by Jessica Kate
Time to be brave.
She started the truck and Butch backed away, a broad grin splitting his features. She threw the gear stick into first and “chucked a U-ey,” as Jules would say. Dust kicked up from the wheels and coated her tongue but couldn’t dampen her slightly hysterical grin. U-turn completed, she revved the engine to get back to Yarra Plains as fast as possible.
When she was an old lady with a hundred cats, at least she’d be able to say she tried.
Chapter 40
Kimberly pushed her hair back from her face as she drove one-handed, urgency pushing her foot against the gas pedal. Humid air rushed past her skin as the truck gained speed. She used the neck of her tee to blot moisture from her face. At least she’d not bothered with makeup, knowing it’d end up drowned anyway. Her pulse tap-danced, torn between joy at Mom’s words and trepidation for what lay ahead.
She checked her rearview mirror. Butch dawdled by his vehicle. Why? Sam would be in the fields somewhere. It wasn’t like Butch following her home risked any awkward three’s-a-crowd encounter. Was this his usual take-it-easy pace? Or did he know something she didn’t?
A spec appeared on the horizon, red and blue and coming her way. Sam, on the Carrigans’ borrowed quad bike. She eased off the gas, holding her breath. This was it. Five more minutes of courage—
Though, no, that wasn’t true.
Jules had been right. The truth was that she was wanted—by God if no one else. That truth might be agonizing to hold on to when rejection slapped her, but letting go and wallowing alone? That was a worse fate. Even if she returned to the US alone, Wildfire closed, and Mom clammed up again, this time she would be different. She would reach out. She would risk vulnerability. If she couldn’t find a place to belong, then she’d make one.
And right now, she would tell Sam how she felt about him and be okay—eventually—with whatever his reaction was. And if he’d never really wanted her all along?
So be it.
She pulled the truck off to the side of the road. Sam stopped his bike and strode toward her.
Please God, make me brave. She slid out of the ute, dust in her nostrils and now probably her hair.
“I have to talk to you.” They spoke the same words at the same time, then both hesitated. Kimberly used the moment to take him in. Hair tousled from riding the bike at high speed. No Hugh Jackman-esque outfit today, just a loose cotton work shirt with arms rolled to the elbows and short work shorts he called “stubbies” that’d get him laughed out of the state back in Virginia.
And she’d never been so glad—or terrified—to see him.
She held up her hands. “Let me go first.” Or she’d never get it out at all. He snapped his mouth closed. “I told my mom I love her. Just now. Just . . .” She pointed back up the road. “Just there.”
“That’s—well, that’s amazing.” He scratched his head. “How did she take it?”
“She loves me too.” A smile bloomed across her lips.
“That’s amazing.” His voice came out at a whisper.
Kimberly drew in a deep breath. “I know I’m not always great at showing what I feel, but I’m trying to change that. So what I feel is that I like you. A lot.” She ground to a halt. Eloquent, Kim. “I—I can’t say yet if I love you. Believe it or not, I take risks in business, but I’m cautious with love.”
Ugh. That was worse. She’d gone through all this just to tell him she didn’t love him?
A slow grin grew on his face. “Never would have guessed.”
She rushed on. “But I care about you—so, so much. One day I might love you. I think we make an awesome team.” Would he think this was just another desperate Wildfire pitch? “And I don’t mean work—I mean us.”
He nodded.
“So, um, that’s it. That’s all I wanted to say.” Her face burned. Worst. Speech. Ever. But she’d told him what he meant to her. She stood taller. She’d done the thing she’d never thought she could. And God wanted her. Her heart warmed. She’d be okay, whatever Sam said next.
Sam stared wide-eyed at her for an unending moment. Then one edge of his mouth curved upward. He grasped her hand. “I’m an idiot.”
A good start. She clasped her fingers around his and grinned. “Do continue.”
“I was wrong.”
She laughed through a sniff. “Frequently.”
“I want to come back to Wildfire.”
She couldn’t hold eye contact anymore. She buried her face in her hands. If this was going where she thought it was, this was every Christmas, Thanksgiving, and birthday rolled into one. Her limbs tingled and heart swelled. If he kept going like this, she might just defy gravity.
His hands cupped her jaw, pulled her fingers away. “And you are the bravest person I’ve ever met, and every second I get to spend with you makes me the luckiest guy on the planet.” His gaze burned into hers, and the rest of the universe melted away. “I’m gonna need a little while to get Mum and Jules settled into wherever they go. But then I’d love to come back to Wildfire. And, if you’re not sick of me yet, to you.”
She surged forward and buried herself in his hug. His arms came around her, holding her tight, his stubbled cheek rough against her neck. She leaned her face on his shoulder and squeezed for all she was worth. She didn’t count Mississippis. She never wondered where to put her hands. And the words weird and awkward never materialized in her mind.
She slid her hands up his chest to his neck and laughed as he shivered. He pressed a lingering kiss against her cheek and she tilted her face to murmur in his ear. “I think Wildfire has an opening. Send me your résumé.”
He snickered, and the joy of a thousand fireworks exploded in her heart. Rising to her tiptoes, she pressed her lips against his.
And she thanked God for His strength to be brave.
Epilogue
FOUR MONTHS LATER
“Sam!” Kimberly wound her way through the new Wildfire Baltimore building, dodging toolboxes and piles of lumber, back in her beloved peep-toes and a navy pantsuit. She inhaled the scent of sawdust. The scent of anticipation. Construction was due to finish this month, and they’d open their first expansion site only weeks afterward.
On the other side of the empty space—the tradesmen were out at lunch—Sam walked toward her, hanging up his phone as he came. Back in the comparative cool of an East Coast spring, he’d returned to his lumberjack-inspired wardrobe, and it looked pretty good against the remnants of his Aussie summer tan.
“Got a letter from the Bible college.” She pretended to weigh it in her hands. “It’s feeling good.” He reached out for it, but she yanked it back out of his grasp. “Did you call Jules back yet?”
Sam grinned and backed her toward the wall, hands at her waist. “If I say yes, will you give me that letter?”
She grinned and hid the letter behind her. “Maybe.” Her back met the unpainted wall, cool even through her jacket.
He kissed her cheek. “Now?” His warm breath sent tingles through her skin.
“Getting warmer.”
He pressed a kiss to her lips, his “Now?” muffled more into a “Nmmmm?”
She smiled against his lips. “Warmer.”
His raised his eyebrows and grinned, shifting his lips to the hinge of her jaw. Her pulse skyrocketed and bones melted into something warm and squishy. His lips smiled against her skin as his fingers snatched the envelope from her grasp.
“Gotcha.”
A vehicle pulled up outside. He sighed and stepped back as she pulled the letter out of his hands and used it to point at him. “Call. Your. Sister. This letter and I have to go talk to the electrician.”
As she discussed extra power outlets with the “sparky”—Aussie slang for electrician—she kept her boyfriend in her peripheral vision. He paced back and forth, phone to his ear. When the electrician left she crossed the space and hugged Sam from behind. He hung up the phone. She laid her head on his back.
“Are you smiling?” She slid a
hand up his chest to his face and patted and poked it till he laughed and tugged her around in front of him.
“Jules is engaged.”
She grinned.
His mouth dropped open. “You knew? Before me?”
“It didn’t take a genius to figure out. Mick’s new practice opened last week, and I didn’t think he’d waste much time once they finally got in the same town.” Not only had Jules, Mick, and their four dogs relocated to Cockatoo Creek but Butch, too, as the outdoor center’s new handyman. During their last video chat, Jules had even mentioned that Butch had come along to their new church once or twice. After watching the Paytons lose everything with dignity, he’d figured he’d give their faith a shot too. Kimberly planned to chat his ear off about it when they returned for the wedding—whenever that would be. Mom had even agreed to finally take some time off and come with them to Australia—her first time overseas. “They set a date?”
He nodded.
“Soon?”
“Early July.”
“Strewth!” That meant two trips in her future—for both the wedding and Christmas. Sam had promised they’d return Down Under for December 25.
He grinned at her use of Australian slang. She took it as encouragement to keep going. “Good on ’em. Faaaaaaaair dinkum.”
Sam rolled his eyes. “You know a girl loves you when she memorizes an entire book of Aussie slang just to drive you crazy with it.”
She linked her fingers behind his neck, warmth spreading through her. She had a few more words for him—words he might appreciate a little more. “You seem pretty sure of that.”
“What?”
“That I love you.” In their months of dating, she’d not said it yet, and he’d not pressured her—though he’d said it himself with increasing frequency.
Now his expression turned cautious, though the lift of his lips indicated hopefulness. “Do you?”
She reached up and kissed him, speaking the words against his lips. “By crikey, I love you.”
A Note from the Author
G’day!
Thanks for sharing Kimberly and Sam’s story with me—and also Jules and Mick’s!
Can I make a confession? While I love Sam and Kimberly, it’s another character who’s my favorite in this book: Mick. I think it’s the rainbow crocs that do it. A man who’s unashamed to wear rainbow crocs in public, who combines country and surfer culture, and loves someone with such unwavering loyalty the way Mick does just has to get the gold medal.
Another reason why I love Mick and Jules together is because they’re kind of an alternate history of my parents. My mum grew up on the beach and my dad in the country. They’ve been together since seventeen, married at twenty, and have spent the last twenty-nine years compromising on all the places they’ve lived (and they’ve lived in a lot of places!). While Mick’s and Jules’s personalities are entirely their own, their situation is kind of an exploration of this question: what would have happened if Mum and Dad had chosen not to marry at twenty?
It was also just super awesome to get to write about Australia—especially rural Australia. Yarra Plains was closely based on one of the farms I lived on as a kid. Farm life can be tough, so this book is a nod to those who persist, who innovate, and who roll with the punches. Sometimes disaster strikes. But in Love and Other Mistakes, God showed me how He’s bigger than the mistakes of His followers. Well, He’s also bigger than the disasters that throw our lives in an unexpected direction.
A few things I’d like to quickly clarify before I go:
With Jules being a Queenslander, I had to make her cheer for the Maroons in rugby league’s State of Origin. But for the record, and my father’s peace of mind, I’d like to state my undying loyalty to the Blues.
I often roll my eyes at how snakes and spiders are overrepresented in pop culture regarding Australia. And then I filled my book with them, because it was just so funny. It’s literally the first question people ask me when I visit the States: “How do you live with all those snakes and spiders in Australia?” For starters, we have antivenom. And guys, America has bears! THERE’S NO ANTIVENOM FOR A BEAR!!!
For the sake of this plot, I wrote as if Queensland were not in drought. It is. (Again.) Support your farmers, folks. They need it.
Jules made a reference in her first scene to stories of people surviving in the outback with some horrifying injuries. I’ll spare you the details, but if you ever meet me in person, ask me to tell you the story of a man now known as Two Moons. ;)
Can’t wait to see where we end up for the next book!
Till next time,
Jess
Discussion Questions
What did you think of Sam’s reasons for leaving Wildfire? Was he being honest with himself? How might things have been different if he was?
At the beginning of the book, what does Kimberly believe of herself? Why? Is it true? What have you believed of yourself that didn’t align with the way God sees you?
For most of the story, Jules is desperately trying to hold onto something—in her case, the family farm. Have you ever experienced that feeling of trying to hold onto something that’s slipping away? How did that affect your relationship with God? With others?
Jules and Mick struggle with their feelings for one another and their seemingly irreconcilable lifestyles. Have you ever experienced/seen a difficult choice like this? What did you do? Looking back, what are your thoughts on the situation now?
Meg the dog holds a special place in Jules’s heart—and she’s named after a much-loved dog of my uncle’s. Who are the special animals in your life?
Sam’s mother, Penny, has experienced a great deal of loss—and now she fears her son moving to the other side of the world again. Have you ever been torn between wanting a loved one close by and letting them go?
At first Penny assumes the worst of Kimberly. Have you ever misjudged someone and then realized you were wrong?
While Jules’s romantic life gets a happily-ever-after, she still has to deal with the grief of losing her family farm and feeling like a failure in her chosen career. Have you ever experienced a bittersweet situation? What was God’s truth in that experience?
Why did Kimberly’s mother treat Kimberly the way she did? As a parent or child yourself, have you experienced the effects of “overcorrecting”? How did God heal that hurt in Kimberly? What healing do you think God could also offer Kimberly’s mother?
By the end of the story, Kimberly must learn to be emotionally vulnerable or risk spending her life alone. Have you ever been scared to open up? Was it worth it?
For much of the book, Sam believed that his fear of risk was just a healthy dose of caution. What’s the difference? Have you ever struggled to tell between the two in your life? What is God’s truth in this situation?
Acknowledgments
Mum and Dad—the final draft and editing process of this book came at an intense time of my life. All great things happening—but they all came at once! Thanks for always picking up the phone and convincing me to crash on your couch for a week when I needed a break.
My sister Bek—your wedding coincided with the final drafts and edits of this book. Being your bridesmaid was such a special thing. :) One day there’ll be a book about a sister’s wedding . . .
My brothers Jake and Jack—without you both I wouldn’t have any funny anecdotes to tell people.
Abby—no matter how big you get you’re always my baby sis. Watching you grow up is one of the delights of my life. You’re also one of my best booksellers! Keep it up, bubs!
Marty and Okie—our Great Ocean Road holiday was one of the best trips of my life! As great as author-world is, that trip came between edits of this book, when I really needed a rest. Spending that break exploring the coast with two old mates was awesome. Thanks for such a fantastic week!
David, Matt, Alex and all other past and present friends at work—every time I skip into the building with book news, you get so excited for me. It means so mu
ch having supportive friends to work with. David especially—you kept me on task writing that crazy fast second draft of Love and Other Mistakes. Thank you!
Hannah Davis and Angela Carlisle—you guys are a constant source of encouragement and joy in this writing life! Can’t wait till the day our books are side by side on my bookshelf.
The Just Church community—your enthusiasm for supporting my writing is such an encouragement. In Love and Other Mistakes I wrote about emotions of feeling let down by leaders around me. You guys were a big part of that healing process. Being a part of our little church plant has been an experience I’ll treasure. Thanks.
My agent, Chip MacGregor—thanks for helping make this book a reality!
My editor, Jocelyn Bailey, and the whole Thomas Nelson team—you’re a delight. Thanks especially to Jocelyn for your insightful editorial notes that included a touching personal story . . . and for letting me borrow your line about holding a dream up to the light.
Rachel Hauck and Susan May Warren—your advice early in the life of this book saved me so much (more) rewriting!
The Debut Authors of 2019 Group—I so value having a group of friends to experience this crazy publication journey with!
Thanks to Nicola, KyLee, Trudy, Amanda, Velma and Alex for your input into Sam’s experience with dyslexia. You guys have been so generous with your time. Any mistakes are my own.
Jennie—thanks for answering all my vet questions! Again, any mistakes were me.
God—words fail me. You’re everything. Thank you.
About the Author
©April Hildred - aprilphotography.studio
Australian author Jessica Kate is obsessed with sassy romances. She packs her novels with love, hate, and everything in between—and then nerds out over her favorite books, movies, and TV in the StoryNerds podcast. When she’s not writing or discussing fiction, she’s hunting the world for the greatest pasta in existence.
