Page 104 of Love Overboard
The question hit Lacey between the eyes. Of course she believed in God. Prayed. Read her Bible sometimes. But there weren’t many instances where she confided in him.
“Ask God what you should do. I’m positive he’ll answer.” Emily’s gentle gaze embraced her from a distance. “Don’t forgive your father for his own sake, Lacey. Forgive him for yours.”
Lacey stared out the infirmary window. The blinds were raised, and sunshine streamed into the room, casting a bright-white square across the foot of the bed. Pressure built against the back of her eyeballs, but she refused to cry any more tears for a man who didn’t deserve them.
Emily leaned her head on the pillow, and her lids drooped shut. “There’s one lesson I had to learn the hard way. Bitterness locks you up inside, but forgiveness sets you free. I hope you learn that truth quicker than I did.”
Lacey watched the wrinkled face relax as Emily started to doze. It wasn’t enough for her to meddle in other people’s love lives. Now she was shaking the skeletons out of someone else’s family closet.
But her words had convicted Lacey. She tried to consider the advice objectively. When was the last time she’d experienced true freedom? Without the tight little space in the back of her heart that colored the interactions with every person she met? Was this miraculous forgiveness Emily touted the key?
The infirmary door burst open and slammed against the wall. Emily’s head jerked as the Shippers poured into the room in a noisy, tearful pile. The doctor followed behind them.
“Oh, baby.” Althea bustled up and grabbed the headboard. “I thought you were a goner.”
Daisy maneuvered around Lacey and went to the other side of the bed. “Are you sure she’s fully recovered, doctor?”
“Once she rests, she’ll be fine.” He wagged a finger at Emily. “As long as she follows the doctor’s orders.”
Gerry brandished a notepad. “Don’t you worry. Tell us what we need to do, and we’ll sit on her and pour the medicine down her throat if we have to.”
“Doctor”—Althea lightly patted the top of Emily’s frizzy hair—“is it all right if I give her a hug?”
He nodded. “Please do. It might improve her condition.”
Althea hunkered low and placed one soft, pudgy arm around Emily. “I was afraid I’d have to pass the pearly gates before I got to see you again.”
Daisy leaned in from the other side and laid her arm on top of Althea’s. “You scared the living daylights out of me.”
Gerry shoved past the doctor to stand beside Althea and then wrapped her long, thin arms around the group. “Don’t you ever do that to us again.”
Lacey rose from her seat and tiptoed out of the room. As she closed the door behind her, Emily spoke.
“I’m not going anywhere, girls. I never leave a job half-finished.”
Lacey laughed. That statement might’ve terrified her a few weeks ago. Now she bowed her head and prayed Emily Windsor would live to meddle in many more people’s romances.
CHAPTER 47
THE BEDSIDE LAMP CAST Awarm glow on the wall of Lacey’s windowless cabin. She stared at the keypad on the phone, dialed twice, and hung up both times before the call connected. Her body slid off the bed and onto the floor. Lacey rested her forehead against the rough carpet. It felt comforting to be lower.
“God?” She clasped her hands together and propped them under her chin. “Since I’m on my knees anyway … Emily thought you and I should talk.” Lacey paused, but no ethereal voice answered. “You’re listening, right? I could use some advice. You used to do that kind of thing in those Bible stories, but I imagine a person has to be special to get an angel with a message nowadays.”
A picture of a poofy mop of gray hair framing a mischievous face flashed through her mind, and Lacey smiled.
“Yes. Emily Windsor is a kind of angel. I admit it. But did you have to send such an exasperating one?”
Lacey waited, but the Almighty wasn’t offering any audible responses. Unless she counted the washing machine tapping on the other side of her bedroom wall. Emily popped into her thoughts again. Maybe God already sent his opinion through a pushy little yenta and didn’t feel like repeating himself.
Forgiveness.
Raising her head, Lacey shoved herself up and sat with her back propped against the bed. She dialed again and held the phone to her ear.
It rang twice, and her father answered.
“Lacey, is that you?”
“Hi, Dad.”
