Read Online The Presence by T. Davis Bunn - Free Book Online Page A

beside me. She was awfully upset last night. And worried. I’ve spent most of the night feeling her anger and tension stretched out there beside me. I’ve been married to that woman for almost thirty years, and when she’s like this, there’s not a thing on earth I can say to her. It’s up to you, Lord. I’m turning it over to you.
    Then in typical fashion, once he had turned it over to God, TJ spent the better part of an hour worrying about possible arguments. Like his grandfather had often said, it was one thing to hand a problem over to the Lord; it was another thing entirely to let Him keep it.
    He heard her clattering around in the kitchen, pouring a cup of coffee, setting the table for breakfast, putting out the frying pan, with none of her usual Sunday-morning humming and singing. His heart started a frantic beat, as though she were already standing in front of him, hand on her hip, head cocked to one side, eyes squinting in that mixture of scorn and disbelief that never failed to send him straight through the roof.
    But when she appeared in the doorway, it was a Catherine he had not seen in years, a little shy and a little awkward and more than a little scared. Looking as if she wanted nothing more than to be held by her man. It was a look he had seen a great deal during their courtship days, and it was one of the many things about her that had captured his heart. With the arrival of their first daughter and all the worries and responsibilities of motherhood, those vulnerable moments had slowly slipped away.
    TJ set down his coffee cup and rose to hold her, trying to remember the last time he had seen that look. And the moment he had her in his arms, all the worries and arguments fled like smoke on the wind, and all he could say was, “I can’t do this without you, Catherine.”
    She sighed and snuggled closer, her forehead seeking the familiar crook in his shoulder. Her soft voice floated up from his chest level. “Just tell me once more, are you absolutely, positively sure that it was God who spoke to you?”
    â€œMore sure than I’ve been about anything in my entire life.”
    â€œYou realize what this is going to do to our lives, don’t you?”
    He started to voice some platitude, like, it’s going to work out all right, but caught himself in time. Despite a ferocious desire to protect her from what might not ever arrive, he admitted, “It worries me almost as much as thinking you might not be there with me.”
    She sighed. “Just when I thought we could settle down, have some time for ourselves again. The kids are out on their own, you’ve finally gotten away from all that political mess, and what happens?”
    Something in her tone said everything was going to be all right. He offered up silent thanks as he stroked her face and said, “I need you, Catherine.”
    â€œYou think I don’t know that?” Her fingers traced a design down the length of his spine. “It’s one thing to sit snug and comfy in church and ask God to speak through you, and something else entirely when it happens.”
    â€œI expected a lot more doubts from you,” TJ confessed. “Things like, how can you be so sure, or why on earth did He choose you? I’ve been sitting down here for over an hour wondering what in heaven’s name I could say to convince you. I think the thing that scared me most was fearing I might start doubting it myself.”
    â€œI saw your face that morning,” Catherine said. “And I felt the love and light pouring out of you the rest of the time we were together on the boat. I heard your voice when you tried to tell me about it. I saw the letter waiting for you when we got home. All night I’ve been trying to come to grips with what all that means. There’s a part of me that wants to call you a fool, honey. I feel the power inside me to destroy what you’re trying to do, and