Providence: Once Upon a Second Chance

by Chris Coppernoll

  “I brought it down yesterday, Jenny. I never sold it.”

  She smacked me on the arm and huffed. “Just for that, I’m keeping it now,” she said, both put out and delighted by the trick.

  I smiled at the manager, who gave me a wink, and Jenny and I left the store with the keepsake wrapped inside a jeweler’s box.

  “Jack, do you really believe love is forever, or is that just childish sentimentality?”

  “I think it lasts forever,” I said.

  Jenny was quiet as we walked back up Meadowgreen toward the campus. I thought of going to CMO since it was nearby, and the weather had gotten considerably colder. When a sudden burst of arctic wind hit us out of nowhere, we raced up the street and into Marilyn’s Bakery to escape.

  Inside Marilyn’s it was cozy and warm. A recent renovation had opened one wall, connecting the bakery to a cozy bookstore next door. Modern life was well represented by several people sitting in plump, oversize chairs, sipping coffee, their laptops connected to the bookstore’s Wi-Fi.

  We made our way to two comfy wingback chairs in a section of the store decorated with an eclectic mix of colorful contemporary art and twentieth-century antiques.

  “It’s getting cold out there,” Jenny said, opening her coat to let in the warm air.

  I made my way to the counter for hot chocolate to accelerate her warm-up, and to collect coffee for me.

  Jenny wrapped her hands around the ceramic mug and thanked me for the hot chocolate. “And thank you for the necklace, too. That was really a sweet gesture, Jack. I’m still trying to soak in what it means.”

  “What’s next for you and the boys? I asked.

  “I’m going to enroll the boys in a private school at Mike and Tessa’s church in Indianapolis, help my mom and dad get situated, and give the kids plenty of opportunities to get to know their cousins.”

  “What about you?” I asked. “Who’s taking care of you?”

  Jenny set the mug on a table. “Jack, can I change the subject?”

  “Sure,” I said.

  Jenny ran her thumb across the jewelry box in her lap. “I’ve only loved two men in my life. One of them, I lost, because the Lord decided to take him. It was abrupt, it was painful, and it’s been a long process of grieving to get to where we all are now, which is finally a good place. The other man I loved once, I also lost. I lost him to his own youthful immaturity. That, too, was abrupt, it was painful, and it took a long time to get over. I can’t compare you with Murphy, and thankfully, I don’t have to. However, I do have to do what’s right. Things have to make sense.”

  Jenny stopped. For once it seemed she didn’t quite know what to say. Or how to say it. When she finally spoke, her words were tender and intimate, her pauses confessing a deep vulnerability.

  “I guess what I’m trying to say is … Can you tell me if this is special to you, Jack? Tell me if there’s a part of you that remembers us. Do you still have any feelings for me, or is this all just my imagination? And are these old feelings or new feelings? I feel like I’ve come home to something I remember. It’s more than just being back in the States. It’s … bigger than that, but I just can’t put it all together yet. I guess I’m a little … I don’t know … overwhelmed? Uncertain? Both?”

  “Jenny, I think there’s a story you need to hear. I’ve been wondering all along why God would want me to go through all that’s happened these past months. But I see now that this is the journey I needed to take. I mean, it couldn’t have all happened any other way.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “My friends suggested there was some big important reason God wanted me to write my story. My friend Aaron said that while many people had benefited from Laborers of the Orchard, maybe God wasn’t finished with me yet. You’re asking me if I still have feelings for you, aren’t you?”

  “Yes … I mean, that’s part of it. I mean, yes.”

  I collected the brown parcel I’d been toting around and handed it to her. “Jenny, this is the manuscript for my book, the answer to your question.”

  She pulled the white-lace bow and opened the tan wrapping, revealing a pile of white papers, the result of my memory excavation. I secretly thanked Bud for staying up late, putting this together with me the past two days.

  Jenny ran her fingers over the title. “Am I in this story?”

  “You have no idea. I started writing this story back when I didn’t know if I would ever see you again, when I didn’t even know why I was writing. I just wrote to be faithful, but now it’s something more. This book is your answer. And mine, too … to so many questions.”

  The rest of the afternoon, Jenny sat on the large sofa in my living room, with her back against the cushioned arm and her feet resting on the middle cushion. I brought her drink and food as she poured over the double-spaced pages, the pile on her lap shrinking as she delved deeper and deeper into my story.

  As sunlight slipped and dimmed in the silent house, I switched on the floor lamp at the end of the sofa and the reading light behind her. She took a break around 4:30, curling up to take a nap. I took the quilt from the foot of the bed in the guest room and covered her up, watching her sleep awhile before heading upstairs for my own nap.

  I awoke from a peaceful dream into an even more peaceful reality. Jenny was sitting on the edge of the bed.

  “I just finished your book.”

  I pulled myself upright and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. “Any good?”

  Jenny just nodded her head, reaching for my hand and squeezing it. “Jack, I asked you this afternoon, but I want to ask you again. Do you think love is forever?”

  “Yes, I do. I know it is.”

  Jenny was holding the small silver locket. She opened her hand and stared at the photos. “I remember those times,” she said, a slight tremor in her voice. She looked at me with a sense of wonder about everything that had happened. “Jack, what are we going to do about all this? I’m forty-two years old, with two children and parents who need me. I can’t live in the past. But that’s not where we are … is it? What exactly am I to do with this? I mean … with you?”

  “Why don’t you let me take you to dinner?”

  “Jack, I’m serious.”

  “So am I—I’m starving.”

  Jenny let her body fall against mine, and I held her there.

  “It’s all happening so fast,” she said.

  “Yes, just twenty years in the making.”

  “Do you really believe this is twenty years in the making?”

  “No, I don’t think everything that’s happened has been designed to bring us to this moment. That would devalue what we’ve lived between then and now. I just believe that every right thing we’ve done by faith has made a moment like this possible.”

  Jenny sat up and wiped a tear from her eye.

  “I can think of three important questions to ask you, but I think I know the answers to at least two of them.”

  “Okay … ask,” I said.

  “Do you love me?” Jenny looked at me with the serious expression of an adult woman, not the college girl I once knew.

  “Yes, with all my heart.”

  “Do you care for my parents, my family?”

  “I love them, too.”

  Jenny wiped another tear from her eye. I’d seen her cry many times. These were tears of joy.

  “I watched you on the trip, spending time with the boys. Do you think you could love them? Would you add to their lives, give them all the things that young boys need? Could you do that, Jack?”

  “I would make it my life’s work if given the chance, Jenny.”

  Jenny broke out in tears and laughter. She melted into my arms. This was where I wanted to be forever, wrapped around Jenny, wrapped around hope. I was trying to figure out if she’d asked two or three questions when she spoke again.

  “Well, then I guess there’s only one thing left to ask.”

  “What’s that?”

  “What do you want to have
for dinner?”

  Bud Abbott delivered my book well ahead of schedule to a very relieved and very broke Arthur Reed. Two weeks earlier he’d confessed to me, his employees, and his wife how he’d gambled away a staggering ten million dollars. As I write this, Arthur is in the process of selling his publishing company to Burrows in New York for an undisclosed sum. My book will be the last publication with the ARP logo on the binding.

  Carlos Garcia was sentenced to thirty years to life in the Puttington Correctional Facility. He has one regular visitor—a humbled man who first saw him on the other side of a gun; a man who took seriously the call to pick up his cross and follow Christ.

  Bud and I still talk on the phone every so often. He’s been down to visit on several occasions, bringing his lovely wife, Katie, and their little boy, Josh. He even came to church with us once, twice if you count the wedding.

  Jenny and I were married on June 14th by Aaron Richmond in Providence Chapel. It was a small wedding attended by Jenny’s parents, of course, and my mother and her new husband, Frank; Erin and Donald; Andrew and Nate; Raymond Mac and Mrs. Hernandez; and Peter, Nancy, and many of the students who’ve worked with us over the years at CMO. Arthur wanted to hire a publicist to service a photo to the press … Like that was going to happen! Erin was the matron of honor; Peter and Donald were my best men.

  This is my last book. My life isn’t about putting words on paper, as noble a pursuit as that may be. My life is about serving God, loving Jenny with all my heart, and caring for those two boys.

  I sat with Raymond Mac for a while at the reception.

  “That’s a good girl you got yourself, Jack. You gonna treat her right this time?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “You gonna do her right or you gonna do her wrong like you done last time?”

  “No, sir, she’s my girl.”

  “That’s good, you learning.” He laughed, an old man’s laugh. “You’re doing all right, son. You’re doing all right.”

  … a little more …

  When a delightful concert comes to an end,

  the orchestra might offer an encore.

  When a fine meal comes to an end,

  it’s always nice to savor a bit of dessert.

  When a great story comes to an end,

  we think you may want to linger.

  And so, we offer ...

  AfterWords—just a little something more after you

  have finished a David C Cook novel.

  We invite you to stay awhile in the story.

  Thanks for reading!

  Turn the page for ...

  • Discussion Guide

  • Laborers of the Orchard

  • Resources

  • Author Interview

  • Top 10 Soundtrack for My Novel

  Discussion Guide

  I hope you’ve enjoyed spending time in the world of Providence with Jack, Jenny, Erin, Mitchell, and the rest of the characters. Want to go deeper? Get together with a friend or a group of friends and discuss the themes in the book. I’ve tailored a few questions for different groups of readers (singles, college students, and book clubs in general) just to get things rolling.

  And for all you book club members out there—if you can save a virtual seat for me, I’d be honored to join your discussion. As my time and schedule allow, I’m making myself available to show up via telephone and answer any questions you have about the book, or just to poke my head in to let you know how glad I am that you chose Providence as one of your stops along your reading journey.

  Contact me via e-mail or visit my Web site so we can find out if our schedules match. And if you’re not in a book club, stop by anyway. I’d love to hear what you thought about Providence.

  Chris Coppernoll

  Chris@providencebook.com

  www.providencebook.com

  Questions for Singles

  1. In what ways did you identify with Jack’s struggle with singleness? What were some of the positive ways Jack dealt with being single? How could he have faced it differently?

  2. Jack met someone he loved deeply, but couldn’t spend his life with. Can you relate to Jack’s disappointment? What is the most difficult aspect of having loved someone you cannot be with? What lessons have you learned from this experience that might help you in future relationships?

  3. In His mysterious way, God worked Jack and Jenny’s love relationship together. What role did their beliefs, actions, and faithfulness play in what God was able to do in their lives?

  4. When Jack acted by faith, agreeing with God’s Spirit to write his memoir, his life began to dramatically change. Have you ever experienced this sort of dramatic change? How can our faith and acting on the prompting of God’s spirit impact our relational life?

  5. There was one special love in Jack’s life and there were two in Jenny’s. How did Jack come to receive the love of his life? How did Jenny come to receive her loves? What were the differences in how they came to receive their loves?

  6. Jack’s love for Jenny brings to mind the concept of a special, unique life partner, a soul mate. What are your thoughts on soul mates? Do they exist? How do your thoughts on this concept impact the way you pursue love? How do they fit in with your understanding of God’s role in relationships?

  7. What did Jack find most attractive about Jenny when he first met her? What was most attractive to him when they were reunited?

  8. What attracted Jenny to Jack early in the story? What helped her decide to reunite with him after so many years apart?

  9. What missteps did Jack and Jenny make in college? What common missteps did they manage to avoid?

  10. Do you think Jack and Jenny will make it as a married couple? If so, why? What qualities do each of them possess that will help strengthen their marriage and relationship?

  Questions for College Students

  1. Early in the story Jack believes that leaving home for college will be a major catalyst for positive change in his life. What expectations did you put on your first year of college?

  2. The Campus Missions Office in Providence was committed to serving one distinct, local group of people in need. What impact might your college have on your community if you made a similar commitment? What are the areas of greatest need in your community? In what ways are students already making a difference?

  3. College is a time for discovery, which usually includes making mistakes. What missteps did Jack make while he was a college student? What missteps did Jenny make? In what ways can you relate to Jack or Jenny?

  4. Although she faced challenges, Jenny was a successful college student at Providence. What personal qualities did she have that helped forge that success?

  5. What purpose or meaning did Jack, Jenny, Erin, and Mitchell find during their college years? What purpose are you discovering? What is most surprising about what you’re discovering?

  6. In what ways can you relate to the Campus Mission Office’s commitment to the poor? Are there similar organizations at your school? If not, what would it take to organize one?

  7. What role, if any, did serendipity play in Jack and Jenny’s story? In Erin and Mitch’s story? What role did God’s providence play?

  8. Jack Clayton experienced extraordinary fame and success through his work. What was your first reaction to reading about his success? Were you jealous? Envious? How important is fame and success to you? What does that look like to you?

  9. What about this story inspires you? How might you begin to make a difference in your community?

  10. Which of Jack’s sins caused others the most pain? Which blessing later in his life brought others to a richer life and deeper walk with God?

  Questions for Book Clubs

  1. How would you classify the story told in Providence? Is it primarily a love story, an inspirational tale of God’s love for us, or a book about serving others? Explain your answer.

  2. Some of the main themes of Providence include reconciliation, acting on faith even when
it’s difficult, serving the needy, and the consequences of good and evil actions. Which of the main themes impacted you most? Why? What other themes did you discover?

  3. There’s a leitmotif of mystery surrounding the story where events seem to happen outside the direct actions of the characters, but rather because of God’s invisible hand of “providence.” Have you ever experienced something similar? How do you know when God is directly involved in your story and when it’s just coincidence?

  4. What descriptive detail in Providence intrigued and appealed to you most?

  5. What stood out to you about the characters of Jenny, Erin, Nancy Arcone, Mrs. Hernandez, and Angela? What did they have in common? What made each of them a strong personality?

  6. What is your favorite scene or “moment” in the story? What was your emotional response to that scene? What makes this your favorite?

  7. Which story line did you relate to most, the current time story line or the college-age story line? Why?

  8. What character did you most relate to and why?

  9. In what specific ways was God a character in this story? Where did you see evidence of His presence? Where do you see Him in your own story?

  10. Does Providence inspire you to make a difference in the world around you? If so, how? What will you do?

  Laborers of the Orchard

  Laborers of the Orchard is a key element in Jack Clayton’s story, but only a few details are offered about the contents of the book. Are you curious to know more? Well, even though he sold 18 million of these, the fact that it was something I made up means finding a copy is … um … difficult. But nothing is impossible in the world of fiction, and, after some digging, I was able to unearth a couple pages from that fictional best seller so you can see what all the excitement was about.

  Excerpt from Laborers of the Orchard

  It’s a warm and sunny Friday afternoon in Providence, Indiana. Summer has brought with her a colorful campus in full bloom with tulips and hibiscus. It’s quieter than usual with over half the student population already gone home for a season. Our core of student volunteers has dwindled to around thirty-five, but we’re bonding into a tight-knit crew.