Ray of Light by Shelley Shepard Gray Read Free Book Online Page B

on the corner of my desk.”
    â€œ Danke .” Eagerly, Viola ran to the front office and snatched up the letter that was, indeed, waiting for her on the receptionist’s desk. Though her family thought it was silly, she’d begun to ask Edward to mail some of his letters to her at Daybreak. Otherwise, every letter she received was commented upon. Sometimes she just wanted to read Ed’s letters in private.
    Because no one was there to see, she ran her finger over her neatly printed name and address on the envelope, thinking how Edward had written it all just days ago.
    Then, feeling giddy and more than a little self-conscious, she quickly walked to one of the cozy conversational areas down the hall to read his latest note from Belize.
    The irony of her actions didn’t escape her. For almost a year before she and Ed had met in person, she’d been practically forced to listen to every one of Ed’s letters. His father, Atle, had received each one with pride, and had eagerly shared his son’s news with everyone and anyone—whether they’d expressed a desire to hear about Edward’s mission work or not.
    But while Atle had glowed with pride about his son’s work, Viola had inwardly seethed. Accustomed to managing everyone and everything around her, she’d been sure Ed should have put his father’s needs first and stayed in Berlin. For some reason, everything that Ed had written about his hard work in Nicaragua had struck her as selfish.
    Now, she realized that she’d taken a bunch of misconceptions about Ed and had wrapped them in a tight ball of self-righteousness.
    But a funny thing had happened when she and Ed had met—sparks had flown between them, right about the time that she’d realized that she’d jumped to conclusions that weren’t right at all. Before long, she’d fallen for his good looks and charming ways.
    The next thing she knew, they were trading barbs and flirting with each other. And not too long after that?
    They’d been falling in love.
    No one had been happier about the new developments than Atle, of course. The gregarious, opinionated old man loved his son and wanted him happy. He’d thought all along that the two of them would make a good couple, and it looked as if he’d been right.
    He’d loved pointing that out, too.
    Now she and Ed were engaged. After much discussion, they’d agreed that, though it would be difficult, they would have to live apart for six months. That would give Ed time to concentrate on his new job as director of Christian Aid Ministries Association’s mission in Belize.
    It also gave her family time to plan the wedding she’d always dreamed of, and, of course, it gave her time to get used to the big changes that were happening in her life. In just a few short months, she, too, would be traveling to another country. This time, as a missionary’s wife. It was thrilling and nerve-wracking, too.
    Moving far away from her whole family scared her. And, in the middle of the night, when she rolled over in bed and spied her twin sister Elsie across the room on her own bed, Viola wasn’t even sure if her heart would be able to stand living so far away from her sister. They were closer than close, and added to that was how much Viola worried about Elsie’s illness. Elsie’s sight was steadily becoming worse, and Viola knew it was just a matter of time before Elsie was going to be blind.
    Sometimes Viola doubted every decision she’d recently made. She wondered how she was ever going to be able to leave her family for the brand-new love of a man who she’d really only spent a few weeks with.
    But then she’d get a phone call or a letter from Ed and all her worries would fade away and she’d realize that what was happening was meant to happen. She and Edward were meant to be together, and she couldn’t prioritize everyone else’s happiness above her