Page 80 of Hidden Trial

“I am.”

“That explains a few things.”

“Does it?”

“Your sister is very touchy about the subject of God.”

“Yes.” Charlotte poked the crust of her bread with a fork. “That was the last straw between us, so to speak. A bunch of stuff had been building up already. She says it’s because I left her and Mom, but I think nudging her on the subject of her eternal destiny pushed her over the edge with me. She’d had enough.”

“I see. Yeah, Maddy’s always very evasive when I’ve talked about my faith.”

“Yourfaith?”

“Does that surprise you?”

“A little.”

“It’s a part of my life that’s been dormant over the last few years.”

“Dormant how?”

“I believe in Jesus and all of that, but I haven’t talked to Him much in a while.”

“Ever think about starting up again?”

“I could, but excuses are so much easier.”

She laughed. “Yeah. But He’s waiting for you.”

“Thanks, Pastor Charlotte. But you don’t have to lay it out for me. I already know.”

“I would think in a job like this, you’d want Him close. Don’t you rely on Him?”

“Actually, in a job like this, you’re trained to rely on yourself. Your reflexes and intuition are invaluable.”

“God’s intuition is better.”

“True. But growing up, I relied on myself a lot, so it comes more naturally.”

“I think relying on ourselves is a human nature thing more than upbringing. Don’t you miss Him?”

“Interesting question. I don’t know that I’ve thought about Him enough to miss him. Not in the context of myself, anyway. It’s easy to pray for others’ safety. I guess I expect I’m responsible for my own.”

“I’d feel better knowing you pray for mine, but I’d hope you’d add yourself into it as well.”

A warmth spread up his chest at the thought of praying for God to keep her safe. Not helpful under the circumstances. Or maybe it was.

“It’s nice to know you’re a Christian, though,” she said before taking another bite of toast. “When I thought we were going to die at Tony’s office, all I could think to do was get you out of there alive. I didn’t know where you stood with God, so I did what I could to keep you safe.”

He leaned back slowly in his chair. The emotion that tightened his throat was not welcome, but he could do nothing to stop it. “Is that why you did that?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow. So does that mean that, if you already knew I was a Christian, you would have let me die with you?” He smirked.

“Could be. I wouldn’t have been as worried about your safety. But I still wouldn’t want you to die. Despite the conflict we’ve had, I really do like you. You’re a good man.”

“I know I’ve given you a hard time, but what you did at Tony’s office, it was admirable. Most people in that situation would be focused on saving their own lives.”

---