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Oh. Sarah dropped her arm, her heart still throbbing with compassion.God, touch Georgia’s heart. She took a deep breath. “My fiancé died in the car accident.” Somehow, saying that aloud didn’t hurt so much today. “I…I was depressed for ages.”
Sarah sat in silent surprise. Was it really past tense? Was she really starting to get better?
Georgia turned, eyes wet with unshed tears. “What helped you?”
* * *
“Did you see that?”Boyd hissed. “Sarah stuck her arm around Georgia. After I told her not to!”
Dan rolled his eyes. Boyd was such a stickler for the rules. “She’s just being kind.”
Boyd dropped his gear to the ground. “I better talk to her.”
“No.” Dan caught his arm. “I’ll go.” He moved before Boyd could argue, praying his chat with Sarah wouldn’t be edged with lingering irritation with Boyd.
The girls were in deep discussion and didn’t hear his barefooted approach on the sand. He stopped behind the fallen tree, the twisted branches affording him some cover. He didn’t want to eavesdrop, but neither did he want to interrupt anything really important.
Sarah’s soft voice continued.“…and I realized, instead of focusing on my scars and feeling sorry for myself, I needed to focus on the fact that I’m alive and can walk.” She gave a wry-sounding chuckle. “A good friend recently reminded me I have to choose to be thankful.”
He was a good friend? His chest glowed. That was much better than “just a neighbor.”
“It’s really hard, because for ages I’ve only seen the negative. I’m trying to change.” Her husky burble came again. “I think my friend thinks I’m just pretty trying.”
Dan smiled. No, he didn’t think that at all. Intriguing, definitely. Funny, for sure. Pretty? No, if last night’s Freudian slip was a clue, she was in a class much higher.…
Georgia mumbled something, and Sarah hugged her again. “Sweetheart, don’t say that about yourself. C’mon, there’s plenty you can be thankful for.” Sarah switched into schoolmarm mode as she ticked off her fingers, listing various good qualities until she ended with “…and you’ve got the longest eyelashes I’ve ever seen! You’re so lucky. I have to dye mine, otherwise it looks like I’ve got none.”
“The boys don’t notice. They just think I’m fat.”
Sarah sighed. “Yeah, some guys are pretty shallow, looking only at the outside, wanting what’s cheap and easy.”
Dan flinched.
“But we’re not that sort of girl, are we? You and I, we’re not like those eating at a fast food restaurant, we’re more like…” She paused, and Dan strained to hear her next words. “We’re more like princesses at a gourmet feast prepared by the king of kings in a mountain-top castle, waiting for the man who is brave enough to meet the obstacles life has thrown in the way—to face the dragons, scale the walls, and finally reach the top. And then, when the king proclaims this man as worthy, he’s allowed to dine with us.” Sarah laughed, then nudged Georgia again. “So don’t settle for cheap and easy junk food, Georgia. God loves you and thinks you’re so much more valuable than that.”
Her words inched him closer.
Sarah slumped against the tree. “God wants the best for you, Georgia. That may mean there’s a special guy for you, or”—her voice hitched—“it may mean there’s isn’t. But we keep on trusting God that He knows what He’s doing. And in the meantime, we find things to be thankful for so we can start liking ourselves some more. If we don’t like ourselves, it’s hard for anyone else to.” She paused, adjusting her long red ponytail under her straw cowboy hat. “So, what do you reckon? Are you up for the challenge?”
Georgia mumbled something, shifting slightly.
Uh oh. He didn’t want to be seen. He stepped back and jogged down the beach, heart tingling.God, please touch Georgia. Help her know how much You love her. And thanks for Sarah. Bless her too.
“Hey, Dan!” Several boys held sports equipment. “Can you help set up the volleyball net?”
“Sure.”
Ten minutes later, he tied off the final rope and looked up. Sarah and Georgia stood nearby, the latter copying Sarah’s posture, a hand on her hip, squinting against the sun.
“You gonna play?” He grinned. “You even know how?”
Sarah smirked. “Believe it or not, I do know how to play.”
He stood, dusting off his hands. “Want to be on my team?”
“I’ll think about it.” And she and Georgia sauntered off.
* * *
