Yet that verse about not being unequally yoked wasn’t going away.Ryan’s warning, the comments from the others too, refused to leave.
And okay, maybe it had been selfish to want to kiss her rather than find out where she stood in matters of faith, but he’d get to it.Maybe even tonight.
Tonight.
He chewed his lip.Gen’s shift finished at six, and he’d offered to take her out for dinner.She’d seemed a little hesitant, saying she’d need to see how things went, that work often ran late, so maybe he’d need to show up at her work to convince her.Not that he wanted her to think he was a pain, always getting in her way, but he did want her to know that he was serious.Committed to her.In this for the long haul.He’d not ever give her a reason to think he was going to flake out on her again.
He texted her now.
Thanks again for a great night last night.I hope you’re having a good day today.
He stared at the message.What good did “hope” actually do?It was one of those nothing words, a bit like people who sent good thoughts.Like, where did good thoughts go?
So he changed the second part of the message to
I’m praying that you have a good day today
and pressed send.
There.That should let her know where he stood.Like the preacher had said in the online service he’d watched recently, the more little references to God people could drop into conversation the better, as it helped people see that God was not far away, but interested in people and their everyday lives.So Kyle would do his best to show Gen that God loved her, that He didn’t hold people’s mistakes against them, but loved the world so much that He sent His son Jesus to die on a cross to take the punishment for everyone’s sin, so that all who believed in Him might be saved.What good news that was!How could Gen—how could anyone—not want to accept it?
“Lord, touch her heart.Help her come to know You as her Lord and Savior.”
He spent the next few minutes praying for her, his prayers interspersed with imagining what life could be like when they were together.
He wasn’t surprised when she didn’t respond to his text message straightaway.He knew Gen’s work schedule was crazy.She faced challenge after challenge each day, and no doubt needed strength to work with grace and wisdom.And while he didn’t want to complicate things with her work situation, he didn’t know what else to do but message her this way.It wasn’t as if he knew where she lived.
Which made him wonder.
She’d refused to let him take her home a couple of times now.She’d always met him then made her own way home.Why?Was she embarrassed about where she lived?A picture of that run-down place he’d seen her at stole through his memory.Didshe live there?He’d thought it belonged to a friend, but if that was her home, he could understand why she might be a little embarrassed, especially now, after having seen his apartment.
His mind spun back to that day when he’d made Lee stop outside the shack that screamed it had last seen paint in the seventies.Then another thought wove back through his memories.
Who was that little girl he’d seen give her a hug?
He frowned.Gen was an only child, like him.She didn’t have any nieces or nephews.Maybe it was a neighbor’s child, or a friend’s.But then, that hug had looked pretty personal.
So, who was she?
The thought nibbled at him as he got out of bed and got changed.Pecked at him as he put on a load of laundry.Gnawed at him as he ate breakfast.
He spent some time praying, reading the Bible, then wondered what to do today.The off-season sometimes made it hard to structure his week, even more so when he’d been advised to take things easy, so he couldn’t even train.Which meant his time was his to do with as he pleased, leaving empty days with emptier hours begging him to waste time in a multitude of ways.
He wasn’t much of a gamer, so now he’d worked on his property investments he needed to busy his mind so he wouldn’t boredom-eat, and there was a limit to how many movies and TV series a man could binge.So what to do?
Gen floated back to mind.Her stress, her workload.Maybe he could get her some flowers.She’d like that, right?He hoped they’d brighten the day of the woman who had stolen his heart years ago and never fully given it back.
He finished his breakfast, glad to finally have some purpose to his day.He could get Gen flowers and take them to her at work, let her know he was thinking of her, even if she was too busy or too tired for a meal tonight.
He bought flowers online, waited for them to be delivered, then wrote a note that he hoped would make her smile, then got in his car.
Twenty minutes later he was parking his Audi in Seattle General’s parking lot.He got out, pulled his ball cap low, and grasped the flowers.She’d be so surprised.
He went to the emergency section, and was met with raised eyebrows from a woman he didn’t recognize.“Can I help you?”
He smiled.“I sure hope so.I’ve got these flowers for Dr.Genevieve Rivas.She’s working today, yes?”
The nurse’s eyes widened a little.“I remember you.You’re the guy she treated, right?”
