by Cheryl Wyatt
Still strumming, Ben put words to his soul-stirring song.
“From the moment I first saw you, I knew it was meant to be. Baby, I can’t fathom life had God not brought you to me. So now I pledge my love forever and I’m asking you to be. My one and only, only one I love, my only love.” Removing the strap, Ben set aside the guitar, and then knelt.
Amelia’s hand flew to her mouth but Ben peeled her fingers from her face and held toward them a heart-shaped diamond. “Amelia, I’ve loved you from day one. I can no longer imagine life without you and Reece. Will you give me the honor of being your husband and a father to your beautiful daughter?”
The stool nearly toppled when Amelia surged from it and threw her arms around Ben’s neck. “Yes! I will be your wife. And I love you, too.” Cheers roared as the congregation stood and applauded. Reece ran onstage. Ben pulled her into a hug. An all-consuming hug Amelia knew meant he pledged his commitment to lead their family lovingly in the ways of God.
“Think he’ll show?” Celia asked Amelia and Ben, seated around the reception table with their friends. Ben’s mom, Amber, Celia, Miss Evie, Glorietta and Amelia’s mom had decorated Refuge Community Center for her and Ben’s engagement party, two months after Ben’s dad’s funeral.
Ben clasped Amelia’s hand. “He was sent an invitation.”
“Two invitations,” Amelia’s mom said.
“Three,” Miss Harker added.
“Four.” Miss Evie patted her hair.
“Five.” Gus slid into a chair beside Evie.
Amelia eyed the empty doorway, then the wall clock. Ten minutes after the hour her engagement party was to have started. “Doesn’t look like it. If he intends to be somewhere, Dad usually isn’t late.”
“Not unless I had to make a special stop for a special girl.”
Amelia whirled. So did Ben.
Her dad approached with Manny. “Found him headed to the wrong building.”
Amelia’s dad extended the vase of flowers to Reece and motioned her close. He whispered something in her ear and then plucked a burgundy rose from the middle of the bouquet. He passed it to Reece, who covered her mouth and giggled before walking over to Amelia.
Hand outstretched, Reece presented the rose. “This is from me because you’re a-a—” She dashed back to her grandpa and whispered, “What was I s’posed to say again?”
He whispered something in her ear and Reece raced back to Amelia. “Because you’re a one of a kind mama and you’ve bloomed into something beautiful over the years.”
“And I don’t just mean on the outside.” Her father stepped forward and extended the other eleven flowers. “Be right back.”
He went out the side door, taking Nolan Briggs with him as he went. They started carting in boxes. All filled with flowers.
Amelia lost count when she got close to a thousand.
Her dad stood in front of her and knelt to one knee. “I know I don’t deserve it. But I’m asking if you’ll consider being my daughter again.”
“I’ve never seen a dad propose to a kid,” Bradley said.
“I’m proposing a change. I want a chance to be the kind of dad you always deserved, Amelia. You’re a good mom. And I know you’ll be a good wife. So, will you give me the honor of letting me walk you down that aisle?”
Flowers in both hands, she knelt and hugged her father for the first time in years. “Yes. I forgive you.” She leaned back and laughed. “But I have a few questions.”
“You always did.” He chuckled.
“Why so many flowers?”
He winked at Ben. “I have it on good faith from a man I’ve come to respect that you like burgundy roses. These are to make up for all the times I should have known that and didn’t. Besides, I can’t let him steal your whole heart. I’m hoping there’s still room left for me.”
She hugged him again. “What changed your mind?”
“Not my mind. My heart. Ben did. And—” he pointed to Hutton “—that feller right over there. The day you boys trespassed on my property to fix my roof without permission.” He chuckled. “For which I’m now grateful. And Hutton had a talk with me.”
“Hutton? What did he say?” Ben asked.
“Right after I threatened to toss you off the roof, he told me he thought I was mean. He asked me why I had pictures of Jesus up on my walls when I didn’t love like Him.” He laughed. “He went on to tell me that he didn’t know how I could tell everybody I was a Christian because he’d looked and looked and looked all day and couldn’t see Jesus living anywhere in my heart.”
Hutton grinned, clearly pleased with himself.
“I also snuck into the funeral. You all didn’t see me because I came late, left early and got the heck out of dodge. I didn’t want to bring more pain on the family. But when I saw Hutton pat his daddy’s cold hand and tell him he’d be happy to know that him and Ben were best friends now, just like his dad always said would happen, something broke in me.” He swallowed.
Ben swallowed, too. Amelia grasped his hand.
Amelia’s dad cleared his throat. “I realized I wasn’t promised another breath. That I was ugly on the inside and it don’t matter what a person looks like outwardly. I grew ashamed of myself and of the prejudices I’d held, and asked God to help me let it go. I also wanted to save my marriage.”
Amelia’s mom stood by him and put her hand to his back.
Amelia’s dad looked at Ben. “Don’t know how this woman put up with the likes of me for so many years. All I ask is that you make things better for my daughter and Reece than I did for my wife and Amelia. You give me your word on that, and we’re good.”
“On my honor, sir. I will.”
“I know you will. I believe it. I also believe you need to know I’d be honored to be your father-in-law.”
Hutton tapped Amelia’s dad on the shoulder. “Um, would you be my father-in-law too? Because I don’t have a dad anymore. He went to heaven.”
The man’s eyes filled with tears and he hugged Hutton. “Buddy, you can call me whatever you want. Just as long as you call me when you need someone to talk to about missing your daddy.”
They went off and talked. Ben faced Amelia and grasped her hands. Warmth filled her heart and hope wasn’t far behind it.
“Let’s pray, Mommy. Together!”
“I don’t know what to say,” Amelia whispered. “Other than to thank You, God for giving me a newly made family by changing Dad’s heart, and for leading me to Refuge.” She closed her eyes and squeezed Ben’s hand.
Taking Reece’s hand and keeping Amelia’s in his other, Ben nodded to Hutton, bowed his head and squeezed back. “And for giving me such a smart brother and this ready-made family.”
Dear Reader,
I came to know God as an adult partly as a result of His people showing kindness to me. They loved me as I was, even though I wasn’t like them. They didn’t expect me to act like a Christian, because I wasn’t. Yet I knew there was something different about them. That they hung out with me and genuinely cared about me, even when I didn’t share their beliefs, made me want to know the God they served. In the same way, Amelia was drawn back to God by the kindness of Ben and other Christians in Refuge. They determined to love her and help her without expecting anything in return. Yet, they did pray for her to come into a right relationship with God. Because of spiritual abuse, Amelia had a distorted view of God; she saw Him through a clogged filter of His flawed people. I don’t know your church background, and I don’t know how you view God. But I do know that God knows you intimately and has seen every day of your life. He feels our struggles. I pray that you have a place where you can worship with a body of believers in Jesus. A place that feels like home. A place that feels like family. I love hearing from readers. I invite you to e-mail me at [email protected] or write me at P.O. Box 2955, Carbondale, IL 62902-2955.
Blessings on you and yours,
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
Ben’s brother Hutton has
Mosaic Down Syndrome. Through the story, Ben didn’t often have confidence in his ability to do or say the right thing because he was afraid of hurting Hutton’s feelings. Do you ever struggle with this when relating to someone with a disability? How do you wish you could respond?
Amelia falls on tough times in the book. Have you ever been in a situation in your life where you’ve had to rely on total strangers for help? How did you respond? Do you think you would have responded differently, or much the same as Amelia did, in choosing to trust Ben and his friends?
Amelia packed up everything she had and moved to another state with her daughter because she had high hopes for a job. Then things fell through. Have you ever suffered a disappointment such as this? Do you work with a difficult boss? If so, how do you cope?
Ben fell in love with Amelia and it didn’t bother him that she was a single mother. Have you ever been in a single-parent home? If so, what are the struggles you had that you wished people would have been more aware of? If not, do you think you’d feel more comfortable asking your family for help, or your local church? Why or why not?
Ben is a man of his word. He was determined to help Amelia’s dad even when the man was mean. Have you ever been in a situation where you felt obligated to do something for someone because you gave your word, only to find the task was more challenging than you imagined? If so, how did you manage to push through?
Amelia had been shunned by the church for being an unwed mother. She found it hard to plug back in but she finally did. What was it that drew her to Refuge Community Church? How do you think your church would respond to an unwed parent visiting? How would you respond?
When Amelia learns that Ben is a Christian, she realizes that his relationship with God was the driving force behind his helping her. Of course he was attracted to her, but for the most part, his motives weren’t self-serving. Have you ever met a person who you suspected to be a Christian because of acts of kindness they did? Did you find out later they were?
In Ready-Made Family, the bed and breakfast owner gives Hutton a job. Did this aspect of the book touch you? Why or why not?
Amelia can’t believe her good fortune when this hunky airman not only voiced interest in her, but in her daughter. At what point in the story did you recognize that Ben wasn’t going to give up on Amelia? Do you have someone like that in your life?
Amelia left her parents’ house because of harsh words. Do you agree it was wise of her to set out on her own with a daughter to care for? Do you think she did the right thing for herself and for Reece?
Amelia’s dad was bound by prejudice. Ben’s kindness combated that, and God used it to soften the man’s heart, especially when he saw Ben’s determination to help repair the storm-damaged roof despite getting word that his own father had died. If you were Ben in that situation, how do you think you would have responded?
Amelia lands a wonderful job that she doesn’t feel she deserves or is qualified for. Has there been someone in authority who has had more belief in you than you had in yourself? What do you think motivated the bed and breakfast owner to take a chance on Amelia? Do you feel this was risky or wise on the business owner’s part, and why?
Refuge is a community that lives up to its name. Throughout the book, Amelia picks up on a conspiracy of kindness. Would you like to live in a small town like this, where people reach out and help one another? Or would you feel your privacy was invaded and want everyone to mind their own business? Why so?
ISBN: 978-1-4268-3185-0
READY-MADE FAMILY
Copyright © 2009 by Cheryl Wyatt
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Steeple Hill Books, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279 U.S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
This edition published by arrangement with Steeple Hill Books.
® and TM are trademarks of Steeple Hill Books, used under license. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.
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* Wings of Refuge
* Wings of Refuge
* Wings of Refuge
