A Treasury of Miracles for Teens Read Free

saving the
     lives of the young girls.
    Tanner learned from several of them that the girls’ father was Peter Schilling, a very wealthy merchant in town. Apparently
     he didn’t like Americans and had voiced that to others on more than one occasion. This puzzled Tanner—that the man would put
     his dislike of Americans over his daughters’ rescue—but he tried not to think about it. The man had to have known where Tanner’s
     family was staying, and yet he made no attempt to contact Tanner or to thank him in any way for saving his daughters’ lives.
    Finally the month drew to an end, and the Woods family packed their things and returned home to Southern California. As they
     boarded the airplane, Tanner glanced once more toward the airport. He had secretly hoped Mr. Schilling mightchoose this time to thank him in person for his rescue. But when he saw no one, he decided to put the incident out of his
     mind.
    Fifteen years passed and Tanner finished school and college. His younger sister married and had two children, but Tanner became
     an attorney and remained single. He dated occasionally, but for one reason or another never wound up in a serious relationship.
    “It’s time you find yourself a wife, Brother,” Erin joked once in a while.
    But Tanner would only shake his head. He was more serious than his sister and did not easily make close connections with people.
     Though girls had always been interested, none of them had captured Tanner’s heart.
    The summer he turned thirty, he decided to vacation alone at the same spot in the south of France where his family had stayed
     fifteen years earlier. The anniversary of the day he had rescued the little girls was approaching, and for some reason he
     felt compelled to spend it on the same beach.
    “I don’t know what it is,” he told Erin. “I feel drawn to that place.”
    “Something to do with saving those kids?” Erin asked.
    Tanner shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s just something I can’t get out of my mind. I have to go back there.”
    Once there, Tanner stayed at the same hotel and passed the hours thinking about his future. For several days he walked the
     beach and swam the surf. He made little conversation with anyone and after nearly a week he felt well-rested and ready to
     return to his life.
    Sunday arrived—the fifteen-year anniversary of his miraculous rescue. Late that afternoon Tanner walked down the beach and
     sat near a tree just up the shore from the spot where the girls had first gotten pulled out to sea. Suddenly he heard someone
     coming up beside him. He turned and saw a beautiful young woman. Her hair was pale blond and something about her light-blue
     eyes was hauntingly familiar. He waited until she was beside him before nodding to her. “Hi.”
    “You’re Tanner Woods,” she said softly.
    Tanner’s eyes widened and he stood up, slowly moving toward the woman. “I’m sorry,” he said. “Have we met?”
    The woman smiled shyly and looked away. “Not formally.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder. “My name is Heidi Schilling,
     daughter of Peter Schilling.”
    Instantly Tanner understood. “You were in the boat … the day I rescued you!”
    Heidi nodded. “I was four years old; my sister was seven. We had just set out for a ride in the waves when the current took
     us out to sea.”
    “And before anyone knew what was happening,” Tanner continued, “you two were in big trouble.”
    The young woman was quiet a moment, her blue eyes glistening from the reflection of the surf. “All my life I’ve wanted to
     meet you, to thank you for what you did that day. I know you risked your life to save us.”
    Tanner couldn’t believe it. How incredible that they’d meet after so many years. “So you’re nineteen?”
    Heidi nodded, a smile playing on her lips.
    “How did you know it was me?”
    “Townspeople talk. It’s a small place and they never stopped telling the story about how Phillip Schilling’s