Looking For You All My Life Part 119

That whole episode with him in her office had shaken her

badly. She knew her reactions had been strong and probably

as harmful as his, but then what could he expect? She won-

dered again if perhaps he simply wasn't the man she'd

thought he was. Rebecca had insinuated as much in her last

email message. Or perhaps Jed didn't actually love her, not

the way she loved him. Maybe it was all for the best to find

these things out now before their relations.h.i.+p progressed, or

digressed, any further. On the other hand, perhaps this was

all just a great, big misunderstanding; a problem that could

be resolved with some serious effort from both of them.

Maybe she should just give the whole thing some time to

cool down and sort itself out. She tried to take comfort in

Shakespeare's words, "The course of true love never did run

smooth." Besides, she chided herself, didn't she have enough 186Melody Carlson

on her plate right now? Here she was running the paper and

what suddenly appeared to be a boarding house for home-

less men. Not to mention she had guests coming for

Christmas. She looked at the days of December left on her

calendar and actually gasped. Why, she hadn't even taken

the time to do her Christmas shopping yet!

Barbara Harris came to dinner the following night, and

while Leah and Jed were missed, the others still enjoyed a

pleasant evening. It was plain to see that Barbara was

growing quite fond of young Michael. She even mentioned

how she saw a lot of her Steven in him, jokingly saying that

she just might adopt him as her own son.

"I was so impressed with Michael's sermon on Sunday,"

she continued as they ate their dessert. "I think he has a rare

gift; I, for one, have never been quite so touched by a church

service before."

Michael smiled, then spoke with sincere humility. "If you

were touched, Mrs. Harris, it was by the hand of G.o.d, not

my feeble words."

a "Well, while I've never considered myself to be much of

G.o.d-fearing person, I do think that G.o.d must be speaking

through you somehow," she said with conviction. "Tell me,

what are your long-term plans, Michael? How long do you

think you'll stay in Pine Mountain?"

"Until G.o.d tells me to go somewhere else. Or," he

laughed, "until there are no more unbelievers left to preach

the good news to."

Gavin had been very quiet during all this talk of religion,

but finally he spoke up. "I've never been one to think much

about G.o.d, one way or another," he admitted. "That is, until

I decided to quit drinking. In my rehab program, they told

us to look to a higher being for help. I thought it was just a

big gimmick at first, but then I wasn't having any real suc-

cess on my own either. So I finally asked G.o.d to help me, and Looking for You All My Life187

I can't even explain what happened, but it was amazing, and