by Mary May
Catherine was up at the crack of dawn Christmas morning preparing a special breakfast of French toast filled with cream cheese and crispy bacon. She was humming “Silent Night” when she saw Sabrina come into the kitchen. “Good morning, darling! Merry Christmas!” she called out but then stopped when she saw her daughter’s red-rimmed eyes and puffy cheeks. Catherine rushed over to wrap Sabrina in her arms; she didn’t even have to ask what had happened.
Sabrina held on to her mother as she cried. She had vowed she wasn’t wasting one more tear on that man, but when her mother hugged her tightly, the flood gates opened up once again. Catherine didn’t say anything; she just held her and let her cry, rocking her gently until the sobs had eased up. Once Sabrina was down to soft hiccupping, Catherine got a clean washcloth and wiped her face, still keeping silent. After a few moments Sabrina spoke. “He’s gone; he left late last night.”
Catherine nodded. “I thought that must have been what happened. Did he say why?”
Sabrina laughed softly. “He basically said he loved me too much to stay with me, that I deserved better and that his past would cause too much trouble between us.” Sabrina sat on the stool staring down at the wet washcloth as she folded it over and over in her lap.
Catherine sighed, “Sweetheart, I’m so sorry. I wish I knew some magic words of wisdom to make this better, but I don’t. What I know to say you probably don’t want to hear right now.”
Sabrina looked up. “Time heals all wounds? This too shall pass? What God brings you to He will get you through?” She slid off the stool, laying the washcloth on the counter. “I know all of that to be true, but you’re right. I don’t want to hear it right now.” Sabrina reached up and kissed her mother’s cheek then went upstairs to get dressed.
Catherine sat in the stool that Sabrina had just slid out of and closed her eyes. “Lord, your daughter is hurting so much right now. I don’t even know what to pray for exactly except to be with her and let her know that You love her and that she isn’t alone. Lord, send Your angels to surround her with Your love and peace.” Catherine prayed for her daughter until she felt the peace of God fill her heart; then she got up to finish breakfast.
One by one the rest of the family came down and Catherine broke the news that Devon had left. When she told Carl and Keelie, Carl got a strange look in his eyes. He shook his head and sat heavily in the chair, scrubbing his hand over his face. “This may be my fault. I had a little talk with Devon last night before dinner. I told him that I had him checked out and that I didn’t like what I had found. I then told him if he ever hurt Sabrina, I would take care of him myself.”
Catherine and Keelie both looked at him with raised eyebrows. “Well, I can definitely see where that might make him uncomfortable, but I doubt that would chase him off unless he already had leaving on his mind,” Catherine advised.
Carl looked up at her. “I don’t know, Catherine; I wasn’t real nice about it. But something about that boy just bothered me and I couldn’t stand it if he hurt Sabrina.”
Keelie placed her hand on Carl’s shoulder. “You feel very protective of Sabrina. I’m sure that Devon understood that. It seems to me that he took your words to heart and left before he could hurt her any deeper.”
Carl sighed deeply. “But was it the right thing to do? I should have handled it differently, prayed about it before I spoke.”
Evan pulled out a chair and sat down. “Carl, I have found that God can use our mistakes to achieve His greater purpose. Maybe what you said wasn’t exactly what God had intended, but that doesn’t mean good won’t come from it. Devon had a lot of personal demons to deal with; that wasn’t a secret. But I don’t think he had a bad heart. Maybe what he needed was a reason to get cleaned up and straightened out. I wouldn’t be surprised if he showed back up one day a changed man.”
Keelie reached out and took Carl’s hand. “Why don’t we lift Devon up in prayer right now?” The couples all joined hands and prayed over Devon James Lane, that God would at that very moment start to call on his heart and gently usher him into His kingdom. They also prayed for Sabrina that God would give her strength of heart and peace in this matter.
Sabrina sat on the end of her bed a week later. Tonight was New Year’s Eve and she had been moody and depressed since Devon had left. She knew all she had to do to feel better was to pray about it, but for some reason she held on to the pain like it was the only connection to Devon that she had left. She turned the broach over in her hand, studying it like it might yield some answers to the endless list of questions she had. Finally she got up and found a small box with a lid and after carefully wrapping the piece in tissue, she put it up in the top of her closet.
Shutting the closet door, she got down on her knees. “Ok, I’m done being stubborn. At least on this matter anyway. I know You will ease my pain and help me heal if I ask You. I’m tired of feeling like this. I have so many questions that I could fill up a notebook, but the one answer that I do have is that You have not forsaken me. I’ve been miserable these last weeks by my own choice. Jesus, I love him…so much, but I know that even in this pain there is something that I can gain strength from. You may have to point it out to me, but I know there is a lesson to be learned.” Sabrina spent a few more minutes with her heavenly Father. When she got up she felt more like her old self than she had in weeks. Smiling, she opened her door and went down to the kitchen.
Cleo looked up when she heard Sabrina enter the room. When she saw the light back in Sabrina’s blue eyes, she threw the dish towel up in the air. “You done spent time with the Lord! I can tell by looking at you! Thank you, Jesus!” Cleo swept her up in a tight hug, laughing and dancing in a little circle, dragging Sabrina along for the ride. Sabrina laughed as she tied to untangle herself from Cleo’s tight embrace.
“Son, do you have a death wish? Are you just plain tired of breathing?”
Devon stared at his commander across the massive desk. “Not to my knowledge, sir,” he replied.
“Well, do you want the men you are in charge of dead?”
Again Devon replied, “Not to my knowledge, sir.”
The chair squeaked in protest as Jed leaned forward as much as his girth would allow. “You don’t have knowledge of a whole lot, do you, son? Well, let me tell you what I have knowledge of. In my hand I hold three different ER bills, all of them for you, and all of them were in the last month. In this hand I hold eleven, count them, eleven different complaints about your reckless behavior. Devon, you have always gone full speed and God knows you’re not afraid of anyone or anything, but in the last couple of months you are hell bent on getting yourself or a member of your team killed. Now if you want to go on to the great beyond, there are lots easier ways of going about it, and without breaking this department’s budget for medical expenses.”
Devon didn’t reply, being that he wasn’t asked a direct question.
Jed sighed wearily and leaned backwards in the protesting chair. He tossed the pile of papers on the desk and then tapped them with a thick finger. “What do you suggest I do with all of this?”
Devon arched an eyebrow. “Have you considered recycling?”
Jed slammed his hand down on the desk. “Do not toy with me, boy! I am ready to nail your butt to the wall! If you wasn’t the best agent I ever had, I would send you packing!” He picked up the thick pile of papers. “Devon, I love you like a son, but let one more of these cross my desk and I won’t have any choice but to let you go…do you understand?”
Devon stood to his feet and reached down and pulled the department-issued nine millimeter from his boot, then reaching into the inside pocket of his leather jacket he pulled out his badge and tossed it alongside his gun on the commander’s desk. “Jed, let me save you the trouble.” Then without another word he turned and walked out of the office.
Devon got into the dark blue Chevy 4x4 and twisted the ignition so hard it was a wonder it didn’t come off in his hand. After the massive four fifty four motor roared in
to life, he slammed it into first gear, leaving the top layer of his mud slingers on the highway. He flew down the road, leaving the only thing he had left to him in the dust. He rolled down the window, letting the cold night air whip through the interior of his truck. He patted his chest pocket for his pack of smokes and lit one, dragging deeply on it, trying to calm the rage that was building. He had dropped the habit while he was staying at Sabrina’s, but now? It really didn’t seem to matter.
He knew Jed was right; he was reckless, more so than usual. Since leaving Sabrina standing on the back deck of the estate with a shattered look in her eyes, he had been trying to find a way to stop his chest from burning like someone held a blowtorch to it. In the last couple of months he had taken every assignment and had brought in every man he was sent after. So what if he had to be a little rough? These were hardened criminals; he took them down however hard he needed to. The department might have a hornet up their rear over expenses, but he didn’t hear them complaining about his success rate! He pulled into the single unit motel that he had called home these last few weeks and threw everything he owned into a duffle bag. Then he loaded his Harley onto a trailer, hooked to the truck then rolled out onto the highway…
Edgar watched in dismay as Sabrina and Charlie dyed Easter eggs on the white and gold marble countertop.
Sabrina flashed him a smile. “Oh, for goodness sake, Edgar, stop looking so horrified! I think this marble can stand up to a little Easter egg dye!”
Edgar actually looked a little ill. “Madam, this is Italian marble; couldn’t we do this on the kitchen table? It’s only a one hundred and twenty year old antique!”
Cleo looked over from where she was rolling dough for Easter cookies. “Lands sake, Edgar, why don’t you go iron the bath towels or something if the strain is too much for you.”
Gideon busted out laughing along with Sabrina at the look on Edgar’s face. Poor Edgar looked at Cleo and then at Sabrina before huffing and muttering about the defilement of fine Italian marble before he stalked off. Sabrina shook her head and chuckled.
Cleo continued to roll out the dough. “Has he always been this uptight about stuff?” she asked.
Sabrina nodded as she dipped another egg then helped Charlie to pull hers up from the small plastic cup. “As long as I’ve known him, but believe it or not, he has actually loosened up a lot.”
Cleo stopped rolling as she pondered that thought then she resumed rolling as she winked at Sabrina and said, “Not!”
The family was all seated on the same row at the church for Easter service. The church was packed as people continued to file in. For reasons that Sabrina never understood, people would show up at church for Easter and Christmas and then you wouldn’t see them again until next year. It made her wonder if those were the only two days that they even acknowledged God’s existence. She could not imagine not having the presence of God in her life on a daily basis. She turned to Him so often that for her it was as natural as breathing. She sent up a heartfelt prayer that the Lord would move upon these “holiday Christians” that they would get a good double dose of His Spirit this morning.
Bro. Eddie preached on the death and the resurrection of Christ, which was expected, but then he brought up something that was unexpected. “Do you know what gets under my skin when I think about the death of Jesus? He went through what had to be the most brutal, agonizing death so that we would have a way to come into His kingdom. He paid the price for our sins. He suffered our punishment. He did everything for us, so all that was left for us to do was BELIEVE!” He walked up and down the aisle, looking at his congregation. “It is so simple, the most simple thing in the world. Just believe! For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever BELIEVED in Him SHALL BE SAVED. Did you notice the period at the end of that sentence? A period means that verse is finished. So let’s read it again, exactly what it says. For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten son that whosoever BELIEVED in Him SHALL BE SAVED. See, simple easy- to-follow instructions. Just believe in Jesus and what He did. It really bothers me that man has messed up the perfect message. We have made salvation complicated and hard. You must attend this church or that church; you must wear this or not wear that. You must follow our doctrine, or believe exactly like we do. People, Jesus did all the work that was required as far as our salvation goes. Now we must work at our relationship with Him. Put in the time and study His Word. But as far as our salvation let’s remember KISS…keep it simple salvation.
“No one wants to hear a mile-long list of do’s and don’ts. Jesus was all about love and relationship. Therefore, we as His followers should be all about love and relationship, with Him and with each other. Now am I saying that there are things that we should or shouldn’t do? Of course, but guess what -- Jesus will convict each person in His own time in His own way. As long as you are willing to change, Jesus will get you where He wants you to be. I’ve said all of that to say to this church: Preach Jesus, talk Jesus, spread the love of Jesus. Leave the managing of souls to Jesus. The only time we should be pointing our fingers is when we are pointing the way to Jesus. I know this was an unusual Easter message, but I don’t want any of us to minimize what Jesus did on Calvary by making salvation complicated. Please stand and I will close the service with this last thought. Jesus died to make a way for man to be able to come to Him. Please don’t be that person that stands in the way of someone else receiving this wonderful gift by being hard-hearted and complicated.”
After the church service Sabrina thought about what Bro. Eddie had preached on. She remembered something Sherrilyn had said about salvation that was very similar to what he had just said. “Salvation is so easy that a young child can understand it, but it takes a grown adult to mess it up so bad no one can understand it.” Sabrina had wondered what she had meant by that; now she understood it.
Sabrina couldn’t help but search the driveway for a black Harley when they pulled up. She knew he was gone but she still had the habit of listening for that deep rumble or carefully looking at any tall blonde men she happened to pass by. She tried to tell her foolish heart to just stop it and be reasonable, but her foolish heart did what it wanted to do; what it wanted to do was love Devon. She pushed him from her mind and went inside to get the eggs ready to hide. It had become a tradition to host a huge egg hunt on the estate’s sprawling lawns.
Cleo already had Charlie out of her Easter dress. Sabrina had let Charlie pick it out and it was a sight to behold. She looked like a walking Easter egg! Her top was bright pink and neon yellow, and her tutu skirt was lime green and purple. When Sabrina tried to steer her toward something a little more subdued, Charlie had said that Jesus loved bright colors; that’s why He made them! Unable to come up with a valid argument for THAT logic, Sabrina let Charlie wear her colorful outfit.
Cleo came out of the pantry with several different-sized wicker baskets draped over her arms. She then started to fill them with the Easter grass and set the eggs inside carefully. This was her first Easter at the estate and she was very excited to see all the children hunting for the eggs. She was very excited for another reason, too; her kids were coming up for a visit. After not seeing them for Thanksgiving or Christmas, she was longing to see their sweet faces. Shayla had mentioned that she had a surprise for her, and that just had her all beside herself, wondering what it could be. Her boys were very tight-lipped about it, which was out of character for them. Usually they couldn’t keep a secret to save their lives, so that really had her wondering. Humming a line from a praise tune, she carried the baskets out to the front lawn and told herself she just have to wait and see.
Gideon marveled at the sheer number of little bodies running all over the lawn, and not all of them were two-legged. Besides Moppet there were a beagle, a rat terrier and a very large Saint Bernard. Edgar took one look at the furry mountain with feet the size of dinner plates and immediately went to protect his prize roses.
Keeping up with Charlie was a t
ask that required all of Gideon’s attention. As the little girl darted to and fro, running from one spot to another and in general having a wonderful time, she gave no thought to her guardian that was keeping pace alongside her. He was thankful when Sabrina finally rang the large hand bell and announced they would now hide the eggs, and that all the children had to go inside until they were done. Gideon followed the troupe inside and sat down, grateful for a moment’s rest when suddenly his wings bristled. He stood up, surveying the room, looking at each child and adult there. He walked slowly through the room, touching each child briefly, looking for the source of his demon alert. Not finding it in the room he was in, he went out into the hall and just a few feet from the door he felt it again. Stronger this time! He drew his sword and held it loosely in his right hand, his eyes scanning every face. As he approached the kitchen, he knew he had located it.
Standing there by the sink was a woman that appeared to be in her mid-thirties and very well-groomed. She appeared the part of an average suburban housewife, until you looked closely at her eyes. They were unnaturally dark and cold. The woman turned to face him as soon as he entered the kitchen. Her eyes widened slightly at seeing someone of his rank protecting this family. The feel of evil radiated from her so strongly that Gideon was honestly surprised that no one else felt it. He no more than let that thought cross his mind when Cleo came in carrying a tray of little sandwiches. When she came close to the possessed woman, she froze. Gideon eased closer to Cleo as she slowly turned and looked at the woman who was casually leaning against the counter, daring her to say something. Cleo set the tray down and reached into her skirt pocket. She had something in her fist, but Gideon couldn’t make out what it was until Cleo stuck it in the woman’s face.
