by Gloria Repp
She didn’t even know how to pray for them.
She must have sighed without realizing it because her aunt was gazing at her, looking worried. “Madeleine, I’m prescribing chamomile tea for you, and early to bed. Snuggle down with your kitty and stay there as long as you want.”
She couldn’t tell Aunt Lin that her sleep was haunted by Kent’s voice, and his face, wreathed in flames.
At least she had Mac. She would awaken, whimpering, and find him nestled beside her. Each time, his rumbling purr slowed her pulse and lulled her back to sleep.
CHAPTER 30
I keep telling myself that
God has spared my life,
and I should be thankful.
But will the awfulness, the horror,
ever go away?
~Journal
The next morning after breakfast, Madeleine talked to herself about the baking course. Maybe she should watch a video.
Where was Nathan? What was he doing?
Mid-morning, he arrived with something bulky wrapped in newspaper. He checked Madeleine’s stitches, and then he gestured to the parcel on the kitchen counter.
“Wild turkey,” he said. “From one of my patients. I’m hoping you’ll know what to do with it.”
Aunt Lin, pouring coffee for him, answered, “Of course.” She frowned. “Does it still have feathers on?”
“No feathers.” He grinned. “It’s been plucked and gutted, soaked and salted. All ready for the expert’s attention.”
He looked at Madeleine. “If you don’t mind?”
“Of course not,” her aunt said quickly. “And perhaps you could help us eat it tonight?”
He inclined his head. “Thank you, ma’am. I would like that very much.”
Madeleine gazed at the mound of newspapers and pictured the huge bird inside it. Perhaps she should be alarmed, having never cooked a wild turkey, but she couldn’t summon up the energy.
“That’s settled, then.” Her aunt put the coffee down in front of Nathan, poured a cup for herself and Madeleine, and joined them at the table.
Madeleine asked him the question she’d been wondering about. “How did Tara get along with her aunt?”
He gave her an apologetic glance. “I meant to call. They did fine, as far as I could tell. Aunt Minna seems to be a storybook aunt, the plump, motherly type, but from the look in her eyes, she’ll tolerate no nonsense.”
“That would be good for Tara,” Madeleine said. But how likely was it that she’d see her again?
“The plan is that Tara will stay for two weeks, a trial run, I suppose. I left them chattering back and forth like a pair of chickadees.”
Aunt Lin said, “I hope she’ll have a better life now. This has been such a sad time.” She poured milk into her coffee. “Especially for Paula Castell and those two children.”
How Jude’s eyes would flash to hear himself described as a child!
“I haven’t seen either of them,” her aunt said. “Are they doing okay?”
“They’re busy,” Nathan said. “Bria’s nursing Timothy for me, and Jude helps around the store. He thinks you don’t need him any more since you’ve hired Remi.”
“But I do,” she said. “He’s a good worker. Will you be talking to them today?”
“Definitely.”
“I wonder if they’d like to come to dinner too.” She gave Madeleine a quick look. “Do you feel up to it?”
“It’s a great idea.” Madeleine ran a quick mental check on the contents of the freezer. “And how about Remi?”
“Perfect,” her aunt said. “Too many ghosts in this old place. Let’s liven it up.”
That afternoon her aunt made a trip for groceries and afterwards showed Remi the upstairs rooms. They stayed there, talking, and Madeleine was thankful to have time in the kitchen with no interruptions.
When Remi left to go home and change, Aunt Lin bustled in. “How can I help the chef?” She dipped a spoon into the cooling cranberry sauce. “Mmm, this tastes wonderful.”
Madeleine looked up from mincing an onion for the corn pudding. “Orange rind. None of that canned stuff at Cranberry Manor.”
Her aunt took another lick at the spoon and put it down. “Remi has quite an unusual background.”
“I’ve wondered about him,” Madeleine said. “Want to chop things for the salad?”
“That might push the limits of my cooking prowess, but I’ll do it.” Her aunt took out the cutting board. “I never did think he looked like the product of an orphanage. And now I find out he’s got this whole adopted family back in Seattle.”
She scrubbed the celery and carrots. “I showed him my photos of kids, and he told me about his brothers and sisters and the dogs. Remarkable dogs. He left Seattle because he was worried about something—he never quite said what—and he wanted to see the East Coast, but I think he misses them.”
Madeleine, wondering whether she’d added the salt, nodded.
Aunt Lin picked up a cucumber and began to slice it. “Mollie, are you doing okay? I haven’t seen you smile since I got back.”
“I guess so.”
How could she explain what it felt like, to kill another human being? “Tired, probably,” she muttered. “I’ll catch up.”
“I’m sure you will. Want me to check the turkey?”
“Please. This one doesn’t have a pop-up timer. I braised it in chicken broth so it should be tender.”
“What’s for dessert? You had frozen cherries on the list.”
“Just cherry pie. Streusel topping. It’s done. Ice cream if they want it.”
Her aunt’s eyes glowed. “Just homemade cherry pie,” she said. “I can’t wait.”
At supper, Bria was paler than usual and Jude was quiet, but Aunt Lin and Nathan kept the atmosphere light. Remi was the most entertaining, perhaps because of Bria, who sat across from him, and she finally began to smile at his jokes.
Over the cherry pie, they talked about hunting wild turkeys, which, Jude said, were both elusive and wily. Aunt Lin mentioned the local game pies, made of deer, or rabbit, or muskrat.
Nathan said, “Dan’l told me about muskrat. They’re good eating.”
Jude said he’d tasted one, and Remi looked envious. He begged for an invitation the next time anyone went hunting.
After the meal, no one suggested Monopoly, and Madeleine was grateful, remembering what her aunt had said about ghosts.
Much as she wanted to speak privately with Bria or Jude, she didn’t have an opportunity. They were anxious about Paula, and Remi gave them a ride home, saying he had to go that direction anyway.
Aunt Lin looked at her and Nathan. “Would it be terribly rude if I leave you two with the cleanup? I’ve got some work waiting, and if I start now, I can finish tonight.”
Nathan looked delighted. “Go ahead. Get lots done.”
Such enthusiasm for washing dishes?
As soon as Aunt Lin’s door closed, he put his arms around her. “Great meal,” he said. “You did wonders with my turkey.”
She looked up, and his smile dimmed. “What is it, Mollie?”
“I killed a man. The thought horrifies me.”
He shook his head, and she said, “I’m the one who made the car crash against that tree. I didn’t mean to. I just wanted to keep him from getting away. But I killed him just as surely as if I’d shot him.”
He was still shaking his head. “You slowed him down, but you didn’t kill him.”
She waited, disbelieving, and he said, “Kent had two gunshot wounds—one from Dixie, and one from Sid. They weakened him. The collision with the tree broke his leg. He must have realized he couldn’t get away.”
He took her hand. “Kent used his knife to slit his arm, and by the time they got there, it was too late.”
Blood. More blood. Her stomach twisted. “His knife was sharp,” she said, “but it’s not that easy. Not like in the movies.”
“He was precise, and he severed the radial artery.”
“Even if you get an artery, it seals itself up fast.”
“I talked to the pathologist.” His hand went to her shoulder, as if to steady her. “Kent knew the artery would stay open. He had a blood-clotting disorder.”
“Oh.” She remembered the panic on Kent’s face.
“He kept bleeding,” she said slowly. “I had to retie the bandage.” She shuddered. “Nathan, he was psychotic. I saw it, at the end.”
She closed her eyes. That nightmare gone.
“You were right about a bomb at the clinic,” he said. “We found two of them, strategically placed.”
“The Lord protected you too.” Her voice broke with the fear of losing him.
He held her close, letting her compose herself.
Thank You, Lord, for keeping him safe.
For the first time, she put her arms around him, taking delight in his bones and flesh and the sinewy muscles of his back.
He nuzzled into her hair, lingering there, but that was all. He’d been so careful to keep that promise of his, “not until you ask.”
Perhaps this was the day. It was up to her, he’d said, and they’d never win the war if she didn’t fight. If she bumbled this skirmish, she would try again.
He said, “I have something for you.”
“So have I.”
“You first.”
Quickly, before she lost her nerve, she said, “In the library. I’ll show you.”
He kept her hand in his while they climbed the stairs, and she was glad for the small gesture of support. This was no stranger. This was the Nathan she knew and loved.
Darkness had fallen, so she turned on the lamp beside the couch. A memory loomed in the shadows, a reminder of the last time they’d been here together. She turned her back on it.
He stood by the window. She gazed at him. The few steps between them seemed a vast expanse of ice, and at her feet lay a dangerous chasm.
What was it she’d been going to say?
He smiled. “You wanted to show me . . . ?”
“The view, it’s quite pretty at night with the shadows on the trees and the trees rolling out like . . . like a carpet. That’s it, a sort of carpet, all different colors of green, only you can’t see the greens very well because of the dark, and the stars are nice too, when they come out.”
“It’s a lovely view.” He didn’t turn to look at it.
“Nathan.”
Her hands began to shake. She held onto a corner of the bookshelf. Perhaps she should try this another time.
He gazed at her, his eyes shining.
She took a step and hesitated at the edge of the chasm. Cold. But all she had to do was say the words, and he’d do the rest.
Say it now.
She snatched a breath. “I would like you to kiss me.”
The corners of his mouth turned up. “And I would like you to kiss me.”
“You?”
He could have made some clever remark, but he didn’t. He leaned forward. His tenderness swept through her fears and bridged the chasm.
She trembled, but she took one faltering step after another and crossed the ice. She locked her arms around his neck, still trembling. After a minute she could put her hands up to frame his face—dear, familiar territory.
He stood still, as if he dared not breathe. For his sake, too . . .
She brushed his lips with hers, endured a flutter of panic, and kissed him.
His response was gentle, soft as his lips.
She leaned back and gave him a shy glance. He grinned. “How does that go again?”
She lifted her face to his. “Show me.”
After a while he drew away, rested his cheek against hers. “Dear heart.” His breath warmed her skin. “You’re better at this than you may realize.”
She laughed for the sheer wild happiness of being loved by this man.
He kept his arms around her. “You’re okay?”
“I’ve never been kissed like that.”
“I’m glad, Mollie, so glad. Are you encouraged?”
Cold reason stirred. She hadn’t panicked this time. But next time?
She leaned away, gripping his arm. “Nathan? Some days will be better than others.”
“I understand,” he said. “Think of it as a mountain. We’ll climb it step by step.”
He picked up a handful of her hair and let it drift from his fingers. “Think how we’ve neglected those dishes,” he said.
“And whatever it was you brought me,” she said. “I think it’s a muskrat. You want it fried or stewed into a pot pie?”
“You’ll see.”
“Then let’s hurry!” She smiled at him and led the way downstairs.
As they walked through the hall, he stopped beside his jacket to retrieve a package, and as soon as they reached the kitchen, he handed it to her.
A brown paper bag, small and rather heavy. Not a muskrat.
“Shut your eyes,” he said. “You have to guess.”
He took her hand and guided it into the bag. Her fingers closed around a cool, smooth oval.
She almost dropped it. “What!”
Laughing, she pulled it out and held it to her cheek. “I thought I’d never see this again.”
He grinned. “So did Tara.”
“She told you?”
“Every detail. Even her hideout.”
“But how’d you find it? Why didn’t it melt?”
“That black box of hers. She didn’t know it was a fireproof safe.”
“You went over there?”
He nodded. “I tramped through the woods by her house and found the old truck. And the safe.”
She put an arm around his neck, still holding onto the paperweight. “In the ruins! How clever of you.”
He touched his cheek to hers. “Tara said it was your forever stone.”
“Dad’s gift.”
He took it from her. “Psalm 73:26 is written on the bottom. What’s the verse?”
“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
She paused. “Dad’s prayer—that it would be true for me.”
He turned the paperweight over, and over again, looked up and met her gaze. “I think your father would be pleased, Mollie.”
Joy rippled through her and became a song about the Mighty One, her Rock.
“God has given me so much,” she said. “The gifts of His grace.”
“Even Tara.” He handed the paperweight back to her.
“Sent by God for his good reasons—Timothy said that.”
“I suspect there’ll be more to Tara’s story.” From his pocket, Nathan took a square of folded notebook paper. “She asked me to give you this.”
Tara’s exuberant script looped across the page.
My dearest Mollie, I’m so glad about your stone!!!!!!!! God must love you a LOT!
Are you sure he loves me? Phone any time?????
~Your forever-friend ~ Tara
“Amazing,” she said. “I can’t wait to show Timothy.”
The gray eyes shimmered, and Nathan said, “This afternoon Timothy remarked, ‘God’s been doing marvels again, I can see it in your face. How’s our little lady?’ ”
She reached for Nathan’s hand. “Let’s go tell him.”
Those Beautiful Barrens
One of Gloria Repp’s favorite places in the world is the New Jersey Pine Barrens, and when she explored that fascinating wilderness, Madeleine Dumont’s story came to life.
The Pine Barrens forests, crumbling ruins, and foaming, tea-colored rivers all played a vital part in Mollie’s experiences, and they will continue to shape the lives of other Dumont women as well.
Looking Ahead
In the next book, photographer Lindsey Dumont, Mollie’s aunt, takes a trip to Seattle with great hopes for her heart and her career, but she cannot forget her beloved Pine Barrens, and eventually she will return.
Books by Gloria Repp
For ag
es 2-8
Noodle Soup
A Question of Yams
Tales of Friendship Bog series:
Pibbin the Small
(paperback and eBook)
The Story Shell
(paperback and eBook)
Trapped (paperback and eBook)
For ages 9-12:
The Secret of the Golden Cowrie
Trouble at Silver Pines Inn
The Mystery of the Indian Carvings
(paperback and eBook)
Adventures of an Arctic Missionary series:
Mik-Shrok
Charlie
77 Zebra
For ages 12 and up:
The Stolen Years
Night Flight
For adults:
Nothing Daunted:
The story of Isobel Kuhn
(paperback and eBook)
The Forever Stone
(paperback and eBook)
Visit Gloria at http://www.gloriarepp.com
The Forever Stone
Cover design by Tugboat Design
Cover background photo courtesy of Bill Beck
Home birth details courtesy of Doreen Lawton
M.Ed., LM, CPM
“Before the Throne of God Above” Words by Charitie Lees Bancroft. Music and alternate words by Vikki Cook. Copyright © 1997 Sovereign Grace Worship (ASCAP). Administration by Integrity Music. www.SovereignGraceMusic.org. Used with permission.
Scripture quotations are from the English Standard Version.
Copyright © 2012 by Gloria Repp
http://www.gloriarepp.com
Published by MTL Resources LLC
South Carolina
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception applies to a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.
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