*****
Anna found herself smiling throughout the day on Monday as she cared for the three young Proctor children. She and Mary chatted for a few minutes when she came to pick them up, but she avoided the subject of Dan. It was just too new for her to talk about. The phone rang as Mary was getting the kids together to take them home.
“Hello?”
“Anna? It’s Dan.” His voice was loud and clear over the phone, loud enough that he could be heard throughout the room. Mary turned her head and looked at Anna with wide eyes.
“Hi, Dan.” Anna did her best to keep her voice neutral and not give anything away to Mary.
“Did you talk to your mom? Are they okay with us intruding this evening?”
“Yeah. She said she’d make sloppy joes and we could play some board games and stuff.” Anna turned her back to her blond friend, trying for some privacy. She knew that Mary wouldn’t gossip, but this was personal.
“That sounds good. What time should I pick you up?”
Anna looked over her shoulder at Mary who was making no pretense of not listening. Mary sat back down on the couch and was now watching Anna avidly. “Mom said she’d serve dinner at six, so would five or five-thirty be okay? I’d like to get there in time to help with dinner.”
“I’ll be there at five. We close the church at four so that gives me plenty of time.”
“Sounds good. I’ll see you then.” Anna pushed the end key on her cell phone and carefully set it on the counter before turning back to Mary. She had to tell her something, but how much was too much?
“All right. I know you never pry into my life, but let me live vicariously through you. Was that Pastor Daniel?” Mary’s voice was filled with excitement. If she’d been anyone else, Anna would have been counting the minutes until people from the church started calling and asking about her wedding plans. Mary had been the victim of cruel gossip, though, and Anna knew Mary wouldn’t do that.
Anna sat down next to Mary. “Yeah, but don’t get any ideas.”
Mary lifted an eyebrow. “Don’t get the idea that he’s taking you to dinner at your parents’ house tonight? Don’t get the idea that you two are obviously seeing each other? Don’t tell me you’re just friends, Anna King, because I can see the blush on your face that means you have feelings for him!”
Anna blushed more. She knew she did. She buried her face in her hands. “I honestly don’t know what to say. I only met him yesterday.”
Mary shook her head. “He’s perfect for you. When’s the wedding?”
Anna shook her head. “I know that’s what my mother is thinking. You could see it written all over her face when we had lunch with them yesterday.”
Mary grinned. “You had lunch with them yesterday and dinner tonight? So what did you guys do for dinner last night?”
“We went to the dinner and a movie place,” Anna mumbled. She hated to confirm that they’d had dinner together, but she didn’t want to lie to her friend either.
Mary laughed out loud. “You two are seeing each other that often, and I shouldn’t make too much of it?”
“But we just met yesterday!” Anna knew her voice sounded panicked as she said it, but how could she help it? You don’t just meet a man one day and plan to marry him the next. Well, boring women like her didn’t.
“Uh huh. Has he mentioned marriage yet?”
“Just as a joke,” Anna protested.
“A joke? You think our single pastor is joking about marriage? I don’t think so. What exactly did he say?” Mary cradled Bethany to her patting her bottom as she stirred in her sleep.
Anna looked down at her hands. “Umm…he said we were already married in his mind.”
Mary’s whole face lit up. “May I go shopping for your wedding dress with you? I mean, I know I can’t be in the pastor’s wedding being divorced and stuff, but I want to help in any way I can. Please?”
“There’s no reason you can’t be in the wedding.” Anna caught herself. “Wait! There is no wedding. We just met yesterday!” Anna knew she sounded like a broken record, but she didn’t know what else to say. He was wonderful. She could easily fall in love with him, but was it right to rush things?
Mary shrugged. “You can keep telling yourself that all the way to the altar.” She stood up carefully so as to not wake the baby. “Boys! We need to go!” The boys came in from Anna’s bedroom where they’d been playing a board game while the women talked. “Thanks for watching my babies. Again. I’ll owe you until the end of time, sis.”
Anna smiled. “Holding that sweet baby while she slept is all the payment I’ll ever need.” She hugged Mary and waved to the boys. Micah, the seven year old big brother, grabbed his sister’s diaper bag, while Noah carried his mother’s purse. It was a routine they had down pat. They’d obviously done this many times before. “Call me if you need me.”
Mary nodded. “I will. You call me if you have any big news to share.”
Anna closed the door after Mary and the children, automatically going into her bedroom to clean up the mess the children had made. Mary’s children were so well-behaved and orderly that, for the most part, there was very little to do.
She checked the clock. It was only three-thirty. It was way too early to get ready to go, but she wasn’t sure that she could settle to doing anything. She found that she was incredibly nervous. She hadn’t been last night, because she’d been sure that Dan only saw her as a friend. Now that she knew differently? She found herself as nervous as a teenager before her first date.
She found the file that she was using to keep everything organized for Vacation Bible School. She sat down at her table and went down the list thinking about who she’d spoken with within the last week or two. She liked to make sure that everyone felt comfortable with what they’d be teaching and that everything was coming along well. She remembered the year before she’d taken over, and how women hadn’t been given their assignments until hours before VBS started. It had been extremely chaotic, and she wasn’t doing that to the women.
She spent the next hour making phone calls, jotting down notes, and clock watching. She was able to make contact with four of the women who were teaching different grade levels and that would make her job easier tomorrow. She finally picked up the papers she’d strewn around the table and put them neatly back into the file.
She went into her bedroom and changed into a pair of knee length shorts and a green t-shirt. Just as she was slipping on a pair of sandals, there was a knock at the door. She opened it quickly to see Dan standing there with a single red rose. She blinked a few times to make sure he was real.
She invited him in, and took the flower, putting it in a small vase and placing it in the middle of her table. She turned back to him and saw that he’d left the front door open again. She appreciated the fact that he was so careful about that. It was nice to have a man actually care about her reputation.
“Thank you for the rose.” She smiled at him. “You really don’t need to bring me anything, though.”
He shook his head. “I don’t need to, but I want to.” He leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Are you ready to go?”
“Let me just grab my purse.”
As soon as they were on their way, she asked if he’d been able to talk to Agatha.
He sighed. “Yeah. I talked to her.”
Anna turned her head toward him seeing the sadness in his eyes. “What happened?” She really felt bad for him. He shouldn’t have to come into the church and make all these changes. Agatha wasn’t an easy person to deal with anyway, and the old pastor had been the only one she’d listened to about her ministry.
“She said that she’s too old to do any more than what she’s doing. If you’ll keep doing what you’ve been doing she’ll stay on until I find a new children’s minister. She’s just not interested in doing her job anymore. Especially not in doing it the
way she should do it.”
“I expected that,” she admitted sadly. She wished it were different, though.
“Honestly? I did, too, but it doesn’t make it any easier. I guess I’ll put out feelers for a new children’s minister. I still hope that I can find someone to help take some of your burden away at least on Sunday mornings.”
“Why don’t you give that sermon you talked about on Sunday, and Monday I’ll start making some phone calls to see what we can do. I think a good kick in the pants is what some of those moms really need. We only need one person per week, because the youth will continue to supply the second person. It’s not that big a deal if each mom who has a child in the baby room gives up one Sunday in rotation. They’d only have to serve one week every few months. Even if we could just find four women willing to give up one Sunday per month it would work. I’d have done it sooner, but I didn’t want to step on Agatha’s toes.”
“You really wouldn’t mind doing that?” he asked. He was happy that she was always so willing to give of her time. He hated asking her to give more, but knew that it would benefit her in the end.
“Of course not! I don’t work in the summers, so I have the time. I’ll talk to my mom, too. She’ll help.” He pulled up in front of her parents’ house, and they both got out.
“I don’t want to pile more work on you, though. I’m trying to take some work off you.”
She laughed softly. “A few phone calls