The Choice
ACCLAIM FOR
ROBERT WHITLOW
“In
The Choice
, Robert Whitlow crafts a moving tale of a mother's love for her unborn children cast against the specter of the culture wars. Fans of Whitlow's courtroom drama will not be disappointed, but here too the human drama of which we all become a part takes center stage. Every page entertains and inspires. I dare you to put this book down. Heartrending and triumphant, Whitlow at his best.”
âB
ILLY
C
OFFEY, AUTHOR OF
S
NOW
D
AYS
AND
P
APER
A
NGELS
“As someone who is deeply involved in the pro-life fight, I found
The Choice
to be a very relevant overview of what we fight for in this movement. It shows the struggles of unplanned pregnancy and the courageous act of adoption in a way that I haven't read before in any other book. I had a hard time putting this book down.”
âA
BBY
B
RANNAM
-J
OHNSON, FORMER
P
LANNED
P
ARENTHOOD
D
IRECTOR AND
AUTHOR OF
U
NPLANNED
“[The Choice] immediately drew me in . . . Could be instrumental in beginning to change hearts and minds to see all sides of [the unplanned pregnancy] issue, and ultimately lead them to see that life is always THE choice.”
âB
EVERLY
S
TITH
, P
REGNANCY
C
ENTER
C
OUNSELOR
, A
TLANTA
“Author Robert Whitlow combines Grisham's suspenseful legal-thriller style with the emotional connection of a Hallmark made-for-TV movie.”
â
CBA R
ETAILERS
+ R
ESOURCES
R
EVIEW OF
W
ATER'S
E
DGE
“For those who prefer a spiritual element in their fiction, this one deserves a hearty thumbs-up.”
â
B
OOKLIST
REVIEW OF
W
ATER'S
E
DGE
“Christy Awardâwinning Whitlow (
Greater Love
) is a lawyer who knows his profession, as his newest legal thriller shows.”
â
P
UBLISHERS
W
EEKLY
REVIEW OF
W
ATER'S
E
DGE
“A great mystery that will keep you interested until the end.”
â
R
OMANTIC
T
IMES
REVIEW OF
W
ATER'S
E
DGE
“Fans of Whitlow's series will enjoy the mix of suspense and romance [in
Greater Love
].”
â
L
IBRARY
J
OURNAL
the
CHOICE
O
THER
N
OVELS BY
R
OBERT
W
HITLOW
I
NCLUDE
Water's Edge
The Tides of Truth Series
Deeper Water
Higher Hope
Greater Love
Mountain Top
Jimmy
The Alexi Lindale Series
Life Support
Life Everlasting
The Sacrifice
The Trial
The List
the
CHOICE
R
OBERT
W
HITLOW
© 2012 by Robert Whitlow
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansâelectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherâexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Thomas Nelson, Inc., titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail [email protected]
Scripture quotations are from King James Version of the Holy Bible; and T
HE
H
OLY
B
IBLE
, N
EW
I
NTERNATIONAL
V
ERSION
®
NIV
®
. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.
â¢
Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Publisher's note: This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. All characters are fictional, and any similarity to people, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Whitlow, Robert, 1954-
   The choice / Robert Whitlow.
      p. cm.
   ISBN 978-1-4016-8561-4 (trade paper)
   I. Title.
   PS3573.H49837C48 2012
   813'.54--dc23
2012014941
Printed in the United States of America
12 13 14 15 16 17 QG 6 5 4 3 2 1
To mothers. You give away part of your life
each time you bring a baby into the world.
May you be blessed for your selflessness.
Her children arise and call her blessed.
âProverbs 31:28
NIV
CONTENTS
Rutland, Georgia, 1974
S
andy Lincoln nervously twirled her long blond hair around her index finger. A magazine with a picture of Olivia Newton John on the cover and a feature article about Cher's recent breakup with Sonny lay unopened in her lap. Her mother stared unseeing across the waiting room.
“Why is it taking so long?” Sandy asked.
Her mother checked her watch.
“It's only been thirty minutes. Do you want to go home and let the doctor call?”
“No,” Sandy replied immediately. “What if Daddy answers the phone?”
“You're right,” her mother answered with a heavy sigh. “I don't know what I was thinking.”
A dark-haired nurse in her thirties stuck her head in the room.
“Miss Lincoln, you may come back now.”
As soon as the nurse spoke, Sandy instinctively grabbed her mother's hand for a second and then released it. The two women followed the nurse down a narrow hallway to an examination room.
“What did the test show?” Sandy asked anxiously.
“Dr. Braselton will be with you in a few minutes,” the nurse said as she held the door open. “He'll discuss it with you then.”
There was one chair in the room. Sandy hopped onto the examination table and let her feet dangle. The white paper that covered the table felt cool against the back of Sandy's bare legs. She repositioned her short skirt. The queasiness that had greeted Sandy each morning for the past two weeks returned. She put her hand to her mouth to stifle a burp.
“Stomach upset?” her mother asked.
“I'm scared,” Sandy replied in a voice that sounded more like that of a seven-year-old girl than a seventeen-year-old young woman. “The test is positive, isn't it?”
Before her mother could answer, Dr. Braselton swept into the room. The white-haired doctor was older than Sandy's parents. His two children had already graduated from Rutland High, and one now attended medical school in Augusta. Sandy's mother started to get up from the chair.
“Keep your seat, Julie,” the doctor said with a wave of his hand. “I just saw Bob at the Rotary lunch a couple of hours ago.”
“Did you tell him we wereâ”
“No, no. I didn't know Sandy was coming in until I checked my schedule when I got back to the office.”
The doctor turned to Sandy and opened a thick folder in his hand. Dr. Braselton had been treating Sandy since she was a baby. Her chart contained a record of everything from childhood vaccinations to follow-up care after an emergency appendectomy. He rubbed the side of his nose and looked at Sandy with a depth of kindness that made tears suddenly flow from her eyes. The doctor grabbed a couple of tissues from a box and pressed them in her hand.
“Sandy, you're pregnant,” he said. “And based on the information you gave my nurse, you're about eight weeks along.”
Sandy wiped her eyes with the tissues. Through blurred vision she could see her mother was also crying.
“I'm going to write a prescription for prenatal vitamins until you can see an ob-gyn,” Dr. Braselton said, then turned to Sandy's mother. “You go to Bill Moore, don't you?”
Julie nodded.
“I can set up an appointment, orâ”
“I'll do it,” Julie said with a sniffle.
“Okay.”
Dr. Braselton waited until Sandy's tears slowed to a trickle and her mother's natural stoicism reasserted itself.
“I'm here to help you in any way I can,” he said. “Do you have any questions?”
Sandy looked at her mother, who shook her head. Dr. Braselton was a good man who'd served two terms on the city council and was the head of an important committee at the church. Sandy didn't want him to have a bad impression of her or her family.
“I know who the father is,” she said, trying to keep her voice steady. “There's only one person it could be. I didn't want to do it, but things got out of hand, and I didn't think I would get pregnant. I mean, I know it can happen, butâ” She stopped in midsentence.
“Does the boy know you're here?” the doctor asked.
“No.” Sandy paused. “Not yet.”
“You have a lot of important decisions to make,” Dr. Braselton said, closing his folder. “If you want to talk to me about anything, call Patricia and tell her you want an appointment.”
Tears stung Sandy's eyes again. The doctor patted her on the shoulder. Sandy saw him glance at her mother.
“Julie, that goes for you and Bob too.”
“Thanks,” her mother mumbled.
