Page 75 of Gideon

“He’s been doing a lot in town lately. I know this is part of it. He wants to help you like He wants to help everyone else. We need to sit tight and wait for Him to move.”

“You want to wait?” Gideon said.

“For now, yeah. We got rid of the totems, and stuff happened. We’ve saved Isabel, and more stuff will happen.”

She knew what Gideon was thinking by the way he looked at her. A reminder that it wasn’t all good stuff that had come out of their actions. There would be more consequences. Those women would pay a price. Nikki hadn’t thought of that before. She hadn’t thought of much beyond her desperation to get her friend safe. Even with all the people returning to the church, she still felt a deepening sense of dread that worse was coming. The vultures were circling, waiting for them to slip up or take a break.

“It will be okay.” Her words were void of any feeling.

“I’ll follow you to the church,” Gideon said.

“Are you sure that’s necessary?”

“It’s not about necessary. It will make me feel better.”

“Okay, but Fairfax won’t know anything is wrong until tomorrow at the earliest. We have a small window of reprieve.”

“Good. Then hopefully we’ll all get a good night's sleep tonight. Maybe things will look better in the morning.”

“I’m sure they will,” Nikki said, staring into the darkness. Things would be different tomorrow, but she couldn’t be sure anymore that it was for the better.

Chapter 19

Gideon paced his room,trying multiple times to pack his bag, but every time he started, he stopped again. He’d had to keep a very low profile lately but had delayed his departure until his dad was settled in comfortably in his new place and everything else had quieted down. He didn’t want to leave Nikki with a pile of trouble.

After he’d pestered his dad while he was still in the hospital about finding a place to live, Joey had promised him he had it sorted out, which Gideon thought was code for him sleeping on the floor of the bar or worse. But when the time came, it turned out he did have his living arrangements sorted out. A friend had given him his converted garage to live in. It was rough accommodation but suited his dad perfectly. And he had no steps to worry about.

Things with Fairfax had also remained quiet. He hadn’t come looking for Isabel. He probably thought shewas long gone, or he didn’t care. Either way, it appeared she was in the clear. But she still remained hidden while Nikki researched her options.

After the mess he’d made since coming to town, everything had been put back as right as it could be. Maybe that was all God had required of him. A small shift to set things in the right direction. Maybe Eric had been overzealous in his delivery. Gideon had been a part of something. The church was being attended, and Nikki was managing as best as she could, keeping things simple. Any visions of grandeur he may have been harboring were now thoroughly wiped out.

He leaned his forehead on the window, staring out at the parking lot, but his focus was on the condensation his breath added to the glass. Was that really all God had been asking of him? There were still so many for whom nothing had changed. It was one thing to help a woman escape in the night; it was another to transform a town.

He could still remember Eric’s words.“Go with the strength you have, and rescue them. The Lord is sending you.”

He hadn’t done that. But if he did any more, he risked making things worse.

“The Lord will be with you.”

“Mighty hero, huh?”

Nikki had warned him away from contacting ICE, but no one else could help.

He turned from the window and picked up his bag for the fifth time, then tossed it across the room into the corner.

“Enough of this.” He marched to the center of the room and looked around, zeroing in on the mat at the door. “God, for right or for wrong, I need some assurance. I can’t think straight, and nothing makes sense. But if what Eric said was true—if I’m not overinflating myself, and you truly want to use me to do more for these people than what I’ve already done—I need you to prove it.”

He picked up the mat as he walked outside. He looked across the parking lot, then headed around to the back of the motel where there was a patch of grass, and he tossed the mat on the ground. Aware of how stupid he was acting.

“There has been a lot of dew every morning.” He’d admired the way the sun sparkled across the parched grass, burnt with the lack of rain. It was the only water they got. “Just so you know, I know how this sounds,” he said up to heaven. “But here’s the deal. If the mat is wet with dew in the morning—” He shook his head with the huff of a laugh. “—If the mat is wet, but the ground is dry, then I’ll know you have more for me to do.”

He put his hands on his hips and squinted at the sky. He almost bent down and picked the mat up again, so he turned on his heel and headed back to his room. “I know. This is ridiculous, and I don’t care. I need this. You healed my knee, and I saw that you healed Eric’s face. I’m sorry that I’m bad at this, but I can’t help it.” If nothing else, he could get closure when he went out in the morning and found everything wet with the persistent dew.

When he entered his room, he heard his phone buzzing on the table. “Hey, Nikki. Everything okay?”

“Hey, yeah. I, uh, I was calling because I hadn’t heard from you in a couple days. I wanted to see how you were doing. Make sure everything is okay.” Her voice held an edge of concern.

“I haven’t left town, if that’s what you were wondering.” He lifted his face, scrunching it up with the knowledge that he could be leaving town the next day.

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