My Name Is Nevaeh

Darlene K Gatto

Description

Nevaeh was three years old when her Dad took her from her,drug addict mother. Dave was not going to let anymore harm come to his baby girl,and he left the state of Wa. with her.

When Nevaeh is three years old, her Dad removes her from the custody of her drug-addicted mother, Jade. He checks Jade in to a drug rehab center and then takes his daughter from Washington State to Texas to stay with his parents. He deploys to Iraq soon after—where he is killed when his vehicle drives over a land mine.

Living on her grandparents’ farm, Nevaeh grows up knowing the love of her grandparents and of her father, who left an insurance policy in Nevaeh’s name, which goes into a trust account for her until she is eighteen. But she knows next to nothing about her mother—only that her name is Jade and that she lives near Seattle. So she sets out on a journey to learn what she can about her past, relying on God, her savior and protector, to help her. What she discovers is an adventure of danger and love that leads her to the life God has ordained for her.

This novella tells the story of a young woman who sets out in search of her past and takes the opportunity to build a new life for herself and those she loves.

Sujets

• Religious
• Thrillers
• Romance
• Suspense
• Fiction

Informations

• Publié par: Archway Publishing
• Date de parution: 16 novembre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781665728751
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

My Name is NEVAEH
 
 
 
 
DARLENE K GATTO
Artwork by Sherrie McKe nzie
 
 
 

 
Copyright © 2022 Darlene K Gatto.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
 
Archway Publishing
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.archwaypublishing.com
844-669-3957
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
ISBN: 978-1-6657-2874-4 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6657-2875-1 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2022915179
 
Archway Publishing rev. date: 11/15/2022


A S I UNLOCKED THE DOOR of the townhome and walked down the hallway, I could hear my baby girl, Nevaeh, crying outside in the backyard. As I headed to the back door, I passed the sofa and found my wife, Jade, passed out in another drug-induced state of mind, oblivious to the world around her. I went outside and found my baby girl in the far corner of the yard with a little bit of shade covering her small body. She was sobbing softly as I picked her up, her diaper dripping wet and her skin red from the sun. I was livid; how long had she been out there? I was done with my wife; this was the last time she would neglect our daughter. I picked up Nevaeh, carried her inside, washed her little face, fed her, and gave her some milk. I took my daughter upstairs and bathed my little treasure. I put recovery gel on her skin to keep the sunburn to a minimum and took her next door to my neighbor, who was a sweet, godly woman. She had just written her first book, titled My Best Friend , and had given it to Nevaeh. I went back into the house, packed a few essentials for Jade, and carried her to the car. I drove her to the recovery center and checked her in for six months. I called my boss and asked for an emergency vacation, as I would be deployed in a few weeks. I took Nevaeh and went to a small town in Texas where my mom and dad lived. I explained the circumstances of the last few months and asked them to keep Nevaeh for me in a guardianship position until I got back from deployment. They loved Nevaeh, and it was no hardship on their part, so of course they would take her. The few remaining days before I had to leave were wonderful. Nevaeh was so happy, not asking for her mother at all and not caring she had not seen her for days and weeks. She was excited to be there.
Early the next morning, I left for Iraq, and that was the last time I saw my baby girl. While I was driving in Iraq with a buddy of mine, my life ended when I drove over a land mine. Nevaeh would never know how much her daddy loved her, except through his parents. I had left a nice life insurance policy in Nevaeh’s name only, and my parents put it into a trust account for her until she was eighteen and out of school. She grew up on my parents’ farm where she loved playing with the animals and had the love of my mother and father. She grew up hearing about me every day; they told her of my walk with God and that someday I would see her again. Nevaeh loved her little corner of the world with her father’s parents but was always curious about her mother. As she grew older, she would talk to her grandmother about her, but her grandmother did not know much more then Nevaeh did—just that her name was Jade. Her grandparents were getting quite old by the time Nevaeh’s graduation came and went. They loved her so much and always told her about her best friend, Jesus. Nevaeh grew to love him so much that by the time her grandparents died, Jesus was her only friend. In tears and feeling so alone, she sold the farm and went to Washington State to find Jade, the mother she never knew.
Jade woke up in the drug recovery center and tried to remember how she had gotten there. Her head was going to explode. She was scared and wondered where Nevaeh was. She thought, Oh God, where is my baby? She broke down in hysterical tears. How had this happened to her? How had her world become so complicated?
For the next ten to fifteen years, Jade found herself in and out of the recovery center, wishing to God she could get rid of this beast inside her. In her more lucid moments, she would think of her baby and husband, and that would send her on another spiraling roller coaster into hell. She would get some relief from the monsters inside of her through the drugs that would make her forget and live in a world where there were no problems and no consequences for her part in Nevaeh’s life. One day Jade had had enough; she was done, and she was going to end it all forever. At least , she thought, I will be free . Jade slit her wrists in one final attempt to get rid of the voices inside her. Her next-door neighbor, Jan, heard her scream as she fell to the floor and called 911. Jade lived through that encounter with death. Jan took her home and nursed her back to health. She told her about a man who had died on the cross for her sins and how much he loved her. Slowly over time, Jade got better and better with the help of her neighbor. Jade came to know Jesus as her best friend and Savior.
It was a cold and rainy day in Seattle when Nevaeh got off the plane. Over the years, she had kept in contact with the wonderful woman who had taken care of her all those years ago. She called her from the airport that morning and told her she was in town to find her mother and see if she could help her. The lady, Jan, told her to come to her house straight away; she had a long and wonderful story to tell her.
Jan called Jade and told her Nevaeh was in Seattle and that she was looking for her mother. Jade started crying in remorse for all the years she had lost with her daughter; she also knew this young lady may never want to claim her as her mother, but Jade felt she had a new friend in her world, and she could trust them with all her heart. She also knew Jesus would help her through this hard time, and she would not have to rely on drugs or herself to get through this. Jade hung up the phone and fell to her knees, sobbing and begging Jesus to forgive her for abandoning her little girl all those years ago and, if there was a way to make up for the lost time, to please give her the wisdom and courage to do this for Nevaeh’s sake. After a while, Jade, totally and emotionally drained, got up from the floor, cooled her face with a cold cloth, and walked next door where she waited for her daughter’s return to her world.
In the meantime, Nevaeh was praying a similar prayer as she rode in a taxi to Port Orchard. She had a deep faith and knew God was in control of this day, but she was still excited and nervous at the same time. Would her mother claim her as her daughter, or would the woman who’d given birth to her reject her yet again? Nevaeh took a deep breath to steady her pulse and asked God to give her the courage and wisdom to get through the next few hours. Three hours later, the taxi stopped in front of Jan’s house, the neighbor lady who had taken care of her all those years ago. Nevaeh slowly got out of the car and looked up at the house as the taxi pulled away and drove down the road. “It’s now or never,” she said to herself.