Page 10 of Forever After All

“Do you want to be in a relationship?” Linc asked. Did he really want the answer?

“I don’t know. That’s the thing. I usually don’t do something unless I want to do it. Dating feels like something other people want me to do because they don’t want me to feel left out.”

“Well, there’s your answer. Don’t let anyone push you into something you don’t want to do.”

Jess sat up straighter. “You’re right.” There was a second of hesitation before she went on. “Well, maybe I do feel a little left out. But here’s the thing, I don’t know what it feels like to be left out because I’ve never cared before.”

“Do you care now?” Linc asked.

Jess slowly looked at him. He caught the movement in his peripheral vision and turned to find her staring at him with a look of sadness he’d never seen before.

“No. Not really. I’m happy right now.”

“Right now?”

“Yeah, like anytime I’m at the ranch or church or just hanging out with you.”

Linc finally took a breath. He hadn’t lost her yet.

But was it fair to hope she didn’t find someone when he still didn’t know if he should make his own move? He wanted her to be happy, and she was happy when she was with him.

She meant during the day-to-day work they did. She didn’t mean sharing a life with him. She didn’t mean dealing with his checkered past.

While he was making a lot of progress in moving away from his old life, he hadn’t actually made the move with the Big Man.

Jess was happy when she was at church. So was he. But as much as he believed in God, it was hard to reconcile his massive sins with such an easily accessible forgiveness.

So, yeah. He believed in God, but he hadn’t taken the leap yet. It was like he could see the green grass on the other side but couldn’t figure out how to get over the fence.

“He was really nice,” Jess said as she stared out the window.

“Then maybe he deserves a chance.”

As much as it killed him to say it, if Jess thought he was a good guy, Linc trusted that judgment. Who was he to stop her if she was confident in her discernment?

“Okay. I’ll go. It’s not like it’s a lifetime commitment, you know?”

“Right.”

At least, he hoped she was right.

Chapter4

Jess

Jess parked in front of Marshall’s, the nicest steakhouse in town. She was three minutes early.

Was Hanson usually on time, or would he be late? Was that a fireable offense if he was?

The girls at the ranch had told her a few horror stories over the years, and she’d kept a log of the red flags they mentioned. Ava had been stood up before, but no one had mentioned a late date.

Her gut said being late was bad. He wasn’t taking things seriously. He didn’t respect her. He didn’t care.

But she’d been accused of being too strict before in many areas of her life. It was possible she was being that way now.

There was a knock on her window, and she jumped.

Hanson stood beside her truck, waving and wearing a smile like he was genuinely happy to see her.

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