Page 15 of Bones

I need to think of an excuse.

Quickly, or he’s going to?—

This one.

This.

This.

Thisthisthis.

I clicked the email that lit the mental flare and skimmed it before going to the beginning again.

“Well?” Ryan snapped, aggravated that I’d ignored him.

I turned my smiling face from the screen to him before turning said screen also. “It’s an invitation to guest pastor across the New England area.”

He leaned closer to read the email that laid out the proposed tour. They even called it that, like he was a rock star.

Rhode Island.

Massachusetts.

New Hampshire.

AndMaine—a place that was firing off sparklers in my head.

Beacon of Absolution wanted Ryan to speak at the largest of their churches in each state. Not just a virtual sermon that they showed, but an in-person appearance. They also wanted him to spend time at each location, meeting with their leadership and helping to strengthen their community.

And it was all thanks to the sermon on patience that I’d told him to stream. It’d landed on the correct screens, and something big was going to come from it.

Somethingmassive.

I didn’t see that part in a vision. I just knew it in my bones.

“Do you see this?” Ryan scrubbed his palm across his eyes like he couldn’t believe it himself. “They want to fly me out first class. And look at these hotel rooms they’ll put me up in. And this stipend I would get.”

I didn’t flinch at his use ofIandme. I was used to it.

He closed my laptop before standing to grab his own. After sliding it into his bag, he started for the door. My breath caught when he stopped suddenly.

Please don’t ask if I’ve had any sermon visions.

When he turned around, I kept my expression carefully blank so my panic wouldn’t remind him that I’d let him down again.

It was for nothing since he barely glanced at me when he said, “I need to research this and seek guidance. I won’t be home until late.”

And then he was gone without a kiss, a hug, or even a thank-you.

I knew when he returned, he would undoubtedly smell of another woman, but that didn’t matter.

I opened my laptop back up. My smile grew when I saw it hadn’t been closed long enough to lock. Bringing up the browser, I started researching Maine.

What’s here that’s making my chest feel so full?

“Becauseisn’t answer enough.”

At Ryan’s repeated response, it wasn’t frustration that brewed in my chest.

---