“Ah, that whole ‘be still,’” he said with a smile. “I understand. After my first deployment, I told you I drove across the country. I had a similar experience. Suddenly, in the silence of being alone, with no schedule or responsibilities or training or anything else on my mind, emotionally and spiritually struggling with what I’d seen and done, I found God. But not until I was in that stillness.” He stretched his legs out in front of him and laced his fingers behind his head. “Unlike you, though, I received affirmation and confirmation. Sounds like you received conviction and change.”

“Yeah.” She picked up her glass and raised it in a toast. “Here’s to change.” They laughed together at her sarcasm. When she set her glass down, she folded her arms on top of the table and leaned toward him. “I imagine it’s hard to get established in a church, having to move and then deploy all the time.”

He thought about his spiritual walk. “It is, which is why I personally use the post chapel services. The congregants are either military or retired and know the lifestyle. It allows for the people who are new to the area to come in and be enveloped into the fold without having to establish themselves. I love it.”

“Is that what you all do?”

He shrugged. “Bill always finds a little country church. He never has a problem integrating. He’s a more outgoing individual in a crowd than I. It isn’t hard for him to feel like he’s at home in a new church.” He considered the rest of his team. “Among those of us who are Christians, maybe half go to one of the various chapel services, and the other half find civilian churches.”

She looked around. “I grew up here. Not coming to church here was one of the harder parts of boarding school.”

“I always love going home to my parents’ church as well.”

They shifted topics to hometowns, sports, favorite movies. Rick never wanted to leave that spot. Occasionally, pink blossoms fluttered by in the breeze. Birds sang and squirrels ran across the branches. The light shifted, changed colors, sometimes highlighting Cynthia’s hair like a halo and sometimes making her eyes shine.

Eventually, though, she looked at her watch, and he knew their respite from the world had ended. His face muscles ached from smiling and laughing, and still he grinned as he stood. “I need to head back. I’m having dinner with the team tonight before everyone disperses on leave.”

She stood with him and held out her hand. “You have a good vacation in Kentucky.”