A Fine Mess (18 page)

“So.
Did you see your folk's?”

“For a few minutes.”

“How’s your mom?”

“Okay I guess. She was hooked up to an IV, but it was almost empty. At this rate they’ll probably get home before I do.
If they don’t come this way.
Speaking of which, I should give Dad a call to warn him. I’ll see you when I get there, I guess. Bye, Ian.”

~~~~

Ian hung the phone up and almost sagged in relief. It was a gift from God. It had to be. Sure he hated the thought of Annie being stuck in traffic like that, but now he had more time.

He glared at the kitchen
floor,
only about half clear of dog food now. He didn’t need to look down the hallway, or in the living room to know he’d have to do some damage control in there. Not when he’d tracked crumbs everywhere.

With a sigh, he started sweeping again. He was going to have to beat it to the store when she did get home because, not knowing what to do with all the food, or how else to hide the evidence, he was dumping it all in the kitchen trash can, which he would then dump in the one of the big trash cans in the garage.

And that would leave Jack without anything for his supper, usually given to him just before they sat down to eat theirs. Annie wouldn’t be able to help but notice the absence of the huge bag they’d just bought a couple of days ago.

~~~~

“I’m home,” Annie announced needlessly. Ian was in the kitchen, looking as though he’d been waiting impatiently for her return.

He couldn’t have been more impatient than she had been, though, having been stuck on the freeway for nearly two hours. She supposed it could have been worse. It could have been a ninety degree August day instead of a sixty degree October one.

“Is Sam still sleeping?”

“Uh-huh. I guess he was pretty worn out.”

“Did he give you any trouble?” She noticed that he didn’t quite meet her eyes as he shook his head.

“Na.
Not much.”

“Well, I think we’re all going to be wanting some supper shortly so if you want to wake him up, I’ll get something going. Does chili sound okay?”

“Fine, fine.
But why don’t we just let him sleep awhile longer? I need to run to the store really quick. I’ll wake him up when I get back.” Annie shrugged.

“Okay. Then I’ll just feed Jack and get cooking.” She glanced at the floor as she said it. “How come Jack’s feeding dishes aren’t out?”

“Uh-
Well
, it seemed like a good idea to put them in the closet with Sam here. He gets into everything, you know.”

“What a good idea, Ian! I should have thought of that myself.” She started toward the closet, when he reached out a hand to stop her.

“Why don’t you let me do that when I get back, too?” he suggested quickly. “You’ve had a long day. Just make the chili, sit down and relax, and I’ll be back in ten minutes.
Tops.”

“I’m fine, Ian,” she said with a smile, continuing to the closet and opening the door.

The dishes were sitting in plain sight on the floor, but the big blue bag wasn’t anywhere to be found. She looked at Ian in confusion.

“Didn’t we just buy a bag on Thursday?”

“Well- Yeah, we did. But there was-an accident.
Kind of.
That’s why I need to go to the store. I threw it all away so we need some more.”

“An accident?
What kind of accident?”

“It kind of spilled when I took the bag out,” he hedged. “But I’ll get another one. It’ll only take me a few minutes.” He started backing toward the door.

“Ian, wait. What happened? Is Sam okay?” Her gut instinct was that something wasn’t right. He wasn’t telling her the whole story.
 

“Oh, Sam’s fine. I told you, he’s been sleeping like a baby.”

“But what happened to Jack’s food?”

Ian seemed to collapse against the door to the garage, his chin dropping to his chest as he haltingly confessed his afternoon’s adventure. Annie had to bite her lip to keep from smiling when he finished.

“You really called the emergency room?”

“Yeah,” he lamented. “I didn’t know if he could be poisoned and didn’t know what else to do.”

“That was very-conscientious of you” was all she could think to say.

“I’m really sorry, Annie. I had no idea how quick he was. Or that he would actually
eat
the stuff.”

“It’s all right. Ian, I hadn’t thought about it
either,
and I’ve worked with little kids before. I guess it’s a live and learn situation. Next time we’ll know better.”

“Yeah.”
The one word made the possibility of a next time seem very remote and she fought back another smile. “I’ll go get Jack’s food now.”

“You do that. I’ll get our supper started. Thank you for worrying about him like that, Ian.”

He just ducked his head in embarrassment as he shut the door behind him.

Chapter 10

“Max?” Ian said softly, so as not to disturb the boys, who were finally sleeping in the fellowship hall. At least most of them were. An occasional whisper could still be heard from a couple of the more stubborn ones.

It was well after one in the morning. He wasn’t sure the pastor would be up for a heart-to-heart at this time of the day, but he figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask.

“What can I do for you, Ian?” he asked, sounding surprisingly chipper.

“I was wondering if we could, well, have a talk.”

“Now?”

“Not if you’re too tired.”

“I’m fine. Does it need to be private?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. Just let me tell Kevin and we can go to my office.”

They walked through the dimly lit sanctuary, to the small office located just to the left of
the alter
, and Max closed the door behind him.

“Have a seat. What’s up?”

He sat slowly in one of two arm chairs. Max took the other rather than the one behind his desk.

“I don’t even know where to start,” Ian admitted, leaning forward, arms resting on his thighs, his hands clasped before him.

“The beginning is usually the best place.”

“Paul said he already talked to you about part of it.”

“About stealing the money?”

“Well, I don’t really like to think of it as stealing.”

“But it was. Paul knows that.”

“I really don’t want you to think badly of him.”

“If that’s what’s bothering you, you can stop worrying. While I don’t agree with what he did, I do understand why he did it. And he knows that, even though he planned on repaying it, it wasn’t the best choice he could have made.”

“He loves Maddie.”

“I know. Stop worrying about it.”

“That’s really not what’s bothering me,” he admitted softly.

“Oh?”

“It’s Annie.”

“What about Annie is bothering you?”

“
Everything
.”

“I always thought she was a very nice young woman. But then I don’t know everything there is to know about all of my parishioners either.”

“Oh no.
She
is
nice. She’s probably the nicest person I know.”

“I’m afraid I don’t understand then.”

Ian felt like an idiot even trying to explain his feelings.
Especially when he didn’t understand them himself.

“Well. When we decided to get married it was with the understanding that I would divorce her in five years. Not because I don’t like her, I just didn’t want to be married.”

“And now?”

“Now I guess I kind of like being married to her.”

“Do you love her?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never loved anyone before.
Except my mother and my grandmother, of course.
I know I like her.
A lot.
And I don’t like thinking about when she won’t be around after the divorce.”

“So you’ve had a change of heart about your agreement?”

“Yeah.
I guess I have. And then there’s that stuff I’ve been reading in the Bible Maddie gave me.”

“What stuff?”

“Things like if I divorce Annie, and she marries someone else, she’ll be committing adultery.”

“It does say that, doesn’t it?” Max agreed.

“Is it true?”

“Do you really want to know what I think?”

“Why do you think I wanted to talk to you about it?” Ian snapped. “Yes, I want to know.”

“My personal opinion is that yes, Annie would be committing adultery if she remarried. The Bible is fairly clear. Unless one of you commits adultery, neither one of you will have grounds for a divorce.”

“Even if we haven’t consummated it?”

“Again, my opinion is yes. You each made vows and so I believe that, in God’s eyes, you are man and wife. I don’t think He differentiates between a love match
or
arranged marriages. You’re either married or your not. And you and Annie
are
married.”

“Yes we are.”

“But you’re not opposed to staying that way. What about Annie? Have you discussed this with her?”

“No,” Ian snorted. “I set the terms. How can I tell her I’ve changed my mind now?”

“How about, 'Annie, I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want us to get a divorce?'”

“I don’t know. She seems fine with the way things are going. And she’s got a lot to worry about with her mother being so sick. I don’t know if I want to put that kind of pressure on her right now.”

“Well don’t say anything to her about it then.”

“You’re not being a lot of help, you know.”

“I’m trying.” Max shook his head and smiled a little. “This is kind of a new situation for me, you know.”

“So what should I do?”

“You want my opinion again?” Ian was tempted to look at him and just say, ‘Duh,’ but he was afraid it might be a sin to say something like that to a minister.

“Yes,” he said instead.

“Court your wife.”

“Huh?”

“Court. You know, like
dating
.”