Page 31 of There I Find Hope

“I guess that makes sense.”

“Anyway. I’ll never forget that. It was pretty amazing.”

She had to agree. And she probably could add that it was even more amazing that she got to share it with him. But she wasn’t sure why she wanted to say that. So she didn’t.

“What were you doing?” she asked as they started back up the sidewalk.

“I saw you walking down and thought I’d follow you.”

“Are you serious?” she said, laughter in her voice. She thought he was joking. Why would he be following her?

“Yeah. I was done for the day and saw you walking by.” He shrugged. “I wasn’t stalking you or anything, so don’t even think that.”

“I wasn’t. I was just surprised.” Then she sobered as they drew closer to her candy store. “I told Mom I was going to walk on the beach, but I actually was thinking about stopping at the candy store and trying to go in my apartment. I still haven’t made it.”

“We can do that if you want to. Do you think it’ll go better if I’m with you?”

She hadn’t considered taking people in with her before, but she hadn’t really wanted to. She wasn’t sure why, whether it was just something that she felt like she needed to do on her own, or whether she was afraid to have anyone with her in case she couldn’t handle it.

“No pressure, if you’d rather not.” Noah said, and she appreciated the fact that he wasn’t pushing her.

“You might see the worst side of me,” she said, lifting a brow at him and biting both of her lips.

That made both sides of his mouth curve up. She hadn’t meant to have that reaction at all. “I’m not afraid.”

She snorted. “Maybe you should be.”

“I doubt it. We all have that side. That side we really don’t want anyone else to see. I suppose, I understand, but I’m also fine. Because I know that we all have it.”

“All right.” She pursed her lips, moving forward, and then she took a breath and slid her hand into his.

Looking up, she said, “Do you mind?”

He squeezed her hand and shook his head, a smile tripping over his lips.

“Do you want me to go first?” he asked as they walked back between the buildings, and she dug the key to her door out of her pocket.

“No. I can do it. I’m prepared to see the shoes in the kitchen.”

“The shoes?” he said. Then she realized that she had never told him about the shoes. That had been Business Boy.

What did it say about her that she got Noah and Business Boy confused?

She didn’t want to have to explain it to him, didn’t want to go down that trail if she didn’t have to, not as she did something as hard as walking in. She just opened the door, shoved the key back in her pocket, and held on tight to Noah’s hand as she walked in.

He wasn’t going to let her go, and she appreciated that.

She pushed open the door to the kitchen, saw the shoes, and this time, she smiled at them.

She had good memories with her son. And now she had a life without him. And God had orchestrated both.

And somehow God orchestrated the fact that this man had once been in her life, and now he was again. She’d taken a detour, gone off with Glenn, had the best thing that ever happened to her in Blake, and now God had given her... Maybe not another chance with Noah, but at least a chance to be friends with him. And she would take it.

“It smells amazing in here.” Noah sniffed deeply.

“The smell has always made me smile. Just candy and sweetness and it smells clean too.”

“Exactly. Smells like happiness. Like the way I’d want my trip to the beach to smell if I took one.”