Chapter 50
The old-timers were on the road at 9:00 a.m. and, with light Sunday morning traffic, were able to make it to Almond Grove in ninety minutes. “It’s a little farther, but it beats flying into Oakland,” Leon Cross told his companion.
“I don’t think Little Ray would have driven me all the way to Oakland. Maybe for a ball game.”
“All the better then.” They arrived at the entrance to Community Chapel at approximately the same time as five or six hundred other cars. There were Rent-A-Cops directing traffic into the lot, and, from there, chapel volunteers in orange vests directed people to parking spaces. “I didn’t quite expect this, Raymond.”
“Neither did I, my old friend. Good for them.”
In the flow of people, Drs. Cross and Culbert were able to enter the sanctuary being noticed only by an usher who recognized Dr. Ray from his recent visit and greeted him personally. The usher led the guests to a couple of available seats in the back right-hand side of the main floor.
“Is there anything else I can do for you, Dr. Ray?”
“Remind me of your name again, son?”
“John,” he said. “We didn’t actually meet when you were here, but I came to two of the services - loved your teaching.”
“John, thank you for taking care of us so. And, if it wouldn’t be too much of a problem, could you give a note to Pastor Enright before service?” Raymond said.
“Absolutely.”
“If you could give us a minute, we’ll write something up. Madison and Jill don’t know we’re here.”
“Sure, just hold up your hand when you’re done, and I’ll come right down. I’ll be watching.” John left the two old men and returned to his post at the top of the aisle.
“Nice young man,” Dr. Cross said.
“I’ll tell Madison we’ll meet him out on the quad after service. After things thin out a bit.” Dr. Culbert wrote a quick note and held his arm high, turning around to try and catch John’s attention. John had already spotted him and was on his way down. He took the note and headed toward the stage. The men watched as another young man, this one wearing a headset, intercepted John. Headset man directed John to the ready room off the stage. John knocked, waited, entered and then re-emerged a few seconds later, giving two thumbs up across the room to Cross and Culbert before heading up an aisle. Dr. Culbert spotted Jill Enright as she entered the room and walked down to the first row, joining, it appeared from where he sat, David Bean and a young woman Ray didn’t recognize. David and the young woman stood, and the three of them embraced, the lady holding her left hand out for Jill to examine. “Hmm,” the old man thought, “it appears our Mr. Bean has taken the plunge.”
“Leon, I’m going to say hello to Jill, tell her we are here, and arrange to meet after service. Save my seat now. Don’t let one of these pesky youngsters steal it,” he smiled.
“I’ll protect it with my life,” Leon deadpanned.
While on his way down the aisle, another young woman joined the trio. He didn’t recognize this one either, but he didn’t recognize anyone in the room besides Jill and David Bean, so it was no surprise. This one was giddy over the left hand of the lady with David, as well, and it did Raymond’s old heart well to see four young people with such obvious affection for one another.
“Excuse me, are you the pastor’s wife?” he said to Jill as he drew near. She looked up to say ‘yes’ and saw her dear professor standing there smiling, dignified in his gray suit, probably the oldest person in the room by fifteen years.
“Doctor Ray!” Jill said, standing to give him a hug. Dave shook the old man’s hand, then, before he had time to introduce Shani and Dawn, the lights dimmed announcing the start of the service.
“Well, Leon and I will meet you all out in the quad after service, okay?” he whispered. “Oh, and you, dear, remind me to take a look at that left hand everyone seems so interested in,” he said to Shani before returning to his seat. Dawn started to excuse herself to go find a seat and Jill stopped her and insisted that she sit by her. Dave and Shani moved down one to free up the chair by Jill.
“This way, if Madison says anything I don’t like, I can lean over and pretend to whisper something to you. That drives him crazy,” Jill said, stretching out ‘crazy’ with southern charm. The ladies shared a quiet laugh while the band struck up a loud chorus, and the congregation stood to their feet and began to clap and sing.
Chapter 51
After the music portion of the service, the band leader led the congregation in prayer while Madison exited the ready room and walked to the pulpit. He kept his head bowed and stood at the acrylic lectern while the bandleader finished the prayer. Madison had seen the segue performed in a church he visited back east, and immediately adopted the practice, thought it helped streamline the service. The drawback was that the first time he saw the congregation was when he looked up after the prayer, and, in this case, the first people he saw was Jill and Dawn sitting together in the front row. Unnerved, he lost his train of thought for an awkward moment, staring at the women. He slowly recovered and welcomed the congregation to Community Chapel, his mouth moving, but his mind not registering the words.
“Good morning. We are so glad you are here. If you are visiting Community Chapel for the first time, my name is Madison Enright.” He slowly picked up steam as he continued. “What I have to share with you this morning is a wake-up call to marriages and families. The alarm has sounded and the sun has risen, shedding light on the problem areas, and it is now time to open our eyes, roll out of bed, and do the work necessary to repair the breaches in our relationships with one another - before it’s too late.”
He had sailed through Saturday night and the first service Sunday, but the words were difficult to find this time, and it took him a few minutes to get into his usual groove. He found that, if he avoided eye contact with his wife, he was almost able to stay on point. He also realized that it was impossible to look at Jill without stealing a glance to her left. His eyes did so of their own accord, so he forced himself to avoid eye contact with the front row.
Jill noticed the rough start and tried to catch his eye to give him an encouraging look, but she couldn’t catch him. Usually Madison depended on the visual support from his wife to help him through rocky terrain and found strength in her supportive eyes. Not being allowed to play her part saddened her. “This would not be a good time to play with his mind by whispering to Dawn,” she thought. “He’s not all there today. Maybe it’s the dignitaries in the audience.”
The old men in the back were pleased, and Dr. Cross, in particular, was certain that he had made the right choice for keynote speaker at the Family Conference. By the time he finished and Terry Fields cued up the proposal video, the crowd was ready to follow Madison off a cliff.
Terry’s video was perfect, probably better than the real thing in the sense that it was shorter, cut out all the slow parts, and it was set to a music bed of Elvis singing Love Me Tender, so it couldn’t miss. The place went wild as Dave and Shani stood up and waved. Terry switched the live edit to the remote cameraman who was located on the floor in the aisle, the shot of them standing and waving was broadcast on the three giant screens for everyone to enjoy. As they sat down, Pastor Dan and the band had replaced Madison on the stage. People were dismissed while the band, who had picked the chords for “Love Me Tender” fifteen minutes before the first service, played it now like they had practiced for months, while people filed out of the chapel, singing along, smiling and laughing.
Cross and Culbert sat back down to let the crowd disperse a bit before heading for the doors.
“Wow,” Dr. Culbert offered.
“Double wow.” Dr. Cross responded. The two old men looked at each other in amazement.
“He started a little rough, but... he sure recovered well. So, do you think he’ll do all right at the conference?”
Dr. Cross shook his head, “I wish this had been the conference. I’m su
rprised everyone in the area doesn’t come to this church. This is first rate on every level.”
“Well, they certainly offer a nice program, but there are still some folks that enjoy the smaller, more intimate fellowship - at least I hope that’s true, if not, I’m out of business. I certainly can’t preach like that.”
“It’s a new day, my friend,” Dr. Cross said as they stood.
The room was emptying out, and the old men began to make their way to the exit doors. Dave, Shani, Jill and Dawn, along with little Franny and Billy, were standing in the quad waiting for the professors to emerge from the building. People were stopping by to congratulate Shani and Dave, some of the ladies hugging Jill and gently patting her expanding tummy.
Dr. Culbert spotted Dave Bean and headed in his direction. Dave saw his old professors as they approached and broke free to greet them. Dave led the men back to Jill and the others. After greeting Dr. Culbert again and hugging Dr. Cross for a long time, Jill made the introductions.
“These are two of our favorite professors from college. You all know Dr. Ray. He spoke here a few weeks ago, and this is Dr. Leon Cross. I won’t tell you what we used to call him, but it was meant as a compliment.” Dave, Jill and Drs. Cross and Culbert laughed at the sentiment. “I’d like you to meet my good friend, Dawn Neilson. She’s gorgeous and single, but don’t you be getting any ideas, Dr. Ray. She’s too young for you!” Dawn rolled her eyes and smiled.
“My loss,” said Dr. Ray, shaking Dawn’s hand. “Nice to meet you, dear.”
Jill continued, “And the young woman who was recently featured on the big screen in the sanctuary...”
“Is my new fiancé, Shani Andrews,” Dave interjected, and, scooping Franny into his arms, he added, “and this little angel is Franny Andrews.” Shani smiled and shook hands with both professors, her face aglow.
“Let me see that left hand of yours, Miss Andrews,” Dr. Cross said. “It seemed to be causing quite a stir in the front of the sanctuary.” Shani blushed and extended her hand. The ring held a simple pear-shaped solitaire diamond of just over 2 carats in a platinum setting.
“My, my. Congratulations, my dear,” Cross said, patting her hand before releasing it.
“You are marrying a fine man, Miss Andrews,” Dr. Ray said. “And he didn’t pay me to say that.”
“He probably doesn’t have any money left to pay you after buying that rock,” Cross added.
“Thank you,” Shani said, “God has really blessed me.”
With that, the group was joined by Madison, who had broken away from another group of people and stepped up between his wife and Dr. Cross.
“There’s the man of the hour,” Dr. Culbert said, extending his hand toward Madison.
“What a great surprise,” Madison said as he shook hands with his old mentors. “When John brought back the note saying you were here it just floored me. Thank you so much for coming.” Madison was holding Jill’s hand, squeezing it gently in his own, she thought, by way of apology and nervousness. She squeezed his back, signaling forgiveness.
“Leon decided that, since he’s recommending you as keynote speaker at the biggest conference of the year, he should at least hear you preach once so he could know what he’s gotten himself into,” Culbert said.
“And?” Jill asked.
“And we made exactly the right decision, once again proving my brilliant intuition. You did a great job today, my young friend.”
Madison smiled and nodded appreciatively as a person passed behind him and took Dr. Cross’s right elbow.
“Hey, I know you.” Madison and Dr. Cross turned inward, not immediately placing the somewhat familiar voice. And there, standing between Madison and Leon Cross, holding the elbow of the old man, was Judy Turnbull. Madison turned white. Dr. Cross instantly recognized his cross-aisle travel companion.
“Well, well. Isn’t this a surprise! Raymond, this is the young woman I was telling you about. What are the chances that we would meet again? And at church on top of that. Remind me of your name again?”
“Judy,” she smiled, not taking her eyes away from Dr. Cross, she didn’t need to, she was quite confident that her surprise had been delivered as planned. She was wearing a black over-the-knee blended skirt that clung to her figure in a way that drew attention from all directions. Her blue blouse buttoned up the front, the sunlight catching each fold of the silk, glistened with shadow and light. She had tucked it in and left the top two buttons undone exposing a beautiful strand of pearls. Her blond hair was freshly colored and permed, and the ruby red lipstick and nail polish were perfect. She looked professional, confident, and single. Madison couldn’t look at her for more than a second at a time.
“Of course, Judy, I should have remembered that, Juday, Juday, Juday,” Leon said. “Friends, this is Judy. We were sitting across the aisle from one another on the flight from Dallas. Judy’s seatmate had a nervous bladder and was up and down the whole flight. She got up to let him pass by so many times we lost track. But his weak bladder led to a nice conversation and a new friend, so God bless him. Now, let me introduce you to some of my dear friends. This old coot is the man I flew out to meet, Dr. Raymond Culbert.” Ray shook hands with the lovely Ms. Turnbull. “And this, of course, is the young couple who were featured in the video during church - Dave Bean and Shani and Francine Andrews.”
“That was amazing. Congratulations,” Judy said. She shook hands with Dawn next and instantly realized that she wasn’t the prettiest girl at this party. Wow, she kept from saying.
“And this is Pastor Madison and Jill Enright, Senior Pastor of the church here,” Dr. Cross finished.
“It’s so nice to meet you,” Jill said with genuine southern warmth.
“Thank you, likewise,” Judy said, her eyes twinkling with delight, her voice offering a similar drawl. “When are you due?”
“February, but my little frame makes it look like next week. I’d swear I start showing the day after conception.” They all laughed.
Judy was amazed at the down-home charm of Jill Enright. What idiot would be flirting with other women with a jewel like her at home. “Just my luck,” she thought, “Mrs. Madison is a princess.” Judy then shook Madison’s hand, her firm grip familiar in his large palm. “Pastor,” she said, looking through him so deeply that Madison felt naked and exposed before her, “that was an excellent talk. Very compelling. I’ve read some of the articles in the Chronicle about you, but this is the first time I’ve got to visit the church in person.”
“Oh, uh, thank you,” was all he could say in response. He wished he would have driven straight home, wished he would have never gotten out of bed today, wished he’d never met Judy Turnbull, wished she wasn’t so smart, wished he was alone with her, wished he couldn’t smell her perfume.
“Now, Judy, you said on the plane that you were coming out to surprise a friend. I told Raymond about that. How did that go over, by the way?” Dr. Cross said.
“Oh,” she said, pulling her eyes away from Madison and looking again at the professors, “I think it was pretty effective. In fact, it worked better than I could have even imagined. You should have seen the look on his face,” She said. Dr. Cross took a moment to explain the surprise Judy had informed him of on the flight to Sacramento, and everyone, except Madison, who wanted to crawl in a hole, had a pretty good laugh.
“What a great idea!” Dawn said, thinking of how it might surprise some of the people in her dysfunctional past to look up and see the new and improved Dawn Neilson.
“Judy,” Dr. Ray said. “This old bald gentleman and I are buying lunch for these wonderful folks. It would be an honor to have you join us.”
“Yes, please do,” Shani said.
“Oh, thank you, but I really can’t. I’m still on my mission,” she said. “But it was truly nice to meet you all. Mrs. Enright, good luck with your pregnancy. And congratulations again you two,” she said to Shani and Dave. Judy shook hands again with Dr. Cross and excused herself
. Madison watched over the heads of Dr. Culbert and Shani as she disappeared into the parking lot, her hips reminding him of Dallas and his head reminding him that the woman to his right could read his thoughts.
Chapter 52
Madison was unusually quiet during lunch. This was different from his typical post-preaching depression. He was very distracted, and it was bothering Jill, whose mind was torn between worrying about her husband and wondering if her emotions were causing her to fabricate what she was sensing. Madison looked around the table. Dave Bean, his best friend, was about to be married to a great Christian girl. Dave was the knight in shining armor, the good guy, the hero. Madison envied his old buddy more than ever - not for his money, so much as his freedom. If he wanted to date Dawn, or chase Judy, he could do it, no one would care, and, if they did, he would just write them off. Oh what he would give for the freedom to just be himself. As a pastor, there were certain absolutes, an unwritten document full of expected and appropriate behavior. No one ever read the book, it didn’t even exist, but each minister knew it, backwards and forwards. What is acceptable, what is not. Acceptable behavior was to take a bride and never, ever look at another woman. And if you look, repent. And if you look again, or look too long, you were a damned reprobate. He hated the stereotype. It didn’t fit. He was human and desired what every other man had. Freedom. He loved Jill, there was no question there. He wanted to grow old with her, raise their children and watch their grandchildren learn to walk. What he didn’t want was to feel bad for wanting to taste the grass on the other side of the fence. It was lush and green and inviting. It was his for the taking and actually desiring his companionship. But he had to resist. Why? For appearances. He thought about talking to Dave about what he was dealing with, in hypothetical terms at least. See what the man of the world might say. He made a mental note to have Mrs. Thompson set an appointment.