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  Seeing that his daughter needed this from him, Joel said, “All right, sweetheart, I’ll be right here when you come back. I won’t go anywhere.”

  “Thanks, Daddy,” she said, as she calmed herself down. She put her arm around Drake and walked upstairs to her bedroom with him.

  “Are you okay, Dee?” Drake asked, as she closed the bedroom door and began walking toward him.

  “I don’t know how I’ll feel later on today, but as long as I’m with you right now, I’m more than okay.”

  “Listen to me, Dee. The rapture isn’t happening today. We will all be here in the morning.”

  “You don’t understand, Drake. Since I was a child, my father told all of us about the Lord’s return. He’d tell us that if we weren’t ready, we would be left behind.” She walked over to the window, and looked at all the greenery, and then finally she lifted her eyes to the sky. She turned back to her husband and said, “You’re ready, my father’s ready. But I am certainly not ready.”

  “But you can be ready, Dee. You don’t have to torment yourself like this.” He rushed to her side and grabbed hold of her hands. “All you have to do is accept Jesus Christ into your heart, honey. I can walk you through it right now.”

  Lowering her head, she let go of his hands. “I’d feel like a hypocrite if I begged God for his forgiveness now.” She walked over to the bed and plopped down on it.

  Drake joined his wife on the bed. “I don’t think it’s hypocritical to ask the Lord to come into your life, so that you can be ready for the rapture. But since you do, I won’t push you. Just promise me one thing.”

  “What?”

  “After six o’clock, when we’re all still here, promise me that you will give God a try then.” He pulled her close to him and said, “You know what I’m afraid of?”

  She leaned her head back and looked at him. “You’re not afraid of anything. You’ve got Jesus on your side. That’s what you’ve always told me.”

  He nodded. “I do have the Lord on my side. But I’m still afraid.”

  “Okay, I’ll bite. What are you afraid of?”

  He planted a kiss on her forehead and then one on her neck.

  She pushed away from him. “Tell me.”

  He looked into her eyes and said, “I’m afraid that at 6:01, you won’t want to be with me anymore, and we’ll be right back where we started.”

  She put her hand on his cheek and kissed him. This man was for her, he had always been for her. She had just been too blind to see it. “Hold me, Drake. Hold me and never let me go.”

  Chapter Seven

  Drake woke up at 6:20 and climbed out of bed. He tiptoed to the door because he didn’t want to wake Dee up. She had been stressing over the rapture since yesterday, so he decided to let her rest. He went to Natua’s room to check on her. But she wasn’t in her bed. He then went downstairs and found the child in the family room with Joel watching Dora the Explorer.

  Joel looked up with a sheepish grin on his face as Drake walked into the room. “Glad to see you. I was getting worried that you and Dee Dee had been raptured up and I’d been the one who was left behind.”

  “Oh, so now you’ve got jokes,” Drake said, as he sat down with his father-in-law.

  “I thought it was funny, but seriously, how is she doing?”

  “She’s still asleep. I thought it best to let her get some rest.”

  “You two seem to be getting along pretty well,” Joel noted, approvingly.

  “Yeah well, it’s after six o’clock, so we’ll see if it lasts once she realizes that we are still here.”

  “Where’s your faith, son?”

  Drake knew that he shouldn’t be so worried about his relationship with Dee Dee. He had faith. Didn’t he trust that God’s word was true and that no man would be able to predict the time of His return. So, why was he so nervous about what his wife would do once she woke up and discovered that he was still here—still loving her and still needing her in his life. Would she reject his love, or would she finally see that he was the man for her? Drake hated that he was feeling the need to guard his heart again, but he could feel his wall against Dee Dee growing.

  He couldn’t explain his feelings to his father-in-law so he changed the subject. “Hey, did I tell you about the progress I’m making with my new production company?”

  “I wish you would let me invest in this venture of yours,” Joel protested.

  Shaking his head, Drake told his father-in-law for what seemed like the hundredth time, “I will not be the cause of further friction between you and Dee Dee.”

  “How can there be any friction, son? Your production company will be promoting the good news of Jesus Christ. I put my money behind projects like yours all the time, so what’s the difference?”

  “The difference is that Dee Dee thinks you should back some of her films.”

  “I have backed her films in the past. But I cannot support what Dee Dee wants to do now, and I will not put my money behind it.” He said those words forcefully, and then added, “The Lord has been good to me. It is because of His good graces that I am a wealthy man and that my children are blessed. So, I think it is only fitting that we give back. That’s why I asked my children to set up those charities. Can you understand that?”

  “Yes, I do. I think God is smiling down on you and your children for the many lives that will be blessed because of your generosity.”

  Joel smacked his knee as he sat up in his high-backed chair. “Then it’s settled. You’ll let me help you?”

  “Not financially, but I do need your advice. You were in this business a long time. And I need your advice if I’m going to run my company the right way.”

  “All right, shoot. What do you want to know?”

  For the next hour, Drake picked his father-in-law's brain about set locations, set designs, how to find actors willing to do Christian projects and so on. Natua was engrossed in her cartoons, and the two of them were so enthralled in their discussion that they forgot all about Dee Dee sleeping the day away.

  ***

  Dee Dee’s eyes flickered open with the knowledge that she was alone. She bolted upright in bed and scanned the room. She lifted the covers looking to see if Drake’s clothes were lying next to her, without him in them. But his clothes weren’t there either. She picked up her cell phone and looked at the time. It was 7:30.

  “Oh my God, I slept through it,” she screamed, as she jumped out of bed and ran to Natua’s bedroom.

  The child wasn’t in her bed either. Dee Dee covered her mouth and put her hand over her heart as she backed out of the room. She went into Drake’s room to see if he and Natua were in there, but that room was empty also.

  “I’m too late. I’ve missed them. Oh God, what have I done?” she chastised herself for being too stupid and stubborn to accept Christ into her life when she had the chance. She ran downstairs toward her father’s room. When she reached his door, she knocked. No answer.

  She checked the knob. The door was unlocked, so she opened it and went inside. Her shoulders slumped and the tears flowed as she realized that she was, indeed, alone. She trudged her way to the family room to turn on the news station so she could see what they had to say about the devastation that had just occurred in her life. As she got closer to the family room, Dee Dee began hearing chatter. Had her father left the television on? As she kept walking, she realized that Drake and her father were talking about Drake’s Christian production company.

  She’d never given Drake’s idea much thought before, but the sound of his voice was like such sweet music to her right now, that she could do nothing more than stand there and listen. As Drake and Joel continued to throw ideas around, Dee Dee realized that the production company would be no different from what she was used to working with— well, except for the fact that Drake would be promoting the Gospel. Her husband had real vision, and she admired that.

  Wiping the tears from her face, Dee Dee tried to compose herself as best she could be
fore joining them in the family room. As she stepped into the room, Drake stopped talking. His eyes had been energetic and glowing as he discussed his business venture with her father, but as he turned to her, Dee Dee noticed that his eyes lost a bit of the glow. She was confused by that, especially since they had been getting along this weekend, but she’d address that later. Right now she wanted to give Drake and her father a tongue-lashing for allowing her to sleep so long.

  “Why didn’t you wake me?” she asked Drake.

  “You were tired. I figured you needed your rest.”

  “But you knew I would be worried when I woke up and couldn’t find you. I’ve been running around this house like a crazy woman, thinking that I was all alone.”

  “We told you not to believe that man’s prediction,” Joel reminded her.

  Dee Dee turned to her father and said, “But since I was a child, you taught me to believe in the rapture. I just don’t understand how you and Drake weren’t at least a little concerned.”

  Joel grabbed his Bible off of the coffee table and flipped through the pages. When he found what he was looking for, he said, “Sit down next to your husband and read these passages in Matthew, chapter 24:36-44.

  Dee Dee grabbed the Bible, sat down next to Drake and began reading aloud:

  “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark. And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the son of man be.

  Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doeth come. But know this, that if the good man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the son of man cometh.”

  Dee Dee closed the Bible and then sat it back down on the coffee table. She turned to Drake. “So is this why you weren’t worried?”

  He nodded. “I tried to tell you that the Bible tells believers that no man would know the day of the Lord’s return, but the Bible also tells us to be ready, because He will come in a time that we don’t expect.”

  She lowered her head and put her hands in her lap, as she said, “When I woke up and thought that you all were gone, I worried that I’d missed my chance to be ready for God.” She let out a small, bitter laugh as she lifted her eyes toward her father. “The funny thing is, I never thought I wanted anything to do with God. But now, I’m not so sure.”

  “Sweetheart, I’m thrilled to hear you say this. If it took a man and his false prophecy to get you to see that you really do need God, then this was a worthy experience,” Joel said.

  She grinned sheepishly and then said, “Well, now that I know I have time, I’d like to think about this a little more.”

  Natua came over and sat on Dee Dee’s lap. “Mommy, I want to watch Dora. Change the channel.”

  “Dora’s not on right now, honey. But don’t worry, God willing, you’ll have many more years to watch your favorite show,” Dee Dee said, and in her voice, was the sound of renewed hope.

  Chapter Eight

  As they flew home on Sunday, Dee Dee had much on her mind. She had left home, running from a stalker, who had then become the least of her worries once she’d been confronted with her Godless lifestyle and the possibility of losing her family to the rapture. The experience had gripped her heart with so much fear that she'd finally realized that she didn’t want to live without God anymore. But she didn’t know what would happen to her career if became a Christian. What did God expect her to do with the rest of her life? She didn’t have the answers, so she turned to Drake and began asking him questions about his production company.

  Drake answered her questions freely, but after the fifth question, he said, “You’ve never been this interested in what I’m doing. What gives? Are you interested in starring in a film I’m producing?”

  “I don’t know about that, Drake. I doubt if I could grow my audience with inspirational films.”

  “You never know what God can do. You bet on me, and I’ll bet on you.”

  She leaned back in her seat. “I don’t know, Drake. I’d have to think about it.”

  When they got off the flight and headed for the luggage area, Drake spotted Dee Dee’s picture on the front page of about three different gossip rags. They normally ignored stuff like that, but he was curious so he walked over to the newsstand, and saw the words "Dee Dee has a stalker."

  “Dee, you’ll want to see this.”

  She held up her hands. “You know I don’t like reading those things.”

  He put the magazine in her face and said, “Read the caption above your head.”

  “Oh my God,” was her immediate response after reading it. She grabbed the magazine and turned to the specific page that discussed her stalker. When she'd finished reading it, she told Drake, “Nick did this.”

  “But you told him not to do it. Why wouldn’t he listen to you?”

  “He’s trying to up my profile, make me seem dangerous enough to get that R-rated film I was going after.” She handed the magazine back to Drake and stormed away with Natua.

  Drake caught up with her, putting his hand on her shoulder to slow her down. “Look, I know you’re upset, but I think we should pray before you call Nick.”

  Dee Dee stood in front of Drake, grappling with her feelings about praying over this matter. If Drake had asked her to pray with him before they left town on Friday, she would have cussed him out. But now prayer seemed like the right thing to do. “Okay, let’s get our luggage and then go home and pray.”

  And they did just that. After prayer, Drake fed Natua some of her "perfect" noodles, and then he and Dee Dee got the child ready for bed together. Once Natua was down for the night, Drake grabbed the keys to his SUV and said, “I’ll pick you up in the morning, so we can go to the police station.”

  Dee Dee’s eyes widened in surprise. “You’re leaving?”

  Unsure of himself now that they were back on her turf, Drake said, “Yeah, I know you like your space, so I thought it best that I go on home.”

  Inching toward him, she stuttered, “B-but, this is your house.”

  His cell phone rang. He looked at the number and then told Dee Dee, “I’m sorry, but I have to get this.”

  He turned his back to her as he picked up the call. “Hey Bill, how are you this evening?”

  Dee Dee heard the nervous edge to his voice, and wondered who Bill was and why Drake would be nervous about speaking with him. And then she heard him say, “Dee Dee had nothing to do with the story in those tabloids… Yes, it is true that she’s planning to do an R-rated film… I fail to see what that has to do with our business arrangement.”

  She couldn’t hear a thing being said on the other end, but she didn’t need to. She knew exactly what was going on by Drake’s responses. He was speaking with an investor—an investor for a Christian project who didn’t appreciate Drake’s wife being associated with very unChristian-like projects.

  She felt bad for Drake. He had nothing to do with her choices in life, but he was nonetheless guilty by association. And the worst part of the whole matter was that she no longer wanted to have anything to do with that film. After praying with Drake, God had revealed to her what she could do with her career. She hadn’t said anything because she was still trying to come to terms with it. But at that very moment, the thing God had spoken into her heart seemed to fit. And she had no more doubts.

  She took the phone away from Drake while he was in mid-explanation mode. She put the phone to her ear and said, “Hello Bill, this is Drake’s wife. We thank you for your interest in his production, but he has a new investor. Have a nice day.”
r />   She hit the end button on Drake’s cell phone and handed it back to him.

  “Why did you do that? Bill is the biggest investor I have. Without him, my production budget is cut down to almost nothing.” His nostrils were flaring as he tried to control his anger.

  “You don’t need him, because I am your new investor. Daddy wanted to invest in your project anyway, I heard him tell you that himself. So, now we are going to use his money to promote the gospel.”

  The stunned expression on his face didn’t go unnoticed.

  Dee Dee laughed. “What’s wrong, Drake? I mean, you did pray that God would open my eyes, didn’t you?”

  “Yeah, I just didn’t know it would happen this soon.” He looked at her skeptically, and then asked, “What are you up to?”

  “Well, there is a catch.” She smiled sweetly at him. “God is moving my career in a different direction, so I’d like to star in your film.”

  At that moment, you could have knocked him over with a feather. “But what about the other movie you’re interested in?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t want to do R-rated movies. I would be too ashamed to show them to our children.”

  Now Drake was stuttering. “Y-you said, children. So you do really want to have more kids…with me?”

  “Duh,” she said, with a my-husband’s-not-too-bright look on her face.

  Drake didn’t care about the expression on her face. He picked her up and swung her around as the wall he'd built to protect his heart tumbled down. He kissed her while she was still suspended in the air. “I love you, Dee. I promise to make you happy this time.”

  As her feet were planted back on steady ground, she looked into her husband’s eyes and confessed, “You’ve always made me happy, now it’s my turn to make you happy. I love you, Drake.”

  THE END.

  There are five stories in the Blessed and Highly Favored Series…