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“Now that might have happened. He was here last weekend. He went to church. You saw him?” She couldn’t remember whether she had seen Kristin at church or not.
“Yeah. The tall, dark, quiet guy that was beside you. He kind of looked like he was glowering at everything, and I got the feeling you forced him to come.”
“I did not. He came on his own, and he actually listened. Not only that, but he did things that most people don’t—he listened, and then he put what he heard into practice. Immediately.” She wouldn’t expect Alex to do anything else. He wasn’t a wait around and see kind of guy.
“Wow. That’s a lot of changes to make in a week.”
“Yeah. So I’ve been thinking about quitting my job because he wanted me to move to the Cities. But now, he spent the week canceling that and planning the move here.”
“That’s a major change.”
“Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do when we become Christians though? Our whole lives are supposed to take a shift. It’s not like we pick up Jesus, like a suitcase, and carry him along wherever we’re going. It’s like... Like we turn from the way that we were going and turn toward Jesus, willing to do whatever he wants us to do. Isn’t that true conversion?”
“Repentance means to turn away. We’re supposed to turn away from sin. I don’t know that we’re necessarily supposed to turn away from our lives though.”
“If they’re not lives that glorify the Lord, we should. Although, I think even Christians have ways of living that are totally for themselves and not for God. Maybe that’s what revival is. Turning away from the paths that we’re on, that have been leading us away from God, and moving back closer to Him. Rededicating our lives to Him.”
“Wow. So maybe your boss will start a revival in Strawberry Sands?”
Clara laughed. If someone had told her that two weeks ago, she would have thought that was the funniest thing she ever heard. But it was convicting when a person saw someone who met Jesus and made true, sincere changes in their lives. It convicted that person that maybe that’s what they should be doing too.
“Last week in church though, I told you that he was quiet and a little scary, but... There was a way that he looked at you. I guess that’s why I thought maybe you forced him to go to church. It was just the way he looked when he looked at you. Like...” Kristin laughed a little, tugging on the lead to keep the dogs from getting all tangled. “Like he would do anything for you. That he admires you that much. Just something.”
Clara took one of the leashes from Kristin to keep the dogs from getting tangled, and Kristin thanked her.
Clara didn’t know what to say to what Kristen had just told her.
“I like him. I can’t deny it. In fact...” She looked around, then lowered her voice. “I’ve had a crush on him forever. That was part of the reason that I was even considering going to the Cities. Because the idea of not being around him again was...depressing. But I didn’t think it would go anywhere. And now, not only am I not moving to the Cities, but he came here.”
“And you’re still going to be working for him?”
“I’m not sure. I haven’t given any notice yet. But after the Strawberry Festival, I kinda thought that maybe I’d want to start my own shop. There are a couple of empty buildings along Main Street, and while I know it wouldn’t make me a ton of money, he gave me fifty thousand for everything in my tent. That’s a nice bit of seed money.”
“He bought everything in your tent at the festival?” Kristin said, her voice sounding shrill in her surprise.
Clara looked around again. The beach was deserted; the sun wasn’t even up yet. Although it was getting lighter by the second.
“He did. But I think it was more because he wanted to go eat, and he didn’t want to wait around while I sold everything else.”
“He could have gone to eat by himself, Clara. That man. I think that man...may be in love with you.”
