Page 46 of Candy Cane Dreams
"True. I don't know how things are going to look. I'm a little out of my depth, but I figured that if I'm going to work on saving the candy shop, I'd better go all in on it. What's the worst that could happen?"
"You could lose it," she said, reasonably.
"Yeah. But I could lose it if I don't try. So I might as well give it my best shot, right?"
"I agree. I admire your courage and your dedication to trying to keep it in the family for Lilly."
"I realized it was for myself too."
"I thought you always wanted to be a farmer?" she asked, setting the jar of flowers down on the counter and admiring them.
"I have. But after I talked to you, I realized that God gave me a different path. And I can sit and wish for things that didn't happen, or I could walk this path and do the very best that I can on it. Obviously the second choice is the best choice. And so, as much as I'm able, that's the choice I'm going to make."
She gave him a look, impressed that he had run that through in his mind and come up with that decision.
"Do you think you're going to regret that?" she finally asked.
He tilted his head. "I might. But I don't think anyone ever regrets doing what God wants them to do."
"And you think the candy shop is what God wants?"
He nodded, eyeing her, like her reaction mattered to him.
"I think that the only thing that you should do is what God wants you to do."
"That's kind of the conclusion I came to too. After all, the Bible does say that giving my life for God is reasonable service."
That wasn't an exact quote of that verse, but it was close, and she tucked that thought away. Most people dismissed that reasonable service that they were supposed to give to the Lord because of their gratefulness for salvation, but acted like God was like a genie in a bottle that was supposed to pop up when they needed Him, answer their prayers, give them everything they wanted, and then step back in the background and let them live their lives the way they wanted to. For a Christian, nothing could be further from the truth. But there were so many Christians she knew who lived their lives exactly like that, thinking God just wanted them to be happy.
He wanted them to choose happiness, of course, but it wasn't about living one's life for oneself. Ever. Not for a Christian. It was a lesson she was still learning.
"I think I could just stay here this evening and stare at these flowers. They're so pretty. Thank you," she said, giving Jack a shy glance. The flowers, the compliments, it was all very romantic. Was he seriously interested in her like that?
She hoped so, but she also didn't want to get her hopes up.
"Well then, let's go. I'm hungry." He allowed her to walk through the kitchen first and then opened the door for her.
Finally, she decided that she might as well just ask, so after she walked through the door, she stopped and turned around while he shut it.
"I've been trying to figure out whether this is an actual date, or just a celebration because you're grateful that I've been helping Lilly and you somehow think that I'm the reason that she was talking yesterday, or is it because you had things you wanted to tell me and you thought that going out to eat would give us some privacy?"
"Wow. That's a lot of choices. Could you run through those again?"
She blinked twice before she realized he was teasing her.
"This isn't funny!" she said, stomping her foot and putting her hands on her hips. She was only kind of half joking. He was teasing her, and she liked it, but she still wanted to know exactly what they were doing, so she could temper her expectations to match his intentions.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have joked about that. And you're right for asking. I could see how you would get confused."
"Okay. So it's not just me overthinking all of this."
"No, I suppose not." He had stopped in front of her, with the door shut, at the top of the steps. He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked out over the yard.
"I suppose I do have things I need to talk to you about, and it would be nice to have privacy, and it's true that I wanted to celebrate, because I do give you the credit for the fact that Lilly spoke yesterday. And I know," he held a hand out to keep her from saying anything, "you don't think it's all you, but I know that Lilly hadn't said anything for years before you got here, and you worked with her for a few weeks, and now she's talking. So you can take that however you want to, and so can I. And I'm giving you the credit."
She tilted her head, because it made sense when he said it like that.
"But I suppose that was just an excuse. Because I like you. I like you a lot. Not just because you helped my daughter, but because you're the kind of person who goes above and beyond what you need to. Obviously, you're caring and considerate and compassionate and funny, and willing to work hard, and I guess I could go on, but... I was afraid that you wouldn't be interested in me because of working with Lilly. And I definitely did not want you to be in trouble with the school in any way." He paused,but it seemed like he was going to say something else, so Kate kept her mouth closed.
