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Will was already halfway down the hall when she entered the hallway.
“Hang on,” she called to him. He stopped and waited for her to catch up. “I just wanted to say…thank you. I know I’ve said it before, but everything you did…it was so much. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t come to find me. I mean—I know what I would have done. I would have been stuck in the cell.”
“I told you when we did this thing that I’d do everything in my power to make sure you were safe. I didn’t know it would take me to South America, but I never go back on my word.”
“And it’s a good thing. I didn’t ask—how’s Kelly doing?”
Will let out a long, slow breath. “She’s okay. I speak to her regularly, but it will take her a lot of time to recover. She had a lot of years of brainwashing to clear out. But she has really good people around her, and she knows she’s safe now. I also haven’t stopped praying for her, so there’s that.”
“I’ve been praying too.”
“Have you?”
“Yeah. She’ll get there. We both know God answers our prayers. He’s got plans for her, and they’re good ones.”
“Yeah. Speaking of plans, what are yours? You said you’ve had enough action for a while. Does that mean you’re going back to your quiet suburban life?”
“For now. I don’t want to keep things the way they are, but God often only shows us one step at a time. I trust He’s got my future well and truly in His hands.”
“I guess I’ll hear about it through your sister when I run into her again.”
“Yeah. I mean, you can call me anytime if you want to know anything. You’re practically like family after everything we’ve been through. Not that you have to call me. I just mean you can. Or not.” She hadn’t meant to sound like a blundering idiot, but now that she was standing alone with him in the hall, she was afraid to let him go.
“Well. It was good working with you.” He held out his hand to shake hers.
She looked at it, disappointed, then shook. “You too.”
“Goodbye, Charlotte. Take care of Maddy.”
“I will. Goodbye. And good luck with your new assignment.”
* * *
Will forced himself to turn away from Charlotte. He didn’t want to. He wanted to take her with him, but his head scrambled when he attempted to understand how much she meant to him. He felt guilty for wanting more from her after what she’d suffered because of their operation but knew it made no sense.
He’d spent hours before coming to the hospital, praying about what to do when he saw her. In that time, God had made it clear that he needed to move on. He needed distance from what had happened. Charlotte was too distracting, and he had to get back with God and work on the baggage he’d carried around with him his whole life.
After that, who knew? But saying goodbye to her, knowing it could be the last time he’d see her, hurt. The problem was, not following God’s plan would hurt more in the long run, and he knew he’d made the right decision being obedient even though there was a place in his heart that wasn’t happy about it.
“Goodbye, Charlotte,” he mumbled as he left the hospital.
* * *
“So?” Maddy said when Charlotte came back in the room.
“So, what?”
“What’d you say?”
“To Will? I said thanks and asked him how Kelly was doing with her recovery.”
“That’s it?”
“Should I have said something else?”
Maddy sighed. “No. I guess not.”
“Listen, I’ve been thinking.”
