Something Old - Dianne L. Christner [123]
He pulled back onto the highway, sparse with traffic now, intending to go at least a hundred miles before he stopped for the night.
After another thirty miles, his radio started to break up so he turned it off. It was peaceful at that time of night with nothing but twinkling stars overhead and the occasional headlight. Up there somewhere was God. He drove on. Peace stole over him because he knew God answered prayer.
The afternoon he and Katy broke up, he’d driven straight to OSU. Erin had listened to the entire story, helping him work through it. But the most amazing thing was that God had used Jake’s pain for His glory. For when Erin saw how his falling away had destroyed his relationship with Katy, the only girl he’d ever loved, and when she saw how this had devastated him, she determined that she wouldn’t allow the same thing to happen to her.
They’d talked until late that night, and he had witnessed the miracle of seeing his sister repent of her rebellion. That’s why she’d come to church on Sunday. And after the services, the impossible had happened. Jessie had actually stepped inside the meetinghouse, too. She hadn’t come for the services, but she had come, nevertheless.
He grinned inwardly. Erin and Jessie made an odd couple, about as odd as he and Jessie had once made. But they’d met through him, and Jessie had helped convert Erin to the world. He wondered if Erin would now be God’s instrument to draw Jessie. Would that be the ultimate good that came out of his repentance?
Nah. Jessie would never become Mennonite. He remembered their talks, and Jessie’s arguments against the Conservative way. But she might become a Christian. He wouldn’t give up praying until it happened.
Erin’s repentance had given him a joy that softened the pain of his broken relationship with Katy. For the first time in his life, he didn’t center his future around her, and the joy of answered prayer was quietly upholding him. He knew that God was behind the Texas job opportunity he had received. Everything had fallen into place so quickly and perfectly, with Erin moving back home to help his mother. He’d felt compelled to jump in his truck and follow his dream.
CHAPTER 36
Katy paused on the Bylers’ front porch. A robin’s chirp drew her attention to the large ash tree on the side of the house. The empty swing reminded her of her escapade with Jake’s grandma. The robin swooped down to the ground, then flew into the weeping willow, the same tree where she’d gotten her first kiss from Jake.
She felt like an intruder, embarrassed to be chasing a man who’d undeclared himself. She couldn’t bring herself to step up to the door. “He’s not home. His truck is gone.”
“Maybe it’s in the barn,” David replied, undeterred.
Katy glanced in the direction of the barn. “If he won’t answer his phone or return my calls, then he doesn’t want to see me,” she argued. “He made it clear to me that we were through.”
“We’ve already discussed that. I’m a guy. Trust me. He needs to know you’ve forgiven him.”
“I didn’t know guys could be such nags.” She scowled at David and stepped up to the doorbell.
When the door opened, Katy’s mind reeled from shock, her hand involuntarily covering her pitching stomach as she stared across the threshold at the woman responsible for much of her grief. Jessie was the last person she had expected to see in Ann’s kitchen.
On the other hand, Jessie seemed nonplussed with her. She merely tilted her blond head, quietly studying them, until her smoky rimmed eyes widened. “You’re Katy.” When she sensed Katy’s confusion, she added, “I saw you in church.”
Jessie didn’t seem resentful or jealous. Rather she acted like she was genuinely glad to meet Katy. Her personality came across much softer than Katy had imagined it. There was something beneath all the makeup that was