Page 84 of Forever After All

Linc rubbed his hands over his face. What a morning. The hangover from the midnight conversation with Jess had his stomach in knots.

He put away the cots, called Jameson with another update on Applejack, and went home to change clothes. After stopping by the kitchen to get two breakfast plates, he went back to the barn. He put Jess’s food in her office and grabbed a few pieces of bacon to eat while he got started.

Jess kept a list of barn chores tacked to the information board, but something else drew his attention. The quotes and verses she wrote on the board always stopped him short. It was almost as if he got a peek into her head when she changed the board.

Today’s verse was meant for him. It was a direct stab to his heart.

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.1 Peter 4:8

The words seemed simple enough, but surely there was some other context that caused the verse to mean something else. He didn’t know much about the Bible–only what he’d been taught at church–but he knew enough to know the whole thing went straight over his head.

Love. He didn’t know anything about love, so how could it have any effect on the mound of sin he carried?

Linc studied the chores list and started at the top. It was half an hour later before he saw Jess again. She’d changed back into her clothes from the night before and started working. He fully expected her to go home, but the stern look on her face said she was going to be stubborn and put in another shift despite her exhaustion.

He was one to talk, since he was back at work too, but he couldn’t sit at home. Not when the only thing he had to do was think about Jess and how she seemed to be going out of her way to avoid him now.

He’d known telling her would push her away, but he’d done the right thing. She’d been misled, and he’d set the record straight.

Thea strolled back into the barn after breakfast and looked around. “Where’s Jess?”

Linc pointed toward the shower area where she was giving Jethro a bath.

“Thanks,” Thea said over her shoulder as she headed that way.

Linc went to the storage room to get a few things he needed for his next horse when he heard part of Jess and Thea’s conversation.

“How’d your date go last night?” Thea asked.

And that was his cue to leave. He’d heard enough about Jess dating, and if he ever had to hear about it again, it would be too soon.

Before he could get the things he needed and get out, Jess answered.

“Not good. I’m done with the whole dating thing.”

Thea whined. “Don’t do that. You have to go through a bunch of bad apples to find a good one.”

“What does any of this have to do with apples?” Jess asked.

He smiled involuntarily. Jess never understood figurative speech, and he loved that she preferred plain language. She kept things straight and to the point, just as they should be.

“It’s fine. The season is starting, and I don’t have time to waste on dates that don’t work out. I’d rather be working anyway.”

Linc gripped the lead rope in his hand. He’d missed his chance. Not that he’d had one in the first place.

Jess and Thea moved their conversation away from the storage room, and Linc slipped out. He worked through chore after chore, focusing on the work instead of Jess.

Who was he kidding? He kept one eye on Jess the whole morning. Thankfully, she didn’t notice.

Around noon, she walked out of her office and said to no one in particular, “Going to lunch!”

Linc relaxed when she left, working harder without the distraction wandering around the barn. He’d skip lunch and get ahead on some chores, but after a while, he started to imagine the horses were judging him. They’d heard the rough conversation last night, and they all seemed to be looking down their noses at him.

Great. Now he was assigning human thoughts to horses. Mr. Chambers would be extra proud of him.

Linc stopped with the rake he’d been using to muck stalls hanging in the air.

That’s what he needed. A talk with Mr. Chambers. It had been a while since he’d visited his boss.

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