Lily Fields (Garden of Love 1)

by Melanie Wilber

  Once the others had left them alone, Peter met her gaze and reached out his free hand to stroke her hair. “Thanks for coming,” he said. “It’s really good to see you.”

  “It’s good to see you,” she replied, stepping back into his arms and laying her head against his white polo shirt. “I’m sorry, Peter.”

  “Sorry for what?” he asked, stroking her back and kissing her hair.

  “For being stubborn and hanging up on you.”

  He laughed. “You have a way of making your feelings quite clear.”

  “It’s the red hair,” she said, stepping back and looking up at him. “Sometimes I feel like I don’t even know myself.”

  “I think I understand what was running through your head. If you would’ve hung on a minute, I would have told you what I was thinking.”

  “What?”

  “Oh, no. I’ll make you wait a few hours as penance,” he said, steering her toward the restaurant. “Let’s go have some breakfast.”

  As much as she wanted to hear what he had to say now, she decided to play along and do things his way this time. Finding the others inside at a table beside the window, they enjoyed a good breakfast and then returned to the hospital. His dad was awake when they got there, and Mark and Peter went in with their mom to sit with him.

  “You’re glowing, Lily,” Josie commented.

  They had taken a seat by the window in the waiting room. Lily lifted her eyes “Am I?”

  “Yes,” Josie smiled. “And so is Peter. All through breakfast you two were in your own little world.”

  Lily realized Josie hadn’t seen them together since they had all been in Tahoe, and she and Peter hadn’t been nearly as close then as they were now.

  “I can’t explain it,” she sighed, feeling an involuntary smile light up her face. “When we’re together, everything seems right. Even with the crazy week we’ve had.”

  “What happened?” Josie asked. “I got the feeling you two were making up from a fight when you saw each other.”

  “I guess we were. A silent one anyway.”

  She went on to explain their phone conversation, her hanging up on him, and the three days of silence she had endured before Josie had told her the news about his dad.

  “I thought I’d lost him,” she finished.

  “So Peter doesn’t want you down here, but you’re okay with that?” Josie asked, appearing confused.

  “I don’t know how, but we’ll work it out. Peter has an idea, but we haven’t had a chance to discuss it yet. As long as I know he wants to be near me as much as I want to be near him, that’s what matters most to me.”

  Josie didn’t reply, and Lily wondered if she was thinking about her own relationship with Mark. Since being with Peter, Lily had realized Josie and Mark didn’t seem to have the same kind of special connection she and Peter had, even though they had been together for eight months.

  “When will Mark know about that job down here?” she asked.

  “In a week or two,” she replied. “He said he wants to talk about it sometime today. We didn’t have a chance before he had to come back down here.”

  “Are you happy, Josie?”

  “Am I happy?”

  “Happy being with Mark?”

  She had to think about it. “I enjoy our time together,” she said.

  “But?”

  Josie sighed. “But I can’t imagine Mark ever greeting me the way Peter did with you this morning.”

  She blinked back tears. Lily took her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. “He might if you had a reason to. What’s the longest amount of time you’ve ever gone without seeing each other?”

  “About a week, I guess. I know I shouldn’t be comparing Peter and Mark. They are different.”

  “You and I are different too,” Lily said. “All relationships are different.”

  Josie nodded, appearing to try to convince herself. “The funny thing is, I never knew I wanted that until I saw Peter holding you. I know I should be content with what I have. Mark is a good man. I do love him.”

  Lily didn’t want to try and give Josie advice. She was certainly no expert on relationships, but she got the feeling Josie would rather settle for what she and Mark had than let him go and dare to hope for what she really wanted.

  “Are you in love with him, Josie?”

  “The last time I was in love it didn’t mean much.”

  “You mean with Tommy’s father?”

  Her large brown eyes pooled with tears once again, but she held them back. “Mark is a good man,” she repeated. “He takes good care of me, and he’ll be a good father for Tommy. I’m not sure I can ask for anything more than that.”

  Lily saw Mark returning, and she didn’t reply to Josie’s comment.

  “Peter wants you,” he informed her. Lily rose from the sofa, and Mark took her seat. “I’ll stay out here. You go ahead.”

  Lily wished she and Josie hadn’t gotten interrupted but had no choice but to go see what Peter wanted. Hoping to have a chance to talk more with Josie later, she left the waiting area and made her way down the corridor. She saw Peter waiting outside his father’s room, and she wondered if his mother had requested she come pray for Lawrence again. She wasn’t comfortable with the idea of his mother thinking she could pray better or more effectively than Peter or Mark.

  Before explaining anything, Peter initiated a warm embrace in the vacant hallway followed by a private, passionate kiss they hadn’t had a chance to exchange yet today.

  “I’m glad you’re here,” he said, holding her tight. “We’ll get some time alone later, I promise.”

  “I’d like that,” she said.

  He released her and kissed her forehead. “Will you come in and talk to my parents about God with me?”

  “Me?” she replied, feeling like that wasn’t her place. “Why not Mark?”

  “He’s talked to them before. I’ve shared with them a little bit. My mom thinks highly of you. I think it could make a difference. Will you try?”

  “Sure,” she said, feeling both humbled and honored Peter would ask her to talk with his parents about God. She followed him inside and stood beside the bed with him. Marie sat across from them in a chair. Peter’s dad looked pale and groggy, but his eyes were open.

  “You remember Lily, Dad?” Peter asked.

  She smiled and touched Lawrence’s arm. “You’re looking better,” she said.

  She hoped Peter didn’t expect her to do all the talking. Not knowing his parents very well, she had no idea what exactly Peter wanted to share with them. She remembered Peter saying his mother attended Catholic Mass sometimes, and that his father had been raised with no specific religious influence and never went with Marie to church, but she didn’t know why or what either of them knew or believed about God .

  Peter took the initiative. Lily decided to wait and see what Peter wanted to say before jumping in to add anything he left out or didn’t know how to explain well.

  “You gave us all a scare, Dad,” Peter began. “The doctors blame heredity and say this is a warning sign for you to change your eating habits. But personally, I think God is trying to warn you of something else.”

  Lawrence cleared his throat. “How do you figure that, Son?”

  “Well, I’ve been praying for you and Mom for about a month now, and I think this may be God’s way of getting your attention.”

  His father didn’t argue or appear uncomfortable. He closed his eyes briefly and then reopened them, appearing willing to hear more. Lily reached for Peter’s hand and gave it an encouraging squeeze. He certainly knew how to get a conversation started.

  Peter walked to the other side of the bed and sat on the edge, facing both of his parents and taking his father’s hand. “I know you’ve heard this stuff about Jesus from Tony and Mark. They used to preach at me too, and I didn’t want to listen. But then this beautiful woman came along and started telling me the same things, and I couldn’t ignore her quite as easily.”<
br />
  Peter glanced at her and she smiled.

  “I tried to. I pushed her away and told her I didn’t need her or her religion. But God knew what He was doing, dangling this carrot in front of me and then snatching her away. She was too good to forget about.”

  Lily glanced at Marie. She had a slight smile on her face. Peter’s dad appeared affected by his son’s story, and Lily waited for Peter to continue.

  “So, I decided it was worth checking into. Maybe learn enough to get her back without having any kind of conversion experience,” he laughed. “But God didn’t quite let me get away with that.”

  Peter continued to tell his parents basically what he had told her over the phone a month ago, finishing with the car accident when God really grabbed him.

  “I thought I was having a heart attack, and in a way I was. God was saying, ‘Hey. You’ve got some clogged arteries in there filled with pride and all kinds of sin; things that made you say some hateful things to the woman you love. And you don’t want to admit it to anybody, but the truth is, you’re scared, Peter. You’re scared of death. You’re scared of life. You have no direction, no purpose, no peace. But you want it. You want the peace that Tony and Mark talk about having. And you don’t have to earn it, or clean yourself up for it, or do anything except believe I’m real, and that I love you, and that I rose from the grave so that you can have peace and hope in a hopeless world.’”

  Lily felt a tear trickle down her cheek. Peter didn’t need her in here. He sounded like Peter the disciple who had walked and talked with Jesus himself.

  “So, Dad and Mom, the question is: Are you going to listen? Are you going to reach out and snatch this opportunity He’s giving you to know Him? I hope so, because I don’t want you to wait any longer to feel what I feel. I’m not scared anymore. I’m not constantly wondering if my life has any meaning and purpose. I can make choices and know they’re the right choices. I can love people without having to constantly guard my heart and worry that they might hurt me. I feel so free and wake up every morning knowing that life can be good no matter what, and that if it’s my last day to live on this earth, there’s another one coming on the other side.”

  Peter fell silent, and only the steady rhythm of the heart monitor continued on. Lily glanced at both of his parents. His mom looked like she was waiting for Lawrence to say something. His dad cleared his throat again.

  “Well, Son. When you put it that way, I guess we’d be fools not to listen. I’ve always believed in God. Your mother has too, but you’re saying that’s not enough?”

  “It’s a start, Dad. But He wants you to know who He is and how much you are loved. He made us and gave us life, but we are living in darkness if we’re living life without Him, and He doesn’t want us to be lost like that. He wants us to know He’s here and to know the peace and joy He can bring to our lives. It doesn’t have to be about what we can accomplish and trying to make it through life on our own. He’s here, and He wants us to believe that and follow Him.”

  Another moment of silence followed. Lily tried to think of something to add, but Peter had said it all. And she realized how much he understood about what true belief was. He made her think about all that God’s love meant for them.

  The last few days had been a perfect example of her not believing in God’s constant presence and the peace she could have in that, no matter how bleak her circumstances seemed. Hadn’t Jesus brought Peter to Himself and brought them together? Did she have the faith to believe He could help them figure out how to live in the same town, or had she only been trying to figure it out on her own?

  Marie spoke for the first time. Her voice was shaky, but hope-filled. “Lily, can you pray for us?”

  Considering what had happened last night, she wasn’t surprised by her question. But Lily knew that wasn’t her place this time.

  “You can pray for yourself, Marie. I prayed for Peter, that he would believe, but then Peter had to seek out God for himself. Each person must make the choice. No one can make it for them. If you believe what Peter is telling you, then tell God that. It’s about you and Him, not me.”

  Marie dropped her eyes and once again seemed to be waiting for her husband to say something.

  “Well,” Lawrence said. “Let’s do it, Son.” He turned to his wife and held out his large hand. “Come here, Mary. We’ll do it together.”

  Lily let the tears fall and listened as Peter led his parents in a prayer of acknowledging God’s love for them, receiving His forgiveness, and asking Him to lead them on from here, and she felt amazed. Peter had shared the gospel with his parents as well as she’d ever heard anyone. And their simple faith was nothing short of miraculous. No questions; no doubts. Two mature people accepting the truth of God’s presence and love as easily as she herself had as a small child.

  And she felt happy for Peter. One of the things he had mentioned wanting was a better relationship with his dad. They got along fine but weren’t especially close. Besides being away from home for ten years, Peter also felt like he didn’t have anything in common with his dad. Nothing to talk about, even when they were together. But she could see this definitely changing that, and no matter how inadequate Peter had sometimes felt as the middle son who hadn’t followed in his father’s footsteps like his brothers, his dad obviously valued him and his opinions more than Peter thought.

  Lily stepped out of the room to go tell Mark and Josie the news. She hurried down the hall to the waiting room. Mark and Josie appeared to be having a serious discussion when she approached them, but she couldn’t hold back and knew they wouldn’t mind her interruption.

  “Guess what?”

  Mark stared at her. She didn’t know if Peter had told him what he was planning to do, but his response told her he had.

  “No way.”

  “Yes!” she replied.

  “Whoo-hoo!” Mark said, springing to his feet and giving her a hug before turning to Josie and inviting her to come down to the room with him.

  Josie obviously knew what they were talking about, but she remained seated. “Maybe I should stay here. You go ahead.”

  Mark reached for her hand and pulled her to her feet. “You don’t go. I don’t go.”

  “Mark--”

  “Josie. You’re a part of this too. I’m not going without you.”

  Josie came with them. Mark and Josie stepped inside when they reached the room. Lily remained in the hall because the room was small, and also to take a moment to think about Peter’s words that had brought conviction to her own heart.

  I’m sorry I’ve been doubting you, God--again. Help me to believe you brought Peter into my life and me into his, and that you can help us figure out the details from here.

  Peter came to find her. She looked up at him and smiled. Wrapping his arms around her, he lifted her off the tile floor and spun her around.

  Setting her down, he let out a sigh of disbelief and laughter. He rested his forehead against hers and gently stroked her bare arms. “God did it, Lily. He reached their hearts. That felt amazing.”

  “You were amazing,” she said, looking into his joy-filled eyes.

  “God was amazing. I had nothing to do with it.”

  “God uses us to do amazing things, Peter. He has gifted you to proclaim His message.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  A conscientious nurse came in to break up the party and scoot them out of the room after about ten minutes of celebrating. “Your father needs his rest,” she said. “Only two visitors at a time, please.”

  Lily stepped out of the room and Josie followed her. Turning around to see if Peter wanted to go back to the waiting room or stay, she saw him and Mark emerge from the room. They decided to let their parents have some time alone while they went to get some lunch.

  “Josie?”

  They all turned to see Marie standing in the open doorway.

  Josie looked apprehensive.

  “What is it, Mom?” Mark replied for her.

&nb
sp; “Could we talk to Josie for a minute?”

  Josie and Mark exchanged glances. He took her hand and stepped back toward his mother. Josie followed. Peter and Lily remained in the hallway.

  “I wonder what that’s about,” Lily said.

  “I have a good idea,” Peter replied. “Come on, let’s go wait outside for them.”

  They walked to the elevator, and Peter took her into his arms while they waited for the doors to open. “Thank you,” he said.

  “For what?”

  “For going in there with me. I never would have been able to do that without you.”

  “I think you would have done fine,” she laughed. “Certainly better than me. You remember how you reacted when I tried telling you those same things?”

  “Well, I may have done most of the talking, but having you there gave me the courage to say what God laid on my heart.”

  “You run into burning buildings, and you need me to give you courage? I don’t think so.”

  “Hey, going into a burning building is nothing compared to telling my father he needs God in his life,” he said, taking her hand and stepping into the vacant elevator.

  He pushed the button for the lobby and pulled her close to his side. “I need you, Lily,” he said. “And I’ve never needed anybody.”

  As soon as he spoke the words, Lily realized she needed to hear them. She also realized why she needed to be closer to Peter, and she wanted to make that desire clear to him. She would trust God to work out the details, but she wanted Peter to know her heart on this.

  “I’m too insecure, Peter. I need to hear that you want me in your life all the time. If I have to go more than a day or two without you reminding me and looking at me the way you do, I start thinking crazy stuff. I know I shouldn’t, but I have to be closer to you. You may not need that to feel secure in our relationship, but I do.”

  He kissed her and lingered until the elevator stopped its descent and the doors opened. They stepped out and Peter held the door open for an elderly woman pushing a man in a wheelchair. They stepped toward the outside doors, and Peter interlaced his fingers with hers as they walked into the hot June day and headed for his parked truck. Leaning against the tailgate, Peter pulled her into his arms once again.