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God gives you a gift, it’s part of His plan.”
    Doubt flared from the embers of Emma’s grief, snuffing out the unexpected flicker of longing that Abby’s words stirred in her heart. There had been a time in her life when she had believed it—before she began to wonder why, when it came to her, did God seem to take away more than He gave?
    When she’d met Brian, he had swept her off herfeet. She had become a wife at nineteen. A mother at twenty. But Emma’s dreams had encompassed a lifetime. They would make a home. Raise a family. Grow old together.
    And then she’d lost him.
    If all that had been part of God’s plan, it seemed safer to keep her distance from Him, too.
    “Why don’t you and Jeremy find a table and I’ll get you both a glass of fresh-squeezed lemonade?” Abby offered.
    “All right.” Emma looked around but there was no sign of Jeremy. Anywhere. “I don’t see him.”
    “He must have found someone to play with,” Abby said.
    “Jeremy doesn’t care for sports.” And was often teased because of it. Tension cinched the muscles between Emma’s shoulder blades as she scanned the faces around her.
    “Maybe he went down by the lake. Some of the boys were fishing from the dock earlier.”
    Abby’s words, meant to calm her fears, had just the opposite effect. “Jeremy doesn’t know how to swim.”
    Emma felt a pang of guilt at the quickly veiled surprise she saw reflected in Abby’s green eyes. She knew what the other woman was thinking. What parent, who lived in a town built on the shore of a lake, wouldn’t insist that their child learn to swim?
    Emma tried to swallow the knot of panic forming in her throat as Abby gave her arm a comforting squeeze. “I have an idea,” she said. “There isn’t a boy—or man, for that matter—who will ignore the sound of a dinner bell. I’ll give it a ring and I guarantee that you won’t have to find Jeremy—he’ll find you.”

    “Thank you.” Emma gave Abby a grateful look but didn’t wait to see if her idea would work.
    She headed down to the lake.
     
    Jake heard the clang of a bell, rallying the troops for lunch, and knew he was running out of time.
    The team of mentors would be introduced right after Abby served the meal. If he wanted to let Matt know that he would be more comfortable volunteering in another area of the ministry, he had to do it soon.
    Jake had come to the conclusion that he wasn’t mentor material only minutes after he’d shown up for the picnic. He had rusty social skills and rough edges his newfound faith hadn’t had time to hone. And to top it off, he didn’t know a thing about kids. Call him crazy, but wasn’t being able to relate to kids an important qualification when it came to being a mentor?
    He had taken a walk down the shoreline to think. And to pray.
    You know I’m willing, Lord, but I don’t think I’m cut out for this. Guys like Matt are better at it. Kids love him—I’d probably scare them away. You must have something else in mind for me, so let me know what it is and I’ll do it.
    Maybe the prayer team could use another volunteer. He had as much experience in that area as he did interacting with kids, but at least the chance of doing any significant damage remained smaller.
    As Jake turned to go back to the lodge, a movement farther down the shoreline caught his attention. He paused, wondering if the flash of color had been a red-winged blackbird searching the cattails for something to eat.

    Until he heard a splash.
    Knowing how mischievous boys could be, Jake doubted that Matt had given them free rein of the premises for the picnic. The pastor and Quinn O’Halloran, a local businessman and member of the congregation, had planned a variety of games, part of an ingenious strategy for deterring them from creating their own entertainment. If it were boys from the picnic who’d wandered out of sight.
    Off duty or not, Jake had no choice but to check it out. He’d received several complaints