Zach slammed his backpack down on the table in the corner of the kitchen at Season’s Bounty and flopped into the booth.

Jackson looked up from his book, eyebrows raised. “Rough day?”

“Amy.”

“Mmm. Nothing new?”

Zach lifted a shoulder and unzipped the bag, sliding out a thick stack of papers. He dug around in the bottom of the bag for a pen. “She came by as my last class got out, looking all sad and gorgeous. And she apologized. Sort of. So I invited her to church on Sunday.”

“That’ll be fun. The whole gang...what?”

“Sure, if she was coming. There was this long, awkward silence and you could practically hear her making excuses for why she couldn’t go to a church where there were going to be white people.”

“Oh, come on. I’m sure it wasn’t that.”

Zach clicked his pen and bent over the first test. “You go ahead and believe that, but it’s not a bet I’d take.”

He’d made it through the first page and was flipping to the next before Jackson spoke again. “What are you going to do?”

Zach set down the pen and scratched his jaw. “Move on, I guess. Maybe it’s for the best, you know? If I get the job out here, having a girlfriend in the city would be a challenge. The hours at the magnet school are longer, and I’m guessing the workload will be more. So...this could be a good thing, right?”

“What’s a good thing?” Paige slid a plate of stuffed mushrooms into the middle of the table and followed it with a basket of bread. She pressed a quick kiss to Jackson’s forehead as she sat next to him. “Couldn’t Amy come?”

Zach glanced across the table at Jackson. He hadn’t told Paige? Amy had been the topic of conversation for the bulk of the week whenever any of his roommates were home. He’d been hoping one of them would have something more concrete to offer than ‘pray about it.’ Not that he wasn’t praying about it. He was. That’s why he’d asked her to church, honestly. That was the only thought he’d had all week. Take her to church. Since it wasn’t something he’d have come up with on his own, he assumed it was the Holy Spirit’s prompting. What did it mean that she wouldn’t come?

Jackson cleared his throat. “Looks like they’re on a bit of a break.”

Paige frowned. “A break? Not over though, right? I like her.”

“You can still be friends with her. If she’ll let you. You’re as white as I am though, so apparently we can’t actually enjoy her for who she is. We just see her as our token ethnically different friend.”

“Zach. That’s bull and you know it.” Paige reached across the table and flicked his arm.

“I thought I did. Now, I’m not so sure. It’s okay if she comes out here and none of her friends or our students see us together. But as soon as it’s someone she knows apart from me, that’s a whole different story.” Zach snagged a mushroom and popped it in his mouth. The juice burned his tongue, but the flavor more than compensated. “I don’t know how you get these to taste so good.”

“They’re local mushrooms. Makes a difference. But don’t change the subject. I’m pretty sure you’re misreading the situation.” Paige looked at Jackson. “Don’t you think?”

Jackson shook his head. “Oh, no. I’m not choosing a side here. I understand where Zach’s coming from. He extended an olive branch and she didn’t take it. I’m not sure she still won’t though. She’s clearly going through some stuff.”

Zach scoffed. That was an understatement. And if that was the case, did he need to be part of it? Regardless of how much he might want to be a part of it, if she couldn’t even try...what was the point? “Don’t forget the job thing.”

“Job thing?” Paige held up a finger as the noise in the kitchen escalated. “Hold that thought.”

Zach watched her scurry back to the line and turned back to Jackson. “Don’t you tell her anything?”

“Not about you guys, no. I didn’t realize we were girlfriends and I was supposed to gossip about you with her.”

Zach snickered and grabbed a slice of bread. He tore off a piece of crust and tossed it at Jackson. “I figured engaged couples told each other everything.”

“We do. But this week has been crazy for Paige. Honestly, we’ve only had a few minutes here and there to chat, so your drama hasn’t been high on my list of things to share. Sorry.”

Drama? Zach bristled. Although...Jackson wasn’t wrong. Ugh. He worked in a high school; he really didn’t want to go back to it personally. “Don’t worry about it. I was just surprised.”

“Okay. Job thing? Make it quick though, the new dishwasher is probably not going to last the night. And he just started on Monday. You’d think someone who applied to be a dishwasher would understand that the job involved scrubbing pots and pans.” Paige pulled the rubber band out of her hair, massaged her head, then twisted her locks back into a tight ponytail.

“There’s a mid-year replacement math position opening up at the magnet school. I applied. Not sure when—or if—I’ll hear back. But if I did get the job, maybe it’d be easier to leave knowing things hadn’t worked out with Amy.” Zach tapped his pen on the pile of tests in front of him. Was this problem with Amy God’s way of making it clear that he should take the job if it was offered?

“I thought you liked being downtown?” Paige stuffed a mushroom into her mouth and chewed.

“It’s okay. My term with Teach the City is up at the end of the year anyway. So if I left mid-year, the final loan balance would be doable. Especially with the pay raise working out here would bring. All things considered, I’d probably end up ahead, by a tiny bit.” Which would be good since he’d be looking for a new place to live before too long. Zach pushed that thought away. Neither of his roommates had set a date yet. But with the Garcias probably coming back to the area in the summer...thinking about moving needed to bump up in his priority list.

“Huh.” Paige snapped her mouth shut on whatever else she was going to say when a clatter of rapid Spanish rose above the general kitchen noise. She sighed and stood. “That’s my cue. You’re praying about it?”

Zach nodded.

“Alright then. You both good with fish? We got some nice trout in today from a farm in the Shenandoah.”

“Sure.” Jackson looked at Zach.

“I guess.”

“It’ll be a bit. If you need more bread in the meantime, holler.” Paige strode back to the kitchen, her voice rising above the squabbling employees.

“Never been much for fish, honestly. But with Paige cooking, I’ll try it.” Zach clicked his pen a few times.

Jackson chuckled. “You gonna grade those tests or just stare at them?”

Zach grumbled and returned his concentration to the stack of work. The situation with Amy wasn’t going to get figured out sitting here. God? I could really use a shove in the right direction.

Jackson’s elbow dug into Zach’s ribs. “Ow. What?”

“Aren’t you going to wait and see if she shows?”

Zach shook her head. “There is no way she’s coming today. If I asked her to fly to the moon with me I would’ve gotten a more positive reaction. Let’s just go grab a seat.”

“You sure?” Jackson squinted, focused on something in across the foyer.

“Yeah.”

“Wanna bet?” Jackson dug in his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He tugged a five dollar bill out and offered it to Zach.

Zach frowned and reached for his own wallet. “Sure, okay. You weren’t there, man. But...I have to say it’s weird betting in church.”

Jackson laughed and snagged the five from Zach’s fingers. “Consider it a donation to the wedding fund. I’ll make sure there’s room for Amy and, I’m guessing, her folks in our usual spot.”

What? Zach frowned and followed Jackson’s point to the three people huddled just inside the foyer doors. Amy stood with two people who were unmistakably her parents. Each had just enough resemblance to stamp her as theirs. He sighed. That must’ve been who Jackson was looking at. “Surely there are rules against making a bet when you already know the outcome?”

“Nope.” Jackson clapped Zach on the back, causing him to stagger forward a step. “Go say hi. And be nice. See you in a few.”

Be nice. He was always nice. What did that even mean, be nice? Like Jackson was some kind of paragon of niceness. Nicety? Zach growled and shouldered his way through the throngs to the door. Focus on the important thing. She came. With her parents...was that good or bad? Probably better to put off analyzing that right now. “Hey. You’re here.”

Amy’s smile bordered on frantic. “You saw us. I was trying to decide if I should text you. But I didn’t want to interrupt if you were in the service. Or...but yeah. Hi.”

Nerves fluttered in his belly. “Hi. These are your parents?”

“Oh. Right. Of course.” Amy cleared her throat and turned. “Mom, Dad. This is Zach. Wilson. Zach, Mom and Dad.”

Zach extended his hand, ignoring the knowing gleam in Mrs. Harris’ eye. “Mrs. Harris. Mr. Harris.”

“Marisa, please. And this is Devon.” Amy’s mom nudged her daughter with her elbow and gave her a look.

Zach fought a chuckle. His mom had given him that look often enough.  “It’s nice to meet you. I’m sorry we weren’t able to do game night last weekend.”

“Maybe this coming week? I’m always getting ganged up on by the ladies in the family. It’d be nice to have another man around.” Devon grinned and placed his large hand on his daughter’s shoulder. “Though Amy here comes by her strategy prowess naturally.”

Pink stained Amy’s cheeks. “Dad.” She looked at Zach. “If you’re busy, we understand. I mean, I know...”

“I’d like that very much. Thank you.” Zach arched an eyebrow at Amy. Sure, they still had stuff they needed to talk about. But...he wasn’t ready to write her off yet. And if her dad was going to make the invitation, he’d go. Then the ball was in her court. “I think my roommates are saving us a seat, but we should go sit before they’re forced to give it up.”

Zach stretched out on his bed and clicked the TV on with the remote. Amy and her parents hadn’t been able to stay and go to lunch. But they’d said all the right things about the service. Her parents had even appeared to mean them. Amy...Was hard to read. Was that just because she was female? Or was there something else going on?

His phone buzzed with an incoming text. Ben and Jackson were out with their respective fiancées. Surely they didn’t need him? He scanned the message and grinned, punching in a reply to Amy. As he hit send, the doorbell rang. Frowning, he paused the football game and carried his phone with him to the door.

“Hey, you.”

Zach blinked. No. Amy was really right there. On his doorstep. He tucked his phone in his pocket. “Hi. I thought you went back home.”

“Mom and Dad took the Metro. They thought I might want the car. Turns out...I did. Can I come in?”

“Nobody’s home.” Zach checked that the door was unlocked, stepped outside, and pulled it closed. “Why don’t we sit out here? Or we can go around back and sit on the patio, if you’d rather.”

She frowned. “Here’s fine, I guess. Or...do you want me just to go? I can go. I’ll see you tomorrow. Sorry.”

Zach grabbed her hand. He didn’t want her to leave. He just...going inside was a bad idea. Not that she would necessarily let him kiss her. But if she did, he would. Even with things as nebulous as they were between them. Because kissing Amy was something he desperately wanted to do again. “Don’t go.”

She turned, her eyes searching his. Her tongue darted between her lips. “You’re sure?”

“Yeah.” He let go of her hand, sank to the front step, and patted the space next to him. “Sit with me.”

“I enjoyed your church. I see why you go there.”

He smiled, nodding. “I don’t love how big it is, but Pastor Brown makes it feel more approachable. That’s not the right word.”

“I get what you’re saying. Like I said, I enjoyed it. Mom and Dad did, too.” Amy paused and cleared her throat. “I’m sorry, Zach. I wasn’t trying to hurt you. Actually, I was trying to protect you. But...I’m just sorry. Will you forgive me?”

“Of course.” Zach rested his hand on top of hers. “I’m sorry that being with me is hard for you.”

“No. Zach, no.” She flipped her hand over and laced her fingers through his. “That’s not it at all. I...I guess it boils down to the fact that I’m not good at change. My whole life, I watched how hard it was for my parents and my aunts and uncles in mixed marriages, and I just knew God wouldn’t put me in that situation. Because it is hard. You haven’t seen it yet. I can pray that you never will, but I’m not sure I believe it’s possible. People are going to make comments.”

“Not the people who matter.”

She cocked her head to the side. “I wouldn’t be so sure of that.”

“I’m serious, Amy. If they make comments, if they can’t accept you because of the color of your skin, then they’re not the people who matter. Not anymore.”

Her eyes grew wide. “Zach...”

“Amy. I’m in love with you.” His throat closed as the words left his mouth. And yet...they were the right ones. The true ones. Even if his timing was bad.

She shook her head. “No—that’s a big word, Zach.”

He gave a half-smile. “Doesn’t change the fact that it’s the right one. But it’s okay. My point was that you’re more important to me than people who aren’t able to see past something superficial to the amazing woman you are.”

“I don’t deserve you.” She rested her head on his shoulder.

He kissed her forehead. “Let me be the judge of that, okay?”