Brandon (Anderson Billionaires #3) - Melody Anne Page 0,56
project. I love what it means to so many who have already given their all. I will give everything I have to someone worthy.”
“What makes you the judge of who is worthy and who isn’t?” she asked.
He looked at her with a smile. “That’s a great question, and one I’ve never thought about before. I don’t know the answer. What makes someone more needy than the next? We’re going to have this amazing center for veterans, but we obviously can’t help every single person who comes through the doors. Do we turn away a sick mother asking for help because she’s not a veteran? Do we put a cap on who we help and who we don’t? I have no idea what that answer is.”
Chloe looked at him with new respect. “I love that you’re thinking about it. Because I honestly don’t know the answer, either. I’m not sure any of us do. But I do know I don’t want to do nothing. So that leaves me trying to figure it out. Maybe if more people try to do the same, all of the world’s problems will get solved, instead of us all just complaining and talking about it nonstop.”
“At least we are talking about it,” he told her. “If we didn’t care at all, we wouldn’t discuss it, and we wouldn’t try to solve anything. We’d just worry about ourselves.”
“That’s a good point, but I do remember my younger days when I went to church, and one thing stood out to me. It was a saying an old Sunday school teacher said to me. She said that faith without works is dead.”
“What does that mean?” he asked.
“I guess the simple explanation is to say that we can tell ourselves and our neighbors all day long that we want to make a difference, that we want to help others, but without action it doesn’t mean a lot. Now, saying that, I don’t think we help anyone by simply handing things over, but I do think we make a difference by doing something like building the veterans center. This facility will help so many who deserve it. I also love that Joseph has set up so many programs and brought in so many community members so the people who will be staying here will also be doing work, will also be giving back. It gives them a sense of pride and some more skills for the next steps in their lives.”
“This is obviously something you’ve thought about a lot,” he said.
“Yeah, when I can’t sleep at night, my mind is constantly turning. I can’t watch the news in the evening anymore, because that leads to too many YouTube clips, and then I feel hopeless as I try to figure out who I am. Why do I feel the way I feel? Why can I turn my back on one person and not another? It makes me judge myself harshly as I try to figure out the world.”
“I think that’s a good thing, though,” Brandon told her. “I think when we believe we can’t do any wrong and our own opinion is more important than the person’s next to us, then we aren’t growing. I can have a different opinion than my brother and still love him. I can have a different opinion than you, and you could possibly change my mind. I don’t want to be so closed minded I won’t listen. I’ve changed my mind many times before.”
“I don’t think I’d ever have thought that about you. Since I’ve known you, you haven’t seemed a man to be easily swayed.”
He laughed. “I’m not easily swayed. I just said I could change my mind if you give me a reason to.”
That was definitely something for her to think about. Brandon wasn’t in any way the man she’d thought he was. It was truly easy to judge a book by the cover, but it was foolish as well. There was a lot inside that made it a manuscript. She could write an entire book about Brandon and his family. And even then, she’d be shocked by the twists and turns the book took.
They arrived at the center, and Chloe gasped. It had been a while since she’d been out there. “Oh, Brandon, this is so beautiful. I can’t believe how much they’ve gotten done.”
“Everyone has worked really hard. I’m pretty impressed with my brothers.”
“And you,” she pointed out. “I see a lot of lights going.”