A life with Clara? It seemed such an impossibility, but for the first time in years, a flicker of hope burned in his soul.
“I got it!” Miss Stanton held the automaton cygnet aloft and beamed a triumphant smile.
With a jubilant hurrah, Mrs. S. leapt from the marble gazebo to the lush grass and hastened to join her daughter at the lake’s edge. As the pair chattered and laughed and admiredDrosselmeyer’s latest marvel, Theodore couldn’t help but smile.
Until a movement in his peripheral triggered alarm.
His head snapped to the right. Senses heightened and every nerve on edge.There.A flash of yellow on the other side of the lake, beneath the shadow of a gnarled oak tree.
Forrester had found them.
CHAPTER
27
Dear Little Stargazer,
About the next stop on our merry scavenger hunt, I shall speak plainly. I wish you to visit Strasbourg Cathedral, and let your gaze see beyond the ornate architecture crafted by man. Let your heart seek the One who crafted you. Let your mind contemplate the following notion: If Jesus, the very Son of God, had to walk this earth in complete dependence upon the Father, how can our finite souls shoulder on without Him?
Even the strongest youths grow weary, my girl. Oh, you can get by on might and main for a time. Until something goes wrong. Until the pieces of your carefully crafted, precariously held life fall apart and leave you in grief-stricken disbelief because it wasn’t supposed to be this way. My son wasn’t supposed to die before me. Your fiancé wasn’t supposed to betray your trust. Our beloved Norma wasn’t supposed to leave us so soon. Yet these things happened, and they’ve left us with a choice. Will we still depend on our Lord?
Throughout this journey, I’ve wrestled with this question: How are we to depend on One who feels so far removed? How are we to worship when we’re standing by a grave?
I wanted answers. I wanted to see God’s promises fulfilled according to my desires and expectations, but while navigating the vast skies, I realized God has never been one to do the expected. Just as His power isn’t limited by human laws of science or logic, His promises aren’t limited to earthly laws of time or space. With His sovereign power and eternal perspective, God turns expectation on its head. A virgin isn’t supposed to conceive, but she gives birth. The Messiah isn’t supposed to die, but He breathes His last upon a cross. Sealed tombs aren’t supposed to be empty, but with one word from God, a centuries-old promise is fulfilled and death ceases to be the end.
God may not answer our prayers the way we want or fulfill His promises the way we expect—but He never fails to keep His word. Whether it’s on earth or in heaven, we can rest assured that we will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. For that reason, I have chosen to trust. I will worship my Savior as I stand by the grave because I know the latter is empty, just as He said. Though He may feel removed, I know Emmanuel is with me still, just as He promised. He is with you too, my girl. Constant and caring. Don’t be afraid to trust the Lord’s sovereignty and depend on His goodness. His is a love that can be trusted.
His is a love that we both need.
Your devoted,
Grand
God’s love might be trustworthy, but human affections—especially those of a romantic nature—had proven themselves unreliable. A fact Clara reiterated to her traitorousstomach every time a glance from Mr. Theodore caused it to turn a somersault.
As they strolled along the streets of Strasbourg, bound for its famed gothic cathedral, Clara secured Mum’s right hand, grateful for the maternal buffer. Why must things become awkward between she and Mr. Theodore? She’d just begun to feel at ease around him, to feel secure in his presence instead of continually poised on a fraying tightrope of dread. Perhaps that was the problem. They’d grown too comfortable, too familiar. A dangerous combination that too easily led to fondness.
Endearment.
Yearning.
Mr. Theodore’s glance snagged on her stare. He flashed a lopsided grin, and her stomach turned a new manner of flip. Dash that charming smile! Dash both strapping shoulders! Dash those mesmerizing eyes and that enticing grin! Oh, she’d already dashed that one. Repeatedly. Night and day, she had dashed it to pieces with logic and reason. Yet, still, to that smile her mind kept wandering. Recalling that day in the park when Mr. Theodore had seemed intent on kissing her ... but hadn’t.
Why hadn’t he?
And dash her own turncoat stomach, why did she care?
Clara bit the inside of her cheek to punish it for blushing. That day didn’t matter. No matter what happened or didn’t happen, no matter what her renegade emotions felt or didn’t feel, it simply did not matter. Just as Mum’s presence served as a buffer, so too must the formality of Mr. remain a fixed safeguard between her and the man who’d let her keep his name to use as she liked. She andMr.Theodore were—and would remain—friends. Nothing more. Friendship was fenced in with societal expectations and rules of etiquette. It was the utterance of “I love you” that swung the gate wide open for pain and loss.
She had no intention of opening that door again.
Especially not now, when she needed to be on guard more than ever.
“We’re being watched.”The memory of Mr. Theodore’s hushed warning provoked a chill along Clara’s neck, and she shuddered, glancing over her shoulder to examine the people on the street. She didn’t know what was more terrifying—Mr. Forrester’s persistence or his stealth. To think, he’d been just a few stone skips across the lake yesterday. Watching. Waiting.
When Mr. Theodore calmly spirited them out of the park, it had required all her self-control not to look back for the dark eyes she knew were on them. After recovering their bags at the Plucky Orange Peel and paying their bill, Mr. Theodore had taken every precaution to throw her ex-fiancé off their scent. Planted false trails. Utilized circuitous routes. Moved them to a new hotel under cover of night. But the fact remained. Mr. Forrester was in Strasbourg and might even now have them in his sights.
“Are you familiar with this structure, ducky?”
