Page 31 of Found By You
I noticed that McCrae was watching me. Whenever I turned and our eyes met, there was this undeniable attraction between us. It just felt so natural to be with him, to be laughing with his family. They really made me feel at home.
Outside, the cool mountain air carried the distant sound of music from the bar down the street. The rhythm of conversation and laughter ebbed and flowed easily.
We played a third round, and I won again. Another outcry came out from the other players.
Canyon tossed his cards to the table and said, “Whoever she is, she must be a card shark.”
That had me bristling. I didn’t know why I didn’t like that phrase, but it set me on edge.
Dylan and Eliza were kind of in their own world, but Noah, Ella, Damon, Isla, Kayla, and McCrae were all watching me pretty closely. I decided I wasn’t going to win the next round. So even though my cards were good, I put them down.
McCrae leaned over and whispered, “You don’t have to be bad at cards. We’ll like you even if you’re really good at cards.”
I shrugged, annoyed that he knew what I was doing. “It was just a bad hand.”
He met my gaze, and I knew that he knew I was lying, which was funny and confusing. I wondered what my life was like before I met him.
After playing three more rounds, which I purposely didn’t win, Noah stood. “We’re going to get back to the baby.”
Damon agreed. “Yeah, we got to go save the monsters. Or maybe we’ll just go home and leave the monsters with Mom and Dad.”
Isla chucked him in the shoulder. “We’ll see.”
The two married couples left, and I was surprised at how affectionate they were. They hugged McCrae, and the women actually hugged me too, while the men gave me a pat on the shoulder.
Canyon waited until they’d gone before speaking. “Let’s do another round.”
I wondered about Canyon. He was the quietest of them all, but I didn’t know how he’d react if I kept beating him at the game.
McCrae, as if sensing my thoughts, asked me, “Do you want to play another round? We don’t have anywhere to go.”
Kayla stood, yawning. “I’m actually exhausted. I’m going to head home. I’ll see you all at church tomorrow.”
She gave me a big hug before leaving, and I thought about what she’d said. Church? Was I going to church? Did that feel familiar? I sorted through my brain, trying to decide if it did. Suddenly, a Bible verse came to mind from Proverbs 3: ‘Lean not unto thine own understanding, but in all ways acknowledge him.’
Canyon was dealing out cards when McCrae leaned in toward me and asked, “Are you okay?”
I nodded and took a sip of my drink. “I was just trying to decide if I knew anything about church, but then I remembered a scripture. So I don’t know what that means, but maybe I do go to church.”
McCrae’s smile held a little bit longer; then he nudged me with his shoulder. “You’re going to figure this out. Don’t worry.”
His reassurance was more comforting than he could have ever known. “Thanks.”
We played two more games, and then everyone started saying their goodbyes. As McCrae and I walked back to his cruiser, he opened the door for me.
I got in but said, “You don’t have to do that.”
He shook his head, then walked around the truck and got in the driver’s seat. “The Armstrong brothers were all taught to respect women. We open doors, that kind of thing. So I guess as long as you’re around me, you just have to get used to that.”
I snorted and leaned back, wondering what I had gotten used to in the past. “That sounds pretty good.”
He shut the door and smiled. “Good.”
We drove in silence for a minute. It didn’t take long to get back to the lake house. At first, we started walking toward the house, but then he rerouted me to the deck. “Do you want to stay out here for a second? Look at the stars?”
I followed him. “Sure.”
The lake stretched out in front of us, a dark mirror reflecting the sky’s brilliance.
