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“Oh no,” came Flint’s reply.
“Oh, yes,” he responded drily.
“I’m sorry, Cole. I should have warned her about you.”
“About me? What does that mean?”
“It’s just… you’re a bit serious. Especially about work. I get it, obviously. But Joey? She’s a firecracker. I should have warned her to tone it down. What did she do?”
Cole told Flint the story as he made his way down the dim, empty hallways toward his desk.
“You got off easy, Kensington. This morning, I had to borrow Miranda’s laptop for a meeting because Joey somehow reprogrammed my keyboard so the keys were all mixed up. It was impossible. Luckily, she fixed it tonight. I had to bribe her with one of Fiona’s cheesecakes.”
Cole chuckled. “Bribery, huh?” Maybe he could bribe her, too.
“I’m a desperate man,” Flint replied.
He threw his coat over the chair and spun around, facing the window and looking over the lights of Silver Spring’s commercial center. “I know how you feel,” he sighed the words.
“Can I pray for you, Cole? I should have done it the other night at Hamilton’s, but I got caught up in the logistics of bringing Joey in.”
Cole tipped back in his chair and looked up to the ceiling before closing his eyes in gratitude. He didn’t know what he’d done to deserve a friend like Flint Raven, but God had really been gracious with that connection.
“That would be amazing,” he said honestly, his voice full of emotion. “This whole project and the ramifications are really weighing on me. I’m terrified we’re going to lose the traction we’ve gained after all this time. It feels like it’s all on me right now. I don’t know if I can do it, Flint.”
His throat closed up and he choked out the last few words. Admitting his struggle was harder than he imagined.
“I totally get it. I’ve been there. But don’t forget that you’re not actually the one in control. I know it’s hard to live it out sometimes, but God’s plan will come to pass with us or without us. We get the privilege to be a part of it sometimes, but it’s not about us.”
Cole wrestled with the words as Flint continued. “Sometimes, people underestimate their importance in God’s plans. But guys like us?” Flint gave a small scoff. “We’re just as likely tooverestimateour importance and try to carry it all on our shoulders. It’s too heavy to do that.”
Cole leaned forward. “I know you’re right. But I’m just trying to do what I know I’m supposed to do. This is it, you know? Everything I’ve been working for is right here. And I’m afraid it’s going to slip out of my grasp.”
“That’s the hard part. If you don’t end up with a cure for Alzheimer’s, but you end up closer to Jesus for having walked this path…” Flint let the pause linger before asking, “Will that be enough for you?”
Cole blew out a heavy breath. “Come on, Flint. That’s not fair.” He shook his head in denial. What kind of question was that?
“I know, I know. It sucks to think about. But I’m serious. What if all you have to show for it at the end of your life is Jesus. Isn’t that everything?”
Cole shook his head. He knew the right answer was yes, of course. But his heart was screaming at him “no way!” That wasn’t enough. Not for him. Not after all these years.
“I’m going to have to get back to you on that one, Raven.”
“Can I just say…I’m glad you didn’t say yes when you didn’t mean it?” Flint’s tone was kind and understanding.
“Yeah, yeah. You know me too well for me to even try to lie to you.”
Cole fought back tears as Flint prayed over everything they had talked about. When they hung up, Cole’s heart was lighter, just having talked to Flint tonight. Now it was time to get to work on the list of things he’d made on the drive from the restaurant to the office.
He would need to think about what his friend had said about the unthinkable what-if question. But while he thought about it, he was going to keep pushing to save his project. If what the FDA representative had said was true, he only had two months.
CHAPTEREIGHT
Joey satin Miranda’s office, nibbling on the end of a piece of licorice as she caught Miranda up on everything that had happened.
“You did not ship thirty boxes to his office!” Miranda said through her laughter.
Joey wiggled the licorice through the air and shrugged. “Oh, I definitely did. But he deserved it.”
