Free Leap of Faith by Tanya Stowe Page A

his life.”
    “All the same, he’s not coming. If he’s gonna taste those ribs, someone will have to take him a plate.”
    Gabe tossed his rib bone to a nearby trash can. “I’ll do it.”
    “That’s all right,” Mr. Hart pointed to Zoe. “She’s got it all ready.”
    David and Gabe spun and Zoe’s gaze dropped to the plate in her hands. All of a sudden she knew why Mr. Hart and the angel had discussed her. They had a job for her to do.
    She took a deep breath and held out the plate. “I just need a couple of those ribs, please. Nice, big, meaty ones.”
    A half smile tilted one corner of Mr. Hart’s mouth.
    “Easy for you to smile,” Zoe murmured as she passed him. “I have no idea what I’m doing.”
    “Pray, gal,” Mr. Hart replied. “Just pray.”
    Placing a paper napkin over the top of the plate, she headed across the compound to Zack Manning’s place.
    “Please, Lord, tell me what to do.”
     
     
     
     

2
     
    “I don’t know what to do.” Zack was hardly even aware that he spoke out loud as he stared at his personal laptop. The incredible, unbelievable e-mail sat open on his screen.
    Advanced Multimedia Corporation offered him great benefits, more money than he needed, and two months to resign his current position and move. They would even give him a bonus to help him find a place in Manhattan. Multimedia wanted him to design software that would network computers, phones, and calendar devices, regardless of the make or brand. It was cutting-edge technology that would place their company at the head of the game.
    Their design was in the last stages. The legendary software designer who created it planned to retire in six months, and he’d handpicked Zack to complete his work. Multimedia gave him a deadline of one month to reply. It should have taken him one minute. Instead, the offer sat on his computer. Even now, his finger was poised over the key.
    What was he waiting for, and why did his hand seem frozen in space?
    Just as he was about to hit the key, someone knocked on his door. Zack sat back in his chair and released a pent up sigh. Probably Gabe, wanting to know why he was missing out on the free food at the gathering.
    Zack hadn’t told his friend about the offer. In fact, the only people he had told were his parents, his sister, and her husband. He didn’t feel like talking about it. Even now.
    Maybe if he just kept quiet, Gabe would think he’d gone to bed and leave him alone. Another knock on the door cancelled that thought.
    Muttering under his breath, Zack grabbed his coffee mug and headed for the door. Halfway there, he remembered he still had on his glasses. He pulled them off then stooped to pick up a shoe he almost tripped over. He glanced around his normally neat-as-a-pin apartment, now littered with shoes, towels, and take-out bags…an indication of his scattered state.
    The knock sounded again. “OK. I’m coming!”
    With a shake of his head he threw open the door. “Give a guy a chance, will you, Gabe—” His sentence sputtered to a stop as he realized it wasn’t Gabe. “Oh, hey. Sorry.”
    Zack’s apology died on his lips. He knew Zoe Wyndham from the monthly Heart’s Haven get-togethers. He’d talked to her often and thought she was pretty, in a flighty kind of way. But as she stood there on his doorstep, something happened.
    A breeze blew over them. Not really blew, just…fluttered, lifting loose tendrils of Zoe’s hair around her face. Her long, flowered skirt wrapped tight against her slender form and wafted forward to touch his pant legs. It also carried the soft scent of something sweet and full of spring sunshine. Suddenly, Zack wondered why he’d never noticed her beautiful eyes until today. Slightly slanted like almonds but so green they looked like pools in an emerald forest.
    How had he missed that? Or how strands of white-gold hair wove through the thick braid looped over her shoulder? What would those white-gold streaks look like when her