fault of your own.”
“You’re speaking from experience.”
“I understand the way life can change in an instant.”
Tessa waited again, as if she were encouraging Elisa to say more. When she didn’t, Tessa went on. “Thank you for listening to me. I’m looking forward to getting to know you better.”
Elisa liked Tessa. By the same token, she was afraid she might have found a friend with more insight than Elisa could afford.
They heard footsteps, and Sam approached from the direction they had taken. “Helen said I’d find you here.”
He had changed back into long pants and a sport shirt, and looked like a man with a mission. Elisa was contrite. “I’m sorry, do you need to leave?”
“I didn’t, but I do now. One of our parishioners was taken to the hospital in Winchester. He’s not expected to make it through the night. I need to get over there. I can take you back to the church if we leave right now.”
“I’ll take her back.” Tessa thought better of that. “No, Mom will take her. She won’t mind a bit, and that will keep me out from behind the wheel.”
“That would be a big help,” Sam said. “Shall I wait while you ask?”
“No. If Mom can’t, Zeke or Cissy will. You go on. Elisa’s one of the gang now. We’ll take care of her.”
Sam turned to Elisa. “I hate to abandon you this way.”
For a moment she thought there was more to his statement than simple good manners. His gaze was warm. She felt her cheeks warm in response.
“You go,” she said. “I’ll be at the church at eight tomorrow morning to start my training.”
“Goodbye, then.” He glanced at Tessa. “Thanks again.”
They watched him disappear down the path.
“Sam’s wonderful at what he does, although not everyone thinks so,” Tessa said when he was gone. “He’s definitely controversial.”
“He has many problems in the church?” Elisa thought of George and Leon Jenkins, and wondered what was behind the controversy.
“He has more supporters than enemies. As long as the balance remains that way, he’ll remain as minister. But I wonder sometimes if he’s really happy here. It’s a small country church, and he’s a man with obvious talents. Plus he goes home every night to an empty house, and I think he’s a man with a lot of love to give.”
Elisa wondered why Tessa had chosen to confide that.
She knew better than to ask.
Chapter Seven
SAM’S PARENTS HAD hoped he would become a doctor. He often thought of that when he walked through a hospital doorway. No one knew how he had to steel himself to cross the threshold. He hated nearly everything inside. The institutional feel, the smell, the unrelenting clatter, the reminders of his own mortality. He wanted to lay hands on every patient and send them home. He hated suffering and disease, but his was not a healing ministry. He could only comfort with his belief that God was a constant presence. He was always moved when that turned out to be enough.
Dinnertime was near when he arrived at the hospital in Winchester where Newt Rafferty had been taken to die. Newt, a widower, was a former Community Church deacon who had resigned from the board eight months ago when his health took a turn for the worse. Claiming the grandchildren would keep him young, he had moved to Winchester to spend his final months with his oldest daughter and her family. But every time Sam made the trip north to visit, he had seen that Newt was failing.
The call to Newt’s bedside wasn’t a surprise, but Sam was sorry it had come so swiftly. He had prayed that Newt would have more years. Like so many of his prayers, this one hadn’t been answered the way he hoped.
He found his way to the appropriate floor and through the rabbit warren of corridors to Newt’s room. Several people stood outside. He recognized Newt’s daughter Gloria and her husband, and greeted them before he shook hands with some of Newt’s more distant relatives. Newt’s youngest daughter and only son were inside with their father.
Gloria, whose thin face was streaked with tears, looked shaken but resolute. “Last week he refused further treatment. He says he’s ready to die.”
Sam took her hand. “How do you feel about this?”
“He knows what he wants. It would be different if the doctors could really help him. But he’s in pain, and anything else they can do will just prolong it. It’s only...it’s hard to let him go.”
“Newt’s always had good judgment. I think he must have passed that on to you.”
Gloria reached for a tissue in her pocket. She was a striking brunette, but the past months had added worry lines where none had been before. “I know letting him go is the right thing, but it’s good to hear it from an impartial observer.”
“I’m not impartial. I count him among my friends.”
“He feels the same way. I’m so glad you could get here. The hospital chaplain prayed with him, but I know Daddy wanted to see you one more time.”
“He wants to be buried in the church cemetery. Did he tell you?”
She wiped her eyes. “We’ll do the funeral there.”
The door opened, and Newt’s other children came into the hallway. Both were obviously exhausted.
Newt’s son looked much as his father probably had at the same age, tall and scholarly. He shook Sam’s hand. “He’s resting, but you go in and wait until he opens his eyes. He asked if you were here.”
“What does the doctor say?”
“That we should say our goodbyes while we can.”
“Has everyone had a chance to see him?”
“A few old friends are on their way.”
“Then I’ll wait inside.” Sam gave Newt’s youngest daughter a quick hug. Of all his children, she looked the most upset.
Inside, Sam saw that Newt’s bed was one of two, but the other was empty. He hoped it remained that way until Newt was gone. He was relieved to see there were no machines regulating the last hours of his friend’s life. Newt had an IV in his right arm and nothing more. He was not thrashing or moaning. Sam thought he was probably deeply sedated.
He perched on the chair at Newt’s bedside and took his hand. Then he prayed silently that Newt’s death would be easy and his family comforted by the knowledge he was a good man who had led a good life.
Ten minutes passed before Newt opened his eyes. At first he seemed confused, but after Sam spoke to him a while, he focused.
“Sam?”
“I’m here. I’ve been praying for
