Page 67 of Not Until I Found You

He looks at me, understanding written in his expression, then claps my shoulder once. “I’m here for you, brother. And if something happens between you two…I’m good with it.”

That catches me off guard. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” He shrugs, like it’s simple, but it’s not. Not really. “I know I told you to stay away from her before but I trust you. And she deserves someone who actually understands her. Not…Derek…or someone like him.”

“Alright.” I nod once.

“Just don’t break her heart.”

I hold my hands up. “I don’t plan on it.”

A splash echoes from farther down the bank, followed by Wren’s voice cutting through the trees. “If you two are done having your emotional bro moment, we’re getting out.”

We push off from the rocks, heading back toward the water right as Wren wrings out her shirt and starts digging through her bag.

“Okay, serious question,” she says, pointing at all of us. “Who mentioned ice cream earlier, and why aren’t we already on our way to get it?”

“Maxinne said Zane was buying, so…” Ashton slaps my shoulder playfully.

Maxinne lingers near the edge of the water, slower than the others, squeezing the end of her braid. I hang back too, not entirely on purpose—ok, it’s totally on purpose.

She glances up at me, a small smile tugging at her lips. “You and Ashton looked pretty serious over there.”

I shrug, trying for casual but probably missing it by a mile. “We were just talking.”

“Mm-hmm.” Her eyes narrow in a teasing way. “About?”

I hesitate long enough for her to notice. “Nothing you need to worry about.”

She studies me for a second, deciding whether to push or let it go. Then she nods, but there’s curiosity still lingering in her expression.

“Alright,” she says. “For now.”

“For now,” I echo.

Wren claps her hands loudly from up the trail. “Ice cream. Move it, lovebirds.”

I catch Maxinne’s cheeks flush before she turns away, heading toward the others. I follow a step behind, watching the way she tucks a strand of damp hair behind her ear, and how she gives me a shy smile over her shoulder.

For the rest of the day, that smile stays with me, and so does the quiet truth I hadn’t realized I was ready to accept. That trusting God in the uncertainty doesn’t erase the fear, but it anchors my heart to hope.

Chapter Sixteen

Maxinne

“Do you remember our old backyard?” I ask, glancing up at my dad.

“Mm,” he hums as his eyes find mine.

Dad is sitting on the ground at the edge of the tomatoes, one hand braced against the small wooden stake beside him, the other hovering over the leaves. I crouch beside the peppers, pressing my fingers into the soil. It’s warm already, soft from last night’s watering, and clings beneath my nails as I work around the base of the plant. A small grin tugs at my lips at the memory of our small backyard from my childhood.

“It was barely big enough for that tiny greenhouse.” I pluck a weed free and toss it into the bucket beside me. “Mom swore you were crazy. She claimed we’d never have room for anything else, and yet we crammed in as many raised beds as we could.”

His brow furrows as his hand tightens against the stake. I wait patiently for him to say something, to try to find the words, until he exhales through his nose, frustration slipping through the sound.

“It turned into a jungle,” I continue, hoping the small talk will get him to open up. “We had tomatoes climbing over everything and planted way too many herbs. I swear I smelled like basil for that entire summer.”

That almost gets him to laugh. His lips part, a breath of a chuckle catching somewhere in his chest, but it doesn’t fully make it out. His shoulders shift instead, like his body remembers how, even if his voice doesn’t.