Nathan leaned forward touching his lips to hers and feeling a new hope burst free. “I can never make up to you what I did,” he said pulling back, “but I’d like the chance to try.”
“It might take time,” Rainy sighed. “I don’t know if I can trust you.”
“Then I’ll spend as long as it takes trying to prove that you can. I want to be here for Lucas and you.”
The little boy squirmed on his shoulders and Nathan swung him down to the ground.
“Can I go play, Mommy?” the boy pointed toward the small playground where children from the morning children’s church were busy.
“You can go,” she said watching him dash off in their direction and keeping an eye on him as he went.
“Rainy,” Nathan took her hand in his, his eyes moving between her and her son. “I believe that you and I are connected. Somehow we’re part of a whole and separately we’ll never be complete. I don’t want to pressure you, but I want you to know. I’m here and I’m not going anywhere.”
Rainy squeezed Nathan’s hand feeling the old connection come to life as it melded with something new. She knew that it would take time to trust again, but she wanted nothing more than to believe Nathan. Perhaps, if she wasn’t sure of him, she might be able to trust the God who had changed him so.
***
“I can’t believe you are going on a date with that man,” Mrs. Smythe scowled at her daughter. “You can do much better you know.”
“Mom, I have to see if there is a future for me and Nathan,” Rainy, checked her appearance in the mirror by the front door. “I’m not going to do anything stupid.”
Dana Smythe’s eyes flickered toward Lucas who sat in the living room playing with his stuffed pony. “I’m not sure I believe that man has changed.”
Rainy turned to her mother, clasping her hand. “I do. There is something different about Nathan. He’s calmer, more at peace. He still wants to do well in this life, but he seems to have found out that other things are important too.”
“Well, don’t fall for any of his fancy words,” Dana sniffed. “That’s what happened last time.”
Rainy nodded not wanting to argue with her mother. She had been in knots since that Sunday when Nathan had kissed her. She didn’t want to say she had succumbed to his charms, but she felt so at ease with him.
Somewhere between her last day on the Broken J Ranch and now, she had started to see Nathan in a new light. He said he had changed, but more than that he was showing her each time they met that he had changed.
It had been three weeks since Nathan had asked her to church, and she had joined him each week since. Rainy loved seeing Lucas so excited about the time he had with other children and just being there in the sanctuary gave her a special feeling.
It was all so strange, and yet Rainy felt an excitement that she had never experienced before. Was she falling in love with Nathan all over again? She knew she still had feelings for him, and the attraction was there, just as strong as ever.
Tonight was their official first date, and Rainy hoped it would go well. Turning she looked at her son playing happily with his toys, as her heart melted. What if, by some miracle, she and Nathan could be together? What if Lucas could know his father? Something stirred in Rainy’s heart, a little bird taking wing from her soul as she cried out to heaven for this very special miracle.
Chapter 15
Dinner and a movie had been just what Rainy needed. The week had been filled with job applications, interviews, and daycare visits. She wasn’t sure how she would stand to put Lucas in daycare, but she couldn’t ask her parents to watch him every day, even if they did insist they wanted to.
“How about a milkshake to round off the night?” Nathan asked as he helped her into his old truck after the movie. “Is the Old Town Dairy still here?”
“Yes,” Rainy laughed, “where else would people get their ice cream fix in this town?”
“So that’s a yes to a shake?” Nathan grinned as he closed the door.
Rainy shook her head as he hurried around the truck and climbed in. “I’d have to be crazy to say no to that invitation.”
It only took minutes to get to the old ice cream parlor, complete with a soda fountain and twisted cone in neon light shining above the shop.
“I haven’t been here in a long time,” Rainy admitted as they grabbed their extra thick shakes and headed for a table.
“We’ll have to bring Lucas one day.”
Nathan’s comment was so matter-of-fact, Rainy looked up meeting his eyes. “You’d like to bring Lucas?”
“If it’s alright with you. I won’t do anything you don’t want me to. You know that, right?”
Rainy felt her shoulders relax and she reached across the table for Nathan’s hand. “I think I do.”
Nathan’s bright smile reached straight to her heart. “How are you so different?” she asked. “You’re Nathan, but changed.”
“I found the truth Rainy, and it set me free. God is real, and He loves us. He wants to be a part of our lives. When I realized that and surrendered all of my will, all of my ambitions, and desires to God, everything else fell into place. Sure, there is still pain, sorrow, trials, but with God, I’m never alone. I know I can turn to Him for anything and that he hears me. Even when I mess up, He loves and forgives me.”
Rainy swallowed hard feeling the deep conviction in Nathan’s voice. She was at once drawn to it and repelled. The Nathan she had known was driven, ambitious, determined
