The Plan

By Linda Seufert

There is a plan for each of our lives. Things happen in the right place and time if we trust and believe the Lord and choose to allow ourselves to listen for his voice. Rock Point, California, a North Coast seaport town, has been home to Matthew Sullivan and his ten-year-old daughter, Molly, for five years. He was eagerly welcomed into the community as a pastor and automotive mechanic. Drastic changes take place in Matt's peaceful lifestyle when his old friend and former undercover work partner calls and says he's coming for a visit. On April Fool's Day, Jax Cramer arrives, late as usual, with his "sister" KC, who is suffering from traumatic amnesia, hoping she can spend at least a two-week vacation on the coast and stay with Matt and Molly. The Genesis Foundation, recruited to protect KC, a wealthy doctor, needs help, and they trust Matt. KC and Matt are attracted to each other when their eyes make contact. KC pours herself into home life with Matt and Molly, and she loves to sing. Due to unexpected circumstances, KC fills in with vocals and lead guitar for the Odyssey Band during the First Annual Battle of the Bands Contest on Saturday of Memorial Weekend. A very real memorial evening awaits Matt and KC when they arrive home after a day of fun and celebration. Danger waits. Can Matt and KC survive this real trial of danger? Who is KC? Does KC regain her memories? Is there a chance for real love between Matt and KC? And how does young Molly feel about all of this?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Sep 30, 2019
• ISBN: 9781645592365

Book preview

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The Plan

Linda Seufert

ISBN 978-1-64559-235-8 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64559-236-5 (Digital)

Copyright © 2019 Linda Seufert

All rights reserved

First Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Covenant Books, Inc.

11661 Hwy 707

Murrells Inlet, SC 29576

www.covenantbooks.com

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

About the Author

Chapter 1

Matthew Sullivan glanced at the clock on the wall ten minutes after ten. He shook his head, only five minutes since he checked the time and yet it seemed like an hour. Where in the devil was Jax? He said, I will be no later than nine, Matt, I have some pressing business to take care of, but wanted to stop by and see you since I will be in the your area. Pressing business, Matt didn’t like hearing those words at all. He knew just what such business, as that, meant to Jax and his father Jackson Cramer. They still owned and operated GF and he wanted to stay as far away from that company and the lifestyle it afforded as he could. It cost him dearly when he worked with Jax before, and even though his life was completely changed now, the thought of GF still gave him nightmares. He may have grown up with Jax Cramer and they may have been best friends at one time—Matt prayed for his friend still—but he hadn’t heard from Jax for years and wasn’t sure he wanted to see him now. He had an uneasy feeling about this spur-of-the-moment meeting. He was sure this was more than a just passing through Rock Point on his way to some important meeting. He had only seen Jax one time since moving to Rock Point and that was shortly after he, with Molly, moved to the north coastal town to become pastor of the Rock Point Christian Church. Jax came to see the place Matt had bought, stayed a couple days, and was gone. Very few people in Rock Point knew of Matt’s past and he wanted to keep it that way.

He sighed and pushed the chair back from his desk. He stretched, stood, and tossed his reading glasses onto his paper cluttered desk. There were a couple points he wanted to add to the sermon, but his mind was too preoccupied with the phone call from Jax.

The prayer for peace he uttered earlier seemed to have flown out the window. The devil was dancing gleefully through his mind kicking up old memories and scattering them all through his senses. He rose and walked around the desk and began pacing. He stopped and looked out the window to see the waves gently skimming their way along the beach. He was not going to let the peace he knew and enjoyed be shattered by the old memories riding rough shod through his brain. They wouldn’t change a thing, he couldn’t change the past, but he didn’t have to let it dictate his present. Letting go had been difficult, but he had learned how to put the past behind him. His eyes traveled out to the shop where John Prescott’s pickup waited. He wanted to wait until Jax had come and gone before getting his grease monkey on.

Being on time was not one of Jax strong points back in the day and it appeared he still had trouble with punctuality. Matt walked back over to his desk and picked up the single picture that graced his work space. The young girl in the picture was Molly. His fingers traced the outline of her sweet face. He smiled. She looked oh so sweet but she was very smart, headstrong, opinionated, yet kindhearted, compassionate, and could see both sides of a situation.

She was an old soul in a ten-year-old body. She looked so much like her mother and was the reason he chose life ten years ago when she was just two months old. He really hoped Jax would be long gone before Molly came home from school.

He drank way too much after Molly was born. He was not proud of himself, but he knew God forgave him. On occasion he still had trouble keeping that part of his past where it belonged. He missed Jenna so much it was still very hard to go on day by day without her.

It was tough. Dredging up old memories would never bring Jenna back. She had been eight months pregnant when the brakes failed on her car as she rounded the sharp turn and careened down the embankment over a hundred feet. The car was totaled and Jenna was kept alive on life support long enough for Molly to be born. He remembered holding Molly, such a precious and beautiful baby that he knew was a special gift to him while saying goodbye forever to his wife and best friend, the girl he had known and loved since they were in seventh grade. After the funeral he went back to his parents’ house where he and Molly were staying, fed his baby girl, put her down for a nap, tried to process all that had happened. He was a mechanic and he worked hard trying to put Jenna out of his mind, but she was all he could think of. So when Molly was eight weeks old he quit his job, hopped on his Harley, and took off for the north coast. He traveled Highway 101 north stopping at many bars along the way.

He found himself in Rock Point and parked in front of the Rock Point Brewery. He was exhausted and had no idea how he ever made it so far up the coast without killing himself.

He was very drunk and all he wanted was a beer. He vaguely remembered stumbling and staggering trying valiantly to get his balance before running headlong into the front door.

Tense as he was wondering about Jax and where he was, he chuckled at the memory. Just as he thought he had himself under control, the door opened and his whole muscular six foot six inch frame fell into the open space. His head hit the metal leg of the shuffle board game standing against the wall near the door. He was momentarily knocked out. That was all he remembered about entering Rock Point until the following day when he awakened with a pounding headache that rated at lease a forty-five on the one to ten pain scale with a hangover like he had never had before. He woke up on a couch in an unfamiliar apartment and wondered how he got there.

One of the most beautiful blond-haired women he had ever seen was standing beside the couch with concern clouding her large blue eyes. So you have decided to wake up and join the land of the living. How’s the head? My name is Liberty Byrd, friends call me Lib. I am an EMT studying to be a paramedic.

How? Why? What am I doing here?

Well, you were obviously in no shape to go anywhere by yourself. By the way, how many fingers am I holding up?

Two.

What’s your name?

Matt Sullivan.

Where are you from?

Lincoln, California.

Good, I am so glad you remember. By the way, do you even recall falling into the brewery when the door opened last night?

His dark brown eyes were questioning her. I thought so. She smiled. Anyway, my sister and I decided to let you spend the night here so you would be safe. Several of the guys poured you into the back of my fish truck and followed us home, brought you in, and deposited you on the couch so I could watch over you. And here you are, Matthew Sullivan.

You knew my name before I told you.

Bingo! Step to the head of the class! She held up his wallet. Don’t worry, we only checked your driver’s license to see who the handsome hunk was passed out on our couch.

She started laughing. What a birthday party it turned out to be!

It was your birthday?

Yes. I’m twenty-one

Uh, my bike?

Don’t worry, it’s safe. The guys brought it here last night and parked it out back behind our apartment so Aunt Gina wouldn’t see it and wonder just what was going on. That way when you are ready to check into the Byrds Nest all proper like Aunt Gina won’t suspect a thing.

Matt set Molly’s picture back on his desk and looked out the window back at the pickup waiting patiently for him. Where are you, Jax? he muttered. This waiting around was irritating, practice patience really? He ran his fingers through his short, clipped, wavy black hair and down his face through his well-groomed black beard that resembled a couple weeks’ growth and chuckled as memories took him back yet again to his first time entering Rock Point.

When he finally gathered the courage to move his seriously hung over body off the sisters’ couch and check in at the Byrds Nest Bed-and-Breakfast, he still felt horrible and it was already midafternoon. He left the apartment and walked to the front door of the bed-and-breakfast and nearly stumbled inside. The expression on Gina Byrd’s face was priceless as she watched the young man striding across the lobby to the registration desk. And how may I help you, young man? She eyed him sternly, but her voice was noncommittal. Hey, I am presenting myself properly. He had told her.

Yes you are, as proper as can be expected under the given circumstances.

He rolled his eyes. He did not need a lecture and he was sure he was going to be sick and he did not want to mess up her carpet, floor, or her beautiful redwood desk.

Gina Byrd was not born yesterday, so the saying went. She had been awake when the party of young people arrived at Liberty and Lauri’s apartment. What kind of mother figure would she be if she didn’t wait to make sure the girls made it home safely from the twenty-first birthday party? She noted Matthew Sullivan’s pained and strained expression and quickly checked him in and showed him to his room without further conversation. There would come a time. Gina knew young people very well.

For the two weeks Matt spent at the Byrds Nest he was very polite, but went to the brewery most evenings during the first week of his stay and came back to his room quite inebriated. The second week of his time in Rock Point he began going to the beach with Lib while she fished. Lib mentioned how he loved to walk on the beach or just sit on the beach and watch the waves roll onto shore while he seemed to be contemplating life. He never complained about helping Lib clean the truck loads of smelt before she could weigh the loads she would sell to the fishery.

One afternoon Matt came out of his room and shoved the screen door open with a bit more force than needed and Gina heard the click of a beer can being opened. She knew Matthew Sullivan well enough to know he did not have a can of soda. She wasn’t sure, but she just had a hunch this was his first beer of the day and this was much later than he usually started.

With her front desk polished and looking respectful again, she decided it was time to take the bull by the horns and have a chat with the sullen young man. He was just lifting the can to his mouth as she opened the screen door. She walked outside and sat down beside him.

His expression was dark, bleak, and hopeless as he eyed her. Those dark brown eyes were brooding and he looked as if he was ready to pick a fight with someone.

A penny for your thoughts, young man, she said. Her voice and expression was matter of fact, not showing the compassion she felt for him and she was not prying for information. He could speak if he chose to.

He looked from the can he was holding to the silver-haired woman who was seated beside him. He glanced almost longingly at the can one more time then threw it as hard and as far onto the lawn as he could. You have a good pitching arm.

He turned sad and heartbroken eyes to Gina. I don’t even know where to begin.

The beginning is as good a place as any.

He took a deep breath and expelled it slowly. She’s dead, nothing can bring her back and it’s all my fault. Nothing takes the pain away.

That’s quite a load you are carrying. How long ago did she pass away?

Just over two months ago.

Not very long ago. Your losing her is still very raw. I bet you would tell me she was the love of your life.

He rose and paced back and forth on the porch nervously, shoving his hands in his pockets and then pulling them out. He raked one hand through his wavy black hair and sat down again. See it’s like this, I am a mechanic, a good mechanic, and I have been trying to work, but I miss her and sometimes I can’t even do an oil change without wanting to just crawl off and hide somewhere.

It’s always there. The loss, the heartbreak can be so overwhelming.

Yeah. So I quit. I needed to clear my head. Thing is I went home that evening and ate with my mom and dad, fed Molly, and put her to bed. I told my parents I was going for a bike ride, but I didn’t tell them I wasn’t coming back home. I went for a ride all right and the only thing I can say is I did not kill myself and I certainly wanted to.

Okay, I have the impression you did not begin at the beginning.

He sighed and rolled his eyes.

Molly?

Our baby girl. His voice was soft and tender, barely audible. Jenna was eight months pregnant when the brakes failed on her car. The accident was caused because the brakes had been tampered with by people hired by the people Jax and I sent to prison because we worked undercover and infiltrated their gang. And yes, the people responsible were found by the police and killed in a shootout.

That is a heavy load to be carrying, Gina said as she patted his hand. And to top it off you haven’t spoken to your parents since you left.

I know, I know. He ran a hand through his hair. They must be worried out of their minds and angry. I sure have made a mess of things. I don’t even know how to begin to apologize. Hey, wait a minute, how do you know?

Gina smiled at him. Well, first off, when you sign in as a guest you leave your address and phone number on the registration form. And your parents know where you are and have since you checked in, and I have been keeping them updated on you and your condition.

What?

Look, young man, you came into town totally drunk, fell into the bar, hit your head on a metal post, wound up spending the night on the couch in my niece’s apartment. The next afternoon you can barely stand and looked ready to puke your guts out while checking in. You were in very bad shape. I figured if someone answered on the other end of the phone number you left I would set them straight about you and tell them I would be watching out for you as much as I could.

So you spoke to my parents? How is Molly?

Your baby girl is just fine. Growing fast.

You really spoke to Mom and Dad. He shook his head.

I waited a few days before making the call to see how long you’d stay. I spoke to Lib and she told me a little of what you…

She told you? He groaned. Damn, I, I…

My niece is a caring young lady, not to mention EMT. She belongs to the Rock Point Volunteer Fire Department and is studying to become a paramedic. She and her sister are not mine from birth, but I am the only mother they have known since Liberty was four years old. They trust me and I trust them. Your business will go no farther than right here, I promise you. Lib has rolled on several motor vehicle accidents involving motorcycles where the young men have been killed, a couple of them wreaked of liquor. That’s one of the reasons she wants to become a paramedic. Each loss notches a place in an emergency care giver’s heart.

He shook his head.

I have spoken to them twice. They were worried sick about you. No word is a terrible thing to do to people who love you and know what you just endured.

I know, he muttered, then looked her straight in the eye. Before I stopped at the brewery, I gave a lot of thought to driving off the road and nearly did twice, but I saw Molly and Mom and Dad, and I couldn’t do it to them.

And what now? Why did you throw the beer can as far as you could sling it?

"I can’t keep on like this. I’ve been walking on the beach