Who I Am With You (Imagination #10) - Staci Stallings Page 0,48

like we don’t have to go through this, like it just… stops being a thing.”

Merel took a breath and her gaze became even more compassionate. “Taylor, do you understand the concept of linear and nonlinear?”

“Like in a line or not in a line?” Taylor asked, not sure how they went from faith to math in one tiny step. “Yeah?”

“Okay, so we live in a linear fashion. Actually, it’s a half-linear because our timeline only goes from here forward. We can’t go backward on the timeline.”

“Okay?”

“But God is outside of time. He’s not bound by time like we are.”

Suddenly Greg startled and jumped up. “Oh, man, saying ‘time.’ I’ve got to get.” He looked at Taylor with concern. “Are you going to be okay?”

Taylor blinked at him, having almost forgotten he was in the room. “Uh, yeah. I’ll be fine.”

“Great.” His gaze tripped over to Merel.

“She’ll be fine,” Merel said as if that wasn’t even a question.

Clearly wanting to stay, he stood there one more moment.

“Go,” Taylor said with a laugh.

“And you’ll go to the house?” he asked, still not leaving.

She shook her head and laughed at his never-ending protectiveness. “Yes. I will be there.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes,” she said. “Go. You’re going to be late.”

With that, he did leave, being sure to close the door softly behind himself.

Taylor shook her head. “That boy. I swear.”

Merel smiled a second before continuing. “Like I was saying, God is not bound by time. So, He can be and go anywhere on the timeline. If we’re operating in the spirit and we’re connected to God, we too, can use our imaginations to pray ourselves into a certain time. So, instead of trying to pray about the outcome you want to happen, pray instead for yourself in the future, so no matter what happens, you’re already covered by your own prayers.”

“You can do that?”

“You absolutely can. In fact, I’ve been doing it with this minute for months now.”

“Greg,” Clara called when he’d made it to the back door.

So close.

Turning, Greg leaned on the door as she came walking up from the split that went to the dining hall and the kitchen. She was in a cute apron, and she had clearly been cooking. “Aren’t you going to eat?”

“Oh, uh, I already ate. I’m actually headed to work.”

“Oh,” she said, and she sounded hurt. “You’re not staying?”

“Uh, no. I’m…” And then, he began to realize he had no good excuse for this odd moment of being there but not being there.

“I mean, yeah,” Clara said, weaving her arms in front of her, “the others already left, so…”

This was getting worse. She was going to think he was trying to get away from hanging out with her. “No, really, I’m headed to work.”

“Yeah.” She smiled a tight smile and nodded quickly. “I get it.”

He glanced past her, knowing he needed to explain but knowing that could go very badly if she told Paige or Lauren. A breath of a decision and he stopped trying to get away. “Okay, can you… be chill about something and not say it to everyone?”

Worry crossed her face. “Yes? Have I ever blabbed about…?”

“No,” he said quickly. “It’s not about me.” One more second to decide. “It’s actually about Taylor.”

That dissipated some of the anger that had been floating in her eyes. “How is she? I was really worried about her last night.”

“Yeah, well, I got her to come talk to Merel. She’s in there right now.”

“Seriously? Oh, man, that’s great. Merel is awesome.”

“I know, right? But I’m not sure Tay wants that to be public knowledge.”

“Oh, right. Of course. Of course. Yeah, no. I totally won’t tell anybody.” Clara stopped, and the worry slid back onto her face. “So, is she okay? I mean, with the trial and all of that?”

“I think it’s a lot,” he said.

“Yeah,” Clara said, nodding. “I hear you there. I’m supposed to be at the courthouse on Wednesday. Are you going to be there?”

“Yeah,” Greg said, and he looked at his watch. He was going to be impossibly late. “Listen, I’ve really got to…”

“No. Yeah. Go on. We’ll talk later.”

“K,” was all he could muster.

Chapter 8

“One thing I’ve learned,” Merel said, “is that trying to navigate storms on your own is a tough thing. Dave and I have weathered plenty of them in 48 years. The only way out of storms is through them and the best way through is together.”

“I just hate dragging everybody through this storm that feels like it was my fault,” Taylor said. “That