Summer's Promise

Summer told David.

“Under the circumstances, I can’t stay here at night, but there is one solution. You and I could get married and all be one happy family.”

Summer’s heartbeat sped up at the suggestion, which surprised her, but she knew David was joking as he often did.

“I think we can manage better than that….”

She stood up, and in the darkness she didn’t see the stupefied look on David’s face. He was surprised at himself. What would he have done if she’d taken him up on his offer?

IRENE BRAND

Writing has been a lifelong interest of this author, who says that she started her first novel when she was eleven years old and hasn’t finished it yet. However, since 1984, she’s published twenty-four contemporary and historical novels and three nonfiction titles with publishers such as Zondervan, Thomas Nelson, Barbour and Kregel. She started writing professionally in 1977 after she completed her master’s degree in history at Marshall University. Irene taught in secondary public schools for twenty-three years, but retired in 1989 to devote herself to writing.

Consistent involvement in the activities of her local church has been a source of inspiration for Irene’s work. Traveling with her husband, Rod, to forty-nine of the United States, Hawaii excepted, and to thirty-two foreign countries has also inspired her writing. Irene is grateful to the many readers who have written to say that her inspiring stories and compelling portrayals of characters with strong faith have made a positive impression on their lives. You can write to her at P.O. Box 2770, Southside, WV 25187.

Summer’s Promise

Irene Brand

But grow in the grace and knowledge

of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

—2 Peter 3:18

To the participants in

Harmony’s Thursday night special Bible study

and their continued spiritual maturity.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Epilogue

Letter to Reader

Chapter One

Carrying one small piece of luggage, Summer Weaver deplaned in Scranton, Pennsylvania, hurried out of the terminal and hailed a taxi to take her to the hospital. Four hours earlier she’d learned that her sister, Spring Brown, had been in an automobile accident and was in critical condition. The hospital’s main reception area had closed at ten o’clock, and the driver took her to the emergency entrance. In an unsteady voice, Summer asked for directions to her sister’s room.

Summer took an elevator to the second floor and diffidently approached the nurses’ station. A few staff members worked intently at computers, but other employees leaned on the counter, chatting aimlessly. They ignored her.

In desperation, Summer stammered, “I’m Spring Brown’s sister. Where’s her room?”

That statement got their attention in a hurry, and a nurse rushed to her side. “Right this way,” the nurse said and hurried down the hall with Summer, suitcase rolling behind her, hustling to keep up.

“How is she?” Summer whispered.

The nurse shook her head. Her expression was grave. “Not good. No one knows what caused the accident but the car plunged over a steep embankment. They had to use Jaws of Life to remove your sister and her husband from the wreckage.”

When she entered the room, Summer couldn’t believe the patient surrounded by medical equipment and tubes was her sister. The woman’s head was bandaged until only the middle portion of her pain-marked, ashen face was visible, but a few tendrils of auburn hair, characteristic of the Weaver sisters, had escaped the bandages and identified the woman as Spring Brown. Her eyes were closed.

“She has severe head bruises and abrasions, as well as internal injuries,” the nurse explained as she checked the equipment. Spring’s breathing was uneven and labored.

“Is she going to get better?”

The nurse shook her head. “Not unless God sees fit to heal her. We’ve done all we can do. Perhaps you’d better pray and ask God for a miracle,” the nurse said, patting Summer’s shoulder as she left the room.

Summer stumbled to the nearest chair. If that’s what it took to save her sister, she wouldn’t be any help at all, for Summer had never asked God for anything.

She moved the chair close to the bed, and mindful of the tubes attached to Spring’s body, Summer gently lifted her sister’s hand.

“Spring,” she said, “can you hear me?”

The patient’s eyelids flickered and Summer raised her voice. “Spring. Talk to me.”

Spring’s eyes opened a slit, and she smiled. “Summer! How’d you get here? Are Mother and Daddy with you?”

“They’re at home in Ohio with the kids. Daddy telephoned and asked me to come since I’m close. It didn’t take long for me to get here from New York.”

Tears slipped from Spring’s eyelids. “Have you heard that Bert died in the accident?”

Summer nodded and squeezed Spring’s hand.

“I’m dying, too, but I don’t care. Without Bert, I don’t want to live.”

Summer had never been in love, and she couldn’t understand loving a man so much you’d not want to live if he died. Why wouldn’t Spring want to get well for her children?

“What about Nicole and Timmy? They need their mother.”

Spring shook her head and winced with pain. “You can take care of them.”

Impossible! Summer thought, but she wouldn’t argue with her sister now.

“I want to be buried at home,” Spring rambled on. “When we were on mission assignment in Bolivia, there was never a day I didn’t think about the green fields of Ohio. When I was a kid, I always thought of our large white house as a fortress guarding our family. And tonight, I’ve been thinking about the times when the two of us, and our little sister, Autumn, rode on the big black wagon when Daddy entered his Belgians in competition.”

“We did have lots of fun, but I never enjoyed the farm like you and Autumn did. I like living in a big city. I’d probably never go to the farm except to see our folks.”

Spring choked, and Summer started to ring for a nurse when her sister swallowed and coughed. Summer took a tissue from the table and wiped blood from her sister’s lips.

“You ought to rest now.”

“Will you take Timmy and Nicole?”

The words astonished Summer, and she felt as if a giant hand were strangling her. “What! I don’t know how to take care of children. Besides, you’re going to get well so you can look after them yourself.”

“Promise me!”

Summer was stunned to silence. She couldn’t have spoken if she’d wanted to.

“Promise me!” Spring’s voice sharpened. She sounded exactly like their mother, Clara Weaver, and Summer had never disobeyed that voice.

“All right,” she whispered reluctantly, hoping she wouldn’t be held to a promise made under such duress.

Spring smiled contentedly, then her feverish eyes dulled, and she seemed to have trouble focusing on Summer’s face. “Pray for me. I’m a little afraid.”

Summer gasped, but she was willing to try anything to ease her sister’s mental and physical suffering.

After a few false starts, Summer closed her eyes, and addressed God for the first time in her life. “God, you don’t know me for I’ve never talked to You before. I don’t even know how to go about this, but Spring needs You, God. Will You give her peace of mind and comfort of heart? I’m glad I’m here with her, but I don’t know what to do. Maybe I need You, too.”

Summer sensed another presence in the room, and embarrassed, she looked around to see who’d heard her praying, but she was still alone with her sister. Spring’s face, that had been distorted with pain, relaxed into a smile of contentment, and Summer thought she’d gone to sleep. Had God answered her prayer? Was His Spirit in the room comforting Spring? It was a startling thought!

Time passed slowly. Spring didn’t rouse, although the nurses checked her frequently, sometimes changing the IVs or adding medication to the tubes. The chaplain came in after midnight, and he held Spring’s hand and prayed. When Summer compared his beautifully worded prayer with her miserable effort, she wondered if her petition had done any good.

Spring’s breathing increased in irregularity, and Summer was afraid to be alone with her sister when she died, but she didn’t ask a nurse to stay with her. Thinking it might ease Spring’s mind and bring courage to herself, Summer picked up a pamphlet the chaplain had left and read aloud.

“‘Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.”’

“‘Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me.”’

If God was here for Spring as she went through the valley of death, wouldn’t He also be with anyone else in the room? Although Summer could only imagine what the presence of God could mean, she had observed the difference His indwelling Spirit had made in her sisters’ lives. For the first time, Summer coveted the peace Spring and Autumn had found.

If God was watching over Spring, she might as well try to relax, so Summer leaned back in the chair and closed her eyes. She was startled when she felt a soft hand on her shoulder. Her eyes opened wide as she looked at the bed to see if Spring still lived before she turned to the man at her side. Expecting an aide or a doctor, she was surprised to see a lithe, wiry young man with short dark-brown hair and snappy brown eyes, dressed in a brown business suit. For a moment his identity eluded her, until a two-year-old memory flooded her mind.

David Brown—Bert’s brother!

“Summer?” David said.

“Yes, it’s me.” David was Spring’s brother-in-law, and since none of her immediate family was with her, Summer welcomed David. She pulled another chair close to the bed and invited him to sit down.

“I’m sorry about Bert,” she said.

Sorrow clouded David’s brown eyes. “He was my only brother.” He cleared his throat and spoke with difficulty. “Is Spring going to make it?”

“The doctors don’t expect her to live. She’s been getting worse since I got here about ten o’clock.”

“Any of your family with you?”

Summer shook her head. “Spring and Bert left their kids with Mother and Daddy while they went on this fund-raising trip for their school in North Carolina, so my folks have to look after them. Mother isn’t able to travel anyway. My sister, Autumn, is expecting a baby any day, so she can’t be here. Daddy asked me to come and check out the situation. I live in New York, so it didn’t take long for me to get here.”

A half smile played around his generous, well-cut mouth. “I remember you intended to move to New York. How do you like living in a big city?”

“It’s great,” she said, and her blue eyes gleamed with delight. “I’ve been there almost two years, and I know it’s the place for me. I’m working in a Wall Street bank.” Her eyes darkened when she remembered the situation. “Did any of your family come with you?”

“No. My parents are really torn up by Bert’s death, and they asked me to come and help Spring make funeral arrangements. Is she able to make decisions?”

“She talked for a little while, and she said she wanted to be buried in the Weaver cemetery on the family farm in Ohio.”

Perhaps the sound of David’s tender, smooth voice had penetrated Spring’s subconsciousness and reminded her of her husband, for she opened her eyes.

“Bert,” she whispered weakly.

Summer quickly stood and put her hand on Spring’s shoulder. “Bert isn’t here, dear, but David came.”

“I remember now—Bert died in the accident.” Spring swallowed with difficulty, and although the Weaver family didn’t habitually display overt affection, Summer bent to kiss her cheek.

“Take Bert and me home to be buried.”

“Dad wanted me to bring Bert’s body to Tennessee,” David said quietly to Summer, “but I guess the decision should be up to Spring.”

“David,” Spring whispered in a faltering voice. He leaned over the bed. “Timmy and Nicole.”

“Yes,” David said, “what about them?”

“Timmy and Nicole,” Spring said again, agitation marking her voice.

“Your kids are in Ohio,” David said.

“No. North Carolina,” Spring insisted weakly, and she didn’t speak again.

The nursing staff had been in and out of the room all night, but David and Summer were alone when Spring breathed her last. A piece of equipment emitted a shrill whistle, shattering the quiet of the room, and Summer screamed. The pressure of the long hours since she’d learned of Spring’s accident had been too much, and she started trembling. When two nurses ran into the room, David drew Summer into the hallway and encircled her in the protective cover of his arms. He massaged her back lightly until she stopped trembling, then led her to a small waiting room near the elevator, sat down with her, his arm still around her shoulders.

For a moment she rested against his firm body, then she moved away from him. Her features were composed and she wasn’t crying, but David knew he had to take her away from this area before they removed Spring’s body.

“We’ve got to make a lot of decisions in the next few hours,” he said. “I’m not hungry, but it might be a good idea to eat breakfast before we tackle the difficult stuff.”

“I’ll have to call my family first, and I dread it,” Summer said wearily.

“Would you rather I talked to them?”

She shook her head. “I’ll telephone my sister and let her tell my parents. They’ve always been so proud of their three daughters, and I can’t stand to tell them there are only two of us now.”

Summer placed the call from a phone booth near the cafeteria. She was relieved when her brother-in-law, Nathan Holland, answered the phone rather than Autumn. Summer didn’t know Nathan very well, but he’d made Autumn happy, and Summer was sure he would break the news gently.

After she gave him the bad news, Summer commented on the emotional effect this would have on her parents.

“Landon and Clara will be okay,” Nathan assured her, “but I’m worried about the kids. How can we explain to Nicole and Timmy that their parents aren’t coming back? Who’s going to take care of them?”

Summer’s senses reeled when she realized they might be her children now. God in Heaven, if there is such a Being, what am I going to do with two children whom I’ve only seen a few times?

While David talked to his parents, Summer sat with closed eyes, her head in her hands. How could she be so selfish to worry about the effect Spring’s death would have on her? Waiting for David to finish, she sincerely mourned the death of her sister, remembering how Spring had looked after Summer on her first day in school—a role Spring had continued all the way through high school. If Summer needed any help, she could count on her older sister. Perhaps she’d partly repaid Spring if she’d made her dying moments easier by promising to look after her children. Summer had no idea how she could keep her promise, but she hoped she would have the courage to try.

When he walked away from the telephone, David took a handkerchief from his pocket, wiped his eyes and blew his nose. From a face marked with sorrow, he gave her a twisted smile.

Summer placed her hand on David’s forearm. “It’s rough, isn’t it? Thanks so much for being here, David. I couldn’t have handled Spring’s death alone, but it’s been easier since you came. I’m just glad our parents didn’t have to experience this.”

David clasped her hand in both of his. “You’re right. I’ve been wondering why God would let this happen to two people who had dedicated their lives to His service. I still don’t know the answer to that one, but I am pleased I could be here for Spring’s last few hours. That’s what Bert would have wanted. But I wish she’d lived long enough to tell me what she was trying to get across about Nicole and Timmy.”

They entered the cafeteria where Summer picked up a bowl of fruit, a cinnamon roll and a glass of milk. David took scrambled eggs, hash browns, bacon, biscuits and coffee. When they were seated, Summer eyed his tray incredulously.

“How can you eat so much food and remain slender as a fence post?” she asked.

“Because I stay active. My job requires a lot of moving around and I work out in gyms regularly.” He looked admiringly at her blue eyes and reddish-brown hair. She was slender and petite, about five-and-a-half feet tall. “You’re not overweight.”

“It’s in our genes, I guess. None of the Weavers gain much weight. What job do you mean? Aren’t you still in the Air Force?”

“After ten years in the service, I’d had enough. I resigned last year. I’m a detective in Atlanta now.”

As David steered her through the next two days of signing documents relating to the deaths of their siblings and contacting a local mortician to arrange for shipping the bodies to Ohio by air, Summer wondered how she could ever have managed without him. She noticed things about David that she’d forgotten—his friendly personality, and his slim, vibrant body as he walked confidently through life as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

She was mentally exhausted by the time they boarded a plane for Pittsburgh, where they changed planes for a flight to the Columbus International Airport. She couldn’t imagine how difficult it would have been if she had endured the past few days alone.

She’d appreciated David’s company, but she had been on edge fearing he would mention their previous meeting or ask why she hadn’t answered his letters. It had been rude of her not to reply, but she’d been busy finishing her college education, and David was a complication she didn’t want to deal with. After her education had been delayed for several years while she cared for her mother, she had focused on her career. Should she apologize? As she looked out the window, catching an occasional glimpse of a small town or a farmstead surrounded by fields of corn, she recalled the first time she’d met David Brown.

Two years before when her sister, Autumn, had been married to Nathan Holland, Spring and Bert came for the wedding, and David had stopped by the Weaver farm to see his brother, whom he hadn’t seen for three years. When one of Nathan’s attendants had fallen sick, David was asked to take the usher’s place.

David made friends easily, and he’d enthusiastically joined in the wedding festivities. Summer and David had been thrown together during the rehearsal and plans for the reception, and they’d conspired to decorate Nathan’s truck with tin cans, old shoes and ribbons. Summer’s family couldn’t believe she’d assisted David in such a stunt, for by nature she was quiet and reserved.

David had stayed with the Weavers for one day after the newlyweds left for a short honeymoon in Niagara Falls and Bert and Spring started for North Carolina with their family. David invited Summer to spend the day with him at one of Ohio’s well-known amusement parks. She refused at first. She had enjoyed the prewedding days with David, but his vibrant, outgoing personality, so different from hers, often made her uncomfortable.

But David was persuasive, so she’d gone with him, and to her surprise, they’d shared a wonderful, exhilarating day. For the first time in her life, Summer felt happy-go-lucky. They took several turns on the roller coaster, rode the merry-go-round and other attractions in the children’s area. They strolled along the walk-ways, stopping to watch three blockbuster shows at open-air theaters. They ate hot dogs, french fries, ice cream and popcorn.

David’s jollity had brought unfamiliar laughter to Summer’s lips. She laughed at David when he won a cap in the shooting gallery, and laughed with him after the cap fell off when they were suspended upside down on a roller coaster. Summer hadn’t laughed that much before or since. It had been a thought-provoking day because she seemed like a different person when she was with David, and Summer liked herself the way she was.

Traveling homeward, David had lowered the convertible’s top, and after she tied a scarf around her short auburn hair, Summer luxuriated in the breezy ride. They watched the full moon rise above the horizon, and it was dark by the time they reached the farm. They’d stood for a few minutes on the back veranda, leaning against the rail, shoulders touching, looking toward the white gazebo where both Spring and Autumn had been married.

“I’ve enjoyed today,” David had said. “That will give me something to think about while I’m on duty in Germany the next few months.”

Summer gasped when he’d leaned forward and kissed her lightly on the lips, and the sudden surge of excitement she experienced was so unexpected that it startled her. She pretended not to be affected, and said, “Thanks for a nice time.”

Summer had been kissed often on high school dates, but not one of those kisses had even ruffled her composure. David’s kiss stimulated emotions new to her and had ignited a little spark in her heart that had kept her awake most of the night wondering where association with David might lead. When her sisters had fallen in love, they were willing to sacrifice their wishes to be with the men they loved. Summer knew what she wanted, and she didn’t intend to let David Brown or any other man interfere with her plans.

David had sent her two letters from Germany, but she hadn’t answered, and he hadn’t contacted her again. She wanted to put David totally out of her mind, but when she least expected it, she would think about the day she’d spent with David, ending with his gentle kiss.

When the passengers were asked to prepare for landing in Columbus, and David still hadn’t mentioned their previous meeting, Summer breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps their first encounter hadn’t impressed David as it had her. During his exciting life in the Air Force, he’d probably forgotten all about her until he saw her a few days ago. That conclusion should have pleased Summer, but somehow it didn’t.

Chapter Two

A week later, Summer peered out the window of another plane hovering over New York’s LaGuardia Airport. Like a robot, she fastened her seat belt for landing, closed her eyes and winced as she always did when the plane’s wheels hit the runway, took her bag from the overhead compartment and deplaned. She wasn’t in the mood to wait for a shuttle, so she took a taxi to her Manhattan apartment.

Summer was displeased with her behavior the past week. She wished now that she’d mentioned Spring’s request about taking care of the children.

Prior to the funeral, Summer had kept busy greeting family and neighbors who called at the Weaver home, and she had no time to consider how Spring’s death would change her life. But as she’d watched the children’s woebegone expressions and the fear in their eyes, Summer’s heart had been touched by their sorrow, and she’d made little exploratory gestures to see if she possessed any maternal traits. She’d taken them to the florist to choose flowers to put in their parents’ caskets, and on the way home, they’d stopped by Autumn’s farm so Timmy and Nicole could see the new baby boy, Lannie, born the day after Spring had died. Summer envied Autumn’s easy ways with the children, wishing she didn’t feel so inadequate when she was with them.