Winter Wonders

by Delia Latham

  Like the Rose of Sharon. A symbol of perfect, untarnished, and unending love.

  An image of Winter’s face filled Brady’s mind. He tried to shake it. Hadn’t he already decided he had to turn away from a path so obviously wrong for him? As a non-believer, Winter couldn’t walk the life path he’d chosen—that of a minister, a servant of Christ, shepherd to a small, but oh-so-precious flock of God’s lambs.

  The cardinal settled on Brady’s shoulder. Once again, the little creature spread those vivid, crimson wings to their fullest span…and then wrapped them around his head in a gentle, feathery embrace.

  Brady caught his breath. Surely this wasn’t real. But then, hadn’t he watched this same bird—or perhaps simply one of its kind—wrap its wings around Winter’s head the day she arrived in Cambria, right out of the heavens?

  Healing flowed from that soft, crimson hug and into Brady’s mind and soul. The pain of being disillusioned by Rory Cope all those years ago. The loneliness of shutting himself off from everything and everyone he knew. The sorrow of believing every message he’d delivered during his time with the televangelist’s troupe was tainted by his mentor’s unforgivable deeds. The hurt that came of being deceived, misled, and used. The guilt of hiding his past from his congregation. All of it faded into nothingness at the touch of the cardinal’s wings.

  Brady awakened in gentle, gradual layers of consciousness, the soft brush of wings remaining almost palpable. He raised a hand to his face and found it damp. He’d wept as healing flowed into his soul. Awake now, he slid off the bed and onto his knees, where the tears continued to fall, cleansing his spirit and reclaiming all the things that Satan had stolen. When at last he rose and set about getting ready for the morning service, his heart echoed the song of praise trilled by the choir of birds in his dream.

  His task this morning would not be easy. Yet his heart sang.

  What he must do after service loomed even bigger and harder. And still, joy bubbled up from within his soul.

  On this day, Ethan Brady Miracle, boy preacher, disillusioned protégé…child of God…would take back all he’d lost. He might lose some of his flock to another shepherd as a result. If so, he’d believe his Father was separating the wheat from the tares.

  He’d certainly lose Winter. His heart wanted to rebel, but his spirit overcame. God saw further down the road of life than Brady ever could. The Father had a plan—for his good, not for harm.

  As he knotted his tie in front of the bathroom mirror, he quoted Romans 8:28 aloud, over and over again. “All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.”

  With his tie straight, he pulled on his suit jacket, picked up his Bible, and strode out of the house. Time to do God’s bidding.

  18

  He walked through the side door of Cambria House of Praise in time to hear the first worship tune’s introduction. He’d arrived later than usual, but being barely on time was no accident today. He hadn’t wanted to shake hands and make idle conversation, possibly opening himself up to doubt. He’d made a decision while in a spiritual frame of mind and wanted no natural influence to make him waver between now and the moment of reckoning.

  On the platform, with the opening song launching into a stirring chorus, he lifted his hands, his head, and his heart toward Heaven. The lyrics of this song spoke to his heart on this morning even more than usual.

  I’m here to praise You, Lord. I’m here to lift You up.

  What a Plan You made! What a price You paid!

  Oh, what a love!

  And You alone are worthy of all the honor and the glory.

  So I’m here to praise You, Lord. I lift You up.

  As the praise team softened their voices and prepared to bring the chorus to an end, Brady opened his eyes and swept his gaze across the faces in his congregation. Some were lifted toward the heavens, a few weeping, others with eyes closed, drawing in Christ’s presence—refreshing their souls after a week of life’s everyday tests and trials.

  Despite his peace with the decision he’d made, an element of sorrow weighted Brady’s heart. In a moment, the lead singer would turn the service over to him. What happened from that point on might douse the sweet Presence that currently flowed through the place like a physical touch. But he had to follow God’s lead. One last sweep of the worshipping attendees nearly stopped his heart.

  Winter sat a few rows from the back, her gaze fixed on him, a smile turning her entire face into something too glorious for words. She and her brother were ensconced on each side of Miss Angie.

  Brady’s stomach knotted painfully, and for a moment, nausea churned. Then he straightened his shoulders and lifted his chin. Focus on God, Brady. Just you and God. He couldn’t change what he’d come to say this morning at His Father’s gentle, but vivid bidding.

  Not even for the woman who’d claimed his heart forever.

  

  

  Winter caught her breath when Brady entered through a side door, walked up onto the platform, and made his way to a chair that looked anything but comfortable. Maybe that’s why he didn’t sit. Instead, he placed his Bible on the seat and then turned to face the congregation. Except he didn’t even look out across the room but lifted his face and his hands toward the ceiling.

  A quick glance around the room told her he wasn’t up there making a grand spectacle of himself. Many of the people in the small crowd waved their hands in the air. Some cried. Others just stood with their eyes closed and…glowed.

  This behavior was new to her, but Winter almost understood. An overwhelming Presence filled the room—something at once powerful and gentle. Tears burned her eyes, and her fingers trembled, but she wasn’t sad or afraid. Rather, the joy she’d experienced in the clearing the day she gave her heart to God bubbled up again with overpowering force.

  She glanced at Kai, but his attention was focused elsewhere. He wasn’t watching her as she’d expected, waiting for her reaction to the odd behavior of the churchgoers. Her brother’s attention was riveted on something else entirely.

  She followed his focused gaze across the aisle and a few pews closer to the front. A young woman with porcelain skin and a shiny cascade of black curls sat next to an elderly gentleman with military posture. Winter needed a moment to recognize the object of Kai’s fascination, having never seen her without a white lab coat, a professional demeanor…and that glorious hair tucked into a neat twist at the back of her head.

  Dr. Julia Rafferty.

  Winter had teased and picked at her brother about the pretty doctor, but what she saw in Kai’s eyes right now wasn’t something to be taken lightly. Their mother had always said Kai “wore his heart on his sleeve,” and at the moment, the statement was far more than a cliché. He was utterly captivated, and it wasn’t something born of suggestive teasing on Winter’s part. Kai must’ve known how he felt from the first time Julia appeared at his hospital bedside.

  The day they took possession of the Paradise Pines apartment, he had said he felt at home here…could stay forever. If he needed any further excuse to remain in this region of the California coastline, he’d found it in the lovely woman across the aisle.

  Winter frowned. She’d sensed the attraction, but why hadn’t she felt the stirrings of her twin’s heart within her own? They’d always been so transparent to one another. When one of them experienced strong emotions—or pain, of course—those feelings transferred to the other twin. Every time.

  A quiet gasp drew a comforting pat on her hand from Miss Angie, but Winter barely noticed.

  There was an irresistible magnetism between her and the beautiful angel man baring his heart to his friends and parishioners.

  What if…?

  Nausea churned in her stomach. Her mind raced back through the weeks she and Kai had been in Cambria. Each magic moment. All the fluttery pulses and heart-pounding kisses she’d shared with Brady.

  None of it real…just a ghost of he
r twin brother’s strong attraction to Julia.

  Despite the newfound joy that still filled her soul, Winter’s heart sank. She closed her eyes and forced air in and out of her lungs. Slowly, reason took over. This was a good thing. She’d never planned on entertaining the whole romance-love-marriage scenario—it didn’t coincide with her big career plans. Going places. Doing grand things. Becoming a celebrity newscaster.

  She’d come close to making a mistake that would have ruined her life and Brady’s, even going so far as to think about resigning her job and walking away from journalism. For the first time since she chose a career field, the pursuit of fame and recognition seemed trivial. She spent her time chasing secrets people didn’t want to tell, revealing lies that were sometimes best left alone.

  What Raine was doing with those kids at Chrysalis…that was real and meaningful.

  But now Winter had a new perspective. Caring for hurting, abandoned, and abused teens was a noble calling, but it was Raine’s job, not hers. She needed to go home—back to Cornelius Cove and the anchor desk she’d been so proud to claim only a few years ago. In that familiar setting, with no contacts other than a few, necessary professional colleagues, she’d be back in control, and could laugh at herself for failing to see the truth from the start. She relaxed against the back of her seat, heaved a relieved sigh, and forced her lips into a smile that felt wooden.

  When she looked toward the front of the church again, Brady stood with his head bowed. Both hands hung at his sides, and his broad shoulders drooped.

  Her heart pinched. Something wasn’t right.

  Just then, he raised his head, and she smiled—she couldn’t help it. Their little foray into romance might have been an echo of Kai’s feelings for Julia, but Brady’s appearance hadn’t changed. He was still beautiful. She simply couldn’t look at him and not smile.

  Her tummy clenched when his gaze made a slow trail around the room. Even from this distance, those incredible eyes revealed deep sorrow, along with rock-hard determination. What was going on in his mind?

  Then he spotted her, and Winter’s breath took a vacation. She couldn’t bear the pain in his eyes, yet she couldn’t look away. Her edgy emotions flailed once again, drowning in whatever Brady was holding inside himself.

  The worship song ended. A young man thanked the congregation for “letting God move” and then invited their pastor to the podium.

  And still Brady stared at Winter. Maybe, like her, he couldn’t look away.

  “Pastor?” The young man’s curious voice somehow severed their connection.

  Brady nodded and stepped to the podium, while Winter breathed deeply…in and out through barely parted lips. What had just happened?

  Miss Angie gave her hand another pat. “It’ll be all right, dear. Everything’s OK.”

  Winter sent a sideways glance toward the woman, but something stopped her from looking Miss Angie straight in the eye. She wasn’t sure she could handle what she might see there—the wisdom, the caring…the knowing.

  Brady said nothing for a long time. Little stirrings in the crowd indicated they were puzzled by his brooding silence. Perhaps he felt the unease, as he lifted his head and stepped close to the mic.

  “What a beautiful Spirit moves amongst us this morning. I pray that God has filled each of you with strength and fortitude. You will need it, friends. We all will.” He laid his Bible on the podium and opened it…and then, with a deep sigh, he closed it again. “One of the local ministers called me a few days back. He was concerned about a call from a journalist interested in finding a young man who disappeared from the public eye over a decade ago. Since then, God and I have been in deep communion, dear friends. He’s convinced me that it’s time—actually, long past the time when I should have shared with you something I’ve kept hidden for many years. I don’t have a sermon this morning, but I do have a message.” He paused, pain-filled gaze fixed on one corner of the ceiling, and shook his head. “Actually, it’s more of an introduction.” He lifted one hand to his face and pinched his temples between thumb and middle finger.

  Winter’s heart beat in slow, painful thuds. She’d all but stopped breathing after he’d said “local ministers” and “journalist.” Whatever was coming, she didn’t want to hear it, but clearly her calls to local pastors had prompted this painful speech.

  At last, Brady dropped his hand, revealing a face damp with tears.

  “I brought along a friend this morning—someone I used to know.” Once again, he broke off and shook his head. “Pardon me…I can’t seem to speak with any kind of clarity today. Not someone I used to know, but someone I used to be. I didn’t know him as well as I thought I did back then.” He paused, as if unable to continue. “Give me a moment, please. I’d like to join you down there, if you don’t mind.”

  Moving away from the podium, he flipped on a tiny mic attached to his collar and stepped off the platform with slow, steady determination. He picked up a folding chair and turned it backwards. Then he loosened his tie, straddled the metal seat and leaned his elbows against the back.

  For a moment or two, he sat without looking up, his chin propped on folded hands. When at last he raised his head, he directed that bluest of blue gazes straight at Winter.

  She shivered, feeling its touch in the deepest part of her soul.

  “I’d like you to meet Ethan Miracle.”

  Ethan Miracle? Here, in Brady’s church?

  Wait. Someone he used to be?

  She’d buried her growing suspicions with such determination, refusing to entertain the idea because it couldn’t be true—she didn’t want it to be, for the sake of Brady’s ministry and their relationship. But his words seemed to indicate she’d been hoping against no hope at all.

  Winter tore her gaze from Brady’s bruised and broken one to scan the platform behind him. Ethan would show himself from up there. Brady had simply phrased the introduction in a confusing way. But no one stepped out of the shadowy corners of the upper level, so she raked a desperate gaze across the occupied pews, watching for someone to approach the front in response to that strange introduction.

  What she saw were puzzled frowns on concerned faces. Questioning glances between couples. Raised eyebrows and narrowed gazes.

  A silent unease slithered over the room. Brady’s voice—strong, but with an underlying pain that ripped at Winter’s soul—spoke into that unsettling atmosphere, denying her even the right to search for further possibilities.

  “My name is Ethan Brady Miracle, and I’ve been hiding from who I am for thirteen years.”

  The truth she had feared became undeniable, and Winter’s heart broke. She’d done this because the story held the potential of boosting her own career. She couldn’t stay here and listen while Brady sacrificed his good reputation, couldn’t watch his life fall apart as a result of her actions. She blinked back tears, recalling the verse in Ecclesiastes chapter three. To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under the heaven. Her season in Cambria was over. The time had come for her to leave this little slice of Heaven by the seaside. “Excuse me, Miss Angie.” She stood and stepped across the woman’s silk clad knees. “I—I need to step outside.”

  “I wish you’d stay, dear Winter. Please…just a little longer.”

  “I can’t.” She shook her head, shutting out Brady’s voice behind her. “I’m sorry. I really have to go.”

  Miss Angie allowed her to pass, but caught her hand before she could swing into the aisle. “Don’t forget to pray, child. Do that, and you’ll survive this time of weeping.”

  Winter nodded and hurried out of the sanctuary and through the foyer. She hit the door at a run and didn’t stop until she heard Kai’s voice.

  “Winter! Wait.” He caught up with her and took her by both arms. “What is going on?”

  “I did this. I broke Brady.” A hoarse sob tore past her throat and she turned in a complete circle. Which way to run? “I need to get out of Cambria. I’m going home.�
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  “Sis. Are you sure this is the right thing to do?” While he talked, he unlocked the van. “I’ve never seen you run from anything before.”

  “There’s a first time for everything.” She started to climb up into the passenger side, rounded the van, and took the keys from her brother. “You’ll want to see Julia after the service. Let me take the van. I’m sure someone will bring you and Miss Angie back to the lodge.” She wrapped her arms around Kai’s waist and squeezed hard. “I’ll find a way to Cornelius Cove. There has to be some kind of taxi service around here somewhere.”

  Kai shook his head. “I don’t think so, Sis. Just drive to San Luis Obispo and rent a car. Call and let me know where to pick up the van. Brady’ll take me…or maybe Julia.”

  He shrugged, and a wave of his confusion slammed Winter with near-physical force.

  “I’m sorry, Kai. I know you don’t understand, and I—I can’t talk about it right now. Can you just let me go without a ton of questions? I promise I’ll call.”

  He shook his head. “I should go with you.”

  “No. You have a chance at happiness here. Don’t throw it away.” She managed a smile that had no chance of being reassuring. “I’ll be fine. I always am, aren’t I, no matter what?” Her attempt at laughter was a colossal failure.

  “Are you sure?” Kai’s torn emotions warred within both of them. “I don’t like letting you go in this state of mind.”

  “I’m fine…well, I will be.” She had to pull it together for him. “I just need some space to get my head straight. I want you to stay here. And…” She hesitated. She hadn’t yet told him about her conversion. “Talk to Brady about salvation. Or Miss Angie. Julia, even. Just…do it, OK?”

  He grinned. “I already did, Sis. I’m a new man.”

  “You’re a new—? Are you saying you’ve given your heart to the Lord?”

  “Yep. I guess that’s how it’s said. Whatever it is, I’ve never been so happy.”

  “Oh.” Winter bit at her lip, and then managed a tiny smile. “Me, too.”

  “I know.”