Page 17

Doyle turned into her driveway, moving up the lane. Olive was still on the phone, and he was trying to figure out how to get her to come back.

“Is it okay if I come in and visit for a little bit?” he asked, humbly, knowing that he didn’t have any right to demand that she return, and he hadn’t even been as good a friend to her as what she’d been to Cassie.

“Of course. I’m on the back porch, if you just want to come on through. I have Livvy on my lap, and she is enjoying the lake view, I believe.”

“She’s going to fall in love with the lake before she’s old enough to talk,” he said, knowing that because he’d grown up beside the lake, it would always have a piece of his heart.

“Maybe. It’s beautiful, and it definitely reminds us of God’s majesty.”

“That’s probably the best thing about it,” he said as he shut his pickup off and waited for his phone to disconnect from the truck before he got out. “Is the door unlocked?”

“It is. And it’s just me here. I talked to Mertie earlier, and Garnet had been called out for someone who is having emergency surgery. He’s at the hospital now praying with the family, and she is staying with his parents.”

“Aren’t they supposed to get married tomorrow?”

“They are, and I’m pretty sure they’re still going to, but it might be between trips to the hospital. Garnet has been pretty busy. I hope things slow down for them.”

“Me too.” It would be terrible to start out married life like that, just thrust into the thick of things. But Garnet seemed to be handling it well, and Mertie had experience in ministry, even if it wasn’t in exactly a small-town church ministry.

He walked in, noting the clean kitchen and the fresh smell of paint. The house looked like they had been getting it ready for sale, and he couldn’t help but note the differences between this house and the one he was renting.

His steps slowed as an idea came to him.

Could he do that?

He put a hand on the counter and looked around. This was more house than he would ever need, but he could more than afford it, whatever they were going to ask for it. He wouldn’t even have to negotiate, and then...what? He would have Olive where he wanted her?

That wasn’t exactly the way he wanted to think about it. It was more like he would have a home for her whenever she wanted it. But he would probably see about moving out of the house he was living in now, or even buying it, as had been his plan, and renting it out, and moving here. There wasn’t a whole lot of things to move, and... He would have to talk to Olive about it. But more than that, he wanted to know if there was a chance for Olive and him.

Not because he was thinking about Cassie, and he probably needed to make that clear to her. Especially if Cassie had told her to leave because Cassie wanted him.

He pushed the door open and smiled at the sight of mother and daughter sitting on the porch, their faces lifted to the breeze, watching the sunset. The sun had already slipped below the horizon, but the sky was ablaze with colors stretching up as far as they could see.

“That’s beautiful.”

“It’s one of the best things about this house. The lake reflects the sunset, and you have such a beautiful view of the sky, morning and night.”

“With the reflection on the lake, it’s almost like you get to see it twice.” He paused to take in the horizon. “Definitely a beautiful view of the lake. I didn’t realize you could see that well from this far out. Doesn’t seem like that steep of a hill.”

“Until you’re walking with a car seat.”

He looked at her, truly looked at her, for the first time. She looked a lot more ragged than she had even when he’d seen her a few hours ago at Miles and Norma Jean’s place.

“You look exhausted.”

“Before you called, I was thinking seriously about putting Livvy to bed and going there myself.”

“Can I hold her for a little bit?” he asked, standing beside her and looking down, thinking at least he would take that burden away from her but realizing that he actually did want to hold the baby. Maybe he was feeling paternal instincts, or maybe it was just because of Olive, but he found himself realizing that if Olive were to move out of his life, he’d lose Livvy as well, and the thought made him sad.

“You can. But don’t feel like you have to.”

“I don’t. I want to.” The words were true, and he reached down as she held the baby out.

She gave him a big smile as she settled in his arms, almost like she recognized him.

“I think you and she developed a bond while I was sleeping the other day.”

“She’s a good baby. She only fussed when her diaper was dirty.”

“I’ve been blessed. It could have been a lot worse, but she made everything so easy for me.”

“You deserve something that’s a little bit easy. After everything you went through.”

“We have to face the consequences of our sin,” she said seriously, and he didn’t look away from the baby, even though he wanted to, to read what was on her face. He could hear the regret in her voice. That was enough for him. It made him feel bad, but she wasn’t the only person with regrets.

“I told Cassie that I wanted her to leave, and she gave me a sob story about how she didn’t have anyone in Chicago. Maybe that’s what she gave you too?”

“Yeah. I felt bad for her.”

“Well, I must have too, because I told her she could stay, but I didn’t want any more...days like today. She...told me that with you gone, she and I could have a relationship, and I told her that I didn’t want one. Not like that. That she was an employee, and I was her employer, and if she could remember that, she could stay. But I’ll make her go if having her there will make you uncomfortable.”

“It won’t. Because I’m not there.”

“I want you to come back,” he said, and he heard the pleading in his voice but could not modulate it.

“I told her I would go.” Olive sighed, like she didn’t want to have this conversation. Or maybe she was too tired for it. “I’m not trying to say that to be smart or mean or difficult. I promise. I just had a whole conversation with her about Jesus and salvation and being Christian, and I told her I was her friend, and then she asked me to do something. Right after I had told her that any time she wanted me to do something, all she had to do was ask. How could I say no?”

“You did what she asked, and I told her that what she asked was unacceptable, and I’m asking you to come back.”

She looked down. “I think that if I do, the opportunity for her to get saved will disappear.”

“So you would stay away, just because you think that she might get saved?”

“If she sees that I really meant what I said, and I live what I believe, it might make her realize that it’s a real thing.”

“Or maybe she decided she doesn’t want to be a Christian because you have to give up everything you want, or at least that’s the way it looks.”

“Isn’t that the way it is?”

“It doesn’t show that God changes what we want.”

“That’s not true. I wanted to leave. I wanted to do whatever was needed to in order for her to see that I meant it.”

“How are you going to support yourself?” he asked as he shifted Livvy just a bit. Her eyes seemed to be drooping, and he thought she might fall asleep. He rocked her gently in his arms.

“I don’t know. I mean, I know that my sisters aren’t going to let me starve, but the whole reason I was working there was because I didn’t want to be dependent on them. I wanted to support myself.”

“What if I bought this house?”

“This house?” she asked, like he hadn’t been clear.

“Your house. Your parents’ house. Isn’t that what you guys are doing? Getting it ready to sell?”

“Yeah, but it’s not for sale.”

“And it doesn’t need to be. You guys can get together with your appraiser or realtor or whatever, figure out how much you’re going to ask for it, and I’ll pay it. I’ll stop renting the house that I’m in—”

“You’re renting?”

“Yeah. I wasn’t quite sure whether I was going to be coming to stay or not. And my year lease will be up in two months. That should be enough time for us to make the real estate sale go through here and perfect timing for me to move.”

Her eyes closed, and he couldn’t tell whether it was because she was tired or because she was praying.

“I can’t stop you from buying it if that’s what you want.”

“Will you work for me if you work here? You left like Cassie asked you to, did everything she asked, and now you’re off the hook.”

“I didn’t feel like I was on the hook though. That’s just it.”

“How about you think about it? It looks like you’re tired right now, and I’m pushing you.”

“Thank you. I am exhausted. I was just trying to get up the energy to put Livvy to bed.”

“Has she had her bottle?”

“She has everything she needs, I changed her, put her sleeper on her, gave her her nightly bottle. All you have to do is put her down in her crib and walk away.”

“She has a crib?”

“It’s actually like a pack ’n play, and it’s in the first room to the left at the top of the stairs.” She sighed as she said it, like just talking was taxing her more than she had energy for.

He gave her a worried glance, then said, “I’ll be right back.”

He felt like he’d been pushing her, begging her to be with him, and she refused, but he tried not to take it personally. He understood what she was saying. Cassie’s salvation was more important than Olive’s comfort. And he wondered how many other Christians in the world were willing to give up so much in order to show someone else the way to salvation. Show them what a true Christian was. Show them what sacrifice and kindness and honor and keeping a person’s word was. The loyalty of a friend. The loyalty that Jesus showed his disciples. Not the other way around.

He couldn’t remember ever being that loyal and kind to a friend.

Unless a person counted Olive. Because, after the way she treated him when she left, he supposed he should have been mad at her, but he’d hired her. Still, he hadn’t been as kind to her as she’d been to someone she barely knew and who hadn’t been kind to her at all, at least not that Doyle had seen.

He cradled Livvy in his arms as he carried her up the stairs, her eyes drooping, her little fists tucked up underneath her chin.

Whatever had been in her young life that had taught her that crying was pointless made him feel terrible, but it definitely made him smile to see how content she seemed.

She barely stirred when he laid her down in the crib and grabbed the blanket that was in there, pulling it up and tucking it around her.

Her eyes blinked up at him, and she smiled just a little before she turned her head toward the wall and her eyes drifted shut again.

He kissed his fingers and tapped them gently on her forehead. She barely stirred.

“Good night, sweetheart,” he said softly as he moved quietly to the door, closing it behind him.

What a precious baby, a baby with no dad, a baby here in his town, with the woman he admired, and he found he wanted to do everything in his power to make both of their lives easier.

Problem was, he had to convince her that she should let him in.

But then he remembered Cassie, trying to push and how he felt when he didn’t want her. Was that what he was doing?

He came down and found Olive sitting in the same spot, only her eyes were closed and her head tilted to the side.

He had been trying to figure out which room was hers while he was upstairs, but he hadn’t thought for a second that he might be carrying her to bed as well.

“I think someone else needs to go to bed,” he said softly, and her eyes blinked open and she smiled sleepily. The sunset was fading, and it was getting dark, but it was light enough for him to see that there was complete trust in her eyes.

“Did she go okay?”

“She went perfectly.” He paused. “I’m going to carry you up too.”

“I can walk,” she protested, but it was a weak protest.

“I didn’t say you couldn’t. I just announced what I was going to do.”

She didn’t protest again as he put his arms under her legs and another arm behind her back and lifted her carefully.

He just held her there for a moment, cradling her against him, surprised at how light she was.

He couldn’t talk to her the way he wanted to, couldn’t work things out, not right now, but he did need to ask one question.

“Am I pushing too hard to be with you?”

Her eyes popped open, and her brows drew down.

“What?”

“I just was thinking about Cassie and how she insisted that she wanted to be with me, and she made me uncomfortable because I didn’t want to be with her like that. I want to be with you, but I wondered if I was pushing you the way Cassie was pushing me.”

There was a ghost of a smile that came over her face as her eyes lowered.

She shook her head and whispered, “No.”

That one word thrilled his soul and eased all the doubts that had been climbing up the back of his throat. All the thoughts that maybe he was trying too much, doing something that she didn’t want to do, when she’d rather just be left alone.

Maybe there was hope after all.

Everything else would have to wait until another day, everything except for this. “Will you go with me to the wedding tomorrow?”

“I have to go early.”

“I’ll take you whatever time. Just text me, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Actually, I just might stay downstairs, you...seem tired.”

“You don’t have to. You probably didn’t bring anything, and...it wouldn’t look very good.”

“I guess I don’t really care how it looks, if I feel like you need it.” He understood the verse that said to avoid all appearance of evil, but if someone needed him, he wasn’t going to stand on ceremony. Especially if that someone was Olive.

“Thank you,” she said softly as he grabbed the door, pulling it open and slipping inside then allowing it to close behind him. Careful not to bump her head.

In the time that they’d spent together back when they were together, he’d never carried her anywhere, and he found that he loved the closeness, the feeling of protecting her and taking care of her, and just having her next to him.

Her hand rested on his chest, and her face pressed against him as well.

He really didn’t want to set her down.

“Which bedroom is yours?” he asked as he mounted the steps a second time.

“Across the hall from Livvy,” she said, and he had to lean low in order to hear her whispered words.

He opened the door to her room, carried her in, and removed her shoes before putting a blanket over top of her.

He leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead. Holding them there for just a moment longer than strictly necessary, breathing in her scent, and wishing that he didn’t have to go.

“Night,” he said softly.

“Night,” she repeated quietly.

Against everything that he wanted to do, he straightened, turning toward the door and walking. Deciding that he would indeed sleep on the couch and be up early in the morning, maybe checking on Livvy before he left. But Olive had no car, and he just felt better being here to make sure she was okay.