It was late now, but Lacey didn’t want to go to her empty bedroom and climb into the cold bed. Her mind would race just like it was doing now. She might as well simply sit in the dark of this family room. Waiting, like she had for her whole life.
Drifting, eyes closed, wondering, so curious, so doubtful.
So doubtful that when she heard the knock on the door, she didn’t believe it.
Until she heard the knock again. Then Lacey’s eyes opened and she realized it was real. It was real and it wasn’t going away.
Am I dreaming?
She knew she wasn’t. The chill in the air, the gloom in the apartment, the grip in her stomach. Maybe it was her neighbor Pam checking up on her.
Sorry, no Szechuan pork being eaten here tonight.
She opened the door and saw him.
Carlos.
A grin on his face, the duffel bag over his arm. He looked like the man she’d met that first night.
“Wanna get some coffee?” Carlos asked in a casual manner. “My treat this time.”
Things like this didn’t happen to her.
Is this really happening?
She responded by wrapping her arms around him, shielding her face from tears that suddenly swelled over them.
“You came back,” she said. “I can’t believe it. He brought you back. No one ever comes back.”
Lacey thought of the cross that Carlos had left for her. She thought of her prayer. Then she thought of her father. Her Heavenly father.
“Thank you, Lord.”