Carry the Light (23 page)

B
etween wrapping her gifts after Aunt Dorothy went to bed and cooking ahead for tomorrow, Charlene did not finish up in the kitchen until after eleven o'clock that night. By then, the refrigerator was stuffed—fuller than the small turkey would be tomorrow when she put it into the oven to roast. The cake she had baked and iced was on top of the refrigerator, stored under an old-fashioned aluminum dome. And the Easter basket Charlene had made for Aunt Dorothy was on the counter, covered with a shopping bag, just in case Aunt Dorothy woke up and wandered out into the kitchen before morning.

While Daniel finished packing the car with everything they would need for tomorrow's sunrise service, Charlene lifted the bag, peeked at her aunt's Easter basket again and grinned. She had had to look through dozens of supply catalogues before she had found the tiny, gray stuffed elephant wearing an Easter bonnet. Thanks to express delivery, the elephant was now snuggling between two raspberry donuts from McAllister's. An elephant pin and matching earrings were wrapped in separate boxes, and dietetic candy from Sweet Stuff completed the assortment of goodies.

Satisfied, Charlene let the bag drop back into place to cover the basket. She had one wrapped gift for Daniel on the kitchen table, but there was another one tucked in her pocket. She couldn't decide whether or not to give it to him. She was setting out the wood and strands of palm Aunt Dorothy had given to her earlier when her husband came back inside.

“I think we're finally all set for tomorrow morning. The three lawn chairs all fit in the trunk. I put new batteries in the flashlights and left a note taped to the steering wheel to remind us to bring along Aunt Dorothy's lap shawl,” he said as he removed his coat and hung it on the back doorknob before walking over to the table. “What's all this?” he asked, frowning. “Where did you get—”

“The present is from me to you for Easter. The rest is for something Aunt Dorothy asked us to make,” she replied. After taking a deep breath, she repeated what her aunt had told her about making the small crosses. She also explained that during services in the morning, the individual crosses would be an opportunity for them to set aside their sins and find forgiveness, as well as renewal, as Easter dawned.

“We've both been really busy getting ready for Easter and we haven't really been able to talk more about what we're going to do next to…to make our marriage really work, but unless we start now, I'm afraid we never will,” she admitted. “I know it's late, but Aunt Dorothy was hoping we could make our crosses tonight. Together. If you want to,” she added, hoping and praying that he, too, would want to celebrate the joy of Easter tomorrow truly as one again.

When he glanced away, her heart trembled, but just when she thought he was going to break her heart, he looked back at her. His gorgeous blue eyes were glistening with tears. “I've been afraid all week that maybe you'd changed your mind about…about us.”

“I wouldn't do that. I couldn't,” she insisted, blinking back tears of her own.

“Is making those crosses really something that you want us to do, or are you doing this just to make Aunt Dorothy happy?”

“I want us to make our crosses together and I want us to pray together. You said we could do that again, but we never did,” she whispered. “If we're both serious about rebuilding our marriage, I think we need to start right now by asking God to help us. With prayer.”

“Show me how to make the crosses,” he said, and moved closer to stand beside her.

She nodded, unable to speak for the lump in her throat. After she picked up two pieces of wood, she wrapped a strand of palm around them until the little cross was secure. Then she closed her fingers around it.

Following her lead, he made a cross of his own, which he clutched in one hand.

Impulsively, she opened his hand and laid her cross atop the one he had made, and covered them both with the palm of her hand. When she looked up at him, she saw his love staring back at her. “Pray with me,” she whispered, and bowed her head.

He cleared his throat. “Father, we come to You together to ask that You forgive us both for taking one another for granted. Through Your beloved Son, You have shown the world the meaning of pure love, and through Your spirit, You have given us all the strength to follow Your Word.”

When he paused, Charlene added to her husband's prayers. “Guide us, Father, as we rebuild our marriage. Keep us close to You when we wander apart. And tomorrow, when the sun rises in the east to announce the glorious victory of righteousness over evil, fill our hearts with Your love, that we may share that love with one another. Amen.”

“Amen,” Daniel whispered, and pulled her into his arms.

He hugged her so tight she had to pull away to draw a breath, then he leaned forward and stole a kiss. And then another.

She chuckled, wondering what would have happened if she had had time to dab on that perfume behind her ears, and remembered the present for him she had stuck in her pocket. “Here,” she said, handing him a Turkish Taffy that she had salvaged from her store. “Happy Easter, Daniel,” she said, hoping he would remember the first time she had offered him the candy.

Grinning, he took the candy, but immediately shoved it into his own back pocket. “Since I'm not wearing a helmet, I think it's better if I put it away before you get any ideas about using my head to crack it into pieces,” he teased.

Delighted that he remembered, she grinned back at him. “I've got something else for you,” she said, and leaned over to get his present from the table, handing it to him. “Open this.”

Looking a bit surprised, he backed away. “Hold on to that. I'll be right back,” he said, and rushed out of the kitchen and through the dining room. When he returned, he handed her a gift that was identical in size and wrapped in the same pink-and-purple-striped paper as the gift she had picked out for him.

They opened their respective presents simultaneously, but she was the one who laughed first when she saw that he had bought her the same book she had bought for him—a collection of scripture verses meant to be shared by couples. “I don't believe this,” she whispered as she ran her fingers over the cover.

“I do,” he replied. “Great minds think alike.”

“Great
couples
think alike,” she corrected. “What should we do now? We really don't need two copies of the same book.”

“Maybe we do,” he said, and set his book on the table. “We can keep one copy here to read together on the weekends, and I'll take the other one home. That way, during the week after I get home from work, I can call you and we can pray together over the phone.”

“Good idea.”

He grinned. “I thought so.”

“Aunt Dorothy still needs our help, although none of the doctors seem to be able to tell us how much time she has left,” she said. “While living apart during the week isn't exactly a good way to rebuild a marriage, I don't see that we have much choice.”

“Maybe we won't have to be living apart. At least, not for long,” he responded, to her surprise. “I was thinking about having both of us move in with her. Permanently.”

She furrowed her brow. “Both of us? How? You can't commute back and forth. Not after working ten hours a day.”

He pecked her cheek. “I'll make some coffee. Why don't you get that cake you hid up there on top of the refrigerator and cut a few slices. I don't know about you, but I need a snack. We can talk over cake and coffee.”

She gasped. “I can't cut the cake now. It's for Easter.”

He grinned and turned her around to face the clock. “See? Easter is only five minutes away. Before the coffee is even ready, it will officially be here,” he teased.

She leaned back against him, looked up and kissed his cheek, knowing that the promise of a new day for them had already begun.

“That clock's running awfully slow,” Aunt Dorothy announced. “Happy Easter!”

Startled, Charlene felt her husband jump, too. When she stepped out of his embrace and turned to look toward the dining room, Aunt Dorothy was shuffling toward them. In addition to a broad smile, she was wearing the ankle-length winter coat she had laid out for the sunrise service, with a scarf tied around her head and slippers on her feet. She was also holding Charlene's coat in one hand and a flashlight in the other.

Aunt Dorothy grinned at both of them. “I'm glad to see you two so happy.”

“We are, but it's hours too early to leave for the service,” Charlene said, hoping Aunt Dorothy had merely misread the digital clock next to her bed, and wasn't disoriented.

Aunt Dorothy handed Charlene her coat. “We're not leaving for services. We're going out back. I've been lying in bed watching the clock for hours. I've been so excited about seeing what Daniel did back by the creek that I haven't been able to sleep a wink. Once I saw it was just about midnight and I still heard your voices in the kitchen, I decided to get up and see if you wanted to come outside with me.”

Chuckling, Daniel grabbed his coat from the back doorknob. “I've got the other flashlights packed in the car already. I'll be right back,” he told them before slipping outside.

“You two seem to have patched up your troubles. I'm proud of you both,” her aunt whispered.

Charlene blushed, wondering how much her aunt had overheard. “We really have. Thank you. We—”

Daniel opened the back door, interrupting her. “Ready?”

Aunt Dorothy took Charlene's arm. When they were outside, their flashlights guiding their steps, they followed Daniel, who used a larger flashlight to spotlight their surroundings.

The air was cold, but there was no wind. Dazzling stars splashed across the night sky and a half-moon cast a wan light upon the earth. The woods were thick with trees, but the bushes along the wide pathway leading to the creek had been trimmed back. Their steps crunched as they walked side by side on a thick bed of stones toward the sound of moving water.

When Daniel raised his flashlight, illuminating a concrete bench that faced the creek, Aunt Dorothy yelped excitedly: “Look! There's the bench. You found it, Daniel!”

“Actually, that's a new bench,” he said. “I only found the base for the old one, and it was pretty much ruined.” As they approached the bench, he moved his flashlight to the right, revealing a white wrought-iron table with matching chairs. “Now that the weather is about to warm up, I thought you might want to sit out here with your friends when they visit.”

“What a lovely idea. It's perfect. And if the day warms up, we can have brunch right here, too. Thank you,” her aunt murmured, and plopped herself down in the middle of the bench. She sat still for a few moments, looking straight at the creek, where a narrow strip of moonlight stretched across the surface of the water. She let out a sigh. “I've been dreaming and dreaming about sitting out here again for a very long time, but I never thought I would,” she admitted in a low voice.

Charlene moved closer to her husband and took his hand. “Thank you. I love it, too.”

Before he could answer, Aunt Dorothy stood up and started waving her flashlight around. “I've got a surprise waiting for the two of you around here somewhere. There! Shine your lights right over there,” she said, pointing her flashlight off into the woods to their left.

When Charlene turned and pointed her flashlight in the same direction, she blinked twice to make sure she wasn't seeing things that really weren't there. “A bike?”

“Two bikes,” Daniel said, shining his light next to Charlene's.

“The red one is for you, Charlene. The blue one is Daniel's. Since the two of you seem to need things to do together, I thought you'd enjoy biking. I know I always did, at least in my younger days. There's a biking path along the river, you know, and lots of folks ride around town, too.”

Charlene chuckled, reminded once again that her aunt was never to be underestimated. “How did you ever get these bikes back here?”

“I didn't. Max Duncan did. His son-in-law owns the bike store on the avenue, which I'm sure you didn't know. Annie was going to drop the check off for me at the store, but she kept forgetting. That's why I had you drop it off in my note to Max at home. I couldn't very well ask you to drop it off at the store. That would have ruined my surprise.”

“Max Duncan?” Charlene gasped. “He's not…I mean, he didn't…I thought…”

“Max wasn't calling me to ask if he could keep company with me. He was trying to help me pick out the bikes over the telephone because I wasn't up to going to the store. Annie and Madeline were just helping me convince you otherwise so you wouldn't get wind of what I was planning and ruin my surprise.”

When Aunt Dorothy looked at Daniel, however, her smile quickly slipped into a frown that matched the one he wore. “What's wrong? Don't you like my present?”

“I do,” he assured her. “It's a great idea, but there's only one problem. I—I don't know how to ride a bike,” he admitted sheepishly.

“Mercy! How old are you?”