Page 35 of Forever After All

“Liar.”

Jess whirled on Thea. “Will you get back to work?”

“Will you promise to pray about it?”

Jess gritted her teeth and took a deep breath. “Fine. I’ll pray about it, but I won’t expect an answer.”

“Good enough.”

They both stood still for a moment, and Jess sighed. “Why do you even care?”

Thea huffed. “Because we’re family. But not just that. I love you and care about you and want you to be happy.”

Jess couldn’t look at Thea. There were too many things she didn’t understand. Love being the first one.

Thea disappeared out the door, leaving Jess to put out the fires in her head.

Prayer was the last thing on her mind, but she closed her eyes and tried to block out the nervousness that had her heart beating like a drum. The familiar grainy feed smell slightly calmed her, and she focused on the simple words she needed.

Lord, help me understand. I don’t know what Linc is thinking, but I want to know. Should I just tell him? Should I wait for him to make the first move?

Make me brave, Lord. Please.

She opened her eyes, and everything was as it should be. The feed buckets waited on her, and she did the only thing she knew how to do–her job.

Taking the buckets to the stables, she greeted Burgundy with a hand outstretched toward her nose. “Hey, girl.”

Burgundy pressed her cheek into Jess’s hand.

“You’re not gonna try to make me talk about my feelings, are you?”

Jess’s phone vibrated in her back pocket, and she answered it without taking her attention off Burgundy.

“Jess? It’s Julia Letterman. How are you?”

Julia? She owned one of the flower shops in town, but they rarely spoke outside of church. “Hey, Mrs. Letterman. I’m fine. How are you?”

“Pretty good. I meant to catch you at church this morning, but you snuck out too quickly. Listen, Betty told me you went out with her nephew last week.”

Oh, joy. The news was spreading. “I did.”

“She told me things didn’t work out between you two, but that y’all seemed to get along well enough at the wedding last night.”

Okay, so the whole story was public knowledge. At least she wasn’t being painted as a heartless man-eater.

“That’s about right.”

“Well, my grandson is coming to town this Thursday. He’s with the rodeo in Cody, but they’re having a small rodeo here this weekend. I mentioned you when he said he was coming to town, and he said he’d like to meet you. I thought to myself, Julia, those two would really hit it off, and I think I’m right.”

It was good to know Julia held meetings with herself. If she could keep her thoughts quiet, maybe Jess wouldn’t end up in awkward conversations like this.

“It’s nice that you thought of me, but I don’t think I’m ready to go on more dates.”

“Oh, sweetie. How are you going to find the love of your life if you don’t put yourself out there?”

That was a good question–one Jess didn’t like asking herself.

Julia was right, but Jess really didn’t like staring the truth in the face sometimes. Hence her silence.

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