up?”
Neither girl had an answer.
On a whisper from the Holy Spirit, Evie turned to Terri. “What about you? What do you want to be?”
“You guys already are grown up,” said Cassidy.
Evie shrugged. “Who says you can only have one try at growing up? I’ve already had two—no, three, if I think about it.”
“You have?” Tosha’s eyes rounded with interest.
“Yeah. When I graduated high school, I picked a path. I went to college and got a generic degree. Then I started working at this company and dating a man who proposed. I felt like I grew up a lot when I agreed to get married. That was a big moment.”
She paused, wishing she could skip over this part but feeling like it had to come out. “We, uh, broke up and I was adrift for a while. Then I-I m-met Seth.” Met? Ha! More like she’d answered his ad, but she couldn’t say that—especially not in front of these girls. They needed a better example. “Marrying him was another major growth moment in my life.”
“Why?” asked Tosha.
“Because a preacher’s wife is a much different, much less selfish life than I was leading at the time.”
“Marrying him was a sacrifice.” Terri’s face hardened.
“No,” Evie hurried to add. “Making the decision to take a different path was a thoughtful process. But what I believe—” She smiled at Terri to let her know she had purposefully chosen to use the same words she had earlier. “—is that God’s path for us is easier than the path we want to make for ourselves, because it is His will. Does that mean life will be easy? No. I’ve worked harder since marrying Seth than I ever did before. But my moments of joy and peace have tripled.” She glanced around the table at the three beautiful women, and her eyes filled with tears. “And I’ve met each of you. That wouldn’t have happened if I was still in a cubicle crunching sales numbers.”
A gentle quiet filled the room—sweeter and warmer than the cookies.
“I guess my goal will be to find God’s path for me. Do you think I could put that in an essay?” asked Cassidy.
“I think that would be a wonderful essay topic,” Evie confirmed.
Tosha twisted her empty napkin. “I think I already know what He wants me to do.”
“Yeah?” Terri leaned forward, eager. “What?”
“A nurse.” Tosha began nodding, her movements getting bigger as the knowledge grew stronger inside of her. “I’ve felt nudged that direction for over a year; I just didn’t want to dedicate myself to it. The program is really competitive.”
“You’d be so good!” Cassidy side hugged her.
Terri tapped her nail on the counter. “Being a nurse was the best decision I made.”
Evie beamed. “Looks like you two have your essay topics.”
The three of them turned to Terri. She leaned back. “Don’t look at me. I haven’t got any answers raining down on my head. Except that I love nursing. It’s the best part of my life right now.”
Evie laughed and patted her hand. “They’ll come. Just keep praying.”
“What’s this?”
Evie turned to see Mr. White in the doorway. He had a strong set to his jaw and a determined look in his unfriendly eye.
She smiled, hoping to disarm him with a happy answer. “We’re doing homework and making cookies. Care to join us?”
His eyes narrowed into slits so thin she couldn’t make out the baby blues that had always been his best feature. “No. I need to talk to the pastor.”
“I believe he’s at the house.” Evie checked the clock. “And our time is up. I’ll bet your ride is out front.”
Mr. White disappeared without so much as a see ya later.
The girls helped load the dishwasher and clean up. Terri made a plate of cookies for each of them to take home to their families. They waved and went out front when Mr. Henderson texted that he’d arrived.
“You going to be okay?” Evie asked Terri as they walked out to the parking lot where Terri’s car waited.
Terri’s eyes were on something else, and Evie turned to see Mr. White stomp away from the cottage. His face was colored in anger, and his hands were in fists.
Her feeling that all was right in the world evaporated.
Mr. White slammed his car door and jammed his cell phone to his ear. He didn’t even slow down for the biggest pothole in the parking lot. His poor car bounced through and groaned like an old man getting up off the couch.
“I wonder what’s got him