A Time to Love (13 page)

“Yes, and so do you. They’re members of our church.”

“Who?”

“You know Mike and Rosie Brannan, don’t you?”

“Sure”.

“Well, when they came to talk to me about joining the church, they told me they’d found each other—as Christians—through an ad.”

Blake smiled broadly. “Whattaya know about that! Mike and Rosie. Since the Lord gave Mike a wife that way, He sure can do it for me!”

“I don’t know why not,” said the preacher. “Just be sure to keep those strict specifications in your ads, and pray a lot. You want this kept confidential, don’t you?”

“Ah … yes, sir.”

“Okay. I’ll be praying for the Lord’s perfect guidance for you.”

After they prayed together, Blake left the office and walked back to the bank.

Two days later, he sent advertisements to six eastern newspapers, stating his firm requirements. In the ads he said that he was a banker, without revealing that he was the owner and president of Pacific Bank and Trust Company. Wealth, he told himself, should not be a factor in something as important as this.

A
T THE FORREST HOME IN BOSTON,
Linda got up early and dressed each morning and kept herself occupied. She helped her mother with the many chores around the house, and when her mother went shopping she even did jobs that were ordinarily Adrienne’s.

The peace God had given Linda was real, and her parents were delighted that she no longer spoke of hating her sister or Lewis Carter. In fact, she seldom even mentioned their names. At the same time, she still could not bring herself to go out among people, which resulted in a dismal existence for her.

Although she was helpful around the house, she did her work almost by rote, as if she were in a daze. She ate little, and her dresses were beginning to hang loosely on her. No prompting from her parents could give her a better appetite.

Once her chores were done, she either went to her room or into the shaded backyard. Only recently had she ventured out the door. In either place, she sat in quiet solitude, thinking and praying for hours on end.

Nolan and Adrienne were deeply concerned about Linda’s obvious lack of interest in life, and they continually asked God for an end to this difficult time for her, and that He would give her total victory to be the girl she had once been.

Pastor and Mrs. Stanford came to the house at least twice a week to counsel Linda. Joline Jensen Simons was the only person Linda would allow to come any time she wished. Hence, Joline came almost daily. As time passed, Linda also allowed her two good friends Betty Madison and Shirley Wells to visit her. Betty and Shirley began coming to the house
two and three times a week. Shirley was now engaged to a young man in the church.

One Saturday evening, the Stanfords showed up on the Forrests’ doorstep just after supper. Nolan led them to the parlor. “We saw you coming,” he said. “Adrienne has gone to Linda’s room to get her.”

“How’s she doing?” Pastor Stanford asked.

“About the same. She reads her Bible two or three times a day and spends a lot of time in prayer. She’s staying close to the Lord. It’s just … we can’t get her to go outside that front door.”

“The Lord has the answer for this, Nolan,” Doris said. “We’ve simply got to keep praying, and make sure she knows we love her and are here for her when she needs us.”

Adrienne appeared, saying that Linda would be along in a moment.

When Linda appeared in the doorway, Doris went to her and wrapped her arms around the girl, saying, “I sure do love you.”

Linda squeezed her tight. “I sure do love you, too.” Then she looked over Doris’s shoulder, and said, “That goes for you, too, Pastor.”

The preacher smiled. “Your pastor loves Miss Linda, too.”

When everyone was seated, Lloyd Stanford said, “Linda, Doris and I came by this evening especially because tomorrow’s Sunday. We’d sure love to see you come back to church. How about tomorrow?”

Linda’s face lost color as she replied, “Pastor, I … I wish I could do as you ask. But I just can’t. Please try to understand. I just can’t. The shame and embarrassment of being stood up at the church is still very much with me. I really appreciate your caring enough to come and give me a special invitation. But when I think of facing people who know what happened, I turn cold all over.”

“It’s only recently that she’s gone outside,” Adrienne hastened to add.

“And only to the backyard,” Linda said. “And even then, when I’ve seen the neighbors walk down the alley, they give me that stare.”

“’That stare,’ dear?” Doris said.

“Yes, as if they’re thinking, There’s Linda Forrest. You’ve heard about her, I’m sure! Got herself all gussied up to get married, and her groom
ran off with her sister! Left her standing right there at the church, wondering where the groom and the maid of honor had gone!”

Adrienne swung her gaze to the pastor and his wife. “I’ve told her this is just her imagination, but she insists I’m wrong.”

Linda’s face twisted. “Mom, by now everybody in Boston has heard about the girl who got left at the altar. Certainly our neighbors know about it. And you haven’t seen their eyes. I’m telling you, they stare at me as if I was a freak or something.”

“Linda,” said the pastor, “I know this awful thing has gone deep into your mind. But the Lord can give you victory over it like He’s given you victory over the hatred you first felt toward Janet and Lewis. If you would just come to church and be among those who love you, and hear some Bible preaching and teaching, it would get you over it more quickly.”

“But Pastor, I can’t make myself go out among people who know about me. Please believe me. I’m not trying to be difficult. This is something the Lord alone can change. At this point, He hasn’t seen fit to do it.”

Doris looked at Linda with compassion. “Your parents are sticking with you on this, honey, and so are Pastor and I. It’s good that you also have Joline, Betty, and Shirley. We’ll keep praying, and we’ll keep coming to see you. The Lord will do His work in your heart and mind when it’s His time. Don’t forget … we love you.”

A few days later, Linda was sitting in a rocking chair on the back porch, reading her Bible. She heard voices in the alley, and presently two elderly women appeared, walking along slowly.

Linda recognized them. They were widows who lived together in the same block, at the other end of the street. They were speaking in low tones, and Linda couldn’t make out what they were saying. When they glanced her direction, she closed her eyes and whispered, “Please, Lord, help me.”

When she opened her eyes, they were out of sight.

“There you are!” a cheerful feminine voice greeted her.

Linda turned, and a smile broke across her face. “Hi, Joline.”

“Hi, yourself.” Joline sat down in another rocker beside Linda. “How you doing?”

“Okay, I guess.” Linda closed her Bible and held it on her lap.

“One of these days you’ll go out in the front yard, sweetie,” Joline said with assurance. She began talking about the church services over the last few weeks, the good preaching the pastor was doing, and what was going on in some people’s lives at church. She named at least a dozen people who had mentioned Linda of late, saying they really missed her.

“You’re so sweet to tell me, Joline,” Linda said. “I’m glad they miss me at church.”

“The door is always open,” Joline said softly.

“I know. I just can’t go through it.”

“Honey, the Lord gave you the grace to get over the hatred toward Lewis and Janet you were harboring, didn’t He?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t you think that same grace can take you through the church door to see all the people who love you?”

Linda thought on it a few seconds. “Yes. But He hasn’t given it to me yet.”

“He will.”

“I’m waiting.”

Joline nodded, then closed her eyes.

Linda squinted at her. “Is something wrong, Joline?”

“I can’t really call it wrong, honey. But right now I’m facing something quite difficult.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well … I’ve got something to tell you that isn’t pleasant.”

Linda straightened in the rocker. “What is it?”

Tears misted Joline’s eyes. “Frank has been offered an excellent job in Pittsburgh. We’ve prayed about it for almost two weeks now. Frank asked me not to say anything to anybody until we made our decision about it. We both got real peace yesterday, and we feel the Lord is in it.
Its a tremendous opportunity for him. He wired them this morning that he would take the job.”

Linda’s face looked desolate. “H-how soon will you be leaving?”

“They want him there day after tomorrow. So we’re leaving on the first train in the morning. Six o’clock.”

Tears flooded Linda’s eyes as she rose from the chair and laid her Bible on the seat. Joline stood up and wrapped her arms around her friend, and they wept.

When their crying had diminished to sniffling, Linda said, “Honey, I’m glad for Frank—the job and all—but I’m going to miss my best friend something terrible!”

“I’m going to miss my best friend something terrible, too! That’s why I said I had to do something unpleasant. I didn’t want to upset you!”

Adrienne came out the back door with a worried look on her face.

“Joline and Frank are moving to Pittsburgh, Mom,” Linda said. “They’re leaving tomorrow morning.”

“Pittsburgh! Why are you going to Pittsburgh?”

Joline told Linda’s mother about the job and that she and Frank could see God’s hand in it. After telling Joline she would miss her, Adrienne said, “I’ll let you two best friends have your time together. Come and let me hug you good-bye on your way out, won’t you, Joline?”

“I sure will.”

When Adrienne had gone back inside the house, Joline said, “I have to go in a few minutes, but I want to repeat to you what I’ve said before. The Lord has a special man all picked out for you. Right now, it seems like nothing’s happening. But honey, God’s hand is working even though you can’t see it. He loves you, and He’s going to give you that special man at just the right time.”

Once again, Linda and Joline hugged each other tightly.

“Now, you write to me, Linda, especially when that man walks into your life, all right?”

“Yes.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

For the next two days Linda cried a lot over Joline’s move to Pittsburgh. But finally she adjusted to the fact that life was full of change, and this was just one of those changes. She was happy that Frank had landed such a good job.

Joline had been gone a little over a week when Adrienne went shopping with Frances Diamond and Betty Madison appeared at the Forrests’ front door.

This was the first time Betty had visited without Shirley Wells. Linda looked past her and said, “Where’s Shirley?”

“Oh, she and her fiancé are out buying things for their wedding. I’ve been wanting to see you alone, so I took advantage of this moment to come by.”

“Well, trot your little self in here. I could use some company.”

“You miss Joline, I’m sure.”

“Yes. But I’m so glad I still have you.”

Betty looked down for a moment and then said, “Where would you like to talk?”

“How about the parlor?”

When they were seated facing each other, Linda studied her friend’s face and waited for her to speak.

“Linda,” Betty began, putting her hands together and interlacing her fingers, “there’ve been some pretty big things happening in my life that I haven’t told you about on these visits.”

“Oh?”

“It isn’t that I wanted to keep something from you, I just wanted to be sure that what was appearing to be God’s will for my life was really so before I told you about it. It’s the biggest thing that’s happened to me, other than being saved.”

“Makes sense,” Linda said, giving her a slight smile. “Better to have something that important settled before telling your friends about it. So, now that you know it’s the Lord’s will, let’s hear it.”

Betty bounced on the couch to adjust her position. “Well … have you ever heard about the mail order brides who are going west?”

“Why, yes. I’ve heard about the mail order bride concept. Started back in the gold rush days, didn’t it? About 1848 or 1849?”

“Yes.”

“I really don’t know much about it.”

“Well, I read recently that out west there are about two hundred single men for every single woman. And for the most part, the only women who go out there are those who go with their husbands. So, in order for those single men who are already out there to come up with a wife, they have to get them from here in the East. And that’s what they’re doing.”

Linda nodded. “Mm-hmm. Advertising in eastern newspapers for women to come out there and marry them. I remember reading something about it not too long ago. Must have been in a magazine. I hardly ever read a newspaper. We don’t have them around the house.”

Betty nodded. “Linda, let me tell you what I did. You know the Lord hasn’t yet brought the right man into my life for marrying.”

“Not up till now, at least.”

“Well … I answered an ad in the
Boston Herald several
weeks ago.”