The Stone Family Heart - Taylor Hart Page 0,35

plates the forks, spoons, and knives should be set or where the cups were supposed to go. But they were on the table, so that was something. “Let’s eat.”

Everyone sat down. Kensi put her hands out, the same way her mother used to. “Who wants to say grace?”

Everyone joined hands. A warm, satisfied feeling washed through her, and goose bumps swept over her arms. In this moment, she knew that these really were the best men in her life. She was so grateful for them.

“I will,” Trent offered.

After the prayer, they dug in and started talking about South Port and everything that had been hit by the hurricane. About Roxy, about Kat, about Matt and Lucy and Tatum. About Henry and Lily. Everything felt so natural.

Tim easily fit in with all of them. It wasn’t long before her brothers asked him the questions that Kensi had wanted to ask about his wife and about the cancer. There had only been four months between the time she’d gone into the doctor with the pain in her hip and the time she passed away.

Tim’s eyelids fluttered, and he put down his fork and took a long drink of water. “I’m going on a little less than two years since I’ve lost her.” He met each of their eyes around the table. “I’m not gonna lie to you guys; I felt really alone after she passed away. When Trey and Ava came back here a couple months ago, for the first time in a long time, I felt like I had family again.” He cleared his throat and smiled. “And you guys know how much I love Henry and Lily. They are amazing to me. But right now, it feels like my brothers and sisters are home.”

Her brothers all agreed in different ways, some of them nodding, some of them saying so out loud. With the swarm of hyper butterflies in her belly, all Kensi could think about was that Tim definitely made her feel different than her brothers made her feel.

Chapter 9

The next morning, Tim went for a jog on the beach. He had stayed at the Stone house until almost one in the morning, but he’d awoken restless at about five-thirty. So he ran.

He looked at the watch on his wrist; he been running for about forty minutes. He was downtown now, close to his uncle and aunt’s place. He would stop in, but he didn’t want to wake them.

As he got to his uncle’s church, he put his hands over his head and slowed to a walk. He assessed the broken statue of St. Paul. What would it take to fix it? Would they call people to re-plaster it, or would they tear the whole thing down and rebuild it?

“Funny thing you’re up so early.”

Tim jerked and looked back. He was surprised anyone else was up this early, but he wasn’t surprised to see his uncle sitting on a bench next to the church. He wore jeans, a short-sleeve flannel shirt, and glasses. Tim smiled. His uncle’s wardrobe was the same whether it was summer or winter. “What are you doing, old man?”

His uncle nodded to the statue. “I bet you and I were thinking about the same thing, just in a different way.”

Tim sighed and dropped onto the seat beside him. “Are you going to philosophize to me?”

His uncle grinned. “You see, son, while you were thinking about the most efficient way to fix that statue, I was thinking about how God has been efficiently fixing you.”

Tim couldn’t help but laugh. His uncle, ever the pastor. “I didn’t know anything was wrong with me.”

“Oh, nothing is wrong with you.” His uncle gingerly put a hand on his shoulder. “Nothing is wrong with you at all.”

His uncle had a talent for making Tim feel better just by being present. He had this quiet peace about him. It was why he could say almost anything to people, even if it sounded rude. There was this abiding peace and love coming from the man, radiating so powerfully that his words didn’t have the same effect as other people.

Tim smiled. “I suppose you’re thinking about Kensi, too.”

His uncle put his hands up in surrender. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” But the mischievous glint in his eyes was unmistakable.

Suddenly feeling caged in, Tim shot to his feet. His uncle was five steps ahead of anyone in town when it came to personal lives or matters of the heart, but it was