Chapter 27

Emma couldn’t get comfortable. She tossed and turned on her bed even as Aunt Karen’s words tumbled over each other in her mind.

“Are you really going to work out everything for my good, God?” she whispered.

All of the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

Chapter 26

Emma sat in the car, hunched over Rachel’s journal, while Andrew practiced soccer. She’d abandoned her folding chair on the sideline when the autumn breeze turned chilly. 

She read Rachel’s letter again, absently caressing the page that was now wavy and blurred from her tears. Even though she’d practically memorized it by now, she still basked in the warmth of Rachel’s love. 

She glanced at the clock on the radio: only 30 minutes left of practice. She turned to the next page, another entry about Ana. 

Chapter 25

It was over a week before Emma could bring herself to open Rachel’s journal again. She’d finally finished cleaning the kitchen, having forced Andrew to load the dinner dishes in the dishwasher, and her shoulders were tight after enduring his incessant whining. She now sat on the back porch in the gathering shadows. Rolling her shoulders forward and back, she let out her breath slowly. Chin in hand, she flipped to the next entry.

Thursday 10/28/99

I finally understand why Ana is so troubled. No wonder!

Chapter 24

The next evening, Emma made herself a tuna salad sandwich with everything she liked, for once: chopped apples, a handful of dried cranberries, and a few chopped walnuts. “Mmm,” she breathed as she took the first bite. But she soon forgot the sandwich as she read Rachel’s next entry.

Monday 10/4/99

While Ana was cleaning the chalkboard in detention today, I sat down in Javier’s desk on the front row. I cleared my throat and said, “Ana, I’m going to ask you something, and I hope you’ll feel comfortable enough to answer me. But I’ll understand if you don’t.”

She stopped scrubbing and asked warily, “What is it, Miss?”

Chapter 23

The sense of God’s nearness hovered over Emma throughout the next day, and she couldn’t believe how much better her work day went. She felt like she’d had ten hours of sleep instead of six.

“What’re you so happy about?” Melissa asked when she caught Emma staring into space and grinning.

Although she had no idea of her partner’s religious views, she couldn’t repress the answer that rolled off her tongue. “God loves me.”

Chapter 22

To Emma’s surprise, Andrew didn’t put up a fight over going to church. She figured he was probably happy to be getting out after being confined to the house all weekend due to his grounding. She felt the same way.

But when Aubrey honked the horn out front, Emma had an attack of nerves. Unable to craft a suitable excuse to back out, she knotted her purple scarf, slid into her gray suede pumps, and went to the kitchen to prod Andrew again. 

“Didn’t I just tell you to put on your shoes? She’s here! Come on.”

Chapter 21

Emma leaned against the window by the front door, pulling back the curtain just an inch. Joe was heading out of town this week, and Andrew was due back home any minute. Her heart rose when Joe’s truck pulled up, only to sink when he didn’t bother getting out. It hurt so much to see her son carrying his clothes in a duffel bag, as if this were a sleepover.

She put on a cheerful smile before she opened the door for Andrew.