Texas Weddings 3 & 4 (7 page)

“Where is your other shoe?” he demanded, reaching to turn
the water off at the wall. He quickly fished the tiny socks out.

“Shoe bye-bye!”

“Charity? What do you mean? Where is your other shoe?”

She pointed at the toilet, erupting into laughter. “I
fwush
shoe! Shoe bye-bye!” She jumped into the empty
bathtub and began to dance about like a banshee. Kent’s head drooped to the
edge of the toilet seat in frustration.

“Of course you did. Why should this Sunday be different from
any other?” He rolled up his sleeve and plunged his arm down into the toilet
until he was in almost up to his elbow. His hand finally reached the tiny shoe,
which had lodged itself at the base of the toilet. He pulled it out, feeling a
momentary surge of triumph. “I got it!” he exclaimed, turning toward Charity. A
silent, empty bathtub stared back at him.

He sprang up from the floor and made his way into Charity’s
bedroom, where he searched, half-frantic, half-frustrated. “Charity!”

“Boo!” She jumped out from behind the door, nearly scaring
the wits out of him.

Kent drew in a deep breath and tried to relax. “Charity,
come to Daddy. We have to get ready for church.” This time she obliged, though
he had to bribe her with the promise of a trip to Grandma’s house after church
in order to accomplish the task.

For the next several minutes, he attempted to balance the
task of dressing the precocious youngster, reading over his sermon notes, and
searching for his missing Bible. He found it on his bedside
table,
underneath a picture Charity had colored for him. By the time they reached the
church, he felt his nerves had nearly unraveled. With a sigh of relief, he
dropped her off in the nursery and headed to his office for a few moments of
prayer and reflection.

***

 
“What do you
mean you’re going to another church?” Shauna’s mother sat across the breakfast
table, looking stunned. “Your father and I were counting on spending the day
with you. We’ve hardly had a moment with you since you got your new job. And
your aunts and uncles will be there. Everyone has missed you.”

“I know, Mom,” Shauna explained with great care. “But I’m
ready for a change. To be perfectly honest, I’m a little bored at your church.
There’s no one my age there. I had something a little different in mind today.”

“Different?” Her mother’s eyebrows shot straight up.

“Don’t worry,” Shauna said with a smile. “I know exactly
what I’m doing.”

“I sure hope so.” Her mother shook her head.

Shauna spent a great deal of time picking out exactly the
right outfit. “I look awful in purple,” she said, tossing a blouse onto the
bed. “And this gray skirt is too small. I might as well give it away.
Hmm
. .
.
What
about this?” She held up a soft blue summer dress with short sleeves and a
delicate, flowing skirt. “This must be just the ticket. And it’s still warm
enough to wear a summer dress.” She turned around in front of the mirror,
holding it up in front of her. “Yes, I do believe so. Mr. Twenty-First Century
Pastor is going to be mighty surprised when he sees me in his congregation, I’d
be willing to bet.”

Shauna’s laughter suddenly turned to trembling. She sat
slowly on the edge of the bed, realizing just how close she had come to
betraying Joey with her thoughts. She cared for him. At least, she was fairly
sure she did. Right now, everything seemed a little out of focus.

Lord, show me what to do. I really do need a church where I
can feel connected—a part of things. If I’m going just because of Kent
Chapman, then stop me in my tracks, Father.

A sense of peace washed over her and she felt, for the first
time in a while, like she heard God’s heart on the matter. She was in a place
where she needed a new church.
Nothing wrong in admitting
that.
She needed people her own age and a good, solid discipleship
program.

And her motives weren’t off. There was nothing wrong with
admiring someone like Kent Chapman simply for being a man of God.

“I’ll go,” she whispered to no one but herself. “But who
knows if I’ll even like it.”

Sometime later, she found herself in an unfamiliar
sanctuary, staring at unfamiliar people. The whole thing felt a little odd, but
Shauna determined in her spirit to give the place a fighting chance.

She stood at the back for a while as well-meaning parishioners
introduced themselves right and left. An older woman shook hands and offered
her a bulletin. A girl about her own age pointed out a “Twenty-Something” class
the church was just starting. The worship leader approached her, asking if she
might be interested in joining the choir. And when she paused to say hello to a
little boy with tight curly hair, his mother—who turned out to be the
church’s preschool director—asked if she might be interested in working
in the nursery.

Right now, to be perfectly honest, Shauna simply wanted to
find a place to sit and observe. Perhaps those other things would come in time.
She took her place in an empty pew near the back, thankful to be away from the
crowd for a moment.

Still, the people came. A beautiful woman with two little
boys scooted in next to her. She introduced herself as Vicky Ebert, but not
before singing Kent Chapman’s praises. Curiosity drove Shauna to glance down at
the woman’s hand to see if she wore a wedding ring. Nothing. Vicky dove into a
lengthy discussion about single parenting, and Shauna tried to focus, but she
found it difficult with so much activity going on around her.

An older couple scooted in on her other side. The woman, who
introduced herself as Mrs. Witherspoon, filled her in on a program the
children’s choir would be performing in late October. With great animation, she
invited Shauna to attend. Shauna politely nodded and told her she would check
her calendar.

Goodness,
they’re a friendly bunch.
Over the past
several minutes, Shauna had found herself in comfortable conversation with
several folks she had never before met, which served to still her anxious
heart.
. .until she glanced up at the front of the
auditorium and laid eyes on Kent Chapman in his dark gray suit.

Guilt suddenly permeated her being. Why had she come here,
after all?
To see a man?
Had God really drawn her to
this place, or were there more evil motives at work?

“I must be crazy,” she mumbled, as she looked for the exit
at the back of the sanctuary. “Or worse—a heretic.” She glanced at her
watch, realizing that she probably had just enough time to make it up the aisle
and out the door before the opening music began. If she played her cards right,
she could be out of here in a flash, and he would never even know she had come.
Shauna slipped out—beyond the chattering Vicky Ebert—and into the
aisle.

Turning, she immediately found herself face-to-face with
Kent Chapman. “Oh, hi. I,
uh.
. .”
Caught.

“I’m so happy to see
you,” the cheerful pastor said with a smile. He extended a hand in her
direction. She reached out to shake it, glancing down at his hand.

“What happened to
you?” she asked, fighting to hide the laughter in her voice. His white sleeve
was covered in tinges of blue.

“Oh,
I.
. .” He reached to cover it up with his other hand.
“That’s a long story. I guess I’ll have to tell you later. You weren’t leaving
were you?”

“Leaving? Me?” Shauna
stammered. “Why would I do that? I just got here.” She couldn’t help but notice
the smile that lit his face as she spoke. Her heart suddenly felt warmed by it,
though she couldn’t explain why. “Could you tell me where the ladies’ room is?”
she whispered.

He pointed toward the
back of the sanctuary and to the left. “It’s just around the corner,” he
whispered back. “But I don’t think that’s where you were headed. You were going
to chicken out on me, weren’t you?”

“Chicken out?” she
said loudly. “Me? You think I’m scared of your sermons?” She sat defiantly in
the pew and reached for her Bible. “You just get on up there and preach, Mr.
Twenty-First Century Pastor.
I
’m
all
ears
.

eight

Shauna gripped the piece of paper in her tightly clenched
fist.

“What’ve you got there, girl?” Ellen asked. “A love letter?”

Shauna tried not to let the frustration show in her voice as
she explained. “It is a letter from my boyfriend, but not a love letter. He’s
supposed to be coming down to meet my parents sometime soon,
but.
. .”

“But what?” Ellen almost dropped the large jar of jelly.

“He’s going on a
weekend fishing trip with some of his buddies. Which is okay, of course, but I
really hoped he would come to see me sometime before the end of the month. Now
it looks like I’ll have to wait till the end of October when he has his fall
break.” She sighed, not knowing if she could take being away from him another
month.

“So, are you two an
item?” Ellen asked, licking grape jelly off of her fingers.
“I
mean, are you getting engaged?”

Shauna shrugged,
folding the paper and putting it in her pocket. “I’m clueless,” she said with a
shrug. “If you had asked me that a couple of months ago, I might have said yes,
but nothing is clear right now. Nothing but being here and working and spending
time with my family.”

“Who needs guys
anyway?” Ellen said with a smirk. “They only break your heart.”

“Aw, come on,” Shauna
said, “Let’s stop talking about them. Besides, I need to get back to the kids.”
She pointed to the table where the children sat eating ice cream.

“It’s unusually quiet today,” Ellen observed, looking at the
group. “What’s up?”

“Charity’s not here.”

“Ah.”

“She’s got a stomach
ache,” Shauna explained. “Her grandmother called this morning to say she wasn’t
coming in today, so I decided to throw myself a little party.” She held up her
bowl of ice cream.

Ellen screwed the top
back onto the jar of jelly. “You’re cruel.”

“No, I’m not,”
Shauna
argued. “I’ve only worked here two weeks, and I’m
already thinking about quitting.”

“You’re not.”

“I am. You should try working with that kid. She’s completely
impossible. Do you know what she did the other day?”

“No telling.”

“She went to the
bathroom then smeared it all over the wall.”

“Yuck!”

“Yeah, no kidding. And
guess who got to clean it up. But that wasn’t all. Remember the other day when
the kids were watching
Tangled
?

“Yeah.”

“I must have gotten a
little too wrapped up in the movie,” Shauna said with a shrug, “ ’cause the
next thing I know, she’s in my purse, getting out my lipstick.”

“You’re kidding.”

“I wish I were. She
covered half of her face before I could snatch it out of her hands. Then she
broke it. My best lipstick.”

“I’m so sorry,
Shauna.” Ellen reached out to place a hand on her shoulder. “It seems like
you’ve had nothing but trouble with that little girl.”

“I know this is terrible,”
Shauna said with a slight groan, “but I’m praying her family will move her to
another school. Is that awful? I know it’s awful, but I’m ready to quit over
one little girl.” Her words came fast and furiously. “Is it really possible for
one child to so completely disrupt my life?”

“It’s possible.
Obviously.”

“Well, I know this
sounds just terrible, but I don’t know how much more of it I can take.
Sometimes I think I learned absolutely nothing in school. I should be able to
handle things like this. I really should.” Shauna shook her head in defeat. “I
feel so helpless sometimes.”

“Just give it time,”
Ellen responded. “You’re still on a learning curve.”

“Looks like I will be for a long, long time.”

“In the meantime, looks like you’ve got another problem on
your hands.” Ellen pointed to the table, where three of the children had
started putting ice cream in one another’s hair.

“Great.” Shauna shook
her head in despair. “I tell you—some days I just want to go back to school
and get my beautician’s license.”

***

Kent yawned loudly, leaning back in his oversized chair.
Pictures of Shauna Alexander in that blue dress wouldn’t seem to leave him.
“Snap out of it, man. You’ve got a lot of work to do.” He turned back toward the
pile of mail that needed to be answered.

Another yawn erupted, a reminder of his lack of sleep.
Charity had cried late into the night, refusing to settle down in her own bed.
Frustrated, he had relented, allowing her to crawl into bed next to him. That didn’t
work either. She was too fussy to rest. His solution had come in the form of a
car ride at 2:15 a.m. The movement had lulled her to sleep. Exhausted, he had
tumbled into bed sometime around three.