped her in the face and she felt the shame come over her. She had not been a good person to him and now she wasn’t sure she would get the chance to change that. “Well girl, let’s find out”, she said to herself as she pulled her shoulders back and put on a brave face.

  She walked out to the living room where the men had sat on the couch while they waited for her. The boys had made their way back out to the living room while she dressed and put Sarah down. “Boys, please go back to your room while mommy talks to these men.” They went obediently with their heads bowed down and their lips out. They were in that phase where men in uniform were fascinating.

  “Can I get you gentlemen some water?” She was trying to avoid the inevitable.

  “No thank you”, they said in unison.

  “In fact, we need you to call someone to come and sit with the children. There has been an accident involving your husband and you’re needed as soon as possible at the hospital.”

  She could see the compassion in the officer’s eyes. She hated the look already. She decided to push it away and made a call to her sister in law, Tiffany. His parents would want to be at the hospital.