Coming Home (6 page)

Craig watched Susan leave and felt his heart break. Didn't
she hear anything tonight, Lord? Did she hear how much You love her? How much
we all need You?

"By Craig, see you Sunday." A couple of girls
said as they headed toward the parking lot where their parents were waiting for
them.

"Bye, Sally and Tina. Have a good week."

He rubbed his forehead wondering what it would take to
break through the wall that Susan had built around herself regarding anything
Christian. Craig said good-bye to the last of the students and leaders as they
left and then plopped down on the sand by the fire pit. He gazed into the
glowing embers and prayed that God would put a spark of spiritual interest into
Susan's heart. "It only takes one little spark Lord. Whether it is
something that I say or do or something else, please give her an interest in
learning more about You and Your Son, Jesus. She needs you."

He stayed there praying until the fire was nothing but
smoldering coals.

The following Saturday Susan was actually helping out on
the floor because three of her employees had called in sick.  She looked up as
a family came in. The oldest girl looked familiar, but she wasn't sure. She saw
her say something to her parents then made a bee-line for Susan.

"Hi, Ms. Johnson," she said with a toothy smile.
"I'm Abby from Cornerstone Church.  Craig is one of our leaders.”

Susan felt a light bulb go on in her brain, "Oh,
right. Hi, Abby."

"I told you I would get my parents in here. They even
brought my sister and me."

"Oh, well, I would love to meet your family,"
Susan said as Abby started to lead the way to the table where her parents and
sister had been seated. "Mom, Dad, this is Ms. Johnson."

"Susan, please." 

"She is Craig's girlfriend."

"Craig's what?" Susan said in shock.

"Abby," her mother said softly, "maybe you
should sit down."  She turned to Susan and held out her hand. "It is
so nice to meet you, Susan. I am Amy and this is my husband, Ron."

"It is very nice to meet you both," Susan said,
still reeling from what Abby had said.

Amy leaned in a little closer to Susan. "Don't mind
what she said. She thinks everyone is a couple."

Susan looked at her uncertainly, "Okaaay... But we
aren't..."

Amy nodded and patted her shoulder.

"We have been hearing wonderful things about your
little establishment here," Ron said with a smile.

"Oh. Well, I hope we live up to our reputation,"
she said, wondering if there was anything she could do to get Abby to change
her perception of her and Craig.

"I didn't even know this bakery was here and we live
not five minutes away." Amy said looking around the eclectically decorated
restaurant.

"Well, there are so many restaurants around."
Susan said with a smile. "I actually found a wonderful one not two minutes
from where I live using an app on my iPhone."

"No kidding," Ron said pulling out his iPhone.

"Nope." She smiled at the foursome, "Well,
enjoy your meal. Cindy will be with you shortly."

"Thank you, Susan."

Susan smiled at them and walked away still dumbfounded at
Abby's announcement that she was Craig's girlfriend. She wondered if she should
call Craig to get him to set the girl straight. Nah, she would forget all about
it soon enough if she never saw the two of them together again. That thought
brought a frown to Susan's face. Never was a very long time.

Forty-five minutes later Susan turned around when she felt
a tap on her shoulder. She saw Amy standing there with a smile on her face.
"Susan, it was absolutely wonderful."

"Thank you."

"You don't happen to share your recipes, do you?"

Susan chuckled, "If I had a dollar for every time
someone asked me for a recipe, I wouldn't have to stay in business." She
said jokingly.

Amy looked around the restaurant and through a door into
the bakery and to-go area. "Do people order your baked goods to have them
sent to them?"

Susan looked at her blankly for a moment, "Ahhh,
no."

Amy looked back at Susan, "Do you have a
website?"

Susan shook her head in the negative.

"I don't mean to be forward, but I love setting up
websites and I would love to talk to you about it, if you would like to."

Susan barely kept herself from groaning. Everyone was
looking for a way to make a buck, "I don't know."

Amy handed her a business card, "This is my number;
you can call me if you want to talk about it. There is no charge for what I
do."

Susan blinked a couple of times, "Excuse me?"

"I don't charge for my services," Amy explained.

"Can I ask why?" Susan figured there was a
fortune to be made in any area that had to do with computers.  She herself was
pretty much a computer dummy. She had a hard enough time using a simple program
to keep her books. Her Tax preparer rolled his eyes every time she came in to
have her taxes done.

"Sure, but the answer would take too long just now.
Why don't you think about it and if you decide this is something you would like
to look into, give me a call and we can get together. Maybe some Sunday after
church."

Susan shook her head, "I don't go to church."

"Well, it's never too late to start, but we can meet
whenever it is convenient if that is something you would like to do."

"Okay, I will definitely think about it, Amy. Thank
you."

"You're welcome," she said with a smile as she
went to join her family who was waiting outside the restaurant for her.

Susan looked back down at the business card "Web
Builders for the Carpenter" it said with Amy's name and phone number at
the bottom. On the back it had the name of a church and address, which she
assumed was the church's address. Below the address were these words: "For
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16" But Amy
had crossed out the words "the world" and written “Susan” above them.
Susan felt a glimmer of something akin to hope in the region of her heart. She
was slightly amazed at how these simple words tugged at her heart. She stuck
the business card into the front pocket of her shirt and finished her shift of
waiting on tables. But the words from the business card kept flitting through
her mind and she wondered if there was any real truth to them.

Early Tuesday afternoon Susan was straightening up her desk
as she waited for Amy to come for their meeting.  She had waited until Monday
to call her because she didn't want to let Amy down by declining to go to
church with her, just in case she asked.  Susan figured that was probably a
little ridiculous on her part, but she couldn't help it. She was getting a
little freaked out by all the religious stuff that was coming her way since
Craig had bumped into her all those weeks ago. Even her Nana had mentioned
something about Jesus when Susan had been visiting her on Sunday. Susan could
hear her just as if she were in the room right now.

"If Jesus came back right this minute, what would we
say to Him, Susan?" Susan had just stared at her because it was so weird
for her Nana to say anything like that. Then she had gone on to say that she
had been reading her Bible! Her Bible of all things. Susan didn't even know her
Nana owned a Bible.

Her mind went back to the conversation as if they were just
having it.

"When did you get that? Did you just buy it?"

 "Oh, no. I've had this since I was a newlywed. Your
Grandpa gave it to me when I became a Christian."

Susan was surprised that Nana didn't have to scrape her off
the ceiling with a spatula. She was that shocked. "I never knew you were a
Christian."

Nana shook her head, "No, you wouldn't because I
walked away from it."

"Why?" Susan asked against what she thought was
her better judgment.

"He took my Carl away from me."

"Who took Grandpa away from you?" Susan asked
perplexed.

"God."

"God took Grandpa away from you? I thought he died of
lung cancer from smoking so much."

Nana nodded her head, "Yes, but I blamed God for
letting him die."

"Oh. But that was what? Forty years ago?"

Nana nodded, "Forty-one today."

Susan's eyebrows shot up to her hair-line. "Today? I
didn't know."

"Well, you had no reason to. He died before you were
born and I never talked much about him."

Susan shook her head, "Neither did mom.  She was mad
at him for killing himself by smoking."

Nana nodded her head in agreement, "Your mom was fifteen
at the time.  She was mad at everyone."

"And you got mad at God,"  Susan stated.

"Yes, but I've been very silly."

"Why do you say that?"

"He loves me."

"Who loves you?"

"God. And He loves you too, Susan."

Susan felt some of the color drain from her face. First the
business card, now her Nana. This was getting a little weird.

"Nana, I think I need to go now. Maybe you should lie
down for a while and you will start to think straighter when you have a clear
mind."

"My mind is clear, child. It is clearer than it's been
in over forty years.” She gave Susan a sweet smile, “I love you. Will you be
coming by again next week?"

Susan leaned down to give her a hug and a kiss, "Of
course. Wild horses couldn't keep me away."

"What about church?"

"You're going to church?"

"If you will take me."

Susan rubbed the middle of her forehead with the fingertips
of her right hand, "Nana, you know how I feel about religion."

"Of course I do, I taught you to feel that way, but
there is truth to the Bible and I want to go to church," she gazed up at
Susan with hopeful eyes.

Susan let out a sigh. "Okay, I'll take you to
church." That doesn't mean I need to go in too, though.

"And you'll sit with me?" Nana asked.

Susan gave her a startled look, "Fine, yes, I will sit
with you." But I won't listen.

"And you will listen to the words of the songs and
preacher?"

Susan squinted her eyes and glared at her Nana.

"Darling child, I can read you like a book. Promise me
you will try to listen."

"Okay, Nana, I promise."

"You are a good girl, I can't wait until next
Sunday."

Susan jumped when she heard a knock on her office door.
"Come in," she said as she stood and tried to collect her thoughts.
Amy entered wearing a chic dress and carrying a brief case.

"Amy, thank you for coming on such short notice."

"Susan, it is good to see you again. I hoped you would
call me."

Susan motioned to the seat across from hers, "Please,
have a seat."

"Thank you," Amy said as she sat and placed her
briefcase on the floor next to her. "I always like to start out with a
word of prayer. Would that be okay with you, Susan?"

Susan forced her mouth shut and took a deep breath.
"Okay," she said softly, not knowing how to say no to such a request.
She watched as Amy bowed her head and began to talk to God like He was her
friend.

"Dear God, we thank You for bringing us here today and
we thank You for being here with us. Thank You for Susan and for Your love for
her. We ask that you will bless our time together and help us to accomplish the
task You have set before us. In Jesus Name, Amen."

Susan awkwardly cleared her throat as she nibbled nervously
on her lower lip not quite knowing what to do next. This was the third time she
had been told of God's love for her. She didn't believe it, she assured herself
quickly, but it was strange just the same.

Amy reached for her briefcase and pulled out a notebook.
"I've jotted down some ideas, but I really want to know what you have in
mind."

"I don't have any ideas right now. I have never even
thought about a website let alone taking orders from a website. This is really
out of my league."

Amy gave her an encouraging smile, "That's why I'm
here. Let me run my ideas by you, and we'll go from there, okay?"

Susan nodded her head and hoped she would be able to
understand what she was getting herself into.

A couple of hours later Susan showed Amy out of her office
with an excitement she hadn't felt in a long time. The ideas Amy had for her website
were nothing short of amazing and with a little extra help in the employee area
she thought they could handle shipping baked goods world-wide. Her hand went up
to her heart at that thought. What an impossible thing that would have seemed
like if she had thought of it herself. She gave a little excited jump after she
shut her door again and picked up the phone to call Nana; this would not wait
until Sunday.

"Nana are you sitting down?" She asked as soon as
Nana had answered.

"Yes, why?"

"We are going international."

"We are?"

"Well, we could eventually."

"Who exactly are we talking about?"

"Nana's Bakery."

"No kidding, do explain this to me."

Susan went on to excitedly explain what was in the works
and she could tell that her Nana was excited as well.

"I am so happy for you, Susan. Who would have thought
my little made up recipes would be for sale to the whole world one day?"

"Your little made up recipes, as you put it, are the
rave of my restaurant. I wouldn't have near as much business as I do if it
weren't for your recipes."