Crossroads—2026-06-07 (Patreon)

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Chapter 132: WHEELS UP by Conner Wiltshire

Olivia and my jobs just got a lot harder. Not what we do for Best Price Office—which actually is booming so much that we’re making changes based on customer suggestions—but our real job of protecting Shay Ryder.

Since a lot of what happened revolved around Emma Knox, Olivia and I decided to do our own little Faulkner-like intro about Shay’s reaction to the problem. Don’t laugh.

As a bee leaves the hive and flies from flower to flower, visiting each bloom in turn, attending to the task before it, then moving on to the next, until, with its full burden of pollen, returns to the hive to deposit its gleanings before turning once more to the sky in search of yet more blooms, so Shay Ryder ventured from her apartment, tasked with assuring each of her friends that she would see them through the financial troubles that had befallen them because of the demise—or, more rightly, the disappearance—of Pay It Forward Society.

Something like that…

Since Paul and Rebecca let the team know their rent would no longer be covered, Shay has been busy trying to find a way to fix everything.

Olivia and I understand. For the first time in her life, she’s in a group that accepts her and even seeks her out just for the sake of saying hello.

So, leading up to today, Shay has been that busy bee, going from person to person trying to help.

It did not escape our notice that Paul and Rebecca were visited several times.

A moment ago, we figured out why.

It is Sunday morning at Crossroads, and everyone is here. Paul Charm came in, calling loudly up the stairs.

“Everyone! Front and center!”

He stood at the top of the stairs, hands on his hips, until everyone gathered.

“What’s up?” Kent asked.

“Wheels up, 6:00 p.m. Friday the 19th. Thanks to our friend, whereabouts unknown, Shay Ryder, we’re all going to Memphis!”

Merritt asked what everyone was thinking. “What’s the project?”

Paul hesitated dramatically. “Double wedding. Casual dress… don’t fuss about what to wear. Rebecca and me on Saturday at noon. Emma and Noah immediately afterwards. ”

Yeah, everyone was looking at Emma and Noah.

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Chapter 133: HOPE AND A FUTURE by Emma Knox

Well, if you read the the post from this morning, you know that me and Noah have decided to get married.

The wedding is on the 20th in Memphis. Daddy is going to be able to get off the river for a few days to be part of the wedding.

What you don’t know is that me and Noah aren’t coming back to New York. It's nice, and we have some good friends, but it’s just too expensive to live here—what with his wages as an EMT and me only working minimum-wage jobs.

And you’re probably wondering if we’re making a big mistake. We don’t think so. We always got along good, and we started dating almost four months ago. We’ve been planning to do this—just a little later on.

A lot of folks will say we’re too young. Maybe so.

A lot of folks will say we don’t know each other enough. Some will say we need to date more people to make sure.

Addison said that, and I had an answer. Me and Jacob went to the same high school…

“Jacob, remember that boy in your grade who always wore the LSU shirt?”

He did, and I went on. “I sat at the table beside him when I was in tenth. One day his buddy said, ‘Why are you eating Ruffles? You always eat Lay’s.’”

He explained that he liked Lay’s, but something was missing. When he tried Ruffles, he knew what it was—the heft of the chip. He said he was going to stick with Ruffles from then on.

The other boy pushed back. “You should try others. You might like them.”

The boy in the LSU shirt said, “Why would I do that? I don’t want to like something better. This is what I want. I’m sure. I don’t need to try anything else.”

Now, Noah and I aren’t chips.

But we know we don’t need to try anything else.

We’ve prayed for peace if this is right, and we both have it. We believe that if we stick with each other, we’ll become so close that nothing else could compare. We don’t need to play the field or shop around.

If we commit to each other and go forward together, we’ll end up in the same place.

Some will say we’re naïve.. We say we’re faithful—to each other and to the confidence God’s given us about this.

I’ll say more next time.

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