A Love All Her Own by Janet Lee Barton Page B

so concerned with her social life. It appeared there’d been a time when she hadn’t been quite so self-absorbed. Perhaps the death of her sister. . .
    He shook his head and dropped the letter on the desk. None of it really mattered. . .not now. The Abigail he’d come to care about didn’t seem anything like the one his agent was describing now or in the last letter. And he had no way of knowing what was truth and what wasn’t. All he could really go by was now. And be thankful that the Abigail he’d come to know was nothing like the old one. At least—he prayed not.
    ❧
    Abigail felt like a new person. After confessing her sins to the Lord and asking for His forgiveness, she felt almost the same as she had the day she’d been baptized: brand-new and ready to begin a new life. She just had more of her own sins to try to forget and put into the past than she had back then. She knew the Lord had forgiven her. But she was finding it harder to forgive herself.
    She’d written letters to both Nate and Meagan, asking for their forgiveness for trying to come between them when she knew they cared for each other. Abigail shivered just thinking back on all the ways she’d hurt them in her quest to get Nate to marry her. She couldn’t blame them if they never forgave her. The letter she wrote to Natalie was even harder. She loved the child so much and had loved her since the day she was born.
    Dear Sweet Natalie,
    How do I tell you how much I love you and how sorry I am that I caused your fall by raising my voice and hurting your feelings? I understand why you ran out of the room that day, and I will blame myself forever for your fall. I pray that you have healed completely by now.
    I do know that you think I caused your mama’s fall that day of the fire, and I can see how you might. But nothing could be further from the truth. I can only tell you that my intention was only to get her to not go back upstairs when I grabbed her arm. I know it may be hard for you to believe that after the fall you had, but oh, my sweet, it is true. I only wanted her to come with us to safety. The Lord knows that is true.
    I love you and miss you with all my heart, dear Natalie. I pray that someday you will forgive me for causing your fall and love me once more. I will always love you.
    Love,
    Aunt Abby
    Abigail felt better once she’d handed the letters to the desk clerk the next morning, but she didn’t hold out a lot of hope that she’d be forgiven. She’d been so awful to everyone. And she was having a hard enough time forgiving herself—how could they do it?
    She read Philippians 3:13 repeatedly each night, and she was trying to put her past behind her—but Satan always reminded her of her sins in one way or another.
    Still, she was faithful to take her worries to the Lord, and she was happier than she’d been in years. She wondered if it showed when Marcus arrived to take her to the Wednesday ladies’ meeting at church. His father had a meeting, so Marcus picked her up and then they went to pick up his mother.
    He kept glancing over at her until she finally asked, “What’s wrong? Do I have a smudge on my face?”
    His dimple flashed in a grin, and he shook his head. “No. You just look very pretty today. Not that you don’t look nice all the time. You do. You just look. . .happy.”
    So, he did notice. And he thought she looked pretty. She could feel the color steal up her cheeks at his compliment. “I am happy. Papa is pleased with the reports that I’ve sent him on the bathhouses, and I feel I can relax and enjoy my stay now. I really like going to these meetings with your mother.”
    “She enjoys them, too. She says you are all making progress on finding ways to house those who need the help.”
    Abigail nodded. “Well, I’m not doing much, but these ladies are very determined to help those who’ve been sent here for treatment by their doctors but can’t afford the bathhouses or the hotels. Several of the churches