“But really, we pray for those who are lonely—” Her voice just quit on her, and Lark couldn’t believe she was going to get emotional in front of all these strangers. She quickly started spelling in her mind, because it centered her and allowed her feelings to release.
M-i-s-s-i-s-s-i-p-p-i.
“Or who need a special witness of Thee and Thy Son this holiday season. We pray for comfort and peace for those who have lost loved ones and have to endure this difficult time of year without them. We pray for our pastors and our neighbors, that we can all be vigilant in watching out for one another and those in our sphere of influence.”
Lark needed to wrap this up, and quickly. Beside her, Cash sniffled, and oh, that would be her entire undoing. She had not given him credit for his twenty-six years on the earth, assuming that every day had been plated with golden sunlight and carefree candy.
“We pray this food will nourish us, and we pray we can enjoy one another’s company. Bring us closer together as friends and family, and bless us to find ways to turn our gratitude into actions. Amen.”
She immediately cleared her throat, opened her eyes, and lifted her head. Pure silence draped over the whole house, this moment solidified in time as if God Himself had walked through the door to join them for meatballs and raspberry-jam-filled doughnuts.
Holiness permeated the room, and Lark quickly reached up to wipe her eyes. She caught several others doing so as well, including Cash and Bryce.
“Thank you,” Cash whispered, and then he strode forward and looked at the table. “Am I right here?”
“Yes,” Harry said, but he rose to his feet and grabbed onto Cash in a tight hug. Belle followed, as did Joey, Boston, and Kassie.
“I’m getting in on that,” Bryce said, and he hurried forward and joined the others. Codi, Adam, Cora, and Reggie joined them, and Lark found tears streaming down her face as she watched them all fold Cash right into their center.
She wanted to be part of this group so badly, because then she wouldn’t be alone, and Lark moved forward and opened her arms to put them around Codi on her right and Reggie—whom she’d barely spoken two words to—on her left.
It didn’t matter that she didn’t know everyone here very well. Or any of them. The Lord had a mysterious way of knitting hearts together, and Lark needed this more than she’d even been able to express to Cash.
“All right,” Cash drawled. “I’m starving, because I’ve been working all day. Can we eat?”
“Yeah,” several people said, and Lark dropped her arms and moved back, so the group could break up. Part of her wanted to run down the hall to her bedroom until her emotions settled and she wouldn’t have to look at anyone with watery eyes.
But part of being close to someone meant she had to be vulnerable, so she stayed in the room while others picked up their plates and headed toward the food laid out buffet-style on the island.
“Hey.” Cash reached for her, and drew her into his chest. “I want you to sit beside me, okay?”
She nodded, pressed her eyes closed, and didn’t care who saw them.
Several minutes later, once everyone had their food, Harry raised his hand. “We sometimes do announcements at family things, and I have something I want to say.”
“Go for it,” Cash said, and Lark looked down a couple of people to the country music star she’d nearly gushed over when he’d arrived.
Harry took a long drink of his sparkling cider, and wiped his mouth with a napkin. “Belle and I are going to have a baby.” He grinned around at the table, finally lasering in on his wife and pulling her against his side and planting a kiss against her temple. “We told our parents over the weekend, and now we’re tellin’ you.”
“Congrats,” Bryce practically bellowed, and Adam got up and rounded the table to give both Harry and Belle hearty, back-slapping hugs. Lark watched them, knowing there was more history between them than she knew about. She’d been filing questions away for hours now, since Boston and Cora had arrived, as they all knew so much more about one another than she did.
“Congratulations.” Codi hugged Belle too, then held onto both of her shoulders as she grinned at her. “When are you due?”
“The end of May,” Belle said, tears shining in her eyes. She hugged everyone, as did Harry, and then everyone re-settled back into their seats.
“So.” Bryce drew in a deep breath from where he sat almost directly across from her and Cash. With his back to the sliding glass door, the afternoon sun haloed him, and he put another chunk of meatball on his son’s tray, his eyes then zeroing in on Cash. “Any other announcements?”
Lark’s pulse froze right there in her veins. No one said anything, and she glanced down the length of the table to Adam and Joey, who’d just gotten married this past spring. Or Kassie and Reggie, who’d had their first baby almost two years ago, come Christmastime.
“We’re engaged,” Boston said, grinning at Bryce. “You mean like that?”
“I think Cash knows what I mean,” Bryce said coolly.
Cash had continued eating as if he’d gone deaf and couldn’t hear the conversation. Lark’s heartbeat thrashed against each individual rib as she waited for her maybe-boyfriend to say something.
She met Bryce’s eyes, and surely hers were as large as full moons. “It’s?—”
Cash covered her hand with his, rendering her mute. She wanted to slink behind him and let him handle his family, but she straightened her shoulders and reached for her own glass of sparkling cider with her free hand.
