Page 68 of Love Everlasting

“Which is?” Sam singed him with a glare.

Picking up his mug, Chase settled back into his comfy leather sofa with a soft whoosh, eyeing Sam with a knowing smile. “Why, your own personal Bible study group, Dr. Cunningham, every week with you, me and Jack. Beginning tonight.”

Sam’s mouth dropped open. “You’re out of your mind.”

“So are you, Dr. Love, if you think I’m going to just step away and let some hotshot player with little or no faith beat my time with a woman I care about.”

“Yeah? Well, maybe I’ll just take my chances then,” he shot back, thoroughly annoyed as he strode for the door. “After all, I’m the one who has her heart.”

“And I’m the one who has her faith, Doc,” Chase called from the sofa, so may the best man win.”

Sam froze with his hand on the knob, the preacher’s words stabbing right through the heart.

May the best man win.

He hung his head because deep down Sam knew that wasn’t him. And as much as he hated to admit it, Chase was right. Shannon did deserve a man of faith and not some player just going through the motions. He expelled a loud blast of air, fraught with frustration before he slowly returned to where Chase sat, face void of the smugness Sam had expected. Instead, all he saw was quiet concern that, knowing Chase Griffin’s reputation as a standup guy, he suspected was as much for him as it was for Shannon.

Chest rising and falling in a show of surrender, Sam dropped into the hewn log chair and reached for the coffee, downing a long swallow before he clunked the mug back down. Slapping his palms on the arm of the chair, he met Chase’s gaze with a steady one of his own. “Okay, Rev, you’re right—Shannon does deserve a man of faith, and because I love her, I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get to that place. But I gotta tell you, man, I never expected bribery to be in your bag of tricks.”

With a steady air of calm, Chase reached to pull two battered Bibles from the shelf beneath the coffee table, his faint smile somehow disarming the rest of Sam’s resistance. “Well, I take my cue from St. Paul who said, ‘I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.’” He slid one of the Bibles across the table, his smile easing into a grin. “Which in my book, Doc, may occasionally include a little arm-twisting.”

Sam snatched the book up and flipped through the pages, his mouth skewing to the right. “No kidding. But I’ll agree with you on one thing—Shannon’s definitely worth it.” He unleashed a heavy sigh of resignation. “So I guess that means you win.”

“Not me, Doc, you,” Chase said with a faint smile, opening his own Bible on the table before nailing Sam with an understanding gaze that somehow promised adventure. “In every possible way.”

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Ting-Ting-Ting.

Tess held her breath when Ben stood up at the other end of her wrought-iron patio table, clinking a spoon to his iced tea glass while her family and his glanced up. Happy and full from a BBQ feast in celebration of Lacey and Jack’s one-year anniversary, everyone stilled as Ben’s eyes met hers with a smoky look that tumbled her stomach. “First of all, I’d like to propose a toast to Lacey and Jack on their one year of marital bliss.”

Glancing at Lacey and Jack, Tess’s eyes immediately flooded with tears, Ben’s words reminding her of all the miracles God had wrought in the last year. Her eyes flicked back to Ben, and her heart swelled with a pulse-pounding love she’d never expected to feel again. But feel it she did, to the depth of her soul, for the man at the end of the table with whom she would soon share a name, a home, and a life. A tingle shivered her skin. Not to mention a bed, she realized with a flush that toasted both her body and her cheeks. The thought compelled her to upend her own iced tea with shaky hands before Ben could even finish his toast.

“So here’s to a lifetime of joy to the best daughter and son-in-law a man could ever have—may your many years together be exceeded only by the happiness they bring.”

“And the babies they bear,” Cat piped up with a lift of her glass.

“Hear, hear,” Shannon said with a wide smile.

“Wish I could second that,” Jack said with a grin, “but then Lace and I’d be too tired to take care of them.” Arm looped around Lacey’s shoulders, he pressed a kiss to his wife’s head before he raised a Red Bull in the air, a definite sparkle in his eyes. “But we are hoping to get a jumpstart on a houseful of kids soon, beginning with one precious little girl …”

“Oh my gosh—you’re pregnant?!” Cat’s eyes all but bugged out of her head while Tess caught her breath, hand to her heart.

“In a manner of speaking,” Lacey said with a sheen of joy in her eyes, clutching Jack’s hand. “We’ve applied to adopt Debbie.”

Whoops and hollers circled the table as everyone congratulated Jack and Lacey, plying them with questions that elicited both laughter and tears.

Jack hoisted his Red Bull once again. “Miss Myra says everything is in order so barring any unforeseen glitches, which is highly unlikely, it’s just a matter of time. So here’s to the perfect adoption along with the perfect house since we haven’t had much luck finding it yet.” He shot Ben a sheepish grin. “And I’m pretty sure Ben would like his back.”

“Well, you and Lace could always move in with us for a while …” Cat bumped shoulders with Lacey. “But I’m not giving Jack’s bathroom shelf back, just saying …”

“Don’t worry, Cat,” Ben said, pinning Tess with a possessive look, “you won’t have to.” He carried his iced tea to where Tess sat welded to her chair, hands sweating more than the glass in her hand. With a calm and steady smile, he gently hooked her elbow to lift her to her feet, shoring her up with a firm hand to her waist—completely necessary given the wobble of her legs. She and Ben had announced they planned to date at a family BBQ over a month and a half ago, but marriage was something else altogether. Especially since none of her family except for Lacey and Jack had even a clue how deeply Tess and Ben felt about the other.

Depositing a kiss to Tess’s head, Ben tightened his hold with an awkward grin. “I’ve asked your mother to marry me.”

“I knew it!” Cat shouted, jumping up with an I-told-you-so grin.

“You knew?” Tess gaped at her daughter, the flush in her cheeks burning more than the heat of Ben’s hand on her waist.