--Maya Angelou
Journey
Albert left me to unpack in my room. I eased down on the bed sitting my bag by my feet. What was I doing? Was I really thinking about staying? I chewed my bottom lip. Can I sit here and pretend that there is no danger in being here alone with Jo?
Albert and my mother think I should give him a second chance, but they didn’t know how painful it was to cry out my heart in that motel room. They didn’t know what it was like to look into the eyes of someone you trusted to realize this person had lied to you and betrayed you, and everything you thought to be true was not.
I know that knowing how to forgive is important, especially when we wanted the Heavenly Father to forgive us, but I am a flawed individual and just didn’t know if I could. I will always remember the pain of seeing another woman on his arm. That is something I don’t think I can ever forget.
I shook my head.
I couldn’t do this…
I was just going to have to tell Albert it wasn’t going to work, I wasn’t quite ready to forgive him and put my heart at risk again. The wound was too fresh.
I stood and reached down for my bag, but right then a gentle breeze blew through a glass door that was ajar. I hadn’t paid much attention to it earlier because it was covered with a sheer curtain that matched the ones on the windows.
Curious, I quickly crossed the plush carpet and gently opened the door.
I sucked in my breath as the smell of my oil blend wafted around me, stimulating my sense of smell, instantly sending the message to my brain that everything was going to be okay, because my Creator had me in his embrace.
Walking farther into the space, I was able to see it was a partial greenhouse that opened out to a beautiful private balcony that overlooked the city. There was a clear breathtaking view of the White House.
In the center of the balcony sat an in-ground hot tub that was surrounded by beautiful palm trees that sat in huge multi-colored flower pots. The greenhouse was empty of plants, but there were shelves and stands set up and ready to be used. There was also a little metal table and chair set like the one I had at home, where I liked to drink my tea sometimes.
I walked to the shed-like cabinet and opened it. It was stocked full of brand-new supplies, all the stuff that I used.
Dear God, all that time I’d thought he’d been pretending to pay attention to me as I went on and on about my plants, and he had actually listened.
I gave him this long spill about the organic fertilizer blend I liked to use. I made my own from a number of products. And do you guys know he had all the products here in the cabinet, including cartons of egg shells?
On the wall was a button with a note written in Jo’s handwriting that said, Pause for A Moment.
No!
He didn’t!
Closing the cabinet, I pressed the button and cried out when my blend began to gently mist me.
I laughed because right then a breeze blew in from the balcony and once again a strong feeling came over me, a feeling of protection. A feeling that my Creator was watching over me and would never let anything happen to me.
Tears came to my eyes; I couldn’t believe Jo did all this for me. He’d made his home mine; including giving me his bedroom and getting it reconstructed to appease my taste. All this stuff was new I could tell. This had to have cost him a fortune.
Albert stuck his head out the bedroom door. “Hey, little lady, we’re going to order a couple of pizzas is there anything special you want on them?”
I was so full of emotion I could barely talk, the only thing I could do was shake my head. “No, whatever you guys get is fine.”
“Are you okay?”
I nodded. “Mmmhhhmm, I’m just going to put my clothes away and then I will join you.”
“Okay, take your time, it’s no rush.”
Trying to hold back my tears, I nodded again. “Okay.”
After he left I went back into the bedroom picking my bag up off the floor and carrying it to the closet. I opened the door and my mouth hit the floor. This closet was huge. It was damn near the size of my bedroom at the cottage. My little lonely bag of stuff was going to look silly hanging up in he—
“Oh my—” I turned on the light to make sure my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me. The closet was packed full of new clothes.
Women’s clothes!
Women’s clothes that were my size and style!
Expensive women clothes that were my size and style!
One whole wall was a shoe rack and it was packed full of brand-new shoes, shoes and boots that made my feet itch to try them on.
That was it!
I dropped my bag and ran out of the room and down the hall. I came to a stop in the living room and I didn’t care that I probably looked silly. Albert had been saying something, but at my sudden appearance he paused. However, my focus was not on him, it was on Jo.
Casually as if he didn’t know he’d just rocked my world he turned to look up at me. A smile appeared on his handsome face.
“Did you find everything okay?” I nearly closed my eyes as that deep voice washed down my spine.
“Jo, what’s going on? I-I don’t understand.” My voice was barely over a whisper. He had stimulated all of my senses at once and it was too much.
“Come on, baby girl, let’s see if there are some of those little nasty plain baby cookies your mommy likes to give you in the kitchen. Tomorrow I’m going to sneak you a
