His Plan: Book 3 in the Crossing Midian Series - A Small-Town Christian Romance

Chapter 4

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After deciding they would meet the next day at the church, so they could talk more about the youth and how Lenore could help, Beau walked away wondering what he had gotten himself into.

What were the chances that the same girl he found trespassing on his farm would be the daughter of his pastor? And now he is supposed to work alongside her with the youth. "Lord, what are You doing here?" he sent up a silent prayer as he spotted his nephew in the church foyer.

T.J. and a couple of boys he had never met before were standing together near the doors leading outside. They were talking in hushed voices but grew quiet when Beau walked up to greet them.

"Hey, Teej," Beau said, letting his hand fall softly on T.J.'s shoulder and giving it a light squeeze. He tried not to feel offended when T.J. stepped away from him. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah," T.J. replied. He nodded his head to his friends. "Uncle Beau, this is Ryan and Alex. They're friends from school."

Beau shook hands with both of the boys. "Good to meet you. Did you enjoy the service?"

"Yeah, it was nice," replied Alex, the taller of the two. His dark eyes glanced toward Ryan, as if waiting for him to speak as well.

"Sure. Nice," he offered quietly as he made to take a step back towards the door. He ran a hand through his sandy brown hair and said, "We better go. My brother said he'd come and pick us up. Derek hates having to wait."

"See you, T.J.," Alex said with a quick wave before turning to follow Ryan, who was already waiting with the door open.

"Hey, we're having a youth service next Friday," Beau said quickly. "We'd love to have y'all here."

The boys exchanged a look and Alex nodded, answering for them both. "Okay."

"Great. Starts at seven. Maybe you can get your brother to come, too, Ryan."

Ryan gave a non-committal shrug before disappearing through the door.

***

Back in the truck, Beau and T.J. began the trip home in relative quiet, aside from the local country music station that played softly through the truck's ancient radio. They rolled the windows down and T.J. let his head rest against the door frame; the wind blowing through his dark brown hair and pushing it away from his closed eyes. He didn't volunteer any information about the boys at church, and Beau didn't ask questions. Even though he certainly had a few.

Beau glanced over at his nephew and, not for the first time, realized just how much he had grown. At fifteen, T.J. wasn't a little kid anymore. The "boy" already stood only a few inches shorter than Beau, who was nearly six feet tall. And he was the shortest of his brothers and his dad. He had definitely inherited the Anderson height gene.

T.J. kept his hair cut a little longer on top, leaving it in a constant state of mess, but he didn't seem to mind. It only made him look more like Wesley. His eyes were dark brown like Wesley's too, but he possessed a mischievous grin that Beau often wondered if he'd gotten from himself.

Lately, Beau wondered if that was the only thing he'd gotten from him. Or if perhaps he had gotten some of Beau's less desirable traits, too.

Fifteen was a hard age for everyone. Beau felt like he knew that better than most, but the last thing he wanted was for T.J. to make the same mistakes he had. Right now, it wasn't too bad. A little attitude was par for the course as far as teenagers went, but Beau knew firsthand how bad it could get.

The reasons behind the acting out would be different, of course. For Beau, it had been the only way he could cope with the pain he felt. It was the only outlet he could find for all the anger and resentment he felt.