Page 25 of Wish You Faith (Christmas Sweethearts #1)

Evan nodded. He didn’t want to tell her anything yet because they were still in the delicate stage of their relationship. He wasn’t sure how Rosie’s opinion of him would change once the truth came out.

He would tell her in due time.

Soon.

“So you like the new condo?” Evan asked.

“Me?” Rosie placed a palm on her chest. Her nails were still unpolished, but she’d kept them clean. She always wore gardening gloves when she worked with soil and plants.

“Well, I can stay anywhere as long as I’m with Mom.

She’s over the moon, though. The condo is everything she dreamed of.

Her bedroom window opens up to the Atlantic.

She can hear the ocean waves whenever she wants.

The food at SSLR is amazing. Of course, I have to pay extra as a caregiver, but it’s nothing compared to the monthly rent, you know. ”

Evan loved listening to her talk. “I’m glad it’s working out.”

“God provided the best for Mom, and I’m forever grateful.” Rosie knitted her eyebrows together. “I’m still curious about the condo though. Are you related to Rusty Cavanaugh? We were told that Mom was handpicked to rent the condo he used to live in. Can you believe it?”

She was so excited that she kept talking without waiting for a reply. Perhaps she already knew the answer. Or maybe she was afraid of what she’d find out. Either way, he’d have a lot of explaining to do later so that he hid nothing from Rosie.

“Mom gets to stay there until she passes away. It’s the best gift ever,” Rosie concluded.

Evan nodded. Tears welled in his eyes, but he held them back. It was worth sacrificing ten years for. What was the use of a trust fund if it sat there and collected interest but could help no one?

He’d give it all up all over again to see Rosie smile.

He knew that it was bittersweet. Rosie would cry at her mother’s funeral. Until then, Evan had done his best to let Rosie and her mom have a nice place to stay. The doctors on call were expensive, but he wanted to make sure Sonya didn’t suffer in her last days on earth.

And yet, this gift to them had come at a cost to himself.

What if when all this was over, he still lost Rosie?

A slight pain gripped his heart. He winced.

“Are you okay?” Rosie asked.

“Fine. I think it’s indigestion.” He had no idea what it was.

“Stress?” Rosie asked.

“I don’t know.” Evan wasn’t sure if Rosie had forgotten about the question she’d asked earlier. Soon, he’d have to come clean and tell her that Rusty Cavanaugh was his grandfather.

“Have you been eating right, sleeping well, exercising?” Rosie asked. She seemed to be in a hurry to get all her questions in.

“Uh… I try.”

“Get thee to the gym. At least three times a week.”

“Yes, Dr. Girlfriend.” He drank more sparkling water. The pain in his chest had eased somewhat.

“Most importantly, have you been reading your Bible and praying to God?” Rosie asked. “Our Lord is the best stress reliever.”

“I read my Bible almost every day, and I go to church with my brother and his wife.”

“Good to know.” Rosie leaned toward her phone. “I didn’t mean to tell you what to do.”

“No, no. I needed the reminder.”

She glanced at her watch. “Five minutes and then I have to get back to work.”

“Noted.” Evan took another bite of the sandwich.

“Did you call me so that I could watch you eat?”

“It’s more selfish than that.” Evan chuckled. “I just wanted to see you live. Haven’t spoken to you since last night.”

“You texted me this morning,” Rosie reminded him.

Yeah, he had. He had taken a photo of the morning sky outside his top-floor condo and sent it to her with the caption, “Good morning.”

“Not face-to-face though.”

“I went with Mom to an early-morning Bible study with the Super Seniors at Piper’s Place. Sorry I couldn’t call you. I want to spend time with Mom as much as I can in these last days... Well, while she’s still alive, that is.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s all right. I just want you to know that even if we don’t talk with each other, we both have work to do. I am spending every free hour with Mom until time runs out.”

Evan nodded.

“I don’t know what came over me today…” Her voice cracked. “Oh. I’m talking too much. I think it’s the caffeine I drank all morning.”

Evan wished he was there with her right at that very moment when Rosie felt sad.

She closed her eyes. Tears fell. Just as quickly, she wiped her face. Drew a deep breath, and looked straight into her phone camera.

“So, Evan. We miss each other, but I have to trust sovereign God that while you’re over there working, I get to spend more time with Mom.” She paused. “Since we started dating, I’ve had to split my time between Mom and you.”

“I’m sorry.” Evan didn’t know how they’d balance that. In fact, the Bible spoke about the man and woman leaving their parents and cleaving to each other once they married...

Married?

Right now, they were only dating, even though Evan wanted more. If Rosie decided to break up with him and leave, there was nothing he could do, but he prayed she wouldn’t.

Not that he could have stopped her from leaving him if they were married. However, he didn’t think Rosie was that kind of a lady who’d make decisions willy-nilly. She was the long-term and thoughtful kind.

Evan had been the first person to approach her and woo her. He’d been instantly attracted to her the first time he’d met her, and next thing he knew, he was sure Rosie was the only person he’d marry.

“No, don’t be sorry. That’s not my intention. Romans 8:28 is what I was saying,” Rosie concluded.

“I’m doing my best to get back to Savannah as soon as possible.”

“I’ve never been in a long distance relationship, so I don’t know how to handle this.” Rosie got off the hammock. “I’m getting back to work now. If I don’t work, I’ll be thinking of you and getting distracted. The same way with Mom. If I don’t work, I think of her and our eventual parting.”

“Which is temporary,” Evan started to say. “Since your Mom is a Christian, we will see her again in heaven.”

Rosie nodded.

Evan didn’t want to say more. He wasn’t there to comfort her in person. Heaven forbid, he’d say something that caused her grief. Someone else could step in and comfort her.

No way.

He was determined more than ever to get home to Savannah.

Home?

Yes, his home was now with Rosie.

This afternoon’s meeting was critical.

“Please pray for my meeting this afternoon,” Evan said. He didn’t want to tell her what it was about.

“How about we pray now?”

“Okay.”

“I start, you close?”

“Sure.” Evan watched Rosie close her eyes. The phone camera was sharp and he could see her eyelashes on screen. He wanted to watch her pray, but decided that this wasn’t the time for him to keep his eyes open and be distracted.

The whole point of closing his eyes when he prayed was to turn his focus toward God who could answer all his prayers and had the solutions to all of his life’s problems.

“Father God, thank You for another glorious day this Christmas season,” Rosie began. “Whether it’s sunny here in Savannah or rainy over there in Seattle, I give You all the praise as our awesome Creator of this universe in which we live for a fleeting moment in time.”

Evan suspected that Rosie had checked the weather report. How else would she know that it was raining in Seattle?

“Lord, I pray for Evan’s meeting this afternoon,” Rosie continued. “Even though I don’t know what it’s about, You know all about it, Lord. So I pray that Your perfect will would prevail throughout the entire meeting. Whether the people attending it are Christians or not, You are still sovereign.”

That was enough prayer for Evan, and he wasn’t sure what else he could add about the meeting without revealing its content to Rosie.

He wanted to tell her everything himself in person.

Soon.

Today wasn’t the day. He wasn’t sure what was going to happen after today. Mom and Dad would attend the business meeting with Connor. They would meet at their waterfront family home in Denny Blaine by Lake Washington. They would talk and drink Mom’s favorite tea.

And Mom would try to get her way and the final say.

“Please, Lord, please protect Your best for Rosie and me,” Evan blurted. “I want Your perfect will for us also, not just in our professional work but also in our personal lives. I pray that I will not try to get my own way, but be open to Your plans for our lives together.”

That was all he could think of. At this point, he was all prayed up, as they said, and he was confident that God had a plan for him and Rosie together.

They both said “amen” and then Rosie had to go back to work, and so did Evan.

He packed up his laptop and stuffed it into his backpack, along with his lunch bag. He locked his door on the way out. He took the elevator downstairs to the basement parking lot where his old pickup truck still remained in the same spot he’d left it this morning.

He waved to a security guard at the booth on the way out to the streets.

It would only take less than fifteen minutes to get to his parents’ house, but traffic and rain slowed him down.

Maybe it was a good thing. He prayed and talked with God as he drove, figuring out what to say and how to say it.

He’d already made a lot of sacrifices. He couldn’t imagine Mom asking for more.

She was a reasonable person even though she might sound harsh sometimes.

The fact that Mom was the trustee of Evan’s trust fund made it so much harder to carry out his plans, and impossible had he not compromised with Mom.

It was a miracle from God that Mom agreed to his conditions.

So his ERC Trust bought Grandpa’s oceanfront condo at SSLR for Rosie and her mom to live in for the rest of her life.

The trust fund also contributed to the purchase of the apartment complex across the street for the other retirees who might not have three years of life to wait for existing SSLR housing to free up.

In a business sense, he was merely moving his assets from one category to another.

In a personal sense, he had to buy the condo or risk Mom changing her mind later on if Sonya continued to live for years. The rent amount would be Mom’s decision to make. She could raise it to an exorbitant amount that Evan might not be able to pay.

He had agreed to return to the family business to sweeten the deal because Mom held out and drove a hard bargain. She would only sell the condo to him if he returned to work at their headquarters in Seattle.

Now he wanted to make another deal with his parents—primarily with Mom again. Dad would go along with whatever Mom said. If Evan could convince Mom to let him work remotely from Savannah, then he could be with Rosie again.

What price would Mom exact out of him to make it happen? Would she ask him to give up the rest of the trust fund? He hadn’t earned a penny of that anyway. He could give it up. Really, he could.

He could think of no reason Cavanaugh Shipping would prevent him from working remotely.

After all, Dad himself had joined Zoom meetings while he was onboard cruise ships with Mom.

Along the same lines, Evan could do Zoom meetings from Savannah, right?

He didn’t need to be in Seattle since Connor was already here.

If they let him work from Savannah, the first thing he’d do after he thanked God for it would be to run down to the jewelry store and buy a diamond engagement ring for Rosie.

If, if, if.

Then again, his God worked miracles.

It’s up to You, Lord.