When I Fall in Love(60)

He opened his mouth. Closed it. “Huh?”

“I just want to know about this man you’ve hooked me up with. Is he cute or not?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Muscles?” She raised an eyebrow. “Because I like muscles.”

“Fine. He’s built. Spends hours every day in the weight room.”

“Well, not too much. Because I don’t want him to neglect me.”

He sighed. “No. Never.”

“So he’s reliable.”

“Absolutely.”

“And built.”

“We established that.”

“Great. But is he kind? Does he buy me flowers? Does he sing me love songs? How about cooking? Can he cook?”

He stared at her. “I . . . I don’t know what to say to that. I guess I thought we were having a serious conversation here.”

“We are.” She smiled. “So here’s the really important question. Does this man love Jesus? Does he know that God has an amazing plan for his life, and is he willing to hold my hand through the good and the bad?”

Her words silenced him. He felt them in his chest, burning.

“Yes, this man loves Jesus,” he finally said. “And he wants to believe that.”

“Well then, if that’s the case, yes. I would still marry this everything-I-hoped-for man. In fact, I would marry him if he wasn’t perfect—if he didn’t know how to cook and he occasionally forgot flowers.” Her smile dimmed, and she looked away. “I would marry him and love him for as long as we had because I don’t really care about anything on that list but a man who loves Jesus and loves me.”

She met his eyes then, and oh, Max wanted to reach out. To take her hand. To pull her into his arms.

But he couldn’t breathe. So he put his sunglasses back on and got up, headed for the exit before he could break into tears.





RAINA COULD HARDLY BELIEVE Casper hailed from the same stock as Owen. Instead of dropping her off and driving away Sunday evening, he’d picked up dinner—a basket of fried chicken from a local diner—and spread out a picnic as they watched another glorious sunset.

Raina had managed to forget her anger at his brother—his family—as she settled into his arms. He hadn’t tried to kiss her, but he had leaned her back against him to watch the sky light on fire, the world turning to gold, then crimson as the horizon surrendered to the night.

But now, two days later, her words dogged her, winding into her brain, churning her stomach. What is it with you arrogant Christiansen men who think you can just use people?

She shouldn’t have erupted, shouldn’t have let her past sour the perfect evening she could have had with his family. Maybe she’d overstepped there a little. Even if Darek, who seemed cut from the same cloth as his kid brother, Owen, deserved it.

But if she hoped to keep things civil, even encourage team unity before the next practice, she had to smooth things over with Casper’s family.

“You want this on your tab, Raina, or do you want to pay for it now?” Ty asked as he boxed the pizza.

She picked up the large pepperoni that she’d made after she’d gotten off shift. “Put it on my tab,” she said and headed out the door.

She slid the pizza onto the front seat of the car, leaving one hand on the box to steady it as she drove to Evergreen Resort. She couldn’t decide if she hoped Casper was there or not.

Her insides had coiled into a knot by the time she turned onto the drive for the resort. The temperature rose ten degrees up here in the woods, and she could still smell the faintest hint of ash in the air, despite the greening pines across the lake.

How long might it take for the woods to come to life again?

Raina pulled in next to a blue- and white-striped work truck, the hood open. She grabbed the pizza and got out.

John Christiansen looked out from where he hunkered under the hood. “Hello there.”

She didn’t wait for the courage, just blurted out what she had to say. “I came to apologize.” She held out the pizza. “I shouldn’t have responded to your hospitality like that. I’m so sorry. I’m way too dramatic, I know it, and I should have kept my feelings to myself.”

When she first met John, he’d intimidated her with his large, almost-imposing presence, his barrel chest and bald head, those dark-blue eyes that could see right through her to her secrets. Now he considered her a long moment, and the power of it could take her apart.

Especially combined with his next words. “Raina, did one of my boys hurt you?”

The strength went out of her knees. She managed a quick shake of her head.

“Hmm.” He narrowed his eyes. “You know, if they did, I’d want to know about it.”