On a Killer's Trail (20 page)

Her eyes were open, and they found his face, but her head hadn’t moved.

“Oma, do you want to say something to me?” He grasped her hand.

“I’m afraid.”

Tears started in Neil’s eyes. “You don’t have to be afraid. Just trust Jesus to save you. Jesus is the one who died for our sins.”

She looked up at him blankly.

“Just trust Jesus,” Neil said. “You don’t have to do anything else. He did everything, Oma.” He struggled mentally with his rusty Dutch and decided he didn’t have the words to say what he wanted to tell her. He turned in his Bible to John 1 and looked at verse 12. “If you receive Jesus Christ and believe in His name, He will save you.”

Her eyes flickered.

“We can’t do anything to deserve eternal life,” Neil said. “All we can do is believe in Jesus.”

“Jesus,” she whispered hoarsely.

“
Ja,
Oma. He did everything on the cross. Just trust Him.”

She closed her eyes. Neil grabbed a tissue from the box on
the nightstand and wiped his eyes. He sat and prayed, wondering if he’d said it right and if she’d understood.

His folks came back a little while later, and brought him a hamburger meal. He set it on the nightstand, but his mother said, “Eat, eat,” so he took the sandwich out and unwrapped it.

“How is she?” Papa asked, sitting down heavily in his chair on the other side of the bed.

“She spoke to me.”

“What did she say?” Mama asked.

Neil hesitated. “She said my name first, and then she said she was afraid.”

Tears spilled from his father’s eyes and dropped down onto the front of his shirt.

“I told her to trust Jesus,” Neil said. “The last thing she said was…‘Jesus.’”

His father closed his eyes. Neil prayed again in silence, holding Oma’s hand, and his mother sat silent, too.

His grandmother’s breath came slower, and each one seemed a gasp. Neil wished he could call his pastor, but he thought his parents would be offended.

“Kate is still waiting,” his mother said. “She’s a nice girl, Neil.”

“Thanks. I know.”

“She’s good for you,” Papa said.

Neil smiled and wiped at the tears.

The nurse came in and checked the readings on Oma’s monitor. She walked over to Papa and laid a hand on his sleeve. “I don’t think it will be long, Mr. Alexander.”

Mama stood. “I’ll go and call the girls.” She and the nurse left the room.

Neil rounded the bed and sat down beside Papa. After a moment, Papa turned and opened his arms. Neil hugged him. They cried together for a minute. When Papa pulled away, Neil sat back and watched Oma.

Every time she pulled in a breath, he thought it was the last.
She hung on until Marc brought Marianne and Anneke in. Marianne was crying uncontrollably, and Marc kept his arm around her. Anneke said they’d left all the children with Dennis. She sat, white-faced, her eyes not leaving Oma’s face.

Oma gasped one more spasmodic breath. Neil waited for the next one, but it didn’t come.

Kate’s eyelids drooped, and she set the magazine aside. It was after midnight. Maybe she should go home. She sent up another prayer for Oma and all of Neil’s family.
Lord, is it really best for me to be here? I can’t do anything for them
.

Quiet footsteps approached, and she looked up to see Neil in the doorway, his face bathed in tears. She sprang up and pulled him into the room and put her arms around him.

“Neil, I’m so sorry.”

“I talked to her when Mama and Papa were gone. I told her to trust Jesus. She said His name. Kate, I think she believed.”

“I hope you’re right.” She stroked his shoulders. “We’ll know when we get to heaven.”

His arms tightened around her. He clung to her for a long minute with his forehead against her temple, breathing raggedly and caressing her hair.

“Thank you.” He eased gently away. “Come sit down a minute. Papa’s talking to the nurse about arrangements.” They settled in on the vinyl-covered sofa. “My folks will go to the funeral home tomorrow, but I expect the service will be Friday.”

“I’ll be there,” Kate said. “And Adri and I will bring dinner for your family tomorrow. I already talked to her, and we want to do that so your mother doesn’t have to cook.”

Neil smiled gently. “Thank you. You’ll be
gezellig
for sure, after this.”

“And Connor says he doesn’t expect you to work the rest of the week.”

Neil wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against his shoulder. “Kate, I don’t want to wait anymore to say this. I love
you. I’ve never felt this way about anyone before. Like I want to be with you always. For the rest of my life.”

Kate’s pulse raced, but her rational mind whispered, “Caution.” She leaned back and eyed him carefully. “Neil, you’re not proposing, are you? Because it’s way too soon, you know.”

“No,” he said. “I just want you to know that I love you, and you’re the woman I want to grow old with.”

Kate gulped and brushed back the hair that shadowed his eyes. “I love you, too, Neil.”

Neil lowered his head and gave her a lingering kiss.

After a long moment, he lifted his head and stared deeply into Kate’s eyes.

“You’re right, you know.” He leaned back against the sofa. “This can’t be a proposal, because when I propose it will be much better than this. Moonlight and roses and music, you know, the whole shebang. Fireworks, even.”

She smiled. “Fireworks?”

“Oh, yeah. Which are hard to arrange in Maine without getting arrested. But for now—well, I love you, Kate. And…and you said you love me.”

“I do.”

“That’s enough for now, I guess.”

She eased back into his embrace. “Yes, it’s plenty for now. I’ll look forward to the rest.”

She felt a sudden longing for the Fourth of July.

Dear Reader,

This story is different from those I usually tell. Kate, the heroine, is young and idealistic. Like many of us, when she met a handsome, charming man, she assumed everything else about him was good, too. By the time she faced the fact that Neil didn’t respect her faith or her convictions, her heart was already entangled. Though she managed to turn back to God and break the relationship, she left Neil confused and both of them hurt. By God’s grace, Neil found Christ, and the Lord opened a new door for them. Understandably, both were hesitant to enter that doorway.

Kate’s other main conflict—her ambition—is one we all face. The exhilaration of success led her to push people for favors when she shouldn’t have. Learning to leave selfishness behind and balance her work and her relationships is difficult, but Kate was well on the way by the end of this story.

Neil’s relationship with his family was strained because he accepted a faith they didn’t understand. His parents were disappointed because he didn’t meet their expectations. Even for a grown man, that’s hard to take. Resolution for Neil came at his grandmother’s hospital bedside, with hope that his family will now be more open to hearing his witness.

The difficulties these two face—pride, ambition, attraction to the wrong person and family conflicts, are ones many Christians face. I hope that traveling this journey with Kate and Neil will lift you up as you face variations of these problems in your own life. May God bless you as you seek to draw closer to Him.

I love hearing from my readers. Come visit me on my Web site at www.susanpagedavis.com.

Susan Page Davis

1. Kate leaves her parents’ home when making the jump from a small-town weekly newspaper to a city daily paper. How does her determination to succeed in her new job affect her relationship with others?
   
2. Why does Neil’s family feel so uneasy with his choice to believe in Christ? Have you ever found it difficult to share your faith with a family member? How did you handle it?
   
3. Adrienne and Connor introduced Neil and Kate, but regretted it after the two wound up hurting each other. When Kate returns to Portland, they don’t tell Neil she’s back—at Kate’s request. Have you put off facing someone or some issue that has caused you grief in the past? How do you feel about the way Kate handled reconnecting with Neil?
   
4. When Connor takes vacation to be with Adrienne and the baby, Neil is overwhelmed by the prospect of being “in charge” at the office. What steps does he take to help him fulfill his responsibilities? Does being a leader or a manager scare you? How do you deal with it?
   
5. In addition to gathering information for her articles, Kate has to learn to guard what she tells others. Is keeping a confidence difficult for you? What guidelines do you use to know when it’s okay to pass on information?
   
6. Oma is perhaps the first person who listens to Neil’s witness without shutting the conversation down. Yet Neil can’t know for sure that she understood and received Christ. What would you tell Neil after this experience?
   
7. What devices does Roberta Palmer use to cover her role in the embezzlement? Have you ever been shocked to learn someone you considered a nice person is not so nice? How did you deal with it in your own heart?
   
8. How has Connor helped Neil and Kate grow in their spiritual and social lives?
   
9. During the ice storm and after Oma’s stroke, Adrienne jumps into action to help others. What have you done to help friends or strangers during a crisis? Where would you draw the line on helping others, or is there a line at all?
   
10. Kate could have driven away from the restaurant after she alerted Neil about Jim Burton’s presence. What stopped her? How did her impulsiveness and ambition lead her into trouble? What verse or biblical principle could you use as guidance in a dangerous situation?
    
11. Neil has a checkered past in his social life. Should Kate have waited longer to accept the “new Neil”? Would you immediately accept a new Christian who left a life of sin, or would you sit back and wait to watch his progress? How would you encourage the new believer as he struggled to leave his old life behind?
    
12. Connor sets boundaries for his men and for Kate. Neil is his subordinate but also accepts his limits imposed as a friend. Kate, however, reminds Connor at one point that she is an adult and he does not have this authority. Is Connor too controlling? Is Kate rebellious?