Lisa’s eyes got teary during that part, and she looped her arm through Keith’s. Chase wondered if she was thinking about their daughter, Andi. Sure she was in college, but how often were they able to talk to her or visit? The movie business took all their time.
“I guess that’s when I knew,” he sat straighter, his eyes on Keith’s, imploring him to understand. He had to be very clear here. “I’m finished making movies, Keith. I’ve been offered a position at church.” He shrugged, his eyes intent and unwavering. “I’m staying home with my family. It’s what God’s calling me to do.”
Keith looked amazed and shocked and dizzy, like if he tried to stand he might topple over. But he didn’t look angry. He was quiet for a long time before he raised his brow and allowed a soft chuckle. “I saw this coming, really I did.” He looked at Lisa. “If I can be honest, I thought you and Kendall were getting a little too close.”
His friend’s admission brought with it another burst of shame, another confirmation that he was making the right move. “She’s moving on. She told me so, but you’re right. I was out of God’s will in a lot of areas.”
“We talked about you that night back in our room, how we were worried about you being away from Kelly and the girls.” He breathed in deep, like he was trying to find his balance again. “But not for a minute did I expect this.”
“I know.” Chase couldn’t help but offer a weak smile. The joy inside him was that great. “That’s the best part. I didn’t expect it
either. But God did. He had this plan all along; I really have to believe that.”
“I’m not sure where that leaves us—Jeremiah Productions, I mean.” Keith looked at Lisa, and his eyes filled with a fear that was uncommon for him. For a moment it seemed he might recite all the company had going on—the great news about the theatrical release and American Pictures, the deal with Brandon Paul, and the potential success of that next film. “You and Kendall, both gone.”
Chase waited, and for a few moments the silence became uncomfortable again.
Then Keith exhaled slowly and turned his eyes back to Chase. “God will show us what to do. Luke Baxter can draw up paperwork releasing you. But the bottom line is already clear. Whatever happens with Jeremiah Productions, it no longer concerns you.”
Of all the things Keith could say, this touched Chase most of all. By acknowledging that Chase wasn’t responsible for the trouble he’d caused or how Keith would move forward from here, he was releasing Chase. Releasing him with a full heart. For a long time none of them said anything. Keith folded his hands and looked at the floor for nearly a minute. When he lifted his face, there were tears in his eyes. “I’ve loved every minute of this journey. Even the scary times.” His voice was strained. “I couldn’t have done it without you, buddy.”
For the first time since he’d made his decision, Chase fully registered that there was indeed a loss here, a loss that paled in comparison with the gift he was gaining. But a loss all the same. He stood and helped Keith to his feet, and the two of them hugged. Not the victory hug from the premiere night. But a hug that said no matter how difficult this moment was, the two of them would remain friends. “I’m sorry,” Chase could barely speak the words. “God wants me to do this. I have no choice.”
“I know.” He sniffed hard and drew back, wiping the back of his hand beneath his eyes. Lisa was quietly crying on the couch,
her hand to her mouth as she watched the two men. Keith nodded, still struggling. “I will pray for you and your new ministry every day. I promise you that.”
Relief flooded Chase’s heart. He put his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “And I’ll pray for you.”
There were a thousand unanswered questions. How would Keith proceed alone, and how quickly could someone fill Chase’s spot? But all that mattered here and now was that Keith understood, and he did so with a love and grace that didn’t surprise Chase. It was one more answer to prayer, and Chase expected nothing less from their gracious God. The men hugged one more time and as Keith took his spot beside Lisa again, he laughed to break the sadness in the room.
“I don’t have to ask this, but…you know what you’re walking away from, right?”
“I know.” Chase chuckled a few times and shook his head. “Kelly’s asked me more than once if I hit my head on the way home from LA last weekend. No one walks away from all you’ve got going on, Keith.”
His friend seemed to note the way Chase distanced himself from the company, how he referred to the work of Jeremiah Productions as what Keith had going on, no longer the two of them. Keith nodded slowly. “I guess it’s not about what you’re walking away from.” He smiled and put his arm around Lisa. “It’s about what you’re walking toward.”
“Those sweet babies.” Lisa’s voice caught. “You’re doing the right thing, Chase. I didn’t see this coming. Not now with so much going on.” She smiled and her sincerity rang with every word. “But you’re doing the right thing.”
“Thank you.” Chase finally leaned back in his seat, able to relax. “I will always be here for the two of you. Anything I can do from my home, I’m happy to help out. And I believe God will bring someone along, someone who will be better for Jeremiah Productions than I ever could’ve been.”
Keith raised one eyebrow. “Let’s not get carried away.”
They all laughed, and the conversation shifted away from work. As it did, there was nothing left to talk about. The two of them were no longer a team, no longer ready to take on the world of filmmaking in an attempt to change the culture. The dreams they’d believed in back on the mission fields of Indonesia had changed for Chase, and some sorrow colored the moment the way it was bound to.
Even so, Chase drove home with a smile in his heart, and when he walked through the front door, he found Kelly curled up on the sofa reading. “The girls are in bed,” she whispered. “How did it go?”
“Perfectly. God met us there.” He motioned that he’d tell her more later. First he needed to find his girls. He tiptoed down the hall and into the bedroom they shared, and he stood over them, watching the way their little bodies breathed so peacefully. He had almost lost this, the chance to watch them grow, to pray over them every night. But God had spared him, and now one thing was absolutely certain.
He wasn’t going to miss another moment.
K
EITH NO LONGER HAD TO WONDER
what it would feel like to be trapped beneath thirty floors of rebar and cement. The moment his friend shut the door behind him, as soon as Keith and Lisa were alone in their silent living room, a weight like nothing he’d ever felt hit him square on the shoulders, dropping him to the edge of the sofa.
“Honey?” Lisa took the spot beside him. Her face was masked in worry, and she put one hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay. God will show us a way out.”
The pain of losing Chase now, when he needed him most, was so strong he struggled to breathe, struggled even to believe the events of the last hour had actually happened. Chase was gone. Their team was broken up, and now anything was possible. Every contract on the table was in jeopardy. “I…I’m not sure what to do.” He stood and crossed the room. He wouldn’t cry or raise his voice or fall apart. God would get him through this the way He’d gotten them through so many other situations.
If only Keith could figure out what to do next.
He crossed the room to the front window and stared out at the dark night. Not even the hint of a moon lit the ground outside, and Keith found that fitting. He was suddenly headed a hundred miles an hour into the thickest fog he’d ever seen. No idea what the next minute might hold, let alone tomorrow.
“Keith…” Lisa stood and came to him. “Talk to me.” She put her hand gently on his shoulder. “What’re you thinking?”
He looked back at her. “It might be over. Without Chase, every contract could be cancelled. That’s how it works.”
Lisa didn’t look surprised. She nodded slowly. “Okay. So you walk away from Hollywood.”
Her words had a strangely calming effect on him. His life in Hollywood had gotten so complicated that he rarely considered the obvious. He could walk away from it tomorrow—as long as his investors were taken care of. Because he could only do so much, and if American Pictures wanted to pull out, if Brandon Paul no longer wanted to work with him, then so be it.
He leaned his head against hers and remembered a sermon a year ago, something he’d forgotten until now. “Remember what Pastor Hastings said awhile back?” Keith’s voice held a calm that he still didn’t quite feel. “He said sometimes life gets too complicated to figure it out on your own. When that happens, God has to do the figuring.”
“Mmm.” Lisa eased her arm around his waist and pressed her body close to him. “I remember.”
“And while God does the figuring, there’s only one thing we can do.”
He felt Lisa smile. “The next thing.”
“Right. We just do the next thing and let God reveal the bigger answers.” They were quiet, clinging to each other and to the certainty that God would see them through. Even if it was impossible to see the way out from here. Keith peered into the darkness. Chase had a right to follow God’s plan for his life, even if that plan had seemingly come out of nowhere. It wasn’t like Chase had a contract to fulfill. They were only now signing deals with American Pictures and DTA, with Brandon Paul and the author of
Unlocked.
They had yet to contact new investors about the publicity and advertising budget for their theatrical release of
The Last Letter.
Legally, Chase was free and clear, and Keith could do nothing but release him with complete understanding. Keith sighed, feeling the heaviness around him again. Tomorrow he would need to
call Luke Baxter and tell him. Luke would have ideas, someone in the industry who might be interested in filling Chase’s position. But what about their vision? Making movies that could change the world? Would anyone else work as passionately to that end as Chase Ryan?
“Don’t.” Lisa whispered against his face.
He looked at her, loving her. “Don’t what?”
“Don’t borrow trouble from tomorrow.” She kissed him on his cheek, her eyes never leaving his. “Do the next thing.”
“Hmmm.” His heart filled with gratitude for the strength of the woman beside him. She had been this way when he married her, and her resolve had helped him through their time in Indonesia. Now here she was again, her tender wisdom helping him believe that God hadn’t abandoned them, that His plans were still good. He touched his fingers to her face, lost in her. “The next thing, huh?”
“Yes.”
He shrugged, at a loss. “And what’s that?”
“We call our daughter, read our Bibles, and go to sleep.”
“Are you sure that’s the next—” The phone rang before he could finish his sentence. He looked at the clock on the wall. It was just after seven, which meant it was ten o’clock in Bloomington. “Maybe that’s her.” The situation with Chase had distracted him much of the week, but now he was reminded about Andi. They’d talked to her just a few times since last weekend, and with each call she sounded more distant, distracted. Keith pointed toward the phone. “There it is…the next thing.”
Lisa smiled, and her unwavering joy relieved the pressure weighing on him. He moved to the phone and picked up the receiver. “Hello?”
“Keith, hey it’s Dayne Matthews. I’m not calling too late, am I?”
“No, not at all.” Keith wrinkled his brow, baffled. Dayne Matthews had never called him at home. The two hadn’t talked since
they were in Bloomington a year ago filming. He mouthed to Lisa that the caller was Dayne Matthews.
Her eyes grew wide, and she moved slowly to the nearest chair.
“Do you have a minute?” Dayne sounded excited, practically bursting with whatever he’d called about. “I mean, if this is a good time?”
“It’s fine.” Keith returned to his place by the window and leaned against the adjacent wall. “What’s on your mind?”
“Well,” he chuckled, as if he wasn’t sure where to begin. “I’ve been following your work—you and Chase. I read earlier today about your premiere and the offer from American Pictures. The whole Brandon Paul deal that must be coming together based on the retraction from NTM.” Dayne sounded impressed. “God’s doing amazing work through you two, which got me thinking.”
Dayne went on to say that he’d been away from movies for a long time—several years. “CKT is running itself. We have wonderful directors and people handling the office. The kids’ theater group doesn’t need Katy and me like it used to.”
Keith felt his heart speed up. Where was Dayne going?
“What I’m saying is, Katy and I talked about it and we’d like to be a part of Jeremiah Productions. Sophie is old enough to travel, but too young for school. Katy and I could take her with us, spend time on the set. Help with the productions somehow or with the publicity and advertising.”
Keith’s head started to spin. He turned his back to the window and rested against it, his eyes closed. How was this happening? And was Dayne really proposing what it sounded like? Keith forced himself to concentrate.
“We’d like to invest as well. We and some friends of mine from Hollywood. We really believe in what you’re doing.” He paused but only for a second or two. “Of course, we wouldn’t want you or Chase to feel like we were taking over. You might not
have room for us, and that’s fine. It’s just…we talked about it all day, and I couldn’t go to sleep without calling you and Chase to see if—”
“Dayne.” Keith shot a disbelieving look at Lisa. Then he uttered a single awestruck laugh. “There is no Chase.”
A long silence filled the line. “What?”
“There’s no Chase. He resigned from Jeremiah Productions an hour ago.”
Now it was Dayne’s turn to be overcome with disbelief. “Because…because of some problem?”
“Yes. His family needs him. His girls are in preschool. They can’t travel with him.” Keith moved to the chair across from Lisa. He needed to sit down. “They need to be home and he needs to be on the road.” He pictured Chase’s young daughters. “They were forgetting what he looked like.”
“This just happened?” Dayne was obviously confused. “Now? When you’re on the verge of making history with Jeremiah Productions?”
“Yeah.” Keith sucked in a long breath, but it didn’t help. He was still dizzy, still too shocked to fully grasp what was happening. “But Chase had no doubts. Our church staff offered him a position as youth pastor, and he accepted.” Another chuckle came from him. “Lisa and I were just reminding each other that God still had a plan for Jeremiah Productions. That everything wasn’t really going to fall apart. We just couldn’t see what was next.”
Gradually Dayne must’ve understood. “Until now?”
“Yes.” Keith reached for Lisa’s hand, and he saw understanding dawn in her eyes. “Until now.”
“Dear God, thank You.” Lisa bowed her head, her whispered prayer little more than a breath. She must’ve heard some of Dayne’s side of the conversation and pieced together what was happening.
“Well, then.” Dayne’s quiet laughter bridged the distance in the pause that followed. “I guess there’s just one more question…”
“When can you start?”
They talked a few minutes more, and Keith promised to make a trip to Bloomington to talk about details. “But before that, how would you feel about taking meetings with me over the next few weeks? As my co-producer.”
“This is crazy.” Dayne’s laugh was full now, his enthusiasm clear over the phone lines. “Just tell me when and where.”
“Your brother Luke can rearrange things, fit the meetings into the next couple weeks, but we’re needed out there pretty much all that time.”
“Hmmm.” Dayne thought for a moment. “I have an idea.” He went on to explain that he still had friends in real estate outside Los Angeles. “They handle corporate rentals too.” Dayne agreed to make a few phone calls and line up a house on the beach—something with enough room for both their wives and little Sophie. “That way they can have a vacation while we’re taking care of business.”
Keith’s mind raced. Dayne would have to get up to speed very quickly. They would likely need another few hours on the phone tomorrow, but Dayne seemed certain he could have a place rented by Monday. They could fly in then and hit the ground full speed. What Dayne didn’t know in background information and contract details he would learn. Until then, his name would raise the visibility and credibility of Jeremiah Productions to an even higher level.
The phone call finally ended and Keith stared at his wife, speechless.
“Am I understanding this right?” She came to him and knelt at his side, her hand alongside his face. “Dayne Matthews just called and asked if he could work with Jeremiah Productions?”
“Umm…Yes.” A single laugh slipped from Keith and he lifted his hands, still stunned. “I think so.” He looked around and then put both his hands on her shoulders. “I’m not dreaming, right?”
“No.” They giggled, giddy over the unbelievable turn of
events. “You’re walking in faith.” She looped her arms around his neck and hugged him close.
As long as they lived they would remember this day. It was as if a sudden storm had come upon them and threatened to capsize their boat, threatened to destroy them and all they’d worked for. But then Jesus Himself had calmed the wind and the waves with a single phone call. Dayne Matthews, wanting to be a part of Jeremiah Productions. Minutes after Chase had stepped down. Only God could’ve done this, and Keith stood, helping Lisa to her feet as well.
The reality was sinking in and Keith let out a victory shout as he threw his arms around his wife. They weren’t done making movies. God had a plan better than anything they could’ve come up with. Chase was going home to be with his family, and Keith would have the chance to work with one of the top names in Hollywood. A man who had seen the ugliest side of Hollywood, but who still believed that God could use the power of film.
“Keith!” Lisa pushed back and sucked in a quick gasp. “I have an idea!”
He laughed again. “I’m not sure I can take much more.”
“No, this is perfect.” She backed away and paced a few steps, her hand to her forehead. “Dayne lives in Bloomington.”
“Yes.” Keith wasn’t sure where Lisa was headed with this, but he loved her enthusiasm.
“Andi will be there for another three years, right?”
“At least.” He caught a glimpse of what she might be thinking. “You’re saying we—”
“We move there! We can be closer to Andi, and you and Dayne will be better able to work together.”
Keith nodded, letting the idea sink in. “Wouldn’t it make more sense for everyone to move to LA?”
“Dayne won’t want that.” Lisa was adamant. “Neither would we. And LA would be the worst place for Andi. She’s had trouble staying grounded in Indiana.”
Her excitement was contagious. “We could rent a place in LA when we need to be there, and do most of our filming in Bloomington. Or somewhere close by.”
“Exactly.” Lisa raised her fist in the air and let out a joyous cry. “This just keeps getting better.”
Keith realized then how much he’d missed his Andi. She wasn’t young like Chase’s daughters, but she was still their little girl. On the mission field they’d shared every day together for years. Never mind that she was an adult now. She was floundering—they all knew that much. And now they could be together again.
The receiver was still on the sofa where Keith had placed it after the call from Dayne. Now Lisa raced over and grabbed it. “Let’s call her. She won’t believe everything that’s happened.”
Keith thought about telling his wife that maybe they should wait. They shouldn’t get Andi excited that her parents were moving closer unless they were sure. “Shouldn’t we pray about it first?”
“Keith. God’s the one who dropped this in our laps.” Her smile lit the room, but she set the phone down on the arm of the sofa. “Okay, fine. Let’s pray.”
Again, laughter filled Keith’s throat and he nodded at his wife. “You do it.”
She took his hands and closed her eyes. “Dear Lord, thank You for making the answers so clear. Please let the pieces fall in place quickly. In Jesus’ name, amen.” She opened her eyes. “Let’s call Andi.”
Again they laughed together, reveling in God’s goodness and the certainty of His plans for the next season of their lives. They called Andi twice that night, but both times the call went to her voicemail. Keith frowned. “I hope she’s not out with that Taz guy. He’s not good for her.”
“She’s not.” Lisa stared at the phone and then at Keith. “They stopped seeing each other a month ago.”