Page 20 of Look for Me

Chapter Nine

Corinne got up before dawn on Saturday morning to read her Bible and pray. By the time she made coffee and carried her Bible to the back porch, the sun was rising.

She sat on the rickety chair that probably needed to be cleaned with bleach soon. The porch also needed sweeping.

Maybe she could do that before she went to work today.

The thought of work reminded her of who had walked into the Key Largo Chocolate Shop on Thursday afternoon.

Why did God allow Martin to find her in Key Largo?

That had to be the only reason he was in town.

Four years, and he still hadn’t forgotten her.

Oddly enough, she felt a sense of relief that he had found her. Two years ago, she wouldn’t have thought she’d survive to raise her daughter.

If something should happen to her…

She held back her tears.

Tropical birds chirped in the neighborhood trees. Corinne looked up to see leaves rustling in the morning wind.

Sparrows landed on a chain-link fence near a two-piece birdbath that Corinne had salvaged from someone’s trash and hauled five blocks home, one piece at a time. Dahlia enjoyed filling that birdbath with tap water, but it had been during one of her chore times that she stepped on an anthill.

All was well now, and Corinne had taken care of that anthill and all the ants in it. She felt sorry for the ants she had to kill, but sorrier for her daughter who was allergic to ants, it turned out.

The sparrows drank from the birdbath.

They reminded Corinne of verses from the New Testament. She looked them up in her Bible that someone at church had given to her when she was saved. She found the verses in Luke 12:6-7.

Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.

A stream of tears streaked down her red cheeks.

“I am more valuable than many sparrows. Thank You, Jesus.”

Corinne knew that trouble hadn’t left her, not even after she became a Christian. Trouble was only a door knock away.

Would God send help?

She lifted her eyes to the sky as another verse came to her mind. This time it was from Psalm 102:7, a verse Wanda had mentioned to her before.

I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the housetop.

The back door creaked open. “Mommy?”

Corinne quickly wiped her eyes on the back of her hand. She drew a deep breath.

“Yes, baby?” She smiled broadly.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want her daughter to see her cry, but it was too much to explain. And too soon for the little girl to comprehend life’s complex problems.

“Are you going to work today at the chocolate shop?” Dahlia asked.

“Yes.” Corinne motioned for Dahlia to sit on her lap.

“Can you get me some chocolate? And for Aunt Wanda too?”

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