the way of that. Sex means nothing unless it’s a celebration of shared commitment to something much bigger than both of us. As long as you keep finding things to attack and demand changes, you aren’t ready to have sex with me. All the other factors don’t matter at all. I’m not going to tie you to me emotionally when it would only make you miserable.”
As he turned to start the motor, he added, “You are the only person who can make you happy. I believe you need to reevaluate what you think will do the trick.”
It was the first time any man had ever turned her down, and it lit a fire in her soul like nothing else.
6
He was surprised it had taken them this long.
Even though Greg had warned Melissa the courts were not through with her, he wasn’t quite sure if she had really thought about it. So when they had bounced and wound their way back to the main road, Greg was the first to spot the sheriff’s patrol vehicle. This was no fast pursuit car for a speed trap, but one of the four-wheel drive supervisory vehicles. He smiled when he saw the lettering on the hood. “Operations” meant Captain Trujillo, one of the last few men at County who understand Greg’s ways.
Turning to Melissa, he asked, “Ready for a vacation?” Before she had time to respond, he rolled the window down and faced the deputy.
The Captain spoke first. “When I recognized your voice on the recording, I knew you would take good care of her for us. She didn’t have anywhere else to go, did she?”
Greg shook his head without saying anything, as if the whole scene were scripted. He turned to Melissa. Pointing to the patrol vehicle, he told her, “He’s not going to hurt you. I’ll be praying for you. Call me as soon as they let you go.”
She didn’t seem too upset as she got out and went around to the passenger side of the Captain’s rig. She got in and buckled the seat belt, then blew a kiss at Greg. He watched as the Captain backed out onto the highway and drove off toward the County Seat.
It rattled him more than he had expected. Giving it all time to sink in, he waited until he was sure what he was feeling. By no means would he have started a romance until she understood and committed herself. That didn’t prevent him having strong feelings for her. Something inside kept nibbling at the edge of his consciousness, and he wondered why this one, of all the women he encountered day in and day out, stuck in his mind. Beauty alone wasn’t enough, he knew, but there was something much deeper than mere beauty itself. Somewhere some old memory had attached itself to her, though he knew he’d never seen Melissa before that morning when he rescued her. Despite her sassy orneriness, she seemed to have claimed a piece of him once belonging to someone else, something a younger man fantasized about.
He understood just enough to know how dangerous it was. That part of him was buried, and had no business intruding into the present. While she was around, all he knew is she was as difficult as she was lovely. Now that she was gone, he realized there had been a huge vulnerability in his soul which now had her name on it. If she came back changed, this wouldn’t be a problem. Any other scenario and it spelled yet another episode of youthful agonies brought back to haunt him again.
But he was strong enough to work through it. While it was unique in flavor, this particular pain was just one more in his life. At any given time he might bear any number of inner conflicts and sorrows, but this one took center stage, crowding out the others for now. The only thing he did differently was mention her name as a prayer request in his small group and to the staff at church.
When it stretched into two, then three weeks, he realized that whatever this was, it wasn’t simply at the County. Calling any of his acquaintances at County would have been pointless. She had never told him enough details for him to guess intelligently which of the cases in the news, if any of them, were connected to her. Part of him was pretty sure it was not in the news. At some point, his worry for her overwhelmed his personal griefs and he was able to put it in a better perspective.
So it caught him completely off guard when he was pulled over one day between work sites. He had drifted above the speed limit, but he didn’t think it was by all that much. With all the equanimity he could muster, he looked in his mirror and realized he was reading it backwards: “Operations.” His heart stopped, and he checked the right side mirror. She was already out the door and running forward up the passenger side. She flung the door open as the patrol rig roared past him with a quick honk as the Captain waved. He smiled and waved back, but before he could turn his head, she was on him. Wrapping her arms aggressively around his neck, she kissed him on the check.
With total aplomb, “`Bout time you came home, girl.”
She slapped him playfully on the shoulder as she sat down and buckled the seat belt. “Not a single moment was wasted,” she announced. He glanced at her as he pulled back onto the road. “Everything you tried to teach me came back to haunt me there in the jail. Those silly women don’t have a clue and they get so hostile when you try to explain it to them!”
He gave her a sidelong glance, with just a half-smile. She burst out in the most raucous laughter; he could hardly keep from joining her.
7
The deaths of the two kidnappers opened up a can of worms. Melissa gave evidence to a County grand jury and two different federal investigations. They had waited, leaving her in the custody of Greg until they had rounded up the suspects and associates. When faced with her testimony, everyone copped a plea and confessed, and her testimony was no longer needed. Two slavery prostitution houses were closed, a kidnapping ring captured, not to mention a lot of drugs, arms, cash, vehicles, etc. confiscated.
And the pastor of the church knew better than to suggest Greg and Melissa needed a marriage license. More and more members were having church-only weddings and taking advantage of the state laws requiring recognition of such marriages. Theirs became a model for many others, and their loyalty to each other was almost legendary.
It was only a couple of years and Melissa was ordained as deaconess in recognition of her strong leadership with the younger women in the church. For once in his life, George actually had to face envy from others.
A Lady in Waiting
God’s calling and purpose never fails.
Setting: Near future, somewhere in Europe
1
She wore the glow proudly. Not boasting, which would be wholly unnecessary, but just the utter sense of peace and contentment that nothing else mattered. They knew. They had a thousand questions, but they all boiled down, “Why you? Why not one of us?”
Her answer boiled down to, “If I told you, you’d never understand.” She admired the silver band on her finger for the hundredth time that morning and walked into the gym for her morning workout. It all happened so fast. Had it been only a week ago?