Indivisible (35 page)

Authors: Kristen Heitzmann

Tags: #Mystery, #Christian Fiction, #Christian, #Colorado, #American Mystery & Suspense Fiction, #Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945), #Fiction, #Fiction - General, #Mystery Fiction, #General & Literary Fiction, #Suspense, #Christian - Suspense, #General, #Religious

BOOK: Indivisible

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Thirty-Four

For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him that is alone when he falleth: for he hath not another to help him up.

—ECCLESIASTES 4:10, KING JAMES VERSION

S
eeing Jonah wince as he eased out of the Bronco, Tia shook her head. “You should have listened to the doctor.”

He paused to get his breath. “I don’t want another night with bars between us.”

She couldn’t argue, even if all they did was hold each other. She needed the connection of arms and hearts after witnessing the haunting solitude of Liz Rainer.

Supporting Jonah up the porch stairs, she drew in the scent of pines, of coming winter, of her incredible, obstinate husband. “If you won’t go back to the hospital, you at least need to rest.”

“I have to do one thing first.” He made his way inside to the corner shelf near the fireplace and stared at the bottle of Kentucky bourbon. She’d wondered what it was doing there, but she held her tongue when he raised his hand and stroked the long neck and fancy label. He took the bottle into his hands, then, turning, started back outside. Aching or not, if he was ending six years sober, he would do it where he felt most alive, outside on the mountain.

Clutching her shoulders, she followed, unsure how to be with him in this. They slowly crossed the clearing to the creek. He loved the water—they both did—running icy cold and tumbling golden aspen leaves over moss-slick rocks. Its burbling told the tale of long and endless travels, its voice springing from ancient stone that would stand long past their time on earth.

Jonah removed the lid, held the bottle under his nose and breathed the fumes. His throat worked. “I’ve kept this to remind me I could crash and burn.”

He closed his eyes, then drew himself up. She held her breath as he slowly tipped the bottle, sending an amber stream into the frigid creek until nothing remained.

“From now on, I want to remember I can live.” He stooped to fill the bottle from the stream, then twisted on the lid. He set the bottle on the ground and took her hands with his creek-chilled fingers. “I want what happens now and tomorrow and every day to fill me, to fill you.”

Tears pooled in her eyes. She had no bottle to pour away her past, but she let the water carry it too, down and away in its quest for the sea. She brought her fingers to his jaw and kissed him, then pressed her forehead to his chin, his neck between her hands. She felt his pulse.

The wind came through the pines, bracing, invigorating. They were alive. They were together. They would do this crazy thing. She drew a deep, hungry breath and laughed.

From somewhere in the house came the long and wild song of a coyote.

Acknowledgments

I can do nothing without the grace and power of the Holy Spirit and the love of God and of Christ my Savior. I am shored up by my family and friends and, in this endeavor, by those who pray for, read, and support my writing. Particular thanks to readers Jim, Jessie, Devin, and my mom for feedback and insight, to David Ladd for law-enforcement expertise and longsuffering through multiple revisions, and to the Minturn Police Records and municipal court clerk Lisa Osborne. My gratitude to the wonderful WaterBrook crew, especially editors Shannon Marchese and Jessica Barnes, and to Stephen Parolini and others who fine-tuned and improved this work. Special thanks to all who purchase these books and keep me writing.

About the Author

While homeschooling her four kids, Kristen wrote her first novel. It became one of a five-book historical series. Since then, she has written three more historical novels and eight contemporary romantic and psychological suspense novels including
The Still of Night
, nominated for the Colorado Book Award,
The Tender Vine
, a Christy Award finalist, and Christy Award–winning
Secrets
. She lives in Colorado with her husband Jim and sundry family members and pets.

INDIVISIBLE
PUBLISHED BY WATERBROOK PRESS
12265 Oracle Boulevard, Suite 200
Colorado Springs, Colorado 80921

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked King James Version are taken from that version. Scripture quotations marked New American Standard Bible are taken from the New American Standard Bible®. © Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission. (
www.Lockman.org
).

The characters and events in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to actual persons or events is coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Published in the United States by WaterBrook Multnomah, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House Inc., New York.

WATERBROOK and its deer colophon are registered trademarks of Random House Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Heitzmann, Kristen.