Bay Hideaway Read Free

discourage even the most valiant men and women.
    Then there was Judi! She’d served as his legal assistant for a year while he worked for a prestigious attorney group, handling the nuisance business law cases no one else wanted. Not long after, he’d acquired favor with one of the partners and landed several challenging cases—and respect within the legal community.
    It wasn’t the media-covered cases he’d won nor the notoriety soon gained that he remembered most. No, his memory always ricocheted straight to Judi. Within that year, they’d fallen madly in love. Both anticipated a less than enthusiastic welcome from his family, but neither was prepared for their volatile reaction.
    “The woman’s not of your station!” his mother claimed with all the sensibilities the patrician lady could muster. It didn’t seem to matter that their own family hadn’t always been so upper-crust. Truth be told, they weren’t technically wealthy, anyway. Well-off, maybe, but not influentially rich. That was a pipe dream.
    Judi, though, had come from a less-than-desirable-lineage, and Nathan’s entire family seemed bent on convincing him the mismatched marriage could never work. Even his meek and mild father seemed convinced Judi would never fit into the political circles of which Nathan wished to become a part.
    “You’ve got your sights set on being a congressman, son,” his father reasoned. “We like the girl, but she is not made from hearty stock. The press will pulverize her, and you by proxy.”
    Not to be thwarted, the couple eloped. The strategic move proved to be disastrous—for they might have won the battle with his family, but not the war. Irreparable damage was the result. His family felt betrayed; hers disappointed. No matter what Judi or Nathan did to restore family harmony and blessing, the two did not fit comfortably into either world. Judi’s father had been somewhat forgiving, but not Nathan’s. An evident cool chill prevailed during the Whithorne family gatherings and when given the chance, obvious slights. Even the Christmas spirit failed to relieve the tension. Nathan could still see the hurt in Judi’s eyes when the family Christmas card arrived in his name alone with the expensive gold address label pronouncing his family’s verdict of judgment.
    Judi claimed her faith would see her through and often went to church to find solace. Repeatedly she urged Nathan to come with her and he did, but not regularly. He just couldn’t make a connection with God the way she did. It wasn’t until her death when he’d felt totally devoid of purpose that he chose to seek God. Then Nathan dove in headfirst to erase the pain of his loss. Between his election to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and church, he had little time to dwell on what might have been.
    Now looking back over the past two days, he had begun to reevaluate what these events meant. For if Judi’s death was a farce, maybe this God-thing was a farce as well. Real Christians didn’t fake their deaths and leave loved ones behind to flounder in their grief. The woman had a brokenhearted father to consider. The idea of anything so heinous was beyond his grasp.
    Even now, like a vivid on-screen movie, he could see the riverbank where Judi often went to read or meditate. That horrible day she disappeared, the only thing left on the bank was a set of house keys, a half-empty bottle of water, and a book, facedown on the pages she’d been reading. Her purse and every other personal possession remained untouched in the house.
    Police had noted the area where she slipped in, marking every gash in the mud where her bare feet and clawing fingernails failed to stop the fall. A piece of torn cloth from her favorite green skirt was found snagged on a nearby tree branch protruding from the broken wall of rocks. To make matters worse, several days of rain had produced rising waters and swift currents.
    Authorities questioned Nathan concerning Judi’s