The Pastor's Wife (6 page)

Rachel leaned back in her chair, eyes cast at the ceiling. “Well, you could put in a screen and turn it into a movie theater. Or you could turn it into a type of convention center … a place to have meetings and such. Or you could put in tables and make it a dinner theatre.”

“Or I could do it all.”

Rachel narrowed her eyes. “Just how many buildings do you think you inherited?”

“No, no, listen. I could do it all in one building.” Maura felt her cheeks flush with excitement. “One of the conditions of the will is that we put on at least one church performance, so we have to keep the live theatre aspect, which I want to do anyway. But I don’t think that alone will bring in enough revenue. If I installed a retractable screen, we could also have special movie viewings. And with the new businesses that are thinking of moving this way, we could certainly rent it out for corporate meetings.”

“What about dinner theatre?”

Maura chewed on her lower lip. “Okay, that would be a lot harder. I don’t think there are any cooking facilities in the building, and to install a professional kitchen would be too expensive. But we could probably offer some kind of dinner-and-a-show package in conjunction with one of the restaurants in town.”

“That's a great idea.” Rachel nodded, catching Maura's enthusiasm. “I envy you, Maura.”

Was she serious? “Me? Why?”

“Because you’ve got this great opportunity to make something out of practically nothing. You’re reinventing your life. What I wouldn’t give for a chance like that.”

Rachel's wistful tone surprised Maura. From where she sat, Rachel had the perfect life: a great husband, two kids, the house with an actual white picket fence. What more could she want?

“Are you looking to reinvent yourself?”

Rachel's eyes widened. “No, not really. I guess that's not the right word. I love my life, it's just …”

“Just what?” Maura prodded.

Rachel hesitated before plunging in. “I’ve been a full-time housewife and mom since I was eighteen. Don’t get me wrong. I love my family, but the kids don’t need me nearly as much as they used to. I have a lot of extra time on my hands. Lately, I’ve been thinking about what comes next. You know, when the nest is empty and it's just Derrick and me.”

Maura nodded, a plan already percolating in her brain. “I completely get what you’re saying. And, you’re right. This theatre is a great opportunity for me. But you know I can’t pull it off by myself. I’ll need some good people to work with.” She paused. “Are you interested?”

Rachel looked at her cautiously. “Why? Are you making me an offer?”

“I couldn’t pay you much … in fact, I can’t actually pay you anything until we start bringing in some revenue.” Maura stopped, embarrassed that she’d suggested Rachel work for free. “Never mind, it's a dumb idea. Just forget I said anything.”

“Whoa, there!” Rachel waved her hands back and forth in front of Maura. “You just let me decide whether or not it's a dumb idea. Besides, you’re offering me twice as much as I’m making now.”

“How do you figure?”

“Twice as much of nothing is nothing,” Rachel said with a grin. “I don’t know if you’ve heard, but people in my job category don’t even make minimum wage. Besides, now you’ve got me all revved up about the idea of reviving the Music Box.”

Maura's heart constricted as she looked across the table. Not all of her experiences in Granger had been bad. Rachel was a sincere, true friend, who had been there for her when she was at her lowest. Despite the fact that Maura had abandoned the friendship, Rachel was gracious enough to let them pick up like nothing had happened. Working with her now would definitely be a good thing. She might even call it an answer to prayer, if she prayed anymore.

She was about to say something profound when her stomach grumbled loudly, making both of the woman laugh. Maura glanced down at her watch. “Good grief, it's later than I thought. You probably need to get back home.”

Rachel shook her head. “Nope, everybody's got other plans tonight. Becca's at a friend's house, and from there she's going to chorus practice; Ben's away at football camp, and Derrick has a church board meeting. We’re spread out all over, which proves my point. You know, I think this is what Pastor Nick might call a divine appointment.”

Maura let Rachel's last statement slide. Rachel didn’t need to know Maura no longer shared Nick's belief that God was involved in all areas of a person's life. Maura thought of God as more of a passive observer. Otherwise, her life would have turned out much differently.

Maura cleared her throat, eager to steer the conversation in a different direction. “Why don’t you and I go get dinner and do some more brainstorming?”

“Great idea. I’ll just leave a message for Derrick in case he gets home before I do.” Rachel pulled her cell phone from her purse.

“Hm—hm.” Mrs. Phipps's eyes narrowed as she cast a laser look toward Rachel. Apparently, using cell phones in the library was a cardinal sin, deemed even worse than mere conversation.

Rachel flipped the phone shut and stuffed it back in her purse. “Maybe I’ll call him from outside,” she whispered loudly.

Maura scooped up the books she’d already checked out, and they headed for the door. She couldn’t believe how everything was coming together. It was almost as if somebody had sent Rachel into the library so they could run into each other. Maura shook her head sharply. What was she thinking? It was coincidence, pure and simple. A happy, fortunate coincidence. A few more of those, and this project might turn out all right after all.

M
aura was still so excited after her first unofficial business meeting with Rachel that she almost didn’t notice Nick when she walked into the house. The sounds from the kitchen got her attention, and that's where she found him, putting away what looked like dinner leftovers. She inhaled deeply. Something sure smelled good. Was that roast beef? She didn’t see any evidence of it, but her nose wouldn’t lie to her.

“Hey, when did you learn how to cook?” She cringed as soon as the words were out of her mouth. W
hat do you think, stupid, he stopped eating after you left him?

Nick had the good grace not to point that out. He turned from the sink, wiping his hands on a dish towel. “Surprising, I know, but I can kind of find my way around the kitchen. Actually, roast is one of the easier meals to make.”

Maura thought back to her conversation with Rachel. “I’m surprised you’re home. Didn’t you have to be at the church board meeting tonight?”

“I told them I couldn’t be there.” Nick shrugged. “Since this is your first night here, well, I wanted to …” His voice trailed off and he tossed the dish towel on the counter. “I just wanted to be around.”

This was a first. He’d skipped a meeting for her. And he’d cooked dinner. She dropped her purse on the dining table and noticed it was set with her mother's china. Her heart jumped.

Da had given the set to them as a wedding present. When she left Nick, she’d been so upset that she hardly took anything. She left the dishes behind, never expecting to see them again. Now, running a finger gently around the rim of a plate, she smiled. Nick used to be afraid to touch them because he’d accidentally broken one of the tea cups. Yet, he’d brought them out today. “You kept the set.”

He looked shocked that she’d considered anything else. “Of course. I know how much it means to you. I figured someday you’d send for it, or come back to get it.” He shook his head. “Of course, I never figured this was how you’d end up coming back.”

He’d gone to so much trouble. Not just preparing the meal and setting the table, but he’d cleared his calendar for the evening. It warmed her down to her toes. “Nick, I’m sorry. I had no idea you’d done all this. If I had, I would have come … back.” She’d almost called it
home
. But she couldn’t. She couldn’t let herself start thinking about this as home, no matter how good it smelled, or how irresistible Nick looked with his sleeves rolled up and water spots all over the front of his shirt.

“No big deal. I had to eat, anyway. And now we’ve got leftovers.” He dismissed her concerns with a raise of one shoulder, as though the situation didn’t bother him. But Maura could hear the twinge of disappointment in his voice. “So, have you eaten already?”

She nodded. “I ran into Rachel Nelson at the library. We ended up having dinner.”

His smile became genuine. “That's great. I’m glad you’re reconnecting with old friends.”

Friend
, she thought. There wasn’t anyone else she’d connected with during her short residence in Granger. She’d tried to work with people: Bettie Schwaab on the Thursday morning Bible study, Lena Tyler on the Vacation Bible School planning committee, Stu Pierson on the hospital visitation team, to name a few. She’d tried and failed to work with so many people. The experiences had not bound her in friendship to a single person. But Nick wouldn’t know that. He’d thought she was getting along great with everyone, and she’d let him believe it. If he still believed it, there was no need to set him straight now.

“Yeah, it was fun catching up with her. But it was so much more than that. We started talking about the theatre and—”

Nick raised his hand like a traffic cop bringing her to a halt. “Wait. This sounds interesting. Why don’t we sit down, have some pie, and you can fill me in? Unless you’ve already had dessert too.”

“No, we skipped dessert.” She saw the pie sitting on the counter, covered in aluminum foil. “What kind is it?”

“Cherry. Your favorite. And yes,” he said before she could ask, “we do have vanilla ice cream.”

Once more, Maura felt off balance. This was the same man who frequently forgot to call home to say he’d be missing dinner. Who left the house before the sun rose and often didn’t return until close to midnight. Who expected her to jump into every kind of service project with the same abandon he did. Yet here he was, not only remembering her favorite pie, but that she liked it a la mode. This must be what Alice felt like when she went through the looking glass. Everything upside down and not as it used to be.

Maura pushed her confused thoughts aside and concentrated on the present moment. She’d felt completely full and
satisfied after finishing dinner with Rachel, but now her stomach called out. Apparently, there was always room for pie.

She took off her jacket and draped it across the back of a chair. “Okay, you sold me. You dish it up, and I’ll clear off the table.”

Nick smiled and moved to the counter. Still feeling flustered, Maura turned to the table and collected the clean silver, leaving out the spoons so they could use them for dessert. As Nick spooned the pie and ice cream into chunky cereal bowls, she carefully stacked the good china. Without even thinking, she carried the plates to the opposite end of the kitchen and opened the cupboard next to the refrigerator. Sure enough, he still kept the set there. It was oddly comforting that, so far, everything was the same as she remembered.

Everything except for Nick himself. It was eight o’clock on a week night, and there he stood, serving up pie. When they had first lived together in Granger, there was always something to do, some meeting or emergency to attend to, some reason for Nick to run off or not come home until late. Most nights, she’d been alone in the house. When he did stay home, he was so preoccupied with his next sermon or Bible study that she may as well have been alone. Now he wanted to sit, eat pie, and talk about her day. Amazing.

“All set.”

Maura turned to see that not only had Nick put the pie on the table, he’d filled glasses of ice water for both of them. He sat down and motioned for her to join him, then dug into his dessert, giving a moan of pleasure at the first bite.

“You’re pretty satisfied with your cooking,” Maura said as she sat across the table.

He shook his head. “I can’t take credit for the pie. Baking is not a skill I’ve been able to pick up. Thankfully, the seniors
group took me on as one of their service projects. They bless me with something sweet once a week.”

Of course. The congregation loved Nick, no doubt about that. And they loved feeding him. From the moment Nick and Maura first arrived in Granger, the Ladies’ Auxiliary had barraged the couple with covered dishes. The first week alone they’d received so many casseroles Maura had to start packing them into the freezer. Just the thought made her stomach roll. If she never saw another casserole again it would be too soon.

Turning her thoughts back to dessert, she took a bite of the pie. The mixture of tart cherries and smooth vanilla ice cream almost pulled a moan out of her too. Instead, she just smiled. “It's very good.”

“So,” he said, leaning forward, “tell me about your wonderful day.”

In between bites she told him how she’d run into Rachel and the ideas they’d come up with. The more she talked, the more excited she became, until she’d forgotten about her dessert altogether. Nick didn’t interrupt as she went on about her plans. He just listened attentively and scraped his bowl clean.

“So, what do you think?” she asked when she’d run out of news to tell him.

“I think it's incredible. You’ve got a lot of great ideas, and it's wonderful that you’ve already got someone on board to work with. Rachel's a good woman.”

Nick's casual statement set off warning bells in Maura's head. Rachel's a good woman, the kind who supports her husband and looks after her children. The kind who would never abandon her family. The kind you can depend on.
Not at all like you.

She pressed her lips together tightly and looked down at her bowl. What was left of the pie had become a congealed mess of soggy crust and melted ice cream. It wasn’t nearly so
appetizing now. She stood up and took their bowls to the sink to rinse them out.

Get a grip
, she scolded herself.
Rachel
is
a good woman
.
And you’re doing the best you can.

“It's not just Rachel,” she said over her shoulder. “Her husband Derrick's a CPA. Of course, you already know that. Anyway, I’ll definitely need financial and tax advice, so I’m going to meet with him later this week.”