“How could I not say yes?” She put her hand against his cheek. “How long do we have?”

He sighed and thought back to yesterday’s briefing. “December first.”

She blinked. “You’re leaving a week after we get married?” She rubbed her face with her hands. “Wait. I have to start planning if we’re getting married in two days.”

He pressed a kiss to her forehead and stood up. “No. You’d better get busy sleeping. You’re exhausted. Call me when you wake up and we’ll talk everything through. We can wait too.”

She didn’t want to wait, but she’d tell him that after she woke up so he would know she’d had time to process the idea. She walked him to the back door and kissed him goodbye. “Are we seriously going to be married in two days?”

He winked at her and slid the door open, then crossed her backyard.

Cynthia took the coffee cups into the kitchen. She looked through the window and watched Rick cross the backyard. When she couldn’t see him anymore, she headed to the bedroom.

In two days, they wouldn’t have to say goodbye at the back door anymore. He’d move in here or she’d move in there—she honestly didn’t care which—and they’d live together as husband and wife, one in the eyes of God.

She put her hands against her cheeks and looked up at the ceiling. “Thank You, God. Thank You for courage and conviction and for aligning everything to put me in that jungle at that time.”

Before she lay down, she snapped a photo of the ring on her hand and texted it to Dahlia.

You better be in Charula, KY, day after tomorrow. Love you.

Then she called her mom, who answered before a single ring could go through. “Well?” her mother asked.

Cynthia put her head back and laughed. “Well, I guess I’ll see you in two days. At the church. Where I’ll become Mrs. Rick Norton.”

She could hear the smile in her mom’s voice. “You sound so happy. We can’t wait to see you.”

Discussion Questions

When Cynthia is taken hostage by Chukuwereije’s men, she realizes that she is going to die and believes that she is prepared to. However, when she is rescued, she’s very angry at the loss of lives.