Neave Bailey Writes

  • New story!

    It’s been a minute, but I’ve gotten a wild hair and a new short story is coming soon. I can’t bear to leave my beloved New Albany, so we’ll travel a few years in the future and meet some new faces. What happens when the most gregarious personal trainer in town just can’t stop thinking about the painfully shy and obviously not fitness-inclined young lady who recently showed up at his church? It’s not so much opposites attract (although there is that) as it is a tale of persistent care, much like the God who persists in caring for all of His children through every challenge and change of life.

  • Come Home 15

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    Home

    It was exhausting to drain your soul, then drive over two hours and have to cook dinner. Cecilia was not convinced this was a good idea. But she had said she’d be there, and she was determined not to let her friends down.

    Friends. Cecilia Chatsworth had friends!

    (more…)

  • Come Home 14

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    Goodbye

    “Gary?” Cecilia called tentatively into the barn door opening. It was dark inside, and she’d never stepped foot there. Glancing down, she decided staying outside was probably best, given her choice of cheap rubber flip-flops for footwear.

    (more…)

  • Come Home 13

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    Sophie

    “Cecilia?” came a voice over her shoulder at church a few weeks after that surprisingly life-changing dinner with Mrs. Concord.

    (more…)

  • Come Home 12

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    Mrs. Concord

    “Good ev’nin’, Pastor,” she heard Gary speak as he opened the front door. She couldn’t quite make out the response, but heard the shuffling of shoes and the not-so-gentle bang of the front screen door.

    (more…)

  • Come Home 11

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    China

    “Cecilia?” Ephraim’s voice floated through the back door and into the kitchen like a warm summer breeze. She brushed the loose bits of flour and dough off her fingers and poked her head around the corner.

    (more…)

  • Come Home 10

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    Father

    “Come outside wi’ me for a minute,” Gary requested – demanded? – as she finished unloading the grocery sacks. Cecilia squinted at the unusual request, but ultimately nodded. She tucked the milk where it belonged on the top shelf of the fridge, then followed him out the Dutch back door.

    (more…)

  • Come Home 9

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    Hiding

    Sundays were hard. Every week, Cecilia pushed herself to put on her nicest jeans and newest t-shirt, but she still felt lacking. She really should go buy a new pair of pants, but she still didn’t feel financially stable. The income from Gary was helping – slowly. Not quite quickly enough for dress pants, though. How could there not be a resale shop in this town?

    (more…)

  • Come Home 8

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    Caleb

    Ephraim dried the dishes again, and this time, he did more talking.

    (more…)

  • Come Home 7

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    Legacy

    Cecilia showed up at Gary’s farmhouse at 4:30 Friday evening, panicking about the short timeline. It wasn’t that she couldn’t make anything in an hour and a half, but rather that she had wanted to make something more special than she now could.

    (more…)