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eh,
Belle?
    Her head pounded with the
barrage of words, their force invoking images from the past that
swirled around in her mind.
    I don't know, I don't know! She
wanted to scream. She dashed through the gym doors and burst into
the cool June air.
    " Overwhelming, isn't it?"
    Belle froze at the sound
of Burke's voice, her back toward him. He must have been right
behind her. He heard all the inquiries. "Burke, please-"
    " I wanted to make sure you were all right."
    " All the questions, you here with Grace..."
    " I'm sorry I introduced you to her without talking to you
first."
    Belle faced him, hands on
her hips, and asked cynically, "You think that would have made a
difference?"
    " Less awkward maybe."
    A wave of boldness mixed
with ire stirred within her. She stepped closer to him and glared
into his face. "Twelve years, Burke. We haven't spoken in twelve
years. You waltz back into town like we'd palled around yesterday,
as if nothing horrible had ever happened between us."
    " How would you want me to behave?"
    " Like you were sorry." She drove the words at him like a
hammer driving nails.
    He answered with
conviction. "I am sorry."
    " Oh really?" Her voice trembled. "You have a strange way of
showing it."
    He ducked his head, his
blue eyes staring at his snakeskin boots, his demeanor humbled. "I
should have…"
    " You're right, you should have. But you didn't. One call
Burke, that's all I wanted. One call, explaining. But instead, I
got silence. Me, your best friend."
    She balled her fist as if she
wanted to punch him, but she stopped. A childish punch would
accomplish nothing. It would not heal her hurt, it would not change
the past, it would not bring back the lost years. Tears burned in
her eyes as she studied the impressive athlete she'd once loved so
desperately.
    " Enjoy the reunion, Burke," she murmured, and walked off
into the night.
    ***
    Saturday morning Belle woke up
feeling weighted, dreading the second day of the reunion. She
regretted her angry exchange with Burke. Was the anger and hurt
still so alive beneath the surface?
    She pulled her comforter from
the bed and curled up in it on the seat under the bay window. For a
long time, she stared out, watching as the day dawned, praying.
    By the time she came down for
breakfast, Duke and the Bar J hands, Jake Morley and Cole Mitchell,
had completed the morning chores and gone into town for
supplies.
    Belle saddled up Trixie and rode
over to the church. Pastor Mike kept the chapel door open all the
time for people to come and pray - anytime, day or night. Over
time, it had become a favorite place for her. She trotted along
atop the appaloosa, guitar in tow, thinking and praying and asking
the Lord for grace to face Burke.
    Inside the cool, peaceful
chapel, Belle spent the better part of an hour strumming and
singing Psalms to the Lord. She loved the way music made the
inspired words of King David come alive in her heart and drew her
closer to her true Beloved.
    Gratefully, after being in the
presence of the Holy One and meditating on His great love, the
issue of Burke became trivial and petty.
    " Father," Belle prayed, "if You can forgive me for all I've
done, and love me so much to send Your son Jesus to die for me, I
guess I can endure Burke for a weekend and have fun at the same
time."
    She smiled at her words, knowing
the God of the Universe delighted in her simple prayer, and
answered. His peace, the peace that guarded her heart and mind,
touched her soul.
    " Today will be a good day," she said as she and Trixie
galloped home, the soft summer breeze on their backs.
    ***
    The class picnic and softball
game that afternoon turned out to be hilarious fun. More than once,
Belle doubled over with laughter as she watched some of her
classmates bungle around on the ball field, their comical bantering
the only successful hit in the game. She couldn't remember the last
time she'd laughed so hard. Once she made up her mind not to let
the past interfere with her present,