Page 63 of More Than This Land

“Claire?” Robert’s voice pulled her back. “You still with me?”

“Yes. Sorry.” She shifted in the chair, the leather creaking. “Just processing.”

“Of course. This is a big decision.” He closed the laptop and folded his hands on the table. “I know you have other options. We’ve done our research. You’re good at what you do, and you could work anywhere. But I think this firm offers something unique. We’re growing, we’re innovative, and we need people who understand how we do business.”

The irony twisted in her stomach. She’d spent months teaching Luke that relationships mattered.

And now she sat in a conference room in Billings being offered a job that would take her away once and for all…except for the occasional visit.

Robert stood and pulled out a leather portfolio embossed with the firm’s logo from a stack on the desk behind him. “This is for you. It’s a lot of information, so take it home and look it over. Think about what you want.”

What did she want?

Six months ago, the answer would have been automatic. A career and independence. She’d wanted safety. Control. A life organized around protecting herself from the kind of loss that had hollowed her out at nineteen.

Now?

Now she wanted Sunday dinners with the Calloways where Graham and Noah argued about fence posts while Wade and Ruth swayed together at the stove. She wanted Agnes Pruitt’s sharp observations and Granny Mama’s knowing looks and Rachael Bennett’s quiet guidance. She wanted to coordinate community dinners and deliver meals to new mothers and sit on porches in the dark with rejected calves sleeping in the barn and a man who was learning to be brave.

She wanted Luke.

“I know the commute from Covenant Creek isn’t ideal.” Robert sat again, his expression sympathetic. “We do have some flexibility for remote work, but this role requires client meetings, site visits, and face time with the team.”

She’d be leaving Granny Mama. Not abandoning her, but not able to be in the same house if a dizzy spell hit or a medication needed adjusting.

She’d be leaving Luke.

And she hadn’t even had the courage to tell him she loved him.

“We’d need an answer by Friday.” His pen tapped again, a metronomic rhythm that matched her pulse. “I know that’s soon, but we have other candidates, and the position needs to be filled. I’m hoping you’re the one, but I understand if you need time to think.”

Three days to decide between the life that made sense and the life she wanted.

Except that framing was wrong, wasn’t it? It assumed those were different things.

But what if they were the same?

What if the sensible choice was the one that fed her soul instead of just her bank account? What if security wasn’t about salary and benefits packages but about being known and loved and needed by people who’d woven her into their lives?

Control was an illusion. That the only thing worth managing was whether she loved people well in the time she had them.

Her parents’ death had taught her that love was temporary and loss was inevitable. She used that as an excuse to hold her heart hostage from love. It squeezed in a burst of sympathy that stole her breath. Luke had been trying to show her that faith meant loving anyway. Granny Mama all but told her flat out that the cost of refusing to love was lonelier than the cost of loving and losing.

Robert kept talking about quarterly reviews and professional development opportunities. The words washed over her, floating in one ear and out the other as the epiphany lodged deep and took root.

All she could see was Luke’s face on her porch.

She’d been waiting for Luke to give her a reason. Some grand gesture or confession that would make the decision feel safe. She’d been waiting for him to promise her certainty before she risked her heart.

But that was her own control issue. Her own fear.

Luke had already given her a reason. He’d given her a dozen reasons with every change he made to bring the ranch back using her program.

He’d been showing her what it looked like to be faithful, to trust, and to love.

What did it say about her that she’d been so busy waiting for him to say the words that she’d missed him living them?

“Claire?”