He ignored her question. “The reason I asked about you is that . . . well . . .” He shuffled his feet nervously. “Well, the truth is, Mike asked me to kind of keep an eye on you.”
She smiled. “That’s interesting. He asked me to do the same thing. To keep an eye on you, that is.”
“He would.” Wilhelmina thought she detected a hint of a smile cross his forbidding features. She hadn’t done what Mike had asked, though. She hadn’t even seen Max since Mike’s funeral, not knowing how to approach him or what to say. His brusque manner put her off. But here he stood, every bit as uneasy with her as she was with him. Wilhelmina knew what Mike would say. Life is for living. Take a chance. If she offered Max her friendship, he might reject it. But wasn’t Max worth the risk?
“Listen, Max . . . I was wondering. I know I didn’t do very well the last time, but do you think I could have a second chance? To be on your pit crew, I mean. When you fly your balloon.”
“Aw, you weren’t so bad, Miz Brewster.”
“My friends call me Mina.”
“At least you found us and picked us up again. I give you some credit for that.”
“Then, might I have another chance, Max?”
“Sure.” He rubbed his hand over his bristly chin. “Fact is, I entered the New England Balloon Association’s annual race. It’s held every spring. I could use a good spotter on board.”
“You mean riding in . . . in the balloon?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh my! Well, I suppose I could give that another try.”
He grunted again, and this time Wilhelmina was sure it meant he was pleased. “I’ll give you a call with all the particulars. Your number in the book?”
She smiled. “Yes. It’s in the telephone book. Thanks, Max.”
He nodded and touched his hat. “Be seeing you.”
She watched him stride away, walking with the swaggering gait of a bowlegged sailor. When he disappeared around a bend in the road, she turned back to Mike’s grave. In spite of all the tombstones, it seemed to Wilhelmina that the world around her was bursting with new life. It was in the rich, musky smell of awakening earth. In the tender green buds that dotted the barren branches. In the joyful songs of the robins and chattering squirrels as they raced through the tree-tops.
She picked up two pebbles, and as she placed one on each tombstone she softly recited the words of Christ:
“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live,
even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.”
About the Author:
Lynn Austin has sold more than one and a half million copies of her books worldwide. A former teacher who now writes and speaks full-time, she has won eight Christy Awards for her historical fiction. One of those novels, Hidden Places, has also been made into an Original Hallmark Channel movie. Lynn and her husband have raised three children and make their home in western Michigan. Learn more at http://www.lynnaustin.org/.
Other Titles from Lynn Austin
"Waves of Mercy"
"Candle in the Darkness"
"Fire By Night"
"A Light to My Path"
"Wonderland Creek"
"Eve's Daughters"
"All Things New"
Lynn Austin, Fly Away
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