Page 204 of When Love Takes Root

“Thank you,” I whispered.

He looked down at me. “I meant what I said, Red.”

“I know.”

“I don’t want to uproot anything.”

My voice broke. “You didn’t.” His thumb moved over my knuckles. “You planted beside it.”

The words left me before I knew they were coming.

Josiah closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them, something in his face looked like prayer had found language.

“Can I pray?”

Nobody hesitated.

We bowed our heads.

Josiah’s voice came low, deep, and rough around the edges. “Lord, thank You for Jamal Coleman. Thank You for the love he planted, the covering he gave, and the family still standing because his life left roots. We’re not here to erase what You allowed him to build. We’re here to honor it. Keep this tree strong. Let it grow through storms, heat, drought, and seasons when the ground feels too hard to hold anything tender.”

Kayden sniffed beside him. JJ rubbed both hands down his face. Maya leaned into my side, and I felt her tears dampen my sleeve. Zuri’s fingers found mine, and Skye pressed her forehead into Josiah’s arm.

Josiah kept praying. “Cover these children. Let JJ lead without losing himself. Let Kayden rest from carrying what was never meant to bend his back. Let Maya keep seeing beauty. Let Zuri keep telling truth. Let Skye keep bringing joy into heavy rooms. And cover Celeste, Lord. Let her heart know that loving again doesn’t dishonor the love that came before. Teach us how to grow without pulling up what love already built. Teach us how to water what’s living. Teach us how to make room for love with roots deep enough to share the soil.”

My sob slipped out again.

Josiah’s hand tightened around mine.

“In Jesus’ name, amen.”

“Amen,” we said.

For a while, nobody moved.

The wind stirred the leaves above Jamal’s name, and sunlight shifted through the branches, laying gold across the stone like heaven had reached down and touched it. I watched the light move over the engraving, soft and unhurried, and my chest loosened around a grief I hadn’t realized I’d been holding with both hands.

Skye leaned into Josiah’s side. “Mr. Josiah?”

“Yes, baby girl?”

“If you and Mama get married one day, can this tree come?”

JJ wiped his face and groaned. “Skye.”

“What? It’s family now.”

Josiah looked at me.

Through tears, I laughed.

He smiled softly. “We’ll cross that bridge when God tells us where it is.”

Zuri nodded. “That means maybe.”

Maya wiped her face. “It means pray about it.”

Kayden looked at the tree, then at Josiah. His lips pressed together, and he swallowed twice before the words came. “I think Dad would’ve liked this.”