"It's not always a competition, Craig," Eli muttered irritably. "Goodness knows if we made everything a competition, you would be a loser more often than you would be a winner."

  "He's a loser again, huh, Tiffany?" Craig laughed, even as his brother frowned at him.

  "And he even has that fancy calculator to check his work," Tiffany said, pointing to Eli's old graphing calculator, the one he'd had since he was in high school.

  "This?" Charlotte asked, holding it up. "Eli, is this the first one ever made?"

  "He lets me use it to check my work," Tiffany smiled. "It helps a lot, even if it is old."

  Eli thought about how much it did help, how much it helped him when he was a young student. He thought about the holidays, about how over Christmas Tiffany would be working on the next few chapters, getting ahead.

  She needed it more than he did.

  "Here," he said, taking it from Charlotte and handing it to the younger girl. "You take it."

  She looked down at it and smiled. "To borrow? Oh, Eli, thank you. I'll bring it back after Christmas."

  "No," he said, thinking that it was no big sacrifice, especially when she was so smart and could make such better use of it than he could now. "It's yours. Keep it. You just have to tear off all the nerdy stickers I have on there."

  He'd covered it with affirming "good job!" and "way to go!" stickers, emblems from a bygone era in his life where his math teachers were his superheroes.

  Nerd.

  "No, I like those," she said, cradling the calculator close. "Thank you, Eli."

  And there were tears in her eyes as she said it.

  That... well, that was something.

  Probably a thirteen year old girl something, which he knew nothing about, praise God, because thirteen year old girls were like a strange tribal culture he didn't have to encounter and engage beyond these tutoring sessions.

  Praise God.

  "You better get going before you miss lunch at school," he said, waving off her thanks.

  "Come on, guys," Craig said, gesturing to the boys and her both. "Got to get you to school. I'll be back in time for lunch, Hope."

  Eli, Charlotte, and Hope watched as they left the room, laughing and talking as they went.

  "Eli," Charlotte said, pushing him on the shoulder. "That was downright decent of you."

  He bit back a smile at this. It wasn't that big of a deal, honestly, but he sure did like hearing that Charlotte thought well of him. That he was decent and all.

  He shrugged, feigning nonchalance. "She needed a calculator."

  "Not just that," Hope said. "She's been coming to church, too."

  He knew this. It had only been a few weeks, but she'd been there faithfully so far, finding him and Charlotte every week, introducing them to Amy, who was now coming with Michael as well.

  Tiffany had brought them both in.

  "I know," Charlotte grinned. "We see her. I really think God's working in her heart."

  "Most definitely," Hope said. "Our youth pastor was telling me how she's even getting involved in their programs as well. And now, Amy and Michael --"

  Eli's phone buzzed, taking his attention away from the conversation.

  Coming by the church to pick you up for lunch. Just down the road.

  Alicia.

  She knew all about the tutoring. She wasn't thrilled about it because he could be in the office, sending out other tutors, and making money by charging for their services, but after he'd told her that this was just one of those charitable things that even well-off men did (especially well-off men), she'd let it go.

  He'd been glad they hadn't discussed it further, all too happy to have Alicia go off on a random tangent while he zoned out and thought about how much he was actually enjoying the work.

  Yes. Enjoying it. And not even getting paid to do it.

  Imagine that.

  "Earth to Eli."

  He looked up from his phone to find Charlotte smiling at him.

  "How about Indian food for lunch? Craig's paying."

  "Oh, man," he groaned. "As much as I'd love to spend my brother's money, I've got plans."

  "Alicia?" Hope asked. "Ask her to come with us."

  He glanced over at Charlotte, who had nodded encouragingly.

  Yeah. Alicia still wasn't happy about the living arrangements. He couldn't risk having her around Charlotte, where she'd probably say something hurtful, where he'd want to defend Charlotte, which would make things even more difficult with Alicia --

  "Can't," he said, just shaking his head. "But you should go, Charlotte."

  "I will," she said. "If Hope can give me a lift back to the office afterwards."

  Hope nodded her assent, but Eli shook his head.

  "Just take my truck," he said, handing her the keys. "Alicia's coming by and can drive me."

  "You should tell her to come in and say hi, at least," Hope said.

  But he shook his head, knowing that Alicia wouldn't step foot into the church. Too narrow-minded, she'd once said about his particular denomination. Which was her call, of course, but it's not like she had a less judgmental one of her own.

  Or any faith of her own, at least.

  It hadn't bothered him all that much when they'd first met, but the more he got involved at church, the more he and Charlotte talked about what they were learning in their small group... well, it bothered him a little.

  A lot of things did, actually.

  He said goodbye to Hope and Charlotte and made his way outside, thinking about this, feeling conviction about it yet again, even as he saw that Alicia had already arrived and was waiting for him in the parking lot.

  She didn't see him, though. She was too busy texting on her phone.

  He wasn't nosy. Not really.

  But as he leaned down to peer into her passenger window, to signal to her to unlock the door, he saw the name on the text.

  Jason.

  He tapped on the glass in greeting, and Alicia jumped so high she dropped her phone in between her seat and the console. The ensuing curse word she muttered was her greeting to him.

  Classy, that.

  "Eli!" she yelled, unlocking the door in a huff. "Get in the car!" She went to fishing her phone out, then paused as he got in, pulling her rings off her fingers and her charm bracelet off her wrist so as to better slide her hand down beneath the seat.

  "Hey," he said, leaning over to give her a quick kiss on the cheek, but he was stopped by her fist, holding the jewelry out to him.

  "Hold these, would you?"

  He did, obediently, poking through them as she retrieved her phone and began clicking out of the conversation.

  "Who's Jason?" he asked.

  She looked flustered for a moment. "Jason?"

  "The text," he said, glancing over at her. "Just saw it and couldn't remember a Jason."

  No big deal. The list of Alicia's "people," as she called them, was long. A Jason could have gotten lost in there somewhere.

  Alicia took a breath, snatching her things back from his hand, slipping them on as she did so. "Study partner at school," she said. "Like you and Charlotte always were. Two notes to compare when we study and all." She waved her hands, showing off her jewelry. "All better now."

  He was still holding one piece. Her sorority badge, placed into a ring.

  "You forgot this one, Phi Mu lady."

  The endearment had once made her smile, as it had helped her to recall those early days.

  But those early days weren't a reason to smile anymore. For either of them.

  She took a breath. "Yes, that ring is the one I wear on my ring finger. On my right hand, of course. I have no ring for the ring finger on my left hand."

  Well, then.

  She narrowed her eyes at him. "Thought you might want to see how that ring fits on you, just in case you were ever wondering about my ring size."

  She was as crazy as Charlotte said she was. Pinterest boards and all. Mason's jars and mints aplenty.

  "Isn't it against some sorority rule for me to wear this, though?" he asked, holding it between two fingers, going for the joke, wondering why she'd want to marry him when she so clearly couldn't stand him sometimes.

  Her own parents were kind of crazy like that, though. Distant, cold, superficial with one another.

  Maybe she thought this was normal.

  "Fine, then," she said, grumbling. Then, with great effort, she forced a brighter voice. "Where would you like to eat?"

  Lloyd's. Tacos, woman.

  It was almost out of his mouth before he saw the look on her face.

  "Wherever you want, Alicia," he said.

  She smiled and began to back out of the parking spot.

  "I know a great little bistro that's just opened up near campus," she said. "It's a little pricey but worth it."

  "Sounds good," he said, yawning and putting his hands behind his head.

  "Tough morning with work?" she asked.

  It hadn't been tough. It had been great. The only tough part was having a thirteen year old beat him over and over again on those races she always wanted to have with him.

  "A thirteen year old kicked my butt," he said. "Math skills like a nerdy ninja."

  Alicia smiled. "Tara, right? Is that her name?"

  "Tiffany," he said, thinking about how often he'd told Alicia about her. "And she's doing so well. I'm not sure what the school is going to do with her. She'll pass through all they can teach long before it's time for her to graduate. She'll get so bored."

  "You know," Alicia said, tapping her fingernails on the steering wheel as she drove, "there's a way for her to start taking college classes when she gets to the tenth grade, if she's ready for them."

  "AP classes for college credit, right?"

  "No," she smiled. "Real college classes. Jason--"

  And here, she glanced over at him.

  Just a study buddy, right?

  Maybe not.

  Eli moved in his seat uncomfortably, pivoting to face her.

  "Well, his father is on the board of trustees for the university," she continued on, unaware of how he watched her now, "and they've just spearheaded the program. Gets the students into college early and challenges them. I was at a gala last weekend where I heard all about it. Just might be the kind of program this kid needs if she's that smart."

  But he hadn't heard much besides "gala" and "last weekend."

  "Wait, weren't you at a girls' night thing last weekend?"

  Alicia stopped talking for a long moment. Then, "Oh, no, Eli, you must have heard me wrong. It was a gala for the university. I went as part of the law school's delegation."

  Something seemed off about this. "With Jason?"

  "Well, he was there, yes," she said. She looked over at him. "I told you that."

  Had she? He wasn't always listening, so...

  He would have remembered that, though.

  Surely, right?

  "Anyway," she said, moving him along even as he wondered over it, "speaking of galas, we have that one next week, remember?"

  He did, vaguely. Big party, people to impress, Alicia's successful date.

  "Yeah," he said, wishing that he didn't have it after all. "But about --"

  "It's going to be great," she said, putting her hand to his knee and patting, almost as if to silence him.

  And it worked, as he felt no need to say much of anything, as she talked over him for the rest of the drive and the meal that followed.

  Charlotte

  They were playing a Star Wars game on the Xbox when her phone rang.

  Yeah. So, they were nerds.

  It was a regular Wednesday night, or what Wednesday nights were looking like these days.

  Work, of course. A full day from early in the morning until the evening, when they'd close up the office and head to church.

  Their Sunday morning attendance had been consistent for the past few years, but since Thanksgiving, they'd started heading up there on Wednesday nights as well.

  Craig was doing a discipleship class, and he'd talked to them about joining. Eli had grudgingly agreed to be a part of it when Charlotte had expressed interest.

  She was learning so much already. One of the biggest themes had been about forgiveness, about how Christ had forgiven them of much, and how they could extend that same grace to others, no matter how they'd been done wrong.

  It had given Charlotte a lot to think about, honestly. On that particular Wednesday night, the conviction had been great enough for her to finally text her mom, to extend an olive branch, asking if she could come visit her for Christmas.

  After church, she and Eli had picked up dinner and had come back to his place, where the Xbox was on, the tacos were half-eaten, and her phone rang.

  Her mother.

  Her face was likely a mixture of shock and horror all at once, given the way Eli paused the game and raised an eyebrow at her, the question in his eyes.

  But Charlotte gave him no answer. No answer, that is, except for the way she answered the phone.

  "Hey, Mom."

  At this, Eli put the controller aside and made a move to get up, to go somewhere else, to give her privacy --

  But Charlotte put her hand to his knee, willing him to stay.

  It would be easier with him here. This conversation, this trip back to her past... it would be easier somehow with Eli sitting here.

  He patted her hand and leaned back again, obviously consenting to what she'd not even come out and blatantly asked.

  "Charlotte."

  Her mother's voice. There were calls, of course, but there hadn't been any in a long while.

  The sound took Charlotte's breath away, like it always did, as she imagined the disappointed sighs her mother would give and the haunting words she'd left her with so many years ago.

  Just wrong.

  A psychologist would likely have a field day with Charlotte and her mother.

  But forgiveness. Forgiveness towards others because Christ had forgiven her. Charlotte could hear the words of Scripture as Craig had shared them, could recall the way Eli had talked about it all later, and concluded, even as her heart raced and her mother breathed silently on the other end of the line, that this was possible.

  Forgiveness.

  "Thank you for calling me back," Charlotte said softly.

  "Thought it would be easier to talk than to text," her mother said.

  It wouldn't be easier, likely. But this was a move in an encouraging direction.

  "Either way was fine," she said. "You got my text about Christmas, then?"

  It had been a simple text, about how Charlotte could drive out there, spend a couple of days, then come right back. It wouldn't cost her mother anything. Nothing but time, and not a lot of that, honestly.

  "I did," her mother sighed.

  Sighed.

  Charlotte could feel her hopes falling.

  Eli nudged her knee with his.

  She looked up at him with fear in her eyes. Fear that her mother was about to do what she always did --

  "Rick and I are going away for Christmas."

  Rick, Charlotte's stepfather. She'd foolishly believed, when her mother had brought him around those first few times, that she was going to get a real stepfather, someone who could be there like her dad hadn't been able to be.

  But she'd been fifteen, and fifteen year old girls tended to freak out middle aged men, quite honestly.

  He'd been as distant and detached as her mother. Like attracts like, apparently. Mark, on the one occasion he'd met Rick, had been astounded by the similarities between his former sister-in-law and the man she was going to marry.

  "That's crazy scary," he'd muttered to Lottie afterwards, when he'd looped his arm over her shoulders and walked her out to his rental car, tossing her the keys at the last moment. "Gonna teach you to drive while I'm here, but I've only got three days home this time, so chop, chop, Lottie."

  Maybe she hadn't missed out on the father part after all.

  So, it shouldn't have hurt so much that Rick had done this, had validated her mother's plans to go away for Christmas, that he had validated all the past plans to leave Lottie out of their lives.