A Rescued Heart(21)
Author: Natalie Replogle

“Can I still come to the abuse support group at your church?”

“Yes, that would be great. You can continue your counseling that will help you through this transition and they will work with you to find a new job.”

The group had a good success rate for helping woman rebuild their lives. It took a lot of work, but watching the women walk away with their heads held high made it all worthwhile.

Ava already expected to spend some time with Tessa, working through these last few months and helping her cope with the fear she experienced.

Kim turned her head away from Ava. Her soft sobs caused her body to shake under the blanket. The tortured woman was in pain, physically and emotionally.

“Will I ever find someone that will truly love me for me? My father left me, my husband left me, and now I can add Ray to my pile of pitiful men,” Kim cried out miserably.

Ava’s heart ached for Kim. On a much lesser scale, she understood her pain of rejection. Thankfully she had her family and friends to help her through the darkest time of her life. She also served a God of comfort who loved her without end. She wished Kim could understand how much the Lord really loved her.

“Kim, you’re going to find a great man someday who will deserve all you have to offer. There is someone, however, that already loves you unconditionally until the end of time, without any strings attached.”

Ava wasn’t swift on her feet with witnessing. She usually took the path of becoming a friend first and then sharing who God was to her. Someday she would share about her journey with Tim and how God had given her another chance at love with Matt, but that day was not today.

“God?”

“Yes.”

“You really think He could love someone like me?”

“Absolutely, and if you allow Him, He will show you how wonderful you are. He made you, Kim, and He’s a very proud Father of His children.”

God’s love was hard to fathom at times and Ava had to work through a lot in the last two years to understand herself how much worth she really held.

“Can you tell me a little more about God?”

Kim’s interest in God excited Ava. This was the best path she could take to turn her life around. She set her purse down on the floor and settled back against the chair for the long haul. She’d spend all day here if that’s what it took.

The first day of the new school year approached like an express train without brakes. Classes started in less than two weeks and Ava began to feel the pressure to set up her room. Past years she would have been done by now because she had nothing better to do during the summer than spend it in preparation for the new school year. This summer was completely different from her lonely past and she didn’t even think about her room until now.

Ava already had the list of students who would be in her class. She and the other kindergarten teachers had decided to wait until school approached to have their kindergarten “meet and greet.” They had the date set for the end of this week for all the kids to come and be introduced to their teacher, see their room, and meet all the other children in their class.

This special time for the kids also came as a great opportunity for her to meet each of the parents. She planned to have the parents fill out paper work about their child so she had a little heads-up about their home life, their likes and dislikes, and where they improved in their learning journey since their first assessment earlier in the year at kindergarten roundup.

She had spent all day yesterday at the hospital keeping Kim company, not leaving once since Matt had brought her. Ava returned home late last night to see that Jake had set up camp in her spare bedroom. After countless hours of tossing and turning, despite already missing a night of sleep she decided that today was as good as any to begin. She got up before the sun did to get ready for the day. She debated whether or not to wear makeup but then remembered she would have to go to the store to buy supplies and she still sported a pretty ugly bruise. She applied a thick layer of foundation and went a little heavier on her eye makeup to hopefully camouflage her still-darkened cheek. She chose her favorite pair of comfortable jeans, flip-flops, and her new white tank top and headed to the kitchen.

Sitting down at her table while sipping her much-needed coffee, she organized the list of projects she wanted to accomplish today. Ava personally required her room to be uplifting and bright with a lot of color. Decorating was always her favorite part of the preparation, but it also took the most time. During the summer break the teachers had to keep their rooms to a bare minimum so that the janitors could come in and clean. She kept a few things up on the walls, but she had a long road ahead of her to get the room to where it needed to be for the open house. Her plan started with going to the school first to set up what she had and then head to the store to get the finishing touches.

Ava had breakfast ready for Jake by the time he came out of his room, prepared to leave for work. She went all out and made him instant oatmeal from an individual package. Only the best for her guests.

Walking into her classroom gave Ava the spark of excitement that she needed. She set to work right away pulling charts and signs out of the storage closet. She put the alphabet above the chalkboard and made a handy helper chart to hang next to the door. Each day she would draw a student’s name to be her special helper for activities. They would also get to be the leader in the lines to lunch and recess and choose the book for story time. Along with the privileges of being the helper, they also had the responsibilities to feed the class goldfish and turtle. The pet store knew Ava by name last year. A bad turnover of goldfish plagued her classroom for a few months but luckily, goldfish were cheap.

Ava came to a good breaking point around lunchtime. She made a list of items she needed to buy at the store. An idea came to mind and she checked the time to see if it would work.

She hadn’t seen Matt since he left the hospital early the previous morning. She had ditched him to spend time with Julia on Friday, Saturday was the attack, and yesterday he stayed busy keeping up with Kim’s case. They talked last night after she got home but kept it short so she could spend some quality time with Jake. Matt mentioned he didn’t look forward to the paper work that needed to get done at his desk. Chances seemed good she’d find him easily.

Ava snatched up her purse and headed to the police station to see if she could take her man out for lunch.

Ava had been to the station a couple of times to see Matt, but it still made her squeamish with unease. As she walked in, she saw Matt’s partner, Derek, right away, relieved to see a familiar face. Ava could easily see why the two friends got along so well. They each had a good sense of humor, were full of spunk, and easily made people comfortable with their outgoing personality. Derek was her favorite of all of Matt’s friends. He looked as if he could be a surfer from California with his blond hair, blue eyes, and dark tan. Besides being nice and friendly, he had a good heart and was an encourager for Matt in their relationship. Ava desperately wanted to set him up with Jules but unfortunately he was casually dating someone at the moment. She would keep her ears open for any talk about him being single again.

“Hey, Ava,” he strutted up toward her, “you didn’t have to go out of your way to come see me. I’m flattered.”

“Hi, Derek.” The man loved to joke around and she couldn’t help deliver the response he worked for. She giggled while rolling her eyes at his teasing. “Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m here for your partner.”

He snapped his fingers while performing a fake pout that etched his features. He stepped forward to examine her face. “I heard about your attack. I’m glad you’re okay.” He squeezed her shoulder to show support. “I think Matt is down in the evidence room. I’ll go get him for you.”

“Thanks,”