A Treasure Worth Keeping by Kathryn Springer Page A

“The waves and the sand work together like a rock tumbler until the glass is smooth and polished.”
    “Cool.”
    Evie smiled. One word that equaled high praise. “Go ahead and take one. Dad won’t mind. Banks give out Tootsie Rolls, and Dad gives out pieces of beach glass. He says they last longer.”
    As soon as her thoughts returned to her dad, worry scurried back, chewing at Evie’s peace of mind like a nest of field mice. She’d managed to keep her fear under control throughout the long night and most of the morning, but there were times it snuck up on her. Like right now.
    “Look at this one. It looks like a piece of bubblegum.” Faith held up a piece of glass in a shade of deep pink and for the first time, Evie noticed the girl’s red-rimmed eyes and the faint pleats at the corners of her lips. “Pink is Mom’s favorite color. Every Christmas, Dad buys her something pink even though he says it’s a girlie color. He bought me a pink baseball mitt as a joke for my birthday once.”
    Faith bravely cracked open the door to her heart to see if Evie really cared about what was inside. She did. But now she had to convince her.
    God, please give me the right words to say.
    “Have you talked to your Dad lately?”
    “When I called this morning, Mom said he was asleep.”
    The uncertainty in Faith’s voice told Evie she didn’t know if she should believe her.
    “You must miss him a lot.”
    “I do.” Faith dropped the piece of glass back into the jar. “But I heard Mom tell Sam that Dad isn’t the same person anymore. Maybe…he doesn’t miss me.”
    Evie drew in a careful breath, but it still felt like a knife sliding between her ribs. Obviously Faith had listened in on a conversation not meant for her ears. No one had been honest with Faith about her father’s situation, and while Evie understood that her family thought they were protecting her, it had forced Faith to try to make sense of it on her own. And without wisdom and experience to temper her thoughts, Faith had come to the wrong conclusion.
    “I’m sure your dad misses you very much,” she contradicted softly. “But he has to accept some major changes in his life and that isn’t easy. It isn’t easy for anyone.”
    “I want things to be the way they were,” Faith admitted in a small voice.
    “They won’t be the same.” Evie knew she had to be honest. “But that doesn’t mean they can’t be better.” She retrieved the piece of glass and held it on her open palm. “Look at this. It’s still a piece of glass, right? But it’s changed. At one point in time, it would have been sharp enough to cut you. But the waves and the sand gradually rounded the edges. Softened it. I’m praying for your dad, Faith. That he’ll open his heart and trust that God is big enough to bring something good out of this situation.”
    She wrapped her arm around Faith’s shoulders and felt them stiffen. And then Faith melted against her.
    “I’ll pray, too.”
    “Good girl,” Evie murmured. “Now, how about I call your uncle, who’s probably tearing apart the forest looking for you, and tell him we’re going to have school earlier today?”
    “Field trip?” Faith smiled hopefully.
    “English first. Then maybe we can fit in a short field trip.”

     
    “Look at this.” Faith squatted down and pulled a chunk of rock out of the ground.
    “It’s quartz.” Evie stooped down to admire her find and smiled when she saw Faith’s bulging pockets. The girl already had a good start on a rock collection. Evie’s own pockets were full, a testimony to the fact she had a difficult time passing up interesting rocks, too.
    “I’ll give it to Sam for his desk. Then he’ll see it every day.”
    “He spends a lot of time in an office?” The words rolled out before Evie could stop them, and she winced. Talk about blatant curiosity! Faith, thank goodness, didn’t think there was anything unusual about the question.
    “Dad always teases him about being