All That Really Matters by Nicole Deese (new books to read TXT) 📕

“We couldn’t have done it without you, Val.”

Silas stepped to my side. “Molly’s right. You played a huge part in all this. We’re very grateful you were here to help us.” He placed his hand on my lower back, and I noted that the gesture was not lost on my brother.

I moseyed toward Miles and the stack of boxes in his arms. “Mind if I have one of these congratulatory fritters before you take them to the kitchen?”

Miles popped the lid off the top box and bent for me to take my pick.

I made a contemplative sound in the back of my throat and then looked at Tucker, who seemed as excited for me to pick a donut as he’d been about eating one in my brother’s truck. “Tucker, I have a question for you. How many donuts do you think I should be allowed to choose if I have three super special things to celebrate today?”

“Three. Definitely three.” Not even a second of hesitation. “Is today your birthday, Molly?”

“Nope,” Miles and I answered at the same time.

Val looked between us. “So then what are the other two things?”

I smiled back at Silas, who was already shaking his head at my fun. “The first,” I said, plucking out my favorite, a fritter with a dried pool of crackling white glaze around the edges, “is that Silas and I had a conference call with Sophia Richards and her husband this morning. And the four of us discussed a very intriguing opportunity.”

“Sophia Richards,” Val repeated slowly. “As in . . . the Sophia Richards?”

“Exactly.”

“I don’t understand. What kind of opportunity? Is she wanting to collaborate with you on The Heart of The Matter? I can’t believe how quickly that platform is growing—you already have more than three hundred thousand followers. In just over thirty-six hours. That has to be some sort of new record.”

I smiled at her enthusiasm. “I do believe she’ll be involved in that after I spend a bit more time brainstorming the new vision, but that’s not actually why she called.” I’d need to set some significant time aside to think and pray on how best to approach my new platform, how to be true to the woman God made me to be and also give back to a community I’d grown to love. “But it turns out, the Richardses were our not-so-anonymous, eleventh-hour miracle donors this morning. Their generosity pushed us over the edge. And then some.”

“Seriously?” Val’s face was glowing, and I was glad I’d waited to share this information until I was face-to-face with her.

Silas cleared his throat and raised an eyebrow at me. “As did other generous last-minute donations.”

But I refused to give in to his bait to reveal the Tesla sale and instead nodded again at Val. “The Sophia Richards and her husband have been sitting on a business idea they’ve had for some time, an idea that supports the one-for-one model we’ve seen in other successful companies with a humanitarian cause. This plan has a similar marketing strategy to Sophia’s monthly subscription box for The Fit Glam Kit, but with an added benefit: For every new product box she sells, she wants to donate a box of basic supplies to kids who’ve aged out of group homes or foster families across the U.S. They’re essentially starter kits containing towels, sheets, shampoo, conditioner, toiletries, and the like. And . . .” I had to bite back the emotion threatening to creep up. “They want their employees to be the same individuals these one-for-one packages are meant to help. Their vision is for their employees to pack and assemble each consumer box for shipping, possibly even personalize them somehow, to both educate and encourage our world about this huge need in our nation. In the meantime, they will be equipped with on-site job training skills.” A point Silas had made during our call that had both Al and Sophia jazzed with excitement. “They have a ton in the works already . . . they were just missing a few key components.”

“Not to interrupt your stellar storytelling abilities, sis,” Miles said with his usual lick of humor, “but this tower of donuts is making it difficult to focus on all the details. Would anybody care to point me in the direction of the kitchen so I can drop these off?”

“Oh, perfect timing,” Glo said, smiling ear-to-ear as she rounded the intersection of the hall and lobby. “I can take those from you. I was just on my way back to the kitchen. What a thoughtful gesture.”

“Can I help?” Tucker asked his mom, his eyes focused on Glo.

“I could certainly use a helper with muscles as strong as yours.”

Tucker flexed. “I do have strong muscles. See?” Miles passed two boxes to Glo and gave the other two to Tucker—after giving his tiny bump of a bicep a squeeze and then shaking his hand out, as if he was injured.

Tucker laughed and followed after Glo.

Val’s gaze seemed to linger on my brother for an extra beat before she refocused. “That’s all really incredible. What components are they still missing?”

I shared a glance with Silas. “A connection to a program like the one Silas has directed for the last five years. And a few dedicated team members they could trust to operate it.”

Silas slipped his hand in mine. “That’s about the time they asked if Molly would consider working as their Chief Marketing Officer.” I smiled back at him, still in a daze at God’s abundant faithfulness.

“Seriously?” Miles focused in on me. “Is that something you could do remotely?”

“Yes and no.” I beamed. “While a lot of marketing can be done online, they’ll have a physical location as well. A warehouse they’ll want me to check in on and oversee.”

I could see Miles speeding ahead and connecting the dots. “You’re talking about here. Something in our area.”

“They’re calling their real estate agent now.” A production warehouse in Spokane would be far more affordable than one in Orange County. Plus, it would mean