Reaching down, he rubbed Jess’s neck. The dog thumped his tail in bliss. “Rachel was in love. I can’t fault that, you know? When a person is in love, there isn’t much choice. If you don’t follow your heart, then the rest of the world isn’t as right. It’s like everything is off-kilter.”
Katie had been mesmerized by his words. Henry had sounded so wise. And he’d spoken directly to her heart.
And that’s when she’d known the truth—she didn’t love Brandon.
That conversation had spurred her decision, but had also fueled her regrets. Katie imagined anyone would feel as she did—it was hard to not love someone when they wanted you to. Sometimes, no matter how much you wanted to love someone, those feelings just never surfaced.
Now that time had gone by, Katie knew she’d made the right decision. Yes, she could have handled things far better. But if she had to go back and live her life again, she knew she wouldn’t choose Brandon over Jonathan. She wouldn’t choose to live a different way.
She had the Lord and His watchful ways to thank for that.
He certainly had guided her through many rough patches. Now she needed His guidance once again. She needed to make things right with Holly. To ask for Brandon’s forgiveness. To move forward. To run to something. To run to the path that was meant just for her.
Closing her eyes, Katie said a prayer from Psalm 105 that had always brought her comfort. Seek the Lord, and his strength; seek his face evermore. “Help me, Jesus. Help me know what to do, help me know what the right thing to do would be.”
With bated breath, she waited for a sign that He heard her words. Waited to feel a new sense of peace. But nothing came.
The wind picked up, blowing branches, which in turn scraped against the outside walls of her bedroom. Quickly, Katie closed the box again and pushed it back under her bed. After blowing out the candle, she burrowed down into the covers and listened to the wind, closed her eyes, and prayed with all her heart. In the dark room, she finally confessed to all of her sins. Confessed to all of her transgressions, asked for forgiveness and guidance. Holly’s reappearance in her life had made one thing painfully clear.
She couldn’t make decisions alone anymore. She would ask God’s help and finally do what He wanted her to. Only then would she ever find peace.
The following morning, Katie knew what she had to do. She had to go see Brandon. There really was no other decision to make. He was sick, he had asked for her, and poor Holly had gone out of her way to find her.
The moment Mary and Hannah left for school, Katie donned her favorite blue dress, then quickly slipped on her black cape, hitched up Blacky, and rode to the Dutchman Inn. There were phones there as well as a place to board Blacky for a few hours. Once she arrived at the inn, she could either ask if there was a driver available, or she could contact one of the people she knew who made a living out of doing such work.
Luckily, Katie didn’t come in contact with much traffic on the small, winding roads that led to the inn. The few cars that did pass her waved before slowly making their way around her buggy. She waved back and used the time on her hands to think about Brandon. It was hard to think of him being in so much pain and facing the end of his life.
She shouldn’t have pretended she’d never known him. She should have been mature enough to at least try to remain friends instead of blocking all memories of their relationship away, hoping they’d never surface again.
All too soon, she pulled up to the side entrance to the Dutchman Inn, settled Blacky, then approached the manager.
“I’m needing a driver today, Mr. Pruitt,” she said as soon as she saw the forty-year-old manager working at one of the back tables. Terry was the original owner’s son, and he had taken over the management of the popular restaurant when his parents were tired of the day-to-day grind. “Any chance you know of someone here who could help me?”
“Where you going, Katie?”
She pulled out the sheet of paper that Holly had given her. “Adams Community Hospital. Do you know of it?”
“I do. Amy delivered all four of our kids there.” He looked at her over a pair of half-moon reading glasses. “Everything okay?”
“Yes. I’m just paying a call on an old friend of mine.” Thinking that he might be wondering why Henry or her parents weren’t accompanying her, she added, “It’s kind of a sudden visit.”
“How long do you need to go for?”
“Not long. Maybe an hour or two?”
Terry nodded. “I can take you. Give me five minutes and then we’ll be on our way, okay?”
Thirty minutes later, she walked into the main reception area. Terry had dropped her off, promising to return in one hour.