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Mertie dropped Olive off before Doyle had made it home. Olive knew that because his truck was still sitting there at Norma Jean and Miles’s house when they left. And Mertie took her right home.

“Are you nervous about your wedding tomorrow?” she asked, knowing that she would be. A lifetime was a long time to pledge to someone else. How did she know it was the right person? How did she know that she was going to be able to keep the vows that she was going to make before God? How did she know that the person she was going to marry wasn’t going to change and morph into someone else over the years?

“No. I have absolute confidence that this is what God wants for me. I would be foolish to not.”

“How do you have that confidence?” she asked, knowing she should have gotten out of the car and gone into the house. If she wanted to talk to her sister, she should have done it earlier, but now she was holding her up.

“I suppose with years of Bible study, prayer, and definitely getting Scripture into your mind every way you can, but...sometimes God just works things out in such a way that you know.”

“I wish you could explain that.”

“You might read Scripture that tells you, you might have a friend that you trust who says something that seems like an answer. You might get advice from other people who are saying the same thing. Or maybe the events line up in your life, one thing falls into place after another, and you’re just sure of it. But I think maybe when you get saved, the Holy Spirit comes and dwells in you. It says so in Acts. And when you sin, if you’re paying attention, the Holy Spirit will make you feel guilty for that sin. You feel bad when you grieve the Holy Spirit. Because obviously, the Holy Spirit can’t stand sin. So if you’re doing something right, you have a feeling of peace, total absence of concern and fear. It will just feel exactly right, and you’ll know that God is in it. I suppose, it’s just the way sometimes you wake up in the morning and you don’t even have to open your eyes and you know it’s light out, you know? The sunshine is there, and you can see it without opening your eyes.”

“I see. I guess I’ve never been that sure about anything.”

“Maybe you’ve never asked God to show you and lead you.”

“I suppose I haven’t. I’ve been more interested in doing things my own way.” Although she did definitely feel like coming back to the United States and to Raspberry Ridge was the exact right decision. Maybe that was the confidence that a person had when God was in control.

“I just wish I would have spent more of my life doing what God wanted than what I wanted.”

“You can’t look at the past and regret it. You can look at the past and learn from it, but spend as little time as possible in the past. You can’t change it. God still has work for you to do because you’re still here, so don’t be discouraged, don’t think that there’s nothing left for you, just open your eyes, look around you at the work in front of you, and then put your hand to the plow, whatever it is, and just do it with all your heart.”

“I don’t know if I’ve ever said this to you, but I’m so thankful that you’re my sister. I think there are a lot of people who wish that they had access to you the way I do. I’m blessed.” And she hadn’t taken the time to be thankful for it nearly as much as what she should have.

“I think that’s me. You’re a great sister, and not everyone has someone who is so well-traveled in their family.”

“I don’t think it compares, but okay,” she said, yanking the handle and pushing out the door. “Thanks a lot for taking me today, I appreciate it,” she said, slamming the door shut and then opening the back door so she could get her baby.

“I appreciate you rolling with the change of plans, and I’m sorry I forgot to call.”

“You’re getting married tomorrow. You have a lot of things going on. I’m certainly not upset that you forgot one little thing like a phone call to me.”

“Lesser things have split a church,” Mertie said, and they grinned at the reference to their earlier conversation.

Mertie waved, Olive shut the door, and she drove off.

What God had for her to do. Right where she was.

She looked around at the slightly crumbling house and figured that maybe when she had a little bit more time and energy, she would talk to Doyle about fixing it up. She didn’t have a whole lot of experience in that type of thing, but she’d done her share of impromptu electrical and plumbing bandages at the various places she’d stayed around the world. Surely, with online videos at her fingertips, she could fix this old house.

As she walked up the walk, she saw that Cassie sat on the porch.

Look around you, see what God has right in front of you.

She was exhausted, her feet hurt, and her back between her shoulder blades ached, but Cassie was who God had right in front of her, and instead of being a light to Cassie, she’d almost acted like they were enemies.

“Is it okay if I sit down?” she asked, nodding at the chair that sat slightly at an angle to Cassie’s.

“Sure. I thought you and Doyle were out together.”

“Well, actually we kind of were, although it was an accident.”

“Really?” Cassie said, lifting her brows, her dark eyes holding suspicion.

“Yeah, I expected to be going to my sisters’ house to help get it ready to sell. When I got there, Mertie was on her way to Miles and Norma Jean’s house to do Bible study. When we got there, Doyle was already there, just coming down the walk. I assume he was...maybe asking where Miles was? Anyway, he was there the whole time I was, but I didn’t see him again.”

“What’s between you two?” Cassie asked, and her question seemed to hold a little bit of accusation. It ruffled Olive’s feathers, but she tried to rein her irritation in. She was going to be kind. She could hardly show love if she was irritated.

“We were together for a little bit years ago. We both grew up here in Raspberry Ridge.”

“Such a cute little town,” Cassie said, and it almost could have been an insult, but Olive kind of thought she might have meant it. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to interrupt you. Go on. You grew up here. So you’ve known each other forever.”

“Yeah, pretty much. We went to the same church forever, and we played together, since we were the only two kids our age in town. I had a sister who was older and a younger sister, and he had an older sister too.”

“He does?”

“I think I heard she passed away.” She hadn’t thought about her in a long time and certainly not since she’d come home. There were too many other things on her mind, and now she felt bad. She should have talked to Doyle about it immediately.

“That’s too bad. I didn’t know.”

“If you were his housekeeper in Chicago, I think it was just a few years ago.”

“If it was, he never said. He didn’t usually talk to me too much.”

“I see.”

“Anyway, you guys were together since you were little?”

“No. We were friends, and I guess after our senior year of high school, we felt like we were more. I came up for the summer, and we were kind of a couple for a few months, but... I didn’t want to stay in town. I had big dreams of traveling the world, and I don’t really know what his plans were. Stay in Raspberry Ridge and get a job and be happy.”

“Well, he’s done far more than that. You know he’s rich, right?”

This news did shock Olive, although she tried to hide just how much. She had never been interested in Doyle for his money. When they’d been together, he didn’t have any.

“I didn’t really know what he was doing. I assumed he could afford to pay me what he said he was going to, and he didn’t seem to think hard to put you on the payroll either. But beyond that, I guess I hadn’t thought about it.”

“Well, he was into managing some properties. He was good at it, and he ended up with his own business. I know that much at least. He seems to be doing pretty well for himself anyway. His place in Chicago was really, really nice. This is dumpy compared to that.”

Olive almost felt like she and Cassie were having a regular conversation. The kind of conversation two friends might have. Two people who weren’t antagonistic toward each other and at each other’s throats constantly. She didn’t want to examine it too much or cause Cassie to forget who she was talking to and go back to her not-very-nice treatment.

“Is this where he lived growing up?” Cassie asked while Olive was still trying to figure out what to say about the dumpy comment.

“No. They had a house along Main Street. But I think his dad was from Canada, and his parents moved back there not long after we graduated.”

“I can’t believe he didn’t move back with them.”

“I don’t think they were very close. He told me once he thought he was adopted, but I never really talked to him about that.”

“I see.”

“Why are you here?” She figured she might as well be as blunt as what Cassie had been being. And just hope she didn’t offend her.

“You probably wouldn’t understand.”

“Try me.”

Livvy fussed a little, and she prayed silently that Livvy would stay asleep long enough for her to have a conversation with Cassie. She liked this feeling that maybe they could be friends. Which surprised her since she wouldn’t have said that at all after their first interactions together, when Cassie seemed to be trying to push her aside.

“You have your sisters, a nice little relationship with them, and this cute town where everyone knows your name and loves you. The city isn’t like that.”

“You have family there. Doyle said so anyway.”

“It’s not the same. We’re not close, and my friends are a lot more cutthroat...kind of the way I was when I first came. But you... You didn’t let me push you out, but you were kind to me when I wasn’t kind to you. It’s like you didn’t allow me trying to take your job to bother you. And I can only figure out that that was because you had the support system of your sisters in this town.”

“Well, it’s more like I have the Lord. Whatever He works out, I just know He’s going to take care of me.”

“That’s ridiculous. I wouldn’t have pegged you as someone who believed in fairy tales. I mean, it’s one thing to go to church. That’s like a community or whatever, but it’s another thing to actually believe that.”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to, but I do.” She looked at her shoulder. Not sure what else to say. It wasn’t exactly the best time to get into a whole explanation of the Bible and what she believed.

“Christians are supposed to love everyone. I guess that’s what you were trying to do when you were nice to me.”

“I think it goes a little bit further than that, you know, the golden rule and all of that.”

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you?” Cassie said with a laugh in her voice. “That never works.”

“I don’t know that it’s necessarily something that you’re trying to get to work. It’s just a rule to live by. If everyone lived by it, the world would be a better place.”

“It sure would, but if you’re not going to live by it, I’m not going to waste my time living by it either.”

“I guess that’s where we differ. I believe in a God who loves me and who takes care of me but also wants me to do good things, not so I can get to heaven, that’s not the way—”

“What is the way?”

Olive hesitated. She hated it when people asked her this question, or she got into this situation. She never knew what to say. And she was afraid that what she would say would sound stupid and would drive them away from the Lord instead of leading them to Him.

But God could direct her words and control how they hit Cassie’s heart. She decided that the best thing to do was to just answer the question honestly.

“Jesus said, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the father, but by me.’ So Jesus is the way.”

“What does that mean? Like, where is Jesus? How do you get to heaven when he’s dead, right?”

“No, actually he’s not. They did kill him, but He came back to life, and I know,” she put her hand up, “that sounds crazy, but there are witnesses. In history, historical witnesses who saw Him be crucified and then saw Him rise from the dead. There are other witnesses who saw the empty tomb. And just in case you think they are lying because they don’t want to be proved wrong, every single one of His eleven disciples saw Him after He was crucified and died a martyr’s death saying that He came back to life and teaching other people to believe in Him.”

Cassie’s brows raised. “They must have really believed it if they were willing to die for it.”

“Not too many people are willing to die for what they believe. So yeah. I think they were pretty sure they were right, and since they were eyewitnesses, they most likely were.”

“So you didn’t answer my question about how to go through Jesus.”

“I guess that’s it. The reason that he died is because there had to be a perfect shed blood sacrifice for our sins. And he was the only one who could do it.”

“A shed blood sacrifice? That’s stupid.”

“I didn’t make the rules. I guess if I had, it wouldn’t have been that. But God created the world, made the universe, created you and me, and if He said there needs to be a shed blood sacrifice, then I’m just gonna believe Him.”

“So Jesus died, what does that have to do with me?”

“That’s really it. You just have to believe that you’re a sinner, repent from your sins, which is probably something that we don’t do a whole lot today, but repentance is necessary before salvation. You can’t just say, ‘Yeah, I’m a sinner, and I’m gonna keep sinning, but I’m gonna believe in Jesus, and he can save me.’ We have to turn from our sins. Admit that they’re wrong and that we’re going to try not to sin anymore.”

“So that’s why Christians are always goody two-shoes.”

“I guess if you look at it that way. But I look at it more like the fact that my sin caused Jesus to have to go to the cross. And when Jesus was on the cross, he was paying the payment for the sin of the world. I don’t want to add to that sin. I don’t want to put more on his shoulders. He already did more for me than I could ever repay him for. The very least I could do is to try to live a life that pleases him and hopefully leads others to him, just because I’m different.”

“Well, I guess that’s why I’m sitting here talking to you. Anyone else I know would have been angry and mean to me because of the way I treated them and the way I tried to take your job. But instead of being unkind, you came here and sat down and started chatting with me like we’re friends. I don’t have any friends here in Raspberry Ridge, and I thought I would be okay because... I really like Doyle. But it wasn’t the way I thought it was going to be. And I’m lonely.”

Olive blinked. She wasn’t expecting any of this. Not this conversation, not the opportunity to present the gospel to Cassie, and not the idea that Cassie was going to admit that she was lonely.

“You have a friend here.” She took a breath. “In me. I don’t say that lightly. Being a friend is more than just waving a hand and popping in and out of someone’s life. Being a friend is...being there when somebody needs you and doing whatever they need you to do. All they have to do is ask.”

“I’ve never really had a friend like that. My friends are there when they want something, and they disappear if I can’t do anything for them.”

“I can say that I try not to be that kind of friend. I probably am not very successful. In fact, you can probably find a hundred people who will tell you that I’m a failure more than I’m a success, but... I’m here for you, and if I can do it for you, I will.”

“Please leave,” Cassie said, lifting her brows in challenge.

Olive blinked. Had that been a trap all along? Had she been stringing her along just to ditch her like that? “Really? That’s what you need me to do as your friend?”

“Yeah. If you will try to do whatever you can for me, if you’re truly my friend, leave. You’re distracting Doyle from focusing on me. Without you, he would be interested in me like he was before.”

Those words struck down into Olive’s soul. Doyle had been interested in Cassie? “I didn’t know that you two were a thing.”

“We were never together, but we were almost together. That was before he decided to move here.”

“Did he ask you if you wanted to, and you said no?”

“No. I think he was running from me because he was scared of commitment. He doesn’t have to be afraid.”

“I see. So... You want me to leave, quit my job, and have no place to stay and no money coming in just because we’re friends?” Olive was finding it a little bit hard to breathe. And she was finding it difficult to believe that she was actually thinking about doing this, just to show Cassie that she meant what she said.

“Yeah. You just said that’s what friends do, sacrifice whatever and whenever their friends need them. I need you to leave. How good of a friend are you?”

She didn’t think that Cassie was being mean. And she didn’t think that Cassie was trying to hurt her, she was just trying to get her way and trying to manipulate her, using her own words against her in order to do that.

“All right. Will you watch my baby while I go in and pack my things?”

Cassie’s mouth dropped open, and her eyes opened wide. “You’re serious?”

“If I’m in the way of you getting what you want. You want Doyle, and you want me out. If we’re friends, and we just said we were, then... I have to leave.”

She couldn’t believe she was saying that. She didn’t want to go, but she knew she had a place where she could stay. Her sisters wouldn’t mind at all if she stayed in their parents’ house until they sold it. She’d have to leave every time they showed it, but plenty of people lived in a house that was for sale and went somewhere if a realtor had a potential buyer who wanted to tour the house.

“You would actually leave?” Cassie asked again, sounding like she couldn’t believe it.

“Sure. Will you watch the baby?” She nodded at the car seat where Livvy slept. Someday, Livvy was going to start being awake more than she was asleep, and she would be a lot harder to take care of, but for now, Olive just appreciated the fact that she wasn’t a difficult baby at all.

“Yes. I’ll watch her.”

She looked like she didn’t believe Olive was actually going to go in and pack her things, but Olive had every intention in the world of doing exactly what she had said she was going to do.

Maybe this was what Mertie meant when she said you would have a complete peace when it was the Lord’s will, because that’s what she had. Knowledge that what she was doing was exactly the right thing.

It didn’t take long to gather up the few things she had. It actually took longer to grab the baby’s things, and she felt a little guilty as she took the formula that Doyle had purchased at the beginning of the week. Hopefully the hours that she had worked would cover the payment for that. But she wasn’t sure.

“I’ve never quit a job without giving a notice before. Will you please cover my shift for breakfast and lunch until Doyle can find someone else?”

“Yeah.” Cassie stood as she came out. “I’ll cover it. I can’t believe you’re leaving.”

“You asked me to,” she said as she set the stuff down on the porch and thought about how far it was from where she was to her parents’ house on the hill. Hoping she had the energy to make it the whole way. Her stomach growled as well, but maybe there was food at the mansion. She prayed there was.

If not, Cassie was right, she could call her sisters. They would help her. She didn’t want to. She wanted to be able to stand on her own two feet, but she did have the luxury of having sisters who cared about her and wouldn’t allow her to starve to death or sleep on the streets.

“See you around. Maybe in church on Sunday,” she said as she picked up the baby in one hand, her bag in the other, and prayed that she could make it to the mansion.

“Yeah. I’ll be there,” Cassie said, her voice subdued as she watched her walk off, although Olive had hoped that she would call her back, and she didn’t.

Grateful that she did not pass Doyle on his way home before she made it out of the driveway and down the street of Raspberry Ridge, she crossed the street and started to walk up her drive.

Had she done the right thing? She really wished that she would have been able to explain to Doyle what was going on, because she wasn’t sure that Cassie would tell him the truth. In fact, she highly suspected that Cassie would either say nothing or make up a lie, because how could Cassie say that she had asked Olive to leave and Olive had?

Regardless, she was strangely unconcerned. Maybe that was because of her faith in the Lord, or maybe that was just because she was so tired.