Bryce nodded. “I was in Belize that summer, volunteering at a hospital. She encouraged me to go—even though things
between us were rocky. When I got back, two weeks before classes started, I found out they had gotten married while I was gone.”
The room fell silent.
“I thought it was a sick joke. But it wasn’t. They were really married.”
Pastor Steve leaned forward, voice low. “How did you respond?”
“I shut down. Stopped going to church. Stopped praying. I was angry—at Abigail, at my dad… at God.” Bryce stared at his coffee. “They kept inviting me over, said Levi missed me, and acted like nothing was wrong. Eventually, my dad showed up at school and wanted to talk. I told him he’d betrayed me—that neither of them had the decency to apologize. He said love doesn’t need an apology. He told me if I claimed to be a Christian, I had no choice but to forgive him.”
He let out a bitter laugh. “That was it. I told God I was done. And I walked away from anything that had to do with Christianity.”
Beth sat motionless, the sorrow in her eyes deepening.
Bryce’s voice dropped—quieter now, almost detached. “Six months into the marriage, Abigail gave birth to a full-term baby girl. She was already pregnant with their child before I left… before they got married. Then one night a couple of years later, my dad drove home drunk. He crossed the center line, hit a guardrail. Flipped the car. Abigail wasn’t wearing a seatbelt and died on impact. My dad was pinned. Levi got unbuckled but couldn’t get the baby out before the car caught fire. The autopsy said all three were still alive when it did.”
Tami covered her mouth. Pastor Steve bowed his head, lips
moving in silent prayer.
“Levi would’ve graduated high school this year.”
Beth reached out, her hand resting on his. “Bryce…”
“Other than my full brother, Brock, Levi was the only one of my dad’s kids I ever really knew.” Bryce’s voice cracked. “My dad had seven children total. Levi was the only one he adopted. I have four half-siblings I’ve never met. One I saw once, briefly. The other three… I’ve never even seen in person.”
He gave a faint, bitter laugh. “That’s what my dad did. He married, started families, and left. Over and over again.”
His eyes finally lifted to meet Beth’s. “That’s why I said I’d never get divorced—especially if kids were involved. I’ve lived through the wreckage it leaves behind.”
He looked at her then, really looked. Her sorrow for him was raw and open, and it stirred something deep—something long buried—in him. He reached over and gently wiped a tear from her cheek.
“It broke something in me,” he admitted, “… and now that brokenness has gotten you into this mess.”
“You didn’t do it alone,” she said softly. “I made choices too.”
Pastor Steve cleared his throat, gently bringing the moment back. “She’s right. The question now is—where do you want to go from here? What do you want, Bryce?”
Bryce didn’t hesitate. His eyes never left Beth. “I want to make this marriage real. I know I’ve got baggage, and my faith is still being rebuilt—but I believe our vows matter. God wasn’t drunk when we said them. Waking up married was the kick in the pants I needed. It might seem fast to you, like I’m suddenly all in with God—but I’ve always been an all-or-nothing kind of guy. This isn’t a new faith. It’s me coming back to the truth I’ve always known. I just didn’t want to live it when things got too hard. Now I do.”
Pastor Steve nodded slowly. “Not really that fast, when you consider where you were before you walked away. You were deep in the trenches of living your life for the Lord until you hit what looked like a breaking point. It may have broken your desire to serve Him—but it didn’t break the foundation your faith was built on.”
Three sets of eyes turned toward Beth, making her squirm.
She couldn’t meet their gaze.
Just as gently as he had asked Bryce, Pastor Steve turned to her. “Beth, what about you? What do you want?”
Her voice came out quieter than she expected. “I don’t know.” She twisted her hands in her lap. “I’m not saying I never want marriage… I just don’t think I’m ready for it right now.”
Pastor Steve nodded with calm understanding. “That’s okay. Are there questions you still need answered? Or something that would help you settle what you’re feeling?”
Beth paused, “I want to talk to Tami. Just her. Alone.”
Her nerves made the words sharper than she intended. She regretted it the moment they left her mouth. Bryce had just laid his soul bare, and her first instinct was still to run.
But it was too late to take it back.
