The Test of Love

“If you don’t continue as my trainer, Connie, I’ll leave. I can’t blame you for not wanting to work with me, but I don’t want anyone else.”

“But you’re not ready to leave yet,” she protested. “I don’t want you to lose all you’ve gained.”

Joseph laid his hand on her shoulder. “When I sat on that bench this morning after my jog, exhausted, and you were holding my hand, I realized how bleak my life has been for the past year, and I compared it to the serenity and peace I have with you. I don’t know what the future holds for us, but I can’t let you go out of my life completely, and that’s what will happen if I leave here.”

Connie swallowed a sob, and moved closer to him….

This prolific and popular author of both contemporary and historical inspirational fiction is a native of West Virginia, where she has lived all her life. She began writing professionally in 1977, after she completed her master’s degree in history at Marshall University. Irene taught in secondary public schools for twenty-three years, but retired in 1989 to devote herself full-time to her writing.

In 1984, after she had enjoyed a long career of publishing articles and devotional materials, her first novel was published by Thomas Nelson. Since that time, Irene has published twenty-one contemporary and historical novels and three nonfiction titles with publishers such as Zondervan, Fleming Revell and Barbour Books.

Her extensive travels with her husband, Rod, to forty-nine of the United States and thirty-two foreign countries, have inspired much of her writing. Through her writing, Irene believes she has been helpful to others and is grateful to the many readers who have written to say that her truly inspiring stories and compelling portrayals of characters of strong faith have made a positive impression on their lives. You can write to her at P.O. Box 2770, Southside, WV 25187.

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the

Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

—I Corinthians 6:19-20

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Epilogue

Letter to Reader

A snatch of song marked Connie Harmon’s progress as she jogged slowly along the driveway and into the New Life Center’s administration building. A tall, slender brunette, she bubbled with vigor and vitality. Most of her life, Connie’s gaiety had been spontaneous, but events of the past few months had dampened her spirits, and at times she’d had to force her cheerfulness. The chorus she sang today, “In my heart there rings a melody,” didn’t always reflect her true emotional state.

Before going down the hallway to her office, Connie paused in front of the foyer’s wide expanse of windows to gaze at a scene that never failed to soothe and inspire her. Brilliant snowbanks clung to the peaks of the Rocky Mountains several miles to the southwest, while on the lawn, a robin stiffened its legs and tugged purposefully on a worm in the row of yellow tulips, which were frosted by early-morning dew.

Continuing toward the reception room, Connie sang the refrain of “When It’s Springtime in the Rockies,” in her pleasing, soprano voice, attempting to keep her spirits high. She was scheduled to discuss monthly bills and accounts with her secretary, Kim Watson, and since her financial condition was usually discouraging, she wanted to get the task behind her.

Connie owned the New Life Center near Idaho Springs, in one of Colorado’s oldest historic districts. And though she operated on a hand-to-mouth budget, her financial condition was better than it had been when she’d opened the Center three years ago. Her college degree in physical therapy and psychology hadn’t equipped her to be an administrator—she’d had to learn that on her own, and it had been rough.

The phone rang as Connie walked in the door. She waved to Kim and moved toward the adjacent office, but the receptionist stopped Connie with an imperious shake of her head as she picked up the phone. Connie’s large blue eyes glimmered with amusement at Kim’s gesture, and her sensitive, well-formed mouth broke into a grin that spread over her finely chiseled features. Who was boss here anyway? But she and Kim had been best friends for years, and Connie was used to Kim ordering her around. So perched on the edge of the desk, she waited until Kim answered a query from a local boy about their gymnastic equipment.

Kim replaced the phone, her brown eyes flashing a message Connie couldn’t decipher until she scanned the note Kim scribbled on a scrap of paper. “A visitor is waiting in your office.”

Connie lifted her eyebrows, and Kim wrote, “Joseph Caldwell.”

“The Joseph Caldwell?” Connie mouthed silently.

Kim nodded, and Connie said quietly, “Why?”