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"I hope so," he said.
"All right. Good. Man, am I beat. I'm going to hit the hay early. Maybe after a bath. Tomorrow then?"
"Yes, of course."
* * *
After the completion of a huge project like this one, Beverly and her father would usually go out for a nice steak dinner and get three desserts to split. Then they would collapse into bed, exhausted.
This time, she was too exhausted to eat anything at all and just opted for the bath as she had told Roy and then bed. It wasn't until she shut her eyes that she recalled that she had cut off Roy when he had been about to ask her something. Maybe dinner. She hoped he enjoyed a hearty meal with his brothers or maybe his parents or his entire family. He had worked as hard as she had, and without his help, she wouldn't be halfway done with that project.
And now she had a new one in the morning. She didn't even have to worry about going out and landing another one yet.
Life was good.
* * *
As soon as Beverly arrived at the orchard the next morning, just like always, Roy was there, leaning against his truck, waiting on her.
"You make me feel like I'm late all the time," she complained good-naturedly as she climbed out of her car.
"That's not the case at all," he assured her. "I brought most of the material over to the spot already. Just this here left."
They split the rest of the stuff and carried it on over.
"What do you think about what I picked out?" he asked eagerly.
"Oh, it's going to look great," she assured him.
"I thought all of the stones would help to make like a tomb almost, or at least a stone arch that we can fill in the back of."
"I have the plaster ready to mix for that," she said. "And the cross and the statue of Mary is a great touch. Do... Prayer is talking to God, so then when you talk to Mary... Do you talk to her?"
"I do. It's asking for her to intercede for me on my behalf."
"So she'll pray for you then?"
"Yes, or go to her Son."
"I see." Beverly wrinkled her nose. "My father wasn't the most religious, like I mentioned before, but actually... Easter was his favorite holiday. He loved painting eggs and eating ham... but he also would, easy year, have a tiny planter that he would plant perennials in. He had a whole collection of them out back, and he grew an entire garden out of them because each year, they would come back bigger and bigger until they had to be transplanted into the yard."
"Plants, especially perennials, are a great symbol of Easter."
"To celebrate when Jesus rose from the dead." She blew out a breath. "You really believe we'll go to Heaven."
"I do."
"My father..."
"He helped a lot of people."
"Yes, but shouldn't you go to church?"
"I think Jesus is able to reach into hearts and minds. It's not for any of us to say yes or no to that question, but..."
Beverly slowly nodded. "I should intercede for my father and pray for him."
"That can never hurt," Roy said softly.
