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"Mom," Ti flannel nightgown that had seen better years Shirley had her work cut out for her if she planned to find this woht fruht I heard soht and searched the roohted the floral arrangeht for the ceiling, hovering there

Jody searched the roo out of the ordinary "There’s no one here"

"I thought I heard souess not, too," Jody said, placing her ar him back to his bedroo down and sht have been?" Ti up He paused and blinked, rubbed his eyes again, then looked back

"Who knows?" Jody said and turned out the light

Monica’s attitude toward Chet altered drastically over the next couple of days He was still a scoundrel and a no-good rogue, but darned if she didn’tit, no possible way of reasoning it out in her mind

She tried to fill the emptiness that surrounded her with a flurry of activity The night before she’d dragged out the Christ them around the house and office Her father, iy was so lunch with Michael Monica didn’t correct hiain and wondered if he ether or if he’d given her as ht in the days since they’d last been together

She wore her hair down thatand when she walked into the kitchen her father lowered the ently at her

"Monica," he said softly, "how nice you look"

"Thank you"

"Will you be seeing Michael again this afternoon"

"II don’t know" How keen her father was on the young ed Michael early on as the perfect husband for her He was right Her father generally was How she wished she felt the same way about the earnest choir director There was no question of what a fine ible woladly welcomed his notice For now those attentions were sadly wasted on her

"It see over for dinner one night soon You don’t mind, do you?"

"Of course not, Michael is welcome anytime" So this was to be the way of it Her father would chart her roether again

"I’m sure he’ll approve of the way you’ve done your hair," he added, looking pleased

She smiled weakly "I’ll see you in a few minutes," she said, anxious to escape their conversation

"You’re leaving for the office so soon?"

"Ihave several things I need to do first thing thisMrs McWillia the glass in the sink

The woman was an old and faithful church member who’d recently broken her hip Lloyd visited her at least twice a week

"I’ll see you later, then," Monica said, eager to make her escape She walked across the yard to the old church building and let herself in by the side door that opened onto the sanctuary area She’d been raised in this building, lived the majority of her life in the sa directly to the office, which was situated in the room at the rear of the church off the foyer, Monica paused and looked toward the altar An unspoken prayer rose in her throat and she found herselftoward the altar rail

Monica kelt there and slowly bowed her head "Guide his life, Father," she whispered The tears that filled her eyes came as a surprise and the remainder of the words were choked off in her throat She wasn’t sure how to pray for Chet But God knew and she’d leave the man and the matter in His capable hands

Severalslipped past al of a chore with her hair continually falling in her face It irritated her so much that she found two bobby pins in a desk drawer and clipped both sides behind her ears

She was busy working on the bulletin for Sundayworship service when the door opened Monica looked up from the computer and her pulse quickened Quickened was awhat happened to her Her heart was banging against her ribs with such force she wasn’t able to do anything more than breathe