A Family of Their Own - By Gail Gaymer Martin Page 0,60

was alone, he sobbed.

Kelsey eased back, still using his arm for support. “The funeral is Saturday. We’ll drive to Grand Rapids on Friday for the viewing and come back Saturday after the funeral.”

“Let me take you. You shouldn’t drive.”

She shook her head and pressed her palm to his cheek. “Thank you so much, but I need to do this alone. Just Lucy and me.”

He studied her face. Her steady gaze reflected confidence. “If you change your mind, I’ll be happy to go with you. I can find things to do. It’s no problem.”

Kelsey tilted her head and touched her lips to his in a fleeting kiss. “If I decide I don’t want to drive, I promise I’ll let you know.” She rubbed her temples and shifted backward, her movement unsteady.

Ross stayed beside her until she settled back into the easy chair. Her face changed, and her look concerned him, a kind of anguish so deep it chilled him. “What is it?”

“Me. I’m ashamed. So filled with remorse. I knew he was very sick, Ross, but I didn’t make an effort to speak to him. I let my bitterness stop me from doing what God would have me do.”

“Kelsey, he hurt you deeply.”

“But you said yourself, God didn’t ask me to forget. He asked me to forgive.” Tears rimmed her eyes. “Now it’s too late.”

He rose and knelt at her feet as he drew her hands into his. “No. It’s not too late. Karen is still alive, and she needs your support. You have another chance.”

She pressed her lips together, a tremor quivering in her cheek. “Another chance.” Her voice was but a whisper.

“You can do it, Kelsey.” Ross drew her into his arms and held her close, witnessing the tension and confusion that roiled inside her. “If you remember the days of your friendship, when you’d do anything for her, and if you see her betrayal as her failure to fight off temptation, then you can dig deep in your heart and forgive.” He captured her gaze. “This has to be more than words. Forgiveness comes from the heart.”

Her back stiffened a moment and then her shoulders drooped as her eyes closed. “I know. That’s the hard part, Ross. I might be able to say it, but do I mean it?”

Ross didn’t try to answer her question. It was one she had to answer herself, but he believed she could if she remembered how forgiven she and all God’s children have been by His mercy.

She rose and rested her cheek against his shoulder, her arms holding him close, and they stood in the silence, each with their own thoughts. He remained silent, and then he heard her soft voice shudder the three difficult words. “From the heart.”

Kelsey gripped the steering wheel. The day had been long, and Lucy’s tears twisted her heart so tightly she could barely breathe. She glanced at her daughter, strapped in beside her, her head nodding in exhausted sleep. Facing Karen had torn her to bits, but standing beside Doug’s coffin draped with a Dear Husband bouquet had rendered her nearly helpless. She’d contained her tears until she escaped to the restroom, where she released the flood of memories and pain for Lucy.

He had aged, gaunt and pale even with the assistance of the funeral home, the strain of death clearly visible on his face. A bolt of regret raced through her. Regret that she hadn’t shown more compassion to Karen, and deep regret that she hadn’t spoken to Doug when she brought Lucy for a visit. Such a small gesture, yet it might have let him know that her life had moved forward. She was fine. Her love for him had died years earlier.

The lights of the motel signaled her to turn into the entrance driveway. She rolled around to the side and parked, then sat a moment gazing at Lucy, no longer her little girl but almost a teenager. A new wave of pain rolled over her. Monday they would face the specialist and hear the report. Lucy’s new problem overwhelmed her. They’d lived with a tentative kind of confidence, but one that grew surer every day. But now her confidence had fluttered away like dry leaves.

Ross swept into her mind, brushing away her darker thoughts. She could count on him. The more she pondered the situation, the more she knew she’d made a great mistake listening to others and taking what they said to heart. Her heart counted more…and Ross’s heart, too. Real