Page 193 of Sing with Me

“Go ahead.”

“Dear Heavenly Father, we need Your supernatural wisdom regarding our businesses. We have decisions to make at work that could build or tear down the companies. Surround us with wise people who know what they’re doing and have our best interests in mind. Show us where we need to step forward, and where we need to retreat. Catch us when we fall. Lead us with Your perfect peace. In Jesus’ Name, I pray. Amen.”

“Amen again,” Diehl said. “I like that. ‘Catch us when we fall.’ God is amazing. If I had Him all those years, I wouldn’t have had such a hard time.”

“Work is always hard.”

“True.”

“Do you give yourself a day off?” Skye asked, knowing that she gave herself the weekend off.

“I do now. I try not work on weekends, like you.”

“It’s Friday tomorrow, still a workday,” Skye said. “And yet you’re driving to and from Athens.”

“I want to. It’s going to be okay. One more day of work and I’ll be spending the whole weekend with my kids.”

“Are you usually busy at work on Fridays?”

“Tomorrow, I am. I have a meeting at nine o’clock.” He seemed to hesitate before he continued. “This is hush-hush for now.”

“Then don’t tell me the details,” Skye said.

“I can tell you that since my brother passed away, Dad and I have been stretched too thin trying to manage the three of four subsidiaries of our family business.”

“That’s a lot of work, it sounds like.”

“The fourth subsidiary is doing well. Brooks Renovations.”

“The one Brinley is running.”

Diehl nodded. “It’s the only one on St. Simon’s. The rest of them are in Atlanta.”

“Your dad’s retired, isn’t he?” Skye tapped on the keyboard on her phone.Pray for the Brooks businesses.

“Yes, although for the last three weeks, he has been back at the office because of me.”

“How can anyone blame you?” Skye asked. “You’re just one person, running three companies, pretty much.”

“Well, I burned out.”

“I would too.”

“It’s nice of you to understand.”

“We both run businesses,” Skye said. “As a Christian, I need God’s wisdom to make sure I don’t do anything stupid and lose my company. Sometimes we have to make tough decisions, like selling something.”

Diehl nodded. “Interesting you should mention that.”

“Your mental health and your family are not worth sacrificing just to secure another million—or billion.”

“Right.”

“Maybe it sounds like tough objectivity, but once I realized Saffron was stretching me too thin, I knew I have to let it go. I don’t feel bad any more, even when I recall the days my brother was all excited about the restaurant.” Skye chuckled. “Oddly enough, it means nothing to him at all whether I sell or don’t sell my shares.”

“He has found something—someone—else more important.”

Traffic was light but the night was dark and cloudy. Rain began to fall all around the car. The windshield wipers cleared away some of the rain.

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