Free Scraps of Love by Rhonda Gibson Page B

trickled though the
ice. He looked up into the heavens. “Lord I can’t find the words to tell her
how sorry I am, to tell her how much I love her. Father, what am I to say?”
    He stuck
his hands in his coat pockets and waited for the Lord to answer. Too late, he
realized he should have come to the Lord earlier last week when he’d thought
the worst of Colleen.
    The longer
Adam sat in the cold, the more he realized he ought to be up-front with her.
Tell her the truth, tell her he loved her, and ask her to marry him.
    Adam left
the park with a new bounce in his step. He felt confident Colleen was the woman
God had chosen for him.
    “Thanks for
the coffee, Colleen. I’m sure looking forward to Adam resuming his route.” Sly
groaned as he picked up his mailbag.
    Colleen
took a deep breath. “Jenny and I were working on a school project. Did Adam say
when they would get back into town?” She felt a prickle of guilt for using
Jenny as an excuse to learn more about Adam.
    The postman
took a last long drink from his cup, “Got home last night.” He set the cup back
on the table.
    He was
home.
    Colleen
felt her heart speed up and her palms turn to a hot swampland. She wiped the
moisture on her apron.
    Sly headed
for the door. “Thanks again for the coffee,” he called on his way out.
    “Any time.”
Colleen tugged on the apron strings. They refused to budge. Hot and anxious,
she fretted about what to say to Adam. How would she voice her sorrow for her
quick judgment?
    The knot
wound tighter and tighter. She turned completely around, facing the kitchen.
Her fingers couldn’t loosen the tie.
    The bell
over the door tinkled, alerting her that someone had just entered the store.
She looked up at the clock on the wall. A few minutes after two, too early for
Jenny. A wave of disappointment enveloped her.
    “I’ll be
right with you,” Colleen called over her shoulder, still fighting the knot.
    Warm hands
enveloped hers. “Here, let me get that.”
    Adam
    Colleen
couldn’t hold still. She turned swiftly and looked into his clear blue eyes. An
endearing smile touched his lips and caused the dimple in his cheek to wink at
her.
    “Adam, your
home.” Her voice sounded breathless to her own ears.
    “We got in
last night.”
    Words
exploded from her lips. “I’m so sorry, Adam. I never should have judged you.
Can you ever forgive me?” Her throat closed up, tears filled her eyes, and
Colleen silently prayed for the strength to continue.
    He guided
her to the nearest chair and indicated that she should sit down. Colleen chewed
on her bottom lip. There was so much she wanted to say, but her tongue stuck to
the roof of her mouth.
    “I’m sorry,
too Colleen. I was wrong. My pride got in the way of my thinking. Please
forgive me for being so rude to you.” Adam continued holding her hands.
    His eyes
pleaded with her to forgive him. Colleen wanted to sink to the floor and sit with
him, but her body refused to do as her mind screamed. All she could do was nod.
He must think she was an idiot.
    Tears
streamed down her cheeks when he released her hands. She wanted to scream that
she did forgive him and that she had been wrong, too. Silently, she prayed, Lord,
what’s wrong with me? Why can’t I speak or move?
    Adam took a
small box out of his pocket. “I love you, and I’m praying you love me, too.” He
opened the box and held it out to her.
    He loved
her. The words screamed through her mind.
    “Colleen,
will you marry me?” Adam held the box out to her with one hand and took her
cold fingers in the other.
    Colleen
smiled though her tears. She opened her mouth and the words she’d silently been
thinking burst forth. “Yes! Yes! Yes!”
    His rich
laughter filled her heart and home. Colleen gasped as he stood up, pulled her
from the chair and into his arms, and swung her around. “I was so afraid you
would say no.” He laughed and held her close for several moments.
    Colleen
hung on to him. He’d forgiven her and asked