Read Online Waiting For Lily Bloom by Jericha Kingston - Free Book Online Page B

all the sand from whence it came.
    “What’s s-so funny?”
    Lily hopped out of bed and the girls squealed. Mercy, she should’ve prepared breakfast by now. She combed her hair, wincing at the tangles she’d acquired overnight. No matter. Today was new, and she and James would work on becoming friends. She raced to the sink and washed her face and teeth. The front door opened as she dried her hands. She turned just as the girls ran out and James entered.
    Ava carried a bag.
    “Be careful,” he yelled after them. “Mind your eyes.”
    Lily ran to the door, squinting. Why were the girls walking toward town? She closed the door as the wind gusted.
    “Mornin’.”
    She looked up at James. His smile was brighter than the sun’s rays.
    She nodded, feeling mischievous, and bowed her head regally.
    “Well, well. The queen is receivin’ visitors.” His eyes twinkled as he bent at the waist.
    Lily pointed in the direction of the girls.
    “They’re running an errand.” His face shuttered.
    Indeed. She’d seen that look on Papa’s face before. James had a secret. She raised her hand to signal her discernment when he stepped closer.
    His teasing eyes warmed as he interlocked their fingers.
    Her heart flip-flopped beneath her ribcage. She had the strangest urge to lean forward and kiss him. Whatever for?
    “I’d like to show you somethin’ shockin’, Mrs. Bloom.”
    Mrs. Bloom …wasn’t that shocking enough?
    He led her to the window.
    The horse!
    She gasped and threw her arms around James. He spun her around, his laughter echoing in her ears. She pushed against his shoulders, blinked, and motioned to the horse. How did that animal survive the storm?
    “I don’t know.” Little lines appeared beside the corners of his eyes. “But Fitz found his way home.”
    Home. She looked at the majestic beast standing atop the desert of sand. He swished his tail and shook his head. He looked...happy.
    “He prob’ly remembered there was this pretty filly hangin’ around—”
    She swatted his hand. James chuckled, wrapping his arms around her. His masculine scent filled her lungs, making her giddy. A lock of his unruly hair had settled on his forehead. She gripped his arms to keep from smoothing it back. He was so handsome. Kind and good.
    “If you keep starin’ at me like that—”
    She peeled herself out of his grip and walked to the kitchen. Work. She needed to work.
    He chuckled. “There’s no cow to milk, no eggs to gather, and no crops to harvest.”
    She bit her bottom lip and rubbed the goose bumps that rose on her arms.
    “We’ll be fine.” He walked over to her and stroked her cheek. “The Lord didn’t bless me with a wife and two children so we would starve. Whatever lies ahead, He’ll provide what we need.”
    How could he believe that, when evidence to the contrary was just outside the door?
    If only she had that kind of faith…
     
    ****
     
    Lily sat on the straight-backed pew for the Easter Sunday service, the girls on her left and James on her right.
    Back home, no doubt, Papa sat on his pew as well, watching stained glass windows filter every color of the rainbow, the fragrance of Easter lilies inundating the air.
    Here, there was no such extravagance. Only the faint aroma of eucalyptus oil tickled her nose.
    Reverend Cox delivered the message of the Resurrection.
    Radiant sunlight beamed through clear-paned windows into the whitewashed building, as if revealing the Almighty’s brightness.
    “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.”
    Was it only last night that James had read the account of Lazarus to them?
    The words of Jesus were singed into her memory. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
    It wasn’t the ‘believeth’ that was so troublesome, but the ‘liveth’. Jesus was indeed the Christ, the Son of God, but she’d not loved Him, nor trusted Him. She’d