Page 45 of Gideon

“Good. Okay.” She hesitated for a moment, then said, “You can talk to me, you know. Any time. I’m here for you. Don’t think you have to carry this all on your own.”

But he knew he needed to. Or at least, that’s what he told himself. “Sleep well,” he said when she didn’t get out.

“You too.” She frowned but opened the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He waited until she’d reached the house before he let out a long slow breath. “God, whatever you do, don’t let me fall for her. Don’t do that to me. Not when I know I’ll have to say goodbye when this is all over.”

Chapter 12

It wasn’tuntil the morning light was already filling the sky that Gideon finally fell asleep for a couple of fitful hours. When he opened his eyes, they met a sliver of sunlight cutting through the curtains.

He’d hoped God would speak to him again in a dream, but as far as he knew, his sleep had been dreamless. God was silent, and if He remained that way, Gideon didn’t know how he could face Nikki or the others.

If he’d never told Nikki about Eric or the totem poles, he could have done it all himself, and there would be no one to let down. It had been a mistake to bring her in. But as he thought back over the night, searching for a sense of regret, he couldn’t find any. It was a small mercy.

He gripped the edge of the bed, then pushed off. It was time to see how the town had woken to the change. Word would spread quickly. If he was lucky, it would be enough to transform the town, meaning his job wassuccessfully completed, and he could leave with his head held high. Or they’d simply rebuild, and it would have all been for nothing.

As soon as Gideon turned onto Main Street, he saw the crowd gathered. It was still early, but over a hundred people were in the park.

A tall, heavyset man stood on a podium in the middle of the fray. Gideon pulled over to listen to what he was saying.

“You have every right to be angry,” the man said above the shouts. “We won’t let them get away with it.”

Phineas pushed through the crowd and climbed onto the platform. “The mayor is right, and we will stand in strength with our leader. It’s more important than ever for us to come together to resist those who would seek to destroy us through their horrible, reckless behavior. But we have nothing to fear. The gods will not be silenced.”

Gideon couldn’t help the roll of his eyes as the crowd cheered. “The gods, huh?” he mumbled.

Phineas continued, “We will bring those responsible to their knees. You have my word.”

The crowd erupted again with shouts of ‘death penalty’ and ‘torture’ for the responsible party. When the mob rules, commonsense goes out the window.

Gideon rolled his window back up. They’d have to trust God to keep them all safe from the mob.

He drove on to his dad’s place where he expected tofind him sleeping, but he’d rather share the news before his dad heard it from the horde.

He rang the bell and waited.

“Coming!”

Gideon stepped back in surprise. His dad never came at the first ring.

“Gideon,” Joey said when he opened the door. “I wasn’t expecting you this morning. Why didn’t you just come in? You have a key.”

“I forgot it.” He looked his dad up and down. “You’re dressed.”

“Should I not be?”

“And you shaved.”

Joey shrugged. “I do now and then. I’m not a total slob, ya know.”

“I know. I just—” He had to tread lightly. He didn’t know how precarious this was. “With your arm the way it is, it must be hard.”

“Nah, there are plenty who get along with less. You coming in?”

“Sure.”

“I take it your friend Eric has left town?” Joey said as he slowly climbed the stairs.

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