Into the Wilderness

by Traci DePree

  Kate and Rebecca exchanged questioning looks.

  “He didn’t tell us that the concert was a benefit,” Livvy said. “I assumed he was being a typical selfish teenager...but just look.” She gestured toward the people gathered around.

  “So, what changed your mind?” Kate asked.

  “The guys from the band came over shortly after we returned home. As you know, they’d originally planned the concert for Sunday, then they decided to push it back a day so they could surprise you! They begged us to let James play with them, and then the full story came out about their idea to raise money.” She beamed proudly.

  “This will help immensely,” Kate said. “Wow.”

  James and the rest of the teenagers climbed onto the stage, and the crowd cheered. James’ glance landed on Kate and Livvy, and he waved.

  “So, you’re letting him stay in the band?” Kate asked.

  Livvy nodded. “I know, we’re pushovers.” She laughed, and Kate joined her.

  Then the song began, and a hush fell over the audience. Kate glanced across the crowd. Many sent waves of greeting and thumbs-up to Paul. She felt glad to be part of a community of people who gave so freely to one another.

  When the band finished playing, the crowd burst into thunderous applause. Livvy led the Hanlons to a blanket she’d laid out near the stage. “I know you need your rest,” she said to Paul.

  “Are you kidding?” he said. “I’m energized!”

  She laughed as the four of them sat down.

  “We have a special guest in our audience,” James was saying from the stage. He gestured toward Rebecca, then went on. “Rebecca Hanlon is here all the way from New York City. She’s a big Broadway star. Rebecca,”—he looked at her—“would you do us the honor of singing for us?”

  Rebecca’s mouth dropped open, and her cheeks flushed. Then she looked at her mother.

  “Go up there!” Kate said. “You know you want to.”

  Rebecca climbed the stairs and took the mic. “What would you like to hear?” she asked the band.

  James shrugged and said, “We can follow you. Whatever you know works for us.”

  “Do you know Andrea Bocelli and Celine Dion’s ‘The Prayer’?” she asked.

  James nodded to the other guys, and they started to play.

  Rebecca smiled at the audience, at ease in front of the large crowd. Kate leaned against her husband as the song began. It was one of the most beautiful songs she’d ever heard, and to hear her daughter singing it brought tears to Kate’s eyes. This was Rebecca’s gift. There was no doubt about it. God had meant for Rebecca to share it with the world.

  WHEN THEY RETURNED HOME after the concert, Kate went into the kitchen to heat up leftovers for supper. She opened the freezer and pulled out a pan of lasagna.

  Rebecca cleared her throat, and Kate turned to see what she wanted. Rebecca took a seat next to her father at the kitchen table, a bottle of soda and a glass of ice water in front of her.

  “This past week has reminded me of some things I’d forgotten,” Rebecca said.

  “Like what?” Paul asked.

  “Like what faith is. I saw it every day in you, Mom. The way you never gave up on Dad.” She glanced at Kate and then at Paul. “You always believed that God would show us the way. I guess I’ve been trying to manipulate things on my own, to force my way in even if it meant doing things that weren’t the best way to get there...”

  Her sentence drifted away, and Kate sensed that Rebecca didn’t want to go over the whole discussion of the play she’d auditioned for, so she waited for her to go on.

  “I’ve decided not to go to the callback for that off-Broadway play or any play like it. I lost sight of my faith for a while, but now I get it. I still believe that I’m meant to be an actress, but God will have to open the right doors for that to happen, and I know I can trust him with my future. After all, who loves me more than he does?”

  Kate was about to voice her fears as she had so many times before—that life in New York was too dangerous for a beautiful single girl—but she bit her tongue, because as much as she hated to admit it, Rebecca was right. She was in God’s hands, and there was no safer, better place to be.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Kate and Paul watched as Rebecca climbed the steps of the Greyhound bus in Pine Ridge that would take her back to New York City. Kate had had Eli return Marcus’ convertible to the rental company earlier when Rebecca had insisted that she couldn’t manage the stick shift much less that long drive alone.

  Kate searched the dark windows to see Rebecca one last time. Rebecca’s face pressed against the glass just like that first day on the bus to kindergarten. Kate supposed she’d always see that image of each of her children—youngsters who needed a mother’s guidance in the big dangerous world—even when they grew to be her age.

  Paul placed a hand on Kate’s waist and gave her a squeeze as the bus pulled away. They waved until it turned out of sight, then made their way back to Paul’s pickup for the return trip to Copper Mill. They would stop on the way to deliver Kate’s stained-glass window to the horse farmer who had ordered it so long ago.

  Kate felt bad that it was so late, and yet she knew that in the grand scheme of things, it really didn’t matter. She’d done her best and had produced a piece she was proud of. She thought of Rebecca and her statement about not settling for less than God’s best in her life. Kate understood that sentiment because she saw it in her own desire to create something beautiful.

  “You know, honey...,” Paul said mischievously, pulling her from her musings.

  She turned to look at him.

  “I’ve been thinking,” he said. “How about I plan another camping trip to the Smokies, or maybe even the Rockies, for next spring?”

  “Oh no you don’t, Paul Hanlon,” Kate said. “Not on your life!”

  About the Author

  BEFORE LAUNCHING her writing career, Traci DePree worked as a fiction editor for many of the best Christian authors in the country. While still maintaining her editing career, Traci loves creating new worlds in her novels. Her hope is that, just as in Copper Mill, Tennessee, her readers will see God’s creation and inspiration within the people in their own lives. Traci is the author of the best-selling Lake Emily series, including A Can of Peas, Dandelions in a Jelly Jar and Aprons on a Clothesline. She makes her home in a small Minnesota town with her husband and their five children, the youngest via adoption.

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