Read Online A Heart Revealed by Julie Lessman - Free Book Online Page B

Burn in hell , she thought to herself, and tears pricked her eyes. A painful prophecy brought to pass by a man who had incinerated her every hope, scalding her first with his words and then with his actions, leaving her life in ashes.
    Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.
    Water welled beneath her eyelids and she opened them, her gaze fixed on the gold band of her left hand as it rested against the bouquet on her chest. Job’s lament had been her own at one time, but in the gift of a precious friendship with Charity, God had changed her grief to joy, her repentance to rejoicing.
    To give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness . . .
    She inhaled deeply, reveling in the sanctuary of her cozy apartment, a respite untainted by the horrors of her past. Rory’s ring may still mar her finger, but in the sacred sanctuary of her life here in Boston, she was free—from the rejection that branded her soul as surely as Rory had branded her face. Free to be the woman that God intended her to be, unencumbered by a past . . . or the wishes of a husband.
    Setting the bouquet aside, she stared at the gold band, her smile melancholy as she grazed it with her fingers. Charity saw it as a shackle of doom, condemning her to a life alone, and Emma had to admit, there were times the truth of that statement pierced her very soul. Not during the light of day, of course, when career obligations and commitments to friends kept the loneliness at bay, but sometimes in the dark of night, when sleep evaded and longings stirred. Longings buried so deep, she sometimes forgot they were even there. Simple human desires—to be held . . . to be touched . . . to be loved for the woman she used to be.
    And still secretly was.
    Her eyelids weighted closed as she idly caressed the ring on her finger, refusing to allow impossible stirrings to steer her off course. No, for her, the love of a man had proven fatal to her adolescent dreams of romance, indeed, shackling her to a vow she could never escape. And yet, those same shackles set her free as well . . . to become all that God had called her to be. Because to her, this ring was a symbol of hope as well, guaranteeing a life of faith as pure and precious as the gold on her hand. She did God’s bidding now, not Rory’s, and with the infinite depth of the Father’s love—and that of friends and family he’d supplied—she would never be alone again.
    Something soft tickled her arm and she smiled at Lancelot, apparently up from his nap and ready for attention. Emma feathered a hand across the tabby’s arched back, eliciting a soft hum that vibrated against her palm. “Well, hello, sleepyhead. Did you enjoy your day?”
    The red tabby purred and stretched in response, his orange stripes the color of marmalade on fresh cream. With a bored flick of his tail, he sashayed over to his “throne” to hold court on his favorite burgundy and cream striped wing chair, draping its arm like a limp doily. Slits of amber eyes stared back, and Emma grinned outright, nodding at the tangles of yarn.
    “I suppose you’re exhausted from all this redecorating. What, no moths to stalk today?”
    A knock sounded at the door as Lancelot closed his eyes, obviously choosing to ignore the playful tease in her tone.
    “Coming,” Emma called and bounded up with a noisy sigh.
    She opened the door to her eighteen-year-old neighbor from upstairs, dressed in a brand-new outfit, judging from the grin on her powdered face.
    “Casey—you look beautiful!” Emma said with a quick sweep of the young woman’s stylish polka-dot dress. “Where are you going?”
    Casey whirled around, her petite size and little-girl action making her look all of thirteen despite voluptuous curves. “Oh, Emma—I’m going to a dance marathon at Revere Beach with the most wonderful man!” She spun one more time to give Emma the full effect of her pleated