up in the attic, looking for the box of jigsaw puzzles, and I found the Bible storybook Daddy used to read to me and Riley Jo. Do you remember it?”
“Yes. I’m surprised you do.”
“It’s one of the few things I remember doing with Daddy.” Jesse glanced up at her and then lowered his gaze. “I took it to my room and read all the stories. Are you mad?”
“Of course not.” It’s just one more thing for me to worry about.
Jesse’s eyes looked like big blue buttons. “I see why Abby thinks God can do anything. Did you know He made a donkey talk? And saved Shadrach, Meshach, and Ben Dego from getting burned in the fiery furnace?”
Kate smiled without meaning to. “Yes, I knew that.”
“He even came back from the dead! Isn’t that cool?”
Kate just listened, hoping he wouldn’t ask her to elaborate on or agree with anything he’d read.
“I feel a lot better now.” Jesse wiped the perspiration off his face with the back of his hand. “I felt guilty sneaking around.”
“You can never go wrong being truthful with me. But I need to be truthful with you, too. I’m not the go-to guy if you have questions about God or the Bible. I’m still working through my disappointment with God and wouldn’t be much help. But you can always go to Grandpa.”
“Okay.” Jesse stood. “I’m going to pray that God helps you to trust Him again. I think you’d be a lot happier.”
Jesse hugged her and left.
Her cell phone rang, and she glanced at the screen. Virgil! She took a slow, deep breath, reluctant to push the talk button. This could be the call that would change the course of her life.
Chapter 13
Abby hiked down a grassy incline on the east side of Sure Foot Mountain that she and Jay had named “the slope.” She stopped at the giant oak tree that offered the only shady spot and spread a worn patchwork quilt on the ground beneath it.
She set the two sacks from Sammie’s Subs on the quilt, then sat, hugging her knees, the warm breeze tussling with her hair. She looked down at Beaver Lake—nestled in the lush, rolling Ozark hills and dazzling in the noonday sun like a treasure chest of diamonds. Over twenty-eight thousand acres of sheer beauty, this pristine expanse never ceased to stir something deep inside her.
Abby spotted a fleck of white—an osprey. She watched the magnificent bird hover in midair before dive-bombing into the choppy water and flying off with a fish wiggling in his talons. “A master fisherman,” Daddy used to say.
Daddy. She blinked away the image she had conjured up of the remains. Abby refused to believe the skull was her father’s. He was alive. So was Riley Jo. She was sure of it.
A rather large sailboat caught her attention, the yellow-and-white mast crisp and colorful against the marine blue of Beaver Lake. The vessel seemed to glide effortlessly across the water as the skipper rode the wind.
Abby loved the feeling of the wind on her face.
She closed her eyes and just let the warm breeze flow over her. She imagined the spirit of God in the wind and relished His touch.
Father, I have faith even if Mama doesn’t trust You anymore—
Abby heard a familiar whistle and turned around. Jay was making his way down the sloping hillside, carrying his art portfolio under his arm.
“Sorry I’m a little late,” he said, sounding out of breath. “Traffic in town was backed up. I guess tourist season is in full swing.”
“I haven’t been here long.”
“I got your text messages and have been following the news. When will you know if it’s your dad and sister?”
“They’re not finished searching,” Abby said. “But you know I don’t believe Daddy and Riley Jo are dead. My family’s really stressed. I can’t allow myself to think that way.”
“What a shock, though.” Jay sat cross-legged on the blanket and laid his portfolio next to him. “I’m sorry y’all have the uncertainty hanging over you. Frankly, I was surprised you didn’t cancel this.”
“It’s too important to cancel. Now let’s change the subject before I lose my appetite.”
Abby passed him his sub, said a silent prayer of thanks, then bit into her sandwich, savoring every delectable flavor. “So what did you bring?”
Jay smiled, his five o’clock shadow looking both masculine and artsy. “Voila.” He opened his portfolio and revealed a sketchpad and dozens of colored pencils. “I printed out some pages of facial features I found on one of