AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It had been awful, like she’d been trapped in a snow-globe, everyone watching her in all her vulnerability while her life had been shaken again and again. But there’d been no pretty sparkles falling. Only tears.
“People didn’t want me to cry much either, worried I’d lose my strength and not focus on getting better. So now, if there’s something that bothers me, I try to get away if I can. I hate feeling helpless,” she confessed.
“I don’t mind the tears, Princess. I just don’t want you running. We need to talk about things, okay?”
“Okay.” She sniffed.
“Are you crying?”
“No,” she said, wiping at a stray tear.
“Are you sure?’
“No.”
“Don’t cry, Princess. It’s all good. We’re all good.”
“Are we really?”
“Really.”
Oh. She closed her eyes as her soul played the “Hallelujah Chorus.”Thank You!“I know I’m not great at trusting God, but I am trying. Very trying, apparently.”
He gave a wry laugh not exactly filled with genuine-sounding amusement.
“I always thought low maintenance was something to aspire to, but it’s just not me. I’m afraid I’ll always be more passionate than some. Besides, where would the challenge be?”
* * *
Sarah’slast comment drove home the memory of another prayer. How many months ago had he been complaining to God about the lack of women who piqued his interest? He’d wanted a challenge. Just hadn’t realized Sarah would test him quite so much. His mouth lifted at the corners. God sure had a funny sense of humor.
She continued. “I remember someone once describing you as being someone who didn’t like to back down from a challenge.”
“Really?” The lip tweak grew as his own words were quoted back at him.
“I guess I took it too much to heart. I thought I’d become your ultimate Aussie challenge.” Her laugh crossed with a sigh as she dropped her voice. “Dan, please don’t ever back down.”
His throat thickened. “I won’t,” he rasped.
“I know it’s hard to tell sometimes, but I do, I really do love you, Daniel.”
His eyes blurred while his heart lifted higher than it had for weeks. He swallowed to get his voice under control. “I love you too, Sarah.” If only he could be there, to see her, hold her, read her face and know that everything truly was okay. “Hey, Sar, can you put me on video call?”
“Sure.”
Seconds later, his screen showed her sitting in what he guessed was her sunshine-filled bedroom, hair in a high ponytail, her drawn features relaxing to echo his small smile. Another knot in his soul released.
She exhaled. “I really am trying, you know, to not do the whole emotional thing. Rebekah, my sister, is right. It’s not fair on you.”
“Sounds like I’ll have to meet your sister.”
“I wish you could. She seems to be a fan of yours.”
“Long-distance fan, eh?”
“I reckon you’d get on pretty well. You both don’t mind telling it like it is. Darn it.”
“So does this mean if I email you again, you’ll actually reply?”
