Page 89 of Sing with Me

Skye changed into her pajamas, climbed into bed, and read her Bible.

Half an hour later, she nearly dozed off reading Hebrews, but when she turned off the lights and pulled the blanket up to her chin, sleep wouldn’t come.

Why?

She tossed and turned this way and that way until it was way past midnight. Should she get up and pad around the house until she felt sleepy? Should she stay in bed until she fell asleep?

“Why am I awake, Lord?” She hadn’t drunk any coffee since Friday morning. No chocolate. No caffeine.

She turned on the lights to continue reading her Bible. Her eyelids started to shut, but when she put her head on her pillow, she was wide awake again.

Weird.

Pray.

She recalled Aunt Irma telling her to pray, pray, pray.

Always pray. Never let up.

In the quiet of the night, Skye prayed for Sebastian and Emmeline in Athens. They were all the family she had. Aunt Irma and Uncle Miller did not have any kids in their long lives. They had both passed away within months of each other when they were in their nineties.

Church became her extended family. Skye prayed for Avery, her best friend after Emmeline. Avery’s cousin Gillian had just moved to town, so they had been busy. Gillian was a Christian too, but she decided to attend a women’s Sunday School class instead of their mixed group. Skye hardly saw her.

Brinley had become a good friend. Their friendship had started at work when Sebastian catered some of the Brooks family’s past events, especially their Christmas dinners. Now that Sebastian had moved out of town, the Brooks hired a new private chef who could take on all that.

Brinley said she wasn’t having a difficult pregnancy, but the doctor wanted her on bedrest anyway, just in case. Skye didn’t ask for details. Next week, she and Avery—and some of the ladies in their Tuesday night Bible study, would take the baby shower gifts to her house.

Skye prayed for Brinley and Ivan. The lovely couple would make great parents. They were both Christians and would raise their children in the way of the Lord.

As for Skye, she wasn’t sure if she would ever marry. Sometimes she wondered. She had gone out with two men at church at separate times in the past: Matt and Hayden.

Hayden might have thought that their one dinner was fun, but Skye felt nothing for him. It wasn’t that Hayden was three years younger than she was, but that Hayden had no interest in food or food preparation or cooking in general. He had no problem eating frozen dinners every night. Skye didn’t know what to think about that.

As for Matt, he wasn’t her type at all. They had nothing in common. He could talk about antiques all day, like he was perhaps stuck in another century. Skye had more in common with Diehl than with Matt…

Diehl.

“What do we have in common?” Skye asked herself.

They both liked Brinley’s beach house, including the side yard and the ocean view.

He seemed to enjoy cooking when he helped her cook breakfast on the day Marlo called in sick. If there was one thing that tugged at Skye’s heart, it was a man who loved to cook.

Did Diehl love to cook?

Skye knew a lot about him because Brinley had told her a lot in the last few years they had been friends and praying partners. Skye wouldn’t call it gossip since nothing left the room. However, the way Brinley put it, Diehl had a lot of problems.

And he had strayed from God so far away that no one knew if Diehl was saved or not.

While that might not be a big deal to others, it mattered much to Skye. He had kissed her twice.

The only way the relationship could continue was for them to be on the same page with each other.

“That’s my prayer, Lord,” Skye said aloud. “If Diehl is the one for me—if we are to date, say—then I need confirmation that we’re on the same page with each other in our faith and belief in God.”

She knew that she could not date someone who was not a Christian, who might not want to go to church with her. Half her life was spent in church. Someone who did not appreciate church would not appreciate what mattered to her.

They could still be friends, but that was all.

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