Read Online Maeve's Symphony by Marianne Evans - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Marianne Evans
Tags: Christian fiction
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voters for the gold statuette Hollywood coveted so much could witness her current performance. She’d be a serious lock for best actress. “Isn’t he just the same as you remember? What a great guy.” She rattled on, words spilling in a messy, oil-slick cover of her truest emotions. “I think Josh and I will emerge from this experience better friends than ever.”
When she took stock of group reaction, Maeve was met by a trio of skeptical stares from her friends. Liam, meanwhile, kept his head low and scrutinized flight schedules and practice itineraries as though each detail were riveting.
OK, so maybe her acting skills weren’t quite that award worthy.
Maeve ground her teeth. “Listen, I know it’s a little weird, but we’re both trying, and that’s the truth. It’ll be fine. I’m a pro. He’s a pro. We’re all pros. It’ll be wonderful.”
Shocked silence reigned.
“True words. Obviously.” Coy and taunting, Aileen batted her lashes. Maeve’s blood boiled, which she’d lay odds was precisely the reaction Aileen intended.
And the words rattled through her head. Nothing to Hide.
4
Sunday morning, Josh joined his family in their usual pew for ten o’clock Mass at Holy Spirit Church. He shared a smile and a nod with Siobhan who sat with her folks not far away. Next to her was a blond man dressed in a light gray suit. His arm curved around Siobhan’s shoulders, and his eyes widened slightly when he caught sight of Josh. Josh connected the dots. That must be AJ—Doctor Cooper—Siobhan’s fiancé and ortho specialist at Westerville Memorial. Siobhan didn’t sing, her gift to the group was an ability to dance with expressive grace and beauty, but as always, she would be lending support to her friends. AJ leaned in, whispered into her ear and she nodded, giving Josh a grin and a wink as she seemed to confirm his identity.
Holy Spirit Church was packed. It seemed parishioners had received word the Sisters in Spirit would lead worship as cantors today. At the start of services, Aileen, Kassidy, and Maeve blended into the choir on a dais against the far side of the sanctuary. Once time came for the responsorial Psalm, the trio moved to the altar and stood behind the lectern.
A still reverence filled the church just before Aileen announced, “Our responsorial Psalm is Psalm 103. The Lord is kind and merciful.”
Aileen sang verse one. “Bless the Lord, o my soul, and all my being bless God’s name; bless the Lord and forget not His benefits.”
Josh followed along in his hymnal as the congregation chimed in with the refrain. Next came Maeve.
“God pardons all your iniquities, and comforts your sorrows, redeems your life from destruction and crowns you with kindness.”
Josh’s gaze darted to the front. Three-part harmony was enjoined during the response; parishioners sang along, but his world froze on an echo of the words she had sung.
Kassidy continued with the third and final verse but Josh wondered if Maeve had been as struck by the verse selected for her as he was. Iniquities pardoned, sorrow comforted—life redeemed. God’s hope, overriding all else.
Was that promise a possibility for them?
****
Three years in the relentless spotlight of professional football had conditioned Josh to move past the awed reactions of people he met because he refused to buy into the illusion of stardom. He had never been comfortable with unwarranted adulation, especially from those who formed his childhood and past, the ones who had watched him grow and mature during his years in Westerville.
Like the Callahan family, for example. Sunday gatherings at the home of Maeve’s parents were as familiar as daybreak, but when he strode the trio of narrow cement steps leading to the front entrance of their bungalow-style home, the door came open, and he was treated like a celebrity rather than a long-time part of the family.
Time and distance worked that way, he figured. Just like
When she took stock of group reaction, Maeve was met by a trio of skeptical stares from her friends. Liam, meanwhile, kept his head low and scrutinized flight schedules and practice itineraries as though each detail were riveting.
OK, so maybe her acting skills weren’t quite that award worthy.
Maeve ground her teeth. “Listen, I know it’s a little weird, but we’re both trying, and that’s the truth. It’ll be fine. I’m a pro. He’s a pro. We’re all pros. It’ll be wonderful.”
Shocked silence reigned.
“True words. Obviously.” Coy and taunting, Aileen batted her lashes. Maeve’s blood boiled, which she’d lay odds was precisely the reaction Aileen intended.
And the words rattled through her head. Nothing to Hide.
4
Sunday morning, Josh joined his family in their usual pew for ten o’clock Mass at Holy Spirit Church. He shared a smile and a nod with Siobhan who sat with her folks not far away. Next to her was a blond man dressed in a light gray suit. His arm curved around Siobhan’s shoulders, and his eyes widened slightly when he caught sight of Josh. Josh connected the dots. That must be AJ—Doctor Cooper—Siobhan’s fiancé and ortho specialist at Westerville Memorial. Siobhan didn’t sing, her gift to the group was an ability to dance with expressive grace and beauty, but as always, she would be lending support to her friends. AJ leaned in, whispered into her ear and she nodded, giving Josh a grin and a wink as she seemed to confirm his identity.
Holy Spirit Church was packed. It seemed parishioners had received word the Sisters in Spirit would lead worship as cantors today. At the start of services, Aileen, Kassidy, and Maeve blended into the choir on a dais against the far side of the sanctuary. Once time came for the responsorial Psalm, the trio moved to the altar and stood behind the lectern.
A still reverence filled the church just before Aileen announced, “Our responsorial Psalm is Psalm 103. The Lord is kind and merciful.”
Aileen sang verse one. “Bless the Lord, o my soul, and all my being bless God’s name; bless the Lord and forget not His benefits.”
Josh followed along in his hymnal as the congregation chimed in with the refrain. Next came Maeve.
“God pardons all your iniquities, and comforts your sorrows, redeems your life from destruction and crowns you with kindness.”
Josh’s gaze darted to the front. Three-part harmony was enjoined during the response; parishioners sang along, but his world froze on an echo of the words she had sung.
Kassidy continued with the third and final verse but Josh wondered if Maeve had been as struck by the verse selected for her as he was. Iniquities pardoned, sorrow comforted—life redeemed. God’s hope, overriding all else.
Was that promise a possibility for them?
****
Three years in the relentless spotlight of professional football had conditioned Josh to move past the awed reactions of people he met because he refused to buy into the illusion of stardom. He had never been comfortable with unwarranted adulation, especially from those who formed his childhood and past, the ones who had watched him grow and mature during his years in Westerville.
Like the Callahan family, for example. Sunday gatherings at the home of Maeve’s parents were as familiar as daybreak, but when he strode the trio of narrow cement steps leading to the front entrance of their bungalow-style home, the door came open, and he was treated like a celebrity rather than a long-time part of the family.
Time and distance worked that way, he figured. Just like
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