Rick pulled his legs down and put a hand over hers. “Hey,” he said, “they didn’t even touch her. My men were in the kitchen when she came through the door. They probably never even knew what hit them.”

Tears filled her eyes and streamed down her face. “He was going to shoot my dad. If you’d been twenty seconds later . . .”

“But I wasn’t.” He shifted the little table that held the cake to the side and turned to fully face her, rubbing his hands up and down her arms. “God made sure of that, didn’t He? Everything was arranged. I was actually thinking about that tonight.”

He made sense. Clearly, God had intervened. The tears stopped almost as quickly as they’d started. Swiping at her cheeks, she said, “I’m, like, the biggest hypocrite in the world.”

He settled back and propped his legs back up. He almost lazily asked, “How so?”

She shrugged. “The first conversation we ever had, I put you down for using a gun, for perpetrating violence. My life wasn’t worth the lives of the three men you killed.” She picked up her cup and settled back in her chair, taking a small sip. “And then I call you tonight to come save my dad, knowing what that would entail.”

He sat quiet for several moments. “You’re not being a hypocrite, I don’t think. You still don’t think those lives were worth your own. But your father was in danger. You were saving him. I think you realized the slaughter of all the people in that room wouldn’t be prevented with a pacifistic approach.” He sipped his coffee. “Less hypocrite and more enlightenment.”

She forced a grin. “My perspective has not changed.”

Rick nodded. “I know that. I just struggle with the why of it.”

Cynthia studied him long enough to understand that he meant it. “Well, I have no doubt that Christ could have killed thousands with maybe just a wave of His hand. But think about it, Rick. Christ our Lord said, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God’ in Matthew 5:9. And soon after, in verses 38 to 48, He declared, ‘I tell you, do not resist an evil person,’ and ‘Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.’ The children of Israel wanted the Messiah to return as a conquering king who exacted violent retribution on their enemies. Christ defied them without violence. He went with the soldiers peaceably from the garden of prayer and ultimately laid down his life. Should we Christians not be Christlike in all things?”

“I believe I do seek to be Christlike,” Rick said.

Cynthia’s eyes widened. “That’s not what I meant—”