Page 47 of Sing with Me

As such, she had never made a real commitment to anyone.

Sure, she had gone out to dinner with guys, even dated a few of them—Hayden, for example.

Diehl asked for Skye’s empty plate. He tossed them out in the trash can and returned with two bottled water. “That’s all they have.”

“Thank you.”

His calf brushed past Skye’s knees as he took his seat in the now crowded pavilion. “Sorry.”

“No worries.” She glanced at her watch. “Time to take our place.”

Diehl followed Skye to the keyboard. The sound guy gave Skye a cordless microphone. She stepped back and leaned against the pavilion railing when Hayden stepped forward with his own microphone.

“Welcome, everyone, to our No Fire Pit Service tonight,” Hayden said.

The talking ceased a bit.

“I’d like to think that those people who left earlier and didn’t return did so because of the rain and not because I’m teaching tonight,” Hayden continued.

“It’s probably you,” someone shouted.

“See there? No respect for his own Sunday School teacher.” Hayden laughed and everyone else did too. “Okay, now that we’re all relaxed, let’s get on to business. Tonight’s mini sermon is on Philippians 4:13. ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.’ Feel free to find that verse on your phone or tablet or Bible as we begin our midweek meeting with prayer and song.”

Skye placed her hand on Diehl’s shoulder to assure him that they were going to be fine. He put his palm on top of her hand, turned to her, and gave her the warmest smile she had ever seen.

The smile broke through the rainy night.

Skye didn’t want to let go, but let go she must.

Hayden prayed, asking God for protection, and then he nodded to Skye, who then nodded to Diehl.

When Diehl started to play “His Eye is on the Sparrow,” Skye almost wept as she sang the old hymn.

All the many sorrowful years of having lost her parents at an early age whooshed through her and washed away in the rain. It was as though God had pulled her through the darkest nights of her entire lifetime, and she had come out on the other side of the valley of the shadow of death.

“Let not your heart be troubled,” His tender word I hear,

And resting on His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears…

When she finished singing the refrain for the last time that evening, Skye knew she had to accept Diehl’s invitation to his family picnic in three days. His daughter had lost her mother when she was eleven years old. Skye had been motherless since she was thirteen.

She remembered a New Testament verse she had read and that had been read to her in years past. II Corinthians 1:3-4 had always been true since the day Paul had written it.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

Perhaps God had comforted Skye so that she could now comfort Diehl’s daughter who had no Christian around her—except for her aunt and her aunt’s husband. If Diehl was a Christian, he had a long way to go toward spiritual maturity. Besides, he was also grieving himself.

Perhaps for such a time as this, Skye had to be here.

Chapter Thirteen

They had renovated Saffron since the last time Diehl was here. He liked the new decor, which seemed to be a mix of the old and new. He could spot a great interior designer any day. At work, he regularly updated his list of interior designers, decorators, and architects for the numerous building projects that Brooks Investments were involved in.

“Who designed the interior?” Diehl asked when they were seated at the rectangular dinner table, with Mom and Dad on one side, and Elisa and Ethan on the other side.

The kids knew to be polite at this place, and they had dressed up for dinner. Elisa went all out with flowers in her hair. She looked like a girl plucked out of the Hawaiian islands with her floral dress and matching floral purse and Mary Janes.

Ethan was Ethan. He wore anything Grandma put on him. Today, his striped button-down shirt matched Grandpa’s.

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