“Children?”Lesley repeated.“You do move quickly, don’t you?I’m just getting used to the idea of being a wife and you’ve already made me a mother.”
“We’ll build a magnificent house on a lake.”
Lesley laid her head against his chest, hardly able to take in everything he was saying.“This is getting better all the time.”
“With a soundproof room for you to sing in.”
Tipping her head back, Lesley laughed into eyes that were warm and shining with that special loving glow.For the first time she was looking at Cole and seeing past the pain and bitterness that had haunted him all these weeks.“I should be angry at that remark, but I’m too much in love to care.”
“I didn’t feel I had the right to ask you to share my life until I heard from Lansky, but I need you.My whole life can be in turmoil, but as long as you’re by my side nothing else matters.”
“That’s the way I feel.”
“I love you, Lesley Brown.”
“And I love you, Daniel Cole Engstrom.”
He continued to hold her around the waist as if he couldn’t bear to release her.“Let’s sit down.There’s a lot we need to discuss.”
A small burst of happy laughter erupted from Lesley.“And I was so sure God had made a mistake when He moved you beside me.”
Cole looked down on her, his face frowning.“How’s that?”
“Terry and I’d prayed about who was going to move into the duplex.When it was you, I was sure God had made a terrible error.”
“After the first week, you’d nearly convinced me I had, too,” he joked.
“What made you choose this apartment?”
They sat together on the couch.Cole looped an arm around her shoulder, bringing her head to rest against his shoulder.“The lake.I’d been driving for two days, not sure where I’d stop, having more or less decided to hole up in a small eastern Washington community.But the beauty of the lake seemed to beckon me.I stopped in at a real estate office and rented the duplex sight unseen.”
“But God sent you,” Lesley added confidently.
Cole didn’t respond for a long moment.“If you say so.”
Some of Lesley’s happiness was dampened by doubt at Cole’s tone.“You have a hard time believing as strongly as I do about Christ, don’t you?”
“It’s not that I don’t believe.I guess I’m more agnostic than anything.”
“Do my strong feelings bother you?”
“No,” he responded in a straightforward tone.“Whatever you want is fine.The kids, too.If it’s important to you, I’ll go to church and the whole bit, but only because I love you.”
Lesley vacillated.It was important to her—more than important: vital.Her relationship with Jesus had priority over everything in her life, including Cole.The thought flitted through hermind that if he agreed to come to church with her, she couldn’t really expect more.Not for now anyway.That he was open-minded and willing was all she needed.
The phone rang, and Lesley could feel Cole tense at her side.
“It could be Terry,” Lesley murmured reassuringly.
“Or Lansky,” Cole added.
She watched his face as he picked up the receiver.“Yes.”The lone word sounded clipped and final.
A play of emotions showed in his face.He looked for a moment as if someone had kicked him in the stomach.
Automatically Lesley reached for his hand, squeezing it.She was shocked at how cold it was.She watched as Cole went completely white, his face devoid of color as he laid down the phone.
“What is it?”
