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“You’re an amazing woman,” Gloria said. “Whoever has led you to believe otherwise is dead wrong.”
Gerty looked up and into her aunt’s dark hazel eyes. “Has my daddy told you about James?”
“Yes,” she said simply. “I lost something extremely important to me, Gerty, before I came here and met your uncle Matt. You’re not alone in the way you feel or the way you’ve been treated. It’s not fair, but you’re not an island.”
Gerty nodded, her next breath lodging in her throat. She didn’t know what to say anyway.
“You and Mike seem good together,” Aunt Gloria continued. “I know you need time, and I’ll be struck dead right now if you haven’t told Mike that.” She grinned, and that helped Gerty relax.
“What about the farm?”
“What about it?” Aunt Gloria asked. “Do you like it? Want it?”
“Yeah.” Gerty could admit that. “I’m not good without something to do, and it would give me a lot to do after work.”
“Then do it,” Aunt Gloria said. She leaned forward again, her smile kind and wise. “Honey, I don’t know where you and Mike are exactly, but I see the way he looks at you, and I see the way you look at him. It’s okay to fall in love with him.”
Gerty nodded, because she somehow needed permission to fall in love with Mike. Even so, she wasn’t sure she could do it right now.
“Gerty, you’ve got to lay down whatever you’re carrying.”
“I don’t know how,” she whispered.
“You go to God, and you give it all to Him,” Aunt Gloria said. “He’ll carry it for you, and you’ll finally be free.”
Gerty’s eyes pricked, but she didn’t let the tears fall. “I haven’t even been praying, because I don’t know what to pray for.”
“We’ve all been praying for you, Gerty-girl.” She got up and came around her desk to crouch in front of Gerty. “You are loved, and not just by us here on earth. God loves you, Gerty, and it’s time you started loving yourself.”
One tear escaped, and Gerty swiped at her face. “I just feel so…unlovable.” She looked at her aunt and let everything show. “It may sound stupid to you, but it’s how I feel.”
“It doesn’t sound stupid to me.” Gloria wrapped her in a hug and held on tight. “One thing I know, Gerty, is that God loves you, and He doesn’t want you to feel this way. Maybe pray for Him to show you how he really feels about you.”
“Okay,” Gerty whispered against her aunt’s shoulder.
“And let Mike take care of you,” Gloria murmured. “He already knows you’re strong, Gerty. You take care of him, and he likes that, but he wants to be a man too.” She pulled back and nodded at Gerty. “Okay? They want to be men, and that means he wants to take care of you too.”
Gerty studied her hands. “I want him to do that too.”
“Then ask him to take you to the farm this weekend, and you two start to work on it together.” Gloria gave her a smile that Gerty only caught the tail end of as she stood. “You’re a good woman, Gerty. If you’d like to get in with one of our counselors here, let me know. Mike sees Harmon, and he’s great with kids and adults.”
Gerty got to her feet, her heartbeat settling now that this was almost over. “I think I’m going to start with prayer,” she said. “Go from there.”
“Starting with prayer is always a good idea,” Aunt Gloria said. “And if that doesn’t work as quickly as you’d like, you can come back here anytime.”
Gerty hugged her aunt again. “Thank you, Aunt Gloria.”
“Of course,” she said. “Take the highs with the lows, Gerty. I’d love it if my handsome, billionaire boyfriend bought me a farm.” She gave Gerty a knowing smile and headed for the door. She opened it for Gerty and turned back to her, more serious than before. “But I know why it concerns you, and that’s valid too. One thing I will say—don’t stop talking. Don’t stop talking to God, and don’t stop talking to Mike. If you talk, you can work anything out.”
“Talking.” Gerty rolled her eyes. “The one thing I’m justso greatat.”
“You are great at it,” Aunt Gloria said. “I thought we had a lovely chat just now.”
“Because you can read minds.” Gerty stepped past her and into the hall while Aunt Gloria laughed.
“I wish, honey,” she said. “I wish.”
Gerty waved at her and kept going, because she couldn’t make a call back in this corner, and she needed to get in touch with Mike and find out what his weekend plans were.
