Page 89 of Bravo

I nod.

Kennedy smiles and closes her eyes. “Thank you, God,” she whispers.

She speaks it with such confidence that my heart soars. This woman, who a week ago was closed off from her faith, has been working to reconnect with it so much so that she’s seeking Him in everything.

And that, in and of itself, is a beautiful miracle.

“I’m so glad he’s okay.”

“When this is all over, I can take you to see him if you’d like. I can even wait outside, but if you don’t want to go alone?—”

“I would love for you to come with me,” she says. “You can meet. Two men who saved my life.”

I swallow hard. “I haven’t yet.”

“You have,” she says. “In more ways than one.”

We eat in silence for a few minutes with only the sound of the light breeze surrounding us. Does she know how much she means to me? How absolutely head over heels I’ve fallen in such a short period of time?

Would it scare her to know how I feel?

“Tell me something about you,” she finally says. “Something I don’t already know.”

I laugh and set my now empty plate to the side. “I’m not entirely sure what you don’t know.”

“Given that all I know is that you were in the service, still operate as a soldier, run a ranch, and have a dog named Bravo, I’d say not much.”

Chuckling, I raise my bottle of water to my lips and take a drink. “I played football in high school, for a league that was mainly made up of other homeschoolers, was in both 4-H and FFA, the latter until I graduated high school, and spent every spare moment I had helping out at the church.”

“4-H? FFA?”

“Future Farmers of America,” I tell her. “And 4-H is close to the same thing, just for younger kids. I showed sheep when I was in 4-H then steer when I was in FFA.”

“You showed them? Like a horse show?”

“Did that too,” I tell her. “I enjoyed it all, but I’m not one for the spotlight to be on me, so I was glad when it was all over too.”

“That why you didn’t want to keep playing football after high school?”

I laugh. “Something like that. I also took a nasty hit and ended up with a pretty gnarly concussion. After that, I just didn’t see the point in playing since I didn’t have a desire to continue after school.”

“I played chess.”

I turn toward her. “Really?”

She nods. “Was pretty great too. I played competitively all the way into college.” When she catches me staring at her, she blushes. “What?”

“You just keep surprising me,” I tell her. “Amazing with animals, strong, beautiful, intelligent, and great at chess.”

The color of her cheeks deepens, and she smiles softly. “I’m feeling more like myself than I have in a long time, Bradyn. Thanks for that.”

“That’s not me. It’s all you.”

“Not all of it.” She sets her food aside and stares out at the pond. “It’s beautiful out here. I don’t think I’ve ever been to this part of the ranch.”

“We don’t use it until the spring,” I tell her. “In early April, we’ll rotate the cattle out here so they can enjoy it. But it stays vacant all winter since it’s so far from the main house.”

“Makes sense.”

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