Chapter 29
They didn’t go to the beach on Wednesday. Sage was too concerned about a repeat of Jaycee leaving Ryder, so she stayed home and made him another peanut butter and honey sandwich. Jaycee mostly stayed in her room, and the few times she came out, Sage was careful to watch her back—literally.
In the morning and afternoon, Sage was also careful to give plenty of time for Jaycee to go into the kitchen alone, and at night she made a plate, and her dad took it to Jaycee. Sage hated that, but she couldn’t figure out a way around it. Jaycee had no intention of rejoining them, and short of dragging her out of that room, Sage had no way of remedying that.
Emily was still at her sister’s, somewhere down south. She knew her dad had talked with her on the phone. She also knew she wasn’t coming home. Her mother and Jason were now in Monaco and headed in the next week to Spain. Sage knew they needed to talk about August, but two quick texts and that was all she got.
While Ryder played with his circuit set on the living room floor, Sage pulled the large Bible from the shelf. She’d never really read the Bible, heard it a few times mostly, but she wanted to find the parts the pastor had talked about—the one about the tea cup and David.
As she thumbed through the thing, she realized there was a lot more than that in there, and with no other thought, curled up on the couch, she spent the rest of the afternoon trying to get a grasp on God and how He really felt about her.
Luke had wanted to go to the beach with her. Who wouldn’t? But he also understood why she didn’t want to go. She needed to be there, and he needed to let her. So as he worked sorting and organizing his work shed, he prayed for her, for them, for Jaycee, even for Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence. Truth be known, it was much harder to pray for the parents on both coasts than for the kids, but Luke made himself anyway. They were once kids too, and though they had made some horrendous decisions to get here, he couldn’t condemn them because like it or not, there were reasons they were acting like they were.
He pulled up a large box of tools he’d gotten from his grandparents’ house one time. He’d never gone through them, and now was as good a time as any. Besides, it was nice to just have some time away from the storm to think and figure things out. He’d never been the fastest thinker on the planet, so letting his mind have some time to process was a very good thing.
The thing was, no matter how deep into the muck and the mess he went, he always came back to how much he had fallen in love with the girl from California. He didn’t know how this could ever work, but he wanted it to more than anything he’d ever wanted in his life. “God,” he whispered. “Show me the Plan, and if it’s not in Your plan that we end up together, help me accept that and love her enough to let her go.”
“Sage, you got a minute?” her father asked on Wednesday evening as she sat in the den still engrossed in the Bible. She’d found the part about David, but she was still searching for the tea cup part.
“Uh, yeah, sure.” She moved her feet off the couch and closed the book.
He came over, surveyed her and sat down. “Listen, I know you’ve been taking care of Ryder, and I really appreciate that.”
A ‘but’ was coming. She heard it, and she hated that word.
Rubbing his hands together, her father watched only them. When he finally looked up at her, there was sadness and struggle in the depths of his eyes. “There’s no easy way to say this.”
He’s sending me back. Panic at that thought ripped through her, but she held that down with both hands and her heart. “It’s okay, Dad, whatever…” Be strong, Sage. Be strong.
“You know there are a lot of moving pieces here. This can’t just work for a couple of people. It has to work for everyone.”
She nodded, fighting the fear. “I know that.”
“Good. Okay. Well, Emily and I have talked, and well…” He put his hand on the back of his head. “I can’t just let that go. I mean, marriage is…”
“I know, Dad. I’m not asking…”
“I know you’re not.” His gaze came to hers, fell and rose back again.
“But she is,” Sage finished for him.
“She’s hurting and confused.”
Sage nodded, hating the having to. “So you’re sending me home then.”
Home. It had become such a strange word.
“No.” When he looked at her, the skirmish in his soul was clear. “I’m not sure what to do about all of that yet, but I know you going back is not what’s best for you.”
Tears started threading their way up through the panic. If she couldn’t go home and she couldn’t stay here, what was she supposed to do? “I’m not sure…”
He nodded slowly twice. “What would you think about going to stay with Pastor Steve and Jane? Just for a few nights. A week maybe. Until we can get this straightened out and get everyone on the same page.”
She was inconvenient, a piece that could be removed at will because it made things easier for everyone else. The tears were hard to blink back, but what choice did she have? “When?”
“Tomorrow. Em’s ready to come back, but only if you’re not…”
The knife went through her heart, piercing and demolishing the single small ray of hope that had started to grow there. “Okay.”
That night, Luke was not at all prepared for the phone call. She so rarely did that, and he had it answered before he even thought to worry. “Hey.”
“Um, hey,” she said, and the flat, scared tone in her voice yanked him straight up. “I’m sorry to bother you.”
“Bother me? It ain’t no bother. What’s up?”
Two things told him it was bad—that she said nothing and then that she had called in the first place.
“Sage? What’s going on?”
She had thought she could do this without crying. She had thought she could be strong. She was wrong on both counts. His gentle voice did this to her every time, and she couldn’t corral enough tears to make him believe she was handling this well. “Em’s coming home.”
Nodding into that, knowing there was more, Luke forced the panic in him down. “Okay. And…?” He knew there was an ‘and.’ Kind of like knowing fall is coming just because it always follows summer.
“And, I guess, I’m… leaving.”
“Leaving? Wait. What?” he almost yelled and then dialed that back, knowing he was going to freak her out. “What do you mean, you’re leaving? We talked about this.”
“No. I know that. I do. It’s not California.”
His eyes searched wildly for the other alternative, and for the life of him, he couldn’t find it. “Then where are you leaving to?”
“Apparently, I’m going to the pastor’s house.” She laughed and sniffed. “Crazy, huh? I’ve never really seen myself as a pastor’s kid. My friends would never let me hear the end of this one.”
“They’re sending you to live with the pastor? Why?”
This sniff was more to keep down the tears than to let them out politely. “I told you. Em’s coming home.”
“So they’re sending you away so she can come home? What does that solve?”
She laughed softly. “The problem of Sage I guess.”
Luke wanted to come over, to tell her dad what a stupid idea this was, but Sage talked him out of that. She was tired of fighting, tired of thinking there might be a chance for her not to get crushed by this only to turn around and be smashed. He couldn’t fault her for that. She was right on all counts.
So the next morning, he was up with the sun, drinking coffee and trying to get this right in his head. It wasn’t. Even after twelve long hours of fighting it, it still wasn’t right. Why couldn’t they just… just what? Patch it up and pretend it had never happened?
Clearly no one in the situation could do that.
He let out a sigh as his mother came in from the hallway.
“Wow. You’re up early? You got a job somewhere?”
It was a job, but not one he wanted any part of doing. He lowered the cup and held it there. “I’m going to help Sage move.”
“Move?” his mother stopped with worry. “Where is she moving to?”
“The pastor’s.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “She’s moving in with the pastor?”
“Apparently.”
“Okay. Why?”
He shrugged, wanting to make it seem like the no-big-deal everyone else thought it was. “Her stepmom is coming home, so I guess that means Sage is homeless.”
Target hit. His mother let out a slow stream of air. “Oh, no, I can’t believe it.”
Anger slashed through him. “Yeah? Well, that makes two of us.”
Three suitcases. Sage couldn’t carry anymore, and her heart kept saying if she could just get out of here, maybe it would stop hurting so badly.
“Oh, Sage,” her father said, meeting her in the hall. “Do you need some help with that?”
“No. I’ve got it.” She turned, ramming the suitcase and herself into the wall.
“Really. I could help.”
“No!” She reined that in but barely. “I’ve got it. Really. I do.” She crossed out into the kitchen where Jaycee sat munching on a bowl of yellow flakes. Her sister didn’t bother to look up, but Ryder did, and his eyes went wide.
“Sage? Where’re you…”
Brave face, Sage. Brave and happy face. “I’m going on a little trip,” she said, lifting her chin. “I’m going to stay with some friends for a couple days.”
“But I thought you weren’t leaving anymore.”
“I’m not,” she said, fighting back against the onslaught of tears. “I’m just going to be gone a couple of days. I’ll be back.”
He came over to her then and put his thin arms all the way around her, and heedless of the suitcases dangling on her arms, Sage returned the hug.
“I’m gonna miss you,” he said, burrowing into her.
The crunching at the table got much louder.
“Aw. I’m gonna miss you too, buddy. But you keep working on that swing, okay?”
He nodded and backed up, and Sage couldn’t bear to look into those grief-stricken eyes.
“Knock. Knock.”
All four gazes snapped up, and Sage had to beat all the emotions back with a stick as Luke strode into the room. His gaze swept them, a message for each one, and finally landed on hers.
“This it?” he asked, nodding to the suitcases.
“Uh, y-yeah.”
His face said how badly he wanted to scream at everyone there, but somehow he said nothing as he calmly took the three bags from her.
Sage took one look at him, steeled her courage and turned back for her father. “Well.” Words, Sage. Say something. Don’t just stand here like an idiot. “Thank you.” She had no idea how to finish that sentence or if there even was a finish.
As if he had no idea what to do next, her father held out his arms, and Sage stepped into them. “I’ll be in touch,” he said softly.
In touch. The words stripped the rest of her dignity away from her, and she nodded before backing up. “Okay.” Her gaze went over to Luke’s. “I’m ready.”
They got in the car, and Luke was having all kinds of trouble keeping his emotions from boiling over—at her father, at Mrs. Lawrence, at her. How could any of them think this was a good idea? He looked over at her as he started the car, and he knew to the depths of his being that she didn’t think it was. Somehow he had to say something to keep her from completely giving up hope. Reaching across to her, he took her hand in his. “The pastor’s a good man. He and Mrs. Mitchell are good people.”
But Sage didn’t even look at him. “I know.”
When they got to the pastor’s house, Mrs. Mitchell was waiting for them on the front steps. “Sage, honey,” she said as Sage followed Luke, who had the suitcases, up the steps. “We’re so glad you came.” And then she did the unexplainable and put her arms around Sage.
It wasn’t expected and maybe that’s why it dragged the tears out of her skull so forcefully. “Thank you.”
“Oh, absolutely.” She backed up and took Sage’s face in her hands. “You are welcome here any time.”
More tears. And they were getting much harder to keep down.
Once Sage was settled in the dusty-gray guest bedroom with the double bed and the wine-red accents, Luke knew he couldn’t just leave her here. That wasn’t right no matter how he sliced it. Taking her hand in his, he lowered his gaze on her. “What do you say we go out?”
“Out?” She looked up at him in panic. “It’s Thursday morning. Where would we go?”
He shrugged. “Doesn’t matter long as I’m with you.”
At first he thought her answer looked to be a solid yes. Then her gaze fell and fled, and he could tell she was about to cry. “I don’t… They…”
He took a breath and gathered her to him. “It’s okay. I’ll talk to Mrs. Mitchell.”
A breath and Sage nodded, and he was pretty sure this was going to be the quietest day he’d ever spent with somebody.
Sage knew she should talk him out of this little trip to wherever, but the truth was, she didn’t have any fight left in her. Mrs. Mitchell would surely think her a whore going out before she had even been here, but then again, she probably thought that already anyway. So what was the point of putting on an act to revise a judgment that was already set? Sage had no answer for that nor for any of the other million questions twining through her.
“Oh, Mrs. Mitchell,” Luke said, leading Sage out where they found the pastor’s wife dusting the living room.
“Oh, good. Luke, did you get Sage squared away?” Inexplicably her gaze went to Sage rather than to Luke, and she smiled with a light in her eyes Sage knew she didn’t deserve.
“Yes, Ma’am, we did, but we were wondering.” He glanced down at Sage who cowered behind him. “Well, unless you have something for Sage to do today. I was wondering if we could go out for a while, get out of your hair.”
“Well, there’s no need for that,” she said, but then she smiled. “But I don’t see any harm in you two spending the day together. Why don’t I give you my number, and you can just check in and let me know what you’re doing?”
Luke let out a breath and reached for his phone. “Yes, Ma’am.”
Back in his car, Luke looked over at her. “God’s got a plan.”
She arched her eyebrows. “You sure about that?”
“Well, He got us this far, right?”
“What? To the edge of nowhere?”
He couldn’t argue, so he didn’t. “So what do you want to do? We could drive over to Wilmington, go to the mall.” The look she sent him made him laugh. “What? I thought you liked the mall.”
“I do, but something tells me you’ve never stepped foot in one.”
Luke backed up, offended. “I have too. I had to go there once with my mom and sisters. Longest four hours of my life.”
Sage laughed out loud, and he liked that. “I don’t know. What do you want to do?”
He sat for a moment, sizing her up. “Okay, you can totally say no if you want, but I’ve got this here drawer handle.” Reaching across her, he popped the glove box open and took out an ornate swing handle. “I’m trying to fix a dresser for my grandma, but I can’t find any of these things anywhere.”
She lifted her eyebrows in incomprehension. “So, what’re you planning to do about that?”
“Well, it’s clearly not new.” He held it up between them. “So I’ve been thinking about hitting the antique shop over in Greely, except I never seem to have enough time to get over there.”
Half a smile slid onto her face. “Then Greely it is.”
The drive to Greely was remarkably scenic. A lake and a stone bridge ushered them into the small town which was lined with houses straight out of the history books. It felt so different than the night she had come with Rory.
“It’s right down one of these streets,” Luke said, craning his neck as they went through each intersection.
Sage was really glad that there wasn’t much traffic seeing how it was just after ten o’clock on a Thursday morning. For her, she was content to ride and let the little town wrap around her. In fact, she realized as they got deeper into it that one reason she didn’t remember any of this was because on her excursion with Rory, they had never made it across the bridge.
“There it is.” Waiting for the old pickup truck to pass, Luke turned onto the little street that lay perpendicular to the main road and all the way up to what looked like a small house at the very end of what would normally be called a cul de sac, but out here it was just called a dead end.
As she looked at the place, antique was the perfect word for it. They sold antiques. The place was antique, and so was the little old man who greeted them from the front door of the establishment.
“Good morning!” he said as chipper as the birds singing in the trees above them. “Fine morning, isn’t it?” He moved a large Pepsico sign to the side and out of the walkway.
“It is that,” Luke said as he met Sage at the front of the car and put his hand at her back.
She wasn’t being rude, just intensely curious. It had been years since she’d been to a place like this though in California, they were often draped in beads and playing mood music. Out here, she wouldn’t have been at all surprised to hear a banjo and fiddle.
“What can I do you for?” The man came all the way to the edge of the sidewalk and tipped his head. The wrinkles said he was at least 80, but the spring in his step made her question that.
“Well, I’ve got this handle.” Luke held it up. “It’s from a dresser my grandma has. I’m looking for something to either match it or at least compliment it.”
“Hmm.” The man eyed the piece for several long seconds.
“If I can find a few like it, I can even mix and match them,” Luke offered.
“Well, why don’t you come on in here and let’s take a look-see.”
Taking her hand, Luke led her into the dimly lit place. The dark wooden floorboards squeaked as they walked in, and Sage was surprised to find they were made of real wood. Not wooden slats, but actual timbers. She wondered how long the “Rhorbach Antique Shop” had been operating.
“Okay. Here’s all the handles I’ve got,” the old man said, and he and Luke went to work, pouring through the old metal cabinet with the little drawers full of stuff.
As they talked, Sage at first off-handedly and then with more curiosity started looking around. Everything was old. As in truly antique. There were signs from the fifties, and paintings in gold frames. Slowly the shop’s wonders overtook her need to stay with him, and she drifted away, going from one set of offerings to another. There was a glass set that was yellowish orange, and an old iron—the kind that they stuck in the fire to heat up. On one shelf there was a watch on a chain and a knife that had honestly seen better days.
Just drifting, she let the place show her what it wanted to. Porcelain dolls with hair that was matted and dirty. Pots and pans and a wheel from a baby’s carriage. Life—old and new—embraced her. These things, these old things, why were they here? What had they survived, and why had they survived when so many other things hadn’t? To one side there was an old piano, its keys clearly not in working condition. She stepped over to it and pinged one, having no idea if what it played was the right note or not. Above the piano was a pair of lady’s black riding boots. Sage was sure the woman who had first worn them must have thought the world at her feet. They were beautiful, even now.
A washboard. A lamp. A set of porcelain angels. She reached out to touch the wing of one, and it was almost as soft as it was smooth. Still drifting as the world receded into memory behind her, she turned a corner and found three large mismatched vases standing sentinel over a small jewelry box. Inside it, someone had placed a single strand of pearls and the matching earrings. She couldn’t resist, didn’t even think to. Instead, she went over to it and lifted out the pearls. Next to the little menagerie, on the shelf lining the wall was a small set of silver tea service pitchers.
Holding the necklace up to her, she gazed at her reflection in the pitchers and smiled softly. So regal. So classy. She could imagine Jackie O or Princess Grace wearing such a thing. To be classy like them. To walk into a room and have everyone turn and be inspired and awestruck.
Lowering the pearls, Sage went back over to the little jewelry box and laid them there. She would never be like that, not on the inside anyway, and certainly not on the outside either.
“There you are,” Luke said, and Sage nearly dropped the strand when she spun.
“Oh, yeah. Just admiring.” She let her hand drift over the black velvet of the case, and then she lifted her hand from the dreams she knew would never be hers.
“Some pretty cool stuff, don’t you think?”
“Absolutely. I love these angels and this watch is cool.” She went back over to where she had come from and lifted the gold timepiece for his inspection.
“Totally. Does it still work?”
She tilted her head as she snapped it open. “Doesn’t seem to be.”
Luke leaned on the old radio sitting there, watching her. “I think my grandpa has one like that. It’s in his top drawer. He showed it to me once. I think his grandpa gave it to him or something. He said some day maybe that one would be mine.” Straightening as he reached over, Luke took the watch from her and looped it into his jacket pocket. “What do you think?” He whipped it out and clicked it open. “Well, certainly I have the time for you, darlin’, how much do you need?”
Laughing at him, Sage put her hand on his arm. “You’re insane.”
“What? You found the watch.” He took it out and put it back on the shelf. “But there is some pretty cool stuff in here. Like that old phonograph in the corner. Did you see it?”
“I must’ve missed that.”
“Oh, you’ve got to see it.” He reached down and took her hand, pulling her back through the maze through which she had come. Halfway to whatever he was going to show her, however, she pulled up short.
“Aww. Look at this butterfly.” Carefully she lifted the vintage piece from the little table. It was pewter or bronze with little pink gemstones down the front forming the butterfly’s body. “It’s a hairclip.” She put it in her hand, amazed at the detail of it.
He was standing over her, shoulder-to-shoulder, his hands on his beltline, examining the thing. “It’s so tiny.”
“Oh.” Then she saw it. “It’s for a little girl to wear in her hair.” Lifting it, she put it to her hair and pulled one strand back and finally found a small reflection in one of the gold frames circling a painting of a lady to kind of see herself. “Man, if I was four, I would so get this.”
“You know.” Luke reached over and took it from her. “I’m not the greatest with colors.” He held it up. “But I think this is the same pink as that lace you put on Alyssa’s jacket.”
“Oh, you’re right. That would go perfectly with the jacket.”
He turned the piece over and without another thought, he closed his hand around it. “We’re so getting this.”
Surprise lit through Sage, and she smiled as she looped her arm through his. “What are you going for, the best uncle ever prize?”
Turning stunned eyes down on her, he shrugged. “Best uncle ever? That’s some high praise there.”
She tipped her shoulder. “You give her that, they’ll give you a crown and everything.”
Together they walked then, through the shop, back and forth. They even ventured outside where they found an old Ford pickup that somehow had a real tree growing out of where the engine once was.
Shaking his head, Luke laughed. “Now I’ve gotta say, I’ve never seen anything like that before.”
“Oh! Oh! Here.” She whipped out her cell phone, gave it to him, and jumped on the fender. “You’ve got to take my picture.”
Luke laughed with a grin as she posed. “Oh, yeah. That is totally Sage Hollywood.”
She lifted her hair and smiled for the camera as he clicked three pictures. Then she jumped off, dusted her hands off, and came over to him.
“Okay. Now, you’re turn.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you.” Pushing him over, she took her cell phone camera from him and angled it that direction, knowing above all else she wanted photographic proof of this day.
He raised his eyebrows and lowered his gaze at her. “Okay. I ain’t posing.”
Sage lifted her chin and backhanded, waved at him. “Lean up against that windshield frame and look all serious.”
At first, he just looked confused, but then he put his foot up on the running board, crossed his arms, and scowled. “Like this?”
She hardly caught the laugh before it jumped from her. “Oh, yeah. That’s great. You look like Clyde from Bonnie and Clyde.”
Skepticism took over his face. “Didn’t he kill someone?”
That dragged a laugh right out of Sage. “We’ll be sure to avoid the jail on the way out of town.”
“Oh, that’s comforting.” Pulling his foot down, he picked up his hand. “Come here, you.” He pulled her over to him, took the camera from her, and angled it toward them but at arms’ length. “Say best day ever!”
“Best day ever!” And she had no doubt at all that it was.
“K. So I’ve been thinking,” Luke said as he held her hand in his as they headed back through the country side to the pastor’s house.
“That’s frightening.” She grinned over at him, and he loved the new light in her spirit. “Just teasing. What were you thinking?” It didn’t help him that she wound her other hand over the top of his because the more of her that was touching him, the less his self-discipline seemed to work.
“Well, two things actually.”
“Two things? Wow. Didn’t know you were becoming such an overachiever.”
“Hey, smart aleck.”
She quirked a grin at him and batted her eyelashes. “Yes, Sir?”
He shook his head, seeing he wasn’t going to talk her out of the sass. “Well, I’ve been thinking. Alyssa’s birthday’s on Sunday, and the party’s at Mom and Dad’s after church.” Glancing over, his heart flipped at how open and happy she looked. When had this happened again? How was there this beautiful, awe-inspiring girl sitting in his car looking like she wouldn’t breathe again until she heard the next word he said? Luke fought not to shake his head to wake up from this dream because he was absolutely convinced at that moment that nothing else could explain the feeling. “So, I guess the first question is, what’re you doing on Sunday?”
Some of the happiness slipped from her face. “Good question. I don’t know. Everything’s so complicated…”
“Not if you say yes it isn’t.”
Her eyes asked his if it was really that easy.
“You should be there.” He looked over at her again. “I want you to come.”
Sage sighed long and slow. “Well, if you put it like that.”
“Is that a yes?”
“That’s a yes if there’s any way, I’ll be there.”
Luke squeezed her hand. “Good. And now for the second thing.”
She let out a hard exhale. “There’s more?”
“Just one more.” He looked over at her, knowing what it was to ask this one. “Will you go with me to the bonfire tomorrow night?”
The rest of the happiness slid from her face. “Luke…”
“No. Now, darlin’, I know what you’re going to say, and part of me agrees with that. But the real truth is that it’s a decent bet you might still be here come August, and starting to get to know people now would not be a bad thing.”
Sliding around in her seat, she put her head back on the headrest as she crossed her arms in front of her. “They don’t want me there.”
“They don’t even know you.”
“They think they do.”
He scrunched his face. “Well, you’re never going to convince them otherwise if you don’t at least try.”
When she said nothing, Luke shook his head. “Look, I’m not going to make you, and I really do get why you don’t want to, but we’ve got to start somewhere.”
“And you think the bonfire is a good place to do that?”
Luke shrugged. “I don’t know. I just think we’ve got to start somewhere.”
When they got back to the pastor’s house, Sage wanted to have him stay, but she also knew he couldn’t stay every minute of every day. Still he walked her to the door, and she let him because life was just so much better with him right there.
At the door, he walked up two of the three steps and stopped, putting his hand up on the brick opening. “So, tomorrow night then?”
Sage leaned her head and shoulder on the bricks of the entrance. “Do you really think that’s a good idea?”
A second of looking at her and he tilted his head the other way. “Tell you what, we’ll go out there, but if it’s way weird, we can always do something else.”
She loved that about him—how he thought about her and what was best for her. The way he was looking at her screamed how much he wanted to kiss her, and Sage jerked her gaze away from his and up to the little porch light above them. Somehow kissing guys on the front steps of the preacher's house didn’t say proper. “Okay.” Her heart simply couldn’t let him just walk away. “Will you call me?”
His face broke into a grin. “Do you want me to?”
However, considering what she was about to face, she couldn’t quite match his teasing. Instead, she just nodded.
“Come here.” He folded her into his arms and she laid her head on his shoulder. “It’s going to be okay. I promise.”
Strange how that promise always felt so solid when he was holding her.
Letting her go took all of Luke’s willpower, but finally he did and backed up. “Just be you. Okay?”
She nodded, her gaze on the ground between them, and gently he lifted the edge of her hair and replaced it over her shoulder. When her gaze came up, it was laced with melancholy. “You’d better go before they see you.”
He hated how wary she looked, but he did understand. “K.” Then with superhuman strength he got himself to back up. “I’ll call you.”
This nod was accompanied by a tight-lipped smile as she backed from him toward the front door. In seconds she had turned and fled inside, and Luke sent up a silent prayer for God to keep and protect her until he could be with her again.