Love and Redemption (Completed)

New Home

"As for me and my house we will serve the Lord" Joshua 24:15

It was an eight-hour trip to Gering, Nebraska and another thirty minutes to my new home. It was in the countryside, so sneaking out seemed like a waste of time and energy. When going through the town I noticed that it was rather small, which was confirmed when I saw the population size was only 8,000. Talk about being in the middle of nowhere. My dreams of running free and doing whatever I wanted were slowly draining away. The sheriff here is probably married to the librarian. I chuckled at the thought. The small shops soon turned to trees, then fields, then trees again as we got closer to my new home.

The house was up on a hill surrounded by an open yard and trees circling around that. The house was painted white with a green roof and had a nice wrap around porch. My new foster parents were standing on the porch as we drove up the long drive away and parked behind their cars.

"Please make this work," Mrs. Tale said, a pleading in her voice, "I don't want to send you back to the Home, or worse."

I nodded and smiled but my mind was elsewhere. We got out of the car and I put my backpack on my shoulder. Mrs. Tale got my suitcase out the trunk of her car and we approached the porch.

"Hello!" Mrs. Tale said cheerfully, "sorry we are a little late, we ran into some traffic about two hours ago."

"That's alright," the lady said, "gave us more time to clean the house."

Mrs. Tale and the couple laughed at the joke, but I just rolled my eyes. I did not see anyone else, so they probably didn't have kids.

"This is Chloe," Mrs. Tale said as she grabbed my arm and pulled me up to stand beside her, "Chloe, this is Mrs. Jane Steadman and Pastor George Steadman."

Ugh... Pastor, was my only thought. The idea of Sunday services, nightly prayers, and blessing food all went through my mind, and I silently screamed on the inside.

"Uh, hi, nice to meet you," I said quietly. I could see the last of my fun life go right down the drain and I wished I was back in a prison cell. At least there I could make the right friends and get the good stuff smuggled in.

After the introductions and the (several) polite declines to dinner, Mrs. Tale finally left, but not before giving me the look letting me know I better make this work. I sighed and followed the Steadmans into their house. The house was more modern inside, with an upgraded kitchen, hardwood floors and light grey walls. The stairs were carpet and led to a carpeted upstairs, where the bedrooms and one bathroom were located. The walls contained several family photos and differently designed crosses. After showing me my room they left saying they would call me to dinner. I closed the door and took a look around. My room wasn't too large, but not too small either. It had a queen size bed, a desk, dresser, and window seat that overlooked the lake that was farther down the hill in the back yard. The walls were a faint pink and the carpet was champagne. I sat on the quilted bed and put my head in my hands. I felt so out of place with my all black outfit. After a moment of pushing down the dread I felt build up I wondered over to desk and sat in the chair. It was a whiteish color and on top was a wrapped box. I read the card attached- We hope you like them! I placed the card aside and unwrapped the box. Inside were standard toiletries, hairbrush, a black t shirt that had a rose on the front, and a Bible with a white cover. I grimaced and placed the Bible in the far bottom drawer of the desk. Would NOT be needing that anytime soon.

Dinner was uneventful, just the standard questions as they tried to get to know me better. There was "Bible Time" after dinner, and I was finally free to go back to my room. I tuned out most of Bible time, so I have no idea what they talked about. I stared up at the ceiling and wished I could be anywhere but here.

I missed breakfast because I slept in, but I wandered down for lunch. Mrs. Steadman put on a bright smile when she saw me.

"Hey sleepyhead! Must have been tired after such a long trip," she said as she placed a plate in front of me. I grunted some sort of reply then dived right into my food. I did not miss the look on her face though when I didn't say grace, but I didn't care.

"So," she said, "George and I were talking, and we had an idea we thought you'd might like. Right, sweetie?" She directed the last part to her husband as he entered the room. He was putting on a suit jacket as he entered.

"What's that?" he asked.

"I was just starting to tell Chloe about our idea," she replied.

"Oh yes!" he turned to me, "we think you'll love it!"

"That's what Jane was saying," I replied before taking a drink of the milk. The Steadmans passed a looked between the two which basically read they didn't like my use of their first names.

"Chloe, I know you just got here, but it's proper manners to address us as Mr. and Mrs. Steadman until we all get to know each other better," Pastor Steadman said which a gentle but firm tone. I wasn't used to such a tone of voice so I didn't have a come back. I just mumbled a sorry to Mrs. Steadman and turned my attention back to my sandwich, however, my appetite was gone.

"Oh, don't worry about it," Mrs. Steadman said, clearly trying to break the awkward atmosphere, "so, Chloe, our ideas was sending you to a summer camp that starts in a couple of weeks."

She was beaming, but my face probably came across as shocked and something else because hers immediately turned to worry.

"No, no, we aren't trying to get rid of you. Not at all, please don't think that. We just thought that, since there isn't much to do around this small town during the summer, that you might like being around other kids your age." she gave me a smile.

Honestly, I didn't mind the gesture. After seeing the town I probably would have been bored out of my mind for the next couple of months, and being stuck here with "Bible Time" was enough for me to want to run away again.

"That sounds amazing," I said with a huge smile as my mind immediately went to lazy days on the lake and parties all night.

"Oh wonderful!" Mrs. Steadman said, clapping her hands togethers and once again beaming.

"We'll get you registered and ready to go," Mr. Steadman said, "It starts in a couple of weeks so it'll give you time to get settled too."

I nodded in agreement and said my usual thank yous, but my mind was far away to bikinis, boys, and booze. 

George and Jane Steadman

"Do you think we are making the right decision?" Jane asked her husband as she cleaned up the dishes from lunch. She brought the dishes to the sink and set them down with a sigh. She watched Chloe walk towards the lake in the back yard from the window over the sink that overlooked the whole back yard and lake. George joined her and watched Chloe as well. 

"I think we are," he said with his own sigh, "its the best chance she has."

"What if it backfires, George. We could really hurt her." 

"We have to try, Jane. We have spent a lot of time in prayer and I believe this is the best path in life for her."

"I just want her to be happy. Her life has been so hard, and her mother..."

"I know. I want the best for her too."