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time, but I ask the people of this church to hold up Linda Forrest and her parents in prayer. Thank you.”
    Having said this much, Stanford pivoted and went to his office, plopping down in his chair. “Lord, help that dear girl,” he said in a low voice.
    There was a tap on the door.
    “Come in.”
    The groomsmen and best man entered. “Pastor,” Frank Simons said, “shouldn’t we, as members of the wedding party, be told what has happened?”
    “Oh … of course,” said the preacher. “I’m sorry. You certainly have a right to know. To put it as plain and simple as I can, Lewis and Janet ran away together. They were seen about an hour before the wedding, boarding a train for New York City. Ed and Frances Diamond saw them.”
    At the Forrest home, Nolan paced the floor outside Linda’s bedroom.
    She was in a state of shock and only stared into space while Adrienne worked at removing the wedding dress from her rigid body.
    When the dress was finally off, the heavyhearted mother said, “Here, honey, sit down on the bed. I’ll be right back.”
    Adrienne picked up the veil from the dresser and took it with the dress to the door. When she opened it, her pacing husband stopped and looked at her expectantly. “Not yet,” she told him. Extending the dress and veil, she said, “Would you hang these up in our closet, please? If I put them in her closet, they’ll be there for a reminder. She doesn’t need that.”
    “All right,” Nolan said.
    “I’ll put a robe on her and then you can come in.”
    He nodded and started down the hall.
    Adrienne closed the bedroom door and headed for the closet. Linda watched her mother’s movements with languid eyes.
    Returning from the closet with a soft white robe, Adrienne said, “Here you go, honey. Lets get this on you. Your daddy wants to be in here with us.”
    When the robe was on and buttoned up, Adrienne said, “Lie down on the bed, sweetheart.”
    A strange expression flitted across Linda’s face. She sucked in a shallow breath, let it out raggedly, and said, “I want to die.”
    Adrienne’s eyes widened. “Linda, I know you’re terribly upset, but you don’t want to die! Jesus loves you. He’s going to see you through this horror you’re facing right now.”
    “If … if I died, I would go to heaven and be with Jesus. Then I wouldn’t have all this hurt inside me. He would hold me in His arms and I would never feel like this again.”
    Adrienne bit her lower lip. “Linda, Jesus can take away your hurt while you’re still here on earth. Come on. Lie down.”
    When Linda lay in the center of her bed, Adrienne said, “I’m going to bring Daddy in. Please, honey. No more of this talk about wanting to die.”
    Moments later the parents eased down on either side of the bed, and each took one of Linda’s hands in their own.
    The horrible trauma brought on by Lewis and Janet’s betrayal filled Linda’s mind. In the brief time since it happened, it had become part of her—like her pulse, like the steady beat of her heart. The agony showed on her mottled face and in her puffy eyes.
    Nolan and Adrienne’s hearts ached for their sweet Christian daughter. Compared to the emotional pain they had suffered because of Janet’s rebellion, this was far worse. Linda had shown only love to Janet, and had trusted Lewis, promising to be his wife. To see her suffer like this was overwhelming. Linda didn’t deserve to have her heart crushed.
    “I love you, sweetheart,” Nolan said, looking into his daughter’s listless eyes.
    She met his gaze weakly and nodded.
    Adrienne looked across the bed to her husband. “Oh, Nolan, how could Janet cause this pain to her own sister? What kind of child did weraise, who could have such a callous, evil streak in her?”
    “Its a mystery to me,” he said, shaking his head. “We raised them both exactly the same way. Janet was exposed to as much gospel and Bible truth as Linda was.”
    “I know. I just don’t understand it.