AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Zoe looked to him, studying him a moment. “Are you okay?” His demeanor had changed suddenly and she didn’t understand why.
He gave a heavy sigh, then looked to her. “I was married once. Her name was Chiara. She died a few months after we were wed. Melanoma,” he said, and Zoe’s heart broke for him.
“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry,” she said. “I had no idea.” She quickly realized that if his wife died so quickly after the wedding, they almost certainly would’ve known she was dying before they said their vows. Yet he married her anyway.
She wanted to cry for him, for Chiara, for herself, and for her husband.
Life could be so unfair.
“So, though I can’t say I completely understand your pain, because it’s different for everyone, I’m sure,” he said, “I get it—more than others might.”
She inhaled a shaky breath as her tears welled. She nodded, pressing her lips together to stop herself from crying.
“It took me a long time to heal after her death, but regardless of how you might feel right now, I promise you: life does get better,” he said with a gentle smile. “The grief fades, the numbness slowly dissipates, and you’ll be able to feel again. It’s a long process, but you’ll get there.” He said it with so much faith she wanted to believe him.
She looked at him in wonder.
They were both widowed. What were the chances?
She looked up as the sun shone through the clouds, lighting up the woods. It was so spectacular, it took her breath away for a moment.
“Can I ask you a very personal question?” she asked, though given what he’d just told her she thought most conversations were on the table.
He gave her a lopsided smile. “Go for it.”
“Are you religious?” she asked.
He raised his eyebrows, clearly not expecting that. “I don’t know about religious, but I believe in God. I don’t know how I would’ve gotten through the grief after Chiara died if not for my faith.”
“I went the other way,” she admitted as her chest tightened. “I used to believe in God, but when everyone was taken from me, I couldn’t imagine a God who would allow that to happen. I felt abandoned by him,” she admitted, her vulnerability stealing her breath.
She didn’t know how she’d expected him to respond, but his answer surprised her. “I get that, but sometimes I think God has to let us hit rock bottom, because that’s where we truly get to know him.”
Zoe nodded, wondering if that was true. They walked for a while in a comfortable silence.
“Were your parents religious?” he asked.
“Oh yes, we grew up in the church,” she said. “I think that was why Lana was so rebellious during her teenage years. She never conformed to the expectations of our parents and it drove them mad. But the more they tried to punish her, the more she did her own thing. I always wished I was a little more like her.”
“She believed in God—she practiced her faith though,” Mitch said, seeming to think aloud. “I would’ve thought abandoning her faith would’ve been the greatest act of rebellion.”
Zoe looked up at him. “What makes you say she practiced her faith?”
He stopped walking. “I spoke with Jennifer—Lana’s supervisor. She said in the few months before she went missing, she seemed to really lean into her faith. She often had verses written on the back of her hands.”
Zoe paused, feeling cold and hot at the same time. “I would’ve denied that, but I’m starting to wonder how well I knew my sister. It’s weird; I was sorting through some of her boxes a few days ago and found a Bible in one. I was surprised, but perhaps it wasn’t so out of place.”
Zoe thought about the one verse that was highlighted.
What was troubling you, Lana?
CHAPTER29
ZOE
Gus bounded toward them, almost skidding into Mitch’s legs, then turned around and ran into the woods again. “He’s like a boomerang,” Mitch joked.
His eyes dropped to his phone and then he looked up, calling for Gus.
