Janette Oke - Tomorrows Dream

Tomorrows Dream

Copyright 1998

Janette Oke and Davis Bunn.

Cover design by Eric Walljasper

Cover photography by Mike Habermann

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwisewithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Published by Bethany House Publishers

11400 Hampshire Avenue South

Bloomington, Minnesota 55438

www.bethanyhouse.com

Bethany House Publishers is a division of

Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan

www.bakerpublishinggroup.com

E-book edition created 2011

ISBN 978-1-4412-3234-2

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

Contents

K YLE COULD NOT HELP but pause and gaze at her reflection. The hall mirror was at the bottom of the stairs, and she told herself that she needed to stop a moment and catch her breath. Which of course was silly, particularly since she was descending the stairway. But it was something pregnant women didthey stopped and caught their breath. She had heard it all her life, and it suited the moment perfectly. No matter that she had never felt better. Or happier. She was five months along, and she had every right to stop and catch her breath if she wanted. Even to smile in appreciation into the mirror.

The mirror was a present from Abigail, Kyles adoptive mother, and it was one of the most elaborate items she and Kenneth had in their home. Abigails tastes tended toward the extravagant, and the full-length mirror in its gilded frame overpowered their little Georgetown row house. Abigail checked her appearance in it every time she arrived or departed, usually making some comment about how different this dwelling was from the estate on which Kyle had been raised. Or how nice it would be to see this hanging in a larger entryway. Kenneth tended to sigh a lot whenever Abigail came for a visit. And Kyle went back and forth between exasperation and amusement.

Kyle loved their little home. Almost too small to be called a house, it was connected on either side to dwellings just like itthree-story wooden structures dating back to a time when Georgetown was a middle-class community in the nations capital, rather than the newest desirable neighborhood of Washington, D.C. So much was changing as the nation approached the middle of the decade, as though the sixties had determined to redefine everything and everybody. Even here.

Kyle thought their home was like a dollhouse, her girlhood dreams come true. It was tiny and perfect and set on a leafy street not far from the shops and the university. Everybody walked or biked in Georgetown. It was a place full of young people and interesting things. Plus, it was the nicest neighborhood within easy distance of her recently discovered brother, Joel. And it was only a quick bus ride or a long walk to Kenneths office in the Rothmore Insurance Building. The time he would have spent commuting was free now to help Joel out with his mission to the homeless and hopeless of society.

The thought of her brother caused Kyle to look down at the envelope with the wedding announcement in her hand. Finally, he had asked Ruthie to marry him.

Thinking of the young couple brought another smile to Kyles lips. Joels heart condition had made him reluctant to burden Ruthie with the uncertain future that marriage to him would mean. But she loved him with a steadfastness that simply would not accept his assessment. She had left her secure world at the Miller farm and joined his inner-city ministry. There she faithfully worked beside him, supporting him, loving him, sharing his triumphs and his disappointments. Silently she made him realize that she asked for nothing more than to be a part of his life. Of his work. Her patience had finally brought him to accept what her heart had been saying. Joel and she were to be married.

In Kyles happiness she could almost forget that Joel had a heart condition, that his life hung by the slenderest of threads. He had lived far longer than any doctor had predictedso why not for another ten, twenty, forty years? But this was not the argument that had won him over and finally prompted him to propose marriage. Joel had already learned to live without giving much thought to the morrow, something which Kyle found quite astonishing, as her own dreams were so full of her joy over the future.

Joel had finally accepted Ruthies words as truth, that whatever days were left to them she wanted to spend together, as husband and wife, that she was willing to give her own future over to the Lord their God. It had been hard for Joel, very hard. Watching him come to terms with his own feelings and the worst of his fears had taught Kyle a great deal about this brother she hardly knew. Joel had never been afraid for himself. Yet allowing himself to love Ruthie had forced him to ache for what was yet to come.

Kyle looked at her reflection once more. What really brought the sparkle to her eyes and the joy to her heart was yesterdays report from her doctor. Everything was going well with her pregnancy. In a very few months she and Kenneth were to become parents. Kyle had never felt so excited in all her life. It was almost too much joy to contain at one time. A baby. Their own child. Hers and Kenneths. Something so beautiful to share. So completely theirs. A precious entrustment from God. It was going to be very difficult to wait through the remaining days. Difficult, yet full of exquisite pleasure.

She turned sideways so the bulge was more evident in the mirror and caressed her abdomen with the hand holding the invitation. Her baby had been moving a lot that morning, as though impatient to be out and about with the family. The thought was enough to send another shiver of joy through her frame. Kyles expression, even when she was not smiling, shone with delight over the promise of all that was to come.

Her gaze fell on the Bible, still open on the table by the rocking chair. She spoke aloud the underlined words from Psalm 100, which she had read earlier: For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting, and his truth endureth to all generations.

Kyle felt her heart would surely explode with lovefor God, for Kenneth, for the small person within her. She thought she could actually feel Gods love embracing her, holding her close, warming her with His smile.

The clock on the living room mantel struck the hour, a reminder that sent her scurrying for her hat and coat and keys. She stepped through the front door, took a deep breath of the fall-laden air, and decided that she would walk after all. She would be a few minutes late, but the doctor had urged her to walk as much as she could manage. And it was a beautiful day, truly filled with all the promise that one future could hold.

Her watch said she was ten minutes late when Kyle entered the Mayflower Hotels main restaurant. Yet not even the sight of Kenneths slightly exasperated glance could dim her smile. She hurried over, pulling off her coat and hat to settle them on a free chair. Sorry Im late, she said to the two already seated.