“I thinkyouneed weeding.C’mon, bro—did something happen between you and Harper?”
Jack only paused for a second before lifting a shoulder and throwing the last of the logs on the pile.“We timed out.”
Steinbeck just stared at him.Jack slapped off his hands.“She’s moving to Nashville.Pursuing a new job.”
“She is not.”
He held up his hand.“Scout’s honor.”
“No.Harper has loved you for...sheesh,since she was in pigtails.”
“I don’t want to hear it.”Jack turned away.“I need to shower.Mom wants us to have a family dinner tonight.She’s making a roast.”
Stein caught up to him.“So, what—you’re not going to stand in her way?”
“No.Why would I do that?”
“Why would you—are you kidding me?Because you love her and you thought you had a future together!”
Jack stopped.“I would go with her, but she didn’t ask me to.”
“Did you ask her to stay?”
A muscle pulled in Jack’s jaw.
“Wow.”
“Listen, I was going to propose, okay?A couple weeks ago and then...I don’t know why I didn’t, and now it’s too late.”
“It’s not too late.”Steinbeck shook his head.“Too late is when the woman you love is lying on a concrete floor and you’re breathing life into her, praying desperately that God will give you a second chance.Thatis too late.Or almost.”He let out a shaky breath, put a hand on his chest, shook the moment away.
Jack met his gaze.“That’s what happened?”
“That’s what happened.And I realized that nothing—not my pride, not my frustration, not even her sometimes reckless behavior—was going to keep me from...”He sighed.“Well, from being her teammate.”
“Teammate?”
“Just...yes.Teammate plus, maybe.”
“Some people might call that marriage.”
Stein shrugged.“We’ll get there.”
Jack smiled then, the first cloud break in the darkness.“No ‘plus’ without the ring, pal.But good for you.”Then he sighed, the smile dissipating.
“Bro.I’ve never seen any two people more meant for each other than you and Harper.And you know it.So...what’s holding you back?”
Jack considered him.“Dad said something the day Boo got married that’s been rooting around my head for the past eight months.That we were created to experience the overwhelming love of heaven.And if we just would get out of the way, stop trying to lead with our own wisdom, and let God be in charge, then that’s all we’d need.We’d wake up every day on mission—the one that says we trust God.”
“Dad said that?”
“Something like that.But the most important part here is that we have to get out of the way, Stein.You think you know what you want...but God knows you better.Just...listen to his voice.”Jack drew in a breath.“I’m thinking of selling Flo.”
“Flo?”
“The bus.”
Huh.“Really?”
