One Prayer Away Read Online Free

pleasant tasks.
    With Chris gone to his own office, Mitchell got back to the files that awaited his attention. Barbara was running late today, so he had stepped into the hall long enough to prepare his own hot cup of water before returning to his assigned work space. Winter or summer, hot apple cider was his favorite drink. Perhaps it was the tart sweetness that attracted his taste buds. He’d often wondered if his body had found the flavor to be a feasible substitute for the drink it once craved. Whatever the case, Mitchell loved it and kept packets of the mixes in his drawer to add to the water that the coffeemaker provided.
    Coffee had never been his drink of choice. Barbara and Chris raved over the varied, flavored crèmes that they used to give their caffeine kick a wide range of tastes. For Mitchell, it mattered not what international creamer was added; it was still coffee and still distasteful. Once in a while, he would drink hot chocolate, usually on nights when he felt particularly lonely. The kind with marshmallows really comforted him. It was the kind
she
always drank.
    â€œI know you told me a couple of weeks ago that you didn’t want to discuss this,” Chris said, walking in andinterrupting a fond memory. “But you and I have talked about almost everything imaginable since the time you started working here. Why is it that you can’t talk to me about what happened at Bob’s Steak & Chop House?”
    Mitchell looked at him without responding. He thought he’d put a permanent end to this topic that same afternoon when Chris rejoined him at the office.
    â€œCome on,” Chris urged. “How bad can it be? You told me about your mom, your grandparents, your boozing, your fear of spiders, your bed-wetting . . .”
    â€œHey!” Mitchell said, taking a quick look around his office as though he thought someone would hear. “Lower your voice, man. That was traumatic stuff for a thirteen-year-old boy to deal with.”
    Chris’s face scrunched up into a frown. “
Thirteen
? You didn’t tell me you were thirteen. I thought maybe you were seven or eight. A thirteen-year-old is like a grown man leaking all over himself at night, man.”
    â€œWill you close the door on your way out?” Mitchell said, retrieving a folder from his briefcase. But Chris made no immediate attempt to obey.
    â€œMy point is that whatever it is that happened between you and this Vicky girl can’t be any more embarrassing than that.”
    â€œI don’t want to talk about it, Chris.”
    Taking a sip from his coffee mug, Chris made a grunting sound. “Well, whoever she was and whatever part she played in your life, she must have been quite the looker. The girl you scared off in your little mistaken identity blunder sure was.”
    Dropping his eyes to his desk, Mitchell smiled. Chris was right; Virtue was as striking as ever. He remembered her as a woman who’d always taken pride in her appearance, and that hadn’t changed. Virtue stood only 5’5” in height, but her long, shapely legs and her habit of wearing three-inch heels gave her the illusion of a much tallerwoman. Her shoulder-length hair was still full of body and moved with every turn of her head. Years of dancing had kept her curves smooth and her body taut. Even in his dumbstruck state, Mitchell had been able to notice all of that before she had fled the restaurant.
    Mitchell’s lengthy silence sent Chris the message that he wanted to be left alone, but in truth, Mitchell’s thoughts had momentarily snared him. He was brought back to himself when he saw Chris walking toward the door. For the first time, Mitchell found himself wanting to talk about a subject that had been taboo for years.
    â€œHer name is Virtue, and there was no mistake made on my part except to run her away seven years ago.”
    His words stopped Chris in his tracks, and he turned to look at Mitchell as