Mary O'Connor is lost in a series of dead-end jobs with no idea what she wants to do when she grows up. While her friends are getting on with their lives, she is only going through the motions of hers. She wonders if her dreams may offer some insight into her future. After her most recent nightmare, she decides that it's time to move on. She will go back to college, a decision her best friend Susan believes will change Mary's life for the better. But they have no idea how much Mary going back to finish college is about to turn their lives upside down. As her new college career unfolds, she learns of the reason St. Anthony's College recruited her: she has psychic abilities and hidden powers. Little does she know that lives now depend upon these abilities-along with her choices. And the fate of a betrayer lies in her hands. Labeled a "quitter" at a young age, Mary must face her inner demons, along with the outer ones who are closing in on her. An evil plague is spreading. It is almost too much for her to handle. Will her "touch of faith" be enough to save the man she loves, or is his tortured soul primed for the taking?

A Touch of Faith

THE ANGEL'S ADVOCATE GROUP: BOOK ONEBy KATHLEEN SCHIPPER

Abbott Press

Copyright © 2012 Kathleen Schipper
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4582-0207-9

Contents

1. A Quitter's Touch............................12. The Dream....................................83. Friends and Family...........................134. A Cup of Joe.................................175. The Necklace.................................226. The Messenger................................287. A Toast Farewell.............................338. Back to School...............................389. Mind Games...................................4810. Have We Met?................................5711. The Truth...................................6112. Cafeteria Food..............................6513. The Teacher's Pet...........................7014. God's Gift to Them..........................7315. Better Late Than Never......................8016. A Crash Course..............................8517. Bonding.....................................8918. The First Date..............................9519. Not Just Another Dream......................10220. Raindrops and Lightning.....................10621. Arresting Developments......................11222. The Getaway.................................11623. Evil Lurks in the Halls.....................12524. The Reunion.................................13525. Paper Airplanes.............................14026. A Plan......................................14827. The Plot Sickens............................15228. The Secret Prize............................15929. Visitors....................................16330. The Hosts...................................16931. Big Betty...................................17432. Tunnel Vision...............................17933. A New Rivalry...............................18434. The Storm...................................18835. Choices.....................................19336. Saying Good-Bye.............................19737. Bad Cop, Good Cop...........................20338. Hindsight...................................20839. Giveth and Taketh Away......................21440. Perspectives................................22041. A Decent Proposal...........................22642. Puzzle Pieces...............................23443. A Touch of Faith............................23944. Before and Afters...........................24545. A Revelation................................250

Chapter One

A Quitter's Touch

As she hiked up the last of the metal stairs to the fifth floor of her apartment building, Mary thought to herself, "Just a couple more steps to go." She could not wait to plop down on her comfy couch and close the door to the rest of the world. For such a social, caring girl, it was unusual for her to want to be alone. Mary loved people of every kind. No matter their race, age, looks, status, or religion, she befriended them all. She didn't judge people, and she would give the shoes off her feet to help someone in need. But days like today were becoming a little more common, which really bothered her.

Mary walked through the door, threw her keys on the coffee table, and laid her coat on the arm of the couch. She dropped herself backward into her overstuffed couch, making a whoosh-like sound; it mimicked her mood, as if to give out a big sigh. She grabbed the remote and pointed it toward the TV. With her finger over the power button, she froze, staring at the blank screen. Her mind took her back to a memory from fifth grade, and she lowered the remote to her side.

She remembered carrying her violin case to the band room, worrying about how she was going to face Mr. Stilp. The truth was that he was a rigid, bitter man with very little compassion for children—or anyone, for that matter. Looking back, it was a mystery why he had ever wanted to work with children. He didn't even seem to like them. As she walked to the band room, she wondered how on earth she was going to break the news to him that she had no desire to keep taking lessons.

Mary's parents had always encouraged her to explore new things. If she didn't like something, she could always move on to something else.

"You'll never know unless you try," they'd always said..

Mr. Stilp could not have disagreed more. "Once a quitter, always a quitter," he scolded her after she broke the news to him. "You are setting the tone for the rest of your life. You will never be successful at anything if you quit every time things get hard. If you walk out that door, you will always be a quitter in my mind."

If that was some kind of pep talk to convince her to stay, it had sure backfired. Mary couldn't have left the room fast enough. She was trembling inside as she walked down the hall.

Mary was snapped out of her trance by the familiar ringtone of her phone. It was her best friend, Susan.

"Mary, what happened today? I stopped in, and you weren't there. Tim told me you quit."

It was not as if it had been some big career opportunity. She had been a clerk at a gas station. In the beginning, Mary thought it sounded like a fun job. She could meet different people each day and get to know the regulars; even if it wasn't that challenging, at least she wouldn't get bored. Truth be told, on most days she really liked it.

Mary replied, "Two words: Weird Tony."

Susan gasped, "Him again? That guy is so creepy! I don't blame you. What did he do?"

"Um, nothing really; I can't explain it. He just made me so uneasy—I hated it. I probably sound paranoid, but when he came into the station, I couldn't handle it. I felt I was being stalked. Today, when I was giving him change, he actually stroked my hand as he took the money from me. I just froze. He smiled that eerie smile and walked out. I feel bad quitting like that—Tim was a great boss—but I didn't see any reason to keep working there. I wasn't willing to risk it."

Mary had never been any good at confrontation or standing up for herself. She was always more flight than fight.

"Hey, Susan, do you think that there are defining moments in a child's life that set the tone for who they become when they grow up?"

"Oh, Mary, not the violin lesson story again. You're killing me! All of those years of straight As—and teachers who loved you and believed in you—and what do you cling to? Something that jerk said to you over twenty years ago. Why give Stilp the satisfaction of being right? You are one of the smartest, most genuine, and most talented people I know, and you have a heart of gold too, babe. Please don't do this to yourself."

"I know. You're right," Mary said. "I just wonder sometimes where I'd be if I had finished college."

Mary had dropped out during her sophomore year at Penn State when her parents, Jack and Beverly O'Connor, died suddenly in a plane crash. Mary was an only child, and between grieving and handling the estate, continuing her classes had been more than she could manage. She had decided to put her education on hold. Now, six years and a streak of dead-end jobs later, that goal seemed further away than ever.

One thing Mary avoided talking about was the night her parents died. She never claimed to be psychic, because she didn't predict their plane crash, but she did see it happen in her sleep at the exact time of the crash. She had dreamed of their faces and the panic and horror they felt, clinging to each other in their last moments. A second before the impact, Mary sat straight up in bed, screaming, waking up her then-roommate, Susan. Mary had sworn her to secrecy. She was worried that people would think she was weird or different or that she was just making it up for attention. Either way, she thought it was a little strange herself. From that point on, Mary made a habit of dismissing any similarities between her dreams and the small events that would take place. She convinced herself that they were just coincidences. She didn't understand them, and it kind of scared her when she thought about it.

"Why don't you just go back and finish college?" Susan asked. "You know that is what Jack and Beverly would want. They left you more than enough money to go to any school of your choice. It doesn't have to be Penn State, you know?"

Mary half listened as she walked into the kitchen with the phone propped between her ear and shoulder and started to dig through the cabinet.

"I don't know," she said. "I still haven't figured out what I want to be when I grow up." The girls both giggled. Mary pulled out a bottle of wine, while Susan kept up her back-to-school speech.

"If you just put your mind to it ..." Susan rambled on.

Mary looked at the clock, and realizing it was only three thirty in the afternoon, she put the bottle back in the cabinet.

Of course, the next words out of Susan's mouth were, "You know what you need? A drink! I am coming to get you, and we are hitting happy hour at Shooters. Maybe we'll even get you a man!" For some reason, boys and drinking were Susan's answer to everything.

"Um, I think I'll pass. You are becoming a bad influence on me you know."

"Well, I should hope so," Susan teased. "My friend—the Virgin Mary."

"Yep, that's me. Whatcha gonna do?"

Mary poured herself a glass of water, taking Susan's teasing in stride. She watched the ice cubes crackle as the water surrounded them. Holding the glass up to the window, she observed how the rays of sunlight danced through the ice and reflected on the water. She smiled in awe. It was the little things in life that she noticed and enjoyed; she looked at the world through the gleaming eyes of a child.

Her focus moved from the glass to the scenery outside her little apartment window. It was Mary's favorite time of year. Everything was a luscious green, and the weather could never seem to make up its mind. One day it would be as hot as in the middle of summer, and the next day would offer a cool breeze, reminding her that fall was approaching. It provided the perfect scenario for storms, and Illinois had its share, which she liked.

Mary's mind drifted away from Susan's voice and off to a time when she was a little girl sitting on the front porch swing outside her colonial Pennsylvania home with her dad. They would spend hours watching thunderous clouds roll in, pointing to the strikes of lightning, and competing to see who could spot the biggest one. She really missed those days. Even though she liked Illinois, her heart was still in Pennsylvania. It made her homesick just thinking about it.

Mary had not been back to Pennsylvania since her parents died. She had become a bit of a drifter, struggling to find her way. She ended up renting a cute little apartment in the suburbs of Chicago, near Susan and Joe's house. Susan and Joe were the closest thing Mary had to living relatives, aside from her grandmother who was in a nursing home in Glen Ellyn where Susan worked.

"You know, you are not getting any younger, Mary; don't you think it's time? Hello? Mary? Are you still there?"

"Yeah, I'm here, but I think I'm going to pass on happy hour tonight. You go, and have fun. And try to behave yourself. Remember, you are still married."

At times, Mary worried about her friend. Susan was a big flirt. She was five foot four inches tall with cute blond hair that was styled in a blunt bob—for this week anyway. She was up on all the latest fashion trends, so her look was constantly changing. One thing that remained the same was that she always looked great. She had the perfect little figure and a bouncy personality to match. People noticed her wherever she went, and she sure enjoyed the attention. Susan married her college sweetheart, Joe, who was probably the best husband any woman could dream of. He was almost too perfect. Joe absolutely adored her and put up with all of her antics and silliness. She could do no wrong in his eyes.

"Seriously," Mary thought, "that guy is a saint." Even though they were a great couple, she believed that Susan was not as content with settling down as Joe was. That girl seemed to have a lot of party left in her, which bothered Mary. "I just hope she doesn't screw it up," she thought.

"I'm just kidding, Suze," Mary said aloud. "Give me a call tomorrow. Maybe I'll come to work with you if that's cool."

"Sounds like a plan, hon. And cheer up, will ya? It was just a job at a gas station."

"I know. All right, talk to you later."

"Okay, by."

It wasn't leaving the job that had Mary so upset. The thing that was haunting her right now was the image of Tony touching her hand and that look of triumph in his evil grin. Shivers went down her spine every time she thought of him touching her. She resumed her place back on the couch with her water, unable to get comfortable this time.

Wanting to smile again, she held the glass off to the side, trying to catch another ray of sunlight. Of course, the sky was beginning to cloud up.

"Well, some things just can't be duplicated," she thought. She stared at the glass anyway, and her thoughts returned to Tony. He wasn't someone you'd just look at and be afraid of. Some girls would even think he was hot. He had a medium, athletic build, jet-black hair that looked as if it had been styled to be messy on purpose, a five-o'clock shadow (no matter what time of day), and blue eyes. The eyes were what got to her. They were not a pretty blue but more of a hardened, steel gray. He had a look and feel about him like a mean dog that had finally turned on its owner after getting kicked and beaten one too many times—friendly from a distance until you tried to pet it.

He reminded her of a stray husky from the neighborhood where grew up. "I swear that dog was part wolf," she thought. "He'd stare right through you." She didn't know what had happened to him but hoped that someone had put him down. After all, he had bitten two of the kids on the block. One night, when she had been walking home from her friend's house, she noticed the dog roaming the streets and stopped dead in her tracks. The dog's stone-cold eyes met with hers, and he lowered his head and started to circle her. Mary had closed her eyes tight.

"Don't look at him," she had thought. "No sudden movements." She had tried to remember what her parents told her to do if she ever came across him. She could feel him close to her, even though her eyes were closed. She waited, and as soon as his presence felt distant enough for her to relax, she let out a big exhale and opened her eyes. He was gone, but somehow she had already known that.

"I think that dog was reincarnated as Tony," she laughed to herself, trying to make light of her fears. He gave her the same uneasy feeling, that was for sure. But with Tony, there was something a lot deeper. She explained it to Susan as if there were a magnetic force but not the one that draws you together. She felt a push repelling her from him when he came close. She just wished that he felt it too so he would stay away from her.

Mary began getting upset again, thinking of that moment when he had touched her hand. She felt violated and was angry about it. She looked at her hand, which was holding the glass of water. The spot where he had touched her began to pulse and throb. Mary looked puzzled as she watched her thumbnail turn gray and the veins in her hand begin to bulge.

She gasped and dropped her glass of water. She ran into the kitchen to examine her hand closer in the bright light. Her hand looked fine.

"Okay, I am really losing it this time," she thought. "Now I am seeing things."

Chapter Two

The Dream

"A good night's sleep is really all I need. Tomorrow is a new day," Mary thought. All of Susan's yapping must have paid off, because she was beginning to think that Susan was right. She had gone from considering the idea to convincing herself of its merit.

"It is not too late for me to go back to college," she said. "It is exactly what I need—a fresh start. I am going to look at schools first thing in the morning." Mary was excited. She had something to focus her energy on now. And once she made up her mind about anything, there was no talking her out of it. Now, she just had to pick the right school. It couldn't be just any college, of course.

Mary put on her favorite, oversized, faded, Steeler's T-shirt and pulled out her ponytail holder, letting her long, dark hair fall onto her exposed shoulder. She brushed her teeth vigorously while thoughts of the endless possibilities for her future raced through her mind. She wondered what tomorrow would bring.

"I will make them proud someday," she said, thinking of her parents.

She rinsed her mouth and smiled, leaning toward the mirror to inspect her job of brushing. She was a pretty girl, and every now and then even she noticed. She had deep green eyes with specks of yellow that were like rays of sunlight peeking through a rain forest. Mary was taller and more athletic than her friend Susan was, and she relied solely on her natural beauty. She didn't need makeup or fancy clothes, which Susan sometimes envied about her. Mary had a great complexion with a sprinkle of sun freckles across her lightly tanned nose and cheekbones. The girl-next-door dimples were enough to make any guy go weak in the knees. Susan had thought of giving her friend a makeover just to see how stunning she could truly look. That was until she realized that Mary might possibly steal her spotlight. Mary didn't need any help from Susan with her appearance; plus, Mary was happy with the way she looked and dressed. Susan decided not to mess with it but continued to give more thought to Mary's looks than Mary did.

Mary gave herself a wink in the mirror, snickered at her own goofiness, and headed off to bed. As she lay there staring at the ceiling fan, she decided to say a quick prayer for some guidance.

"Lord, please give me the strength to follow-through this time, to do your will, and to be the best person I can be. Please guide me to the right college, and help me make the right choices. Help me to resist temptation (better than Susan could), and most of all, keep me from becoming a quitter (like that stupid teacher Stilp told me I'd be). Oops, sorry, God. I take that last part back—well, the names in the prayer anyway. Which reminds me ... Please grant me forgiveness for my trespasses, and help me to forgive those who trespass against me. Also, don't forget Gram and Helen. Watch over those old gals, and be sure to stay close to them in their final days. If you don't mind God, I wouldn't mind finding my soul mate one of these days—when you think I am ready, of course—but I am not getting any younger, as you know." Mary always pictured God as having a sense of humor. "Okay, I'm done. Amen."

(Continues...)

Excerpted from A Touch of Faithby KATHLEEN SCHIPPER Copyright © 2012 by Kathleen Schipper. Excerpted by permission of Abbott Press. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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