Tracie Peterson by Bridal Blessings Read Free Book Online

white gravy. He thanked the girl and turned to Amelia. “Shall we say grace?”
    “I hardly think so, Mr. Reed. To whom should we offer thanks, except to those whose hands have provided and prepared the food?”
    For the first time since she’d met the smug, self-confident Logan Reed, he stared at her speechless and dumbstruck.
Good,
she thought.
Let him consider that matter for a time and leave me to eat in silence.
She put eggs on her plate and added a heavy amount of cream to the horrible black coffee Emma had poured into her cup. She longed to plead with the girl for tea, but wouldn’t think of allowing Mr. Reed to see her in a weakened moment.
    “Do you mean to tell me,” Logan began, “that you don’t believe in God?”
    Amelia didn’t even look up. “Indeed, that is precisely what I mean to say.”
    “How can a person who seems to be of at least average intelligence,” at this Amelia’s head snapped up and Logan chuckled and continued, “I thought that might get your attention. How can you look around you or wake up in the morning to breathe the air of a new day and believe there is no God?”
    Amelia scowled at the black flies hovering around her fork. “Should there have been a God, surely He would not have allowed such imperfect creatures to mar His universe.”
    “You don’t believe in God because flies are sharing your breakfast table?” Logan’s expression was one of complete confusion. He hadn’t even started to eat his own food.
    “Mr. Reed, I believe this trip will go a great deal better for both of us if you will merely mind your own business and leave me to do the same. I fail to see where my disbelief in a supreme being is of any concern to you, and therefore, I see no reason to discuss the matter further.”
    Logan hesitated for a moment, bowed his head to what Amelia presumed were his prayers of grace, and ate in silence for several minutes. For some reason, even though it was exactly what Amelia had hoped for, she felt uncomfortable and found herself wishing he would say something even if it was to insult her.
    When he continued in silence, she played at eating the breakfast. She’d hoped the wind would send the flies further down the prairie, but it only seemed to have driven them indoors for shelter. As the gales died down outside, she could only hope they’d seek new territory.
    “I guess I see it as my business to concern myself with the eternal souls of mankind,” Logan said without warning. “See the Bible, that’s the word of God …”
    “I know what the Bible is perceived to be, Mr. Reed. I wasn’t born without a brain, simply without the need for an all-interfering, all-powerful being.”
    Logan seemed to shake this off before continuing. His green eyes seemed to darken. “The Bible says we are to concern ourselves with our fellow man and spread the good news.”
    She put her fork down and matched his look of determination. “And pray tell, Mr. Reed, what would that good news be? Spread it quickly and leave me to my meal.” Amelia knew she was being unreasonably harsh, but she tired of religious rhetoric and nonsensical sermons. She’d long given up the farce of accompanying her sisters and father to church, knowing that they no more held the idea of worshipping as a holy matter than did she.
    “The good news is that folks like you and I don’t have to burn in the pits of hell for all eternity, because Jesus Christ, God’s only son, came to live and die for our sins. He rose again, to show that death cannot hold the Christian from eternal life.”
    Amelia picked up her thick white mug and sipped the steaming contents. The coffee scalded her all the way down, but she’d just as soon admit to the pain as to admit Logan’s words were having any affect on her whatsoever.
The pits of hell, indeed,
she thought.
    She tried to compose herself before picking the fork up again. “I believe religion to be man’s way of comforting himself in the face of death. Mankind