Page 89 of To Bring You Back
A sudden wave of guilt made her feel seasick. Since she hadn’t been praying when she’d taken the secretary role, she’d acted on an outward idea of holiness rather than on a relationship with God. She’d been struggling to get by for so long, but maybe God had never called her to that.
Bruce’s fur brushed against the door and pulled Harper’s attention away. “Look who missed his mommy.”
Bruce whipped his tail as he approached, but Gannon called him, and the dog hesitated halfway to Adeline. The sound of something rolling across the hardwood of the balcony toward the bedroom door got louder, and then Gannon stood in the opening, her suitcase handle in hand.
His line of sight tracked from Adeline to Harper and back.
Adeline passed her hand over her upset stomach. He’d be disappointed in her for focusing on works with Harper, the same as she had in her own life. Repentance and works and grace and faith all balanced together somehow, though, so what she’d told Harper might not have been wrong.
Anyway, she was disappointed in Gannon. What did it matter if he was disappointed in her?
For her part, Harper didn’t appear troubled. “Having a little chat.” She rose from the bed and crossed the room, laying her hand on Gannon’s chest as she passed.
He stepped backward.
Harper moved on to primp her makeup in the mirror. “We’re done now. You can have her.”
The actress behaved with such familiarity with him. She knew how to navigate this life. She belonged in a way Adeline never would.
She stood and thought of telling Gannon she could take her suitcase from there, but as soon as he saw her struggling with it on the stairs, he’d reclaim the task. She pulled her tote onto her shoulder and looped her purse strap around her hand. Bruce kept pace with her as she started down the hall behind Gannon.
Even without the suitcase, she was carrying too much. The realization that she’d taken the church job to please God when she hadn’t even consulted Him on the decision. The knowledge that she hardly knew God well enough to present Him to someone who asked to hear. A day ago, she would’ve turned to the man who walked ahead of her for help, but today, she couldn’t deny she hardly knew him either.
Once they werearound the corner, away from Harper, Gannon glanced back at Adeline. He’d resisted sending Harper packing only because it would’ve led to a fight and prevented him from taking this opportunity to talk to Adeline.
Her change of clothes looked crisp and professional, but he missed the dress she’d worn this morning, if for no other reason than that her choice to go business casual was a mystery to him. “What did Harper want?”
“She was asking about Christianity.”
“Figures.”
Adeline drew her eyebrows together.
He started up the stairs to the third floor. “That’s how my relationship with her started. She knows we won’t refuse to talk to her about our faith, so she fakes interest to get us to let her hang around.”
“It didn’t seem impossible that she was genuinely interested. She’s beaten up and camping out here. She needs hope.”
And Harper was exactly the type to manufacture some for herself by conning Adeline into feeling sorry for her. “If you think she’s seeking God, I’ll connect her with Drew.” They reached the landing, and he set the suitcase on its wheels. “How did everything go today?”
“The damage to the siding and woodwork isn’t bad, but because of what it’ll take to get the smoke smell out, I have to open a claim. The work on the porch can continue. The painting on the other areas of the house can too, but I’m not sure yet if insurance will want to pay your painters for repairing the fire-damaged portion or if they’ll want to bring someone else in. It’s a mess.”
Gannon rolled the suitcase a foot or two into Adeline’s room, then retreated to the doorway. “Let me pay the deductible and whatever other expenses come out of this. I’m the reason someone was on your property. In fact, I’ll pay the whole thing. You don’t even have to go through insurance. Make it easier on yourself.”
Adeline stood just inside the room, the tote and purse still weighing her down. “I’m working on something that’ll cover the deductible.”
He’d expected her to refuse, but had she dressed up to go to the bank and ask for a loan? That would explain her forlorn expression. “Don’t go into debt over something I caused.”
“I turned in my resume for a job at the university. Tegan knows someone there. She thinks I have a good chance.” Though from her unenthusiastic smile, Adeline wasn’t as confident.
“You know that anything you need—”
“You’ve done enough.” She deposited her tote and purse at the foot of the bed, crossed her arms, and turned back to him. “Michael’s nice, but why does he carry a gun? That seems intense.”
Michael must be the security detail Tim had arranged, the one who’d said something to convince Adeline to stay. “They have to be prepared. I’ve had some close calls.”
Sadness, rather than concern, shrouded Adeline’s expression. “Like what?”
Those details might cause her to wheel that suitcase right back out of his life.
