Page 94 of Forever After All

Atonement, repentance, redemption. It was all here, and it made sense.

He’d been judged by men, but he had judgment from God to look forward to, and for once, it wasn’t so scary. If the Lord knew his heart, maybe he was on the right path.

Love covers a multitude of sins. It made sense now. Linc was making changes in his life, but that wasn’t the end of the story. He had to let the Lord make changes too.

Mr. Chambers said the same thing. Linc didn’t have all the time in the world to fix things. He had to start today.

Chapter28

Jess

Jess poured hot water over the coffee grounds. The smell would definitely wake the men.

Then again, they’d worked until the sun went down yesterday. It wouldn’t be bad if they slept in.

What was happening to her, and why was she getting soft?

There was stirring in the men’s tent, and she turned at the zipping.

Oh no. She shouldn’t have done that.

Linc stepped out of the tent wearing nothing but his jeans and socks.

Yes, his abdomen was on full display, and it was glorious.

Jess jerked her attention away. What was she doing?

Coffee!

She snuck a glance his way because she was only human. He stuck his feet into the boots right outside the tent and raised up, stretching his arms over his head.

Jess growled. Actually growled. Why did he look like a perfectly sculpted male model two minutes after rolling out of bed?

Not even a bed. He’d slept on the ground. He’d probably had rocks sticking in his back like she had, but he looked as fresh as a daisy.

At least, she thought that was how the figure of speech was supposed to be used. She had no idea if daisies were fresh or not.

Linc was not enticed by the smell of her coffee. At least not yet because he walked straight into the woods behind the tent.

Half a minute later, Linc returned and slipped back into his tent. He reemerged pulling a shirt down over his abs.

Great. Now she wouldn’t blubber like a fool when he greeted her.

“Morning,” he said with a grin as he leaned over the pan of bacon by the fire. “Smells good.”

Note to self: Bacon is effective Linc bait.

“Good morning.”

Paul emerged from the tent and whistled for Thane. The wolf dog sprung from the trees at his friend’s call.

“You ready for a walk?” Paul asked.

“I think he’s already been walking this morning,” Jess said.

“I need a walk.” Paul stretched his back from side to side. “I’m getting too old to sleep on the ground.”

“Breakfast is ready when you are,” Jess called to him as he started jogging down the trail they’d taken yesterday.

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