Page 29 of Muskoka Miracle (Muskoka Shores #7)

T he sunset dipped into Lake Muskoka, drawing a sigh from their host, Lincoln Cash. “I don’t think that view ever gets old.”

“God’s country,” Dan agreed.

Linc—he’d asked them to call him that—peered at Dan. “How long did you say you’ve been coming here?”

“For twenty-something years.”

“I don’t blame you.” Linc yawned. “Sorry, it’s been a big few weeks.”

Dan glanced across the table to where Sarah was smothering a yawn too. She smiled at him, then glanced apologetically at Jackie. “I agree.”

“Well, with the way that last podcast of yours went viral, I don’t blame you for feeling tired,” Jackie said. “How many comments did you get?”

Sarah’s smile held shyness. “Over a thousand.”

“And counting,” Dan added. “And she’s replied to them all.”

“No wonder you’re tired,” Linc said, to her nod.

Sarah’s exhaustion had set in almost as soon as they returned from Toronto a week ago.

She kept telling him not to be concerned, but if she was this tired before the tour, how on earth was she going to cope when it actually started?

Whenever he tried to say that she dismissed it, claiming it was simply because she felt so relaxed that she was enjoying feeling tired, rather than feeling exhausted like she normally did.

Which didn’t quite make sense to him. Her claims of regular exhaustion worried him, but she wouldn’t listen to his pleas to rethink the tour, or take time out from socializing.

Which was why they were here, with Jackie looking a little bit guilty. Dan suspected he knew why.

“And uh, yes, about that podcast.” Jackie glanced at Sarah. “I listened to it, then made Linc listen to it too. It was such a powerful testimony.”

“Really powerful,” Linc nodded.

“And I wanted to thank you for being courageous enough to be real and raw and still testify of God’s goodness and grace in the midst of pain and disappointment.

” Jackie’s eyes sparkled with tears. “And I’m sorry.

I realize now how hard things must’ve been for you, when we”—she winced—“well, you know, had little Charlie. Anyway, we—I—wanted you to know I never meant to cause you further pain. Especially when it’s been such a hard road for you. Anyway, I’m sorry.”

Sarah shook her head. “You can’t be responsible for how others may be feeling. Especially when you didn’t even know the situation.”

Jackie bit her lip. “It’s a tricky balance, isn’t it, trying to figure out what should be shared before somebody else feels like they need to share it on your behalf.”

Sarah glanced at Dan. “That’s why we didn’t say anything to anyone for a long time.

It’s hard enough to find the words, especially when you’re going through grief yourself, let alone figure out how to share things with others.

But then not saying anything also has consequences.

Like this.” She gestured between herself and Jackie, then shrugged.

“I don’t know if everyone needs to share like we did, but I have to admit that having now said it, I do feel a lot lighter. ”

“I do too,” Dan admitted. His friends and teammates had been so supportive.

It wasn’t just him and Sarah as part of Team Walton anymore.

Now his whole team were on his side, their partners supporting Sarah, just as his Bible study buddies and their wives checked in with them often.

Knowing this was just part of his life instead of something that he thought he needed to hide, made him feel more comfortable.

He didn’t have to apologize for turning down birthday invitations for one-year-olds who wouldn’t remember his presence.

On the days when they weren’t doing as okay, it was easier to simply decline, and he trusted that their real friends would understand.

His parents had—as expected—been shocked that Sarah would dare to confess something so private in such a public manner. Her parents had—as expected—understood.

“When you have a public ministry,” James had said, “then you can’t hide things, because secrets always have a way of coming out.

And because you’ve been open about this, it means you can be open about the other times when things aren’t so easy.

People won’t see you as super Christians, but real people who don’t always have it all together, and the fact you have to depend on God encourages others to do so, too. ”

“It’s hard to live in the spotlight, but still keep things real,” Linc mused now.

Dan glanced at him. The movie star possessed more fans than his whole team had combined. “I can’t imagine how you try and balance that.”

Linc shrugged. “That’s why I have an agent and a publicist. They screen most of that for me, and Jackie screens the rest.” He smiled at his wife, who smiled back.

“I’ve been wondering if I should get somebody to work as my VA,” Sarah said. “I just can’t keep up with all the comments, not when I’m trying to focus on my music.”

“And her husband,” Dan added, winking at her.

She blushed, and Linc laughed. “Yeah. I’m all for people who can do some of that heavy lifting, especially if it means my wife can pay attention to her husband.”

Jackie rolled her eyes. “He’s so needy.”

“Men.” Sarah snickered.

“Look, we can’t help it if we’re merely men,” Linc said. “That’s why God knew we needed amazing women like you in our lives.”

“He’s slick,” Sarah said to Jackie.

“I sometimes wonder if he quotes lines from his movies at me.”

“Babe, no. Everything I say to you I mean. And I genuinely mean that.”

Dan chuckled. “I sometimes used to wonder when I heard Sarah sing if I was the one she was describing as amazing and strong. Then I realized she was singing to God.”

Linc laughed. “Yeah, that’s a little hard to live up to.”

Sarah glanced at him. “Are you saying you want me to write you a love song?”

“At the risk of sounding as needy as Linc there, I’m just gonna say that other music stars have done that, even worship leaders. So if you feel the need to write a song about me, then I’m okay with that.”

“I’ll keep it in mind.”

Sarah’s smile tweaked higher, holding peace. It was good to see.

The evening had been good, the company relaxed.

Lincoln had a small window of time away from his filming schedule in the city, which allowed for this brief catch up before Dan’s training ramped up before preseason.

He had a few more charity events to attend, and his and Sarah’s schedules were looking busier next month.

But not as busy as when Sarah would fly to Sydney to begin her tour.

She’d mentioned earlier that she’d need to leave a few more days earlier than anticipated for rehearsals. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before, but apparently they actually want me there to help manage the stagecraft.”

“Are you sure you’ll be okay to do so?”

“I’ll be staying with Mum and Dad, so it’ll be fine.”

He knew Lindy and James were vigilant about their daughter’s health, but it wasn’t the same as Dan himself being there, keeping an eye on her to make sure she didn’t push herself too much.

“I’m really glad that you could both come over because there’s something that we’ve been thinking about.” Jackie glanced at Lincoln who dipped his chin.

“See, when we had that soirée here a few weeks ago,” she looked at Sarah, “I remember we were talking about the Muskoka Ferns Lodge—”

Dan stilled.

“—and Anna’s family friends who need to sell it. And, correct me if I’m wrong, but Sarah, I just felt like you had this sense that something needed to be done about it.”

Whoa. That was a conversation that had slipped to the backburner of his mind. Dan peeked at Sarah who nodded. “I did. And Dan and I have talked about it, but haven’t really investigated anything.”

“Do you mind if I ask what you’ve talked about?”

Sarah glanced at him and gestured for him to speak.

He shifted in his seat. “I’ve been running a Christian wilderness camp for city teenagers for nearly ten years now. I love it, but my body says I can’t keep doing it the same way, so when Sarah mentioned that the lodge used to be a campsite I was interested. But I haven’t chased it up at all.”

Jackie nodded. “See, when Anna mentioned that it was for sale, I immediately thought of all those poor people who had been trucked back to the city, unable to live there anymore.”

“I thought that too,” Sarah admitted.

“And I wondered if there was something we could do about it—”

“ We meaning me and Jackie,” Lincoln clarified.

“—to fix it up for those people to live there again,” Jackie finished.

Oh. A ping of disappointment suggested he’d let the idea of having a camp there burrow deeper than he’d realized. “Well, like I said, it was just a thought. I can probably keep going with what I was doing.” A peek at Sarah’s creased brow suggested she didn’t agree. Okay, then.

“But here’s the thing,” Jackie continued.

“From all that we’ve been able to discover, and a quick visit out there last week, the place is so dire that it will require years of work to bring it up to any kind of government code.

But we wanted to secure the land. Golden Elms, where Lincoln’s grandfather is, is a fantastic facility for the elderly, but not specifically designed for people with some of the special needs who were basically incarcerated at the Lodge. ”

Jackie glanced at Lincoln, who took the lead. “So, Dan, we wanted to know if you were potentially interested in joining with us to secure the land and invest in a new venture to construct a facility that is designed for people with special needs.”

“Wow.” That was something he’d never considered before in his life. “Um, I need to think—and pray—about it.”

“The property is large enough for you to still hold camps, and feel as wildernessy as you like,” Jackie said.

“And because it will likely take a number of years to get all the proper permissions before building can even commence, it will be good to see the land being used and not see what infrastructure remains just rotting away.”