Small-Town Moms by Janet Tronstad Page A

at. It’s you. Until you forgive yourself, you won’t be able to see God for who He is.”
    â€œI don’t think—” Maegan began and then stopped. A single clear thought struck a note deep inside her. Something sounded so right and everything cascaded into place. Could it be true?
    â€œIt wasn’t your fault you couldn’t keep your family together.” Mrs. Hargrove gently touched her hand. “You were only a child yourself. That didn’t mean He loved you and your sisters any less than anyone else. He always wanted to be your Father and for you to be part of His family.”
    The dam broke inside of Maegan. She tried to stop it, but she couldn’t. It was true. She had been angry at God to hide the fact that she blamed herself. She knew it was bad manners to sit at someone’s kitchen table and weep, but Mrs. Hargrove didn’t seem to mind. Shejust kept patting Maegan on the hand and murmuring sympathetic sounds.
    â€œI’m sorry, I don’t—” Maegan finally managed to say. “I guess I’ve just had a hard day.”
    Mrs. Hargrove didn’t say anything; she just looked at Maegan with understanding in her eyes.
    â€œI guess maybe I did want God to care about me,” Maegan finally said. “I didn’t know how to make Him even look at me though.”
    â€œHe saw you every second of the day,” the older woman said. “Remember, His eye is on the sparrow? He’s wanted to be your Father all along.”
    Maegan nodded. She couldn’t say anything for the tears that were falling. She would love to have God for her Father. Mrs. Hargrove seemed to know that because she bent her head to pray. Then she showed her some verses in the Bible. And sat with her as she prayed for the first time in years.
    An hour had passed before they started to drink their tea. By that time, Maegan knew she needed to handle the situation with her niece the way God would want her to. There would be no custody battle. At least not if Lilly and her father were meant to be together. By the time she decided this, she was back in bed and sleep came easily to her that night.
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    Clint was sitting at his kitchen table having a second cup of coffee when the phone rang. He’d already done the chores this morning and taken Lilly to meet the school bus. He didn’t usually sit down for another cup of coffee, but he was running slowly today. He felt like a truck had run over him yesterday and he was still picking up the pieces of his heart.
    It helped considerably that the person on the phone was Maegan. She told him she was willing to do whatever she could to help Lilly win a place in her father’s heart, if that’s what she wanted and her father was agreeable.
    â€œI spent the night praying and came to the same conclusion,” he said, surprised. Then he added, “I had rather counted on you talking me out of it though.”
    â€œBelieve me, I would have if I’d talked to you last night before I had a cup of tea with Mrs. Hargrove.”
    â€œOh, yes. That woman has a way of changing a person’s opinion on things.”
    â€œShe sure does.”
    â€œBetween you and me, I don’t like it though. I’ll worry about Lilly if she’s not here at the ranch. And I’ll watch my brother like a hawk. If he’s not nice to Lilly, I’ll go wherever I have to and bring her back.”
    â€œIf he’s not good to her, I’ll track him down, too,” Maegan pledged.
    Maybe because he was so tired he was cross-eyed, Clint added, “We could track them down together.”
    Silence greeted his words and he felt like cold water had been thrown in his face. “Not that we’d have to do it together, of course. I just meant we would be of one mind. The important thing would be that one of us would go and bring Lilly home.”
    Clint heard what sounded like a hiccup or a sob. “You’re not