Secrets of Sloane House(74)

Once soothed, she continued to pray for Reid and for her family and Miranda and miracles. Though she didn’t always like to ask the Lord for help for herself, she asked him for strength and knowledge. For bravery and, finally, for peace.

She truly did need peace. Ever since she’d realized Miranda had gone missing, she’d lost a little bit of herself. At first, she grieved and worried. Felt a huge sense of loss. Then, after arriving in Chicago and taking the job at Sloane House, she’d begun to not only doubt herself but doubt others around her. Those negative feelings had slowly but surely chipped at her insides. Little by little, she’d stopped imagining the best in others and begun to treat everyone with suspicion.

Then, as she prayed, she slowly began to doubt even her own motives, fearing that she wasn’t only looking for Miranda, but, in a strange, awful way, letting her worries transform her into something and someone she didn’t even recognize.

It was time to move on. So she asked God to help her come to terms with her situation. If she was destined to mourn for her sister, then she needed to accept that and move on.

And then a funny thing happened. Her clenched hands eased. Her stiff shoulders relaxed. Gradually, her breathing slowed and evened. That was when she was almost sure that she heard the Lord speaking back to her.

She breathed deeply again and reminded herself that he’d been with her this whole time. It was time to stop doubting and to start listening. And he was telling her to remain where she was.

Because she didn’t know what else to do, because she had nowhere else to go, she elected to listen. To be obedient.

Finally she was doing something right. Her body relaxed. Her mind eased. And in spite of everything that was so wrong, she fell asleep.



“Miss?”

Rosalind started and rushed to sit up.

A heavyset man in a pew two rows away turned around. His gaze was serious and sad. “Forgive me, but you were here the other day, weren’t you?” he asked. “When we had the choir practice.”

She stared at him, distrustful, then realized that he might be the answer to her prayers. She nodded.

He looked pleased that his guess had been right. “You’re Mr. Armstrong’s friend, aren’t you?”

She nodded again. “I came here today hoping to see Mr. Armstrong. Do you happen to know if he’ll be by here today?”

He shook his head sadly. “Not to my knowledge. This isn’t a practice day. And Mr. Armstrong doesn’t make all the practices anyway. He’s a busy man, you see.”

She was crestfallen. “I was afraid of that.”

“Is there something I could help you with?”

“Could you tell me his home address?”

“You want his address, miss?”

“I know it’s out of the ordinary, but I must find him as soon as possible. It’s terribly urgent.”

He stared at her so long that she felt her stomach knot.

However, she looked directly at him. She had nothing to lose, and he was her only hope. It no longer mattered what kind of woman this man imagined her to be—most likely loose or pushy. After all, what other kind of woman would be sitting in a church, hoping and praying for help from a man she barely knew?

At last he came to a decision. “I suppose I could give you his address, though I do feel a bit odd about it.” He scratched his trimmed beard. “I’ve never passed on a gentleman’s address to a woman before.”

“I’ve never asked for one before.” She didn’t add another word. Truthfully, there wasn’t anything else to say. She needed an ally.

He stood up, pulled a fountain pen out of a pocket inside his jacket, then paused. Looking just beyond her, his face broke into a wide smile. “Well, would you look at that?” he murmured. “It looks like I was wrong.”

“Pardon me?” She turned, then suddenly felt her heart flip over as a rush of emotions flooded her. “Reid.” She stood up.

“Hello, Jackson,” Reid murmured before directing all his attention on her. He strode forward, his gaze never leaving her own. His expression looked to be a cross between profound relief and unexpected joy. “Rosalind. Thank God.”

She stepped to the aisle and met him. When he held out his hands, she grasped his with a mixture of pure relief and bountiful joy.

After squeezing her fingers lightly, he pulled her into his arms and held her close. “I’ve been so worried. So worried,” he murmured into her hair.

With a sigh, he released her and smiled.

Rosalind smiled too. Her prayers had been answered. The Lord had listened to her and had looked out for her, first by that Jackson man and now with the one person she’d been praying and hoping to see. Tears flooded her eyes and slowly fell down her cheeks. “Oh, Reid, I don’t think you’ll ever know how happy I am to see you.”