Cherished - By Kim Cash Tate Page 0,13

her watch, then at Dana and Phyllis, the moms in their fellowship. “You guys need to be back at church in less than an hour.”

“We should be fine,” Phyllis said. She touched Dana’s arm, a hint of intrigue in her eyes. “Feels like we’re on a covert mission or something, doesn’t it? Sneaking out of church and then sneaking back by 1300 hours in time to scoop up the kids.”

“We’re not sneaking,” Dana said, scanning her menu.

“I know, but we’re usually doing something at church while we wait for kids’ church to let out.” She giggled. “It’s kind of fun. I feel like a renegade.”

Stephanie gave her a look. “You don’t get out much, do you?”

Phyllis returned the look. “Honey, hit me back four kids later and tell me if you’re getting out much.”

Cyd rapped her own knife lightly on the table. “Calling to order again. Can we get to the emergency? I’m dying to hear.”

Stephanie leaned in. “Okay, here’s the deal. At church—”

“Ladies, ready to order?”

“Aww,” they all groaned, laughing.

The server threw up a hand, laughing with them. “I can come back later.”

“No!” they chorused and laughed again.

She flipped her pen from behind her ear and jotted down their orders—blueberry, buttermilk, and buckwheat. When they were done and the server had gone, Stephanie hunkered back down.

“At church,” she said, remembering exactly where she left off, “when they mentioned that Logan would be at the songwriters’ conference next weekend, it hit me. Kelli needs to be there.”

“I had a feeling that’s where you were going,” Kelli said. “But I have no idea why.”

“Because you’re a songwriter.”

“I wrote a few songs years ago. That doesn’t make me a songwriter.”

“Do we have to go through this again?” Stephanie rolled her eyes away from Kelli. “Y’all, we were helping Kelli pack, and she found an old notepad at the bottom of a drawer with songs in it she’d written. I got her to sing some in the car on the way up here— had to twist her arm and promise my firstborn—and I couldn’t believe how good they were.”

“They’re awesome,” Cyd said. “I could feel those lyrics.”

“I’ve only heard one,” Phyllis said, “that wedding song. And that’s all I needed to hear to know you’ve got something special. It gave me goose bumps.”

“Thanks, you guys, but as I said, it’s not that big a deal. Music was just . . . a hobby of mine for a while.”

“But, Kelli,” Dana said, “you obviously had a passion for it at one point, right?”

Kelli gave a reluctant nod. There was a time when she and that notepad were inseparable. She remembered Brian twisting her arm one day too, to get her to share her songs. Kelli planted herself back in the present.

“And you obviously have talent,” Dana was saying. “It’s not just your family that likes it; the whole church gave you a standing ovation.” She sipped her coffee. “So, I’m curious. You never dreamed of doing anything with it?”

“That’s exactly what I asked her,” Stephanie said.

“Long time ago.”

“What happened?” Phyllis asked.

Kelli shrugged. “Lots of things.”

The table was quiet, just as the car had grown quiet when they reached a similar point. Kelli had been able to change the subject then, but given that this entire meeting was called on her behalf, she knew it wouldn’t work this time.

“So, okay,” Dana said, raking her hand through her auburn hair as if she were getting down to business, “you had a passion and a dream. Some things happened. But it doesn’t change the fact that God’s gifted you.” She paused while a passing server refilled her coffee cup. “What if He wants to use it? What if your songs are meant to be heard?”

“There are a gazillion songwriters out there who want their songs to be heard, people much more talented than I am. And maybe one out of the gazillion gets a break.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t matter,” Cyd said.

Kelli frowned. “Why not?”

“If God wants to use your music, He’ll use your music. He can show Himself strong by making you the one out of the gazillion.”

What would it be like to have that kind of faith? Kelli stuck with reality. “Well, anyway,” she said, “God’s not interested in using my music.”

“Why would you say that?” several voices blurted at once.

Kelli didn’t have an easy answer. No way was she touching the truth. She stared at the table.

Cyd leaned forward. “Kelli, are you saying this because you’ve prayed and you just feel like God is leading