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“You should get out of the cold,” Hudson said, clearly picking up on her discomfort. “I’ll talk to you later.”
“Yep. Have a good weekend.”
“You too.”
The cold ended up being the thing that helped her walk away from Hudson when her own willpower wasn’t enough.
After saying goodbye, she slid behind the wheel of her car, then started it up, waiting as Hudson got into his car. The taillights on his car came on, then he pulled away from the curb. Kayleigh followed him until she reached the point in the road where she had to turn in the opposite direction from the resort.
Once she was home, she secured the house and began to go through her nighttime routine. Through all of it, she replayed how the evening had gone.
Hudson’s presence had definitely increased her enjoyment. That wasn’t a good thing, but in the privacy of her bedroom, for a few moments, she allowed herself to relish the memory of the time they’d spent together that evening.
As she sat in her bed a short time later, surrounded by all her pillows, Kayleigh picked up her journal and Bible. The complexity of the situation with Hudson wasn’t lost on her. From every angle, exploring her growing feelings for the man was a bad idea.
The temptation to disregard everything she’d been taught, everything she believed, was stronger than she’d ever experienced before. That was because shelikedthe little flutters of delight in her stomach when Hudson was close. She enjoyed the way her heart beat a little faster when she saw him.
All of it drew on emotions that she hadn’t given much attention to in the past few years. Taking over as manager of the resort had demanded a lot of her time and energy. Plus, there had just not been any man who’d grabbed her attention. Until Hudson.
Making things even more complicated was that she didn’t think she was imagining a corresponding interest from Hudson. The thought that she might be creating feelings in Hudson like he was creating in her gave her an emotional rush.
Everything in this situation with Hudson centered on her feelings. The question that was presented to her was if she was going to give more weight to her feelings, aware that they were contrary to what she knew God would want for her, or to her desire to follow God’s will for her life.
Kayleigh flipped open her journal to a blank page and began to write out part of a verse as a reminder of what she needed to do. Even though, at that precise moment, her heart wasn’t on board.
Do not be conformed to this world.
There was more to the verse in Romans 12, but right then, that section spoke most clearly to the situation she faced. The world would tell her to go for it. To not take the chance of losing a man who could fit perfectly into her life.
But she shouldn’t be… couldn’t be swayed by what the world would do.
Why was it that the first guy she was really interested in—one who seemed to truly get who she was—had to be someone who was off-limits because of her faith?
It didn’t feel fair.
Kayleigh knew this was going to be a battle for her, and as she thought back over that moment they’d shared at the basketball game, she was afraid that her resolve to resist was going to be weak. Avoiding him wasn’t possible, so she was going to have to rely on God to give her the strength to keep her feelings in check.
Right then, it felt impossible.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
With nothing but work to fill his time over the remainder of the weekend, Hudson’s one concession to taking a break was to not wear a suit at any point. Caleb had lectured him throughout the weekend about still working. But what else was Hudson supposed to do?
Aside from working out at the gym, he had little else to fill his time in Serenity. Sitting around watching television or playing video games just weren’t things he did anymore.
As a teen, he’d definitely played video games, especially after his mom had died. When he was done with his homework each day, he’d log onto a video game and spend hours trying to ignore the pain of his mom’s death. Even during his college years, he’d continued to play video games, but not to the extent that he had while in high school.
It was only after graduating from college and starting his job at Remington that he’d moved on from them. His focus had been on his job. He’d been determined to work hard and earn lots of money so that he could do all the things he’d once dreamed of doing back when he’d been a teen, when fancy cars, traveling, and expensive toys had been of great importance.
But instead of spending his money on those things, he’d squirreled it away, plotting for the time when he could use it to free himself from the man who claimed to be his father. Hudson hadn’t realized it then, but Alexander had paid him far above what he should have been paid based on his experience.
So here he was, well over a decade later, with lots of money, lots of work, and not much else. He had no one in his life who wasn’t also tied to his work. That even included Kayleigh.
Kayleigh… Just the thought of the woman brought a smile to his lips.
Hudson pushed back from the table, then got up and walked to the large windows. It was dark already, so there was a smattering of lights from the cabins and lodges situated around the resort.
He was glad that the weekend was almost over, since then he’d get to see Kayleigh again. Though he probably could have come up with a reason to contact Kayleigh over the past couple of days, he hadn’t taken advantage of that.
