Faith, Hope, and Love

One Year Later

Mama’s grave overlooked the rolling hills of the ranch.

Texas stretched in every direction beneath a bright blue sky. Wind moved through the grass, carrying the familiar scent of earth and sunshine.

Home.

I stood before the headstone with my hands buried in my pockets.

HANNAH CALLAHAN

Mama.

I smiled.

“Hey.”

A folding chair waited beside me.

I opened it, settled in, and looked across the land.

“It’s been a while.”

The breeze moved through the flowers resting against the stone.

“You would’ve liked Rachel.”

I chuckled.

“The real Rachel, anyway. Not the dream lord wearing her face. That one had some issues.”

I leaned back.

“Bodhi and Rachel are doing good.”

“They’re healing.”

“Still figuring out what three missing years means when one person lived every day and the other one barely felt them pass.”

I looked toward the horizon.

“They adopted Poe, Kyle, and Jasper.”

The paperwork had become official the month before.

Three children who needed somewhere to belong.

Two people with more room in their lives than they had realized.

One black lab who apparently believed she ran the entire operation.

“Sasha has appointed herself Jasper’s personal supervisor.”

I smiled.

“Jasper keeps insisting she isn’t in charge of him.”

A stronger gust stirred the grass.

“None of us believe him.”

I folded my hands across my stomach.

“Gene and Kristy Lee got married.”

I paused.

“I know.”

“Surprised me too.”

They had held the wedding outside Mercantile Falls beneath enough lights to make the night look like afternoon.

Gene wore a suit.

Kristy Lee wore a dress that left him incapable of forming complete sentences for most of the ceremony.

“He finally told her he loved her.”

My smile widened.

“Right there at the altar.”

“Then apparently something broke loose.”

I started counting on my fingers.

“He told Bodhi.”

“Rachel.”

“Me.”

“The bartender.”

“The DJ.”

“My pilot.”

“Somebody’s grandmother.”

I laughed.

“Turns out Gene had a lot of love to give. He was just a little late getting around to it.”

I rubbed my hands together.

“Charles is doing good too.”

“He’s talking seriously about running for governor.”

I had promised to become his first donor and introduce him to everyone I knew who might become the second.

“He flashed that million-dollar smile and said the people deserved greatness.”

I shook my head.

“His humility remains one of his finest qualities.”

The ranch grew quiet again.

I looked at Mama’s name.

“Nathan made it.”

The words still tightened my throat.

“But I guess you already know that.”

He had waited until the Order left.

Then he came out of hiding and started working.

Cleaned the blood.

Patched the bullet holes.

Rehung doors.

Restored power.

He didn’t know where we had gone or whether any of us were coming back.

So he stayed.

Watched the news.

Waited for someone to come home.

“He kept his vow.”

Nathan had broken it once.

One word.

Move.

That word saved our lives.

“I haven’t heard another one.”

I brushed a piece of grass from my pants.

“I haven’t asked.”

He had already said everything necessary.

I looked toward the empty space beside Mama’s grave.

“Otherwise, I suppose he’d be standing right there.”

The silence that followed was comfortable.

Peaceful.

The kind that didn’t need to be filled.

“There are still people who haven’t woken up.”

My smile faded.

“Some did.”

“They came out of it screaming about castles, missing pieces, and a woman wearing somebody else’s face.”

“Some didn’t come back at all.”

The names surprised me.

Politicians.

Business leaders.

Religious figures.

People with money, power, and influence.

People who had chased certainty and found themselves trapped inside someone else’s dream.

“Poor souls.”

I let out a slow breath.

“I think some of them are still dreaming.”

“Maybe they always will.”

Wind moved across the ranch.

Somewhere near the house, a loose piece of metal tapped against the barn.

Once.

Then stopped.

“I haven’t seen John.”

I looked up at the open sky.

“I figure he’s wherever things get strange and people need someone to clean up the mess.”

That didn’t narrow it down much.

“If he happens to check in on you…”

I smiled.

“Tell him I said hello.”

For a while, I said nothing.

I sat with Mama.

Thinking.

Remembering.

Healing.

Eventually, I leaned forward and rested my elbows on my knees.

“I’m continuing with Lost River.”

The ministry had reopened its doors three months earlier.

Smaller.

Quieter.

No speaking tour.

No giant stages.

No pretending I had answers God hadn’t given me.

“I’m trying to do it right this time.”

“We started a scholarship in Marcus’s name.”

“Help with school. Tools for a trade. Whatever gives somebody a place to start.”

I smiled.

“His name ought to be attached to somebody’s future.”

I picked at a loose thread on my jeans.

“I used to think helping meant dragging people out of the river whether they wanted help or not.”

“All that does is get two people wet.”

I looked across the ranch.

“Now I wait until they reach for the rope.”

“Then I hold on.”

It wasn’t as impressive as saving people.

It was also considerably more honest.

“I still mess it up.”

“Probably always will.”

“But I’ve got people who tell me when I do.”

I smiled.

“Usually loudly.”

The wind touched my face.

“You always said Han and Dan Callahan didn’t need no man.”

I laughed softly.

“Turns out we needed quite a few people.”

Bodhi.

Gene.

Kristy Lee.

Rachel.

Henderson.

Nathan.

John.

Even Sasha.

“Nothing wrong with that.”

Footsteps approached from behind.

Slow.

Heavy.

Familiar.

“Nathan?”

I turned.

Nathan stood several feet away.

Silent.

A cell phone rested in his outstretched hand.

He pointed toward the screen.

SHAW

I stood.

Before taking the phone, I looked back at Mama.

“Guess that’s for me.”

I kissed my fingertips and pressed them against the top of her headstone.

“Thanks, Mama.”

Nathan handed me the phone.

He didn’t speak.

Didn’t need to.

I answered.

“Shaw, my man.”

The Texas wind moved through the grass.

Warm.

Familiar.

Full of sunshine.

I smiled.

“Glad you called.”

The End