Chapter 10
Sunday morning, Rose’s horn blasted outside at nine-thirty sharp.
“Church.” Her sister clapped her hands. “Let’s go.”
Lili grabbed her coat and ran.
The minivan idled, Tom in the driver’s seat, Kevin and Emma squabbling over a toy in the back while Audra sat in the middle row with headphones on, eyes closed, mouthing the words to her part.
“Give it back.” Kevin yanked.
“Mine.” Emma tugged back.
“Kids, we’re going to church. Act like it.” Rose twisted in her seat to study Lili. “You seem nervous.”
“I’m fine.”
“What’s wrong?”
Everything. She was going to church with a man she was falling for, in a town she was trying not to love, because this was all temporary.
“Nothing. It's just been a while since I’ve been to church.”
The church was small and white with a steeple that belonged on a Christmas card. The parking lot was already half full, families streaming toward the entrance in their Sunday best.
Inside, the sanctuary smelled like pine and old hymnals. Red bows adorned the railings. A massive tree stood in the corner, covered in handmade ornaments. Candles lined the windowsills, waiting to be lit.
Everything felt warm, welcoming, and terrifying. Because this was the kind of place that made her want to belong.
Mrs. Dalton intercepted them. “Lili. Oh, I’m so glad you’re here.” She grabbed Lili’s hands. “Isn’t she wonderful, Earl?”
Mr. Dalton nodded. “Splendid.”
“There’s Doc Miles.” Audra pointed to the third row where Miles was talking to an elderly couple. He wore a dark suit and tie, more dressed up than she’d ever seen him, and he was so gorgeous she stared, stunned.
He turned, spotted them, and his whole face brightened. He said something to the couple and hustled over. “I saved seats with Nina and Ryan.”
They made their way down the aisle. Rose’s family filled in first, then Lili slid in next to Rose, and Miles sat beside her. She leaned forward to wave at Nina and her husband.
She settled back, but it was a snug fit, and her shoulder pressed against Miles’s.
“Sorry.”
“It’s okay.” He smiled. “I’m glad you’re here.”
The organ started. Everyone stood for the opening hymn, “O Come, All Ye Faithful.”
Lili fumbled with the hymnal until Miles helped her find the page. She tried to focus on the music, but she was hyperaware of Miles beside her, his voice deeper in song than she expected.
This was his world. His community. His life.
She was just visiting.
The pastor took the pulpit, older, kind-faced, with the warm presence of someone who’d done this for decades.
“Welcome, friends. Today we celebrate the fourth Sunday of Advent. Our theme is joy.” He opened his Bible.
“Our reading this morning is from the Book of Ruth.
‘But Ruth said, ‘Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.’”
The words caught her in her solar plexus, and Lili inhaled sharply.
“Ruth was a foreigner.” Pastor Williams shuffled his notes. “An outsider in Bethlehem. She had every reason to go back home to Moab, to what was familiar and safe. But she chose to stay. To put down roots in a strange land. To make Bethlehem her home.”
Good grief, why was she identifying with Ruth?
“We live in a world that tells us to keep moving.” The pastor gestured. “To chase the next opportunity, the next job, the next city. But sometimes the greatest courage isn’t leaving; it’s staying.”
Beside her, Miles shifted, the pressure of his thigh against hers oddly comforting.
“I know some of you are afraid.” Pastor Williams' voice took on the quality of a shepherd herding his flock. “Afraid of being hurt again. Afraid of trusting your own judgment after someone broke it. Afraid of making the wrong choices. But Ruth teaches us that home isn’t where we’re from.
It’s where we choose to belong. Where we’re welcomed. Where we decide to stay.”
Every word felt aimed at her.
The choir stood, teenagers and elderly folks and children all mixed together. Audra was in the second row, wearing a burgundy velvet dress, singing with intent focus.
Lili was so proud of her niece. She hated that she missed many of her nieces' and nephews' milestones, but was happy she was here for this.
After the final hymn, the pastor gave the benediction. “Go in peace, friends. Go in peace to love and serve the Lord. And may you find your true home in God’s steadfast love, just as Ruth found hers in Bethlehem.”
The organ played. People started gathering coats and children. A few people nodded and smiled as they passed. Someone asked Miles about flu shot schedules. Mrs. Dalton waved from across the sanctuary. Small interactions. Normal Sunday morning things.
But each one felt like another thread tying Lili to this place. More people. More faces. More hands reaching to shake hers. More assumptions that she belonged, that she was staying, that this was permanent.
Miles materialized at her elbow. “We should head outside.”
“Yes. Please.”
They made it to the parking lot where Tom was already loading Kevin and Emma into the van. Audra stood nearby, still buzzing from the performance.
Nina appeared beside them. “We’re doing Sunday dinner at our place around one. You should all come. If you want to. No pressure. Just thought it would be fun.”
Rose glanced at Lili. “What do you think? We’d just planned on hitting the lunch buffet at China Garden.”
Lili’s stomach tightened. Sunday dinner. Family time. Getting deeper into Miles’s life when she was trying to keep things casual.
“I—”
“The kids can run around outside.” Nina gestured. “We’ve got plenty of space. And I’m making pot roast.”
“She makes a mean pot roast.” Ryan joined them. “We’d love to have you. Please do come by.”
“You don’t have to go,” Miles said close to Lili’s ear. “If it’s too much, I can make an excuse.”
She looked at him. At his kind eyes and the way he was trying so hard to make it easy for her.
That made it worse. Because she wanted to go. Wanted to be included. Wanted to belong.
And that was the most dangerous thing of all.
* * *
Nina cooked enough food for twenty people. Pot roast, mashed garlic potatoes, green beans, homemade rolls, and a salad.
Miles sat between Ryan and Lili. Across from him, Nina kept shooting him looks.
“So...” Nina passed the gravy boat. “How’s the clinic treating you? Is my brother driving you crazy yet?”
“Not yet.” Lili ladled gravy over her potatoes.
“Give it time.” Nina grinned. “He’s very particular about his filing system.”
“Hey.” Miles snorted. “It’s not particular. It’s organized.”
“It’s alphabetical by first name,” Nina said to Lili. “Who does that?”
Miles shrugged. “Makes sense to me.”
“See?” Playfully, Nina rolled her eyes. “Hopeless.”
Lili sent Miles a coy glance. “I don’t know about that. He seems pretty hopeful to me.”
The conversation flowed easily. Ryan talked about a difficult horse at the ranch, Tom shared a story about a work project, and Rose and Nina discussed gardening.
At the end of the meal, his sister said, “We should do this every Sunday. Make it a tradition.”
Lili’s jaw tensed.
“We’ll see. Everyone’s busy.” Miles offered a placating smile.
“Not too busy for family dinner,” Nina said. “Right, Lili?”
“I—” Lili looked caught.
“Nina,” Miles said. “Is there any dessert?”
Lili shot him a grateful expression.
After warm apple pie with vanilla ice cream, Ryan stood and stretched. “Flag football. Who’s in?”
“Me.” Audra jumped up from the kids’ table.
“I’m in,” Tom said.
“Miles?” Ryan looked at him.
Miles glanced at Lili. “I don’t know if—”
“I’ll play,” Lili said.
Outside, the December air was a moderate 58 degrees. Nina divided them into teams. Ryan, Tom, Nina, and Audra against Miles, Lili, Kevin, and Rose. Rose put Emma down for a nap before joining them in the front yard.
“You know how to play?” Miles asked Lili as they huddled.
“I played powderpuff in high school, Doc. You’ve got a ringer on your hands.”
Miles laughed. “Bring it.”
The game began with Ryan throwing a wild pass that sailed over Tom’s head. Kevin ran in the wrong direction. Audra started trash-talking.
Miles grinned, running plays with Lili that almost worked, watching her dive for flags with the same focus she brought to the clinic.
“Go long.” He waved.
Lili took off down the makeshift field. He threw the ball. A decent spiral, better than Ryan’s at least.
She caught it, spun to avoid Tom, and ran straight into Miles as he came up to block Ryan.
They went down in a tangle of limbs.
For a second, they just lay there in the cold grass, laughing. Her face inches from his. Her hair fanned across her cheek. She was breathless and grinning and oh so beautiful.
His hand landed on her waist. Hers braced against his chest. They both stopped laughing.
“You okay?” he managed.
“Yeah. You?”
“Yeah.”
They should get up. The game was still going. Kevin was yelling something about a touchdown.
But Miles couldn’t move. Could only gaze at her. I want this. Not just today. Not just temporary. I want this woman in my life.
Two weeks. He’d known her two weeks. And somewhere between the barbecue sauce and the poison ivy saga and watching her fit in at his sister’s table, he started wanting more.
He wanted her to stay. Not just at the clinic. Here. With him.
And that startled him.
“You guys dead?” Ryan asked. “Because if you’re dead, we get the ball.”
Lili pulled away first, scrambling to her feet. Miles stood, brushing grass off his jeans, trying to get his heart rate under control.
The game continued. They lost spectacularly. Kevin took the defeat personally until Nina promised hot chocolate with tiny marshmallows.
Inside, while Ryan and Tom argued over whether the last touchdown counted, Miles found himself watching Lili again. She was by the window with a mug, talking to Nina and Rose, completely at ease in his sister’s house.
Like she belonged here.
Like she’d always been here.
Nina appeared beside him. “You okay?”
“Yeah.”
“You look weird.”
“I’m fine.”
She studied his face, then smiled. “Oh. You figured it out.”
“What?”
“That you’ve got it bad for her.”
The words landed like stones. “I’m not—”
“Miles. I’ve known you your whole life. You get a certain expression when something really matters to you. You have that look right now.”
He didn’t answer. Couldn’t. Because she was right. Somewhere in the last week, Lili had become essential, and he had no idea what to do about it.
Later, when Rose was getting her family ready to leave, Miles walked them out to the van. The kids piled in, still debating the football game. Tom started the engine.
“Thank you for today,” Lili said.
“Yeah. Of course.”
“Your family is wonderful.”
“They’re a lot.”
“They’re perfect.” She smiled, then climbed into the van.
He stood in the driveway as they drove away, watching until the taillights disappeared around the corner.
Nina appeared beside him, coat wrapped tight. “You going to tell her?”
“Tell her what?”
“That you want her to stay.”
“I can’t ask her that.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s too much. Too fast. She just got here. She’s still figuring things out after her divorce.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “I’m not going to pressure her.”
“There’s a difference between pressure and honesty.”
“I know. But—” He stopped. “What if I tell her and she runs?”
Nina was quiet for a moment. “What if you don’t tell her and you miss out on someone wonderful?”
She went back inside, leaving him alone in the cold.