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Authors: Tanya Stowe

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Leap of Faith (3 page)

BOOK: Leap of Faith
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She’d been uncomfortable with his crazy attraction from the beginning. Not because it wasn’t wonderful. Zack was polite, fun, gorgeous, and smart. Being the object of his charming attention would be any girl’s dream. But Zoe knew the truth.

She’d felt the flutter of the angel’s wings the first time she’d entered his apartment. She could still feel their presence around them. She was certain they had a purpose in bringing her and Zack together. She was just part of the plan. She wasn’t sure of the purpose and hoped she wasn’t too big a part of the plan, because it was dangerous being close to the way-too-handsome Zack Manning.

The only thing she knew for certain was that her future was set, and it didn’t include a Manhattan computer programmer headed for the top.

Mrs. Mallory—Zoe couldn’t get used to calling her Viv even though she’d insisted multiple times—handed her a check. As soon as Zoe saw the figure written in the corner, she tried to hand it back.

“Oh, no. This is way too much.”

Viv pushed Zoe’s hand away. “As far as I’m concerned, young lady, it’s not enough.”

Zoe ducked her head. Some of it would have to go toward monthly bills but a good portion of it would help her reach her savings goal. She took a deep breath. “Thanks, Mrs.—Viv. You don’t know how much this means to me.”

The older woman nodded. “I know more than you think.”

Zoe’s lips parted in surprise then she remembered that Viv and Mr. Hart were very close.

“Now,” Viv continued, “I’m going to let you two get on with your afternoon while I get back to the mess on my computer.”

“Mess?” Zack asked.

Viv turned back. “Oh, no. That wasn’t a subtle plea for help, Zack. I forgot for a moment that you work on computers. You two go on and enjoy yourselves.”

“I know you wouldn’t ask for my help. That’s why I’m offering. It won’t take a minute to see if I can do anything. If it’s too complicated, we’ll be on our way. You don’t mind do you, Zoe?”

She shook her head. “Of course not.”

“Well, I could use your advice on something. Let’s go to my office.”

She led the way to French doors off the main living room. Zoe knew that after the death of Vivian’s husband, the woman had down-sized and bought this lovely little cottage complete with a picket fence and a wrap-around porch. Zoe hadn’t been surprised to see the interior done in French country style with lots of white furniture and material with huge cabbage roses in pinks, lavenders, and mauves. But when Viv opened the French doors onto a large sunroom that looked out onto a tiny garden, Zoe couldn’t stop the small gasp that slipped out.

“Yes, it is lovely isn’t it?” Viv said. “It’s the warmest room in the house in winter so I decided to make it my office. The garden is a bonus, even in the cold weather.”

To Zoe’s left was a small white wicker sitting area with a love seat, two chairs, and a small table. The cushions had the same cabbage rose pattern from the living room. In the middle of the sunroom was a large white desk with gold edging. It looked antique and was littered with papers and a laptop computer.

Zack and Viv immediately started to talk about the program Viv used. Zoe walked to the French doors, leading into the garden.

“Please,” Viv said from the desk. “Feel free to go outside.”

Zoe murmured her thanks and stepped out. Letting the doors shut behind her, she closed her eyes and breathed in the scent of plants and damp earth. She heard the tinkle of a fountain and spied it nestled beside her in the corner. In the opposite corner was a white arch, covered in twisted wisteria vines and beneath, a white park bench.

Zoe headed down the slag stone path to the bench. Almost every part of the garden, including the high block fence, was covered in ivy or creeping fig. On each side of the path, dark brown mulch covered a two-foot wide bed of moist ground. Purple crocuses already peeked out, and Zoe was certain that during spring and summer, the beds would bloom with wild flowers, probably in pinks and purples.

She sat beneath the arch and looked back. To the right of the French doors was a large potted bougainvillea, covered now to protect it against the cold. To the left, sat a large area with dormant, cut-back rose bushes. When all of the roses bloomed, they would be white. She was certain Viv had coordinated her garden to match the color theme of her home.

As Zoe looked around, she could almost see it, and it would make the most lovely stained glass scene. The work would take time and would require extremely detailed pieces, but it would be stunning.

She closed her eyes, visualizing the colors and drinking in the peace.

Thank You, Lord, for bringing me here. No matter what You have planned for me and Zack, I know this is Your special gift to me. I will try very hard to continue to be obedient.

Calmness filled her and she smiled. After a while, the weak winter sun went behind a cloud. A chill dropped over the little garden, and Zoe headed inside.

“It’s a much better program.” She heard Zack say as she opened the door. “I can order it at a discount, then we can set up a time when I can install it and give you and your assistant some training.”

“You’re certain we’ll soon be able to coordinate our schedules? My assistant’s biggest complaint is that she can’t keep track of me,” Viv said with a slight laugh.

“I guarantee the technology is right around the corner.”

As soon as he said the words, Zoe felt a premonition.
That’s what Zack will work on in his new job.

She could feel it. She could also hear barely contained excitement and enthusiasm behind his calm tone. He loved what he did.

“I can’t ask you to take more time to train us, Zack,” Viv said. “You’ve already done so much.”

He shook his head. “I will be happy to do it.”

As he said the words, the sun came out from behind the clouds again. A sunbeam hit Zack’s face. Zoe saw his chiseled nose, slightly-full, smiling lips and his warm sherry-colored eyes. She also saw earnest joy in every feature.

He has a servant’s heart, Lord. He loves to give.

So how did he end up on this path? Is that why You brought us together, so he could find his way back to You and his true calling?

There was no answer to her question. Not even the flutter of angel’s wings.

Zack turned to her. His smile grew warm and lit every corner of Zoe’s being. This time, she did melt, and she knew without a doubt that the love of this man would be like the time she’d just spent in the garden…a sweet gift from God.

 

 

 

 

6

 

Zack watched Zoe spread ketchup over the biggest hamburger he’d ever seen. Then she put on a tomato, onions, and the lettuce before she smashed the bun on top. “For some reason, I pictured you as a vegetarian.”

Zoe grinned. “I was for most of my life. That’s why I now eat beef as much as I can. But only the best!” With that, she took a huge bite out of the hamburger.

Zack laughed at the sheer enthusiasm. “Do I detect a trace of rebellion in your tone?”

She paused over her hamburger, thinking carefully. “Maybe a little, but mostly I’m just sorry for things not said. I lost my parents two years ago in an accident.”

“I’m sorry, Zoe. I didn’t mean to dredge up bad memories.”

“You didn’t dredge them up.” She hesitated, as if she wanted to say more but with a little shake of her head, she went on. “For the most part, I had a good life. My parents were very loving. They were just free spirits. My dad hated rules of any kind. He was obsessed with freedom. He never saw that true freedom lies in complete obedience.”

“What do you mean?”

She finished chewing her most recent bite before she answered. “Putting your life in God’s hands allows you to be your true self.”

Zack frowned. “Be in someone else’s control so you can do what you want. I’m not sure I see how that’s possible.”

“Neither could my dad. That’s why he spent his life chasing something he never found.”

Her words struck Zack hard. Was that what he was feeling? Did he know in his heart he was chasing something that would never give him true contentment?

“Why didn’t he do it? Why couldn’t he just put himself in God’s hands?”

She squeezed a pile of ketchup by her french fries. “Well, first you have to have a relationship with God. You have to know Him and His words. You have to talk to Him and most importantly, you have to learn to listen. My dad was usually pretty busy telling everyone else how things should be.”

This time Zack was certain about her tone. “I thought you said you had no resentment.”

She sighed. “I didn’t when I was younger. Not until I got older. My dad couldn’t quite forgive me for not buying into his dream world.”

“You didn’t like living in communes?”

“Cooperatives. My dad preferred the word cooperatives. It wasn’t bad. For the most part, I loved it. I had lots of friends. I learned how to work with others, and I always saw the fruits of my work. I didn’t reject the lifestyle so much as my dad’s single-minded pursuit of personal freedom. He refused to see how much it hurt others, especially my mother and me.”

“Sounds like he was pretty selfish.”

“I started to question our lifestyle. I loved the concept of serving others, living in peace with our surroundings, but I knew there was more than what I was seeing.”

“Is that when you started sensing God’s presence?”

She glanced at him, a surprised look on her face. She smiled and Zack wondered how such a simple thing could light up his world.

“Yes, it was. When I finally put a name to my feelings and realized that God is our Creator, I started going to a little chapel down the street with some of my friends. We walked almost a mile and never missed a Sunday or a Wednesday meeting. When I learned how much God loved us and sacrificed for us, I knew I’d found the truth…real love and total freedom. God was the reality my father had been seeking all his life. I couldn’t wait to share my faith with him. I thought he’d be so excited.”

She fiddled with her french fries. “Instead, he lost his temper. He called me naïve and foolish and railed against God and the restrictions of religion. He told me if I continued to go to church I’d have to leave.”

“All I had felt from God was love,” she said, shaking her head, “That’s when I knew my father’s search had just been an excuse for self-indulgence.”

“What about your mother? How did she feel?”

A half-smile flitted over her lips but she didn’t raise her gaze to meet Zack’s. “My mother adored my father.”

There was much more emotion behind those simple words. He could feel it. “She loved him more than she loved you?”

“My mother gave up everything to follow my father, even her family. I think she’d followed him for so long she didn’t know how to step out on her own.”

Her simple statement said it all.

“What did you do?”

She eased back in her chair. “One of the benefits of living in a cooperative is you have lots of extended family. I moved in with friends a few doors down. They were going to church with me. After I earned my high school diploma, I left. I’d learned how to do stained glass from someone in our community and made some money, so I just walked away. I can also garden and weave my own cloth, by the way.”

Zack smiled. “You’re a true artist, Zoe. Stained glass is what you should be doing.”

She hesitated. “How about you, Zack? What should you be doing?”

He shifted uncomfortably. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

She put her hamburger back on her plate and wiped her mouth with her paper napkin. “Yes, you do. You just aren’t listening.”

He scrunched his own napkin in his hand. “What am I supposed to listen to?”

“The silent promptings of your heart.”

“My heart tells me I should have accepted the job a week ago.”

“Then why haven’t you?”

He released a heavy sigh. “OK. My
mind
tells me to accept. My
heart
says…”

“What?”

“It says wait.”

“For what?” she asked with a tilt of her head.

“I don’t know,” he said. “You tell me. You have all the answers.”

“I’m not a fortune teller,” she said. “I don’t know the future, and I certainly don’t have the answers. I’m just a messenger. Saint Paul said we have to work out our salvation with fear and trembling.”

“I’m trembling all right. If I listen to the promptings of my heart, I’d walk away from security and into the unknown in some third world country.”

Zoe reached across the space to grasp his hand. “Zack, are you called to mission work?”

He wasn’t even sure what Zoe meant. He only knew that her touch was warm and soft. He looked down. Her hand was delicate, with fragile, slender fingers and blunt nails. But the marks and scars on her tender skin told him she worked hard.

As soon as she saw him looking, she released him and tucked her hand under the table where he couldn’t see it. That was the second time she’d tried to hide her hands, and he wondered if she was ashamed of them.

“Zack,” she drew his attention off her hands and back to her sweet face. “When Mr. Hart told me I needed to come and see you, I had no idea what to say or do. All the way across the courtyard, I prayed. When I walked in, I still had no idea what to say. It wasn’t until I looked at your computer that the words came to me.”

“And that’s supposed to encourage me in what way?” he said, deliberate skepticism heavy in his tone.

She gave a little laugh. “To show you that God never fails us. He’s always there. Sometimes we just have to step out in faith.”

“In my case it would be more like a leap rather than a step.”

“I agree,” she said with another laugh. “It is a big first step. Maybe that’s why He sent me to you. He knew you’d need confirmation and support.”

Zack agreed, all the while thinking he knew a thousand other reasons God might have sent her to him. Pink lips. Eyes he could get lost in. And he still wondered how her hair would look loosed and falling about her shoulders.

“Zoe,” he murmured, “Why did you get so excited when you heard I might be interested in mission work?”

BOOK: Leap of Faith
13.9Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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