On Every Side (34 page)

The phone rang before he could finish the word. Joshua did
not immediately see the interruption as an answer to prayer, but rather as one in a series of distractions that were a regular part of his life lately He quickly finished his talk with God and answered the phone.

“Religious Freedom Institute joshua Nunn.”

“Uh…yes, I'm looking for Faith Evans.” The woman seemed nervous, not sure of herself. “I got your number from information and thought maybe… is there some way you could get her a message?”

Joshua scooted onto the edge of his chair and forced himself to change gears. “Faith doesn't work here, if that's what you mean. But I can get a message to her.”

“Are you the… the attorney representing the city of Bethany?”

The woman was obviously a fan of some kind, calling to wish them God's blessings or offer prayer support. Joshua inhaled slowly “Yes, ma'am.” He didn't want to seem rude but he had no time to waste on the phone. “Why don't you give me your name and number, and I'll give Faith the message?”

There was a pause and again Joshua had the sense the woman was uptight about something. “My name's Heidi Benson.” She rattled off her phone number with what seemed like a sense of urgency. “I'd really like to talk to Faith about the case. I… I used to live in Bethany a long time ago and the statue meant a great deal to my mother.”

Joshua's heart went out to the woman.” I'll give her the mes-sage this afternoon.”

Long after the phone call ended, Joshua was haunted by something in the woman's voice. It was a feeling that was com-pletely unfounded, yet it remained. Joshua tried reaching Faith seven times before she finally answered the phone at just before five o'clock.

“Hello?” She sounded relaxed and upbeat, and Joshua was
relieved. Faith had been under too much pressure lately, and he knew she was operating on sheer Holy Spirit power.

“YouVe been busy today” Joshua didn't want to question her about her absence. With everything going on, she deserved time to herself. Tve been calling you all afternoon.”

“I took Rosa to the movies.” She seemed breathless, as though she'd just come in the door. “It's snowing outside, Joshua. It'll be a perfect Thanksgiving.”

The holiday was just eight days away and until Faith's mention of it, Joshua had barely considered how quickly it was approaching. He glanced out his office window and saw Main Street covered in an inch of powder. “Well, I'll be. First real snow of the season.”

“Okay, what's so important?” Faith had caught her breath and sounded ready to chat.

“A woman called you. Wants to talk about the Jesus statue. She used to live here and the statue mattered a lot to her mother. I have her name and number for you.”

“Just a minute.” It wasn't the first time such a conversation had transpired between the two of them, and after several sec-onds Faith returned with a pen and paper. “What is it?”

Joshua gave her the phone number and hesitated. “I don't know, Faith. Something about this one feels strange. The Lord kept putting it on my heart over and over again.”

Faith chuckled.” You're just an old softie, Joshua. Now tell me her name so I can call her back.”

“Her name? Oh, right.” He looked at his notepad again. “Heidi… Heidi Benson.”

When Joshua said the woman's first name, Faith about fell from her seat. But as she wrote down the last name she knew it couldn't be the same Heidi. By now Heidi Morand—or whoever she was—could have been anywhere. Besides, the phone number
had a Bethany prefix. If Jordan's sister had lived in Bethany all this time she would have come forward a lot sooner, wouldn't she?

Faith thought back over the day and how Jordan had closed down after reading Heidi's file. Especially in light of her prayer that God help them find Heidi. They'd gone back to the court-house, and she'd returned the file while Jordan waited in the car. After that he hadn't spoken much until he dropped her off.

“Like I said, I'll never forget this. You took a risk for me, Faith. It means a lot.” Jordan's eyes were still teary, but he stopped short of hugging her or doing anything that could have been misconstrued.

After he was gone Faith was grateful for her plans with Rosa Lee. The time with Jordan had been hard on her heart and she needed a distraction. An old theater in town was showing reruns of favorite kids’ movies throughout November, and they ended up seeing
The Prince of Egypt

Faith had to smile at the way God drilled a message home. First the sermon on Luke and Jesus’ final days, then her realizations about her own life, and finally the animated movie. There the Israelites stood, toes in the water, enemies charging at their heels, and Moses did the only thing he could do: He raised his staff to heaven and begged God for a way out. He never would have asked God to part the Red Sea. It would have been beyond Moses” understanding. But God… ah, God didn't need Moses to figure it out. The answers belonged to the Lord all along. When things looked their worst—in fact,
especially
when they looked their worst—God was busy putting in overtime, making mar-velous things happen.

Faith could feel it in her gut: He was going to do that in the Jesus-statue case as well.

She stared at the woman's name and phone number and decided to call her back. Faith could carry on a conversation
while making dinner, and later she would call her mother and catch her up on all that had gone on in the past few days. Suddenly Faith remembered being with Jordan in the park the other night, the way he'd kissed her.

Well, most of what had gone on.

She dialed the number and waited while it rang several times. Finally there was a click and an answering machine came on. “Hi, this is Faith Evans calling for Heidi.” She left her home num-ber, confident that the woman wasn't a wacko. After all, she lived in Bethany and had a fondness for the Jesus statue.

The irony of the woman's name struck Faith again as she hung up. If only it
was
Jordan's sister. Wouldn't that be some-thing?

Faith checked the boiling water and dropped in a handful of pasta. Even though the woman wasn't Heidi Morand, her name was a reminder that Faith still needed to pray.

While she stirred the spaghetti sauce she spent the next fif-teen minutes praying fervently for Jordan and his sister. That wherever Heidi was, she and Jordan might find each other again. The prayer brought about a freedom in Faith she hadn't felt in months.

The answer to the battle of Jericho Park wasn't strategies or case precedent or vigils in which they took turns talking about their rights. It was something Christ Himself had done, some-thing she knew she must continue to do if there was any hope of seeing God glorified in the process. The very thing she'd been doing since seeing Jordan on her doorstep that morning.

Praying for her enemy.

Heidi was strangely energized when she and Charles got home at ten-thirty after their first date since the baby was born. With all
the talk about feedings and diaper changes and nap schedules, they'd realized several days earlier that they needed adult conver-sation.

Together.

Charles's nurse at the office had baby-sat and in what seemed like a perfect ending to an already wonderful evening, Jordan Lee was sleeping peacefully in her bassinet and the house was cleaner than when they'd left.

“Wow…” Heidi wandered into the kitchen and found Charles digging through the cupboards for cereal. “What a great night.”

He reached for a box of Grapenuts, set it on the counter, and pulled her into a lingering hug. “What I want to know is where that baby in the other room came from.”

Heidi knit her brow together. Even after several years of mar-riage there were times when she wasn't sure if Charles was kid-ding.” What do you mean?”

His gaze wandered lazily over her green sweater and new black jeans. “There's no way that body of yours just had a baby You look better than you did the day I met you.”

After weeks of feeling tired and frumpy, Charles’ comment made Heidi's heart soar. “Why, thank you, sir.” She kissed him, nuzzling against his rough cheek, then rested her head on his shoulder, her eyes closed as she savored the feel of him. “I love you, Dr. Benson.”

“Mmm. I love you, too.”

She opened her eyes and noticed that the answering machine was blinking. “I wonder who called? No one knows us yet.”

She made her way across the kitchen as Charles returned to his cereal. There was a click as Heidi pushed a button and stood back to hear the message. “Hi, this is Faith Evans calling for Heidi… I'm returning a call you made to my friend Joshua Nunn earlier today. Give me a call when you get a chance.” Heidi
scrambled for a piece of paper and scribbled the number as the caller rattled it off.

“Who was that?” Charles looked at Heidi from his place on the stool at the center island. He took another bite and waited for her answer.

She remembered then that she hadn't told him, hadn't even mentioned the story she'd seen in the newspaper earlier that day. She looked at her watch. The news was set to begin in five min-utes.” We have to watch the news tonight. You won't believe what's happening in Bethany It's big time, Charles. National news.”

He was working on another mouthful of cereal. “You mean that whole mess about the statue at the park?”

Heidi let her mouth hang open. For a moment she considered telling him about the attorney for HOUR, how strange it had been to see her brother's name in print. But that wasn't the point of the story “Yes. That's not just any statue, Charles. It was one of my mother's favorite places in town. My brother's, too.”

“So who's Faith Evans?” He finished his cereal and set the bowl in the sink. “Her name sounds familiar.”

“She was a newscaster at WKZN, but she was fired because she got involved in the Jesus-statue case.”

Creases appeared on Charles's forehead.” They fired her for that?”

Heidi nodded. “I called the city's lawyer and asked him to give her the message to call me. I felt like she might need help.”

Charles took Heidi's hand and led her into the den. “And what—my sweet, still-recuperating love—could you do to help?”

She knew he was teasing and she tilted her head, her gaze fixed on the ceiling as though she were trying to figure out a dif-ficult mathematical formula. “Let's see, I could go door to door getting people involved, or stand at the park all day handing out
flyers with one hand, feeding Jordan Lee with the other. I could…” She broke into a laugh and punched Charles lightly on the arm. “I'm not an invalid, you know”

He grinned and tickled her until she let out a light scream. Across the room Jordan Lee sighed and shifted positions. “There you go, wake up the baby…” he whispered. He was still chuck-ling, but a curiosity filled his eyes. “No, I'm serious, honey. What are you thinking of doing?”

Heidi stared at the television set. The news was just coming on, and she shot a knowing glance at her husband. “I could tell her I'm behind her 100 percent, and that well pray for her.” Her shoulders lifted twice. She wasn't even sure why she'd called, just that she'd felt compelled to do it. “I don't know, Charles. I care about that statue. I had to do something.”

“That's my little activist.” He kissed her on the top of her head and stretched lazily “I'll be in the shower if you need me. Let me know what I miss.” He winked at her and disappeared up the stairs.

Heidi watched him go and thought, as she often did, how blessed she was. She turned her attention back to the television and the top story—a newsbreaking item about a banking crisis in Philadelphia. Heidi absently bit the nail on her forefinger as she waited. There was a reason she wanted more information, a rea-son she wasn't ready to admit even to herself. It had everything to do with the attorney's name.

Maybe they'd show his picture… maybe…

Heidi forced herself not to get worked up. Her brother was dead, the state had notified her foster parents, hadn't they? That wasn't a detail people got wrong.

Was it?

Since television news would have reported the postponement of the hearing the night before, Heidi wasn't sure they'd carry
another story about the case. But sure enough, three items into the lineup a female anchor stared into the camera, her face seri-ous. Heidi leaned forward in her seat.
Come on, give me some-thing…

“The countdown has begun for the people of Bethany, Pennsylvania, as they await the final hearing in a case that will decide whether ten-foot walls must remain standing around a statue of Jesus Christ.” The reporter droned on, recapping details that even Heidi knew already. The story ended with an update on the attorney for HOUR. “Sources say Jordan Riley will remain in Bethany until the hearing, making himself available for press conferences and other media events involving the case.” The anchor reminded viewers of Mr. Riley's press conference earlier in the week, and as she spoke, the station aired footage of a man talking before a dozen microphones and cameras.

Heidi was on her feet, her next breath forgotten. “Dear God….it can't be…”

Though her blood ran cold and her head was spinning, she moved trancelike across the room to the television screen. Falling to her knees, she touched the image of the man on the screen.

Jordan Riley “He's alive…” She whispered the words as the man's picture was replaced by the anchor. Then Heidi's voice became a shout. “He's
alive!
Charles, come here! He's alive!” She was overcome with a dozen different emotions, and she felt like she'd slipped into some far-too-real dream. The baby began to whimper, and Heidi held a hand up in her direction. “Shh, honey, it's okay” Heidi peered over the edge of the bassinet, relieved to see Jordan Lee's eyes closed. “I'll be right back.”

Don't let it be a dream, God… please… He's alive! Jordan's alive!
“Charles!” She darted upstairs as quickly as her feet could take her, into their bedroom and around the corner, where she found
Charles wrapped in a towel, his hair still dripping from the shower. “Charles…” She froze in place, her knees knocking, heart stuck in a beat she didn't recognize. The tears came then, quickly and in rivers, warm with the mixture of pain and elation. “He's alive, I saw him!”