KENDRA HEARD THE KNOCK ON THE DOOR BUT KEPT HER FACE to the pillow. “I’m lying down,” she said.
“You’re always lying down. The question is, are you asleep?”
Kendra laughed inside. “Come in, Brookie.” She turned onto her back as the door swung open and Brooklyn skipped in.
“How was school today, sweetie?”
“Good. Guess what? I got a new bike, and Mom said I could ride it down here.”
Kendra brought her arm from under the covers and high-fived her. “Pretty awesome.”
“Can you come see it?”
“Your bike?” Kendra said. “Where is it?”
“Downstairs,” Brooklyn said. “I brought it inside just for you.”
Kendra eyed her. “You want me to get up and walk downstairs to see your bike?”
Brooklyn grinned, nodding fast.
“Only for you, Brookie.”
Brooklyn knew the routine. She pulled back the covers and helped lift Kendra to a sitting position, then helped her stand. Kendra walked barefoot in her tried-and-true yoga pants, thankful for the bright spot in her life that Brooklyn was.
She could see the bike from the stairs. “You didn’t tell me it was pink and purple,” Kendra said. “Those were my favorite colors as a girl.”
“For real?”
Kendra took a step at a time. “Totally. But it looks so big. Are you sure you can handle a bike that big?”
Brooklyn paused on the stair, hand in Kendra’s. “You’re kidding, right? I’m next to the next to the next tallest girl in my class.”
Kendra chuckled. “Next to the next to the next? How do you know? Did you all line up to see?”
“Yes!”
At the bottom stair Kendra moved to observe the bike, but something flickered in her peripheral vision. She looked left—and saw red candles of various heights and widths ablaze on the dining room table and dozens of red roses. Her heart slipped completely out of rhythm.
“What’s going on?”
Lance appeared from inside the dining room.
“Brooklyn, did you know about—” Kendra turned, and the bike was there, but Brooklyn was gone. “Where did she go?”
Lance didn’t respond.
“What is going on?” Kendra asked again. She wasn’t sure she could hear if he told her, for the pounding in her chest.
He extended his hand, and she walked slowly toward him, taking it.
Inside the dining room, she could see three giant poster boards like ones he’d blown up before, facing backward. He led her to the one on the far right and, without a word, turned it around.
“This is beautiful,” Kendra said. The lights were dimmed, but she could see clearly. “Is this the Missouri River?”
The shot was a close-up of the waters, with the sun setting behind clouds in the distance.
“You took this?”
He nodded again.
“When?”
“Last Friday.”
Only now did Kendra notice a caption near the bottom. She bent a little to read it.
Many waters cannot quench love, Nor will rivers overflow it . . .
—SONG OF SOLOMON 8:7
She looked at him, heart pounding all the more.
Lance didn’t say a word. He led her to the next and turned it around.
She gasped softly at a gorgeous picture of an open field with wild purple and yellow flowers and a glimpse of sun overhead. “You took this the same day?”
Lance nodded.
She went straight for the caption this time.
Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given to you under the sun . . .
—ECCLESIASTES 9:9
“Lance . . .” Kendra read it again and took in the picture, mesmerized.
He wouldn’t let her linger. He led her to the third and turned it.
Kendra had to figure out what it was. Outdoor shot. Close-up of an old, yellow, wooden chair in a grove of trees. And on the chair, it looked like . . . a ring?
She was shaking as she bent to read.
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her.
—EPHESIANS 5:25
“Lance, what is—”
She turned around and stared in disbelief. Lance was on one knee.
He took a ring out of a box.
“Lance, what are you doing?” Kendra said. “You can’t. We can’t . . .”
“Kendra Woods, will you marry me?”
“Nooo . . .” Tears spilled from her eyes.
He stood, wiping them with a finger. “Is that your answer? You don’t want to marry me?”
“I’m saying we can’t. You can’t . . . marry me.”
“Why can’t I?”
“What kind of marriage would that be? I can’t be the kind of wife you need. I can’t even be your wife for very long.”
“That verse from Ecclesiastes says it all for me.” His voice was soothing. “Your life and my life are fleeting. I want to enjoy life with the woman I love all the days that God gives us.”
“That’s what I’m saying,” Kendra said. “You can’t ‘enjoy life’ with me.”
“Kendra, loving you is enjoying life for me.” He took her hand again. “You said our relationship was one-sided, that I give and you take. That’s not true, but . . . I want it to be.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“I want to be your husband, the kind of husband who gives himself up for his wife. The kind of husband who sacrifices and serves and does any one-sided thing his heart desires for his wife because he loves her that much. I want you to take from me all day, every day, and we’ll let Jesus replenish us both.”
Her gaze locked with his, and all she could think was she loved this man so much it hurt. “But what if you leave me, Lance?” She wiped more tears. “What if you leave me?”
He brought her close, gently, and whispered in her ear. “I’m not going anywhere, Ken. Just let me love you. Let . . . me . . . love . . . you.” He got back on a knee. “I know this seems soon. But when you’re living life out of the box, you don’t worry about the number of months or years. You go with your heart. Kendra Woods, will you—”
“Yes—”
“—marry me?”
Lance twisted his lip. “Now I’m not sure because you were talking on top of me. Did you just say—”
“Yes, Lance Alexander. I’m scared and overwhelmed, but I could never love anyone more. I would be honored to marry you.”
He closed his eyes a moment, then took the ring out of the box. “I don’t know if this will feel okay on your finger.”
He slid the ring on, and Kendra stared at it. “It feels fine, and it’s absolutely gorgeous.” She covered her face. “Thank You, Lord. Thank You so much . . .”
Lance stood, drying her tears once more. “You’re so beautiful,” he said. “And if you try any more of that nonsense where you push me away . . .”
“I’ve never known this kind of love. I need God to teach me how to receive it.” She looked at him. “But no. Whatever life I have, I’m spending it close to you.”
“Well?” a chorus of voices yelled. “What did she say?”
“Come on in,” Lance called back.
Brooklyn, Trey, and Molly hurried in. Kendra lifted her ring finger.
They pumped their fists and cheered so loud Kendra covered her ears. When the noise died down, Brooklyn had one question: “When’s the wedding?”