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Inspiring Voices - LaDonna Joy

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43 pages

English

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"Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these, 'It might have been.'" As we enter the autumn and fall of our lives, many of us find ourselves living that John Greenleaf Whittier quote. We think about decisions we made and wonder if we could have made better choices. And some of us wonder if we would do anything differently if we had it all to do over again.Melina Wright wondered about times past and decisions made. In author LaDonna Joy's novel, Spring Came Again in August, Melina finds herself reliving parts of her past when she meets her college love after many years. Despite a happy marriage with her late husband, Josh, she'd regretted missed opportunities with Sean and secrets kept since their last meeting. Though destined to be short-lived, their reunion helps Melina find answers to long-held questions.Spring Came Again in August shows even decisions we may feel we didn't make entirely on our own can be the right ones. Life may not turn out how we thought it would, but we can make the most of it. And sometimes, just sometimes, we have the opportunity to go back and finish the old business of our youth.

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Publié par	Inspiring Voices
Date de parution	25 août 2015
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781462411443
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0200€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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SPRING CAME AGAIN IN AUGUST
LaDonna Joy

Copyright © 2015 LaDonna Joy.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Inspiring Voices
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.inspiringvoices.com
1 (866) 697-5313

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4624-1143-6 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-4624-1144-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015911106

Inspiring Voices rev. date: 07/09/2015
CONTENTS
Chapter One Disaster
Chapter Two Reflections
Chapter 3 The Journey
Chapter Four Sean
Chapter Five Springtime
Chapter Six Josh
Chapter Seven Family
Chapter Eight Reunion
CHAPTER ONE Disaster
The ear-splitting wail of the ambulance siren died to a low groan as it stopped at the emergency entrance. The emergency technicians moved with learned dexterity, bringing the patient into the able hands of the ward’s waiting medical team.
At the same time, Barbara Quinn, was just finishing her shift at the hospital. She hadn’t been able to see who the patient was, and knew they didn’t need her in the busy ward trying to find out. It wasn’t long until the ambulance driver stepped back out. He came and leaned on the ledge in front of the nurse’s station.
“Who is it?” Barbara asked.
“Sean Webb,” was the answer. “Don’t know if he’s going to make it this time…”
“Oh, no…” although it wasn’t a complete surprise, immediate concern clutched at her insides. “Melina will want to know.” She picked up the phone and dialed the familiar number.
“No answer” Barbara sighed after an anxious interval. Then, more to herself than aloud, added, “wonder where she could be?”
They hadn’t known each other long but Barbara was well acquainted with Melina’s philosophy about surviving hot summer days.
“The pool would be the logical place, as hot as it is today.” She punched the time clock and headed for the parking lot. “I hope she’s there…”
Barbara sat in the car a few minutes after parking close to the south fence. Her eyes scanned the water, then the surrounding area. It took only a few moments to spot Melina cheering her grandson, Bobby for his dexterity in the water. Barbara was short and heavy set. Her wavy, close-cut, auburn hair next to the profound whiteness of her uniform made her quite obvious in the pool area.
Melina rested on the side of the swimming pool with her feet dangling in the cool water. It seemed to be an ideal way to relieve the stifling ninety degree heat of the long August days. The light pink stripes of her purple one-piece suit accentuated the well proportioned curves of her tall, slender body. She was not concerned that she was undoubtedly the oldest swimmer the pool had seen for many years, because swimming had long been her favorite sport.
Bobby, Melina’s six-year-old grandson, had come for a visit. He preferred the pool to games in the park. As Melina relaxed, watching him, she was reminded of another vibrant youth form yesteryear, that bore such a striking resemblance to this one. He was the only child of her oldest daughter, Crystal. They lived over a hundred miles from Melina’s home in Chester, but he was always allowed to spend a week with Granny Wright.
Although she had not known Bobby’s grandfather when he was a child, she could see many of his features recreated in this child. Maybe she saw them, now, because she alone knew the possibility of them being there. Maybe because she looked for resemblances no one else expected to see. If this time and series of events had not become so emphatically linked to the past, for her, she might have missed seeing the similarities along with everyone else.
“Granny,” Bobby called, “watch me!”
“You’re getting to be quite a swimmer,” she praised him.
Everyone should experience at least one of Bobby’s smiles, Melina thought as he bounced to the surface the second time.
Melina stood and watched Bobby retrieve a small stone again and again. She didn’t notice Barbara. She was completely wrapped up in the antics of Bobby as he was having so much fun.
Barbara heaved a reluctant sigh and opened the car door. She knew the news would not be welcomed but it had to be delivered anyway.
“Melina,” her steady, female voice broke into the thoughts of the two swimmers. Melina turned to face her friend in wonderment.
“Well, hi…” she jumped up and moved toward the fence between them,. “did you just get off work?” The answer was obvious. Melina felt slightly uneasy at Barbara’s presence;. Why would she come here? she asked herself.
“What are you up to?”
There was a long moment of silence as the two women faced each other. Barbara’s steady, blue eyes looked intently into the eyes of her friend. Melina immediately sensed the seriousness in the other’s expression. She knew something was wrong.
“What is it?”
Taking hold of the fence, she leaned toward the woman on the other side, with sudden anticipation taking over.
The time had come — it had to be said — Barbara swallowed hard — “They just brought Sean into the emergency room — he’s in trouble — may not make it,” she paused briefly, studying Melina’s face. The words struck her like a quick slap. Her knuckles showed white on her brown hands as she clutched the fence.
“I’m sorry,” Barbara continued, “but I knew you’d want to know. I tried your house, then decided you must be here.”
Barbara knew they had known each other many years ago, Melina and Sean, but she didn’t know how special that friendship had been and Melina didn’t want to betray that now. She forced herself to relax.
“Thanks,” she knew she had to let go. Absently, she added, “could I see him if I went up later?”
“I don’t know — maybe tomorrow —” her voice trailed off. She waited to see if Melina was going to be okay. Everyone knew this time would come, but it wasn’t any easier. Barbara returned to her car. Warm tears welled up in both pairs of eyes as they met again, momentarily. Then she drove away.
Melina stood as she was for a moment. She didn’t want Bobby to see her tears. “I’m not ready for this!” She felt anger again as she had only a few short days ago when she had said those same words to Sean. Her heart seemed to beat loudly enough for everyone to hear. She glanced from side to side.
“He’s really nothing to me,” she thought, “not really — just a good friend.” She could lie to everyone else with that, but not to herself, she knew better.
Sean had looked straight into her eyes the day she spoke of not being ready and slightly raised his graying eyebrows and said, “Then you better get ready, Doll.” He smiled that winning smile of reassurance, even though he knew that wasn’t what she wanted to hear. He didn’t want her to regret his dying. They had been apart all their lives and this was not the time for regrets.
She stood by the pool side, watching the playful little waves on the water but not seeing them. She was seeing events from thirty-five years ago — then she saw Sean dying.
But Bobby was there, and she didn’t want him to see her unhappy. She didn’t want anyone to know the depth of her feelings — not now! It would only cause unhappiness for others who never need to know the whole truth.
The heavy sigh from her own mouth reminded her of Sean’s calm assurance that God still had everything under control. It encouraged her. She remembered the complete confidence in his pleasant smile. Now she became aware that she would, in the days to come, draw on that same confidence, in her own spirit, to carry her through. His faith in the God he had learned to love would encourage her own faith and be strong enough to convince her that Sean was, indeed, in good hands.
As Bobby continued to enjoy his rock-diving game, Melina slid, unnoticed, into the refreshing pool again. The coolness of the water helped calm the anxiety she felt.
“I’m still not ready, Sean,” she whispered to herself, “I’m trying — but I’ll never be ready —”
She turned face up to float on her back. Her arms floated free at her sides and she finally relaxed,. The buoyancy of the water carried her body quietly over the surface. Her eyes were open and as they filled with tears, her mind began to relive a special friendship from the past — a springtime so long ago that had returned, briefly, to bless her life again.