Love Inspired Suspense April 2021--Box Set 2 of 2 by Laura Scott (free e reader .TXT) 📕

that road—was the worst thing she’d ever done in her life. If she wasn’t so riddled with anxiety...if...if...if...

“Wow,” Susan said, “those pups are happy to see you.”

“I missed them. Thanks for giving me a ride to the vet and to Amber’s.”

“Girl, please. I’m happy to do it.”

“I’m glad it’s over. These few days have been a living nightmare.”

“But you made it, and you have a great story to tell. I can’t believe Coach Flanigan tried to kill you. I can’t believe he killed Dandy.” Tears pooled in her eyes. “I would have never guessed it. Do you think he’ll end up admitting to Jared’s death? It stinks that no one is copping to that. Why? Why lie about that after admitting he murdered two people and tried to kill you?”

“I don’t know. They still have Alice’s prints on Jared’s watch and an SD card to look at. That might shed some light on who killed him if no one fesses up. But Colt feels like the light is at the end of the tunnel, and my attacker has been caught, so I’m free to move on.”

Susan turned on Oleander Drive. “Will it be with him? He’s only forty minutes away or so. Not at all a bad commute.”

“He’s actually moving to Atlanta in a few weeks, and even if he wasn’t... I can’t.” She poured everything out from high school to now. She’d never told anyone but her therapist and Colt, but she needed to get it off her chest; it was crushing her.

“Is that why you never go to dinner with me or anywhere for social occasions? You’re holding me at arm’s length?” Susan turned on her blinker.

“It’s nothing personal.” It was the way it had to be to avoid triggers and lead a semi-calm life.

“It feels personal, Georgia. I love you like a sister, and I’ve been worried this entire time about everything happening to you. I knew you could have been...killed. But being your friend is worth the risk. So the question is would you rather—”

Georgia groaned. “Another Would You Rather question? Really?”

“Hear me out,” Susan said through a chuckle. “Would you rather go your whole life never experiencing the love of someone and returning that love or loving and losing someone but having those memories to cherish forever?”

To love and lose or never love and be alone. She had loved and lost. And she often thought of those few years with Colt—the laughter, kisses, conversation. The way it made her feel full and satisfied. Sometimes when applying lotion, she’d remember how her hand fit perfectly in his. Or when she walked into a building she’d remember how he always opened doors for her. Even his merciless teasing she thought about with fondness.

Those memories were warm. Until they faded and she was left with the reminder that she was going to grow old alone—but with managed anxiety levels.

“I don’t know,” she said weakly.

“Do you think God wants you to be alone and afraid to have relationships? I’m not talking about people who feel called to be single in order to serve God—the kind the apostle Paul talks about. I’m talking about a woman who is clearly in love with a man who is obviously head over heels for her—but she pushes it away out of fear of things that may not ever happen. A woman too afraid to live. That kind of fear is not of God.”

No, it wasn’t. But she didn’t know how else to move forward. “He’s in law enforcement. Every day I’ll make myself sick wondering if he’s okay and he’ll get tired of it. It’ll be high school 2.0.”

“Georgia, since you’ve been seeing a therapist and learning coping techniques, how far have you come on a one-to-ten scale?” She turned onto Amber’s road.

“Six, maybe? Every day is different but I manage to make it through.” God’s grace had been sufficient. Every day. Every moment.

“Someone has tried to literally murder you for days, and here you are hard-pressed but not crushed. Struck down but not destroyed. Your faith is firmly planted in the Lord, and you haven’t hidden under a rock and refused to come out. You have coping skills you didn’t have fifteen years ago. It’s about taking those negative thoughts captive and saying, ‘God, here they are. Take them and make them bend under Your will. Remove and replace them with what truly belongs in my mind.’”

“Anyone ever tell you that you give good advice?”

Susan smirked. “Yes, all the time.”

Georgia laughed as they pulled into Amber’s drive. “I’ll think about it. Besides, Colt is moving to Atlanta. My job is here, and come January I’ll be editor in chief. I’ve wanted that for so long, and I don’t see it happening in Atlanta.”

“Maybe God has other dreams for you that aren’t so safe as a small-town editor in chief—not that anything is wrong with that—but for you, again, it’s safe.”

Georgia leashed her dogs, and they bounded out of Susan’s vehicle.

“I’ll call you later.”

“One last one. Would you rather stay in a safe bubble or burst it and follow the love of your life into an uncertain and unknown place but be loved and cherished?” She waved. “Think on that!” She didn’t give Georgia time to answer.

To be loved by Colt. Wake up with him, go to sleep at night next to him. Walk the dogs, have children. Children who might lose a father at a young age. Her stomach churned. But this wasn’t living. Susan was right. She was walking dead.

Georgia knocked on Amber’s door, and she opened it. Wyatt and Doc barked their greetings. She unleashed them inside, and Amber laughed. “Man, I love those dogs.”

“Me too.”

Georgia heard Gerald greet the dogs and chuckle. He came through the kitchen with a grin. “If Karen wasn’t allergic, I’d have a few of my own. Colt called us. Told us about the coach and Terry Helms. We should have come clean about Jared taking the bribe, but we were all ashamed, and once