Second Chance at Love. Irene Brand

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      Chapter Two

      Amelia knew she couldn’t put Chase off if he wanted to talk to her, but she was relieved that they didn’t have time to visit during dinner. The volunteer staff mingled with the flood victims, and Chase and she didn’t have an opportunity to speak in the dining room. Her thoughts were diverted from him as she listened to the heartbreaking stories the victims told of their narrow escapes from the floodwaters.

      She sat across the table from an elderly couple, Josh and Mandy Newberry, who seemed bewildered by what had happened.

      “We’ve lived in that holler for most of our lives,” Josh said in a deep voice. “And this is the first time we’ve ever been flooded out. There have been little floods, but nothing like this one.”

      “Everything we’ve saved all those years is gone,” Mandy said in a quavering voice, tears in her eyes. “If I’d just had time to save the pictures of my young’uns! All my memories are gone, too.”

      Josh patted her hand. “No, Mandy. Your memories ain’t gone. And we’ll make out all right. We’ve got the good Lord on our side. He’s seen us through a lot of other trouble, and He’ll see us through this’n.”

      Amelia’s throat tightened in compassion, but she smiled at the Newberrys. “That’s right. One of my favorite Scriptures is ‘I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.’ God will provide for you, and He’s sent me and many other people to help you.” She gripped each of their right hands. “Try to get a good night’s sleep. Maybe the sun will shine tomorrow.”

      “God bless you, young lady,” Mandy said. “You’ve already perked me up.”

      Amelia left the dining room to go upstairs to her quarters, seeking some privacy. She was surprised, and annoyed, at the emotional turmoil she was experiencing because she’d encountered Chase again. She’d voluntarily walked away from him fifteen years ago without a backward glance, and as the years passed, often weeks would go by when she didn’t think about him. So why had Chase’s surprise appearance sent her pulses spinning? Why was she filled with unease at being around him in this cleanup effort?

      Chase had been visiting with Allen Chambers when Amelia left the gym, and she’d hoped to escape talking to him tonight. Instead of going to the cubbyhole she’d be sharing with Vicky, Amelia followed the signs to the chapel, a small room with an altar, a lectern, a few pews and an illuminated cross in the background that dimly lit the room. She knelt by the altar to pray, but words were hard to find. She did pray for the flood victims, asking for strength and wisdom to make a difference in their lives. Since she didn’t know how to pray about Chase, she simply asked for guidance in every aspect of her life during these weeks she’d be spending in the mountains.

      When she rose from her knees, Amelia had the sensation that she wasn’t alone. She turned quickly.

      Chase leaned gracefully against the doorframe. His stunning good looks captured her attention as if she was seeing him for the first time. He’d changed from the shorts he’d worn earlier. His tailored brown slacks revealed a lean, sinewy, youthful body. His waist and hips were thin, but his broad shoulders stretched the fabric of his brightly colored shirt, which emphasized the gold flecks in his gray eyes. Chase had always looked well put together, like a male model.

      “I didn’t mean to startle you,” he apologized. “Maybe this is a good place for us to talk?” He spoke hesitantly, as if he doubted his welcome.

      Amelia’s head swirled with doubts, and she experienced momentary panic, but she didn’t want him to know her feelings. “Why not? It’s quiet here,” she said calmly.

      “Looks like a good place to me,” he agreed.

      They sat on the front pew, not close, but in comfortable conversing distance. Several minutes passed in tense silence, each of them waiting for the other to speak. What could they say to bridge fifteen years?

      “The Amelia Stone I knew wouldn’t be praying in a chapel,” Chase said at last. In the dim light, his gray eyes seemed dark and unfathomable.

      “Thanks to God, that Amelia Stone is gone.” She seemed to be in a Scripture-quoting mood today, Amelia thought humorously as she continued. “‘If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come!’ Vicky tells me that you’re a member of her church, so you’re probably familiar with that verse.”

      “Yes. It’s true for me, too. I’ve been a Christian for several years.”

      “Then neither of us is the person we used to be, which is for the best, I think.”

      “What are you doing now, Amelia? I never meant to lose track of you, but the years passed quickly.”

      “I’d had enough of being a rich man’s kid, so I left home to make it on my own. I wanted a job that would make a difference in other people’s lives, so I went to work for the Red Cross in Philadelphia. I’ve been there for several years. My parents never did have much time for me, so I’m pretty much on my own.” She scanned his face briefly. “Now it’s your turn.”

      “I’m working at a bank in Worthington, Ohio. I transferred there from Chicago twelve years ago.”

      She took a deep breath and plunged into chancy territory. “I assume you’re married?”

      “No, I haven’t married.”

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