Karen prayed first, asking God to reveal the truth about her grandma’s death.
My eyes flew open. Of course, we’d been praying that all along. But it wasn’t until this moment that I considered the possible significance of Erma’s missing journal. The one that covered the time her husband had passed away. What if his passing hadn’t been from natural causes, either? What if the same person had returned to knock off Sister Erma after all this time? And taken her journal to conceal any suspicions Erma might have had at the time?
The silence of the room pressed in on me, and I closed my eyes again. I would have to explore that avenue later. With effort, I refocused myself on the present. God, the great Revealer of Mysteries, would show us when the time was right.
When it came my turn to pray, I prayed for Mona. For the situation with Hope House. For Karen and me to have wisdom with Erma’s situation. For God’s will to prevail in every situation.
I pulled my feet up under me on the couch as Lonnie started to pray.
“God, I ask in Jesus’ name that You would release angelic help for this situation with Hope House right now.”
Goosebumps rose on my arms.
“Send angels before them and behind every member of the board. Surround them.” She stood and lifted her hands. “God, send your Spirit to move and swirl around them, bringing victory over this situation.”
I joined my faith to hers, imagining enormous angels hovering over every member of the Hope House board. “Yes, Father.”
“You are the God who delights to do what man thinks of as impossible. God, we pray that Your will prevail over all the plans of the enemy. This situation must bow to the name of Jesus.”
The words rang in my mind for the rest of the morning as I filled yarn orders and created floral arrangements for the annual Junior League fundraising luncheon. This situation must bow to the name of Jesus. Yes.
And Mona’s situation too. In between waiting on customers, I prayed for her, asking God to heal her and to give the doctors wisdom. I hadn’t heard back from her yet this morning, which was unusual.
I tied a huge magenta bow around the last of the Junior League creations. I had been praying for days that God would give me peace about Todd’s upcoming decision about the city’s job offer. In my heart, I already knew he was going to say yes. Could I be okay with that?
I sighed. I should get my mind onto other things. Sharlene was scheduled to come in after lunch so I could show her the ropes, but I still wasn’t sure what to do with her. She didn’t read, didn’t knit, and didn’t know anything about plants.
But that wasn’t the point, I reminded myself. The point was that God told me to hire her.
I took a sip of my tea, suddenly remembering that though I had told Todd about my yard, I hadn’t called Sheriff Wayne to officially report the vandalism in my yard. I still couldn’t figure out why someone would target me. Maybe it was random. Right.
I pulled out my phone, surprised to see I had missed a couple of texts.
The first one was from Todd.
Ran a trace on the threatening phone call you got the other day. No luck, except that we know the call was made locally. Want to have dinner later?
Yes, I did want to have dinner later. Preferably Chinese. I texted him back, then read Houston’s text.
Did you hear about the injunction against HH?
I messaged back. Just this morning. Is it really happening?
’Fraid so. Any news on the Erma situation? I’m praying.
Thanks so much. Nothing new…that we can see, at least. Smiley face.
I’ll keep praying. You have more mail over here. I’ve had contractors swarming in here all day.
I’ll run over and get it when I have a sec. Love to you and Nicole.
I had to laugh. Houston was next door, yet we had to text to keep in touch with each other as if we were a hundred miles apart. “Now, that’s too busy,” I muttered.
“You’re too busy?”
I glanced up, startled. How had Sharlene slipped in without me hearing her? “Hey, there.” I forced a smile. “Are you ready to start?”
I studied her as she shrugged out of her thin jacket. She couldn’t be a murderer, could she? And besides, she was too young to fit my newest theory about the missing journal. She couldn’t have been more than a little kid when Erma’s husband passed. So much for that idea.
She rubbed her arms as if she were cold. “Sure. Thank you for giving me a chance.”
I nodded. “My pleasure.”
Right. I was a fraud. But at least I was an obedient fraud. Ha. Did that even count?
“I went online and watched a knitting video.” Sharlene pulled a pair of circular knitting needles from my basket on the counter. She stretched them out straight, running her finger over the cable that connected the needles. “It looked hard.”
I shrugged. “I think some of those videos make it seem more difficult than it is. I’m sure you’ll do fine. Plus, you don’t need to learn how to knit today.” I stepped around the counter and motioned for her to follow me. “I’ll show you around the store, and then we can talk about what you know about marketing.”
Sharlene trotted behind me like a puppy. I gave her the rundown of the book section, then led her on a tour of the flower coolers and the shelves of yarn.
She seemed especially interested in the cramped back room behind the flower coolers. She traced a finger down a scar on the oak table that took up most of the room. “Do you have knitting classes in here?”
“Once in a while. I’ve been too busy lately.” I watched her eyes travel to the narrow steps at the back of the room. “Mostly I’ve been using it for storage.”
“And there’s the attic.” She colored. “I mean, you have an attic too.”
“Yes, though there’s not much up there.” I’d been intending to go through the stuff up there, but digging through the attic hadn’t exactly been a priority when I first opened C. Willikers. When I purchased the building a couple of years ago, I’d done a cursory search through the boxes, mostly out of curiosity but also a little annoyance that the previous owners left me so much stuff to get rid of.
“I heard there’s a mystery about this building.”
What?
I studied her face, surprised to see a curious glint in her eyes. “Who told you that?”
The keen look disappeared so quickly, I might have imagined it.
She resumed her half-lidded perusal of the room, staring at the Tele-Flora sales posters stacked against the cement-block wall next to a pile of boxes. “I don’t remember. Maybe Erma.”
My pulse rate kicked up a notch. Why did she bring up Erma? I couldn’t shake the feeling that this girl was involved somehow. “Maybe,” I said easily. “If anybody knew, she would. She lived in Short Creek all her life.”
To my surprise, Sharlene’s brown puppy-dog eyes filled with tears. “She told me that. I just wish I could have known her longer before…well, you know.”
I softened. Maybe I had misjudged her. Maybe she was simply a lonely, nervous-nelly who needed a friend.
Chapter Fifteen
Or maybe not. It wasn’t until the next morning when I unlocked the front door of C. Willikers that I noticed the folded piece of paper on the floor.
Must have dropped it when I left last night. It looked like it might be an invoice, but I couldn’t tell because Purl was standing on it.
“What’s that under your paw?”
She and Intarsia both cocked their heads at me, their little puggy tails curled into tight cinnamon bun twists.
I stooped, reaching for the paper, and they snorted and snuffled joyously against my hand as if they’d never seen me before.
I chuckled and pushed their round selves off the paper, then straightened up to read it.
It wasn’t a yarn invoice.
I read it again and groaned. Apparently, my new employee had been released from jail recently. Like a couple of months ago. Fabulous.
&
nbsp; I called Karen. “I’m not sure exactly what this means, but I think Sharlene has been in jail recently. She must have accidentally dropped her probation agreement. I found it on my floor at the shop this morning.”
Silence. “Um…wow.”
I sighed. “That doesn’t necessarily change anything with your grandma’s case, I guess. But still.”
“I know. I wonder what she was in there for?”
“I don’t know. It doesn’t say.”
“Oh. Hmm.” I heard shrieking and banging in the background and then, “I need to go, Callie. Sorry. Will you call me again later? Maybe talk to Todd?”
“Yep. I’ll see what he thinks and get back with you.”
I should have called Todd in the first place and not called Karen at all yet. What I had just done seemed to skate pretty close to gossip. Instead of thinking about it before I opened my mouth, I said something about someone else when I had no right to. At least not yet. I squeezed my eyes shut tight for a second. I’m sorry, Lord. Please forgive me.
Todd and I sat on my couch that evening, savoring the last of the mint chocolate chip ice cream. Annie sat watching hopefully while the pugs snored in their bed.
I stirred my ice cream around, wishing for more chocolate chips. “I don’t know what to think. I mean, this deal with Sharlene. Which, by the way, is her middle name, it looks like. Why do things have to be so complicated?”
“That’s how life is, darlin’.” Todd smiled at me, purposely exaggerating his Texas drawl. “We wouldn’t want things to be boring now, would we?”
I set my empty ice cream bowl on the floor for Annie and snuggled under his arm. He smelled good, like aftershave and a hint of horses. “You and Aunt Dot.”
“Uh-oh. What’d she do now?”
“It’s only this ‘life is an adventure’ idea you both have.” I leaned my head against his chest. “I’m kind of like Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit. I’d prefer to stay home curled up with a pug and a book. Adventures have never been my thing.”
He laughed out loud. “Oh, really? How about last year when Houston was kidnapped, and you tracked him down all by yourself and almost got yourself killed?”
I poked his jean-clad leg. “That was different. Plus, I wasn’t by myself. Mona was with me.”
“Okay, Nancy.” He tugged a lock of my hair. “So, if God nudged you to hire Sharlene, then what’s the problem?”
Yeah, Callie. What’s the problem? “I know, but—”
“You, of all people, should understand that just because someone did some time, doesn’t mean they don’t deserve a second chance.”
Ouch. My brother, Jason, had only recently been paroled after spending a couple of years in prison. I prayed daily that God would send the right people to help and encourage him. “You’re right. I guess I wish she’d have told me up front.”
“Seems like that’d be a pretty tough thing to do, don’t you think? Especially since she’s so desperate for a job.”
His voice was gentle, but it still didn’t soften the blow.
I hadn’t thought of it from her perspective. I sighed. “I’m not a very nice person sometimes, I think.” When would I ever be rid of my own self-centeredness?
Todd nudged my chin up until I met his chocolate-brown gaze. I shivered. “I think you’re a nice person, Callie Erickson. Very nice.” He lowered his face to mine, and I didn’t think about Sharlene anymore.
Until the next morning, that is. Todd hadn’t stayed late last night, so I’d had time to read the new mystery I’d been itching to get to. It should have been relaxing, but it was a bit more suspenseful than I anticipated, so I ended up staying up half the night to finish it.
Not my best choice, I thought the next morning. It wasn’t fun to start off the day already tired. I pulled up to C. Willikers with the pugs, pleased to see the first little green leaves poking out on the rose stems. Some winters, the rose bushes didn’t even lose their leaves, but this year, we’d had a couple of nights below freezing. I loved this rainy, blossomy time of year leading up to Easter.
I hopped out of my van and lifted the pugs down one at a time. Pugs are not the bravest dogs in the world, and apparently the one-foot drop from the van to the ground was too scary to tackle.
I unlocked the door and flicked the lights on, glad I had arrived before Sharlene. I shoved my lunch into the mini fridge under the counter. Should I let on that I knew about her past?
Grabbing my feather duster, I ran it over the front bookshelves. I couldn’t just come out and say, “Hey, Sharlene, so I found out you’re on probation. Want to tell me about it?”
Actually, I could say that. And if I were Mona, I probably would. But…it would be so much better if Sharlene told me herself. Besides, I didn’t know anything other than that she was on probation and her PO’s name was Crystal somebody or other.
I sighed, praying for wisdom. One thing at a time, right?
My phone dinged from the recesses of my purse. Probably Mona. Her biopsy was today.
It’s the big day today. I’m kinda scared but I know I need to do it and get it over with and it will be okay. I got this, right? Frowny face, frowny face. Me and Rob are going to get kolaches afterwards to make me feel better!!!!! Smiley face. Please keep praying and tell Dot to too, okay? Praying hands, praying hands.
I smiled. I’m praying fervently for you and so is Aunt Dot. Let me know how it goes, okay? Love you.
Apparently, kolaches were an acceptable substitution for the forbidden donuts. I laid the phone on the counter, then picked it back up. I still hadn’t notified Sheriff Wayne about my yard. I’d call right now, then run over to Houston’s office to grab the mail he had for me. At least Sylvia had delivered it to me the last few days. Maybe she was finally getting things straight.
I picked up my phone and left a message for Sheriff Wayne. Of course, I had managed to call during the weekly staff meeting. And since it wasn’t an emergency, could I please leave a message?
I sighed. Maybe it wasn’t that big of a deal anyway. Probably a bunch of bored teenagers. Todd had already repaired and reset the mailbox for me, and it wouldn’t take long for the grass to regrow. I could bring a few of the flower pots from the shop over to the house—
I want you to pray for Mona.
The quiet voice of the Holy Spirit broke into my thoughts. I laid the phone down again. I was praying. Lots.
No. I want you to pray over her in faith that I will heal her. Not the doctors. Not the medicines. Me.
Oh.
I started sweating. Not over the praying part. I could do that. But the faith part was a little trickier. Did I believe that God could heal Mona of cancer, if that’s what it was?
Yes. I believed with my whole heart that He could.
But?
But did I believe that He would? And that He would do it in answer to my prayer?
I chewed on the inside of my lip. Over these last few weeks of Lent, as I purposefully intensified my pursuit of Him, I knew He was stirring me…stretching me…calling me deeper. Was He testing my faith?
But what if I made a big deal of praying for Mona, and nothing happened?
But it’s what I’m asking you to do, Beloved.
I sighed. I had learned long ago that if I was arguing with God, I might as well save my breath. I could run from Him, but He would follow. Relentlessly.
Do you believe?
It was the same question Jesus asked over and over in the gospels. To the blind who longed for healing. To the sisters who had lost their beloved brother. To his doubting disciple. To a father seeking deliverance for his demon-possessed son.
Do you believe?
Did I?
In my heart, I dropped to my knees with the desperate father, echoing his words. “I do believe. Help my unbelief.” I leaned my elbows on the counter and propped my chin in my hands, sensing God’s smile. The pugs milled around my legs, snuffling and grunting until they settled themselves on top of my feet.
“I�
�m fairly certain I just committed myself to the beginning of another divine adventure, dogs. You can call me Moses from now on.”
Two pairs of brown, bugged eyes stared up at me, and I laughed.
“Good morning, Calendula!”
I turned as Harry pushed through the front door, his boots clomping on my floor. He carried what I hoped were the architectural drawings for Hope House.
I smiled at him. Harry had to be one of my favorite people in the world. “How are you this morning?”
“Happier than a three-eyed cow.” He plopped the roll onto my counter and winked at me. “Finally got the updated drawings. I thought you’d be interested.”
“For sure. But you’ve heard about June?”
Harry pushed his Stetson up off his forehead and stared me down, his eyes intense behind his glasses. “I don’t care one hill of beans what that woman says. This is God’s project, and I aim to see it happen.”
“Amen to that.” Harry’s “get ’er done” attitude and strong faith made him a perfect match for my aunt. “When are you going to ask my aunt to marry you?”
His eyes twinkled. “Well, now, I think that’s for me to know and you to find out, young lady.”
I snickered, then mimicked his Texas drawl. “Y’all aren’t getting any younger. Better git on the wagon.”
“I’m on it, sugar. Believe me.” He spread out the plans. “Now, tell me what you think about the placement of the gardens.”
“It makes my heart happy to think of the girls being able to plant a vegetable garden,” I said, thinking of my own journey through grief. Of course, I’d never been through the hell these girls had, but I knew how healing it was to spend time working outside in God’s beautiful creation. “We still have room for the flower garden too?”
Where There's a Will Page 10
