Page 52 of Bravo

“You know all about my family. I was just curious.” He eats another fry.

“Um. No. I had a friend who was like a sister, but she isn’t with us anymore.”

“I’m really sorry to hear that.”

“Thanks. You and your family all seem really close,” I reply. “Even Lani.”

He grins. “Yeah, we’re all a tight-knit bunch. Though my brothers do tend to drive me and each other crazy from time to time. Lani handles us all effortlessly.”

“I definitely get that feeling. She’s great.”

“She is. Our lives got immensely better after she came along.”

The way this family loves each other makes my heart ache for the knowledge that I’ll never have that. If I’m ever lucky enough for this nightmare to end and I end up getting the chance to have a family of my own, I’ll never get to take them to where I grew up. They’ll never see where their mom came from or have grandparents on my side they get to be spoiled by.

My heart sinks as my throat burns with emotion.Bury it, Kennedy. It’ll do no good now.“Well, this is the best burger I’ve ever had.” I pluck another fry from my tray and eat it.

“I always stop here on my way back from the lumber yard because no one makes a burger like Earl.” He turns and waves at the man standing in the window of the food truck.

He waves back then returns to prepping an order for two people standing near the trailer.

“What’s on the plan for the rest of the day?” I ask curiously, hoping it’s something I can partake in too. The idea of returning to the ranch and going our separate ways is less appealing than it was just this morning.

“I’m going to take a look at everything they got done at the ranch then head over to Piney Hill to see what I can do to lend a hand.”

“Do you guys always do that? Just offer help whenever it’s needed?”

“We do.”

“Why?”

“It’s what God calls us to do,” he says simply. “We’re supposed to serve others.”

“That simple.”

“That simple,” he replies. When I don’t immediately respond, he finishes eating another fry then asks, “You seem skeptical.”

“I am. A little. I didn’t grow up in church, and the idea that there’s a greater purpose to all of this seems a little far-fetched to me.”

“Why is that?” There’s no judgment in his tone, just genuine curiosity.

“I don’t know. There’s a lot of bad stuff that happens in this world. I’m sure you saw some of it when you were overseas. Doesn’t really fit the idea that we were all created and are loved, does it?”

He’s quiet a moment, clearly processing what I said. Then he wipes his hands on a napkin and takes a drink of his tea. “There were moments where I thought to myself, ‘Why is He allowing this to happen? Why not stop these things from ever taking place at all?’”

“Exactly. How can you continue to have such faith when the world is full of so much darkness?”

“Human nature is to sin. We live in a world that’s full of it, and the further humans get from God, the worse it gets.” He sits up straighter on the bench seat of the picnic table we’re sitting at. For a moment, the only sound around us is the steady buzzing of the propane heater beside us. “But every time I’ve gone to God in prayer and asked Him why these things were happening, I have the same verse pop into my mind, along with this overwhelming sense of peace in the knowledge that, one day, there will be no pain.”

“What verse?”

“Proverbs 3. ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding,’” he replies. “We will never be able to fully understand or comprehend God’s plan for each and every one of us. But there is a plan. Sometimes we must suffer, but in that suffering, we find a well of faith we never knew was there. God is in everything; we only have to seek Him.”

“It just seems out there,” I reply. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean that to be offensive. I just— Things have happened in my life that made me feel very alone. And I’m not sure how to open my heart to that.”

“Pray,” he replies. “Open your heart to Him, and He’ll lead you where you need to be.”

“That sounds too easy to be true.”

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