“You remember me?” She eyed him cautiously. Just how much did he remember, and why did he actually seem happy to see her now? Of all God’s eternal mysteries, Harmony always found it most suspect when someone from her past welcomed her back into their presence with open arms. It had only happened a handful of times, but the most recent had been such a spectacular disaster that this situation now with the pastor gave her pause.

Pastor Adam carried on without even the slightest hesitation. He’d always had the gift of gab. Only he practiced it in far better ways than Harmony used her own version of the same… gift. “Of course I remember you. I’ve thought about you many times over the years, wondered how you were doing, sent up prayers. It’s good to see you now.”

“I didn’t know where else to go,” she confessed with a shrug. If she acted like this wasn’t a big deal, then perhaps it wouldn’t be. Then again, that ship had likely already sailed when she decided to flee her last home in the early hours of that morning and drive straight up to Charleston, with only the odd break here and there to use the bathroom and stretch her legs.

Pastor Adam smiled consolingly in that same way he always had whenever speaking of the disadvantaged, and Harmony King was definitely one of the disadvantaged—now more than ever.

“You did right by coming here. You’re always welcome at Eternal Grace.” He waited for her to say more, but when she didn’t, he added, “I’m still an exceptionally good listener if you’d like to talk about what’s troubling you.”

Harmony thought about this. She liked Pastor Adam—trusted him, too—and yet her burdens felt too big to offload onto somebody else. In truth, she already knew that only God could save her now.

“I never found talking about my problems to be an effective method for solving them,” she said with a sigh. “Instead, they just seem to shine a spotlight, make ‘em that much uglier.”

He chuckled softly. “True enough, Harmony. True enough.”

They sat in companionable silence for a few moments, leaving Harmony to wonder if she might just excuse herself and head home for the evening—provided she could find a spare room to rent somewhere near to here.

Then the pastor spoke again. “Of course, you shouldn’t tell me anything you aren’t comfortable sharing, but it’s been a long while since I saw you last and I’m mighty curious… What have you been up to all these years?” He watched her expectantly, hopefully, but she already knew that anything she chose to reveal about her life would surely come as a tremendous disappointment.

“I left the very first second I could,” she told him without even a single shred of regret.

He nodded, keeping his eyes fixed on his hands folded neatly in his lap. “I remember that. It’s why I’ve always wondered how you got on. Worried, too. Eighteen is awfully young to forge out and make a life for one’s own.”