Page 20 of The Christmas Ring
“Bye. I’m praying for you. Every day.”
Before Hudson could thank her or tell her he loved her, before she could say the same thing, the screen went black. Which was pretty much how their calls always ended. Army Rangers had little time to themselves while they were deployed. She thought about her dad and his buddies, the men and women from Fort Benning who gave up everything to keep the country safe. No, the heavy demands of Hudson’s job didn’t bother Sadie.
They only made her love him more.
Chapter 8
From the beginning, Sunday went nothing like Vanessa had planned. For starters, Sadie was still sound asleep as Vanessa got ready. She thought about waking her, but Sadie had been up late talking to Ella. After a week of finals, most college kids needed a little extra rest.
Vanessa made the drive to church alone, and as she did she thought about Sadie’s first night home. There had only been half an hour where she and Sadie could talk. They had stood near the Christmas tree so Sadie could hang her favorite photo ornament—the one of Vanessa and Alan and Sadie when she was in eighth grade.
Their last formal picture as a family.
The whole time Vanessa had looked for a way to tell Sadie about Ben. Vanessa could’ve been wrong, but she wondered if maybe Sadie had wanted to talk about something, too. In the end, neither of them got that far.
The problem was simple. Vanessa wasn’t the only person glad to have Sadie home. Finally, when Sadie turned in last night, Vanessa figured she would simply introduce Sadie to Ben at church. Keep things casual.
But she was still asleep when Vanessa walked out the door.
Instead of having Sadie with her, Sunday service that morning turned out to be the place where Vanessa introduced Ben to Maria and Leigh. The two practically ran up when Vanessa and Ben entered the back of the church.
Leigh didn’t even try to keep her voice down. “You must be Ben Miller.” She held out her hand and shook his. She didn’t wait for a response. “I’m Leigh.” She elbowed their other friend. “This is Maria.”
Maria didn’t try to interject. She merely raised her hand and smiled. Vanessa hung her head for a moment and then looked up, laughing. There was no stopping Leigh.
Ben seized the break from Leigh. He smiled at Vanessa’s friends. “Nice to meet you both.”
Leigh pointed to herself, Maria, and Vanessa. “We’re a trio. With Vanessa, that is. Not a singing trio. We aren’t touring. Just a trio. Of friends.”
“Ah yes. The dance committee.” Ben rolled with Leigh’s antics. His charming attitude only made Vanessa more attracted to him.
“That’s us.” Leigh smiled, obviously proud of herself.
Maria cut in. “We’ve been friends since we met.” She smiled at Leigh, then Vanessa. “We have a lot in common, don’t we, girls?”
Vanessa loved these friends of hers. They were genuine through and through.
A cool breeze came over the grassy front yard of the church. Maria turned to Vanessa. “Where’s Sadie?”
“She needed her sleep. She was wiped.” Vanessa felt her phone buzz. She checked it. “This is her! We’re going to meet up back at the house after the service.”
“I remember my first semester of college.” Ben seemed careful not to stand too close to Vanessa. He glanced at Maria and Leigh. “I’d come home and sleep fifteen hours straight.”
“That happened to me, too. In fact, it still does.” Leigh shook her head. “And I never even took a class.”
The group laughed and found their seats. Maria and Leigh sat at the end of the same pew. Vanessa couldn’t exactly hear them, but her two friends might as well have been shouting the obvious. Vanessa could see it in their raised eyebrows when Ben wasn’t looking.
They clearly thought something was going on.
The sermon was like it was written for Vanessa and Ben. The focus was on Joseph and how he kept moving forward. He didn’t look back and get lost in the past. If he hadn’t listened to God and kept moving ahead, what would’ve happened? There would’ve been no Mary and Joseph, and without her husband, how would Mary have survived?
Joseph obeyed God and did the next thing even when it was difficult. And as a result, the Savior was born and the world was changed.
When the service was over, Maria and Leigh approached. After a few minutes of talk about the service, Maria took a step back.
“Well, on that note, Leigh and I need to go chat about tomorrow’s Gingerbread House Competition.”
Vanessa grinned at Ben. “Another highlight for Columbus Cares. We started it last year for the kids of deployed soldiers.”
