Chapter Fifteen

Jack

Heaven

IT WAS WORKING!

Jack pushed back from the edge of the cloud and walked away from where the dogma catchers were heatedly discussing some esoteric bit of law. If just one of them would bend slightly, the argument would be over.

Right now, he did not want to be bothered by anything. The circumstances on Earth were rapidly moving in the direction they should. He laughed out loud. Nobody looked at him, because laughter was the norm here where joy surrounded everyone. Maybe not the dogma catchers, but he would not let them depress his happy spirit.

If everything kept going as it was on Earth, he would be able to report a positive outcome to his supervisor along with how he had made a mistake with a prayer. He was sure that she would let him off with another warning. He really did not want to lose his job in the Pray Care Center. He liked being at the center of some of the most important work that Heaven did.

“Jack, where have you been lately?” came a voice he did not want to hear yet.

Turning, he saw his supervisor coming toward him. She was carrying a large stack of paper and had a determined expression on her face.

“I have been busy,” he answered. That was so true.

“All those New Year’s resolutions that people are now praying they can keep?” She smiled.

“This is a busy time of year.”

“Being busy is good for the Pray Care Center.” She handed him the papers. “I hope Ernie is ready to take on more work.”

“I hope so, too.” Jack glanced at the pile that was the length of his forearm.

His supervisor stared at him, appraising him. “Are you all right, Jack?”

“I am fine.” He struggled to grin. “Or as fine as I can be with all this new work.”

“Is everything going as it should?”

“Yes!” Again he was glad he could be completely honest. Everything was finally going as it should with the unexpected Christmas gift Miss D’Angelo had received.

“Ah, Ernie,” said the supervisor as the younger angel walked toward them. “If you have any questions about the work, ask Jack straightaway. We want to make sure everything is handled properly. No more mistakes.”

Ernie’s eyes became as round as saucers. “You know—”

“We need to get to work on these right now,” Jack interrupted before Ernie could spill the whole story to the supervisor. “If you will excuse us...”

The supervisor nodded and walked on to her next task. She did look back at them once, but Jack made certain by handing Ernie half of the stack of prayer requests that the young angel did nothing to add to the supervisor’s suspicions.

“You told her?” Ernie asked as soon as they reached Jack’s desk.

“Not yet.”

“But she said—”

“She was talking about these prayers. I will tell her soon. I want to give Dr. Archer and Miss D’Angelo a few more days to explore what they are just discovering about each other. If all goes as I hope, then the problem may have solved itself.”

“Even when they get the results of the DNA test that Dr. Archer’s friend is set to begin?”

Jack dropped the pages he was holding. They fluttered in every direction, but he paid them no attention as he stared at his trainee. How could he have forgotten about the test that Dr. Cho was scheduled to complete in the next twenty-four hours?

What was he going to do now?