Page 153 of Share with Me

Brinley held up her iPhone and snapped a photo of it. She forwarded it to Helen Hu with the message, “To let you know your effort will not go to waste.”

The private investigator had been close tracking down the stolen Strad with Interpol, and yet in the last week, no more word from her. Last Brinley had heard, Helen was in Brussels. Sure, Dad was taking over the Brooks’s side of the investigation, but Brinley still wanted to know what was happening. This was her Strad, after all, her Strad that she wanted—

Forget him.

Even if Ivan could play the violin again, their relationship had abruptly ended because he couldn’t handle a broken wrist. It was a sad commentary on human nature.

Five Strad displays away was another empty case. For two days it had housed the 1721 Schoenberg Stradivarius, two days before Brinley lost five-point-four million dollars in investments. Now all she could do was wait for her insurance claim to be paid. She hoped the violin would be recovered undamaged soon.

Brinley made her rounds through the room. She remembered being in this room with Grandpa in his last days. Remembered the promise she had made. In spite of the odd vow that Grandpa had made her take, it all made sense now. God had used the strange request to protect her and save her for her future husband.

Whoever he will be.

Here in this room were representations of the Brooks family wealth. This Stradivari collection had been only Grandpa’s hobby, just as Dad purchased homes on at least two continents because he could, and Mom bought furniture everywhere to fill those houses because she must buy what she saw. Money seemed to ever flow every which way.

Brinley knew she had everything but love until God’s love came. She wished she could now share the love of God with Ivan.

Ivan?

Forget him.

A sound from her iPhone broke Brinley’s muse. Time to go to church.

* * *

Brinley heldher Bible tightly against her chest and walked into Seaside Chapel to meet Yun. The rotunda was crowded with people milling about, but she found Yun by the sanctuary door in her motorized wheelchair chatting with a woman whom Yun introduced as Skye Langston. A hello and a hug later, Brinley went with Skye downstairs to the basement, where most of the Sunday School classrooms were.

“I saw you with Ivan on the Sunday before Christmas,” Skye said. “I had to be someplace after the service, so I couldn’t stop to say hello.”

“Well, nice to meet you now,” Brinley said.

“Yun said that Ivan’s struggling with his wrist recovery.”

“He needs a lot of prayer.”

“Tell him we’re praying for him.”

Brinley wasn’t sure how to respond, but straight up was probably best. Casual-like. “Oh, we’re not together anymore as of yesterday.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. I bet it’s his fault.” Skye rolled her eyes. “He can be kind of rude like that.”

Rude?“I don’t know. I’m still processing it all.”

“Well, this could be awkward, but he’s in this Sunday School I’m taking you to though he’s not here today, according to Yun.”

Do I want to be in Ivan’s Sunday School class?

Should she? What if Ivan showed up one day? He had been attending that Sunday School class long before Brinley was saved. She was the newcomer. If anything, she had to be the one to leave. Then again, why should she? Wasn’t Seaside Chapel big enough for both of them?

“It should be okay for today,” Brinley said. “Maybe next week I’ll find another class to attend.”

“I don’t see why you two can’t sit on opposite ends. It’s not like you have to talk with each other. Besides, Sunday School is only forty-five minutes long. And Ivan doesn’t own the place.”

They arrived at an open door where laughter and chatter spilled into the hallway. Brinley followed Skye to an empty seat in a large circle of chairs, maybe a dozen or more.

“We sit this way so we can see one another,” Skye explained. “I prefer this to staring at the back of people’s heads.”

Brinley didn’t care either way. This was her first time in Sunday School for a long time. When Grandpa Brooks had been alive, they had all been active in church.

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