Victor laughed. “I have to admit I’m surprised too. Who is she?”
“She’s an old college friend. They’ve been writing for months now and decided it was time to get together. She’s staying with Mrs. Donahue this weekend. I can’t wait to meet her. She must be a saint for Pastor to notice her.” She grinned, and Charlotte forced a smile.
Sunday morning dawned, and Charlotte couldn’t help but feel nervous about going to church because she’d have to meet “her.” She’d started thinking of the woman in those terms, as an enemy to be faced. It made her mad when those thoughts crept in unbidden. “You are such an idiot. You should be glad for Pastor Gordon. Here he has a chance at happiness, and you would snatch it away from him. And God’s given you another chance with Frank. How selfish can you be?” The fact was she could face it if Gordon remained single, but the idea that he might marry another woman made her feel like spitting. “God, take this away from me.”
And he did. She went to church and greeted Gloria with true warmth. She liked her very much. She was average height, and had long blonde hair and pleasant features. She particularly liked the manner with which she conducted herself. She met people well and had the ability to put them at ease right away. Charlotte couldn’t have picked better for Pastor Gordon. When she was leaving the church she told him so as she shook his hand. “I like Gloria an awful lot. It must be terrible for her having a whole church waiting to approve her, but she’s handling it like a pro. I hope things work out for you.”
Pastor Gordon gave her a strange little smile. “Thank you, Charlotte. That means a lot to me.” He held her hand a little longer than necessary and seemed to let it go reluctantly as he studied her face. Evidently, he didn’t find whatever he was looking for, so he changed the subject. “We’ll see you at youth group tonight. Have a good afternoon.” And she felt dismissed.
Gloria was gone by the time youth group rolled around. Pastor seemed exceptionally cheerful as he interacted with the kids. “I believe Gloria was good for him,” Charlotte whispered to Mrs. Donahue, who frowned. Charlotte stared at her perplexed. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know. It’s probably nothing.” Then she turned to set out the snacks.
Gloria came often after that, every other weekend or so. She and Charlotte became good friends, and she began to stay with her once in a while instead of at the Donahues’. Charlotte enjoyed her almost as much as Janice, but they were as different as night and day. Gloria was serious and sober. Her greatest desire was to be of some great use for the Lord. Charlotte felt she’d be a perfect pastor’s wife. She obviously respected Gordon a great deal and talked about him as if he were a ministry partner rather than a lover. Charlotte wondered if that was what a good relationship should look like.
The day finally came when Pastor announced in church that he and Gloria were engaged. Charlotte was shocked; Gloria was staying with her that weekend and hadn’t mentioned a word of it. She thought of Janice’s enthusiastic pronouncement of the same news and wondered at the difference. Talking to Gloria later in the day, she found out that they’d planned a July wedding since Gloria was a teacher and wanted to finish out the school year.
Christmas came, and Charlotte went home to be with her mom. Margaret had finished her radiation treatment and was now starting chemotherapy. She’d just decided that she’d have to quit work, which was a real blow. Charlotte helped her gather together some crafts to work on. Her mom used to crochet but hadn’t for years. Now she decided to take it up again and make baby blankets and sweaters for the local pregnancy center. Mrs. Bartholomew had suggested it, and Charlotte’s mom liked the idea a lot.
They also found out that one of the pregnant girls needed a place to stay, and Margaret eagerly offered her home. She let the girl know that she’d pretty well have to fend for herself, but at least she’d have a place to stay where she’d be dry and warm. She moved in two days before Christmas. Lyla, who was just seventeen, attended the local high school. She wanted to keep her baby but had no idea how she’d support it. Her mom kicked her out six months back, and she’d shuffled around to different friends’ houses. Three months ago, she’d slept with a friend’s brother and now carried his child.
Charlotte liked Lyla immediately. She had a certain grit that few girls her age had. Her plan was to finish high school by June. Her baby was due later that month, so she’d take the summer to be with her baby. Then in the fall she’d go to the community college to become a nurse. She’d found out that a local hospital would pay for her education if she worked for them. So every day after school she volunteered at the hospital, until they saw that she was worthy of being hired. Charlotte couldn’t believe it. She’d never had that much determination in her life.
Christmas Day had new meaning with a homeless, pregnant woman in Margaret’s home. Lyla listened as Charlotte read the familiar story of another woman who’d sought shelter on this day two thousand years ago. “Mary’s kind of like me,” she said. “Except I certainly didn’t have no angel tell me it was going to happen. And the Spirit of God, for that matter, didn’t cause it. But the story is comforting just the same.”
Lyla and Margaret acted like old chums. By the second day, Margaret insisted that Lyla read the Bible to her at night after dinner. She asked her to start with the Gospel of John and Lyla, who’d never read the Bible before, was full of questions. Each evening became an investigative study that drew Lyla closer. By the time Charlotte left, she felt confident that God had put Lyla in her mother’s home to draw her to Him and to give her mother new purpose and joy. God rarely did anything for just one reason. She praised Him all the way home, and felt surprised that the person she most wanted to share this story with was Pastor Gordon.
CHAPTER twenty
The day of Janice’s wedding dawned cold and blustery. Just a few nights before, there’d been a huge snowstorm and the sky threatened to repeat its performance. But by noon the clouds dissipated, and the sun broke through and shimmered on the snow as if accentuating the happiness of the occasion. It seemed fitting to Charlotte that Janice’s wedding day be cheerful looking.
She carried her dress over to the church, where they would get ready. Peeking into the sanctuary, she sighed. Bouquets of pink roses, baby’s breath, and white irises tied with big blue bows lined the five front pews. An arch covered with fresh vines and baby’s breath stood at the altar. She picked up the program, which had a photo of Victor’s large hand under Janice’s small one. It made her feel good inside.
Working her way into the room where they would change, she found she was the last to arrive. Janice had been so anxious that she’d come an hour early to make sure everything was perfect. Her dress could only be described as elegant, with more beads and netting than Charlotte could have imagined would fit on one dress. Although their styles were different, Charlotte felt Janice’s choice was perfect for her. The bridesmaids’ dresses that she and Janice’s younger sister wore were more subtle, thankfully. A shade of royal blue, they shimmered when the light hit them, and were fitted at the waist with long sleeves that tapered to a point. Charlotte felt like a medieval princess; all she needed was a pointed hat. Instead she had a small amount of baby’s breath worked into her hair as it was piled on top of her head.
They’d had a lot of fun the night before at the rehearsal dinner, but now as the music began her stomach hurt with anxiety. Laughter rang through the sanctuary as Victor’s little daughter scattered flowers so meticulously that she stopped every few minutes when she dropped them. The tension eased and Charlotte breathed deeply. Before her turn came to walk down the aisle, she gave the bride one final hug. Janice’s smile was so big that Charlotte thought her face must hurt. She turned around to begin the slow march forward and saw Frank in one of the back pews. He gave her a thumbs up, and she smiled back at him. Then she turned her gaze to the front of the church and saw Pastor Gordon standing there. The look on his face was so startling that she almost stumbled.
For his p
art, the sight of Charlotte walking down the aisle made Gordon’s heart lurch. She looked even more beautiful than he thought possible. For a brief moment he wished desperately that he was the groom and she was the bride. No sooner did the thought go through his mind than he squelched it. What was he thinking? He was practically a married man. Gloria was just right for him. How could he betray her in his thoughts like that? Once again, he felt Charlotte was poison to him. Maybe he would need to seek a transfer after he and Gloria were married. It made him sad to think about it. He loved Crispens Point.
He was so lost in his thoughts that he almost missed Janice coming down the aisle. He forced himself to look over at Victor and saw the delight on his face. He composed himself and smiled broadly at Janice. The rest of the service went smoothly, and with joy he pronounced the happy couple husband and wife. He made sure not to look at Charlotte the rest of the day.
Charlotte couldn’t figure out the expression she’d seen on Pastor Gordon’s face. It was a mixture of awe and horror. She couldn’t imagine what was going on in his mind. As soon as she saw it, the look passed, but it was seared into her mind for the rest of the day.
After seeing the couple off, Frank asked if she’d like to do something that evening, but Charlotte felt melancholy. “Thank you, Frank. That’s sweet, but I’m exhausted. I think I need to just put my feet up for a while.”
“That’s fine. Maybe we can go bowling later this week.”
“I’d like that. Give me a call.”
She went home and took the beautiful dress off, hanging it in the back of the closet. She wondered if she’d always be a bridesmaid but never a bride.
The next day at church everyone talked about the wedding, lingering to discuss it in the foyer after the service. One fellow said, “What happened to you, Pastor, right when the whole thing started? You looked like you’d seen a ghost.”
Another person chimed in, “Yeah, I noticed that too. I wondered if maybe you forgot your notes or something.”
Pastor Gordon blushed, which was rare for him. “Who knows what went through my mind? I have the misfortune of being on display in front of everyone. I probably was just fighting a sneeze.” This brought a laugh from the whole crowd and Pastor wondered if he’d be struck dead for lying to his congregation. Charlotte was engaged in conversation with one of the high school girls so she missed the whole exchange, but Mrs. Donahue heard it and wondered.
A few days later, Charlotte put the final touches on her new book and sent it in. Normally she would have had it done a month ago, but with her mom’s health problems and her work at church, she’d been a little slower than usual. She still made her deadline, though, so her editor had no problem with it.
After she finished a book, Charlotte always took a month off before starting another one. She found that she needed that time to let a plot simmer in her mind. Often she came up with an idea for her next book while she was working on the last one, but this time she’d drawn a blank. The only plot she could think of involved a minister. There was no way she could write that story.
So Charlotte worried about what she was going to do. The thought occurred to her that she should just go away to a beach somewhere and get out of all this snow, but she didn’t want to go away when her mom’s health was so unstable. She remembered a flyer she’d gotten in the mail about activities in the community. She pulled it out now and perused it, looking for anything that caught her interest. Her finger stopped at ballroom dancing. She’d always wanted to learn how to do that. Maybe Frank would try it with her. Then she went on until she saw that tryouts for the play Cheaper by the Dozen were being held this coming Thursday night. She’d loved the old movie as a kid and decided to go ahead and try out. She hadn’t acted since high school but knew she had a dramatic flair.
That night she called Frank before going to Bible study. “What would you think of taking ballroom dancing lessons with me?”
He groaned so loud that she pulled the phone away from her ear. “Why don’t you just ask me to get a root canal?”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, it’s not that painful.”
“Yes, it is. What if I asked you to take football lessons with me? How would you feel?”
She had to admit that she wouldn’t like it a bit. “Okay, I get the point.”
“No hard feelings?”
“No hard feelings.”
“But I’ve got another idea you might like.”
“What’s that?”
“Every Friday night for six weeks, the ice skating rink is giving figure skating lessons. They’re going to cover turns, skating backwards, skating on one leg, you know, stuff like that.”
“And you want to do that?” Charlotte couldn’t see how different that would be from dancing.
“Yeah, I play hockey all the time. I thought it’d improve my game.”
“Ah, it’s all clear now. Actually, that sounds great. I’d love it.”
“I’ll sign us up, then. See you there Friday at seven.”
Charlotte hung up the phone and thought, “That went better than I would have imagined. I’ve got to give him credit; Frank’s really trying.”
The next night, she went to play tryouts at the community center. She wanted to read the part of the mother, but they said she was much too young and gave her the part of the eldest daughter. The practices would be every Thursday evening and Saturday morning for the next three months, so suddenly her schedule was full. She’d keep Mondays and Tuesdays open for visits to her mom, so it seemed just about perfect.
Friday night she drove to the ice skating rink which sat at the edge of town. She was amazed that such a small town had one, but evidently someone from Crispens Point had been an Olympic medalist years ago and left a large sum of money to keep the place open all these years.
She noticed Frank’s car and waved to him once inside. He already had his hockey skates strapped on. The instructor wanted him to rent figure skates, but he’d insisted on sticking with the ones he had. Besides that, he’d talked a whole slew of his buddies into taking the class with him. Five hulking men with silly grins on their faces stared at the instructor expectantly.
Besides Charlotte, three other women were there, plus two teenage girls. They all had figure skates on. Evidently it hadn’t occurred to the women hockey players that they could get an edge by taking figure skating. Charlotte rented size eight skates and hoped they’d fit. She hadn’t skated since she was a teenager, when she’d go to a nearby lake with her friend’s family. Standing up, she remembered how insecure she was on these little metal blades that were expected to hold her up. But once she got out on the ice to warm up, she stayed on her feet without falling—although there were a few close calls. She couldn’t imagine going backwards or skating on one leg. It was hard enough using two legs and going forward! And so far, her method of stopping was to glide to a wall and bump up against it.
To make matters worse, Frank skated around the rink two times to her every one lap. He was excellent at making quick stops and could turn on a dime. She started to wonder if he just wanted to take this class to show off, but the instructor didn’t seem impressed. He blew a whistle to get their attention and waved the group over to him. “Welcome to all of you. We’re glad you could come. I can see that you are all at different levels, but hopefully the skills I’ll be teaching will be helpful to each of you.” He then skated out into a twirl that intimidated everyone. “We’re going to start with turns. Those of you who have never turned will learn the basics. Those who are proficient will learn to do what I just did.” The hockey players all stared, dumbfounded.
He then proceeded to demonstrate to those who were morons (that’s how it made Charlotte feel) how to do a simple turn to stop, slow themselves down, or change direction. He sent them out to practice while he concentrated on the men and the two teenage girls, who seemed eager to learn. Charlotte actually picked up the basic skills pretty easily. No one had ever showed her before, and she enjoyed working at getting b
etter each time. Out of the corner of her eye she watched Frank and the other guys. She began to giggle as they awkwardly worked their way around a circle, making it smaller each time. A few fell over, and most looked like football players trying to be ballerinas. She started laughing so hard that she fell over herself and landed on her hip; it bore a good-sized bruise for the next few weeks. But it didn’t stop her fun.
When the evening was over she thanked Frank for suggesting one of the most entertaining evenings she’d had in months. He stuck out his lower lip and pretended to pout. “You weren’t by chance laughing at me, were you?”
“Who, me?” and she batted her eyes like a Southern belle.
Over all it had been a great week.
CHAPTER twenty one
Saturday morning after play practice, she called her mom. “How are you doing, O great one?”
“Pretty good, little girl. It’s good to hear your voice.”
“How’s Lyla?”
“Whew. She’s one strong-willed lassie. She’s even got you beat.”
Charlotte grew concerned. “Is she too much, Mom?”
“Nope,” she said strongly, so Charlotte knew it wasn’t up for discussion. “Nothing of value is ever easy.”
“Is she breaking your rules?”
“Probably, but not in front of me. She follows my curfew and reads the Scriptures to me, and lately she’s been doing extra things I haven’t asked her to do.”
“Like what?”
“She did my laundry and folded it. And she even made dinner the other night. She asked me to teach her how to cook, so that’s our latest project. She’s pretty bad about doing her own dishes, though. I have to keep on her about that.”
“So, you’re still glad you took her in?”