Page 103 of Not So Very Sensible

“You want to marry her? But she has blue hair!”

“I don’t care if she has no hair. I like her. A lot. And I’m trusting that she will be gracious enough to overlook my stupidity and going along with Dad’s stupid plan. So, feel free to pray for me.”

She coughed. “I don’t pray.”

“Well, maybe you should start. I pray for you.”

“You do? About what?”

“About all kinds of things. Mostly that you’ll find hope in Jesus. But also that you’ll have a baby one day.”

Her eyes filled.

“And that you’ll learn to be nice to your older brother.”

She laughed at that, and he sensed it was time to go. He might not have gotten all the answers he wanted, but God had taken this conversation in directions he never anticipated but—as he’d just confessed—he had certainly prayed about. “I’ll catch you later.”

He took several steps away.

“I—I think it was a company run by a Nicola someone.”

“What was?”

“Where—where your Ellie works.”

Bands around his chest snapped free as he rushed back and hugged her. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet. You’ll need to convince your Ellie that you’re not a stupid man.” Her smile twisted. “Good luck with that.”

He laughed. “Thanks, sis. I appreciate you.”

And he exited knowing he had a solid plan at last.

Chapter 19

The weekend passed with no drama. Katie did her shift at The Silver Teapot, slowly joining the land of the living again. It made for a nice change.

Church happened as it usually did, with people sharing testimonies about God’s faithfulness, followed by lunch together. Monday, work was fine, and Ellie’s heart was starting to believe that God could do good things again. Something reiterated when finally—finally!—one of the many graphic design jobs she’d applied for in the past months resulted in a positive response.

“They want to do an interview with me,” she told her family that night at dinner.

“Who does?” Dad asked.

“Oh!” In all her excitement, she had forgotten. “It’s this company in Canberra. They are looking to hire new staff, and I’ve made the second round.”

“What does that mean?”

“I have to do an online interview. Apparently it’s a way for them to sort out whether I have the creativity they’re looking for.” It was a different process to what she was used to. She’d be recorded on video after being given a prompt and having one minute to prepare before talking. Weird, but whatever. She was so thankful to finally have an opportunity to potentially work in her field.

“I’ve never seen you this excited,” Mum said. “It makes a nice change.”

“Because I’m normally so boring?”

“No, because you’re normally so calm.”

“Calmness isn’t bad, though, Mum,” Katie said. “I wish I was more like Ellie and knew how to be more self-controlled.”

Really? Wow. Ellie grasped her sister’s hand. “You know we all love you.”