“Come on! Let’s go!” Bastian was like an excited puppy. His mood was infectious. I smiled.
“Okay, it’ll take a while to get there. It’s about two miles from here,” I warned.
Bastian searched around and found a good sized walking stick, large enough to grip sturdily in one hand. “Okay, all set.”
David still seemed unsure, but there was a ghost of a smile on his lips when Bastian handed him a walking stick. “As long as you think it’s okay.”
He wanted to go. I could tell. There was a flush on his face that had nothing to do with fanatical preaching.
“Absolutely,” I told him. Even if, deep down there was a niggling of doubt. Of worry that—
“It’s totally okay,” I said more firmly.
“All right then, come on—”
There was the crunch of leaves. Before I had a chance to panic I caught sight of familiar brown hair. “Anne, what are you doing out here?”
Anne stopped, seeming surprised at the sight of me with the Scott brothers. “I was looking for you actually.” She looked from me to David and Bastian. “What are you guys doing?”
“Sara was going to take us to a waterfall,” Bastian answered for me.
Anne raised her eyebrows and gave me a pointed look. “She was?”
I shrugged. “I thought it’d be nice to show them.”
“Would you like to come?” David asked, his voice gruff. Yet hopeful.
“Yes. I’d love that,” my friend said without pause. I knew she would never lecture me about attending Daily Devotional instead.
I would have though. If the roles were reversed, I would have berated her for breaking the rules.
The realization didn’t sit well with me.
Piosity was not attractive on anyone.
“Let me find you a walking stick,” David insisted, rooting around on the ground until he found one the perfect size for Anne. He handed it to her with a shy smile. She smiled back. I could see their fingers touch briefly. He was so much taller than she was. She looked small and delicate standing next to him.
“Come on, the day’s not getting any younger.” Bastian clapped his hands together like a schoolteacher.
“We have to go that way,” I instructed, pointing north.
“It’s quite a long way if I remember. It’s been a few years since Sara and I have been out here,” Anne added as we started to hike through the trees.
“No worries. I like getting sweaty.” Bastian wiggled his eyebrows and I couldn’t help but snort.
David and Anne were ahead of us, talking together. David bent his head low so he could hear whatever it was Anne was saying. Their arms brushed together. The longer we walked, the more alert David became. Like a burden was lifted from his very heavy shoulders.
“I like her,” Bastian said, holding a branch up so I could walk beneath it. “When they’re together I see a little of the old David Scott.”
“Anne’s been through a lot. She understands how hard this transition is,” I responded. Bastian waited as I hopped over a fallen log, steadying me when I tripped.
“I thought the people who came here wanted to be here.” He sounded slightly sarcastic. As if he were throwing my words back at me. I deserved it though.
Though it didn’t stop me from feeling defensive. I swallowed the angry retort that bubbled up my throat. Because I had said that. And it wasn’t true. Not always.
Not for me.
Not for Anne either.
