Lord, about this Martha and Mary thing,

I'm disappointed your son didn't show more empathy

for the one who invited him and his followers to eat.

As I get the picture, it was an impromptu invitation

prompted by a generous spirit.

And Lord, it's not easy to put a meal together

on the spur of the moment for heaven knows how many.

Martha must have had a million things on her mind,

calculating portions for enough to go around,

dividing the bread, pouring the wine,

seeing all the guests were washed, seated, fed.

I can see her now, perspiring, flustered and cross,

trying to make things perfect for her friend

and having to step (no telling how many times)

around her sister who sat,

sweet and cool and pretty, at the teacher's feet.

It's no surprise to me Martha finally complained

asking for Mary's help and Jesus' sympathy.

But I am surprised that your son criticized his hostess

(and in front of the others besides)

when she was trying so hard to please.

And I know she would have liked to listen, too,

but Lord, somebody had to be responsible
for all those people Jesus brought with him for lunch.

          (a.k.a. SkyeWolf)   

Excerpt: THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

A few scattered snowflakes were falling as they walked the now-familiar route toward the university.  When they passed beneath a street light, Russell caught the fleeting glimpse of crystal droplets in Leigh's hair as he reached out to touch her arm, slowing her steps until she stopped and faced him.

"Leigh, there's something I want to tell you."

 She met his eyes in the dim glow but remained silent.

 "I love you.  I always have."    His hands reached out and held her arms gently.  "I never expected to have this chance again and I don't intend to make the same mistake twice.  I want you to marry me."

 He heard her soft intake of breath and waited what seemed an eternity before she answered. 

 "I'm sorry, Russell.  I can't."

 After a moment of silence, he asked, "Is it your husband?  Are you still being loyal to his memory?"

 "No, it isn't . . ." she let the words trail off.

 "If not that, then what, Leigh?  Tell me."

 "I can't explain.  It's too . . . complicated."

 "Leigh, please don't deny us this second chance to be together.  I need you and I think you need me."

 
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She swept past him as he opened the door and went directly to her room to change.  She had to discuss what had happened with the man involved and the sooner the better, but she wanted them both to be fully clothed when she did so.

Coming into the living room a few minutes later, she was relieved to see that her house-mate was wearing khakis and a tee shirt which covered the distracting parts of his attractive anatomy. She took a seat facing the sofa where he sat.

"We need to talk." She spoke in a clipped no-nonsense tone and he looked up in surprise, then flicked off the TV.

"Okay."

"We almost made a big mistake a few minutes ago."

"Did we?" His eyes met hers and held them. "You seemed in agreement, unless I misunderstood your signals."

"I'd had three drinks. I wasn't thinking clearly."

"So that's the spin you're putting on it?" He shook his head in disbelief even as he secretly acknowledged the truth of her accusation. "I plied you with liquor and then tried to seduce you?"

"I'm not placing blame. I just want to put this in the proper perspective."

"By all means," he agreed solemnly.

"Maybe it's of no consequence to you but I have a reputation to consider. I don't want to be known as a woman who will sleep with every--"

"Wait a minute. It is of consequence to me, B.J. I don't go around sleeping with every woman I meet either." And he hadn't planned to let it go that far. He stood up, jammed his hands in his pockets and walked toward the veranda, then turned to face her. It was time to admit the truth. "I hadn't intended for this thing between us to get out of hand. But I felt something special for you. Something I haven't felt for a woman in a long time. I thought you felt it, too."

He waited and she finally said in a small voice, "Okay, I did feel it. We do seem to have a… strong attraction toward each other. But that doesn't mean we have to act on it. I don't want to be involved with anyone. I thought I made that clear."

"Perfectly. And I felt the same way. But you seem to have changed all that. Now what I want is you."

He stood looking at her with such open desire on his handsome face that her breath caught in her throat. It would be so easy to get up and walk into his arms and continue what they had started in the pool.

"Get over it, Thomas. Just what part of no don't you understand?" Her voice was as brittle as glass and she felt that she would shatter into a million pieces if he didn't stop looking at her with such longing. "I came here to do a job, same as you. It's important to my career to do it well. I couldn't afford to be involved with you if I wanted to. And I don't want to."

"Don't you?"

He seemed determined not to let it go. But she was just as determined to put it to rest once and for all. "No." His dark eyes held hers still, demanding the truth. "Well, yes, but I'm not going to be. I've done that. And I won't do it ever again."

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   Book Cover by Nicole Martinez

Excerpt: CIRCLE OF LOVE

They danced in silence, each acutely aware of the other in every step they took together, in every place their bodies touched.

I've missed you, Joanna." Her name was a caress on his tongue.

"Don't," she said, feeling the pleasure-pain in every cell in her body.

"Have you missed me?"

"I've missed you."

"Why didn't you answer my letters?"

She drew a quick breath as she thought of finding Pete's letters in a locked drawer in her father's study after his sudden death. Letters with a familiar looped scrawl that bore foreign stamps, now faded with time. She felt again the sharp pain his words of love and promise had brought. The frustration that caused her to pound her father's immaculate desk in a screaming rage that brusied her doubled fists.

"It doesn't matter now."

"Maybe not." His words sounded unconvinced.

The night, the music, the man who held her seemed unreal to Joanna but the intense aching inside was very real.

The band began to play a haunting Elvis tune.

"Joanna," his voice was muffled against her ear. "Let's get out of here."
  
She nodded wordlessly. Yesterday was gone and who could know what tomorrow would hold? But she had tonight. She was here with Pete again and there was magic between them as there had always been. She wouldn't think about consequences now. Just for tonight, she would listen to her heart instead of her head.
   
 "Come on." Still holding her hand, he led her across the crowded floor and out to the dark lot where his car was parked.

In the shadows of the gnarled tree, he gathered her into his arms and kissed her without restraint.

It was graduation night all over again. Blooms of silver white formed a scented canopy that enclosed their moonlit world. Tomorrow Pete woud be gone; there was only tonight. How could she tell him how much she loved him when words were not enough? Of its own volition here body found a way.

The long kiss ended. In the awed silence that followed, they held each other once again, the long undreamed of separation over.

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