Betting on Love (12 page)

Humbled to her core, Melody’s view of God began to shift. Bonnie wasn’t being punished with gnarled hands. She was able to show love and kindness despite continuous pain. Gracie wasn’t being ridiculous with her constant conversations with and about God. She trusted Him with every aspect of her life.

The gunshot sounded, signaling the start of the race. Drew’s tractor shot forward, but Melody didn’t care. She closed her eyes and allowed the tears to stream down her cheeks.
Forgive me, God. I am a sinner. Please accept me anyway. I long for what Gracie and Uncle Roy and Aunt Renee and Bonnie and Rhonda have—for what they have with You.

She opened her eyes. The heavens didn’t part, and she didn’t see Jesus in the sky, but she knew she was different. Something inside her had changed.

Looking ahead, she saw that Drew had already reached the finish line. He jumped off the tractor, threw off his helmet, and let the loudest whoop she’d ever heard peal through the air.

He raced the full one hundred meters back, pointing both index fingers at her. “Take that, little lady. Now, get off your pedestal, and—”

“Drew, I don’t even care about the race.” She jumped down from the tractor, stood on tiptoes, and wrapped her arms around him in a quick hug. “I’ve accepted Jesus into my heart.”

Drew’s eyes seemed to bulge out of their sockets as he took a step back. “What?”

“I’m a Christian.” She clapped her hands. For the first time in her life, all dressed in protective gear with grease smearing her face and her hair knotted up to fit a helmet, she felt like a giddy schoolgirl. “Aren’t you excited?”

Before Drew could respond, AJ walked toward them holding a microphone in one hand and the trophy in the other. “Same ending as last year, folks. This year’s tractor pull winner is—”

Melody pushed Drew toward AJ. “Run over there and get your trophy.” She waved toward her aunt and uncle. Confused expressions marked their faces and she could hardly wait to tell them what had happened.

“Melody.” Drew tried to step toward her. Sadness wrapped his face for no reason she could understand. This was the happiest day of her life.

She shooed him away. “Go on. Get your trophy. I’ve got to talk to Uncle Roy and Aunt Renee.”

Throwing her helmet on the ground, she rushed to her aunt and uncle.

“Melody, what happened?” Uncle Roy asked as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Is the tractor not working right?” asked Aunt Renee.

New tears swept down her cheeks as she shook her head. “No. Everything is fine. Everything is wonderful. I’ve accepted Jesus.”

“You what?” Aunt Renee’s eyebrows lifted.

“You did?” Uncle Roy smiled.

“Did I just hear correctly?” Gracie hollered as she stepped toward Melody. “You accepted Jesus?”

Melody nodded, and Gracie smashed her with the tightest hug she’d ever experienced.

“Melody’s a Christian!” Addy’s voice sounded from the bleachers three seats behind them.

“I heard,” Nick said. Melody giggled as he tried to make his way down the bleachers to her.

“Praise the Lord,” said someone.

“God is so good,” said another.

“He doesn’t want any to perish,” responded yet another.

“I knew you were going to come over to the light side,” Nick said as he towered over her. “Now come give Cousin Nick a proper hug.”

Before Melody could protest, Nick threw her over his shoulder as he had done when he was a teen and she was a girl. He twirled around several times then plopped her back on her feet. When she was little, he’d let her go just to see her wobble around then fall to the ground. This time he held her in a bear hug. “I’m so happy for you.”

Allowing a peace that goes beyond understanding to envelop her whole being, she sucked in a long breath. “Me, too.”

Drew was a dog. He was lower than a dog. He was the scum on the bottom of the dog’s paw. He wasn’t even worthy to be on the bottom of the dog’s paw. He covered his face with his hands. He couldn’t believe he had acted that way.

Standing on his own farm, mending his own fence several days after the tractor pull, and his face still warmed with embarrassment at the memory of it.
God, You even told me to let it go, to show her care and encouragement, to not be so consumed with winning, but like always, my pride got the best of me.

He’d wanted to dig a hole and hide inside it when AJ announced Drew the ultimate winner of the tractor pull and handed him the trophy. Almost no one in the stands seemed to give a care about his win. Everyone he knew surrounded Melody, congratulating her, while everyone else looked down at her, confused by what had happened.

I should have just thrown that trophy on the ground and rushed over to give her a hug like the others.
But he hadn’t. Shame had wrapped itself around him, and Drew grabbed the trophy, loaded up his tractor, and headed straight home. Conviction at his behavior had eaten him alive ever since.

He finished hammering the broken fence post back in place then looked at the cows that grazed beside him. Thinking he’d brought a treat, several made their way toward him when he jumped inside the fence. He watched as one of them lifted her head. Her mouth was full of grass, and she chomped at it with no apparent concern in the world.

“Life’s pretty easy for a cow.” He reached out and petted her nose. Her calf moved close to her and grabbed hold of one of her teats. The cow didn’t so much as take an extra blink. She didn’t have to worry about pride or embarrassment or admitting she was wrong. She just had to eat and feed her calf.

“You need to talk to her.”

Drew didn’t move at the sound of his dad’s voice behind him. He’d heard someone walking up. He figured it was either his mom or dad coming to give him a bit of advice. He continued to stare at the cow and her calf. “I know.”

“Waiting around isn’t going to make it any easier.”

He twisted around and looked at his dad. “Boy, don’t I know it. I haven’t slept in three days. I’m humiliated even out here all by myself, just me and my cows.” He gripped the fence post. “Her salvation is the best thing in the world. I’m happy for her and thankful to God, and I can’t even tell her.”

“Sure you can. You’ve had to eat dirt before.”

Drew laughed at the grin that spread across his dad’s face. He was definitely right about that. On more than one occasion in his life Drew had been overzealous about a competition and ended up landing face-first on the losing side of embarrassment. But it had been awhile since he’d drunk from that bitter cup, and it didn’t taste so great going down. “I know. I’m just not sure how to do it.”

“Give her a call. It’s as simple as that.”

Drew let out a long breath. His dad was right. She deserved an apology and his congratulations. And God simply wouldn’t let him rest until he’d made things right. “You’re right.”

His dad patted his back. “I gotta get to work. See you later, son.”

Drew put the hammer and extra nails in his toolbox and loaded it onto the truck. He didn’t have service on his cell phone on this part of the farm. Driving closer to the house, he prayed God would give him the right words to say to Melody.

He looked down at his phone again. He had service. She’d be at work, and he probably should wait until she got home to call her, but if he didn’t do it now he was afraid he’d lose his nerve.

Exhaling a long breath, he dialed AJ’s number and asked to speak to Melody. She sounded confused when she answered the phone, and he assumed she probably didn’t have too many people calling the shop asking to speak specifically to her.

He cleared his throat. “Hi, Melody. It’s Drew.”

“Hey.” She sounded happy to hear from him. Something he would have never expected.

His hands started to shake, and Drew cocked his head to hold the phone against his shoulder. He stretched his arms out in front of him then wiped them against his jeans. “I need to talk to you.”

His voice sounded too high, too anxious, even to his own ears. He cleared his throat again.

“Sure. Can it wait until after work?” Melody sounded chipper but anxious to get off the phone.

Drew closed his eyes. He shouldn’t have called her right now. What was he thinking? Of course he could talk to her when she got off, but where? Should he just call her again? Now that he was talking to her it just seemed wrong to say all he had to say over the phone.

An idea popped into his mind, but he wasn’t sure she’d be willing to spend time alone with him at his place. He shrugged. It wouldn’t hurt to ask. “Would you be willing to do a little nighttime fishing with me?”

“Absolutely. I love to fish. Where should I meet you?”

Her quick response encouraged him that she would accept his apology. At least she wasn’t afraid to be alone with him. “Do you remember where my homesite is?”

“Yep. I’ll meet you out there after dinner.”

“Okay.” He pushed the E
ND
button on his phone and stared at it. Melody probably knew as well as he did that they wouldn’t catch many fish in his pond after dinnertime. They’d have to wait until closer to dark or until the early morning. But she knew they needed to talk.
I just hope she’s willing to forgive me.

Nearing seven o’clock in the evening, the weather was still hot and humid. Melody knew she and Drew wouldn’t be catching any fish for at least another hour or two. But she and Drew had some reconciling to do, and she’d been anxious to share with him all God had shown her just in the last few days.

As they sat on the bank of his pond, she could feel in her spirit she needed to wait for Drew to do the serious talking first. She baited her hook and cast it out into the water. “So, what kind of fish you got in here?”

“Bluegill and some bass.”

Melody nodded. She thought Drew might say a little more than that, but he’d been visibly nervous since she pulled up. His hand actually shook a bit when he cast his line, and the breaths he took were so big and deep, she could see his chest moving up and down as if he’d been running a race.

Trying not to make him feel any more anxious, she focused on the land before her. The pond was beautiful. Several trees towered over it on the left side of the water. But on the right bank a single strong old tree stood. It had the most enormous branch, probably twelve feet high, that was perfect for a swing. Drew had already done a lot of work to the bank just behind the house. He even had a small dock of sorts with a paddleboat tied to it.

She looked back at his house. He had the bones all up. Foundation laid. Frame in place. Outside walls up, even if they were still rough. She knew he still had to do the drywall and electric, some plumbing and other stuff, but he’d gotten a lot accomplished in the last several weeks. “The house is really coming along, Drew.”

“Yep.”

She blew out her breath and stared at the pond. Maybe she should be the one to start the serious talking, but her spirit still seemed to nudge her to wait. She thought about the call she’d made to her mom to tell her the good news about becoming a Christian. Her answering machine picked up. Melody left a message, but that had been two days ago, and her mom still hadn’t called back.
God, I will just pray every day that she accepts You, just as Uncle Roy and Aunt Renee and everyone here prayed for me.

“Melody, I need to talk to you.” Interrupting her thoughts, Drew’s words came out fast but quiet.

“Sure.”

He started to open his mouth, but her bobber dipped under the water, and a tug pulled at her line. She whooped. “I think I got one!”

She released the tension then started to reel in her fish. When it was almost out of the water, she grabbed her line and lifted up the small bluegill. She laughed at the little thing that couldn’t have weighed more than a pound. “Definitely not a keeper.”

“But it’s a fish.”

“You’re right about that, and who’d have thought I’d catch one at this time of day and in this heat?”

She bit her bottom lip to shut her mouth when Drew gawked at her. A knowing expression marked his face. “So you did know we probably wouldn’t catch many.”

She shrugged. “I’m a country girl, Drew. I’ve been fishing all my life.”

Drew’s laugh filled the air around them. His muscles seemed to loosen, and he relaxed. “I need to apologize to you, Melody.”

His tone was somber and serious, and Melody knew he meant every word he said. She sat still, peering down at the cooler. She just couldn’t seem to look him in the eye.

He continued. “My pride got the best of me. I don’t have to tell you that I’m very competitive by nature.”

A quick giggle slipped through her lips, and she pursed them shut. Sneaking a peek up at him, she saw that he was grinning at her. She gazed back down, but he put his thumb under her chin and lifted her face until her gaze met his. “You accepting Christ is the best thing I’ve heard in a long time. I want you to know that even though I was acting like a jerk, I had been praying for you almost nonstop.”

Melody’s heart pounded in her chest. She wasn’t surprised. All along she knew which buttons to push on Drew Wilson to incite his competitive fury. He’d been the best competitor she’d ever challenged, and she’d fully enjoyed most of their battles.