“Because honestly,” she said, “I’d like to return to working more hands-on with the charities. Like I used to. But I don’t think you’ll be excited about any of the locations.” She rattled off four areas the Grayhouses aid organizations were active.
He ran a hand down his face. “Do the Grayhouses go searching for the most hostile locations on earth?”
Her lips hinted at a smile. “They gravitate to the need, not the danger.” She shrugged. “Those two things just happen to go hand in hand sometimes.”
She shoveled a theatrical amount of innocence in that last statement. And wrapped her arms around his waist. “You know, realistically, Isadora Island is probably the safest place their charities are active. I know WhiteRock and the FBI and whoever else are all trying to track down bad guys there, but Jason, seriously, there are bad guys everywhere. And no tourists have ever been harmed on Isadora Island, or in all of Morghana. The only—”
He held up both hands. “I get it. Yes, you have a point. You’re not wrong. I just . . .”
“It’s okay. Let’s table this for now. Our tacos are waiting. Want to eat?”
His thoughts fired in a dozen different directions. He needed time to think. He wasn’t sure how he felt about everything. But he was sure how he felt about Tayla. And tacos. “Yeah. Let’s eat.”
She could hear his heartbeat.
After dinner, Tayla turned on the local news. Mainly because they both kept getting weather alerts on their phone and wanted to hear the latest prediction for hail and area flooding. She was mostly concerned about the chance of flooding because, well, Houston. While her house hadn’t flooded before, the next street over flooded often. She might be stuck tomorrow.
But for now, relaxing on her couch, her head on Jason’s chest, his heartbeat a steady thrum in her ear, she wasn’t worried about flooding.
They watched sports highlights waiting for the weather update. His fingers glided up and down her arm.
She knew his brain shifted into overdrive when she dropped all her news before dinner. While they ate, theconversation hovered in the safe zone, centering on food, then movies.
He was quiet now. Maybe engrossed in the sports recap. Maybe mulling over the Morghana task force offer. Maybe worried his truck would suffer hail damage tonight.
If he knew what his continued light touch on her arm was doing to her, he was thinking about something else entirely.
“Hey.” His deep voice rumbled from his chest. She felt it more than heard it. He sounded like he wanted to say something more—something she needed to sit up and look him in the eyes for.
So she did.
“The opportunities in Morghana—mineandyours—feel right, don’t they?”
Oh. He really just said that? She hoped . . . but honestly, she didn’t expect him to agree that quickly. “Um, yes. It feels right for me. But, like I said, I don’t want to do anything to damage this relationship. If . . . wait, it feels right to you? The task force job?”
He nodded. “It’s a good assignment. For several reasons. It was tempting when the board explained it. I just didn’tthink . . . well, to put it bluntly, I didn’t think I could have that assignment and you. I felt like it was an either-or.”
So, he was . . . she didn’t want to say it out loud.
But he did. “I was going to choose you. In case it’s not obvious.”
Oh.
He leveled his gaze at her. Serious. And tender. “It’s clearer to me now that only God could have orchestrated something like this. This kind of assignment for meandyou. At the same time. In the same place.“ He brushed a thumb across her cheek. “And if he’s opening the door, then yeah, that’s the door we need to walk through.”
Excitement burst in her chest, and a peace settled in her soul. “So . . . we’re moving to an island paradise for the next few months?”
“I don’t know.” He looked a little mischievous. “There’s not much nightlife on Isadora Island. Would you mind it if our dates mainly involve walks on the white sand beach and hiking to waterfalls?”
She cocked her head. Pretended to give his point sincere consideration. “Well, I’ll miss the Houston traffic. But I’ll cope somehow.”
She hadn’t told him yet, but she’d fallen in love with him a month ago. On Isadora Island. And now, they were going back to that tropical paradise. Full of beauty. And unseen dangers.
And a sun that is always shining. Whether you can see it or not.
The valet that greeted her on that first day was right. Maybe she was reading more into it than he intended, but the sentiment was true none the less—the sun never left. Even when she couldn’t see it. God never left. He was with her on The Sea Queen. And in the sea cave during high tide.
Jason’s eyes searched her face. “Promise me something?”
