Grace Alive: a Christian Romance by Natasha House Read Free Book Online Page B

Zoe Grace Reed. Well, now that we are
all officially introduced and stuff…” I let my voice trail off as I
sipped my coffee again. What did we talk about? Silence stretched
between us. This was getting a little awkward. My mind drifted to
the mixer from the night before. I just wished Jacob would take a
giant hint! I was surprised when Branson started talking again.
    “I know you’re dying to know about my kids,
so I’ll just talk about the elephant in the room.” He looked
slightly uncomfortable, but was holding his own.
    I hadn’t been wondering about that at all. I
was just wondering what I’d do if anyone from our church saw me
with Branson.
    “Oh! You don’t have to if you don’t want to.
It’s totally fine.” I mean this was a first date!
    “I’m not married, never have been either.” He
held up his ring finger. “You probably think I’m some sort of
player, so I might as well talk about it.” He fidgeted slightly. He
looked uncomfortable, but then he took a deep breath.
    “Okay, here goes. I was a player. Big time.”
He took a drink of his coffee and looked out the window. Cars
whizzed by in streams of color. I let myself follow his gaze.
    “Was?” I asked.
    “Was. Yeah, about a year and a half ago a
girl from my work invited me to Grace Alive Church. I’d just found
out my girlfriend was pregnant, and she was really upset with me.
I’d hit an all time low in my life. I was thinking about ditching
all my kids and moving to Florida.” His expression shifted, and I
saw that he was happy that he hadn’t acted on that. I listened
carefully. I’d heard of Grace Alive. My dad said the preacher over
that church preached greasy grace stuff. His words not mine.
My dad had even preached against that church before. I inwardly
winced. I don’t think I’d mention that to Branson.
    “Anyways, she invited me, and on a whim I
decided to check it out. When I got there, my entire life flipped
upside down. I heard Pastor Dom preach for the first time, and it
wrecked me.” He brought his attention back over to my face.
    “Wrecked you?” I asked warily. What did he
mean?
    “I used to go to church when I was a little
kid, and all I heard about was how God was always mad at me. I
thought God was just a big hammer waiting to pound me at any
second. I left the church when I was 14 and never went back.” He
distractedly looked at some people who walked into the café. I
could see him battling with something. He really didn’t need to
tell me all of this. I barely knew him. His story sounded a lot
like mine. Didn’t I feel like God was always angry at me too?
    “Once I heard Pastor Dom preach about grace,
it changed my life forever. I now know that God isn’t out to kick
me when I’m down. He forgave me once and for all.” He smiled at me
as he said the words, even though my heart was pushing against what
he just said. It couldn’t be that easy. I had to work for God to
love me. I mean, yes, He did send Jesus to die for me, but once I
asked Jesus in my heart, I had to make sure he stayed there. I
listened as Branson went on.
    “The problem was, my life was still a mess. I
had two kids outside of marriage, ex girlfriends galore, and
another baby on the way.” He shifted in his seat. “Rachel, my
girlfriend at the time, began to just hound me about going to
church. I did a 180 ° that day. I started
throwing out everything trashy in our house, and Rachel got really
upset. She dumped me before Bree was born.” He shrugged his
shoulders. Wow. This guy was one of those radically saved
sinners.
    “I still have the kids to think about. I help
my exes out whenever I can. Bree, the baby you saw, stays with me a
lot.” He folded his hands on the table, playing with the napkin
holder sitting there.
    “They’re all so cute,” I said with a warm
smile, thinking of the little twins when they were chanting, ‘milk,
milk!’
    “Thanks. They look like their moms,” he said
meekly. I wonder if Branson even