Read Online Christian Romance: Heaven on Earth... [4 Beautiful Christian Romance Stories] by Joanne Sawyer - Free Book Online

they have celebrated? They were
too busy drowning in torment.
    It’s a wonder that they’d
never once drawn attention to themselves, to the invisible but
palpable something between them, not just on that night but from the moment they
first laid eyes on each other.
    It’s a wonder that nobody can see it
now, this intense fire that for years had lain dormant, blazing
fully into life the moment the master and mistress that lit it
reunited to stoke it once again.
    On the last possible moment that they
could’ve gotten away with being locked inside a world of their own,
Lucy and Charles regained their self-possession and something of
their common sense too. They summoned a polite smile for everyone
else’s benefit and subtly let themselves back into the general
proceedings, just as if they’d never left.
    It didn’t matter at all that they
weren’t looking at each other now—the other person was only an
arm’s reach away if ever they were attacked by doubts that this was
really happening. In any case, the heat that was still coursing in
waves through the physical distance they must set between them was
enough of a reminder. For the time being.
    “Actually, we are
celebrating too,” Margaret was saying. Without taking her gaze off
of her listeners, she reached a hand behind her and it landed
perfectly on one of her son’s broad shoulders. “Charleston here has
just graduated magna cum laude in Molecular Biology and he’s being offered a scholarship
in three of the
top medical schools in the country. He’s simply wonderful, and God
is gracious. I was so happy, I even told our pastor—I told him,
‘Just you wait now, Father, when our boy’s a doctor, this whole
parish will want for no quality medical attention. Charleston shall
lend you his time and expertise at absolutely no cost.’ And you
won’t believe this, but our pastor told me, he said, ‘Pride is a
sin, my daughter, but in this case I believe you are simply telling
the truth. Your son has a good, God-fearing heart in him. I have no
worries on his behalf.’ Oh , you can just imagine how my
heart swelled at his words.”
    None of them had to imagine anything
because Margaret was suddenly daubing at her eyes—so overcome was
she with happiness. Noah gave a small but unmistakably indulgent
smile at his wife before clapping his son on his other
shoulder.
    “You will forgive our
effusiveness, I’m sure,” Noah said, beaming apologetically at them
all. “Rare it is that any child lives up to some of his parents’ expectations.
When yours live up to all of them, it’s…” Unable to find a good enough
word, he merely shook his head.
    Lucy’s father rejoined with, “Oh, not
at all, please. Noah, Margaret—we understand. We understand
perfectly. Don’t we, darling?”
    “That is great news indeed, Charles,”
replied Helena, her eyes crinkling and also tearing a bit, in
solidarity with Margaret’s. “Congratulations.”
    Charles smiled a bit shyly and said,
“Thank you. Thank you so much.” He was being properly gracious and
humble about it all, but one glance at his ear told Lucy that this
affected him more than he showed—it was hopelessly red. She turned
away and hid a smile behind her hand.
    Confirming that Charles
was highly intelligent was well and good, and she already knew he
was a good son from back when they first met. What set Lucy’s heart
to pounding again was how… how cute she thought Charles was behaving, so
uncomfortable with being the center of attention. Suddenly it all
felt too much, though not in a bad way. She thought she had already
fallen long ago, so what was this happening to her now?
    How much deeper, exactly, does this
pit she had flung herself to go?
    More importantly… should she dare to
find out?

At That Moment...

    “Madams, Sirs?” the floor manager
himself appeared by their table. Almost half of the people around
it had simply been standing in talk for several minutes, and no
waiter could successfully