All in One Place (31 page)

“Good to know.”

“I also talked to Rod. Amelia has agreed to in-home care, and Rod has agreed that he needs to get out of her life for a while.
So she can sort things out.”

“They were living together, but that didn't bother you?”

“It did. I'm not going to lie.”

I winced from the deflected blow, but I had no right to be upset.

Jack had standards, and I knew I fell short of them.
Reality check, missy.

“Amelia also agreed to have medical assessment tests done on Madison and to get a nutritionist involved.”

“I'm so glad. That baby needs some extra care.”

“She's getting it.” He leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees as he looked out over the fields. Finally he looked
sidelong at me. “Did you get past Deuteronomy?”

I held up the Bible, still open to Psalm 130. “Leslie gave me some suggestions. Should be an interesting trip. Probably the
only one I'll be taking for awhile.”

Jack leaned back against the tree.

“So that means you're not taking my dad's old car and heading down the open road?”

I shook my head, running my thumb down the gilt edge of the page. “I was thinking of staying before you asked me to.”

“I'm glad.”

I turned to face him. “Why?”

He fixed me with a clear, unwavering gaze. “Because I like you. And I want to get to know you better.”

Long seconds ticked between us as I absorbed the promise in his words.

“In spite of the messy life you got to hear about the other day in the hospital?”

Through the thin knit of my T-shirt I felt the warmth of his hand on my shoulder. “I heard the story of a young girl who didn't
have the support and guidance she needed. A girl whose only mistake was to believe the advice of people who didn't care as
much for her as they should have. I heard about a woman who was abused and working with wrong information.”

“What I should have done was talk to someone else.”

“Who?”

I had no answer. His hand tightened, then turned me to face him. “What you did when you were young was a mistake. But what
you did for Amelia was an atonement, Terra.” He sat up, slipped his hand to the back of my neck, and let his fingers linger
a moment, sending shivers up my neck. “You showed me how a Christian should behave.”

His words were like rain on parched ground. I hardly dared believe that this upstanding, caring man was sitting beside me,
his deep voice filling empty spaces in my life while his hand caressed my neck.

“Did you mean what you said about staying around?”

“Yeah. Don't have anywhere else to go and no reason to go there. Why?”

“My dad told me I was too cautious, and much as I hated to admit it, he was right. I've always been so careful about who I
dated. I was waiting for something, some connection that never happened. Then you came whirling into town, and for the first
time in a long time, I met a girl I found fascinating. So I decided to take a chance, and I was hoping you'd be willing to
do the same. To take a chance to let us get to know each other better. See where it goes.”

I sat immobile, hardly daring to believe what he was saying. “I've got a lot to learn,” I said quietly, unsure of how to progress.
“And a lot of other baggage comes with me. Other sins. Other mistakes.”

Jack gently took the Bible from my unresisting hands. He paged through the book one-handed, then started reading.

“‘He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the
earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions
from us.’” Jack smiled at me, the crinkles I was getting to know well forming at the corners of his eyes. “I guess that pretty
much tells you what can happen to those mistakes and that baggage.”

“As high as the heavens are above the earth”
Above us, white clouds drifted aimlessly, blown by a wind I couldn't feel. I thought of my first view of Harland. Of the
endless blue sky. “That's a long ways.” Then, looking back at Jack, I took a chance, as he had recommended, and reached out
with both hands and cupped his face. “I guess someone willing to hitchhike the roads of Harland County, work with Mathilde,
and try to read the Bible for the first time in her life should be able to take a chance with a policeman.”

Jack's smile held all the promises of tomorrow.

His kiss was the seal on today.

1. Terra has been living footloose and so-called fancy free. What are the advantages of a lifestyle like that? The disadvantages?
   
2. Terra carried a burden of guilt that took time for her to acknowledge. Why do you think she hid it? What were some of the
   things she felt guilty about? What are some of the things she should have felt guilty about?
   
3. Father Sam spoke of confession being a bridge to God. Do you agree? Why?
   
4. Many women are caught in situations that are destructive and abusive. How do you think this happens?
   
5. Terra originally planned to stay with her sister, Leslie, only for a short while. Why do you think she wanted to keep moving?
   What made her want to stay?
   
6. Why do you think the story line of Leslie and Terra's mother wasn't resolved? How do you see that playing out? What are some
   possibilities for this situation that are realistic?
   
7. Terra befriended a young woman who was struggling. Could you identify with Terra's point of view of the situation? Have you
   ever made a wrong call on a situation based on your own experiences? If so, how did you resolve it?
   
8. Why do you think Terra assumed God would not forgive what she had done?
   
9. In this second book a recurring character, Tabitha, shows up again, making yet another set of mistakes. Why does it take some
   people a couple of times to learn a lesson? How do you think this was mirrored in Terra's life?
   
10. There are a couple of themes running through this book. What do you think one of them is?
    

Carolyne was originally a city girl transplanted to the country when she married her dear husband, Richard. Thankfully the
move took. While raising four children and a number of foster children, as well as assorted chickens, dogs, cats, and cows,
Carolyne's résumé gained a few unique entries. Besides the usual challenges and joys of wife and motherhood, she found out
how to grow a garden, can produce, bake, sew, pickle, and preserve. She learned how to sort pigs; handle cows; cant logs at
their small sawmill; drive a tractor, an ATV, a snow machine; ride a horse; and train a colt. Through all of this, she came
to appreciate the open spaces of the countryside, the pace of life away from the city, and the fellowship in the Christian
community she and her family became a part of. She is most thankful, however, to be able to express her faith in God through
the books and stories she writes.

For more information about her books, past and current, stop by her Web site at
www.carolyneaarsen.com
, or her blog at
www.carolyneaarsen.blogspot.com
and drop her a comment or a letter.

If you enjoyed

A thriving career. A big-city life. A move that could change her dreams forever.

Leslie VandeKeere had a good life: a happy family, a great career (even if it did pull her away from home), and all the energy
of urban living. But she finds herself miles away from the city she knows and loves when her husband moves her and the kids
back to his boyhood home in Montana, to help his mother work the struggling family farm. Being a farmer's wife was definitely
not
in Leslie's plan, and now she finds herself dealing with dirty cows, giant machinery, eccentric neighbors, and an extended
family she doesn't quite fit into. When her husband begins to hint that the move might be permanent, Leslie must decide—can
she really handle this much fresh air?

Available now at a bookstore near you!

Party-girl Terra Froese never expected to find herself stuck in small-town Montana, and Montana never bargained for Terra’s antics.

All in One Place

Terra Froese is not a model citizen. She’s spent most of her adult life bouncing from job to job, from man to man, and from drink to drink. But when her latest relationship and job simultaneously fall apart, she flees Seattle to take temporary refuge with her sister, Leslie Vandekeere, to whom she hasn’t spoken in over a year. If anyone can help Terra sort out her life, it’ll be driven, organized Leslie, who is currently wasting away in the wilds of Montana with her husband’s family. While she’s there, Terra plans to rescue herself and her sister from the threat of going nowhere. She’s in for a big surprise, though—Leslie likes the country. When Terra rebels against her sister’s conformity, how much wildness can the VandeKeeres stand in order to keep the family ALL IN ONE PLACE?

“With sure, strong strokes and a touch of humor, Carolyne Aarsen paints an intriguing portrait of a woman on the run, a sister who’s settled in, and a town as rugged as the people who populate it. You’ll know you’re in the hands of a master storyteller within the first few pages of ALL IN ONE PLACE.”

—Angela Hunt, author of
Uncharted