Page 83 of To the Moon and Back
She set down her brush and frowned. If someone had come up the drive, she hadn’t heard the car. It was too early for the kids or Landon to be home. And her father and Elaine were out of town for a few days. Maybe it was one of her sisters.
She padded across the wood floor to the front door and opened it. For a few seconds she didn’t quite understand what she was looking at. Who she was looking at. But then her mind began to right itself.
The man standing on her porch was Brady Bradshaw. He had to be, right?
He was dressed much the way he’d been that day at the memorial. Dark jeans, sweatshirt. In his hands was something Ashley couldn’t believe. She lifted her eyes to his. “Brady?”
“Yes.” His expression was humble, his face kind. “It’s me.”
“Is that . . .” Ashley looked at his hands again. He was holding a sapling, a small baby tree with its roots covered in a paper bag.
“It is.” Brady smiled. “It’s from the Survivor Tree.” He handed the bundle to Ashley. “You asked about getting one for your niece.”
She took the tree and stared at it. This was the only thing Amy had wanted for the better part of a year. Ashley couldn’t move, couldn’t do anything but gaze at the little sapling. “I . . . I can’t believe it.” She stepped back and ushered Brady inside. “Please . . . come in.”
“I need to go.” Again his tone and expression were gentle. The frustration from the other night completely gone. “I have to make it to Ohio before school gets out.”
Ashley searched his face. Had he really said that? Did he mean . . . ? “You’re going to see Jenna?”
“Absolutely.” Brady reached out and shook Ashley’s free hand. “Thank you. For calling me.” A single laugh and he raised his brow. “That couldn’t have been easy.”
“It wasn’t.” Ashley still didn’t believe this was happening. “What are you saying, Brady? You believe?”
Brady’s smile filled his face. “Let’s just say God got my attention. I’ve been praying about seeing Jenna ever since I left home.”
Joy came over Ashley all at once. She set the sapling on the floor and hugged Brady. Then she stepped back and squealed. “Are you serious? Brady . . . this is amazing.”
He couldn’t stop grinning. “I can’t say I have it all figured out. But I believe.” For the next few minutes he told her about an older couple, the Fishers, and how he had gone to their house the day after Ashley called. And then he told her about his dream.
Ashley could hardly wait to hear more of the story. “So these people . . . the Fishers . . . they’re Christians?”
“Definitely.” Brady raised his brow. “They’ve been waiting for me to ask them about God for years.”
The feelings in Ashley’s heart were more than she could comprehend. She listened while Brady told her about how the Fishers had opened the Bible and looked at a dozen different verses from John and Romans and James. “And then, my dream . . .”
He seemed overcome by a rush of emotion. He shook his head. “There’s more to it. I don’t know. After that, I could see. Clearly.” The corners of his lips lifted again. “For the first time since I was that five-year-old little boy waking up in the hospital.”
Ashley thought about her painting. If anyone would want to see it, Brady would. “Let me show you something. In the next room.”
The two of them walked into the kitchen and Ashley pointed him to the painting. His eyes softened and he nodded slowly. “It’s perfect. Beautiful.” He looked at her. “You must’ve been really affected by the memorial.”
“Because of my niece. The one I sent you the message about.” Ashley stared at the image. It was almost finished. “Amy, my niece, she lives with us.”
The situation seemed to make sense to Brady now. “She lives here?”
Ashley told him about Amy, how her family had been killed in a car accident, and how she was determined to live a life that made them proud. And that was the reason she wanted a sapling from the memorial.
Again Brady stared at the painting. “No wonder she loves the old tree.”
“Exactly. Amy . . . she draws strength from her faith every day.”
Each word seemed to land deeply on Brady. “What a wonderful truth.” He pulled his phone from his pocket and looked at the time. “I need to get on the road.”
Ashley led him back to the foyer and Brady motioned to the sapling. “Tell Amy to take good care of the tree.” His smile faded a little. “And tell her I’m proud of her. For being a survivor.”
“I’ll tell her.” Ashley was touched that he would go out of his way to come here.
For a few seconds, Brady hesitated. “Can I ask you for something?”
