No Stone Unturned: The Persia Oakes Series

By Lola Beverly Hills

Five years after New Light Missionary Baptist Church evades a scandal that would have sent it crumbling to the floor, tragedy strikes, causing havoc to show up on its front steps. Sapphira returns to be cleansed of her sins, but not every member of the Oakes family is on board. Persia wants to recover what was lost between her and Sapphira, but a grab for power stands in the way of the sisterhood she has always wanted and her prayers may be answered too late.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lola Beverly Hills
• Release date: Apr 5, 2018
• ISBN: 9781393927013

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A TEAR FELL from Persia's eye as New Light's longtime soloist, Dineva, belted out a beautiful rendition of His Eye is on the Sparrow beside the antique bronze casket. Her silky smooth vocals flowed through Persia's ears, moving her soul, pinching her heart, and clouding her eyes all at once. The congregation was packed to capacity, filled with familiar faces from New Light and even those from churches they had fellowshipped with in the past. Her mother, who had held her composure thus far, sniffled beside her as she dabbed her eyes with the silk handkerchief clutched in her hand. Persia grabbed her other hand and squeezed it tightly. The Oakes' women tried to make the best of this morning's service, knowing that after the burying of their beloved husband and father, New Light would be dimmed by dark shadows of obscurity.

The night Persia got the call that would change her life forever played in her mind over and over again like a bad dream she couldn’t shake. Baby, your father— Mom could barely get the words out.

Persia sat up in bed, her eyes widening with fear. What happened to Daddy?

Mom expelled a deep, shaky breath. He had a heart attack. They don’t think he’s going to make it.

Persia’s lungs caved inside of her. What hospital, Mom?

She cradled her cell phone between her chin and her shoulder and scrambled to grab a coat and the nearest pair of shoes in the darkness of her apartment as her mother told her where her father was dying. Mom didn't want Persia driving so late at night, especially with such heavy news crippling her, but she had to take the risk to see her father one last time if she could help it. Numbness filled her as she drove along the highway at two o'clock in the morning. It had to have been a test—some sort of hurdle that God had assigned her for something she had done, but what? Her mind spun as she recounted her steps, trying to recall the sin she needed to repent in order to save her father because there was no other reason why the good Lord would take him away so soon. Granted, his doctor had been on him for some time about his eating habits, but being the pastor of such a large congregation had him too stressed out to come home to cooked meals. He spent so much of his time at the church that he had practically come to live there. Persia nearly swerved into UCLA Medical Center, ignoring all parking rules, and dashed into the front entrance.

She shook her head as she scanned the signs above, knowing she would only waste precious time trying to find their own way. She managed to get ahold of a nurse passing by with a clipboard tucked under her arm. Right this way, said the nurse after Persia had pleaded with her. She felt her heart racing as they maneuvered their way through the busy halls. There was always someone sick or ailing and in need of medical attention, no matter what time of day or night. Some of her father's greatest sermons echoed in her ears—don't take today for granted, start each day with a grateful heart, tomorrow is not promised…

They finally reached the waiting room where her mother sat clutching her hands to her heart. Persia! she cried out, nearly leaping from her seat. Mom held onto her for dear life.

What happened? Persia asked breathlessly.

She took the damp handkerchief in her hand and dotted her tear-streaked face. He was preparing a sermon at the church when he collapsed in his office. Luther got him to the hospital and then called me. Persia shook her head in disbelief. What was her father doing at the church so late at night?

Well, is there any news?

Just then, a doctor shakily walked toward them with a frown lining his face. Instantly, she knew her last chance to tell her father how much she loved him had just slipped away from her. Even after she had forgiven him for having the affair, a certain level of tension had stayed between them that never went away. She wished she had allowed herself to be healed of that negative feeling toward her father, but there was no forgetting it. It didn't matter now—he was gone. Persia and her mother cried and held each other for moments. Their future was up in the air. They didn't know what they were going to do without him. It was their pain and suffering that should have mattered most of all, but although he was just Rowell and Daddy to them, he was Pastor to thousands. An entire congregation was going to be out of sorts. Who was going to lead the church now? Persia thought as tears streamed down her face, soaking her mother's cashmere coat.

The great Reverend T.C. Campbell of Calvary took to the pulpit after Dineva ended her beautiful solo and closed them out in a prayer. One by one, the pallbearers, including Darren, surrounded the casket and hoisted it over their shoulders, signaling to each other that each was ready to carry it down the aisle. Luther, Daddy’s assistant, fought back tears as he rested the corner of the coffin above his head. There wasn’t a dry eye in the building, the entire congregation joining in on their pain, but Persia and her mother knew that for them, this loss was far greater.

Though her father's spirit had long left his body, that casket being carried out felt like he was slipping further and further away from her. She had never experienced a death this close to her before, but she knew there would be more to come. It was the cycle of life that she had heard of so many times before, but felt that it was something that happened to other people, not her family. How could a man of God not live a long life? Did his indiscretions cause God to call him home? Maybe she was overthinking it and nature had simply run its course. An usher guided them to the aisle after the coffin. They were settled into the limo and sent on their way to the cemetery, where they slowly lowered her father's flower-covered coffin into the ground. Persia and her mother grabbed onto each other for dear life, knowing that life would go on, but feeling that a part of them had died right with him.

The next thing Persia knew, she was moving back into her parents' house. There was an empty void that needed to be filled. Having never suffered a loss this great, family had become more important to Persia than ever before.

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