She took off her gardening gloves and walked over to Tomas. “So you fight your own battles, right?”

She saw the resigned expression shuttering his eyes and felt that strange tugging inside her heart again. His eyes caught hers, and Callie saw a barrage of emotions passing through him like a blast of smoke on the horizon. “That’s what I do, yes.” He stepped closer, his dark hair shimmering as it ruffled his neck. “But…I want you to please trust me, Callie. No matter what, can you do that?”

She wanted to laugh at that suggestion. She didn’t trust easily, not since her husband had left her, in the middle of a health crisis. Not since she’d decided to live her life free and clear and without any regrets. She trusted in the Lord. That was her kind of trust.

“Sorry, I’m not so good at trusting these days.”

This time, she was the one to walk away.