Grace After The Fire

(From James and Luke Series – Condensed Excerpt)

The fire crackled softly in the wood stove, filling the cabin with flickering warmth. James and Luke sat in silence, the space between them thick with something neither had the courage to name.

“You ever feel like time moves differently out here?” Luke asked.

James nodded. “Like everything slows down. Makes it harder to ignore what’s been there all along.”

Luke exhaled, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah.” His knee brushed against James’s, but this time, neither of them moved away.

James swallowed hard. The quiet between them wasn’t new, but the way it pressed in now felt different—heavier. When Luke turned to look at him, there was something searching in his gaze, something raw and unspoken.

“James…” Luke murmured.

James didn’t answer. He wasn’t sure who moved first, but suddenly, the space between them was gone. A hesitant touch, a breath held too long—then the dam broke.

What started as a whisper of contact became something urgent, unchecked. Hands fumbled, shirts were discarded, reason drowned beneath the heat of the moment. The fire burned, but not as hot as the longing neither of them had ever dared to name.

And then—

It was over.

James lay on his side, his pulse still hammering, his skin still warm. But the warmth now felt suffocating. The firelight flickered over Luke’s face, illuminating the horror settling in his wide eyes.

The weight of what they had done crashed over them like a breaking wave.

James sat up abruptly, running a hand over his face. “Luke…” His voice barely found breath. “What did we just do?”

Luke swallowed, his throat working around words that wouldn’t come. He sat up too, his hands gripping the edge of the bed like he needed to steady himself. “I… I don’t know,” he whispered.

James buried his face in his hands, his body trembling. “We can’t undo this.”

Luke inhaled sharply, his voice hollow. “I know.”

A heavy silence settled between them, thick with guilt. Outside, crickets chirped in the darkness, oblivious to the wreckage inside the cabin.

James clenched his fists. He wanted to pray, but the words wouldn’t come. “God…” he choked out. “I don’t even know where to start.”

Luke’s hand found his shoulder, squeezing gently. “Me either. But… this doesn’t have to define us. It can’t.”

James turned to meet his eyes, seeing the same fear and sorrow reflected back at him. “We need His grace now more than ever.”

Luke nodded. “We can’t do this alone.”

They sat there, side by side, staring into the fire as if waiting for an answer.

The journey wasn’t over. But they would face it—together.

(Chapter from a longer story about James and Luke, actually second in a trilogy about these two characters. Contact if interested in full story.)