His Love Walk
Page 8
Then he heard a still small whisper ask, “Do you need Me now, son?”
Ronny jumped as he turned around to see if someone was seated in the back seat of his car. But no one was there. Then he had a thought... could that have been God?
The still small voice grew louder as the Lord said, “I waited for you to come back and show gratitude for all that I have done for you. But you never did.”
“When did I forget to show gratitude to anyone? I have always been gracious to anyone who helped me,” Ronny proudly proclaimed.
But God said, “I am the one who whispered in your brother’s ear. I put the thought of helping you in his mind. You showed your gratitude to him, but you chose not to remember Me... You even had the audacity to think that you made it all happen... when it was My strong hand on your life... I brought you out of poverty, but you never turned back to even say thank you. So, today I will leave you to your own devices. Let’s see if your hand is strong and mighty enough to save you from this certain destruction.”
The car started smoking and Ronny knew that it could very easily catch fire. He yelled, “The car is going to catch on fire, Lord. Please, I need your help.”
But when no response came, Ronny suddenly knew what it was like to truly be on his own. But he had no answers for the predicament he found himself in. His life flashed before his eyes. He wasn’t thinking about all the deals he’d made or the money he had at that moment. His mind and heart only cared about all of the people he had loved, his parents, his brothers and sisters, Nia and Jarod.... and the One he had loved but had allowed the cares of this world to drown out that love. The knowledge that God would no longer be there for him was more than Ronny could bear to think on a moment longer.
As he saw the flames rise from the hood of the car, Ronny knew that death would come soon. But not before he paid it forward one last time. He opened his mouth and began to sign praises to the God who had been his provider for a lifetime. “It was You ‘ol Lord who formed me in my mother’s womb. It was You who brought Mama Carmella to our family when we were all lost and in need of someone to help pull us through.
“I see it clearly now. Men are but your pawns to be used in the way You see it. You move us around on this earth to help your children. Nia was right to give You praise, rather than me when I offered her help. Because You are the Great Organizer. You sent me to her and Jarod. And in my dying hour, I just want to say thank You. But I also want to ask that You breathe the breath of life back into Jarod. Allow him to grow into the kind of man that I should have been. I can leave this earth a happy man, knowing that he will get it right. Thank You for all Your help, Lord.”
With all of that said, Ronny began to feel week, he could no longer keep his head up or his eyes opened. As he drifted off to sleep, he only prayed that He would be seeing Jesus when he woke on the other side.
Chapter 12
All though his eyelids were still closed, Jarod’s eyes shifted back and forth. Carmella saw the movement and knew that their prayers were answered. God was taking care of what concerned them. She tapped Nia and said, “Talk to him, he’s trying to come back to us.”
Nia leaned close to her son’s ear as she said, “Jarod honey, come on, wake up, it’s mommy. I’m right here, waiting on you to wake up so we can go on a pirate adventure.”
Jarod’s head began moving on the pillow.
“Thank You, Lord, he’s waking up.” Carmella hit the nurse button. “Let’s get them in here so they can witness this miracle with us.”
The nurse popped the door open with excitement in her eyes. “I see a lot of brain activity on the monitor. So, something awesome must be going on in here.”
“I think he’s waking up,” Nia said, with a light in her eyes that hadn’t been there since this nightmare began.
As the nurse walked over to the bed, Jarod’s eyes opened. He looked around the room, trying to focus. Nia, Carmella and Ramsey were shouting to glory as the nurse inspected Jarod. She then left the room to get the doctor.
Nia touched her son’s hand as she moved to his side. “You came back to me, oh thank God. Thank God.”
“Mommy,” Jarod said slowly.
His voice was a bit hoarse and dry so Nia had to lean closer to hear him. “Are you okay, honey? Do you need anything?”
“Paper.”
Her eyebrows went up. “What do you need paper for?”
“Need to draw my map... pirate adventure.”
The group laughed.
Then Jarod said, “Can Ronny come with us?”
At that moment Ramsey’s cell rang. He turned his back to the group to answer the phone. “Hey Raven, how are you doing.”
“Not too good, Dad. Are you some where with a television?”
“Yeah, there’s one in this room.”
“Turn it to CNN. I think Ronny is being airlifted to the hospital.”
Ramsey turned and looked at his wife. He would never doubt her again as long as he lived. The woman saw things that no one else did.
“What’s wrong?” Carmella asked as she caught the look on her husband’s face.
“Turn on the television. Put it on CNN.”
Once the television was on, Ramsey told his daughter, “We’ve got it on. Why do you think the person they’re airlifting is Ronny?”
“The news reporter ran the plates on the car. The car is in bad shape but it looks like Ronny’s Jag.”
“Oh my God.” Carmella’s hand went to her mouth. “My boy has got to be okay, Lord. He’s got to be.”
***
Due to internal bleeding, Ronny had to be rushed into surgery. So it was hours before the family was able to see him. But by the time he woke and was wheeled to his room all of his brothers and sisters were gathered. He looked around the room at the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen in his life... family.
Ram and his wife Maxine, Joy and her husband Lance, Dontae and his wife, Jewel, Renee and her husband Jay, Raven and his little brother RaShawn. To his right stood his dad and the ever faithful Mama Carmella. “You all look so beautiful to me. I know I have neglected to spend time with each of you through out the years, but when I was stuck in that car and thought I was dying, you all were in my heart and my thoughts. I love each of you.”
“We love you too, Ronny. We don’t care how busy you are. We know where your heart is,” his father told him.
“How is Jarod?” he asked, hoping and praying that he would hear some good news.
“He’s doing fine and waiting on you to get better so you can go on a pirate adventure.”
Ronny’s head swung around. Nia’s voice sounded like music to hears ears. She moved closer to his bed, love shining bright in her eyes. “I prayed for him right before I blacked out.”
“Thank you,” she said, trying to stifle her tears but having a hard time doing so as the tears drifted down her face.
“You were right,” he confessed. “I thought I did it all. I didn’t think I needed God, but I see now that I would have nothing without Him. God kept me alive and I will never forget Him again. I have finally realized that I love God and I love Nia Brooks, and I don’t care who knows it.”
“It’s about time. I thought your rock headed self would never see the truth.” Nia leaned down and kissed him. “I love you, too baby. And thank you for telling James and Thelma about Jarod.”
Surprise lit his face. “They called you?”
“They’re in the room with Jarod now. He is so thankful to have grandparents.”
Ronny looked over at his parents, winked at them and then said, “I know how we can give him another set of grandparents.”
“And how’s that?” Nia said with the biggest grin on her face.
“Marry me, Nia. It’s the sacrifice you’ll have to make for Jarod. Because he already asked that I would be his dad so he could have those people,” he pointed at Ramsey and Carmella, “as his grandparents.”
Kissing her man again, she said, “Oh I’ll marry you, Mr.
Thomas. But it won’t just be so Jarod can have grandparents.”
“You’re marrying me for love. Thank you, Nia.”
Her lip twisted as she teased him, “No silly, I’m marrying you so that I can have Carmella and Ramsey as my parents.”
The End.
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Next books in the series
A Song of Praise (Rel. May. 2014)
Books in the Praise Him Anyhow series
Tears Fall at Night (Book 1 - Praise Him Anyhow Series)
Joy Comes in the Morning (Book 2 - Praise Him Anyhow Series)
A Forever Kind of Love (Book 3 - Praise Him Anyhow Series)
Ramsey’s Praise (Book 4 - Praise Him Anyhow Series)
Escape to Love
Praise for Christmas
His Love Walk (Book 7 - Praise Him Anyhow Series)
Could This Be Love (Book 8 - Praise Him Anyhow Series)
Could This Be Love
Praise Him Anyhow Series
Book 8
Vanessa Miller
Prologue
“How could this have happened?” Well she knew how it happened, she just wasn’t so clear on how she, Raven Thomas, could have been so addle brained as to let it happen.
The pounding on her door caused her to drop the object she had been holding. She rushed to the door and looked through the peephole. It was the Senator. Backing away from the door, Raven hollered out, “You shouldn’t be here.”
“I won’t be ignored, Raven. I’m not leaving until you talk to me.”
Fear crept into her heart. She’d seen firsthand what the senator was capable of so there was no way that she was going to go head to head with him on her own.
“I’ll break this door down if I have to,” he threatened.
Raven picked up her cell phone and dialed Joe Sparrow, one of the associates in her publicity firm. When Joe picked up she quickly told him, “I need you to be a witness to a meeting.” Then she flung the door open and said into the phone, “Senator Michael Allen is walking through my front door as we speak. Jot down the time and I will update you later as to how this meeting went.”
“Do you want me to turn on the video cam I set up in your house?”
“No, just jot down the time of his arrival. I’ll notify you of his departure time.”
As she hung up the phone, Senator Allen barked, “Who was that?”
“You don’t need to know that. But if I should come up missing, the person who was just on the phone will make sure everyone knows that you had something to do with it.”
Taking off his gloves the senator glared at Raven. “I find it sad that after working with me for over a year, you could believe me capable of the things the lame-stream media has tried to pin on me.”
“You’re forgetting that I researched the incident myself.”
“Yes, and that’s what I’m here to talk to you about. When I saw you in the restaurant with your brother, I thought you’d at least have the decency to tell me why your organization has left me to fend for myself.”
At fifty-seven the senator was almost twice Raven’s age, but the man didn’t look a day over forty. He bore a strong resemblance to Dennis Haysbert, that guy in the Allstate commercials. His voice was just as booming and authoritative as the Allstate pitchman’s, as well. But Raven wasn’t moved. She knew what the senator was and what he had done.
Senator Allen’s eyes focused on the object Raven had dropped on the floor. He pointed at it. “Is that what I think it is?”
Raven groaned as she realized the mistake she had made... a mistake that could cost her life. She rushed over to the spot and picked the pregnancy test instrument off the floor.
Before she could dispose of it, the senator grabbed it out of her hands and looked at it. He then turned it so she could see it, as if she hadn’t already gawked at it a hundred times. “It’s positive.”
She didn’t respond.
“Is this why you suddenly decided to drop me as a client?”
Raven snatched the pregnancy test out of his hand and then marched over to the door. She swung it open and said, “Leave my house now.”
Senator Allen opened his mouth to say something, closed it, then with a look that said he knew exactly what the deal was he said, “This isn’t over, not by a long shot.”
Raven closed the door behind the senator and then leaned against it with her heart beating so fast she wondered if she needed to call a paramedic. Looking at the pregnancy test in her hand, she shook her head in disbelief. “So it begins.”
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