Page 40 of Rescued Faith

His mother raised one eyebrow and stared him down.

“What?! She didn’t. And no need to get all worked up about my job. I know how to handle myself.”

“I’m your mother. I’m supposed to worry. It’s bad enough we got through all that upheaval with the Sosa craziness, thenLogan goes back to being a smokejumper and moves away. Andi has Jude looking after her. Who else do you have to look after you?”

“You make it sound like I need a babysitter, when in reality I’m a grown man. And I have my crew. It’s not like I rush into burning buildings by myself. Besides, Sosa is dead. End of story.”

His mother sighed and pulled a glass out of the cupboard. “I know. But one of my sons jumps out of planes into fires. I don’t need you putting yourself recklessly in danger. We’ve been through more than our fair share of trouble in the last decade.” She filled the glass with cold tap water.

Bryce wasn’t about to change careers or anything, but maybe he could help smooth some of those worry lines he was responsible for.

“I know what I’m doing when it comes to my job.”

“And your love life?” She set the glass on the counter and turned to face him.

“Ma! I’m not gonna go into that with you. Besides, don’t you have a meeting to go to? I thought you were giving the governor’s wife and son a tour of the courthouse.”

“Nice try. That’s tomorrow.” She stepped closer. “You were serious about Penny back then. I saw it. The way you looked at her.”

Bryce tossed the wrench and screwdriver into the open toolbox on the floor. “Then she thought I cheated on her and she left.”

“I thought you explained that to her. The whole Ashlee debacle.”

“I did. It doesn’t change anything. We’re just working together now. Nothing else.”

“Maybe there should be a ‘something else.’ She’s strong. Smart. Beautiful. She challenges you.”

“She doesn’t want to settle down. And I don’t think she wants anything to do with God.”

“And you do?”

“How can you ask me that? I’m going to church with you every Sunday I don’t work. Going to discipleship group. I’m trying.” He slammed the toolbox closed and returned it to its place under the sink.

“I ran into Izan last week when you took Dad to your men’s discipleship group. He thought you were out on date. He made it sound like you went out a lot. Like he had no clue you were actually at a Bible study. Or watching a show with your father most nights.”

Bryce’s neck grew hot. But he knew enough to keep his mouth shut.

His mother folded her arms, a bright red fingernail tapping against her white blouse sleeve. “Why do you let people believe you’re still that guy? Because I don’t think Penny is the only one you need to show who you are now. You’ve changed. So why are you so afraid to show that?”

There was the question. And he didn’t know how to answer it. Maybe it was because everyone at church kept talking about being this new creation now, but he felt very much the same. Struggling with the same temptations and doubts. And the few times he tried to bring the conversation around to something like faith, his buddies gawked at him and thought he was joking.

“People see what they want to see. Penny thought she saw a cheater and left. Izan and the others see what they think I am too. It’s not like I lie to them. They have their assumptions.”

His mother tilted her head, leaned closer. “There’s a lot more to you, Bryce, than the wild-child persona you put out there. There always has been. And I think Penny is one of the few people you let get close. One of the few who might know that.”

“And she still left.” Bryce held her stare and pushed back with his own.

“Maybe it’s not you she’s running from.”

Huh? “What else would it be?”

“I suspect it’s her own past. Losing both parents already couldn’t have been easy. I wonder if always moving, never settling down, is her modus operandi, a way to keep herself from being hurt again.”

Well, that was something he hadn’t thought of. “But what do I do about that? And besides, I thought you wanted me with someone like Sarai Green. A good Christian girl that would help me ‘settle down.’” He made air quotes.

His mother laughed. “Sarai Green? Why would you think that? She would bore you to tears.”

“I thought that’s what you wanted! And for the record, I’m pretty sure I bored her, too, on our one and only date.”

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