Page 87 of Forever After All

She’d done her part, but he had to figure out forgiveness and repentance on his own. Hopefully, she’d at least gotten through to him a little bit.

Paul and Vera sat on the far end of a pew on the right side of the sanctuary, and Jess headed toward them. They were the only two people who hadn’t been giving her unsolicited dating advice, and she appreciated the break.

Today, she didn’t want to talk to anyone about anything. She’d done enough hemmin’ and hawin’ over Linc, and Sunday was a day of rest.

Paul and Vera were a lot like Linc and Jess. They enjoyed each other’s company, but everyone at the ranch wondered if the two had more than friendly feelings for one another. If they did, neither had spoken up about it. They seemed to just like being around each other.

Jess took the seat beside Vera who said a friendly good morning and nothing else.

Jess’s shoulders relaxed. She might just get some peace.

Then a tingling in the back of her neck made her turn around. Linc was walking in wearing his Sunday best–a nice shirt, dark-wash jeans, and his good boots.

Drat. Of course, he looked well rested and handsome.

When he looked up, his gaze locked with hers, and she froze. Why did she have such drastic reactions to him? He walked in a room and her adrenaline spiked enough to trigger her freeze response.

And of course he was headed her way. She couldn’t be lucky enough to spend a day without thinking about him. He was everywhere she turned. In the barn, in the dining hall, at church.

She liked having him around, but she was also still confused about their conversation in the barn. Why couldn’t he see himself the way she saw him?

She’d had plenty of time to think about what he told her, and while he’d confessed to stealing, lying, and burning things down, the unknown that surrounded his confession made her mind wander to the worst things. If he’d been in prison, there had to be a major crime attached to it.

When Brett heard Thea was in trouble with her family, Linc had jumped in the truck without a second thought. Knowing Thea’s family didn’t play games, he’d gone accepting he might have to stare down the barrel of a gun or choose to pull the trigger himself.

Had he pulled the trigger before? Not for practice or sport but for evil or self-defense?

Linc took the seat beside her and whispered, “Good morning.”

“Good morning.”

“How are you feeling?” He pointed to his side.

“Better. It only hurts when I cough or sneeze now.”

Linc nodded. “It took me about a month to get over it when I bruised my ribs.”

Jess tilted her head. Now he was offering free information. What changed?

“How did you get hurt?”

The music minister approached the podium and addressed the congregation. “It’s a beautiful day to be in the Lord’s house.”

Linc turned his attention to the front of the room, and she’d never know whether he’d meant to tell her or would have avoided her question had the service not saved him from the talk.

Trying her best to listen to the message, she found herself praying for guidance. Linc was right beside her, and she wanted to help him see his worth, but no one could make him do it.

She’d considered smacking some sense into him, but violence wasn’t condoned by the church.

After church, everyone from the ranch met at the dining hall for lunch. Jameson and Ava were the only ones missing, and they hadn’t been at church either.

Jess had just finished her chili when Hadley stood and clinked a fork against her water glass. “May I have your attention please. If your name isn’t Remi or Colt, please meet me in the dance hall in fifteen minutes.”

Colt whined. “Why am I not invited?”

Hadley made a gesture of zipping her lips.

Remi rested a hand on her belly and elbowed Colt. “They’re planning us a baby shower.”

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