* * *
Garrett continued to grip the doorjamb as he watched Cathee and Christina disappear. He had to hold on tight to keep from chasing after her. He knew he needed to let her go. If he chased her, she’d stick him in the same category as Juan. He needed to let her come to him, but hope that she would let him in had run out. That night with Jill had been a nightmare, but it was different. He had the sweet reassurance that she would always be his. With Cathee walking away, he felt like his whole world was crumbling. He was losing the woman he loved and the little girl he’d come to think of as his own. He wasn’t ever going to get them back.
He closed his eyes and fought back the tears, then turned back to his room and let the door slam shut behind him. He knelt to pray in anguished prayer, but the answer he wanted wasn’t there.
After his tears had run out, he stood up and walked over to his computer bag. He wasn’t going to give up. He pulled out his business card, turned it over and scribbled his home phone number on the back.
Call me. G
was all he could bring himself to write.
He rode the elevator down to the sixth floor, walked down the silent hall, and slid his card under the door of room 608, then he walked back up to the elevator and went back to his room. As he entered and readied himself for bed, he felt peace fill his heart. He had done all he could do. The rest was in the Lord’s hands. He fell asleep quickly. His sleep was deep and dreamless.