Sanctuary by David Lewis Page A

put out my room-for-rent sign.”
    Melissa was taken aback by this information. “So I’m your first renter?”
    “God dropped the idea in my heart,” Lela surprised her by saying. “Yes, you’re the very first.”
    “Well, I’m honored.”
    Lela continued. “I’d been reading my Bible and praying, asking the Lord what I might do to help someone in need.”
    Melissa hardly knew what to say. Hadn’t she herself made a prayer to God last evening, as well? A reckless one, at best. She’d asked God to help her get away from that monster in the gray sedan.
    “I do believe God answered my prayer,” Lela added.
    And mine , thought Melissa.
    “You believe in Him, don’t you?”
    The question was completely unexpected. She thought how she might answer. Lela’s face was indeed earnest—the good woman was waiting for an honest response. She deserved as much.
    “I’m not much of a prize for God, I’m afraid,” she admitted softly.
    “Well, now, you don’t have to be,” Lela said. “The Lord doesn’t look on your heart and expect it to be neat as a pin. That’s what He wants to do for you.”
    She wondered how a stranger could know anything about the state of her heart. Broken was the best word to describe her heart at the moment. Wounded and bleeding.
    “The Lord loves you, Melissa. Just as you are.”
    She didn’t feel she had to respond to Lela’s comment. Instead, she focused on the bungalow with its gingerbread and wooden posts along the front porch, in the near distance. They made the turn at the bend, and the flower gardens arranged in perfect symmetry around the front yard came into view. Parallel rectangular beds divided by a flagstone walkway marked the path to the house. Black-eyed Susans bloomed en masse in a mixed perennial garden, outshining the other flowers.
    “Is there taxi service out here?” she asked, not weighing the consequences.
    “Well, I suppose there is, yes.” Lela looked puzzled. “Why do you ask?”
    She knew she owed the woman an explanation as to why she wanted to call a cab when free transportation—her own car—had just been concealed in Thaddeus King’s shed. “I have a quick errand to run,” she said. “I wouldn’t want to bother your sister and husband again.”
    Lela’s eyes widened. She was clearly confused.
    Quickening her pace, Melissa worried that she’d missed her phone call.
    “Are you in a hurry?” Lela asked as they approached the sidewalk leading to her house.
    “Just a little.” She stopped to admire the garden, hoping Lela wouldn’t pry.
    “Shall we cut some flowers for a bouquet?” Lela suggested, her voice higher in pitch than before.
    Picking flowers in Lela’s garden would be a delightful experience, but she wanted— needed —to send an e-mail to Ryan, risky as it was. She had to make contact with him, even though she’d been warned against doing so. He would receive the message on Monday morning when he turned on his office computer. She’d use his personal e-mail address at work.
    “I’ll take a rain check on the flowers,” she said, hoping she hadn’t offended her kind hostess. She could hardly wait to call a cab and get to town, locate a place to rent some Internet time. A short message would soothe some of Ryan’s pain.
    Love always finds its way home , Mrs. Browning used to say. Now, fondly recalling the woman who had served as her second mother, Melissa was surprised to have forgotten the often-repeated words. Remembering gave her permission to follow through with her plan, despite the perplexed look on Lela’s face.
    Something’s awful wrong , Lela thought as she watched the yellow taxicab pull away. She thought of calling Elizabeth and confiding her growing concern about the woman who’d rented her spare bedroom. One minute Melissa wanted to hide away her car, or so it seemed. The next she was willing to pay good money for a taxi to drive her all the way into Lancaster. Well, she didn’t care to think what a pretty