Love Is in the Air

The morning after Katrina’s return, Connie and Eugene are barely speaking. Connie is furious that Eugene announced her supposed crush on Jason, while Eugene still resents being used in Connie’s disastrous demonstration of a reunion hug. Jack refuses to let them hide behind their wounded pride. He tells them that each has hurt the other and that both owe apologies.

Jason soon bursts in with astonishing news: Tasha has accepted his proposal. Everyone congratulates him, but Connie’s attempt at enthusiasm ends in a clatter of dishes. Outside, in the rain, Jason gently tells her that he knows about her feelings for him. Connie hurriedly denies having a crush on Jason and claims her affections are directed somewhere else. Relieved but puzzled, Jason accepts her explanation without learning whom she means.

Eugene confides in Jack that Katrina is dating Brandon. He has even bought Katrina a ring as a token of affection, though he insists it is not an engagement ring. Jack understands his confusion but warns him that he cannot solve it by endlessly analyzing every possibility. Eugene must speak honestly with Katrina and be prepared for whatever she decides.

Jason and Tasha attempt a picnic at Trickle Lake, but the rain traps them inside the car. Their happy talk of marriage changes when Tasha says headquarters has ordered her back to Washington that afternoon. Jason has assumed their engagement means she will leave the agency at once. Tasha insists that she has unfinished cases and cannot simply abandon her work. Jason demands that she stay in Odyssey, and their disagreement follows them all the way to the airport.

At lunch, Eugene struggles to tell Katrina how he feels without hiding behind careful language. At last he admits that he is hurt and frightened. He wonders why she could not wait for him and why the person she turned to had to be a Christian who seems more mature than he is. Katrina appreciates his honesty but says she has not meant to hurt him. Although she respects Brandon and is growing spiritually through his help, she remains deeply confused about both relationships. She believes she should return to school and pray for God’s direction. Eugene sadly agrees.

Back at Whit’s End, another awkward embrace occurs between Connie and Eugene, and this time Eugene’s forgotten recorder captures it. Jack overhears Connie joking that Jason will now assume Eugene is her mysterious crush. He recognizes that Connie has been creating emotional excitement because she feels as though everyone’s life is changing except hers. Connie admits that boredom and feeling left behind may have stirred her jealousy. Jack reminds her that quiet seasons are still full of God’s work if she learns to look and listen.

Jason and Eugene meet outside after separately leaving Tasha and Katrina at the airport. Both declare their relationships finished, but Jack challenges their certainty. This may be the end of a chapter rather than the end of the whole book, unless they choose to give up. The two men race to the airport, then split up because neither knows which airline the women are taking.

Jason finds Katrina and asks the question Eugene could not: does she truly love Eugene? Katrina realizes that she does. Before boarding, she promises to call Eugene and return to him after finishing her university term. At another gate, Eugene finds Tasha. She is still angry with Jason, but she loves him and still intends to marry him. When she complains that she has no engagement ring to prove it, Eugene gives her the ring he had bought for Katrina until Jason can replace it with one of his own.

The two men reunite after both planes have departed and exchange the messages they have received. Jason learns that Tasha still wants to marry him, and Eugene can hardly believe that Katrina loves him and plans to return. Their troubles are not all settled, but neither relationship has ended. As Jason observes, their loves are quite literally in the air.