“I get it. I don’t like it, but I get it,” Bryce said finally. “But will you call me afterwards? Tonight?”
“Yes.”
“No matter how late?”
“Fine. I’ll call tonight. No matter the time.”
Beth leaned back with a sigh, brushing strands of raven hair from her face. She closed her eyes for a moment—needing the silence and sleep.
Then Bryce cleared his throat. “In light of our day, this might be the most awkward part of it.”
Beth didn’t bother opening her eyes. “What?”
He gave a soft, amused laugh. “Realizing we exchanged vows… without exchanging numbers.”
Without a word, Beth unlocked her phone and handed it to him.
While Bryce entered his number, she leaned back and let her eyes fall shut, a small smile tugging at her lips.
“Whirlwind romance at its finest,” she murmured.
Then, finally, she surrendered to the sleep her body craved.
CHAPTER 3
The flight home felt both endless and too short. Now, parked in her parents’ driveway with a gas station coffee in hand, Beth stared at the house that had always made her feel safe.
She leaned back in the driver’s seat of her Jeep and dipped her head just enough to get a better view out the windshield at her childhood home. She had always loved this house—the sprawling yard, the wraparound porch she and her sister used to play on, the forest green paint now faded, and the once-bright yellow door dulled with age. She loved every last detail.
What have I done, Lord? How could I have been so foolish?The question was on repeat in her mind and on her lips.
Beth climbed out, walked up the steps, and crossed over to the porch swing—her favorite part of the house. She sat down and slowly pushed herself with her feet.
From her childhood into her teen years and even her early twenties, Beth could usually be found on that swing. Summer or winter, it didn’t matter. She came here to think, pray, read, or marvel at the majesty of the Rocky Mountains.
She was on this swing when Grandma Jean read from Romans and Beth recognized her need for a Savior. She had only been six, but when Grandma read chapter ten, verse nine, something stirred within her. Beth asked her to read it again.
“... that if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
The second time, the words hit even harder. Could it really be that simple? Believe and confess? She’d told her grandmother that she wasn’t entirely sure what “confess” meant, but she already believed in God.
“Then you, dear girl, have the gift of salvation,” Grandma Jean had said, her voice warm with certainty. “The confessing part is just admitting that you believe Jesus is who He says He is.”
That day, she had. Sitting cross-legged beside her sister, Beth had prayed to accept the gift Grandma Jean had explained so clearly.
She remembered telling her grandmother how surprised she was that she didn’t have to do anything for God in return.Grandma Jean had smiled and gently explained why that mattered so deeply—that salvation was a free gift, so that no one could boast in themselves, but only in the love that flows from the Creator of love. Jesus was God’s gift to mankind—not something to be earned or lost.
That truth settled into Beth’s heart, and she had never forgotten it.
Lynn had only been one at the time, a bundle of copper curls and bright green eyes sitting beside her on the swing, far too young to understand the moment unfolding. But Beth had leaned down, her little hands cradling her baby sister’s face, and whispered into her cherub cheeks, “When you’re older, I’ll tell you all about Jesus. I promise. And I’ll always—always—point you to Him.” Then she’d pressed a kiss to Lynn’s forehead, as if sealing the promise with love.
It was on this swing that she’d told her parents she was taking a year off nursing school to volunteer at an orphanage in Belize. They’d been thrilled, fully supportive—proud, even.
It was also where she had her first kiss—with Matthew, her childhood friend and only boyfriend.
That night had been her first night home after freshman year. She and Matthew had gone out for ice cream, and afterward, he walked her to the porch. They’d sat on the swing and talked, the porch light casting a warm glow over everything, and he kissed her.
Then he’d whispered that he loved her. She hadn’t said it back.
