Matt propped his arms on the sides of the podium and looked out at the men in the chapel. “Any questions about King David?”
“So many!” Anthony said from where he sat beside Zach.
Travis rested his arm on the back of the empty seat beside him. “No one in the Bible is perfect, except Jesus. King David was a man after God’s own heart, but he sinned like the rest of us.”
Matt nodded in agreement. “King David also had a remorseful heart. He knew when he’d done wrong, and he humbled himself to the Lord.”
“Tell me about it,” Zach said as he closed the Bible in his lap. “It would be cool to be known as a man after God’s own heart, but it’s hard to forget the terrible things you’ve done.”
“It feels like a weight hanging around your neck,” Anthony added.
Matt lowered his head. “I know the feeling. I think everyone does.”
“Except Dawson,” Gage said. “That guy walks the straight and narrow like no one I’ve ever met in my life.”
All the men in the room chuckled. It was one thing to carry around your mistakes, but managing the guilt wasn’t so bad when he had people beside him to help when the past got heavy.
Friends. It was easier when he had friends. Not just any friends, but ones who reminded him day after day to focus on the Lord instead of the devil whispering in his ear.
Matt’s phone buzzed. A gentle smile graced his face before he cleared his throat. “Tammy says the food is almost ready.”
Zach stood and stretched his arms over his head. “I need a shower.”
Gage scrunched his nose. “I wasn’t going to say anything, but?—”
Zach swatted Gage’s chest with his Bible. “Then don’t.”
A cold, whispering wind stung Zach’s skin when they stepped outside. The boards on the chapel porch didn’t creak anymore, and the railing held strong as Anthony leaned against it.
Zach hung back as everyone else walked to their trucks. “Everything okay?”
Anthony crossed his arms and looked at the leaf-covered ground. “I think this will be my first Thanksgiving with my family.”
Zach leaned against the railing beside Anthony. The tightness in his shoulder didn’t bother him at all anymore. In fact, it reminded him of everything he’d survived over the last year. “Mine too.”
Zach didn’t have any blood kin, but the people here were closer than family. The quiet life he’d found in Blackwater and Silver Falls was the complete opposite of how he grew up, but it was everything he never knew he needed.
“Zoe is excited. She loves to cook,” Anthony said.
“Trust me, I know. I’ve put on weight since she started cooking all the meals around here.”
Anthony’s smile grew. “She’s happy. Lauren is too. And they’re safe. It’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
A light blue sky peeked through the bare canopy above them, and Ariana’s laughter floated from Travis and Bella’s house. The woods of Silver Falls Ranch held a serenity unlike anywhere else.
Zach’s phone dinged, and he pulled it out of his pocket. “Lauren’s almost here. I need to get to the house.”
“Same. See you in a few.”
A minute later, Zach parked in front of his cabin. Once all the renovations were made on Lauren’s rental house, Matt had offered him a place to stay at the ranch. It hadn’t taken much to fix up the old wrangler’s cabin, and Zach saved a fortune on gas.
Jogging inside, he toed off his boots and hung hiscoat on the hook by the door. He had maybe fifteen minutes to get ready before Lauren barged in and stole all of his attention.
He showered and shaved in record time, and he’d just pulled on a thermal shirt when the front door swung open.
Lauren was a vision of light in a beige sweater and brown pants. Her eyes were wide, and a gorgeous smile stretched across her face as she screamed, “We got a tenant!”
Zach wrapped his arms around her, sweeping her off her feet to press a scorching kiss to her lips. “That’s great.”
