Dee Henderson - Gods Gift

Praise for
DEE HENDERSON

#1 CBA Bestselling Author

Henderson has steadily built a name for herselfintriguinginsightful and probing.

Publishers Weekly

The name Dee Henderson is synonymous with authenticity. Her books shine with believable facts and descriptions while her characters think and act like the professionals they are.

Romantic Times BOOKclub

Solid storytelling [and] compelling charactersmake Henderson a name to watch.

Library Journal

Ms. Hendersons sparkling characters and superb plottingsweep the reader along to a breathless conclusion.

Lori Copeland, bestselling author of the Brides of the West series

D EE H ENDERSON

G ODS G IFT

Dear Reader,

Thank you for reading Gods Gift. It holds a special place in my heart as my second book published. This was a good story to write, for it reaffirmed hope that love can overcome any challenge. Everyone faces unexpected troubles in life, and how we respond and cope is one way we show our faith. God is still in control.

I would love to hear from you. You can find me online at: www.deehenderson.com, e-mail: dee@deehenderson.com or write me care of Steeple Hill, 233 Broadway, Suite 1001, New York, NY 10279.

Sincerely,

Contents

Chapter One

G o back to the States, rest, see the doctors, shake this bug and be back here at the end of August to take the Zaire project. His bosss words still rang in his ears. Medical furlough. The words dreaded by every missionary. Six years in the field in remote locations. He should feel lucky to have made it this long. He didnt.

James Graham moved down the aisle of the plane, following the other passengers, a heavy jacket bought in New York folded over one arm. It had been eighty-two degrees when he left the capital of Zaire yesterday afternoon. The pilot had announced Chicago was forty-five degrees and raining, a cold April evening.

The pain was bad tonight. It made his movements stiff and his face gaunt. He moved like an old man and he was only thirty-five. He wanted to be elated at being home, to have the chance to see his friends, his family. It had been six years since he had been back in the States. Pain was robbing him of the joy.

He would give a lot to know what bug had bit him and done all this damage. He would give a lot to have God answer his question, Why?

He stepped through the door to the airport terminal, not sure what to expect. His former business partner Kevin Bennett had his flight information. James had asked him to keep it quiet, hoping to give himself some time to recover from the flight before he saw his family. His mom did not need to see him at his worst. For fifteen years, since his dad died, he had been doing his best to not give her reason to worry about him.

James could still feel the grief from the day his mom had called him at college to gently let him know his father had died of a heart attack. Hed been ready to abandon college and move back home, step into the family business, but she had been adamant that he not. She had compromised and let him return for a semester to help, then told him to get on with his life. She had sold the family bakery and begun a profitable business breeding Samoyeds, a passion she had shared with his dad for years.

When hed felt called six years ago to leave the construction business he and Kevin had built, to use his skills on the mission field, his mom had been the first one to encourage him to go. She was a strong lady, a positive one, but she was going to take one look at him in pain and while she wouldnt say so, she was going to worry.

James.

He turned at the sound of his name and felt a smile pierce his fatigue. Six years was a long time to miss seeing a best friend. Kevin. He moved out of the stream of people toward the bay of windows that looked out over the runways.

They had been close friends for so long, the six years blinked away in a moment. His friend looked good. Relaxed. A little older. They had gone to high school together, played baseball as teammates, basketball as rivals, he on the blue squad, Kevin on the red. They had double-dated together and fought intensely over who would be number one and who would be number two in all the classes they shared in college.

I wont ask how youre doing. You look like you did that time you fell off that roof we were replacing, Kevin remarked. Im glad youre back.

James smiled. I had to come back just to meet your wife.

Kevin laughed. I have no idea how I ended up married before you did. Youll like Mandy.

Im sure I will. She got you to settle down before you were fifty.

Without you around as my business partner, there was too much work to do without help. I hired Mandys brotherhes good by the wayand before I knew it, I was thinking more about Mandy than I was about work. I know a good thing when I find it.

Im glad, Kevin.

Its your turn now.

James smiled. Later, Kevin. We need a few dozen more clinics built before I want to think about coming back to settle down. He had come to the conclusion early, having watched his parents and other close friends, that marriage took time, energy and focus if you wanted it to grow and survive, and unless you were ready to make that kind of investment, it was simply better to wait. He had at least fifty more clinics to build. On the days he wondered if he had made the right choice, he had only to flip open his wallet and look at the pictures of the children the clinics had saved to know that for now, he had made the right decision. He was a patient man who planned to live a long life. There would be time for a good marriage, someday, not nownot while there was work that needed his attention. You were able to keep my arrival quiet?

They think you were delayed by visa problems in Zaire. They arent expecting you until late tomorrow.

Thanks. James rolled his shoulders, hating the pain that coursed through his body and up his spine, making every bone ache. An hour ride should give me time to let another round of painkillers take effect.

Do the doctors know what made you ill?

No. It was probably an insect bite. They dont know what it is, but theyre of the opinion that it will eventually run its course. I think Bob kicked me back to the States just to get me out of his office. He knows I hate a desk job.

He had told Bob to replace him. In the remote areas where the crews worked, it was critical that every man be able to pull his own weightlives depended on it. They couldnt have a man who winced every time he swung a hammer managing a crew, no matter how intensely he wanted to keep the job.

James could tell that Kevin understood how deeply he had felt the loss; it was there in his eyes. He was grateful it wasnt pity.

Fifteen weeks of your moms good cooking, a baseball game or two and you will be back in Africa swinging a hammer, pouring cement, and wondering why you were crazy enough to go back.

The house had been painted, the color of the shutters changed from dark green to dark blue, the flower beds extended along the length of the house as his mom had planned. He had grown up in this house, built in a subdivision of similar homes, the asphalt driveway going back to the garage the place of many impromptu basketball games. His dad had liked to play and James had liked the chance to razz him about getting old. James felt a deep sense of peace settle inside. He had really missed this place.