Dylan's Faith: A Contemporary Christian Romance (Love's Enduring Promise Book 4)

by T. K. Chapin

  Heading outside to my shop, I had Ally on my mind as I began working on a new chair. She lingered in my thoughts constantly, she, Sammy and Olivia. I wanted to spend more time with them, but I knew Adam was still around and it just didn’t feel right to interrupt that.

  At around eleven o’clock that morning, a knock came on my shop door. Opening it, I grinned, as it was Ally. But she looked worried as she fidgeted with her purse that hung off her shoulder.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  “I have to leave for a while,” she replied softly.

  “Why?” I asked, concerned.

  “I’m going back to Atlanta,” she replied.

  My heart stopped. I turned around and went back to my workbench, leaving the open door. She came inside.

  “It’s not what you think, Dylan. I need to go back and get my Mother’s stuff out of storage. I knew it had to be done… I’ve just been putting it off. Adam told me he already removed his stuff out of the unit and mine needs to go now so he can get rid of the monthly bill.”

  “I see,” I replied softly as scenarios whirled around in my mind. “Just seems random, Ally. He just shows up and says you gotta come get that stuff out of storage?”

  “I don’t have interest in him, Dylan, I promise you,” she said placing her hand on my shoulder. “I think he’s trying to spend time with me and coax me into being with him. And that won’t happen… It’s over, I promise.”

  Waves rushed over me at her touch. It was so comforting and terrifying all at the same time. I felt so drawn to her right then and I turned to her, pulling her in close to me. As I pushed a strand of her hair back behind her ear, I looked deeply into her eyes and then kissed her. Her lips were soft and inviting and as I released, I caught her smiling. “I’m sorry… I don’t know what came over me,” I said.

  She shook her head as she continued smiling and leaned in. “I’m glad you did.” Wrapping her arms around me, she dropped her purse as we continued to kiss.

  I got that same feeling that I did at the movie theater. She felt like she was mine and I forgot about everything else in the world for just a moment. Then, my thoughts took me back to worry.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, somehow seeing the concern in my face.

  I deflected, “Nothing, I just have some more work to get done.”

  “Okay, well I’m leaving tonight. I’d like to see you before I leave. And I’m sure Sammy and Olivia would, also.”

  “Alright, and what time are you going?”

  “We’re going to be traveling through the night to let the kids sleep in the back. So around ten or eleven.”

  “You’re driving?” I asked surprised.

  “Yes, Adam still has his car…” She paused. “We can fly out in the morning if that’d be more comfortable for you.”

  “Why are you catering to how I feel, Ally? We don’t have much of a relationship. Why’s how I feel matter so much?”

  She stepped closer to me and touched my arm softly. Her perfume filled my nose and relaxed me as I waited for her to speak. “Dylan, I like you a lot… We haven’t been on a bunch of dates or hung out for slews of time, but I know what I need and want in a man, and you are it. You’re a faithful man of God and you inspire me to be a better person. I know all about those secret trips you made to people’s houses, leaving food for them on the porch.”

  She must have found the journals I couldn’t find from back when I was just a young teenager. I had found the majority of them before I left the inn, but there were still a few I couldn’t locate. “Where’d you find the journals?”

  “Tucked away under a loose floor board in the back room of the office. I hope you are not upset that I read them.”

  “No, that’s fine… I was just a kid.”

  “And even at the age of thirteen you had a heart for the Lord and devoted yourself to helping others. You’re so inspiring… every little aspect about you, Dylan. I have faith that we could have an amazing life together someday. I don’t want to lose you… I made a mistake with Adam once and almost lost you then… I won’t let that happen again.”

  “Well, if you want to drive, drive. I’m not going to lose interest because you drove with your ex-husband back to Atlanta. Do what you think is best, Ally.”

  “Okay…” she said quietly as she picked up her purse from the floor of my shop. “I’ll see you around.”

  Walking out from my shop, I waved as I watched her pull out of the driveway. I needed to talk to someone about all this, and I knew just the guy to call--Levi. Walking over to my shop’s phone, I called out to Roy’s place.

  “Dylan,” Levi answered.

  “Hey buddy, could we meet up? I need some advice.”

  “Well, I gotta buck bales here in a couple hours, but I could let you steal a little bit of time away until then. How about the Wagon Wheel, twenty minutes?”

  “Sure,” I replied.

  Hanging up the phone, I was relieved he’d meet with me. He was the closest friend I had that was godly and I needed some advice about Ally and me. I hadn’t dated or been interested in very many girls, and counsel was needed moving forward.

  When I arrived at the booth where Levi was sitting at the Wagon Wheel, he extended a hand to shake. “How you been?” he asked.

  “It’s been good, kids keeping you busy?” I asked as I shook his hand and slid into the booth.

  He laughed. “They sure have. What’s going on, Dylan?”

  “It’s Ally…”

  “Oh, yeah?” he asked.

  “I just have this bad feeling about her and her ex-husband… I’m worried she’s going to go back to him.”

  “Well, they do share a lot of history together, and they have children together,” Levi replied. He folded his hands as he leaned in across the booth’s table. “I know I haven’t been the biggest fan of Ally, but you two look cute together and you look like a couple. As for the ex, honestly, man… I didn’t see much going on between them at all when he was here the time before. He slept in the living room on the couch and she only talked to him out of a necessity. I think she’s into you.”

  I was relieved to hear that, but it didn’t relax me about the long road trip across the country together. “They’re going to drive back to Atlanta together.”

  Levi shook his head. “I don’t think Ally could do that.”

  “She told me this morning she was, but she’d change it for me if I wanted her to.”

  “So, let her change it.”

  I shook my head. “I shouldn’t have to request her to change something like that… it should just be natural.”

  Levi laughed. “You’re sounding like a girl man. Just man up and say you’re uncomfortable with it. You can’t expect people to act and behave the way you want them to if you don’t say anything. Look, she wants you to show those feelings she’s already having for you. She wants to see you make a definitive statement of your two’s relationship. Stating you’d prefer her to fly would communicate to her that you care about her. That’s my opinion, at least.”

  I took a deep breath in and smiled at Levi. “That makes sense…”

  “Hey, Dylan, she’s a woman of God at the end of the day… Do you like the gal?”

  “I do,” I replied with a nod. “I’m crazy about her… and that’s what terrifies me the most.”

  “Could this have something to do with your mom?”

  “That’s out of left field, but yeah… I worry about her going back to him down the line after we build a life together. I know that’s crazy to talk about this early in the relationship… but its recent in my mind with my whole mom thing.”

  “It’s not crazy, man. We, as Christians, don’t date just for the sake of dating. We’re on the hunt for the woman we are spending the rest of our life with.” Levi remained silent for a moment as he paused. “Mustard seed,” he said, breaking the silence.

  “What?”

  “The sermon the other day at church, it was about a mustard seed.”


  “Yeah? That’s about faith in God, not in a woman.”

  “What’s the difference?”

  “Ally’s not God…? I don’t know where you are trying to go.”

  “We just need faith of a mustard seed in God and we can say to that mountain move! You know why? Because nothing is impossible with God on our side.”

  “God’s not going to make Ally any more faithful to our relationship than He did with my mom and dad.”

  “Having a relationship with God is a nice touch, but you’re right, Dylan.” Levi leaned in more. “You know what God does though? He will be there with you every step of the way. So you can step forward with your life without fear. Could Ally turn out like your Mom? Yeah, she technically can. She could also not. She could be the woman you have been waiting for all your life.”

  Nodding, I replied, “I can’t let my mom’s mistakes in her past ruin my life today or shadow over someone else’s actions.”

  “Exactly,” Levi said, leaning back in his seat as Trisha set down our cups of coffee. “Thank you,” Levi said up to her.

  “Thanks,” I said to her.

  “Dylan,” she said softly.

  “Yeah?”

  “I heard about Chris changing… I’m really happy for him. And I hope things don’t have to be weird between us.”

  Shaking my head, I replied, “It’s not weird, Trish. I’m fine with it.”

  “I started going to Christ Community in Spokane,” she said with a smile. “I used to go to church but fell away from going a few years back. Seeing God change Chris like he has really made me want to go back to the faith. And the way you helped him… You’re a really good brother.”

  “Thanks,” I replied.

  She walked away and as she did, Levi leaned across the table. “See that?” he asked.

  “What?”

  “That’s God working these terrible things for His good. You were so upset and worried about your brother’s drinking problem and the destruction it left behind… but look--his changes are rekindling Trisha’s faith.”

  Nodding, I said, “It’s true.”

  My talk with Levi was just what I needed to get my head back on straight and fix my perspective. I went back home to continue working. I kept running Levi and my conversation through my mind. I needed to call Ally. Stopping my lathe, I went over to the phone on the wall and called her.

  “Fly out tomorrow,” I said.

  “Okay,” Ally said, I could hear the smile in her voice. “What happened to having me make up my own mind?”

  “I know what I want and what I want is you. You asked me what I wanted this morning in regards to flying or driving and I pushed it back onto you, hoping you’d make the right decision, but that’s not fair.”

  She was silent for a moment. “Thank you, Dylan.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “I’ll call you when I land in Atlanta,” she said.

  “Sounds good.”

  Hanging up the phone in my shop, I smiled. Ally was a good woman and I knew I could trust God fully with our relationship. Returning to my work, I continued through the late afternoon with a smile on my face and joy in my heart.

  CHAPTER 18

  June 26, 2011

  It was the last Sunday in June and it was time for Chris’ baptism at Chattaroy Baptist. After church was dismissed, everyone funneled out the side door of the sanctuary to the lawn where the old circular feeding trough that they used for baptisms was sitting in the grass. The sun was blistering hot that June afternoon, and judging by all the red hot faces around me, I suspected we all kind of wished we were in that tub of cold water with the pastor. One by one, each person got baptized who had accepted Jesus in June. Chris was the last one to get dunked.

  After the baptism, I headed with the crowd back through the church to the parking lot with the sopping-wet Chris by my side. He was wearing a pair of blue shorts and a white shirt, and beaming with a smile the whole way out to the truck. “I’m sure proud of you today,” I said, as we climbed in the warm truck.

  Rolling his window down quickly, Chris put his arm out the window letting it rest on the door. “Thanks,” he said. “My life is so much better now, Dylan… I can’t believe I waited so long. I bet Dad felt the same.”

  “I’m sure he did. That’s what happens when you rely on Jesus instead of the world; life gets a whole lot better.”

  “I always thought this was all just kind of a crutch people were using, but Jesus really does change lives. I’m living proof of that!” He grinned excitedly. “I just want to run through the streets sharing my story with people! I want everyone to know how happy God has made me!”

  “Well your story is already touching lives,” I replied, looking past him I saw Missy and motioned over to her to have Chris look.

  “Wow, Missy came today?” He asked.

  “Yeah, so did Trisha,” I said. “Your transformation touched lives, Chris, and those people are probably touching others with their own transformations… it’s like a domino effect.”

  “Wow, I had no idea…” he said. Grabbing his towel from around his neck, he set it on the seat between us. “I’m glad.”

  “Me too,” I replied with a smile.

  As we drove back home, my heart skipped a beat when I saw Ally sitting on our front porch steps.

  “What’s she doing here?” Chris asked. “I thought she was in Atlanta for another week.”

  “Same here,” I replied as I put the truck into park in the driveway. Getting out of the truck, I proceeded through the gate with Chris, and he went up the steps and inside.

  “Hey you,” Ally said, smiling as she shielded her eyes from the sun.

  “What’s going on? Why aren’t you in Atlanta?” I asked.

  “I wanted to see you.” Ally stood up from the steps and stepped closer to me. She continued, “I missed you.”

  I smiled as I got a whiff of her perfume. I had missed that familiar smell in her absence. I lifted her hand to my lips and kissed her hand delicately. “I’ve missed you also.”

  Ally was turning from a girl I liked into a woman I felt deeply for. That kiss we shared had been on my mind ever since she left town and I found myself thinking of her more with every passing moment.

  “Where’s Sammy and Olivia?” I asked.

  “Back in Atlanta. They’re staying with Adam for the rest of the summer. Once he tried to make a move on me and I rejected him, he finally realized it was over and elected to have the kids for the rest of the summer. He’s going to drop them off at the end of August with all my Mother’s stuff I pulled out of storage.”

  “He tried to make a move?” I said, cringing.

  “Yeah, I shut it down though… He’s a jerk for trying that. But anyways, I got something for you.” She went out to her car, pulled out a little wrapped box and handed it to me back near the steps of the porch. “It’s not much.”

  Undoing the wrapping, I opened up the box and pulled out the gift; it was a watch. The watch band was silver in color and the face of the watch was a dark blue with silver-colored hour and minute hands that matched the band. Looking up at her, I said, “I love it.”

  “Look at the back. It’s inscribed.”

  Flipping over the watch it read: Until the end of time, I’m forever yours.

  My eyes welled up with tears as I put the watch on my wrist. And she laughed a little. “What?” I asked.

  “Is it dusty again?” She replied smiling.

  “Dang dust,” I replied returning the smile.

  Opening my arms up, she came up to me wrapped her arms around me. “I want this forever, Dylan. I’ve never felt this way about anyone before… I can’t stop thinking about you or wanting to be near you.”

  “I feel the same way,” I replied, pulling back from our embrace. Lifting her chin slightly, I looked into her beautiful eyes and leaned in, kissing her. Waves of warmth and love rushed over every part of my body as my lips pressed against hers. Pausing I said, “I lo
ve you, Ally.”

  “I love you too,” she replied and then we kissed again.

  CHAPTER 19

  November 14, 2011

  The Silverback’s sixtieth anniversary celebration was tonight at the inn’s newly-built activity center. Food, music, dancing, friends and family were all in order for the big event. After a seventh consecutive month of record-breaking visitors at the inn, we all felt it was only right to throw a big celebration.

  Getting to the inn a few hours before the big event, I headed over to Ally’s cabins. I had a jet black suit on and a corsage in hand to go with her dress. I hadn’t seen the dress yet, but she at least told me it was yellow, my favorite color on her.

  When she opened the door, my jaw felt like it dropped at how gorgeous she looked. The dress was form fitting and wrapped around her figure nicely. It was yellow with a thick white stripe that wrapped around the yellow delicately; it was perfect. The dress went well with the white rose corsage I got for her. “You look absolutely breathtaking, my love,” I said as I placed the corsage onto her wrist.

  “Thank you,” she replied, blushing.

  “Hey, Dylan,” Olivia said from the chair in front of the television set. I noticed she had her dress on already, so I went inside and up to her. “Wow, you look just as stunning as your mother, dear,” I said.

  Olivia smiled up at me. “Well, duh, we are princesses.”

  “I’m a prince,” Sammy added coming out of the bathroom. He had a slick little outfit on himself. Dressed in a nice dark grey suit and a white dress shirt, with a tie, he looked dashing.

  “Looking sharp, Sams,” I said. “You’re going to have to keep a bat on you to keep those girls at bay tonight.” He looked confused at my statement.

  “Dylan!” Ally said, smacking my arm with a laugh.

  I laughed, “I’m just playing. You guys ready for the party?”

  “Yeah! Mom said they have a fountain of pure chocolate there!” Sammy said jumping up and down.