Pursued by Love

Paula Moore, an insurance investigator, with her best friend, Consuela Del Santos work to discover the legality of the claims assigned to them, managing to find humor in the direst circumstances. But Paula discovers that some of her claimants are curious characters—even dangerous. Feeling overwhelmed by stress, she becomes acquainted with the sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and is attracted by the beautiful, spiritual life they enjoy. She decides to accept the invitation to stay at their convent on weekends, while maintaining her job at Gardner Insurance, to discern her own religious calling; but at the end of a year discovers that she has an illness and is forced her to put her vocation on hold. She is then thrust deeper into the tempestuous turmoil of her investigative work. Paula continues to be drawn into the lives of people who make up her world. Among them is Scott Higgins, whom she is attracted to but who has complications of his own, a young single mother with an alcohol addiction, and a priest and nun who are ready to take on anyone who threatens their friends in the inner city—even drug lords. But the most disturbing character is the one who keeps threatening Paula without revealing their identity. Through all of this Paula is called by the Holy Spirit to enter more deeply into the Divine mystery and splendor of the spiritual life. His love is revealed like an unfolding symphony; and in the crescendo of the story, the threads of mystery come together in a twist of irony. "Now, she was suspended between Heaven and earth above the concrete canyons of Hartford’s office buildings. In a rush she remembered the canyons in the West: glorious open cathedrals of stone—blazing color in the sunlight—yawning abysses of shadow in the evening. Exploring them had been terrifying and thrilling. The same feelings began to invade her now as a prickly sensation radiated out from her stomach, rippling through her chest, her limbs, down her arms through her fingers and toes, making her heart race, her breathing shallow, bubbling in her brain making her feel light headed—making her want to let go and fly through space. Looking up at an ebony sky swirling in silvered clouds, she imagined that all of Heaven were holding their breath waiting for her decision. Was she ready to risk everything for Love? What events in the story of her life had brought her to this . . . ?"