Ethan was stunned. “Are you finished?”
“Yes, I’m sorry. It won’t happen again. The hostess committee has the plan for the social and you have the flyer. Everything can be handled by someone else.”
“Stop talking and stop digging yourself a deeper hole.”
“Yes I’m sorry, just tell Robin to come walk me….” she was saying as he clamped his hand over her mouth
“You don’t take instruction very well.” He chuckled releasing his hold on her. “Now, are you listening to me?”
“No. Goodbye Ethan. I’m sorry.” She said strongly
“If you say that again, I will leave you here.” He said with mock fierceness “Rachel, those were nice things you did for me. It was not messed up as you put it. I was..”
“I didn’t mean for you to think I was interested in you. I was only…”
“Rachel” he interrupted “Stop interrupting, stop talking, stop explaining. Listen to my whole response.”
“It isn’t necessary. I’m sorry.”
Ethan surged off the park bench and walked away. He stopped a few feet away and turned to look at her. She was sitting with her head down looking at her lap. He watched for a moment until she reached up to wipe the tears from her face.
“Rachel, don’t cry. If you will just listen to me, everything will be fine.” He said as he sat down beside her again.
“Go away.”
“Why?”
“Because I feel stupid enough.” was her sad response
Ethan wrapped his arms around her and hugged her close. “Until I tell you that you can, don’t say another word. Promise?”
She nodded and sniffed again as she tried to move away. Ethan just kept her close as he began to talk again. “I don’t think that you did those things for me to get a “match” going between you and me. I know you did them to be helpful and they were very nice. I appreciated them, did I tell you that?”
“I don’t know.”
“You broke your promise but I’ll let it go this time.” He laughed
“But you asked me a question.” She justified
“And that’s why I’m letting it go. Now, nothing is messed up or screwed up, we are friends and praying about something more. Although, if something more leads to more holding you like this, then I’m good with that. Anyway, Robin is probably gloating because she didn’t have to do anything as a “matchmaker” because here we are doing it ourselves.” He said releasing her and taking hold of her hand.
“She’s still going to gloat and tease us.”
“I know.” He groaned and laughed at the same time. “Are we okay now?”
“Yes” she said softly as Ethan continued to hold her hand. After several minutes, Rachel spoke up. “I shouldn’t probably tell you this secret, but I knew you hadn’t left me here. My hearing is excellent and I heard your footsteps stop instead of fade away.”
“And there was no way in the world I would just leave you here, you goof. I was giving myself time to resist hugging you to shut you up. I guess that didn’t work.”
“Should I tell you I liked it or just keep that to myself?”
“Let’s tease Ethan some more today, just keep it to yourself.” He growled
Rachel nudged him playfully. “I will.”
Ethan let go of her hand and wrapped his arm around her as they leaned back on the bench. “Good, I prefer to be clueless. It is much more fun.” He grumbled. Rachel laughed at him gently and leaned closer to him. “I liked it.” She whispered
“Me too.” He answered back squeezing her softly. They sat quietly for a few moments until it dawned on her she had no idea why he had wanted to go for a walk in the first place.
“Why did you ask me to go on a walk? Did you need something?”
“No, I just wanted to do something with you and went with the idea of a walk. I thought we could talk and get to know each other better.”
“Okay, what did you want to know?” she asked
“Just stuff. Favorite color? Favorite flower? Favorite movie?”
“My favorite color is yellow. Pale or pastel yellow. I remember that color. Favorite flower, I guess I haven’t tried to picture those as much. Probably roses. My mom had roses and I remember them. Actually, I remember my mom had a huge flower bed”
“She still does. That night at dinner, I saw it as the gardener had it prepared for winter.”
“She still loves to garden but she has him to the harder things. Next spring though, she’ll be out tending it again. We used to get in trouble if we kicked the ball into her flower bed.”
Ethan enjoyed that. “How often did you get in trouble as a kid?”
“Lots. Jeremy and Paul would plan something and Robin and I joined right in. They could make us do anything. We adored our big brothers.”
“Still do from what I’ve seen.”
“Yes, we are close.” She said fondly
“Favorite movie?”
“Used to be Sound of Music.”
“Chick flick” he joked “And now? What was the last movie you liked?”
“Uhh” she said stupidly
“I know you can’t see it but do you listen to them as Robin watches them?”
“No.”
“My grandmother used to have me describe scenes to her or she loved to tell me what she was imagining with the character dialogue and the background music. Sometimes she came pretty close to what was happening and sometimes her scene was better.”
“Robin already has to do so much for me. If she is watching TV then it is her few minutes of down time and I’m not going to bother her unless absolutely necessary. She works so hard at her craft.”
“And it shows. Her work is beautiful. Thank whoever is giving me those shelves.”
“I will.”
“Anyway, back to the movie. Pick one and I’ll bring it over and we can watch it together.”
“I’ll think about one. Now you, favorite movie?”
“The old ones.” He answered and then went on to tell her about his other favorites. He told her it was getting dark and they should probably head back to her house. He guided her home and saw her inside. “Staying for dinner, Ethan? Martha brought us food today so you are safe to eat the cooking.” Robin said
“Please stay.” Rachel urged “I’m sorry I didn’t think of it first.”
“Sure. I’d be glad too.” He told Robin then waited until she walked away to talk to Rachel. He wrapped her in a headlock and rubbed his knuckles in her hair giving her a “nuggie” and growled “don’t start that apologizing again.”
Rachel laughed at his antics “Did you just give me a nuggie?” she joked
“Yes and you deserved it.” He laughed back.
“Hey, I’m a blind person you know.”
“Yeah, so?”
“Didn’t you know that you are supposed to treat me differently? As if I would break if you joked with me?” she asked pretending to be appalled at his behavior.
“Yeah, that’s gonna happen anytime now sweets. You may be blind, but you are just like the rest of us. Deal with it.”
“Come here.” She said motioning with her hand
“I’m right here in front of you” he said. She cautiously put her hand on his arm to find out where he was then she reached up and gave him a hug. “Thank you” she whispered in his ear. He returned her hug and asked “What for?”
She stepped back from hugging him and explained “For treating me like an almost normal person.”
“I hate to be the one to break this too you dear, but you are a normal person.” He whispered like he was telling her a highly classified secret.
“Not to everyone.” She replied a little sadly
“Not to me. And not to your family. Who else matters?”
“No one” she answered as Robin called them to eat. Robin showed Ethan the downstairs washroom and Rachel went with them. As th
ey were seated, Robin led them in prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you this day you have made. Thank you for your Son, Jesus and the gift of his life. Bless those at this table that we will do your will. Help us to serve you humbly. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
The three of them talked as they ate and cleaned up. Rachel was self-conscious as she ate but didn’t spill. He joked with her and she threw soap suds at him. “Don’t make me give you another nuggie.” He threaten
“You gave her a nuggie?” Robin asked
“Yes, and she deserved it. And I’ll do it again if she apologizes to me again when it isn’t necessary.”
Robin had to turn away as the twinkle started in her eyes. Ethan would see her joy if she didn’t watch it.
“Knock it off Robin. I can hear you thinking.” Rachel stated as she rinsed the dishes.
“What did I do?” she tried to ask seriously “I’ll leave you all to finish up, I have some work to do. By the way, Ethan, I should have your shelves done by the first of next week. Would the next Saturday work to install them?”
“Sure, I’ll even fix the three of you lunch.”
“It’s a deal.” Robin agreed leaving them alone.
“She’s gloating again.” Rachel stated
“I think she is just happy for you.”
“Why? We haven’t decided anything yet.”
“Yeah, we may need to discuss that a little.”
“Okay, are we done in here?”
“Looks clean and all the dishes are done.” He said
“Let’s go sit in the living room.” She offered. Rachel led the way into the living room and sat down. Ethan sat beside her and took hold of her hand. When she didn’t say anything, he began to pray aloud Lord God, we need your guidance as to where you want us to go with our friendship. Help us to discuss things open and honestly. In Jesus Name, Amen
Rachel sat waiting for Ethan to bring up a topic. She wasn’t uncomfortable in the silence but she also didn’t know what he wanted to discuss. After a few moments, he spoke up “How old are you?”
“Twenty-five. How old are you?”
“Twenty-eight. Have you dated a lot?”
“No. I was injured when I was fifteen. It took a long time to heal and then to learn to be blind took me a long time. And with my scars, I wasn’t comfortable.”
“What do the scars have to do with anything?”
“You’re kidding. They feel ugly, they have to look that way also.”
“In other words, you think you are ugly so no one would want to date you?”
“Yes.”
“You are wrong.” He said sternly
“No. I’m not.” She said just as sternly
“Then why I am sitting here?”
“We aren’t dating but to answer your question, I don’t know why you are sitting here? It wasn’t supposed to be that way. Yesterday morning, I was going about my business without any thoughts to you and I getting to know one another and now here we are.”
“We are on totally different tracks of thought here.” He said
“We are?” she asked
“Yeah to some degree. Let’s go back and get on the same track.”
“Okay, how do we do that?”
“We ask questions and we make things clear.”
“Okay.” She answered
“Okay, first of all, when Robin first gave me slight confirmation that you might be behind all these things that kept just happening, I prayed and thanked God for a wonderful new friend. Are we on the same track of thinking we are friends?”
“Yes. We moved into that pretty fast now that I think about it.”
“In just a couple of days you mean?”
“Yes. Maybe I should explain something so you’ll see my point of view.”
“Okay, I’m listening.”
“I’m used to being a voice on the phone. I help if I’m able, but I stay in the background. When you called me and asked for information on my work, I didn’t expect anything other than that. Even when you were brought on as our preacher, I didn’t expect anything. If I could help you I would. Once you mentioned something about meeting me at church or looking forward to meeting me I don’t remember exactly what you said but I remember my response. It was not likely. It wasn’t anything against you, but it was just my way to stay in the background. I never expected you to even care about finding a Rachel who answered a couple of questions for you.”
“One day, I heard you talking to someone about how long it was going to take you to paint your house. I thought I can help with that. Organize a couple of people, no big deal. The same way with the other things. No big deal. Why did you care who helped you?”
“You’re kidding?”
“No and I’m not done with my story. Anyway, I wasn’t going to be friends with Ethan Hayes, I don’t do friends. And I certainly didn’t think I did male friends. I was just going to be a member of your church and help when I could. So yes, the past couple of days have sort of caught me off guard. I have to adjust some thinking to understand a friendship between you and I. Does that make any sense?”
“No it doesn’t. How could you not know what a wonderful friend you are to me and to others probably?” he said strongly and fiercely as he surged off the couch to pace the living room floor.
“Wait a minute. Why are you mad at me? I told you my point of view.” Rachel said loudly
“And I didn’t like it.” Ethan responded loudly
“What are you two yelling about?” Robin asked coming into the living room.
“Nothing” Rachel answered at the same time Ethan pointed to her and said “She’s got a screwy point of view.”
“Oh dear.” Robin sighed
“Then leave and this discussion can be over.” Rachel said standing up from the couch. “I don’t need you for a friend Ethan Hayes. My life was fine before you came along wanting to know who helped you. You couldn’t just leave that alone could you?”
“No, I didn’t like that mystery.”
“Fine. I’m sorry.” She said misunderstanding his words she headed for the doorway. “Good night Robin. Good bye Pastor Hayes.” Ethan captured her hand as she went by and stopped her flight. He wrapped his arm around her neck and gave her another nuggie “I told you to stop apologizing to me.”
“Let go of me.” she laughed
“Are you going to sit down?” he growled at her
“Are you two having fun?” asked Robin watching them wrestle around. “I am. You are very entertaining.”
“Tell him to go away.” Rachel stated firmly but still smiling “Tell her she’s impossible.” Ethan said still holding her in a headlock.
“Then leave. I told you to leave two times now.”
“Ethan, let go of her. Rachel, sit down.” Robin stated ending their battle of wills. “I’m taking a stab in the dark here..” Robin said as they were both seated “She gave you her convoluted point of view about friends and you didn’t like it. I’m guessing that you even think it is as convoluted as I do.”
“Yes, it is” he answered at the same time Rachel stated “It isn’t convoluted.”
“Yes, it is” they both shouted at her
“Why do either of you care? And since when are you on the same side?”
“There is no side Rach.” answered Robin “And I care probably for the same reason as Ethan. We know you are a great friend and we want you to see that about yourself so you will experience the joy of having friends. Including the stubborn ones like Ethan.”
“Hey” he laughed “You were doing good up until that point.”
“And you were blowing it. Don’t you know she has had years to perfect this convoluted idea and one day is not going to change her mind.”
“What are you yelling at him for? He didn’t do anything.” Rachel growled
“Exactly. He reacted instead of calmly and rationally countering every silly idea of yours about
friendship. Good night, I’m going to bed.”
“I’m sorry.” They both spoke at the same time a moment after Robin left the room.
“I don’t even know what to say first and we can’t possible cover all this tonight so here goes…I didn’t like not knowing who was helping me out so I kept investigating or pushing until I found out. That’s my nature. I do want to be friends with you and I think we may already be heading past that even in this short period of time. Maybe that’s why I kept pushing, to find a way to get to know you. One simple question, then I’ll head home.”
“Okay, what is that?”
“Are we on the same track now?”
“That isn’t a simple question. And I’m not sure we are on the same track yet but we are much closer.” She stated quickly as she heard him start to speak. “I need a little time Ethan. Please!”
“Time to blow me off or change your ideas?”
“I hope to change my ideas.”
“So give you a couple of days of space?”
“Not necessarily. We talk and talk some more. We learn about each other. You may find something objectionable about me and then those concerns I mentioned last night are still an issue.”
“I’m not even touching those tonight. My head hurts bad enough as it is.”
“Are you okay?” she asked extremely concerned
“Yes, just a certain beautiful lady has me so confused.” He whispered in her ear.
“Knock it off. Go home and get some rest.”
“I’m going but this discussion is far from over.” He said helping her stand. “We will finish this on Saturday if not before. I have a busy couple of days, but I’ll be in touch.”
“Good night Ethan.”
“Good night Rachel.”
Ethan waited on the porch until he heard the door locks and then headed for his car. His head really did hurt from the confusion and pain he had seen on her face. She really believed she didn’t have any friends. That was going to take some time to get her to see differently.
Chapter 5
Saturday morning, Ethan knocked on Rachel’s front door. He expected to hear the intercom sound but instead Robin opened the door.