The Gift of Empathy (The Gifts Book 3)

by Jen Gentry

  After visiting with Marta and Bradley over pecan pie in front of the fireplace everyone was relaxed and decided to turn in for the night. Marta and Bradley took the guest room next to Emily and the playpen was all set up for an already sleeping Amy. The women had plans to go shopping in the morning and Ethan and Bradley planned on doing a little fishing off a yacht docked on the marina that belonged to Marta’s father. All in all the holiday was rounding out nicely.

  The Gift of Empathy

  Chapter Ten

  Proverbs 3:5-6

  Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

  The guys left early the next morning letting the girls sleep in. Bradley was anxious to get out on the water. He missed going out with his father-in-law, but both of them had been so busy of late that they’d not been able to take the time. Plus, with Marta’s advancing pregnancy, Bradley felt the need to stay close to his wife.

  Bradley and Ethan had hit if off well from the start. Most men were easily intimidated by Bradley.

  Especially, given his notoriety with his father having been a presidential candidate, and Bradley himself a very wealthy war hero, but at the last hour Senator Steel had been arrested for kidnapping Bradley and his wife. Yet Ethan seemed very at ease with Bradley and unaffected by the fame of the Steel family—good or bad it didn’t seem to bother Ethan at all.

  The day was unseasonably warm and after the cold windy Thanksgiving Day the water was still as the two men set off with the crew of the yacht on the clear blue Atlantic. Ethan stood starboard as the ship’s engines pushed the small yacht out to sea. The salty tang of the great ocean sank into Ethan’s mouth and nostrils. He’d missed being on the go. Traveling had always suited him and he missed it. He also missed being on the hunt for something lost or buried. He’d promised he would never again seek the lost Nephilim giants from the bible, but Jesus told him there would be more work for him. He was getting anxious for that work to begin, but for now he would enjoy this day on this yacht with his new friend, Bradley Steel.

  Later that afternoon after the two of them had fished and come up with nothing but the pure enjoyment of each other’s company Bradley asked Ethan about his upcoming wedding.

  Other than the baby coming, your wedding is all my wife can talk about.”

  Ethan sighed deeply. “Emily has put a hold on the wedding for now. She feels that Jewel needs all her attention right now, and I understand. It just feels a little like maybe Emily is having second thoughts about the wedding, you know.”

  “Well, maybe she just really wants to make sure that Jewel has everything she needs. But it’s not uncommon to get cold feet, I guess. Have you talked to Emily about how you’re feeling?”

  “Yes, but she thinks I’m just jealous.”

  “Well, are you?”

  “Yes, I guess I am a little. OK, I am a lot, but I should think that Emily would want to be married to me as much as I want to be married to her. To me it shouldn’t matter if Jewel needs Emily. I guess I want Emily to want me more than she wants her sister. But then that just makes me selfish. I feel for Jewel. I really do. That kid has been through what most adults wouldn’t be able to stand. Lord help me, I just don’t know the right or easy answer for this situation.

  I’ve asked the Lord to give me guidance and show me what to do. And the other thing is that I need to get back to work I need to be doing research and going out into the world looking for, oh, I’m not sure what, but I want to serve the Lord using my skills for research and locating lost items or lost civilizations.”

  For a few moments Brad sat in silence then he prayed silently. Lord, is this the avenue you want me to pursue? Is Ethan the man for the job I need done?

  There was no mistaking in the answer that bubbled up in Bradley’s heart and mind. The Holy Spirit gave Bradley a resounding, YES!

  “Well, my brother. I have a mission for you. I am seeking out a man. He was a holy man or maybe what you might call a guru to my father. His name was Bathomet and I want to find him and his sect of worshipers. Bathomet played a huge role in the downfall of my father. I don’t believe that Bathomet was the cause of the fall of my father’s whole regime, but nonetheless I have questions that only Bathomet can answer.”

  Ethan cocked his head to one side. “I’m following you so far.”

  Bradley continued “I would love to go after Bathomet myself, however I love my wife more and I need to stay close to her and our children, for now. I believe that her incident this past summer where she almost died and lost our son was no coincidence. I believe that whatever sect or demons that are connected to Bathomet are responsible for the attack on Marta and my son. I want them found and I want them taken out, for good.”

  Ethan’s eyes widened. “You want me to find these people so you can send someone in to kill them?”

  “No, no. Ethan, I’m a man of God. I would never condone the murder of humans. No matter how awful those humans are. No, I’m after a much more elusive prize I’m seeking the Ba al`, a specific group or council of demons who use their influence over many of the great leaders of the world to bring about the bondage and torture of God’s children. I want to find where they hide and start an offensive spiritual attack against them before they can cause any more harm to my family.”

  Ethan nodded his head in agreement. “I see what you mean, and frankly before I met Emily and gave my heart to Jesus I would have thought you were crazy, but now I know you’re not. What can I do to help you?”

  “Well, for starters you can pick up doing the research on the Ba al` and start tracking them and their whereabouts. I have been able to glean some information from those people who worked closest to my father. His personal assistant told me that my father commissioned Bathomet from an elite group of personal spiritual guides to come and work with him to help him with his high stress level. She told me that several times a day everyone who worked for my father had to pray to some group of gods called The Ba al`. The only information I have on their approximate and possible location is that Bathomet took a flight out of LaGuardia Airport to Amsterdam the day my father was arrested. From there we’ve lost him.”

  “You said “we.” Do you have others looking as well?”

  “I have a small team of, well for lack of a better word, spies. These people are a skilled set of world travelers and private investigators, but we have been unsuccessful in locating Bathomet or his group. I need a leader that knows the customs and languages of many different nations to help coordinate the team as they are scattered across the world. It would require a lot of time and traveling but I need you, Ethan, and I’m willing to pay to have you.”

  “OK, let me pray about this and talk to Emily. This may be just what I need to help me get over this slump I seem to be in.”

  “Then pray about it and talk to Emily, but I must ask that you tell Emily as little as possible. Marta knows I am searching for Bathomet. She doesn’t need the specifics. I want her to focus on bringing our son into this world safely.”

  The two men shook hands on a tentative deal and went back to fishing.

  ****

  The women had a fun day of Christmas shopping with lunch at a little bistro. Even Gemma went. The mall was packed with Black Friday shoppers. Marta and Emily had a contest going to see who could get the most gifts by spending the least amount of money and by the end of the day they’d had so much fun they lost track of who had what.

  Jewel stuck close to Aunt Gemma, she was afraid of being in the large crowd of people. She feared she might get sick again. Instead she and Gemma prayed over the situation and Jewel found it possible to enjoy the afternoon.

  It seemed most everyone was high on the holiday spirits and the joy of the season spread from them to Jewel. It was refreshing to feel the joy instead of the pain and sorrow she usually felt when in a crowd. Emily didn’t let Jewel off the shopping hook and gave her a money card with instr
uctions to pick out Christmas gifts for everyone.

  Since Jewel had never done this kind of shopping before, Gemma helped her. Old habits die hard and Jewel had a difficult time spending so much money for things that had always seemed trivial to her. Still she was able to get a gift for everyone. For Emily she bought a yellow silk scarf trimmed with long soft fringe, it was Emily’s favorite color.

  When Gemma wasn’t looking she found a set of spatulas in bright colors to bring cheer to her Aunt in the place that Jewel would always associate with Gemma, the kitchen at Perry House. She had a little more trouble finding something for Ethan but she passed a hunting supply store and saw in the window display a small round compass. It was a manual one—not a GPS electronic one.

  For some reason she found herself compelled to buy the compass. She had no idea what Ethan could use it for, but she just knew he had to have it.

  For Bradley and Marta, she bought some ornate picture frames in all different sizes. It seemed that would be the perfect gift for a growing family. Jewel sighed and wished she had pictures of herself at a young age. For Amy she bought a gold Christmas tree ornament with her name engraved on it.

  That evening the women came home loaded down with packages, boxes, and bags. Ethan and Bradley were already home had ordered pizza and made hot chocolate for everyone. Ethan surprised everyone with an early Christmas present, a huge Christmas tree that he and Bradley put up for decorating.

  Emily couldn’t stop herself as she threw herself in Ethan’s arms. “I love you, Ethan. Thank you so you so much. This is the nicest thing you could’ve done for Jewel and me.”

  Ethan kissed Emily on top of her head. “I’ve something I want to talk to you about. Please make some private time for both of us tonight, OK?”

  Emily looked up at Ethan with a confused look. “You know I’m all yours.”

  “OK, so let’s see if we can get the guys to bring down the boxes of Christmas tree decorations from the attic after we eat and warm up.” Emily shouted over the general buzz of everyone admiring the gorgeous tree.

  Later, after the tree was fully decorated and lit, everyone, one by one, made it to their own beds except Ethan and Emily. Carrying cups of hot chocolate the two of them made their way hand in hand to the upstairs library. It was in this library that Emily had the strongest memories of Mr. Perry and that made it one of her favorite rooms. She’d kept the library in much the same style as Mr. Perry did. She sat down in one of his leather bound wing chairs and Ethan sat across from her in another.

  “Ethan, what is it that you’ve been so focused on tonight? Is everything all right? Your parents are fine?”

  “Oh no, baby, it’s nothing so dire. It’s just that Bradley offered me a job.”

  “Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Is it something you’d be interested in doing?”

  “Yes, I’m very interested. He wants me to help him find someone and do some research on the places and other people connected to the person he is looking for.”

  Emily sat quietly for a moment and shook her head. “Ah, Marta told me that Bradley is looking for Bathomet, an old associate of his father’s. Apparently Bathomet has some connections some pretty shady dealings according to Marta. So I’m guessing this could be a dangerous undertaking and that it would require a lot of traveling.” Emily was beginning to feel as if her world was about to fall out from under her.

  “Yes on both counts. But this is not my first dangerous mission to another country, Emily, and that’s why Bradley needs me.” Ethan kneeled on his knees in front of Emily. “I promise I would be very careful and that when I am traveling I will check in with you every day. I need to do this, Emily. I’ve prayed about this and it feels right. Like it’s something I am supposed to do.”

  Emily wanted it to not be true. She loved Ethan very much. Perry House would be so empty without him right there where she needed him. But in her heart and soul the truth of the matter was that this was exactly what Ethan needed to do. “I think you may be right, but, Ethan, how am I going to live without you here at my side. How long is this going to last?”

  “Well, my guess is the job will last until we find Bathomet and have as much information as we can get about those he’s involved with. But that doesn’t mean that I’ll be leaving anytime soon and it doesn’t mean that I’ll be gone for long periods of time. If you’re OK with this I’d like to tell Bradley that I’ll take the job.”

  “Tell him you’ll take the job. I’ll be praying protection over you and all of us while we are apart. Know this, Ethan McGowan, I love you and I expect you to be marrying me. So don’t think you’ll be getting out of that anytime soon.”

  Ethan laughed his deeply masculine laugh and threw his arms around Emily. “Woman, don’t you be thinking that you’ll be getting out of that wedding either.”

  After sharing a laugh and another kiss or two Ethan asked about Jewel. “So how is she doing? She was a little quiet this evening but I noticed she was actually smiling as she helped Amy decorate the Christmas tree.”

  “I think she’s getting more and more settled each day. I know it’s got to be hard for her still, but I think she is doing really well.”

  “I’m still planning on making good on my promise to help Jewel have an awesome Christmas. So what should we do for the holidays? Any special trips planned or are we just staying home?”

  “Well, I have something to tell you, too. Marta was kind of hoping we could go to New York for Christmas. The baby will be arriving soon and she wants to have everyone she loves close for the holidays. So what do you think?”

  “A New York Christmas, hmmm, I always heard that there is no place like New York at Christmas time, sounds great.”

  “Then we have a plan. You can tell Bradley you’ll take the job and I’ll get with Marta and make plans for the holiday in the morning.”

  ****

  Deep in the early morning hours Emily dreamed.

  Jewel’s screams filled the air. “Emily, help me.” Dark hands and arms pulled Jewel away from Emily and held Emily back. Emily pushed hard against the hands holding her and Jewel was swept further away from her.

  Suddenly Ethan appeared and he shoved Jewel even further away from Emily. This made Emily cry out. “Ethan, no! I have to reach Jewel. She’s not safe.” Ethan smiled at Emily and pushed Jewel back even further. “Trust me this is the only way….”

  Ethan’s words from the dream haunted Emily as she sat up in bed. Surely, this could not be. Why would Ethan shove Jewel away? He knew how much Jewel meant to her and how much Jewel needed her. Emily sent a plea to the Lord to help her understand her dream, but when no answer immediately came she pulled her covers up to her chin and said out loud, “I trust you Lord” and went back to sleep.

  Jewel also slept fitfully. She could feel Ethan’s mounting frustration with her and she felt powerless to do anything about it. One thing she did know for sure was that she needed to talk to Ethan. She wanted him to know that she would try to trust him and get to know him if he would just give her chance. For some reason she felt the need to make amends with him. It was almost as if her whole life depended on it.

  Unable to stay asleep Jewel got up and went looking for her battered copy of Wuthering Heights. After flipping the light on in her closet she shoved around a few boxes and bags of new clothes until she caught site of her old backpack shoved into a dark corner. However, she was unprepared for the site of her old mainstay. Memories of her past life flooded back into her mind and with it came all the fear she’d been just able to hold at bay all of her life. Shaking her head she slowly backed out of her closet. There really was no going back to her old life on the streets. Somehow Jewel had changed and somehow she was just fine with that.

  ****

  The next morning Aunt Gemma outdid herself on a gourmet breakfast buffet. Emily told her she shouldn’t be waiting on everyone, but Gemma shooed her away. “I get so much pleasure from watching everyone get together and eat a meal I prepared.” How
could Emily argue with that?

  It was hard to miss the dark circles under Jewel’s eyes and Emily ran over to place her hand on Jewel’s forehead to check for a fever. “What’s wrong, Jewel. Honey, are you not feeling well?”

  Jewel gently pushed Emily’s hand away. “No, I just didn’t sleep well last night.”

  “Why not, is your new bed not comfortable? We can get you a new mattress if we need to.”

  Jewel appreciated Emily’s concern for her, but she had a headache and just really wanted to get a few things off her chest. She looked across the table at Ethan. “Emily, really the bed is fine. What I need is to talk to Ethan, alone if that’s all right by you.” Jewel didn’t miss the pained expression that crossed Ethan’s face or the shocked one on Emily’s face.

  “Well, can I?” Jewel posed the question to both of them. Ethan was the first to respond as he rose from the table. “Sure you can, Jewel. Let’s go up to the library, OK?”

  Jewel rose from the table and followed Ethan up the stairs. Aunt Gemma watched them go and asked Emily “What’s that all about?”

  “I have no idea, but I hope the two of them are able to work out their differences. The Lord knows we all need the peace.”

  In the library Ethan sat across from Jewel and tried to assume a relaxed position so Jewel would be more comfortable as well. “So what’s on your mind, Jewel? I hope you know that you can talk freely to me. We are family at least we will be family very soon, anyway.”

  “Ethan, I wanted to tell you how sorry I am for…well, for being so cold to you. I’ve never had a good relationship with hardly anyone much less a man. Old Sam was like an uncle to me and it took a long time for me to warm up to him, but he did save my life. Anyhow, I wanted you to know that I’m sorry. I know you and Emily have put off your wedding for me, and I appreciate that you’re giving me this chance to get to know the sister I never knew I had. But I understand that you want to get married. I just need a little time to get myself together and get into a good college. Then I’ll be all right and I won’t be in your way anymore. I hope you’ll take my apologies and understand that I really have no other place to go right now.” Jewel stood in front of Ethan with her eyes downcast. Tears brimmed on her lashes. She had never thrown herself on anyone’s mercy before. To completely open oneself up to another person living on the street was certain suicide. For Jewel to do it now showed how far she’d come from that life in just a few short weeks.