Feeling such relief to hear his response, Train hurried down, wanting to hug him. When, unexpectedly, Gretta bolted towards her dad and held onto his foot. Watching him stoop down and scoop her up in his arms, hearing him say, "Honey, do you want to go with Daddy to see the factory?"
"Drive!"
"Yes, for a drive with your daddy."
"Yep!"
When Torren called out to Liz, saying in a calm tone, "Liz, will you change Gretta and pack a bag with her tea, snacks, and a suit of clothes for me, please? We are going to work in the factory."
"Yes, Sir." Train saw how Liz was happy, and it was as if there was sweet relief.
Torren watched as Liz took the child with her, and how excited the child was. He knew immediately it was time to step up his game.
After hearing the voice of the Lord, saying, 'She will return. I decided to put things in place.'
Recalling all that his Dad said about what Shawney had endured with her family, and the sacrifice she made for her family, all the hurts, and not a drop of thanks, yet she was able to rise and overcome the hurdles and be strong. 'I must be able to overcome as well. Ignoring and neglecting the many responsibilities in my business is definitely my shortcoming. I must do what is necessary for my children and business."
As Torren sits and waits for Liz to organise Gretta, memories of his Dad's words play on his mind. 'Did Dad invite her with the intention of us getting to know each other, or did he have marriage in mind? I know he trusts her and likes her a lot.'
Recalling the verbal abuse and brutal hurt she had to endure the night of the dinner, "I so wanted to ask her to marry me, but someone was always watching us. The only time we were alone was when she fell, and I took her to the room. She looks so heartbroken. I could not propose to her then; she wasn't in the right frame of mind. Now I have no idea where she is, but I must trust the Lord. He says she will return."
That morning, she left, hearing her over the phone, and the way she was crying. She sounds so confused and broken, but her concern was for me. "I cannot let her down, she asked me to promise her that I will take care of myself. She didn't say where she was going, but she said she would be alright and would miss me very much.'
Noticing dad coming, Torren brush the tears away, 'No one must know how I feel about her. I will have to talk to the Lord, as she said, and I know He will keep His promise and bring her back to me. If I go and look for her, I won't know where to begin. I must just be patient.
A week had gone by, and Torren had not eaten a thing. "Torren, will you join me for breakfast, son, before we go to the factory?"
"I am not hungry, Dad."
"Son, you will get sick; you have to eat something. Don't worry, Dad, I will be alright."
****
Feeling her insides trembling, Shawney held the hot cup of tea with both hands. The hotness was good, and as she sipped it, her prayer was that her insides would feel the warmth to remove the chilliness. As the tea glides down, warming the inside of her body a bit and removing that chilliness.
Shawney recalled the day by the pool; 'that chilliness was fierce, but why am I feeling like something is wrong, and is causing my body to jump?
I thought it was because I had slept the night in the church, even when I stayed too long in the pool, but this is the same feeling again. So exactly what is going to happen now? I am away from everyone. Father, what is your plan for me now, because I am tired and confused?"
Opening her eyes, Shawney considered a few things, "Now that I am alone, I should buy the few things necessary at the supermarket just in case. I don't want what occurred that day to repeat itself, and I am caught unprepared."
As her mind ran on Torren, Shawney knew she could not return to him. "I am sure they have already heard what I have done to my family. And I am certain they hate me."
"But it doesn't matter. I hate myself even more; the least I could have done was to spare Sid, Curtis, Meg, and Linsey the heartache. But they all stood around doing and saying nothing on my behalf. Not one of them stood up to defend me, even Julien and Shantel just stood there."
Feeling inside, grieving for allowing the rage to get the better of her. As the tears seep down, thinking. "All I have done for them, the only person who really cared was Uncle Ken. Why did I have to listen to what he said? If I had just ignored it, but they had really hurt me, causing me to do exactly what he said? Oh God, if only what I did didn't make me so unfeeling or uncaring? How could I ever face them again? Oh Lord, I am so ashamed of myself."
The tears flow, unable to stop it, "Why did I have to become so angry? When Torren gets angry, he smashes things. I should have just smashed something and not gone to the extreme of putting them on the street.'