Home to You (11 page)

Wow.

She’d looked so vulnerable and alone, not like the sweet little girl he remembered. Of course, thinking back, he realized she had been very lonely back then—

that’s why she’d practically lived at his house. And he’d been one of her only friends because she’d never dressed the nicest or been one of the in-crowd.

Talking to her had made him want to stay and get to know her and end up spending hours with her. That could be dangerous since he had too many other things to do.

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But it had been so refreshing.

And with all of that on his mind, he hadn’t been very attentive when he’d returned to talk with the real estate agent.

Of course, if they couldn’t get that building, then they would have to use part of the wing for the town youth activities they had planned—which meant they would outgrow the wing before it was even built. He’d really wanted that building.

He didn’t want to think about that now. He’d bring it up at the business meeting in a couple of weeks. And he’d put his new guest from his mind for now.

“The Bennetts are here,” Dakota’s assistant said as he walked into the main office area.

“I see that.” He smiled at the man and woman who sat just outside his office. “Come in,” he added and reached out to shake the older man’s hand and then his wife’s.

Georgia and Zachary Bennett were descended from the town patriarchs. The Bennetts had moved here during oil rush days, helped found the town and been active in everything from simple tool stores to politics ever since.

He paused to hold out a chair for Georgia before going around his desk and seating himself.

The couple was in their fifties with four children and three grandchildren so far. Their daughter Emma was expecting a child just after Christmas. Georgia was elegant. There was no other way to describe her. She sat straight and regal in her chair, her blue pantsuit perfectly matching her blue shoes and blue purse. A strand of pearls graced her neck, and her makeup was flawless.

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She loved social activities and taking all of the kids and grandkids to Dallas to shop.

Her husband, Zach, as he insisted on being called, wore a casual suit. He held the job of city councilman and everyone knew his opinion on everything.

They were large tithers and while he was glad for the money, Dakota knew that they were here to check up on how the funds were being spent. Being large contributors to the church, as well as on the board of elders, made Zach and his wife feel that it was necessary to come by at least once a month to discuss finances.

Dakota didn’t mind, as the books were open to any church member. What he did mind was when the discussion changed to meddling or insinuating that because they gave so much money, they should be able to say how it was spent.

“Well, now, Pastor, I hear you had a meeting with the contractor today.”

That was Zach Bennett—right to the point. Dakota leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs, resting his hands on the arms of the chair. He ignored the look that Georgia gave him when his chair squeaked. He really needed to fix that. Instead, he smiled. “I did. As a matter of fact, I just returned.”

“And how did it go?”

“Real good, Zach. I’ll be typing up a report and presenting it at the business meeting.”

“I’m so glad to hear that,” Georgia added. “We’d heard a rumor you had been over looking at the empty Wilson property.” Her hand fluttered to her neck and worried at her pearls.

News traveled quickly today, he noted. Rocking for-104

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ward in his chair, he uncrossed his legs. “Oh, no, ma’am. That’s no rumor. That is a fact that I stopped by and checked out the property.”

Things were beginning to make sense. He’d wondered why the real estate agent had been so excited to show him the property but then today had said it wasn’t suited for youth. Someone, most likely the man seated in front of him, had put some pressure on the agency.

“Now, Pastor, I thought we’d discussed this and decided that property right there in the middle of town wouldn’t be right for a bunch of hoodlums.” He shook his head and tsked. “God may want us to reform them, but He sure doesn’t want us putting our neighbors at risk.”

Dakota was saved by the bell—literally. His phone rang. “Excuse me.”

He couldn’t be happier that he didn’t have to re-spond to what Zach had just said. In fact, he had told the Bennetts before that the church needed to do more for the people of this town, including building a youth center where they could minister to the kids of the area.

The Bennetts felt the church’s money should be used on those in the church instead.

“Hello?”

“Pastor Cody?”

He nearly groaned. Mary and Margaret at a time like this.

“Yes, ma’am, I’m here,” he answered Mary. He saw that the Bennetts were displeased that he had a phone call. Oh well, he thought, realizing he couldn’t ever dodge the sisters when they called.

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“…a sofa—after all, that other one looked like just everyone had slept on it. And this one will be delivered today to the garage apartment.”

“A sofa?” He blinked and tuned in to what Mary had just said. “To the garage apartment? Well, um, sure, that’d be fine.” What had she said and what did she mean about a sofa being delivered? He smelled meddling again.

“I told sister that I was sure that other one wouldn’t be right to sleep on,” Margaret informed him superiorly.

“You didn’t think the one there would be comfortable to sleep on?” he repeated, trying to follow what the two older women meant.

Georgia cleared her throat slightly and then pulled out a hankie to dab at her face.

He held up a finger signaling it would be just a moment as he realized that the sisters were talking about their shopping trip today with Meghan. They had evidently gone overboard and bought a sofa for her.

He sighed. “I’m sure Meghan will be fine on the bed. There is a bed there, ma’am.”

“Are you sure, Pastor Cody, that we shouldn’t get her a new bed?” Mary asked worriedly.

“No, there’s no reason for a new bed, but I do appreciate your concern—”

“We took her shopping today,” Mary interrupted Dakota. “The girl has nothing. And to find out she has MS

just like her poor dear grandmother. Who would have guessed?” Mary sighed dramatically.

“Which reminds me,” Margaret added. “Your mama needs you home tonight to help with that poor girl. Are you going to be there?”

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Feeling as if the woman was chastising him, he answered politely, “Yes, Ms. Margaret, I will be home for dinner.”

“You don’t want to disappoint your mama now,”

Mary added.

Dakota resisted the urge to sigh again. Glancing over at his appointment, he brought the conversation to a forced ending. “No, I don’t want to disappoint my mama. Thank you so much for calling and I’ll see you tonight.”

He hung up the phone and smiled sheepishly. “I’m sorry about that. Mary and Margaret Mulgrew had some concerns and you know how they are when they’re worried.”

He well knew that they had taken Zachary Bennett to task over many things the man had done as a city councilman.

“Yes, I do. But they brought up a subject we feel we need to discuss.”

He tried to think of what had been mentioned and drew a blank. What had he said that Zachary wanted to discuss with him? He braced himself for the answer, which was probably one of the real reasons they had come to see him today. “What would that be?”

“Rumors.” Georgia nodded as if imparting great knowledge.

“More rumors?” he asked and smiled.

Zachary cleared his throat. “It just doesn’t look good for so many rumors to be going around about the pastor of our church.”

They always used the possessive when speaking of the church. That was good, as he liked people to think
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of it as their church, but in this case, their possession meant they felt they should run it, too. “Well, we can’t control rumors, now, can we?” he asked mildly.

“Is it true you have a drunk living with you?”

Ah, he should have realized. The subject of their chastisement was going to be Meghan. “No, it’s not.”

He was being truthful. But not entirely.

“Well, that’s good,” Mrs. Bennett said.

“She’s sober today and has moved into the garage apartment until she can get her life on track.”

“Oh…oh dear.” Mrs. Bennett started worrying her pearls again.

“We had hoped that one was a rumor.” Zach Bennett frowned. “A drunk…”

Dakota shook his head. “She’s not a drunk.”

“Can you deny that she was drunk as all get out yesterday? We heard about the incident.”

Dakota felt his temper rising, but he kept his smile in place. Folding his hands on his desk, he countered,

“I don’t go into the lives of the people of this town. Then I would be the one spreading rumors and gossip.”

“Then you don’t deny it.” Georgia glanced away.

“Oh, this is terrible.”

“Now now, honey—” Zachary patted her hand with false sympathy “—I’m sure the pastor just made an error in judgment.” Turning to Dakota, he added, “It sure doesn’t look right to have a loose woman living on your property, you being single and all.”

Dakota didn’t say a word until he was certain it would come out nicely. Taking a breath, he paused to move some papers and then leaned back in his creaking chair again. “I couldn’t agree more. That’s why
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we’re renting the place to Meghan O’Halleran. She has multiple sclerosis and needs a place to live.”

Georgia frowned. “O’Halleran. Why does that name sound familiar, Zachary?”

“Is she the daughter of that crazy old woman in the wheelchair?” Zach asked, his face turning red when he realized he was right. “That old coot had MS, too. Do you know how much
time
of yours this woman is going to take if she has the same problem?”

Dakota sighed. He didn’t want to think of all the time she might take, then again, with the compassion he felt for Meghan, he didn’t think he’d mind making the time either. “My mom thinks taking her in is a great idea and so do I. Besides, she’s not as bad off as her grandmother.”

“Not yet,” Zachary Bennett warned. “You’d better think hard about this. We don’t pay our pastor to spend all of his time outside of church seeing to people like that. I mean, really, first you wanted to enlarge the youth room and we let you do that, but then you’re wanting to bring in hoodlums to downtown and now move a sickly woman into your house?”

“Okay.” Dakota felt he’d handled as much as he could. “I’ll make a note of your concern and we’ll see about it.” He thought that a vague enough answer to get them to forget about it. He glanced at his watch. “Ah, Mr. Fredrickson should be here, so I’m going to have to bring our chat to a close. Was there something else I could help you with?”

Bennett puffed up like a blowfish and Dakota could tell he’d insulted the man. However, he was certain he was about to lose his sanctification over what the man
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had just said and thought the better part of valor was to cut the meeting short before one of them said something they’d regret. How in the world could these people judge Meghan before they’d even met her? But Dakota knew it wasn’t really about Meghan, it was about anything that took away from his time as the pastor, anything that made him spend time in a way that Zach couldn’t control.

“We expect you to finish this discussion, Pastor,”

Zach informed him.

“What is there to discuss? Meghan is an old friend that I’ve known my entire life. My mom suggested that she live in the apartment until she gets on her feet. Meghan recently lost her job and, since it is my mom’s house, I imagine she has the right to say who can stay there.”

Not to mention that he felt God expected them to reach out to the very people the Bennetts wanted the church to shun, the sick and hurting. But since he was trying to keep the peace in the church, he didn’t throw that up in their faces.

“Perhaps I should have a talk with her then.” Georgia ran her fingers back and forth over her pearls before finally dropping her hands to clutch her blue, beaded purse.

And his mom would politely and so gently put Georgia in her place without the woman even realizing it.

“She’ll be at the women’s get-together Wednesday.” He referred to the women’s Bible study. “I’ll tell her to make sure to chat with you.”

That was his way of attempting to keep Georgia from going over to the house when Meghan was there.

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“Oh yes.” Georgia smiled.

Zachary frowned, and Dakota realized the man knew exactly what he was up to. He’d been as kind as possible, though he was certain his blood pressure was too high to be safe. He felt a headache beginning, and so he began to recite to himself a very familiar verse:
Peace, I give unto you, not peace of this world.
Slowly the tension drained, despite the fact that he still wasn’t happy with the Bennetts’ attitude.

“Honestly,” he began in a conciliatory voice. “If you have any questions, I’ll be glad to answer them. My next appointment won’t mind waiting for a bit. But please let me reassure you that Meghan isn’t going to interfere with my job. God called me to work with all walks of people, just as He called us all. If I don’t help this woman, what type of pastor would I be?”

Zachary was in a quandary. Dakota saw it on his face. Finally, he grunted. “As long as she doesn’t interfere with your job I suppose it’s all right.”

Ah well, what had he hoped for? Repentance of an attitude that the man had had since Dakota had first taken over as pastor at the church?

But from Zach that was as good as he’d get.

“It’s just the rumors.” Georgia’s lips turned down in worry.

“I wish we could stop them all, don’t you?” Dakota asked the woman.