Page 17 of Love in the Storm

Lyric chuckled. “You can say that again.”

“Everything will be okay, and we’ll get out of here.”

The cabin was quiet, except for the wind thrashing outside, and she was able to slow her trembling breaths. Asa held her until she lifted her head.

“Thanks.” She stepped back to wipe her cheeks.

He casually leaned back against the kitchen counter. “Do you go to church around here?”

“I’ve been going to a church in Silver Falls.”

“You live there?”

“No, I live here in Blackwater.”

“You have any other business out there?” he asked with a lifted brow—the one on the opposite side of the gash near his hairline.

Lyric fidgeted with her fingers. He didn’t know how hard it was to show up in a small-town churchwhen everyone knew your face and name from mugshots printed in the local newspapers. “No.”

Asa paused for her to continue, but he would have to keep waiting. She wasn’t ready to tell him she couldn’t sit in a church in Blackwater with the same people she’d hurt. They’d never let her in.

“Sorry, we don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” he whispered.

“It’s okay. I’m just getting used to this faith, and I’m afraid to mess up.”

Asa’s eyes widened. “You think you’re not allowed to mess up? Who told you that?”

“No one, I guess. I want to be a good Christian and do all the things right, but I’m scared of not being good enough.”

Asa shook his head and kept his gaze on her. “Everyone messes up, even Christians. It’s how we fix it that matters.”

Lyric hadn’t thought of it that way before, and she didn’t know what to think of being expected to mess up. She’d spent the last few years walking on eggshells. Don’t relapse. Don’t be late. Don’t get fired. Don’t miss a bill. It was exhausting, and her soul was tired.

“And it never ends,” Asa continued. “You’ll never be perfect. You’re going to have to ask for forgiveness for the rest of your life. We should always try to be like Christ, but it’s impossible. God gives you grace. Give some to yourself.”

She wanted to believe him. She wanted to trust him. But just like the salvation she’d heard about in church, it sounded too good to be true. “That’s easier said than done. I did a lot of bad things. I don’t think I can come back from all that.”

Asa stood taller and took a step toward her. Now she’d done it. She’d confessed, and he’d put the pieces together. She was a criminal, and he was the law keeper. They were on opposite ends of the moral spectrum.

Instead of telling her she was right, he stood before her and said, “You can. No one is too far gone to be forgiven.”

She narrowed her eyes. “How can you say that? You deal with the worst people in the world every day.”

“But I also see the best people, and sometimes, those are the same. I’ve been working long enough to see people be punished and learn their lesson. It doesn’t always happen, but sometimes it does, and that makes what I do worth it.”

A smile lifted Lyric’s lips. “You’re a good man. You don’t have an easy job.” She’d had her fair share of run-ins with the police, and none of them had been pretty, whether it was herself or someone else receiving the reprimand.

“It’s what I was called to do.”

“Called?” she questioned.

“I think the Lord gave me the skills and determinationto handle what I do. I’m not going to say I always enjoy it, but I see the need for it, and I think it’s what I’m meant to do.”

He felt called by the Lord? To be a police officer? Why would the Lord call one of His children to do something so difficult day in and day out?

“I guess I haven’t ever been called to do anything,” she said.

“You’ll know what it is when the time is right. Be patient.”

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