Rescuing Liberty: Perseverance Book 1 (23 page)

“
Wishful thinking?” My mind was still
puzzling out how to get Ashley away from Connor and Gina, but I
didn’t want to let that bit of information escape. Kids were
notorious about accidentally telling the world the best secrets and
it was best not to tempt fate.

“
And what if she starts dating my
fa—my uncle?” she stopped and looked at me, like the child caught
with her hand in the cookie jar.

Father? She knows?!
I raised my eyebrow and studied her long enough to intimidate
the truth from a hardened criminal. It was a skill I’d learned from
my mother, and she had wielded it like a sword; slashing lying
children into submission. “Spill it.”

“
What do you mean?” She flashed me a
crooked smile.

I winced. “You don’t think I’m stupid, do
you?”

Ashley shook her head.

“
Start talking. What do you
know?”

She collapsed on the grass dramatically and
stared at the sky. “Everything.”

I nodded and waited for her to continue.

“
Mom let it slip last year. She told
me that when I’m being impossible my eyes look just like my
father’s. Well, dad has blue eyes that never looked like mine. So I
bugged Mom until she told me the truth. She made me promise not to
tell them—said it would destroy daddy, and scare the heck out of
Connor.”

I nodded. “Sound advice. Your mom must have
been a pretty great person.”

“
Yeah, you would have liked her.”
Ashley sat up and wrapped her arms around herself. “I miss her so
much.”

I sat next to Ashley and gave her a sideways
hug. “I’m sure she’s up there—” I glanced toward the sky,
“—watching you like a hawk.”

Ashley’s eyes started misting over. She
wiped away the evidence and stared at me. “Really? You think she
watches me?”

“
Of course. If I left a child with
Connor, I’d never be able to sleep.” I messed up her hair. “Your
mom’s probably so worried, she never takes her eyes of
you.”

The conversation between Ashley and me was
cut short by the return of our three traveling companions. Jeff
came and skipped rocks with Ashley and me, while Connor and Gina
continued their conversation apart from the group.

I was handing Ashley another rock when Jeff
eyed the markings on my left wrist.

“
What happened?” he asked.

I turned my arm over and pushed up the
sleeve of my shirt, exposing the letters.

“
WWL?” He cocked his head to the
side.

“
Watch. Wait. Listen.” I frowned at my
wrist. “It’s stupid. I did it out of frustration and anger at
myself.”

Jeff sat next to me. “You’ll have to tell me
what that’s like, because I’ve never done anything stupid
before.”

I laughed and gave him a light shove. “Sure.
Well, I was in Centralia heading for Olympia to find my sister. It
was early evening and I came across a woman who was crying on the
porch of a house. I didn’t really pay attention to my surroundings,
and approached her, thinking I’d found a friend and maybe we could
help each other.” I paused, remembering the girl. “She was thin and
short; about twenty, with long, dark hair. Her shoulders shook as
she sobbed.”

My attention drifted to a bird hovering over
the lake. It swooped and dove into the water. I jealously wished
for the bird's wings so I could fly away from my troubles and this
conversation. Reliving stories of my stupidity weren't high on my
list of priorities. But Jeff watched me, his gaze urging me to
continue.

“
When I approached, she grabbed my
wrists and held me. A man attacked me from behind. The last thing I
saw was his face. Knocked me out cold. When I awoke all my food was
gone, but for some reason left me alive.” I ran my thumb over the
carved letters. “So I cut myself as a reminder of my stupidity. I
should have been paying attention—should have recognized the trap.”
I shrugged. “I make careless mistakes when I’m
impatient.”

Jeff studied my wrist for a moment, and then
ran his index finger over it. The sensation was odd; not creepy,
just uncomfortable.

I slowly pulled my wrist away and placed my
palm on the ground. “I guess I did it to remind myself of what I
needed to change.”

His expression was skeptical. “You can’t
change the fact that you make mistakes.”

I smiled at him. “Unfortunately. But
the letters remind me that I need to think—to watch, wait, and
listen—
before
I
act.”

“
Hmm.” His brows bunched together and
he stared at the water for a minute.

I pushed his shoulder playfully. “Hm? What’s
that about? Don’t tell me there isn’t anything you’d change about
yourself.”

Sad, blue eyes searched my face, and then
turned toward his sister and Connor.

“
Everyone screws up.” I put my hand on
his shoulder, forcing his attention back onto me. “You don’t know
me, but I’m not exactly a saint.” I attempted a smile. “If my momma
knew half the stuff I did, she’d tan my hide.”

The side of his mouth turned up, and then
his eyes locked on mine.

Broken. Hurting. Oh God,
he’s so lost. Help him. Tell me what to say. I want to help!
My eyes were drying out, but I refused to blink.

“
Jeff, I need you!” Gina’s shrill
demand broke the trance.

My hand slipped off his shoulder and he
leaned toward me, adjusting his feet to stand.

“
You can’t change
who
you are,” he whispered before he walked
away.

I watched him go, wondering
who
Jeff really was and if there was
anything I could do to help him wage war on his demons.

* * *

After a brief rest at the lake we biked north
on Highway 9 until we found a safe spot to set up camp. Connor
unrolled Princess Gina’s sleeping bag as her highness made doe eyes
at him.

Ashley huffed, grabbed my hand and led me
away from the camp. When we were out of earshot from the others she
started talking.

“
You’re really going to sit back and
watch this?” She gestured toward the rest of our party.

“
What?” I shrugged. “Connor and Gina?
Their relationship isn’t any of my business.” I glanced over my
shoulder in time to see Gina scoot closer to him. Since that was
nothing I wanted to watch I turned back to Ashley. “What do you
think I should do?” I stared into her dark, naive eyes. I didn’t
like Gina either, but it wasn’t like I had any claim on Connor. Not
like I even
wanted
a claim on
the man. But Ashley continued to watch me, as if waiting for me to
go club Connor over the head and drag him away from
Gina.

Oh crap.
I did
a mental head-palm. “Oh.
Oh
,
Ash. You’re still trying to play matchmaker, aren’t you?” I sighed.
“I wish things were that easy, kiddo, but unfortunately they never
are.” I sat down, gesturing for her to do the same. “Connor will
make his own decisions. He’ll be with whoever he wants.” An
unsettling mental picture of his arms wrapped around Gina popped
into my head. I placed my hands on the ground and braced myself to
keep from shuddering.

Ashley pouted. “He doesn’t
really
like Gina.”

I raised an eyebrow. “He told you this?”

“
Not exactly.” She
shrugged.

“
Ash, what
exactly
did he say?”

She fidgeted, pulling the leaves off the
bush she stood next to. “Well, we haven’t actually spoken since we
picked them up, but I know that’s how he feels.”

I couldn’t help but wonder if my own
childhood observations had been so implausibly sightless. “Ashley,
what do you want me to do?”

“
I want you to fight for him. You’re
so much better for him than she is. He can’t possibly like
her.”

“
Fight for him?” I chuckled. “And what
would I do with him if I won? In case you haven’t noticed, all the
planets must be in perfect alignment before Connor and I can even
manage a full conversation without yelling at each other. We’re
like two puzzle pieces that don’t fit together. We’re on opposite
sides of the picture even.”

Her stubborn jaw jutted outward. “Mom said
relationships are hard. You have to work at them.”

My chest tightened. I wanted to make
her happy. She’d had a rough life and she didn’t ask for much, but
this order was beyond my ability to fill. Even if I was interested
in him—which I
almost
definitely wasn’t—he no longer even acknowledged my
existence. “He hasn’t even looked my direction since Gina showed
up.” I shrugged. “I’m obviously not what he wants. And you know
what? I’m glad we ran into her. It gave me a chance to see the type
of woman Connor is attracted to. And it’s not me, Ash.”

She frowned. “He asked me to help him get to
know you. He said he wanted to spend time with you.” Her eyes
glistened. “Why would he say those things if he didn’t mean
them?”

I sympathized with the depth of her dream
and hoped it wasn’t too painful when she woke up. “We won’t ever
work out. Connor will always be Connor, and I will always be
me.”

* * *

Ashley quickly found sleep that night,
but it evaded me for hours. Connor and Gina wanted privacy and
slept well away from us. I couldn’t escape the betrayal I felt.
He’d cast his own daughter aside just as easily as he had me.
Ashley’s eyes cried out in pain while her lips defended the man
hurting her.
Why would You take her parents
and leave her with … this? Hasn’t she suffered enough? Where are
You?

I couldn’t feel anything. I hadn’t
heard the
call
in a long time
and I missed His presence.
Did I do
something wrong? Have I been abandoned by You too?
I
stared at the sky, praying for answers, but none came.

“
You still awake?” Jeff whispered,
interrupting my silent questions.

“
Yeah.” I shifted in my bag. “Can’t
sleep.”

“
Me either.” He rolled
closer.

I smiled; thankful for the companionship.
“So, what’s on your mind?”

It was dark and I could barely see the faint
gleam from his teeth and knew he was smiling at me.

“
You’re always trying to get the dirt
on me, aren’t you?” he asked.

“
That depends. Is there any dirt to
get?”

Jeff chuckled. Then he quieted and we lay in
silence for a while. Frogs croaked and wildlife skittered nearby. I
usually found the noises comforting, but this night, every sound
kept me awake.

I gave Jeff a light shove. “You didn’t
answer my question. Now tell me, what’s keeping you up? What has
your mind working overtime so you can’t sleep?”

He leaned closer and whispered, “Um …
regrets.”

Taking my cue from him, I lowered my voice
as well. “Regrets?” I asked. “You’re so young. What could you
possibly regret?”

“
You’re not that much older than me,”
he replied, sounding offended. “And lots of things. Don’t you have
any regrets?”

I thought about my life. My mistakes. Connor
said something that Gina must have found funny because she cackled
loud enough that I could hear her. Scowling in their general
direction, I replied, “I’ve made lots of mistakes, but I don’t know
that I regret any of them. They’ve all helped me somehow. And
thankfully God doesn’t require my perfection.”

“
God?” Jeff shifted.
“Right.”

“
What?” I asked. “You don’t believe in
God? You really think
we
are
the most advanced beings in the world?” I asked. “We couldn’t even
save our country. I refuse to believe that there is nothing more
powerful than
us
.”

He chuckled. “Okay, I suppose I see your
point.”

“
Besides.” I turned on my side and
propped myself up on my elbow to face him. “I’ve seen far too much
evidence of God’s presence to doubt that He exists.”

“
Really?” His tone sounded both
interested and skeptical, so I kept talking.

“
Yeah. Like the summer I turned
fifteen. I was at church camp, swimming with a group of friends.
The boy I had a crush on dove into the water and hit his index
finger on the bottom of the pool. It instantly swelled and turned
purple. He all but cried over the pain as I walked with him to the
nurse’s station, where he was informed that his finger was broken.
The nurse set the bone, put one of those metal thingies on it to
stabilize it, and then wrapped it up good.”

“
Uh-huh.”

“
Well that night at chapel we prayed
for him and I can’t explain it, but I
felt
something happen. He unwrapped the bandage
and bent his finger, moving it all over the place. It wasn’t
swollen or even discolored anymore.”

Jeff’s brows knit together as he processed
my story. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before words
actually escaped. “That’s … unbelievable.”

I nodded. “Indeed. But I was with him.
I know he broke his finger. I’m not crazy, and I didn’t
want
to believe it either. But how do
you deny something that’s right in front of you? It was broken,
then it wasn’t. And I saw and felt the whole thing.”