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The Bottle House

By Susan Grant

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CHAPTER 1

“Not guilty.”

The crack of the gavel punctuated the words he’d
feared most. Stefan’s stomach dropped, and he quickly
sat down, afraid his legs would buckle. He chanced a look
at his client, Allie Barker, who sat with her hands over her
face, her shoulders heaving as the waves of the verdict
washed over her. Three-year-old Lauren sat in her mini
wheelchair and stared at her mother, not understanding
what had just happened.

Stefan looked around the courtroom, and his gaze
stopped at the jury box. Two of the very people who had
decided Allie’s fate were now dabbing at their eyes with
tissues.

Oh, Lord, how could this have happened? You know how
much Allie needed a win in her personal injury case but,
no! You refused to help. Now she and little Lauren will not
have the funds to aid in Lauren’s ongoing medical bills. I
hope you’re happy as you notice the suffering you could
have prevented.

As the courtroom cleared, one of the jurors who had
been crying walked slowly to their table, seemingly unsure
she would be welcomed. Nervousness joined anger and
regret in Stefan’s gut. He quickly reached for his notes
and folders, sure this woman would blame him for his
inadequacies that ultimately lost the case for Allie. Stefan
rose as she came near.

“I’m so sorry this case turned out the way it did.” The
juror pulled at the crumpled tissue in her hand. “Watching
little Lauren, realizing she will never walk again, broke my
heart.” The woman’s voice wavered. “I know I voted not
guilty, but I want you to know I noticed the hurt, grief,
and devastation Ms. Barker and Lauren have now and will
continue to have to live with. In spite of how it looks, I do
care.”

Stefan nodded.

“It was obvious to me the recall on her car was not
fixed, and there was a strong possibility the mechanic Ms.
Barker spoke with acted out of spite, causing the horrible
accident. I just couldn’t vote guilty, because the man
did not testify in court. I needed to hear from him, but
I didn’t.” She looked down and stiffened her shoulders
before turning and walking away. Her words only added
to the large helping of guilt Stefan already held.
He could feel heat fill his cheeks as he sat back down
and looked at his client.

Allie turned and their eyes met. Stefan’s body drew
back involuntarily as he saw the look of anguish on this
young mother’s face. Her hands, wet from tears, shook
as she pulled a lock of hair out of her eyes and tucked it
behind one ear.

“It’s okay, Mr. Krause. You did everything you could to
help me and Lauren. We’ll get by. You’ll see.”
Allie wiped her eyes once more. Gathering her things,
she rose, unlocked the brakes on Lauren’s wheelchair,
and slowly pushed her disabled daughter from the room.

Stefan rubbed at the stiffness in his neck. He knew he
should have said something in reply or, at the very least,
apologized for his failure. Instead, he began shoving
papers into his briefcase, disgusted with himself.
He left the courtroom and marched to his car, pulling
the knot of his tie loose as he walked. After tossing his
briefcase onto the passenger seat, Stefan got in and drove
down a road he traveled daily, passing the church he
had attended with his late wife, Sophie. In that moment,
Stefan’s angered focused on God once again. He had
refused to return for Sunday services since Sophie had
died of colon cancer a year and a half ago. Any god who
failed to extend his mercy to his beautiful wife was not a
god he wanted to worship.

As his feelings of despair mounted, he stepped on
the accelerator more than usual, sending his car ahead
at a dangerous speed. He no longer cared. So what if he
crashed the car? He’d be better off dead anyway. He no
longer had his wife to live for and had heaped additional
anguish on his young client. The weight of self-loathing
was getting too much to carry.

Arriving at his law firm, Stefan grabbed his briefcase
and walked into the building. Mrs. Warren, his secretary
and paralegal, had gone home for the day, and he breathed
a sigh of relief. He didn’t feel like talking about the lost
court case. He had other accusations to tend to.
Stefan swung his briefcase onto his desk with a bang.
As he began to open the clasps, his eyes were drawn
unswervingly to Sophie’s picture sitting on the right
corner of his desk. Stefan sat down heavily in his chair.
“What must you think of your husband today?” Stefan
said, speaking to the picture. “I lost the court case. There’s
a part of me that’s glad you aren’t here to see my failure.”
After a moment, his anger stirred again, and his hands
curled into fists.

“How could you have continued to put your faith in a
god who doesn’t care about the agony of a young, single
mother and her crippled daughter? One who desperately
needed the financial help that a favorable ruling in her
case would have provided?”
Stefan sucked in a deep breath as he realized he also felt
anger for his dead wife. Repulsed at this thought, Stefan
Susan Grant
4
jumped up and moved away from the desk, preventing
Sophie’s picture from throwing accusations at him. The
window in the office drew him, and Stefan took a long
look out at the shade of a maple tree, gnarled with age.
As his spirit relaxed a bit, he continued his conversation
with his late wife in a softer tone.

“Sophie, please tell me how you could love a god who
allowed such pain to throb through your body, ultimately
taking your breath permanently away.”
He waited for an answer but knew none would come.
After a moment, Stefan turned and walked out of the
building, determined to never enter it again.

I hope the dead cannot see all of the sorrows that
saturate this life.

Stefan stood near his wife’s headstone, his shoulders
hunched.

“Oh, Sophie, I’m so ashamed. I failed you, and now
I’ve failed Allie. When you needed encouragement and
support so badly, I crumbled under my own pain. You
were the one with colon cancer. You were the one who had
to endure unthinkable pain, and yet, I focused on mine.”
Stefan’s lips trembled as a tear traced the curve of his
cheek. “And now I’ve failed Allie and Lauren too.”

Stefan sat down hard under a tree and gazed at Sophie’s
grave. The image of little Lauren with her blonde pigtails,
confined to a miniature wheelchair when she should be
running and playing, filled his mind. He placed his head
in his hands and cried.

How could the jury side with the car manufacturer?
They knew the mechanic was vindictive and had destroyed
the evidence that would have proved he had not replaced
Allie’s airbag.

Stefan’s mind went next to Allie’s face as the foreman
gave the verdict. He could see the shock in her eyes and
her body collapse in her chair as she covered her face with
her hands. The mental picture tore at Stefan’s heart, and
he felt ashamed. He stood quickly and strode to his car. He
drove home but, instead of going inside, marched straight
to the beach.

He lifted his gaze from the ocean before him and up
to the heavens. “What kind of attorney am I? I should
have pursued subpoenaing the mechanic, no matter what
he would testify to.” He shook his head. “Now, Allie and
Lauren will not have the financial protection they deserve,
and it’s all because of me. I’ve failed them.”

Looking out at the water, Stefan remembered Sophie
saying the waves washing in and out was the ocean’s way
of sweeping the clutter from the shore and making it clean
once more, and what a beautiful picture of what God does
for our hearts.

Stefan continued to speak to the heavens. “I don’t
know why my wife loved you so much, God. You’ve taken
her away from me, broken my spirit, and now taken away
my career.”

He paused, lowered his eyes, and shook his head. “The
Barkers would be better off without me. I did them no
good. I failed Sophie when she needed me most, and you
must think I’m pathetic.”

His chest felt tight, as if it were suffocating him. As a
wave washed over his shoes, he spoke softly, “I’m sorry,
Sophie.”

He staggered forward, the salty water washing over his
head

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