On Every Side Part 7

"Faith, I've never loved anyone like I love you." There had been unshed tears in his eyes, tears that at the time seemed utterly genuine. He let go with one hand and reached into his coat pocket, pulling out a velvet box. As though he'd practiced for the moment, he opened it in a single move. There inside lay a diamond ring bigger than any Faith had ever seen. "Marry me, Faith."

The memory faded, and she gritted her teeth, noticing that her hands were clenched. Even now, when she was glad for not having made the mistake of marrying him, the anger and hurt he'd caused her. still lay in the open places of her heart. If only she'd seen it coming back then.

Rosa caught her gaze and waved at her. "Hi, Faith!"

Faith's love for the child made her heart swell. "Hi, sweetie!"

Confident that Faith was there for her, watching her, Rosa returned to her play. Faith glanced down at her hands, remem-bering how she'd gone home a week after Mike proposed and shown the diamond ring to her parents. They'd met Mike by then, and though her mother was thrilled with the idea of their engagement, her father had been wary.

"Something about him doesn't ring true." Her father had stroked his beard thoughtfully. "I can't put my finger on it, but it makes me worried for you, Faith. I have to be honest."

She'd only given her father a teasing smile and a quick kiss on the cheek. "Would any man ever be good enough, Daddy?"

There was just one aspect of their relations.h.i.+p that caused Faith any private doubt. Mike hadn't wanted to set a wedding date. She could still hear his weak excuses. "I need to focus on my career right now, Faith. It'd be impossible to be married and keep up my performance as an athlete." He'd weave his fingers through her hair and pull her close, kissing her. "You under-stand, right?"

And she had. After all, he'd been a perfect gentleman, respecting her determination to stay pure, at least respecting it until his marriage offer. Faith had her own apartment, and certainly they'd had their moments of temptation, but always he found his way to the front door before midnight and without putting any pres-sure on her. They prayed together, attended church together, and talked of having a G.o.dly marriage, one that the Lord Himself would bless for all time.

Faith uttered a sad laugh.

In the end, her father's doubts had been more genuine than anything Mike had promised. The changes came after the engagement, and though they were subtle, they were persistent. "We're practically married, Faith..." he'd whisper as he kissed her neck, running his hands along her sides. "Do you really think G.o.d would care if I stayed the night? Just this once."

Week after week Faith could feel her resolve wearing thin, but still she refused his attempts. "We've waited this long, Mike. It's important to me. To both of us, right?"

"Please, Faith... just one time..."

Three months after getting engaged, when they were alone in her apartment well after midnight, she couldn't find the words to tell him no, couldn't hold back from welcoming his embrace and finally giving in to the physical love they'd both been resisting. Six weeks later a home pregnancy test confirmed what she already knew.

She was a Christian sportscaster carrying the baby of one of the players on the team she covered.

Faith felt nauseous as she remembered what happened next. She'd told Mike about the baby and suggested they set a quick wedding date, but he was distant and vague, careful not to make promises. Why didn't I see it coming, Lord? Faith's unspoken question hung in the rafters of her mind even now. It was behind her; it had to be. Forgotten as though it had never happened...

The sun was s.h.i.+fting and a chill pa.s.sed over her. It was almost time to get Rosa back to her foster home. She blinked and tried to forget the way the story ended but there was no getting around it. For the next month Mike seemed always too busy to return her phone calls.

It wasn't until she saw a newspaper photo of him with one of the team cheerleaders that she figured it out.

She'd broken down and cried when he finally called her a week later. "How could you?"

"Listen, Faith, you're too serious for me. I'm not ready to settle down."

She had been so distraught she'd spent the afternoon fighting violent bouts of nausea and anxiety. The bleeding started later that night, and by the next morning she had lost everything that might remind her of Mike Dillan. At the end of the month she took his diamond ring to a p.a.w.nshop and hocked it to pay her hospital bills.

The only person who ever knew about the baby was her father, and his support had been exactly what Faith had expected. "I'm sorry, honey" He held her, stroked her hair and comforted her as he'd done when she was little, back when having an argu-ment with a girlfriend was the worst thing that happened to her. No snide remarks or reminders about how he'd seen it coming, no chastis.e.m.e.nts on how she should have known better than to date a professional athlete. No digs about Mike's supposed belief in G.o.d and how that had turned out to be nothing more than good public relations for his high profile persona.

Only understanding and grace.

The same grace G.o.d Himself had extended her when the ordeal was over. Faith's throat was thick with the memories, and she swallowed back a wave of tears. G.o.d had never turned His back on her. Not then, and not years later when she had her acci-dent. Not even when her father died.

No, G.o.d had been there through it all.

She thought about Jordan, how she had long since given up the idea that she'd ever see him again and somehow she knew the Lord had His hand in that too. Had she ever felt so at ease with another man? She knew she hadn't. Though she'd been attracted to Mike, she'd been cautious from the beginning. First because of their professional conflicts, then because of her father's concerns. Her subtle fears about Mike had been easy to bury, but now, in light of her time with Jordan, the difference was striking.

No one had ever made her feel the way Jordan did. Maybe because she had loved him back when they were so young.

Faith noticed the sun making its way toward the horizon and she locked her attention on Rosa. Poor, girl. Lord, give her a fam-ily, please...

She cupped her hands around her mouth. "Rosa, let's go, honey."

The little girl jumped up and waved at her new friends. Then she ran up and circled her arms around Faith's neck. "Is it time to go?"

Faith's heart felt as though it had slipped through a hole in her left sock." Yes, sweetie pie. Your foster mom's expecting you back."

Rosa stared across the park toward the Jesus statue. "Know what I asked Jesus for today?" She angled her head in Faith's direction and grinned, her eyes filled with light.

"What?"

"I asked Him to let you be my mommy."

There was a choking feeling at the back of Faith's throat as she fought more tears. What's this feeling I have, Lord? I can't he her mother, You know that I can hardy take care of myself Be strong and courageous, my daughter. Life is not lived within the safety of walls.

Faith gulped back a sob as she knelt and hugged Rosa. After a moment she drew back, looking straight into the child's soul. "Oh, honey I would love to be your mommy. There couldn't be any better daughter for me than you."

Rosa's eyes glowed with hope. "You mean you'll do it then? You'll take me home to live with you?"

"Sweetheart... I don't know." There was nothing she could do about the tears and Faith held the girl close once more so she wouldn't see them. Why was she feeling this way-as though she'd been born to love this little girl? Faith wiped her cheeks and looked at Rosa again. "I'll ask Him the same thing, okay?"

Rosa's smile took up most of her face as she tucked her small hand into Faith's. "My Sunday school teacher says that Jesus always hears us, even when we don't get the answer we want."

Discreetly, Faith wiped away another release of tears. "That's right, honey."

Rosa stared across the park again. "Know why I like the Jesus statue?"

"Why?" They walked without any sense of purpose, both reluctant to see the afternoon end.

"Because it makes me know how big Jesus is." Rosa released her grip on Faith's hand and stretched her arms as far as they could go in either direction. "Bigger than anything in the whole wide world."

Faith caught the girl's fingers again and squeezed them gently. "Don't you ever forget it, honey Don't ever forget it."

Rosa's words still played in Faith's mind that evening as she got ready for work. The news didn't start until eleven, but she had to be there four hours early to write and edit her newscast. Ultimately d.i.c.k Baker had final editorial say over what aired, but Faith liked to think she played some role in shaping the flavor of Philadelphia's news.

I'd come in six hours early if they'd give me a little more influence...

She pulled a navy rayon blouse from her closet and slipped it on. Her bedroom was smaller now that she'd moved back into her parents' house, but it had been the smartest thing she could do at the time. Besides, she. and her mom were agreeable room-mates, and with Dad gone now and Sarah married, it made no sense for Faith to live across town alone.

Faith wished her mother were here now, but she'd gone to Chicago for eight weeks to help her sister recover from ankle surgery. Faith's mother had planned the trip months before her father's death, and they'd both felt the trip might actually do her some good, get her out of the house.

But her absence left the house too quiet.

Faith had located matching slacks and was about to slip them on when the phone rang. Maybe it would be Rosa's social worker calling to say that they found her a family...

Faith grabbed the receiver on her bedside table. "h.e.l.lo..."

"Faith, it's me, Joshua." There was a pause and Faith sat on the edge of the bed. Why would her father's former law partner be calling her? "We've got a problem. I wanted you to know before you got to work and found out."

Her heart rate quickened in response. "What happened?"

Joshua drew a deep breath. "You've heard of the legal group HOUR?"

Faith searched her memory bank, but came up empty. "It sounds familiar..."

"Stands for Humanity Organized and United in Responsibility They make their mark with religious freedom cases, you know- ha.s.sling churches, forcing Scout troops to act in violation of their guidelines, making sure nativity scenes don't crop up in public places-that kind of thing."

"Okay" Faith felt her shoulders drop as her body relaxed. Whatever it was, it didn't involve her.

"Anyway, yesterday afternoon they filed a lawsuit against the town of Bethany"

Faith could feel the blood draining from her face. "What for?"

Joshua's voice was thick with emotion." They want the Jesus statue torn down."

Anger released into her veins like a dose of adrenaline. "What? Why would they want that?"

"It's a religious symbol in a public park. Precedence says they probably have a valid point, and Frank's asked me to work on the case. Could be the biggest I've done."

"Frank Furlong? Mayor Frank Furlong?"

"Right."

"He's worried about it?"

"Faith, we're all worried about it. HOUR sent an attorney to Bethany yesterday, and by this morning we were already fielding calls from three major newspapers and all the network affiliates."

"Even WKZN?" Faith was stunned. What would cause an outsider to drive to Bethany and attack the statue in Jericho Park? It wasn't hurting anyone; in fact it was part of the town's history, its heritage. Faith felt her anger rise another notch.

"It'll be one of your top stories." He hesitated. "I wanted you to hear it from me first. I know you're on... well, I know the station's watching you."

The realization of what Joshua had done finally dawned on her. Here he was, about to be thrust in the limelight of a case that would be the most controversial Bethany had seen in decades, and the thing he felt compelled to do was call her. Joshua was more than her father's friend and partner, he was her friend, too. And with her father gone, it meant everything to Faith to know that he'd chosen to look out for her.

You're so good, G.o.d... first seeing Jordan last night and now this. "Thanks, Joshua."

"It's what your dad would have done."

"So what happens next? When's the hearing?" The anger had turned to something altogether different, a sense of justice, of fighting for what was right. It resonated in Faith with a strength that was foreign to her, and she suddenly had to know more details, find out where she fit into the picture and how she could be part of the solution.

"The judge a.s.signed us a date, four weeks from tomorrow The last Wednesday in September." He paused. "The guy from HOUR tried to talk us into taking the statue down without a fight, met with us yesterday afternoon. When we told him no, he filed suit and headed back to New York."

New York? Faith's fingers began to tremble. "I have to get back to New York... New York... New York...."

It couldn't be. He would never have been involved with an organization such as HOUR, not in a million years. Still, how many other New York attorneys had pa.s.sed through town yes-terday? Her throat was suddenly dry and she had to work to find her voice." Did you get the guy's name? The attorney, I mean?"

"From HOUR?"

"Yeah, the man from New York?" Faith held her breath as she heard Joshua shuffling through papers.

"Yeah, just a minute." There was a pause, and Faith didn't think she could stand the suspense. Even if she was right, if it was Jordan, she had no intention of telling Joshua she knew him. It was all too much of a shock.

"Okay, here we go... just a minute... let's see... it's right here."

No, don't let it be... it can't be...

"His name is Jordan Riley."

Ten.

At five minutes before eleven Jordan tuned his satellite receiver to a channel he'd never watched before his brief visit to Bethany: WKZN out of Philadelphia. Since Philadelphia was a major market, it made sense that Jordan's satellite service would carry it, but he was surprised all the same.

Since seeing Faith the night before, feeling how she worked magic on his heart and soul, he'd been plagued by more doubts than he cared to admit. He had never experienced a connection that strong to any woman, never had the unexplainable urge to take a woman home right then and marry her...

Of course his feelings didn't matter. What mattered was that he and Faith had grown into adults who stood on opposite sides of a religious Grand Canyon. As strong as their opposing views were, he knew there would be no bridges to build, no earthly way to span the distance between them. Any chance that may have existed would be demolished after Faith learned the truth.

No, he'd never hold her again, never have the chance to tell her that he would remember last night as long as he lived... but he still had her news show. Once he found the channel, he sat stone still and waited for the broadcast to begin.

The music came first, then a gradual close-in on Faith and her coanchor. The man spoke first. "A second victim in last week's local gun battle is dead today as police continue looking for the suspect."

It was Faith's turn." And in Bethany a powerful law firm takes aim at the city's favorite landmark."

Jordan searched her beautiful eyes for any sign that the story had hit her personally, but he saw none. He could only imagine what sort of emotional turmoil was going on just beneath her polished veneer. He studied her eyes, her hands. Don't hate me Faith... this has nothing to do with you.

"Good evening everyone, I'm Ron Leonard..."

"And I'm Faith Evans, welcome to tonight's edition of WKZN's Nightly News."

Leonard talked a few minutes on the gun battle story; then the camera fixed on Faith.

"An attorney from Humanity Organized and United in Responsibility filed suit yesterday against Bethany claiming that the nearly hundred-year-old Jesus statue violates the Const.i.tution's call for a separation of church and state." Faith kept talking but the camera cut away to a shot of the Jesus statue, with young children playing nearby. "For nearly a century the Jesus statue has stood as a landmark in Bethany, Pennsylvania, without a single complaint waged against it."

Jordan watched, his palms sweaty. Did she know he was the attorney?

"But all that changed yesterday when Jordan Riley, an attorney with the HOUR organization, filed suit asking that the statue be removed."

Well, that answered that. A strange sadness settled over Jordan. After spending more than a decade wondering about Faith, looking for her, they'd lost each other again in less than twenty-four hours. The camera cut back to her.

"There'll be a hearing on the matter Wednesday at which point Judge Randall Webster is expected to make a decision. Hundreds of citizens from Bethany and surrounding communi-ties are expected to attend."