A Mother's Love

On closer inspection, Maggie realized Jennifer was older than she looked. Small smile lines around her eyes gave that away. Maggie smiled and nodded. “And you’re the famed Jennifer I’ve heard so much about.”

She actually blushed. “Jake has been telling tales again? Don’t you listen to a one of them.” Turning on Jake, the young woman gave him a reproving look. “You didn’t tell her about the snake, did you? Or the rappelling accident?”

Jake lifted his hands in surrender. “I haven’t told her anything except what an excellent job you do here.”

Maggie liked the way the light jacket stretched on Jake’s shoulders, outlining them, showing their width. She’d never seen a pastor who wore jeans with a jacket. But it suited him.

“Oh,” Jennifer said.

Maggie glanced at Jennifer and saw she was pink again. Then what she had said registered. “Rappelling accident?”

Jennifer turned even brighter red. “Don’t ask. Maybe one day we’ll have time to sit down, and I can tell you all about it. Unfortunately, I was just about to go wash up. Gage is coming by and picking me up for lunch, and I got carried away with the kids and didn’t realize it was so late.”

Jake shook his head. “I’m just showing Maggie around. Go on.”

“Nice meeting you,” Jennifer said.

Maggie murmured her agreement. “Rappelling accident?” she asked when Jennifer was gone.

Jake chuckled and led her back toward the front entrance of the church. “It’s a long story. But it ends well. Jennifer got a pet snake out of it, and a husband.”

“You’re kidding.”

Jake shook his head. “Gage is quite a man. Come on, let’s go out this door and get your stuff unpacked from the car. Then I’ll let you rest.”

Jake pushed open the door for her and Maggie went out She had thought Jake unusual in how friendly and outgoing he was. She had never met a pastor quite like him.

He’d been enthusiastic, fun loving, excited, when he had picked her up and then rattled on and on about the kids and the puppet show. While showing her the house, he had actually been nervous about whether she was going to like it. But the house was a deal she couldn’t pass up. Who cared about the yellow-and-orange furniture or the yellow-and-orange coat rack in the corner?

Maggie had heard the pride as he had talked about helping plant the bushes, and the joy behind his words as he’d talked about the people at the church.

There had been no formality or reserve in his voice or his stance. His fluid movements as he’d taken her around proved to her how at ease he was with this.

“Meeeooowwr.”

Maggie didn’t even see the pitiful sight until she was almost upon it. “Oh, my heavens!”

Maggie stared in horror at the bloody mess that was a peach-colored cat. At least she thought it was peach. It was hard to tell with all the blood. “Jake!”

Jake moved up by Maggie and put a hand on her shoulder. “Let me handle it, Maggie.”

Jake started forward, and the cat hissed. He paused. “Maybe we’d better call animal control. The poor thing looks to be in bad shape.”

The cat lay there on its side, breathing hard, fur ripped away in tufts. She thought it had been in a cat fight since part of an ear was missing, except that she’d never seen a cat break another cat’s tail. And that had to be one of the problems with this cat, since its tail lay at such an odd angle. One leg was twisted, too. Tears came to Maggie’s eyes. “We can’t just leave it here.”

“I know, I know. Let me go call city hall and see if they can send someone out. I’ll be right back.”

Jake hurried in to call for help. Maggie continued to stare at the cat. Silent tears fell as she watched it labor for breath. She could see the terror and pain in its eyes and felt it reach out to her and wrap itself around her heart. It hadn’t been too many months ago she’d felt pain and terror.

Please don’t let it die, God Please, please, please, she prayed, and inched forward.

The cat hissed again, and she whimpered. “Please don’t let it bite me. Please, please, please.”

It hissed once more and then made an awful, plaintive sound. “Father, help it. Help me. I’m not letting it be die just because it’s in pain and scared.”

The cat eyed every inch she moved.

Maggie got close enough to kneel down. She put her hand out, and the cat swiped at it with one of its uninjured paws. Maggie jumped but didn’t back away. “I’m not going to hurt you. Please let me help you, sweetie. Just let me help you. No one helped me, but I can help you,” she whispered.

Carefully she moved her hand closer.

This time the cat only eyed her hand.

She slipped it under the cat’s head, then its body. The cat growled.

Maggie made sympathetic noises, crying right along with the cat as she slipped her other hand under it and then picked it up.

Its tail hung sideways. “Oh dear—oh dear,” she cried, over and over until she had gathered the cat to her bosom. “We’ll get you help immediately. I promise you. I won’t let you down.”

Maggie heard the church door open. “The animal shelter…Maggie!” Alarm in his voice tensed her spine.

Jake hurried forward when he saw the bloody mess in her arms. “You’re pregnant. What if it has rabies? What if it had bitten you?”

Maggie’s face turned as hard as stone. “Will you drive me to a vet?”

Jake hesitated then nodded. “Just let me take—”

The cat hissed and swiped at Jake. His eyes widened and he lifted his hands in surrender, backing up.

“Okay. Okay. You hold it. But I’ll be praying the thing doesn’t take its pain out on you before we get to the vet.”

“It won’t,” Maggie said, looking back down at the cat.

Jake paused in pulling his keys from his jeans pocket He eyed her his features probing, searching before he nodded, “You know, Maggie-May, I think you just might be right.”

He slipped a hand to her lower back, then guided her toward the truck. “There’s a clinic less than two blocks away.”

Chapter Five (#ulink_f0abddb7-5482-521a-9a3a-00ef52cca4d1)

She wouldn’t let them cut its tail off.

Jake was still shaking his head over that. Jake sneezed again as he turned into the driveway next to the church.

“Are you sure you’re not allergic to cats?” Maggie asked worriedly.

Jake shook his head. “I’m not allergic to anything.” He rubbed at his watering eyes. “Just dust or something, I’m sure.”

He pulled to a stop and hopped out, then went around the hood to open her door. Once again the cat hissed at him.