Page 41 of There I Find Rest

There she went comparing them again. It was kind of hard not to though, since she was trying to get over her inability to trust, and it was good to see that Davis was a completely different man than Todd. That made it easier to let go and to believe him. To believe that he wanted the best for her and for their child.

“I have a midwife appointment next Friday. I was thinking about that last night too, that I wanted to make sure that you knew that you’re welcome to come. If you wanted to.”

She tried not to care whether he wanted to come or not, but she actually really wanted him to want to. Wanted him to want to be a father, wanted him to want to be involved and to take interest in his child, even though she wasn’t born yet.

“I... I don’t know what to say. Other than thank you. Thank you so much. I... I absolutely will go to everything you let me go to. I want to. More than anything. Not just for her though.” He slanted a glance over at her, and her heart skipped a beat.

She drew in a breath and looked out toward the lake. She couldn’t deny his words sent a thrill through her, but she didn’t trust thrills. Not anymore.

“This is where we turn to go to the church,” he said, indicating a path through the dunes and stairs that led up a short hill.

“I bet the view from the church is gorgeous,” she said as they started toward it.

“It is. It’s a beautiful church, a great congregation, and you’re right, the view is amazing.”

She tried to imagine how it might look in the winter, with snow coming in off the lake, with the wind blowing and cold, but it was hard to think about that with the sun shining so brightly and the breeze friendly and almost warm as they walked side by side and into the parking lot of the church which was already starting to fill out.

Davis hadn’t been kidding when he said the whole town was there. She saw everyone she knew from Strawberry Sands and a lot of people she didn’t.

She was given a warm welcome, as people came and, after asking about her plan to start the stable up again, thanked her for coming to town and hoping to rejuvenate businesses.

The sermon was a good one, the music simple and beautiful, and Kim couldn’t believe how much sweeter and more restful in her soul she felt as she closed her Bible and stood for the last hymn and the invitation.

They chatted with Griff about a few more things as they walked to the steps, including Griff’s strawberry coffee cake, before he walked off and they made their way down through the parking lot and down the steps to the beach.

“I put some chicken in the crockpot this morning before I left. Do you want to have lunch?” Davis asked as they reached the bottom of the steps and walked on the path through the dunes.

He sounded a little like he wasn’t sure whether she would be happy to be eating with him or not, and that made her feel bad. She didn’t mean for him to get the idea that she didn’t like him. She did. Quite a lot. He’d been nothing but solicitous to her since she came.

“Do you want to bring it to my house?” she asked.

“That would be easy.”

“All right. Then since you made it, let’s eat at my house, and I’ll do the dishes.”

“We could do the dishes together, and then everything will be cleaned up by the time it’s time to leave. Do you mind if I drive?”

“No. I appreciate it.” She almost asked him to stop being so perfect, to give her a reason to back away, but that was not fair to him. So she closed her mouth and thanked the Lord for giving her such a wonderful person, a wonderful man, a wonderful father to her baby. Maybe, in time, he would be more.

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