Over Her Head (32 page)

“Of course not,” she whispered. “You had to do it.” She looked from him to Laurie. “And between you and Mom, you made it all
come out right when I was so scared I couldn’t say anything.”

“The truth has set us free.” He glanced at Laurie and grinned.

God had promised it would, and so it had.

“I wish we could do Thanksgiving over.” Tanya touched Anna’s hair, then let her hand drop.

“Why can’t we?” Deep inside Laurie, anticipation kicked into high gear, and with it a fresh to-do list. She began to herd
them all down the center aisle. “I’ll pull the turkey leftovers out of the freezer, and we’ll have turkey-stuffing sandwiches
with all the trimmings.”

“When are you going to do that?” Nick wanted to know. “Everyone goes back to work tomorrow.”

“Today. Tonight. All of us—the Edgars, too.” She spoke to her family, but gazed at Tanya. “What do you say?”

Tanya smiled, and Laurie realized she had never seen her smile before. “That is so like you, Laurie—and I’m thankful for it.
So I say yes.”

Janice finished whispering to her husband and caught Laurie’s eye as they reached the door. “We’ll be there. Just once, I
think we can overlook the grounding rule for Kyle.”

Smiling, with her friends and family knit together all around her, Laurie walked outside into the bright morning.

1. Psalm 124 comes to mean a lot to Laurie Hale during the course of this book. Have you ever experienced the feeling of the
waters overwhelming your soul? What did you do about it?

2. Laurie enjoys organizing church activities, her home, her friends, and her family. Is it possible to be involved in the
church and be busy with the work of God—and yet not have a relationship with him? Has that ever happened to you?

3. Laurie didn’t realize the extent of the emptiness in her soul until her daughter attempted suicide. Do you think God used
this experience as a wake-up call?

4. Do you think Kate Parsons intended for Randi to die? What do you think will happen to Kate now?

5. Do you think the “mob mentality” is a reality? What would you have done if you had been on the bridge that night?

6. Tanya Peizer is a single mother doing the best she can to support herself and her daughter. Do you think she was partly
to blame for Randi’s being out the night she was killed? Tanya thinks she could have changed things if she’d been home. Do
you?

7. Is Tanya’s forgiveness of Laurie at the end of the book realistic? Do you think she will be able to forgive Kate Parsons?

8. Forgiveness is an important part of the Christian walk. Have there been times in your life when it has been particularly
difficult to forgive?

S
helley Bates
holds an M.A. in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University in Pennsylvania.
Grounds to Believe
, her debut CBA novel and the first book in her Elect Trilogy, won the 2005 RITA Award for Best Inspirational Novel of the
Year from the Romance Writers of America. The second book in the trilogy,
Pocketful of Pearls
, was a 2006 RITA Award finalist. Shelley is a freelance marketing communications editor and enjoys playing the piano and
Celtic harp, making historical costumes, and spoiling her chickens rotten.

POCKETFUL OF PEARLS

Dinah Traynell is trapped in a life that is not her own. Though she dreams of escape, this is the only world she’s ever known
. . . until Dr. Matthew Nicholas arrives at the family ranch. Instantly drawn to Dinah, he is torn between wanting to help
and the fear of getting too involved. Somehow these two lost souls must learn to trust and open up to one another—if they
ever hope to taste freedom.

A Sounding Brass

Claire Montoya enjoys her new job as book-keeper for handsome radio evangelist Luke Fisher. But she soon begins to realize
that certain things about this powerful personality don’t add up. Complicating matters, investigator Ray Harper is hanging
around the studio, asking disturbing questions—and making an impression of his own on Claire. Who’s right: the nationally
known evangelist or the suspicious cop? And more important, to whom can Claire entrust her heart?