Page 109 of A Surefire Love
“It’s both. The moment we turn to Christ, sin no longer determines our eternity. But being free to make the right decision doesn’t make it easy.” He stroked her hair. “That’s one reason relationships are so important. We get to remind each other we’re free when we forget to act like it.”
Blaze tipped her head back to see him, but he still felt too far away. She rotated and propped herself right in front of his chest with her elbow on his shoulder, her hand where she could toy with the soft bristle of his hair. “Keep this up, and …” She bit the inside of her lips, but she couldn’t suppress the words. “I might fall in love with you.”
His mouth pulled into a full smile, and she brought her hand around to run her thumb over those perfect lips. He kissed the pad of her finger as it passed. As soon as her hand was out of the way, he drew his arms tighter around her and kissed her lips. The thrill sank deep and fast into her core, the sensation of falling tempered by the security of his embrace.
He kissed the corner of her mouth, her cheek, then her forehead. His sigh skimmed her skin. “That’s the goal, isn’t it? What all of us want.”
She traced a finger up and down his neck. “To fall in love with you?” She felt his laugh as much as she heard it.
“Love.” Still holding her up with one arm, he brushedher cheek with his knuckles. “What we need is love that’s steadfast when we’re acting cursed. That’s the only surefire cure. God’s first, then each other’s.”
“Steadfast and surefire.” The words held her as surely as Anson’s arms.
“That’s what I want to be for you.” His focus roved her face. “That’s how I want our relationship to feel. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
He nudged her nose with his and leaned in for another kiss.
The moment before their lips met, she repeated it again, this new heartbeat for their relationship. The words she’d spend her life living by. “Steadfast and surefire.”
Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.
Deuteronomy 7:9, ESV
BONUS EPILOGUE
“All right, let’s put those muscles to good use.”
David deserved a medal for not rolling his eyes at Sydney, especially when she clapped her mittened hands.
Scratch that. He didn’t need more medals to stash away and ignore.
Still, he could think of better uses for his muscles. They’d won basketball games, helped teammates out of the bus wreck, fought insurgents in the military, and participated in a few other activities that wouldn’t be received well by the church people surrounding him. Carrying a couch? Low on the “good use” list, no matter how many times Sydney clapped.
Many Oaks Bible Church had been more-or-less homeless since one of the kids incinerated the place. Having a new building—even if it was a former preschool—was a big deal to members. Self-appointed move coordinator Sydney Roswell among them.
David squatted, fit his fingers under the edge of thecouch, and waited for his best friend to do the same. Sterling nodded, and they rose in tandem.
“That goes in Anson’s office.” Sydney consulted a clipboard. “The second classroom on the left, all the way through into the office at the back.” As she eased the door shut behind them, she yelled, “Watch your step!”
He didn’t respond. Another medal for the drawer.
Sterling smirked.
The guy rarely spoke above a murmur and usually sent his sentences out to face the world alone. Most died on contact. But a few days ago, he said, “My church got a new building. Help us move in on Saturday?” If Sterling was two-sentences-serious, who was David to say no?
Besides, Marissa’s best friend, Blaze, attended here too. She was pretty serious about Anson, the youth pastor here, so by extension, moving this couch was one way of returning all the kindness Blaze had shown David over the years.
When David and Sterling came to the assigned room, they wordlessly turned. Inside the room, Anson was screwing the legs onto a table. He took the screws from between his lips and motioned toward the office off the classroom. “Bookshelf construction is underway in there. You can leave the couch by the door. I’m not even sure it’ll fit.”
David and Sterling did as they were told and set down the couch. As David straightened, he heard a familiar voice muttering in the office. He poked his head around the corner. Bookshelf pieces covered the floor of the rectangular office. Marissa sat at the epicenter of the parts explosion, her curly hair whipped into a frizzy disarray that indicated she’d been running her fingers through it.
“Who thought this was a good idea?” he asked.
Her lips parted in a gaping grimace. “Blaze was helping, but she got called away.” Marissa struggled to hold a shelf in place while finger-tightening a screw that might hold—ifshe didn’t bust the pre-drilled hole.
Finding open spots on the floor was like navigating a Twister mat, but David maneuvered close enough to grab the shelf from his sister. “I’ve got this.” As her hold loosened, he lowered the F-shaped contraption to the carpet.
