she discovered there was nothing like being cradled by invisible air.
That’s when her screams turned to laughter.
Angela lifted her arms like a bird and flew. She floated.
And yes, she fell. But there was joy in the fall.
Because in those forty-five seconds before her instructor pulled the parachute, she learned what Wes had meant about living fearlessly.
Stability was overrated.
Trusting God to catch you . . . that’s what life was really about.
44
There was nowhere Angela would rather be than running in her neighborhood next to Kylee on this lovely Saturday afternoon at the end of May. Lilly and Zach were sleeping over at Eva’s, so Angela and her oldest had plans for a fun night in.
Their shoes pounded pavement. “Coach is so excited you said yes, Mom.”
“I’m excited too.” Becoming a nonteacher assistant coach would require a few summer courses, and Angela would need to re-up her first aid certification, but all of it had been surprisingly easy to arrange once she’d decided to take Kylee’s advice and give coaching a try. The extra bit of pay would be nice, and she’d get to spend time with Kylee during her junior year that she wouldn’t have gotten otherwise. Marc had been great about offering flexible hours, too, during cross-country season.
And who knew where it all might lead.
“Liam and Erin have teased me about getting special treatment from you, but I said they didn’t know you very well.”
“Hey!”
Kylee twisted out of the way as Angela tried to pinch her.
Months ago she never could have imagined life could look like this. “By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask if you wanted to invite Liam over for dinner soon.”
“You’d be okay with that?”
“I’m not quite sure you’re old enough to date yet. But you’ll be sixteen next month . . . and I trust you.” Angela’s heart still seized at the thought of her daughter dating, but the last part was true. Despite the fiasco with the boy in New Zealand, Kylee had shown herself lately to be a responsible girl who was quickly becoming a woman. And Angela couldn’t wait to see how her daughter took on the world and changed it for the better.
Kylee wiped a drop of sweat from her forehead before it hit her eye. “Thanks, Mom. Speaking of dating . . . have you talked to Simon?”
“You know I haven’t.” Angela looked both ways and crossed a semi-busy intersection, Kylee beside her. “He lives in New Zealand, honey. And for all I know, he’s already seeing someone else.”
Ever since her talk with Eva about happiness, joy, and transformation at the beginning of the month, she’d been working up the courage to call Simon. But she’d allowed fear and excuses to keep her from it. How easy it was to fall back into old patterns.
“Mom. He’s totally not dating anyone else because he’s crazy about you. And how will you know unless you try? Take the risk. Call him.”
“What I really needed was to learn to experience the grief and realize it was okay to mourn, for life not to be perfect, for life to surprise me sometimes.” Her own words floated back to her and took on a new meaning. Because like it or not, she’d dreamed of a life with Simon—and if it never came to be, she would mourn. Pretending the pain didn’t exist wouldn’t change that. And if that’s what it came to, she’d embrace the grief and ask God to help her shoulder it.
And who knew? Maybe life would indeed surprise her. “All right. I will.”
“Right when we get home?”
“Fine, you win. Right when we get home.”
“Good.” A breeze whistled through the trees as they turned down a quieter street. “Mom, remember back in New Zealand when I asked you how you knew you loved Dad?”
“Yes.”
“Are you ready to tell me now?”
Was she? Would the truth tear apart the relationship they’d finally built? Angela prayed not—but whatever Kylee’s reaction, a solid relationship had truth as a foundation. “Okay.”
So as they zigged and zagged around garbage cans, barking dogs chained to their yards, and sprinklers spraying across the sidewalk, Angela delved into her and Wes’s love story. Kylee asked questions, laughed, and listened, from Angela’s explanation of the awkward beginning to their first kiss.
And then they reached the culminating moment, the turning point that had changed everything—Kylee herself.
“I already knew you guys got married because you were pregnant with me.”
“What?” Angela and Wes had been so careful never to mention that fact in front of