Not by Sight (40 page)

“I know,” Hawk said. “I’m just messin’ with you, Mama. It wouldn’t be nearly as much fun without Elliot, now would it?”

Kate smiled, wondering if she was as transparent to everyone else in the family.

“I ain’t never had Thanksgivin’ before,” Riley said, looking adorable in her brown-and-white gingham dress and the matching bow holding her long ponytail. “It’s the funnest day.”

“It’s fun all right,” Buck said, a smile appearing beneath his white mustache. “But there’s still Christmas.”

“Yay, I love Christmas!” Jesse exclaimed. “We get to make a gingerbread house.”

“I ain’t never seen one,” Riley said. “Is it bigger ’n this house?”

Jesse shook his head. “It’s just a wee little house we make with walls of gingerbread and icing and candy and sprinkles. It’s so much fun. It’s just for decoration. You’ll see.”

“We string a gazillion colored lights on the outside of Angel View,” Abby said, “and all across the back deck. And a huge white star on the very top of the roof. People can see it from Beaver Lake. It’s so cool.”

“
And
we get to cut down our own Christmas tree that goes all the way to the ceiling”—Jesse’s eyes grew big and round—“and put it in front of the big window in the living room so Santa can’t miss it. Right, Mama?” He winked at Kate.

“That’s right. I told Riley we’re going to celebrate Jesus’s birthday properly this year. But we also look forward to whatever Santa brings us. We seem to get lots of presents.”

Riley grinned, exposing a gap where her front teeth had been. “I love presents!”

“As long as we’re waiting on Elliot,” Hawk said, “I think I’ll drive down the mountain to Foggy Ridge and wash my jeep.”

“Tell Laura Lynn we said hey.” Abby shot her brother a knowing look and laughed at his red cheeks.

“Man, is nothing sacred around here?” Hawk sat back in his chair, his arms folded across his chest.

“Why don’t you invite Laura Lynn to join us for dessert and the movie?” Kate said. “There’s always room for one more.”

Hawk smiled sheepishly. “I knew you’d say that. I already did.”

“After I help Mama clean the kitchen,” Abby said to Jay, “why don’t we go for a walk and burn off this amazing meal?”

“I may have to run to get this off.” Jay put his hands on his full belly.

“As for
this
ol’ duffer,” Buck said, “I’m gonna snooze a while, right there next to that warm fire.”

Jesse tore off a piece of a hot roll and popped it into his mouth. “I’m gonna play video games.”

“Before you go, would each of you bring your dishes to the kitchen?” Kate said.

“I’m fixin’ to help Mama dry the pans and platters,” Riley proudly announced. “I know how to be real careful so I don’t break nothin’.”

Abby thought back on memorable conversations she’d had with her mother while cleaning up the kitchen on holidays past. She looked over at Riley. “Thanksgiving cleanup is a special time only we girls get to enjoy.”

“And we guys are more than happy to let you.” Hawk laughed. “See y’all later.”

Abby got up and carried her dishes into the kitchen. She hugged her mother and whispered in her ear. “I love you. This is the best Thanksgiving ever—for so many reasons.”

Kate nodded. “It’s been a long time since there’s been this much laughter in the house. Why don’t you and Jay go for that walk. Riley and I can handle the kitchen.”

“You sure?”

Kate smiled. “I’ll load the dishwasher, and whatever’s left, I’ll wash and she can dry. It’ll be fun.”

“Okay, see y’all later.” Abby linked arms with Jay. “Guess we’re good to go.”

Abby opened the front door and stepped into the crisp November afternoon, marveling at the ways God had honored her mustard-seed faith when that’s all she had. He had done a lot more than just bring Riley home. He had given her back her family.

Kate ran the fully loaded dishwasher on the china-and-crystal setting, and then handwashed the pots and pans and serving pieces. She was tickled that Riley seemed to take great pride in drying them thoroughly and setting them aside neatly on the countertop, as if to display her handiwork.

“Mama, can we spend time lookin’ at the pictures now?” Riley said.

“Sure.”

“I wanna see the ones of me when I was little. And of Daddy and me.”

“Come on,” Kate said. “We’re about done here. Let’s go look at pictures while the house is quiet.”

Kate went into the living room, where her father snored contentedly in his easy chair next to the crackling fire. She picked up the least heavy of the brown leather photo albums and sat on the couch next to Riley. She opened the album, which was filled with pictures taken of Riley shortly after she was born. They had looked through this album more in the past six months than in the entire five years her daughter was missing.

Riley studied each picture, smiling with her eyes. “Daddy looks nice. I look kinda weird.”

“You were a beautiful baby.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Oh, sweetie, look at all that dark hair,” Kate said. “And those pretty almond-shaped eyes. And fair skin. You looked like a little doll.”

“Is that why you and Daddy loved me?”

Kate slipped her arm around Riley’s shoulder. “You were adorable, but that’s not the reason. There’s a very special love that happens between a parent and child. Your daddy and I didn’t even have to try—we just loved you the minute we saw you. Of course, we’d been waiting patiently for nine months to meet you.”

“And y’all weren’t disappointed?”

“Not even slightly. We were thrilled.”

“I wish I could remember Daddy. I can’t remember nothin’ before I lived with Pa and Otha.”

Kate stroked Riley’s ponytail. “Well, most kids don’t remember much before the age of five anyhow. But you can count on me and Abby, your brothers, and Grandpa Buck to tell you about it. All of us remember.”

“I wish Pa didn’t kill my real daddy.”

“Me, too,” Kate said. “Micah was a fine man. He loved us all very much. And we loved him with all our hearts.”

Riley paused and seemed to be thinking. “Maybe if
I
woulda got killed instead, you wouldn’t hafta miss him so much.”

“Sweetie, don’t ever think that. We would miss you the same way.” Kate looked into her daughter’s innocent blue eyes. “We already know what missing you feels like. It was the most awful hurt in the world.”

“And now it don’t hurt no more?”

“Not at all.” Kate pulled Riley closer. “And having you home is the greatest blessing of this Thanksgiving.”

Kate noticed the corners of her father’s mouth had curled up, as if to say it didn’t hurt that Kate had stopped blaming God and decided to move on with her life.

“I’m glad you’re my real mama,” Riley said. “You make me happy every single day.”

“I feel the same way about you.” Kate tapped her on the nose. “You make me happy from the inside out.”

“’Cause you like me?”

“Yes. And because I’ve never ever stopped loving you—not for one minute.”

“Not for a teeny-tiny second?” Riley cocked her head and flashed an elfin grin.

“Not for a single heartbeat.” Kate took her daughter’s hand and kissed it, relishing this daily mantra that reminded her that the ending of the story was still in the making.

Riley went through all the photos in the album two more times, never seeming to tire of seeing the same pictures and hearing Kate repeat the stories behind them.

Kate glanced at her watch. An hour and forty minutes had flown by. Soon her other children would return, Elliot would arrive, and the Cummings household would be bustling with love and laughter and crazy chaos. But for now, Kate nestled with Riley for a few sacred moments, words totally unnecessary, and affixed this sweet memory onto a new page of her mental scrapbook, all too aware of the five years of empty pages stained with tears.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the L
ORD
, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
The words of Jeremiah 29:11 raced through her mind with newfound clarity and hope.

Kate would never again take these intimate moments for granted or assume there would be another. Every day she was still breathing, she would be intentional about embracing her blessings—great and small, past and present. And she would leave the door open to the future—to the happier days God still had in store for her.

Kate heard a car door slam just as Jesse slid down the staircase banister and landed on his bare feet.

“Elliot’s here!” Jesse announced, his voice booming about three decibels louder than was necessary. “He’s
exactly
on time!”

Kate smiled at the understatement and relished the warm glow that seemed to melt through her at the mention of his name.
Yes, he’s exactly on time. But then, God’s blessings always are.

… a little more …

When a delightful concert comes to an end,

the orchestra might offer an encore.

When a fine meal comes to an end,

it’s always nice to savor a bit of dessert.

When a great story comes to an end,

we think you may want to linger.

And so, we offer ...

AfterWords—
just a little something more after you

have finished a David C Cook novel.

We invite you to stay awhile in the story.

Thanks for reading!

Turn the page for ...

• Discussion Questions

• An Interview with the Author

A Note from the Author

Without faith it is impossible to please God,

because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists

and he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Hebrews 11:6

Dear reader friend,

Deep, abiding faith is rarely easy to come by. We aren’t “born again” with our faith already mature and strong and tested. But we usually begin with a childlike faith that trusts our Father to hear and answer our prayers—that believes with all our heart that He can do anything. Abby did. She chose to trust Him even when the path was dark and scary and uncertain. It wasn’t because she had no other choice. She could have chosen to blame God for the woes that had befallen her family. Allowed anger and bitterness to consume her life and steal her faith. But she saw firsthand what that kind of attitude had done to her mother, and she chose better.

I’m not one to walk away from God when things get tough. But I admit I have been guilty, from time to time, of reacting to adversity out of the flesh when circumstances were overwhelming, and not really believing deep down that God was going to help me. I knew He
could
. But would He? During those times when I didn’t exercise faith, the struggle was significantly more difficult. Attitude is everything! Every painful trial I’ve faced without faith has left a dark, ominous memory. But those trying times when I chose to believe God’s promise never to leave or forsake me, and trusted Him to help me through, often resulted in a blessing for me and/or someone else.