CHAPTER 14

"Okay," Jake Benson began once he was sitting at his desk with Monica sitting rigidly in the seat across from him, "Let’s just keep this simple. Did you take Faith away from her father on Easter Mornin’?"

The little angel relaxed slightly at the first of the questions that she had been so dreading, "No, sir, I did not." She felt some of the tension leave her small shoulders when he smiled at her.

"Didn’t think so, so would you mind telling me why it is Greg Tate seems to have it out for you?" He had seen the way the man had grabbed hold of the little female in town a few days ago and the action was still weighing heavily on his mind.

"I honestly don’t know. I met him one of the first days I was here in one of the shops. He was showing a picture of his daughter around and I was one of the people to look at it. I told him I’d keep an eye out for her and that was the extent of it."

"And you have been," It was more of a statement than a question and she nodded her head but decided against saying anything more, "Have you run in ‘ta Greg since that day? Other than the day we met, of course."

"At the post office one afternoon. He said he had been watching me and that he knew I was looking for Faith, but that I’d never find her…that no one could," Monica eyed him, her expression warming some, "You don’t want her to go back to him, do you?" He cleared his throat and looked around a bit nervously and she smiled, "Strictly off the record, Sheriff."

His lips twitched in a small grin, "Strictly off the record, Monica, that little tike would be better off on her own than with Greg Tate. I never swallowed that load of bull he gave me about his wife, but with no evidence, my hands were tied."

"I’m sure you did what you could," She offered softly, wondering now how she had ever doubted her feelings about the child’s father.

"Sheriff Benson?"

Tess’ voice caused Monica to smile inwardly as she turned around and Jake rose to his feet. It was obvious that the two were sizing each other up as Tess looked none too happy at the moment.

"And you are?" He raised an eyebrow curiously as he awaited her answer.

"The name is Tess and Monica is my friend as well as my client. If any charges are brought against her, I’ll be the one representing her as I won’t stand for some small town court appointed lawyer," she stated firmly, before her eyes flew to the little angel. Some of the annoyance left her expression at the fact that Monica seemed to be all right and actually very calm.

"I see. Well, Monica and I were just having a little non-official chat," He exchanged a smile with the little angel and she grinned up at him.

"Have any charges been brought up against her?" Tess demanded, still in her business with no nonsense role.

"Nope. Nope. Not at this time, though there is still the matter of the toys in the cottage that we haven’t discussed," He watched as Monica’s smile faded and he felt as if he were watching her physically retreat into herself. He drummed his fingers on his desk for a moment, appearing to be deep in thought, "Of course, I hadn’t thought of this before, but I suppose it is possible that those toys had been left over from last season’s renters…"

Neither angel said a word as Jake continued his musings, "Yep, yep, highly possible and with your lawyer present and no formal charges against you, I can’t very well ask you to confirm if that is true now, can I?" His eyes held a twinkle and he noticed the tiny grin was back in place on Monica’s face.

"No, I suppose you can’t," She replied, trying to sound solemn.

"Well," He gestured to the door, "Then I supposed we’ll just leave it at that then, ladies. If I have any other questions, I know where you are and if you…need me for anything you know where to find me," He walked them both to the door and held it open for them, "Have a nice day and Monica, I’m sorry to have disrupted your afternoon."

"Thank you, Sheriff," Monica told him sweetly as she followed Tess out the door and onto the street. Once they were walking in the direction of the caddy, she linked her arm through Tess’ and smiled up at her, "Thank you."

But Tess waved off the words with her hand, "Nonsense, Angel Girl. You had things well under control before I ever arrived. I just hope Andrew is holding up all right on his end of things as Faith was pretty upset over your being taken away."

"I still cannot believe Jake didn’t find her, Tess…"

"Let’s be truthful, Monica. Do you really believe he was looking all that hard?"

"No. I suppose he wasn’t. He’s a nice man and I think he has been helping Faith in the woods… he admitted to trying to help her once."

Tess nodded her head, "Then there is one mystery solved. Now all we have to do is find out what the Father’s intentions are regarding this child and we can all move on." She tried to sound cheerful, but she didn’t miss the silence that crept over her young charge as she climbed into the car.

*****

"Monica!" Faith cried out as she sprang up out of Andrew’s arms and straight into the arms of the angel.

Andrew rose to his feet as well and met his eyes with hers, "You okay?" His tone was light, but his expression held the concern she had come to depend on.

"I’m fine," She smiled at him as she hugged Faith tightly.

"I’m so sorry he took you away because of me," the child murmured sadly, clinging to Monica with all the strength her little arms could muster.

"None of it was your fault, Faith," She replied, though she was already certain that Andrew had tried to convince her of this, "And I’m home now, so everything is fine."

"I was scared," the words were only a breath against her ear.

She smiled sadly, "I was a little scared for a minute too. I thought he was going to find you." Monica felt Faith shaking her head.

"Uh-uh. He didn’t see me."

"I know, and you were very brave, and you told Tess and Andrew just what happened so they were able to help us both." She gave Faith one more tight hug before setting her down on the ground.

"Andrew wanted to go get you, but Tess wouldn’t let him," Faith said innocently, while Andrew coughed discreetly in his place beside the wall.

"Oh, he did, did he?" Monica asked teasingly.

"Uh-huh."

"Well, I’ll tell you a little secret," the angel said conspiratorially. "I would have argued with her too."

Faith started giggling and Tess gave a good-natured chuckle. "Well I guess I see where I stand," she said. "But I guess we also know who gets her way around here." She raised one eyebrow, gave each of them a look and then headed into the kitchen, ignoring the stifled laughter that followed her.

"So, now that we’re all back together again, what would you like to do?" Monica asked, happy to see that Faith seemed to be bouncing back quite well after her scare.

"Andrew taught me how to play Chinese checkers while we were waiting for you to come home," Faith said eagerly. "We could all play that."

"Okay, that sounds very nice," Monica replied as she looked up and smiled at Andrew.

"It’s up in my room. I’ll run and get it," Faith said and she was already running before the last sentence left her mouth.

*****

Monica finished tucking Faith in, surprised and grateful that the girl was already asleep. She had been afraid that the day’s events would catch up to the sensitive child. As she stared down at the tiny, innocent face she felt compelled to drop to her knees beside the bed.

"Father," she whispered, "I know that whatever you have planned for this child is something truly special, but right now I am just asking you to continue watching over her and keeping her safe. Please help me to know what to do for her… whatever that may be."

She opened her eyes and saw a pair of wide green ones staring back at her with all the seriousness in the world within their depths. "I’m sorry I woke you, sweetheart."

"Were you praying?"

Monica smiled kindly. "Yes I was."

Faith nodded. "My mommy used to pray like that too, and at Sunday school we learned prayers too."

"I’m sure your mommy was praying for you to be happy and healthy," Monica said, "and sometimes a mother’s prayers are the best kind."

The girl was quiet for a moment and then her eyes brightened. "Jesus loves me, this I know, For the Bible tells me so," her sweet voice made Monica smile. "I think he does love me, don’t you? Mrs. Winter taught us that song and I don’t think she could teach it in church if it wasn’t true."

Monica carefully brushed the hair off of Faith’s forehead. "Of course, Faith, and God loves you too… more than you can imagine."

Faith pressed her lips together for a moment and Monica looked at her, puzzled. "I don’t think He does," Faith said at last.

The angel’s eyes opened wider. "Why would you say that?"

Silence filled the room and Monica was afraid Faith wasn’t going to answer, but then a very small voice answered. "My mommy got hurt… really bad… and she was lying on the floor. I covered her up and I prayed really, really hard for God to make her better, but He didn’t."

"Faith, I know it may seem like God didn’t answer your prayers, but He was with your mother and He was with you… the whole time, sweetie. He was there." Faith said nothing, only stared back at her with uncertainty and a hint of fear in her eyes. "What is it, sweetheart? What’s bothering you."

Once again it didn’t seem like Faith was going to answer. Her lips were tucked in as she worried them between her teeth. Finally Monica’s gentle expression appeared to settle the little debate in her mind.

"My daddy said that God took my mommy, because he told Him to." she whispered so quietly that Monica had to lean forward to hear. "He said He would take me too if I ever talked about it. He said that God listens to him and talks to him, and He doesn’t like little girls."

Monica was struck speechless as her stomach suddenly twisted into a knot. How could anyone say such things to an innocent child? And how could she possibly undo all that had been done? She pulled herself up and sat on the bed, gathering Faith into her arms.

"Faith, what your father told you… those things aren’t true. God loves you so much. He just wants you to be happy, and to know how much he cares for you."

The little girl looked up at her trustingly, but there was doubt at the corners of her eyes. "Really?"

"Yes, really. I know that He’s watching over you right now, and He’s going to help me make sure that you stay safe and loved always."

"I feel that way now," Faith murmured, as her eyelids grew heavy. "I want to stay like this with you and Andrew and Tess." Her words began to slur together and within a few minutes she was asleep again.

Monica continued to hold her tight, tears pricking at her eyes. She hated that Faith wasn’t going to get her wish, but she had to take her own advice and trust that God would guide them all.