“No, no. I meant—I spent all last night wondering ifIwas good enough foryou.”
“Well, that’s just silly,” she said.
“That’s how I feel about what you just said.” He dropped his hand and pocketed it. “All it takes is one text to get all those items,” he said. “And one phone call to get that apartment. We can have you moved into that apartment before Christmas.”
“Really?” Joey asked. “I wasn’t planning on moving until January first.”
“Just imagine baking all your pies in that new kitchen,” he said.
“I don’t want to cut Grams out of it.”
Adam smiled and pulled Joey into his arms. This time, she relaxed into his embrace and hugged him back.
“Joey, you are so good to everyone around you. When are you going to put yourself first?”
“I don’t know,” she murmured. “I was kind of taughtnotto put myself first.”
“Right,” Adam said, his mind flowing through the things he’d been taught too. “We can serve others. Weshouldserve others, help them, but we can’t do that if we’re in dire need of care ourselves. God doesn’t expect that of us.”
“No,” she said. “He doesn’t.”
“If you don’t want to move in until January, that’s fine,” Adam said.
Joey pulled back and looked up at him with wide eyes filled with hope and wonder. “Can you imagine me having Christmas in my own place?”
He grinned at her. “So am I going to send the text and make the phone call? I bet I can do it before we even get back to the condo.”
She took his face in her hands and gazed at him in a way no one had ever looked at Adam before. “You’re fast becoming my favorite person.”
“Good,” he said. The thought of her having anyone else she liked more than him made him a little jealous.
She closed her eyes and leaned her head against his chest. “I’m a little scared,” she said.
“Of living by yourself?”
“No,” she said. “Of falling in love with you.”
Adam had been battling his own army of fear against such a thing, and he didn’t know how to reassure Joey. He took her hand, and they started back to the condo, and he simply let the quietness of the winter seep into him.
Just outside the condo, he asked, “So you’re not breaking up with me, right?”
“No,” Joey said.
“And you want me to make sure that you get this apartment and coordinate your move.” He leaned closer, hoping she could see the parallels between them. “Like you coordinated mine.”
Joey grinned. “I did coordinate your move, didn’t I?”
“Yes, you did, and see? You do a lot of good for other people, and it’s okay for you to accept help too.”
She nodded, something still storming in her eyes. “Okay, I want the apartment.”
“Your wish is my command,” Adam said, nodding toward the condo as a particularly nasty gust of wind came and tried to steal his cowboy hat.
Joey turned to the condo and pushed open the door, squealing. “Grams, I can’t wait for you to see this kitchen,” she called, suddenly all laughter and giggles.
Adam entered the condo too, and he whispered, “Thank you, Lord,” —his first uttered prayer in a long time.
CHAPTER
