Page 59 of Playing for Keeps
“Not a peep. You think he changed?”
Justin’s dad had spent so much time terrorizing her family. It was odd to think about Chuck without a gripping worry in her chest. After Jordan and Alicia bought his land that bordered Taylor Ranch a few years ago, it was as if Chuck had forgotten all about them.
Justin’s features glowed in the light from the dash. “I don’t know. I haven’t heard from him either. Should I reach out to him, or do you think that’ll just stir things up?”
“What would you say if you contacted him?”
She’d often wondered about her own words for the man. Not that Chuck would have ever cared about what she had to say. Everything about him shook her up in ways no one else did. He’d hurt her family and the man she loved more times than she could count.
It was hard to imagine what Justin might think of his dad. She couldn’t comprehend that level of hurt.
“I forgave him,” Justin said.
Caroline turned in her seat to get a better look at him. Even in the dim light, there was no doubt that Justin was serious. “You did?”
“Well, I forgave him for what he did to me. I don’t know how to forgive him for what he did to your family.”
“What does that even mean?” she asked.
“It means I searched for a way to get him off my mind and the hate I felt toward him. I knew it wasn’t right to keep letting that rule me, and the only way to do that was to forgive him, whether he has remorse or not.”
“Wow.” The word was little more than a breath, but Justin had shocked her socks off.
“That doesn’t mean I’m ready to let him back into my life. Not that he’s tried. I used to hate him, but now I just feel sorry for him.” He sighed. “Maybe I should be reaching out. Maybe I’m supposed to make amends with him or tell him about Jesus. I know he wouldn't have listened back then, but things might have changed.”
Justin was a bigger man than she realized. He was breaking generational curses and building blessings.
Caroline’s phone rang as they pulled into the parking lot. She checked it and frowned at the screen. “It’s Mom again.”
“Hello.”
“Are you close?” her mom asked quickly.
“Yes, ma’am. We’re parking now.”
“Hurry inside, please. We have a problem.”
Caroline’s heart pounded. She couldn’t handle anything else this week. “On my way.”
Justin released her hand. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know yet. Let’s go.”
Justin grabbed the extra icing from the back seat and followed Caroline. Her feet pounded on the pavement until she burst through the side door of the church leading to the fellowship hall.
Caroline’s mom and Cassie Keen stood over an open box of cookies. Both women wore the same tense expression.
“What’s wrong?” Caroline barely had the words out of her mouth before she saw the problem.
The cookies were burnt. Not just a little overdone. They were scorched brown and crumbling.
“What happened? These aren’t the cookies I dropped off.”
“I figured they weren’t,” Caroline’s mother said. “Someone must have either replaced them or stuck them in the oven.”
“But who would do that?” Cassie asked.
Caroline pushed her hands into her hair. “Are they all like this?”
