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Another round of chills rushed over Raine, and he felt overcome. Tears formed in his eyes. He knew what Pastor Henry was saying was true, and for the first time, he wanted to be a man that God dwelt in all the time. He wanted to be like Pastor Henry in every way. Not that he wanted to be a pastor, but he wanted to be solid and strong. A man who helped others.
Lucy put an arm around him and tugged him into her. “I’m really glad that you stopped in South Port, and that you met Pastor Henry.” Her voice hitched, and he turned to see that she had tears in her eyes. “Because I’m feeling the spirit tell me that what he is saying is true. And I’m so grateful that you were sent to South Port. Maybe you were sent to us.”
Raine let out a light chuckle. “I’m sure that’s not true.”
He wasn’t a person God would send to anyone.
The pastor nodded. “I like that, Lucy.” He put a hand to his chest. “Every time I get a chance to read the Bible with someone, to sit and talk with them, and every time I see people’s lives change and become more like Jesus Christ, I am changed for it. For the better. You have worked a mighty miracle in my heart, Raine. Thank you.”
Raine was overwhelmed. He stood, feeling a bit out of it. “Thank you. And thank you, Lucy, but I just can’t accept that I was sent to anyone. If you guys knew everything that I’ve done, you wouldn’t be saying that. It’s just not possible.”
Lucy stood. “Raine, that’s not true. You’re amazing. And I agree with Pastor Henry. Because you’ve been talking about the Bible, I want to read the Bible more. I want to be better. Because of you.”
Maybe it was stupid and childish, and he didn’t know why, but he had to run away. Bolt. Get out of there. He took off toward the door. “I’m sorry. I can’t do this. I can’t hear this. I have to go.”
Chapter 11
Lucy knocked on Raine’s door. It had been two days. She texted him and tried to call him, and he hadn’t answered. She came over yesterday, and while she was pretty sure that he was in there, he hadn’t answered the door.
Today, she was getting irritated. Maybe it was because of how much Matt had ignored her over the course of the past two months, but she didn’t like to be ignored.
She had heard through the South Port grapevine, which consisted of her friend Kat, that Charlene was coming to the wedding. Selfishly, Lucy wanted to know if Raine was going to show up and be her date. The unselfish part of her, the part of her that had been reading the Bible and thinking about what it meant to be a better person, just wanted to know if he was okay.
She knocked at the door and waited. Nothing. No sound.
She pulled her phone out and texted him.Raine? I’m at your door. Take me for a motorcycle ride.She’d try anything to get his attention.
She banged harder on the door, but no one answered.
Wandering around the side of the house, she texted him again.I’m here. I’m not going away. You have to talk to me.
She hadn’t looked at the Sam house in a long time. It had been owned by out-of-towners, as the locals called them. It hadn’t been occupied much in the past five to ten years, and it was run down. The fence was down, so she slipped on past. The back porch was stunningly beautiful. It was all redone in beautiful colors, and there was a built-in brick oven and fire pit.
Finally, she found him.
Raine was staring blankly at the ocean.
Part of her felt a huge attraction to Raine. He was gorgeous. It had been easy to slip into friendship with him. His personality was affable, and he was kind. Sometimes she worried that he was just conning her, but if he was, he wouldn’t have told her about his past. Plus, considering everything she’d told him about hers, it didn’t make sense that he was trying to take advantage of anyone. She didn’t know why he’d run out of Pastor Henry’s the other day, but she was going to find out.
“Raine,” she said.
His head jerked up, and then he met her gaze and stood. She hadn’t seen Raine in a swimming suit before. He wore pink swimming shorts, and his whole body was tanned. Of course, she’d known he was all muscle, but now all those muscles were on display. He was completely cut and so handsome. His chocolate eyes met hers, and his blond hair was messy.
“What are you doing here?” His calm tone was so much different from his normal tone, which was playful and fun and teasing.
She moved to the deck and walked up the stairs, unafraid of taking up his personal space. “You ignored me for two days. You ran out on me. I wanted to know what’s going on. Why did you pull out like that? It felt like we were having such a good conversation and then, poof! You were gone.”
Raine took a step back and looked out of sorts. “I know. I’m sorry. I just …” He ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know. I don’t even know how to tell you what I was feeling. I just knew that the stuff you and Pastor Henry were saying wasn’t true.”
“Why?”
“Because …. I can never be that good person you were talking about being sent here.”
Understanding washed over her. She hesitated, then crossed her arms and held his gaze. “You feltunworthy. You felt like you didn’t deserve the things we were saying about you.”
His face lit up, and he pointed at her. “Exactly. I haven’t even known what I was feeling, but you just put it into words. I don’t know how you did that.” He took a step toward her, and his face was confused. “How did you do that?”
Lucy sucked in a long breath. “I don’t think I told you this about myself, but I’m an artist. I do murals around town or in people’s homes. And I’m decent.”
