Page 32 of Bidding on a Second Chance
She shrugged. The turkey in her stomach still felt like it was doing jumping jacks. “I never want to see him in danger like that again, that’s for sure.”
“But you’re glad I was there?” The edges of Graham’s mouth lifted.
“Very. I just wish Bryce was glad for it. I want him to look up to you, but if he’s always angry with you, I don’t know how that’ll happen.”
“Give it time. We still have most of the basketball season ahead of us, but …” He gave her an uncertain look again, then his line of sight wandered to the other side of the room, and he pushed his hand through his curls.
“But what?”
“But do you think you can believe what I said about taking the proper precautions and then trusting God with the rest?”
She stiffened as she suppressed the offense his question stirred up. “What other choice is there?”
“One option is to trust God with as little as possible by taking more than the reasonable precautions.”
“Reasonable looks different to different people, I imagine.”
He shrugged, but she sensed the careless movement hid strong convictions. “Seems to me one of your unreasonable precautions is that you stay single. You ruled me out because of my career, but I’m far from the only guy out there. Yet you can’t bring yourself to trust God enough to date anyone at all, can you?”
She squirmed. In part, he was right. “Maybe no one’s caught my eye.”
“I have a hard time believing I’m that unique.” But the way he focused on her said he hoped he might be.
He was. If he tried in earnest to resurrect their romance, she’d never muster the willpower to send him away.
She could not allow him to realize her weakness. “Okay. You win. I’ll go on a date with someone.”
Did he flinch? Hard to tell, the movement was so slight and quick. “Good.”
She gulped. What had she just agreed to? And why again? “Why is this important to you?”
“Jesus offers freedom, and if you’re bowing to fears, you’re not living in it. It’s hard to watch.”
“You’d rather watch me date?”
“Yup.” His answer came fast and firm, leaving little room for doubt. He truly wanted this, and that meant he didn’t have feelings for her anymore.
She may have agreed to go on a meaningless date, and she had no idea how she’d find the guy to share an evening with, but relief flooded her.
She was safe. Her silly crush on Graham couldn’t go anywhere because he didn’t feel the same for her as she felt for him.
ChapterTwenty-One
Piper woke on Black Friday to her alarm, followed by the sound of hushed cartoons. Bryce must be up. She still had an hour to get to the store, where they’d already posted twenty-percent-off-everything signs.
It should be a good day. Her regulars would visit in a stream that would keep her from having to face Graham and all the confusion he stirred up in her. They’d both been clear they were not going to be an item again. But Piper also had no other prospects. She’d have to get Lucy to set up a blind date or something, because if she backed out of the date, Graham would either keep lecturing her about fear or, worse, guess how she felt about him.
As the coffee brewed, she stood in the door of the living room. Bryce sprawled on the floor, connecting more tiny building blocks. The TV served more as background noise than entertainment. Then a commercial came on with boys Bryce’s age advertising a sale on a new building set. The colorful and boisterous commercial kept Bryce’s attention riveted to the screen.
Afterward, he switched his gaze from the TV to her. “Can we get one? It’s the space set. I don’t have one of those yet, and it’s only ten dollars.”
After the funk he’d been in yesterday, she wanted to say yes, if only to build on the hopeful excitement in his eyes. Those building sets cost too much to purchase often, and the ten-dollar price tag would’ve tempted her even without Bryce’s pleading look. But she had to work, and even if she didn’t, she couldn’t drive or navigate Black Friday crowds with a broken foot.
She’d asked so many friends for help already. This would be too much to ask.
Unless, of course, said person had already committed to doing a favor for her today.
“I have an idea, but you might not like it.”
