The more she breathed, the more she could see her overreaction. They’d both been yelling, but it all stemmed from shock. She hadn’t expected to meet him in the hallway, clothed or not.
She glanced at the nightstand where her Bible and notebook waited. The fire died out of her exaggeration, and reality was settling in around her once again. The lesson wasn’t going to write itself, and she’d eventually have to face Zach again too. She might as well get it over with.
When she lifted the Bible and notebook, there was a soft stirring in her heart. She wasn’t alone in this, and she could use all the help she could get. The well-worn leather was soft against her palm as she closed her eyes and took in a cleansing breath.
“Lord, I don’t know what I’m doing. Help me see. Protect me. Show me what I should do. I need a lesson for the kids tomorrow, and I need to know what to do with Zach. I really have no idea what I’ve gotten myself into.”
She pressed the Bible to her chest, hugging it like a beloved teddy bear that could give comfort to the innocent. “Help me to be calm so I can hear You.”
Lifting her chin, she kept the Bible close to her chest as she stepped out into the hallway. The bathroom door was open, and rustling came from the laundry room. Normally, she’d help out with whatever project he was working on, but she had other priorities tonight.
She settled onto the couch with her legs tucked beside her and opened her Bible to the book of Jonah. For the first time in months, she could see the message clearly outlined in her mind. Her pencil scraped furiously over the page as she took notes and wrote questions for the kids.
When she finished the lesson, another quickly and distinctly pieced itself together in her mind. She flipped to the book of Judges and scribbled notes about Samson and the Philistines. Another idea led her to Joshua. The themes were vivid as she filled page after page of the notebook with lessons for the next few weeks.
When her eyelids grew heavy, she closed the Bible and stretched her arms above her head. The clock onthe wall said she’d been engrossed in the Bible for three hours.
Her mouth was dry, and she needed to get in bed if she had any chance of waking up in time for church in the morning. She slipped her Bible and notebook into her bag and placed it by the door before padding to the kitchen.
Zach stepped out of the laundry room with a black smudge across his cheek and a pad and pen in his hand.
Lauren stopped with her hand on the refrigerator door. She’d been so engrossed in her studies that she’d forgotten about him.
The exchange in the hallway came rushing back. The embarrassment, the yelling. She hadn’t handled any of it well, and a nervous itch crawled over her arms.
“What are you still doing here?” she asked softly.
He looked up, and there was a quick flash of surprise on his face before he turned his attention to the toolbox on the counter. “I didn’t mean to interrupt you. And…sorry about earlier.”
Lauren wrapped her arms around her, creating a shield from the cold vulnerability that clung to her after the incident in the hallway. “It’s okay. I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have talked to you like that.”
Zach let out a huff but didn’t look up at her. “Every man in a fifty-mile radius has threatened my life if I so much as speak a wrong word to you, so I’m trying to be on my best behavior.”
Great. She was trying to show him that he was a person who deserved a chance, and the rest of the world was intent on keeping him in the same box he’d always been in. It wouldn’t do any good to address it. Zach was stubborn when it came to doing and seeing things the way they’d always been.
She picked up two bottles of water and handed one to him as he picked up the toolbox. When his hand wrapped around the bottle, she didn’t release it. “I didn’t think you were afraid of anyone.”
He finally met her gaze, and the fire from earlier was nowhere to be found. His mouth lifted slightly on one side as he flashed her a wink. “I’m not.”
She released the bottle, and the cold slipped from her hand. Zach was halfway to the front door before he called out, “Good night, angel.”
Good night. That was what she should have said, but the words were jammed in her throat. She stared at the closed door as she tried to make sense of everything.
Zach Wilson had stumped her once again.
13
Zach
Zach stared at the old warehouse shining in his headlight beams. The gray tin was rusted and bent, and leaves were piled high around the perimeter. If there weren’t three other trucks parked in the clearing and wisps of smoke coming out of the barrel by the side door, anyone would have assumed it was abandoned.
He didn’t have to go in, but he kind of did. Lauren acted like he could just ignore his old life and start a new one, but the guys knew he was out. The only reason someone didn’t show up when they were free again was because they’d snitched.
He wasn’t a rat, but he was having second thoughts about walking back inside his old hangout. One step was all it took, and he’d be locked in for the rest of his life. Or, at least until his next extended stay in the little house of horrors.
He lowered his head until his forehead hit thesteering wheel. He couldn’t get the image of Lauren out of his head, and surprisingly, it wasn’t seared into his brain because she’d been wearing nothing but a towel.
It was the fear in her eyes—not just a look of surprise, but one that made it pretty clear she’d been contemplating fight or flight. Every muscle in her body had tightened up like a ratchet strap, and he’d done that to her. He’d kindled that terror inside her. That was who he was. How many times had she cried because of him? How many nights had he stolen her sleep?
