Page 44 of Glimmer in the Darkness

“You’re hurting.”

“Not too bad.”

But he was already digging in the pack for something. He found it—a medicine bottle—and handed her two pills. “Ibuprofen.”

“Good thinking.” She downed them, praying it would help. “I’ll work with a girl for months, some I’ve worked with for years. Many will laugh at me, scoff at me, call me a liar, swear at me, tell me they hate me. Some’ll disappear and never return. But most come back. They’re afraid to believe what I say, but they need somebody in their lives to tell them they matter, they belong. I try to be that person. So… does it work? God works. I do my part. The results are up to Him.”

“Healthy attitude.”

“Years of practice.”

He grabbed a handful of nuts. “Want some?”

“You don’t happen to have any cookies in that pack.”

He found a chocolate bar and tossed it to her. “You always had a sweet tooth.”

“My hero.” She ripped the package and ate the first square.

“So, some girls listen, and some don’t,” he said. “Any success stories?”

“I’ve had a few kids reunite with their parents. A couple have finished high school and gone on to college. Any girl who stays off the streets is a success story in my book.”

“You’re a success story.” He held her gaze. “Look at all you’ve accomplished.”

She ate another square of chocolate, let it melt in her mouth before swallowing. “This town…” She wasn’t sure how to say what she needed to say. “Not this town. Your family taught me a new way. Your family taught me that I mattered, that I was valuable, that I could be trusted because I could be trustworthy. No matter how hard I tried to look tough and stand-offish, your mother saw right through me. She saw past the black lipstick and angry T-shirts. She saw me. My own mother…”

She didn’t finish the sentence, but James knew. Everybody knew about Cassidy’s mother.

“And your father,” she continued. “I’d had father figures ignore me, brush me off, yell at me. I had a foster father who came on to me when nobody was looking, tried to kiss me.”

James scowled at that.

“One of my mother’s boyfriends used to hurt me when I didn’t behave. He wasn’t as bad as Mom, but still… Your father treated me like a daughter. He treated me with respect and courtesy. He listened when I talked.”

“And you talked a lot,” James said, a smile lighting his eyes. “Man, sometimes I thought you’d never shut up.”

He was too far away to reach or else she’d smack him. Instead, she laughed. “Having people listen to me… You have no idea what a novelty it was. People who listened and responded and cared what I had to say. I’d rarely had that. And Hallie…” Her voice cracked.

“My sister adored you.”

“I adored her, too. I’d have done anything, anything…” She swiped the sudden tears away.

James looked up at the darkening sky. What was he thinking? She didn’t know this man the way she’d known the teenage boy. She’d loved that boy, loved his family, with everything in her.

“Anyway.” Cassidy worked for a casual tone. “Unlike a lot of the kids I work with, I’d seen how good it could be. I’d seen what a real family should look like, and I’d been introduced to the God who wanted everyone to feel that sense of belonging. Of… mattering. I’m a success story not because of anything I did but because… because of you.”

Chapter Fifteen

The man came back earlier than usual, before the sun even went down. He carried a paper bag, which he set on top of the cooler. “I’m going to have to take the food out after dinner, in case the bear comes looking for it, so be sure to get enough to eat and drink.”

That morning before he left, he’d cleaned up the bear’s mess and rinsed out her bucket. Now, he sat beside her. “I have a surprise for you.”

She didn’t want any surprise that didn’t include her daddy, but she didn’t say that. She’d learned it was better to talk to the crickets and keep quiet when he was around.

“I’m going to build a campfire.” He pointed to a black spot on the pale rock. The black was sort of like chalk. It’d come off on her fingers when she’d touched it. “Just big enough to roast marshmallows. You love roasted marshmallows.”

She’d never had them, so she just shrugged.