Page 8 of Second Chance Fate (Hope Falls: Brewed Awakenings #5)

“I’m sure that you’ve all heard the saying that claims love covers all sins.

Or that love conquers all. That love is a verb, not a noun.

That love heals all wounds. That’s what the world says, but the Bible has a lot to say, too.

First Corinthians talks about what love is and also what it isn’t.

It says that it’s not rude, arrogant, or jealous.

Actually, have you heard the term ride-or-die?

That’s the kind of love that First Corinthians is talking about.

It is not keeping a scorecard of rights and wrongs, through thick or thin, good or bad.

This love is going to bear all, believe all, and have eternal hope, and it will never end. I mean, that is a powerful love.

“Those are all very nice sentiments, and I believe that love is all those things. But as much good as love does, I would argue it is used to cause just as much pain, maybe even more. How many things have you witnessed people do in the name of love that hurt others? As restorative and healing as love can be, it can be equally toxic and damaging. Love can be weaponized and used to prosecute people.”

Caleb went on to speak about the eight different types of love that fell under the umbrella of those four letters.

He told stories that demonstrated each one of the types of love he’d named.

Some of the examples he gave were planned, and others he thought of in the moment.

Like the one he threw in at the last minute when he thought about what love meant to him.

He wasn’t sure why his favorite movie popped into his head, but he decided just to roll with it.

“Those of you who grew up in this church know that my dad was and is, to this day, the biggest Robin Williams fan. He loved Mork and Mindy, Mrs. Doubtfire, Patch Adams, and Good Morning Vietnam?—”

“Popeye!” Brick Matthews shouted from the back of the sanctuary. There were some scattered chuckles of amusement in the audience at Brick’s crowd participation.

Brick and Caleb’s dad had been rivals from elementary school through high school, but then they’d served in Vietnam together, and during their time in the service, they became as close as brothers.

“Yes, Brick, and Popeye.” Caleb pointed to his dad’s best friend before continuing, “ My favorite Robin Williams movie is Good Will Hunting. I’ve probably seen it at least fifty times.

For those of you who haven’t, Matt Damon plays a genius kid from Boston, who is, to quote Casey Affleck, ‘wicked smaht.’ He grows up in foster care, and he gets into some legal trouble because of his anger issues.

The only way he can avoid jail is to go to see a counselor.

The problem is, Will is smarter than all of the professionals he is court-ordered to see and is able to manipulate them into refusing to treat him.

All except one, Robin Williams. There’s a scene on a bench that Matt Damon refers to as a Taster’s Choice moment that happens after Will tries to pull the same thing with Robin’s character that he’s pulled on all the other therapists.

“Robin’s character says he sees right through Will and tells him that he doesn’t know anything.

He’s a scared, cocky kid who’s never been out of Boston.

He could tell him all about Michelangelo, but he’s never stepped foot in the Sistine Chapel.

He says he could quote Shakespeare, ‘Once more unto the breach,’ but he’s never been at war.

He’s never held a dying friend in his arms.

“He says Will might have experience with girls, but he doesn’t know what love is.

He says that Will hasn’t ever been vulnerable with a woman.

He’s never known someone who could level him with her eyes.

He tells him that he’s never felt like God put an angel on earth just for him, who could rescue him from the depths of hell, and that he doesn’t know what it’s like to be her angel, to have that love be there for her forever, through anything, through cancer.

He says he doesn’t know what it’s like to sleep sitting up in a hospital room for two months holding her hand because the doctors could see in his eyes that the term visiting hours does not apply to him.

He tells him he doesn’t know about real loss because that only occurs when he loves something more than he loves himself.

Caleb walked back out in front of the pulpit.

“I remember the first time I saw that scene, I was probably only eleven or twelve at the time, but I thought, yeah, that is what love is. It’s not the big, over-the-top grand gestures.

Sure, those are nice, but those big, extravagant things aren’t going to hold your hand in a hospital room.

They aren’t the things that are going to be there when you get news that you’ve lost a loved one, or you’ve lost your job, or a pet, or when tests come back and it’s not the news you wanted.

I was lucky because I recognized that love.

It’s the love I saw every day between my parents.

Everyone seems to want to know why I’m still single. ”

There were some murmurs in the crowd, a few laughs, and even a few people shouting out guesses.

“Well, I think a big part of the reason is because I know what kind of love is possible between two people, and I will not settle. Love can mean a lot of different things to different people. But when it is healthy, I think that love doesn’t take things personally.

I believe love doesn’t hold someone’s past against them.

I believe love is grace to allow someone to be better than they were before.

I believe the most profound core of what love is, the power it holds, is connection.

I think the greatest gift love can give anyone is to make them feel seen, heard, and not alone, to be their safe place, their peace. ”

Caleb's mind raced as he neared the end of the service, wrapping everything up. He was speaking on autopilot as he finished the service, already crafting what he would say to the woman who had eluded him for months. He was determined to catch her before she had a chance to disappear again.

He was giving his final thoughts as the prayer team took his cues and moved to their places in the front of the congregation. He invited everyone to bow their heads and instructed anyone who would like to come to the front to speak with one of the members of the prayer team to do so now.

A few dozen people stood and moved to the closest aisle to line up as he led the closing prayer before he dismissed everyone.

When he saw the mystery woman stand and sneak out the same way she’d snuck in, adrenaline spiked through him.

It took every ounce of self-control he had not to shout, “ Stop !”

He knew that the prayer was more important than his personal obsession, and he managed to focus and keep his head in the game until he said amen.

But after that four-letter word left his mouth, all bets were off.

People stood and started to collect their things before filing out of the sanctuary.

Instead of heading to the sound booth so Peter, the sound tech, could take off his lav mic like he normally did, he ducked backstage and then used the side door to access the hallway that led to the front lobby, where he hoped he’d find the woman who had been living in his head rent-free for months.

He walked with purpose, hoping anyone who saw his stride would pick up on the clue that he didn’t want to be disturbed. His plan did not work. Halfway down the side corridor, he heard the name that still caused him to look around for his father.

“Pastor Harrison!”

His head turned, and he saw Debbie Warner, owner of The Barky Brush Dog Grooming.

Debbie was a celebrity in some circles. Her dog, Lucille Ball, was a three-time “Best in Show” winner at the Westminster Kennel Club, and Debbie and Lucy had been featured in several publications, a late-night talk show, and in the Guinness Book of World Records for people who look like their dogs.

Debbie was a redhead with curly hair, and Lucy was a standard red poodle; the resemblance was uncanny.

Lucy was a sweet, angel of a dog who had helped socialize Minnie after Caleb rescued her. Prudence got Ballerina after falling in love with Lucy. She had no idea that poodles could be high-strung.

“Caleb, please,” he gently corrected her. He really wished everyone would just call him Caleb, but especially people who had known him since he was in diapers.

She ignored his request as she shoved an attractive, petite brunette toward him with much more force than seemed necessary, not that any force was necessary. “This is my goddaughter, Darcy. She just moved here from San Francisco.”

“Hi, Darcy. Welcome to Hope Falls.” Caleb gave a quick, friendly nod, barely slowing his pace.

“We were hoping you’d come over for dinner Tuesday,” Debbie followed up eagerly.

“I’d love that, but I’m not sure what my schedule looks like,” he called over his shoulder, weaving through the crowd. “Check with Judy.”

He turned and continued down the hall, a man on a mission. People were still filing out of the auditorium, merging into the hallway, but he didn’t see them. All he saw were those doors. He just needed to get on the other side of them…

“Caleb!”

He heard his name and didn’t need to turn to know who that voice belonged to. Sue Ann Perkins, owner of Sue Ann’s Café, was one of the residents who hadn’t insisted on calling him pastor when he took the role, which he appreciated.