Grace Alive: a Christian Romance (19 page)

“Seriously? You’re offering to watch a chick
flick?” I laughed.

“I don’t care what we watch if we get to
snuggle together,” he said.

“Good, because I’m going to pick the
sappiest, most romantic movie available on Netflix,” I said in his
ear.

“Which probably has horrible acting and a
random dinosaur in it. I’m alright with that.” He kissed the top of
my head as we both laughed.

***

“Zoe!” the twins cried as they ran through
the door of Branson’s house. Julie gave me a quick glance and waved
to Branson.

“Be good, girls!” she said.

“See you tomorrow, Julie!” Branson called as
she walked away. The twins attacked my legs and started jumping up
and down for me to hold them.

“Hey, little popsicles!” I said and managed
to get them both in my arms. They giggled at my nickname and kissed
me on the cheeks

“Can you play house with us? I want to be the
baby!” CC said.

“I’m a kitty!” Evie said as they started
wiggling to be put down. I placed them on the ground and gave
Branson a smile.

“Then I get to be the space robot!” I called
as I chased them into their bedroom with squeals of laughter. Evie
started mewing as I came into their bedroom. CC started putting on
one of her play dresses. She put a tiara on her head and pranced
around the room.

“I’m the queen!” she said and crossed her
arms. I heard footsteps and peeked around the corner to see Branson
grinning at all of us.

“You forgot your robot hat!” he said with a
laugh. I took a handmade tinfoil hat and put it on my head.

“Thanks, babe,” I said and tackled him with a
kiss.

“Whoa! The robot is attacking me, girls!”
They squealed with giggles.

“I think this is one attack your Daddy is
going to survive,” I said and kissed him again.

“I don’t know about that,” he whispered. I
stood back and went on playing with the twins.

“Hey, I’m going to make spaghetti for dinner,
okay, girls?” he called to us.

“Skettie!” CC clapped her hands and pulled
out her makeup kit. Oh man.

“Can you make me a pretty robot, CC?” I asked
her. She nodded with a smile.

“Evie, you should do Zoe’s hair, okay?” she
instructed her sister.

“I need to be the prettiest robot at the
ball,” I said.

After I was decked out, I came into the
kitchen. Branson took one look at me and burst out laughing.

“You look…” He started choking he was
laughing so hard. I heard the spaghetti sauce bubble.

“You’re burning the sauce, Prince Charming.
Are you going to take this robot princess to the ball, buddy?” I
started acting like a robot as I came over toward him. He stirred
the sauce.

“I wouldn’t be Prince Charming if I didn’t
take my robot princess to the ball now would I?” He drained the
noodles and smiled at me. I caught him in my arms after he set the
pot of noodles back on the stove.

“Okay then,” I said and kissed him
lightly.

“You look awesome.” He laughed and took the
sauce off the burner.

“Girls! Dinner!” he called.

“I’m putting this on Facebook. Hold still.”
He pulled out his phone, and I posed for him. That was going to
haunt me later.

The twins came bursting in the kitchen almost
tripping over their pretty dresses they’d put on.

“Yay!” CC said as she climbed into her chair.
Evie sat next to her.

“Daddy, look at Zoe! We made her pretty!”
Evie said and pointed at my face.

“You sure did, Evie,” he said and kissed her
cheek. She squirmed with joy. Branson filled his girls plates then
went and grabbed Bree, who was still playing in the living room. He
put her in her highchair and cut up her food for her. I served
myself and kept one eye on this man I was falling head over heels
for. I’d never met anyone who made me feel the way he did. In all
that was going on, he was still so joyful, so amazing.

“Rachel hates me. She absolutely hates me.
She only gets to see Bree under supervised visits,” Branson told me
as we sat around a small round table at the café a few weeks
later.

“Branson, it’ll be fine. You’re just trying
to keep Bree safe.”

“She keeps asking me why I don’t try and take
the twins from Julie. In her opinion Julie is just as screwed up as
her, but Julie actually tries to protect my girls. Rachel just
thinks about herself.” The intensity on his face blew me away.
“Julie actually acts like a mom and plays with the twins. Rachel
hardly looks at Bree. She never even wanted Bree to begin with.” He
rubbed his hair with his hands. “Okay, enough depressing stuff!
Let’s talk about something fun!” He smiled at me.

“Let’s talk about bacon,” I said, and I saw a
smile stretch across his face.

“Bacon is good, I like bacon,” he asked and
took a long drink of his coffee.

“I think a bacon pizza is in order for
tonight. Your place. And a cheesy, cheesy movie that makes us
regret watching it. What do you say?” I said.

“I think it’s a date.” He leaned across the
table and kissed me on the forehead. I blushed.

“Now don’t get all mushy on me, Branson
Tate,” I said with a lazy smile.

“You love mushy gushy stuff, Zoe Grace. Let
me just give you a kissy wissy.” He came around the table and tried
to kiss my face all over. I pushed him away with a laugh.

“You’re an idiot. Sit down.”

He looked at me with pretend hurt.

“Are you ready for Christmas?” he asked
me.

“Christmas? Um, no.” It was only
November.

“What are you going to buy me?” he asked and
downed the rest of his coffee. He shivered and made a silly sound.
“Good coffee! I feel like I can run a marathon now!”

“What are you going to buy me?” I threw back
at him with a light smile. I sipped at my drink wanting to savor
the taste of the warm chocolate coffee mix. I love mochas. They are
so amazing.

“A pony,” he said and wiggled his eyebrows. I
laughed.

“Does Bree like her daycare?” I asked as I
played footsy under the table with Branson. His smile stretched
wider.

“Um, how in the heck do you expect me to give
you a legitimate answer when you are doing that?”

“Can’t you do two things at once?” I
asked.

“I’m a man. No,” he said. I kept up with my
footsy until he threw up his hands.

“I surrender. I am like putty in your hands.
I will do anything,” he said.

“Give me a neck massage,” I joked. He jumped
out of his chair and came around to give me a neck massage.

“Branson, seriously? Okay, sit down. I was
joking!” I laughed, but he totally ignored me. “Let’s go back to
your house. You never answered my question by the way. Does Bree
like her daycare?”

“She loves it. She’s always covered in
glitter when I take her home, so I know she’s having fun. Come on,
let’s go to my house, and you can play all the footsy you
want.”

He really didn’t need to ask me twice. We’d
ridden together. We came to his house and walked inside. It was
silent. Which was really weird. Bree was with Sarah, a sweet lady
from Grace Alive who took her from time to time to give Branson a
break. She was a lot like a grandma. Branson didn’t talk much about
his family, so I never pushed it with him. We sat down on the
couch, and I nestled into his arms. He always felt safe.

“I’m talking to Jacob tomorrow. My dad really
wants me to. I think I’ve put it off long enough.” I shifted to get
myself more into the crook of his arm.

“I’ll pray for you, Zoe, you can do it. Just
don’t let that sleazeball touch you, okay? Or I might have to knock
him out again.”

“You didn’t knock him out, Branson,” I said
dryly. “Though I wish you would have.” I put a hand over my mouth.
Had I just said that! Oops!

“Do you want to pick our cheesy movie on
Netflix?” he asked me.

“Something with aliens,” I said. “I’m
ordering us a pizza.” I dialed the local pizza place and put in an
order for an extra large bacon pizza. He started going through the
weird movies on Netflix until he pointed at the screen.

“Meh?” he asked with a shrug. I looked at
some random movie that looked like me and my brother had made it
when we were kids. Except our effects were probably better.

“That looks perfect. The pizza will be here
in 20 minutes.”

After the pizza arrived, I snuggled up
against Branson. He ran his fingers through my hair the sound of
the TV becoming white noise to my ears.

“How come you never talk about your family?”
I asked before I really processed my question. I’d probably just
stepped on his toes.

“My dad cut me off from them,” he said and
kept stroking my hair. I frowned and turned around half-way.

“Why?” I was being snoopy today I couldn’t
help it.

“Why? When I was 14 I started going all A
wall. I turned against God, the church, my parents, and lived with
some of my friends. When I hit 16, I had my own place with a couple
buddies of mine.” I felt him stiffen beneath me. Crap. Why did I
bring up the subject?

“Sorry, Branson, we don’t have to talk about
it if you don’t want to,” I said.

“No it’s okay. My dad cut me off from all
communication with him and my mom. I have a younger brother and
sister, but I haven’t seen my brother since he was three, and I’ve
never met my sister.” I could tell he was uncomfortable talking
about it. I snuggled close to him hearing his heart beating.

“I’m sorry,” I said, I didn’t really know
what else to say to him. His dad must be heartless.

“It’s okay; I tried to contact them after I
gave my heart to Jesus again, but no matter how I try my dad always
cuts it off.” He let out a frustrated sigh. I faced him and cupped
his chin.

“He’ll come around, or we’ll pray the socks
off him until he does,” I said and kissed him. He chuckled.

“He has a lot of socks.”

“I know the sock monster, I have
connections,” I said. He laughed at that.

“I love you, Zoe, you’re awesome.” He stroked
my cheek and brought his lips to mine. My insides stirred by his
touch. I caressed his cheek and started to increase my kisses. He
instantly responded back. He was so amazing. I felt the desire to
kiss him more intimately, and warmth spread through my skin. He
moaned a little bit, and I pulled back.

“I’m sorry! Oh, I’m sorry! I keep forgetting,
Branson!” I blushed and took in a deep breath. “You’re just so dang
kissable. I can’t help it!”

He looked away from me in embarrassment.

“It’s okay; it’s just really hard to resist
you.” His voice came out restrained. I can’t believe I’d done that
again!

“Okay, no touchy, touchy,” I said and gave
him a sheepish smile.

“Just keep it PG, and we should be fine,” he
said with a laugh. He tucked me back up against him and kissed my
head.

I sat across from Jacob at Espress’ Yourself
Café. He looked like he had wrestled with a bull and won as he
looked at me. He probably thought that I was here to give my heart
back to him. I had to at least try and convince him to not leave
Light on the Hill for the sake of my family.

“Jacob, I really wanted to talk to you about
something,” I started. He’d ordered us our coffees, and mine sat in
front of me untouched. I wasn’t sure how to say what I needed to
say. Would he even listen to me at all?

“I’m all ears, girl.” His air of arrogance
made me want to scowl.

“I know you think what I’m doing is a huge
mistake. But that falls on my head. Please don’t punish my family
for what I’ve chosen to do. God spoke to my heart that Branson was
my husband. So please convince your dad to stay at Light on the
Hill,” I said all this in a rush. I felt extremely nervous as I
looked at this well put together man.

“He knows our condition. It’s you I want,
Zoe. If I can’t court you then we are out of there. If you want to
save Light on the Hill then you need to dump that porno maker and
be with me. Why would you even want that loser anyways?”

I let his comments of Branson slide off my
back. He was just angry.

“Jacob, you know blackmailing my dad is
wrong. Do you really think Jesus would do that? Light on the Hill
would close, and all the good work it’s doing for the community
would shut down. Do you really want that on your head?” I let him
think on that awhile and took a drink of my mocha. I really hoped
Jacob’s heart would change. If Light on the Hill closed a lot of
good people would be scattered and hurt. I watched the war go on in
his mind.

“Just court me, Zoe, and the church won’t
shut down. Please, I love you,” he said, and I heard the
desperation in his voice. “I’ve loved you since I stepped into that
church when I was a kid. I told my dad the first day we came that I
was going to marry you.” He played with his expensive watch that
was on his wrist.

“Jacob, you don’t love me. You want me as a
prize.” I surprised myself. That’s exactly how it felt though. I
was just a possession he wanted. The perfect wife for him. A
pastor’s daughter.

“I love Branson, he’s the one God told me to
marry. I’m really sorry.” What else could I say to him? I couldn’t
give him what he wanted. Would my dad’s church crumple?

“He’s garbage, Zoe! Why would you want
someone’s leftovers? Have you asked him how many girls he’s had in
his lifetime? I’ve watched all his videos.”

I felt sick to my stomach. For one. Ew. For
two, why would he be watching porn to begin with? My face began to
turn red with embarrassment.

“Why? Why would you watch those?” I said
through a whisper.

“I wanted to see why you wanted that guy. I
can change for you, Zoe; I can do whatever you want me to do. I
promise. I can change.” He really did sound convincing. He almost
looked like he was going to cry. “I would do anything to win you
over.”