Maybe. So much potential in that word. So much hope. When was the last time she’d hoped? She wanted to hope. Wanted to feel again. To believe. To trust. Was it possible?
“Maybe.” She breathed out the word, and the smile that started at the corners of his mouth let her know it hit its target. Maybe would have to be enough for now.
Maybe would hold back real life a little while longer.
* * *
She felt the exact same in his arms. Maybe better. Max couldn’t believe he stood near a fence on his own property, hosting a ministry near to his heart and holding the hand of the one woman who’d branded him years ago as her own. He finally felt whole.
He squeezed Emma’s hand, debating kissing her again but afraid he wouldn’t want to stop. He took in her flushed cheeks and heavy-lidded eyes, and his breath caught. No, he definitely wouldn’t want to stop. Some things never changed, but keeping any developing relationship under God’s direction this time would be one thing they’d for sure do differently.
Better to get back to conversation. And maybe movement.
“Let’s walk. Check on the horses.” He extended his arm and Emma hopped down from the fence, linking her arm through his as they plodded through the shadows toward the barn.
“Caley said she enjoyed meeting you.” He watched Emma’s face carefully for her reaction, knowing how guarded she’d been around the firefighter earlier that morning. “The girls seemed to take to her. She said she’ll be back.”
She nodded, eyes cast on the ground as she dodged a hole. “Good. I think her talking to them about their careers is a great idea.”
He did, too—though Tonya’s immediate future was definitely altered at the moment. The reminder sobered Max’s spirits. Still, the girl had clearly made her choices before she came to Camp Hope. It wasn’t their fault, but they could still at least propel her on to the right course from here on out.
Which brought up another question.
“Why did Tonya’s pregnancy hit you so hard?” He opened the door to the barn, and the automatic lights lit the sharp corners of the darkness.
“What do you mean?” A wall went up; he could see it climbing as tangibly as construction workers laid brick.
Oops. “Nothing. You just seemed to take it almost personally. I didn’t want you thinking that was your fault, too.”
Remington popped his head over the stall door, and Emma reached in and rubbed his mane. “It’s a long story.”
“I have all night.” He crossed his arms and grinned, but the effect was wasted. Emma had officially launched into her own world, and she didn’t seem to be issuing any invitations to join her. “You don’t have to bear the burdens of the world, you know.”
That got her attention. Her eyes narrowed, and the warmth between them began to cool. “You don’t know a thing about my burdens.”
“Whoa.” He held up both hands in defense, causing Remington to toss his head and duck back into his stall. “I’m trying to help here.”
“I know you are. But Cody is...impossible. He’s not who he used to be.” Emma turned to face him, tears glistening. “Not everything is an easy fix, you know. Not Tonya. Not Cody. And not—” She stopped herself, and he’d have given his back forty acres to know what she’d been about to say.