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Although maybe that was just one of the trials God had for him to go through. To make him stronger. To not be afraid of what other people thought, to not need the approval of everyone before he made a move.
Also to understand sometimes people just talked about things they had never seen before, that surprised them or were unusual.
When they were talking good things about him, when he was an unusually good baseball player, their talking about him hadn’t bothered him.
But now that he was an unusually scarred man, the comments did.
Both were human nature.
Those thoughts chased each other around his head, and he had a hard time concentrating on his work until he saw Peyton’s car pull up.
She hadn’t said she was going to be here today, but he’d been hoping.
He wasn’t doing anything he couldn’t quit, so he shoved back away from his desk, ran a hand over his face, wishing it were different, and then straightened his back.
She hadn’t seemed to be bothered by it, and it wasn’t like they were anything more than friends anyway.
Friends accepted flaws in each other and overlooked them. That’s what friends did.
She had already knocked on the door and was pushing it open by the time he got to the foyer.
“Oh! Hello, Bryce. I thought maybe you weren’t coming to the door.”
He wouldn’t miss it.
“Did you have a good weekend?” It wasn’t just small talk for him; he was truly curious what she had done all weekend. It had been different than his in every way, probably.
“I did. We’re closed on Sundays, and I try to spend that day with Owen. In the morning, of course, we went to church.”
Of course. He hadn’t even thought about going to church for a decade or longer.
But over this weekend, the thought had crossed his mind. He’d been more shocked than anything, but he hadn’t gone.
Still, he’d found his Bible and opened it up to a random spot and found himself reading far longer than he intended.
Maybe he would be going to church again soon.
Peyton had continued to talk, and now she was saying, “And I have all the inventory accomplished that I wanted to at the bookstore, so I should be good there for a while. I thought I’d come out today to get ahead a little, since I know your daughter’s coming. I know we talked about our children playing together, but just in case you want to spend some time alone with her and not be bothered by having me here, I thought I’d get in a little extra time.”
Her smile was sweet, her eyes bright, her cheeks looking rosy and fresh. She just looked natural and calm. And just standing beside her helped him feel that way too.
“No. You’re welcome to come out as much as you want to. In fact, I was hoping you might come out more, with Owen being off school.”
“Oh. We’ll have to think about that. He’d be fine here, I’m sure.”
“I feel like it goes without saying, but he’s welcome to roam the grounds and play with whatever. I don’t have much in the way of anything for kids. There are a couple of bicycles in the shed and maybe a ball or two. Maybe even a skateboard. I’d have to look. But he’s welcome to any of it.”
“Thanks. I’ll remember that.”
He stood, knowing he was staring at her, unable to think of anything else to say. He wanted her to stay. Wanted to keep talking to her. Didn’t want her to walk away from him, and...didn’t want their time together to end. He racked his brain for something to say, and finally he said, “I invited you over for Easter dinner, but my cook is leaving. I have someone to take her place, but I can’t ask her for anything special, so I guess I’m going to be cooking myself.”
“We don’t have to come if it’s too much trouble.”
“No.” That was not what he was trying to say at all. “I just wanted to warn you that it might not be the best thing you’ve ever eaten.”
“Let me bring something.”
“You could stay overnight on Saturday and cook it in my kitchen?” He wanted her to. Wanted her in his house, in his kitchen, with him.
