Chapter 27

Back to Rob:

Well, turned out that the pasta was a good choice. I was able to stretch it, and they all liked it. Even got requests for tutorials on making it! So dinner went well. Kay calls it "dinner", so I guess I gotta get used to calling it that, myself. But back home we always used to call it "supper", and "dinner" was on Sundays and holidays. Old fashioned, I guess.

I think everyone enjoyed the chatter over the meal, too. But those two "note takers" really take the cake. Always cracking wise over something or other, but still, there's a layer underneath the patter that lets the serious side show through now and then. Kay, or was it Laurel, says it's a defense mechanism. I can understand that, from what George has told me. Gotta be able to let the bad stuff drain away, and these ladies see way too much bad stuff all the time. If they kept it bottled up inside, they'd be forgetting what side they're on.

Anyway we headed over to Hector's church, and our two protectors tagged along. They're off the clock, and don't have to do this, but I got the sense that they feel like they've got some new friends, real ones, and they're hungry for that kind of friendship. My Kaitlyn does affect people that way!

Got to the address that Hector had given me, and found a converted strip mall store front, with a neat, hand-lettered, sign over the door, that said "Iglesia". Simple and to the point, I guess. Except Richelle read it aloud and quipped, "Julio lives here?"

Suzy punched her, and said, "Not Iglesias, smartass, Iglesia! It's Spanish for church!" Then she put her hand over her mouth and said, "Ooops! Didn't mean to cuss right here."

Richelle saw her cross herself and wisecracked, "I thought you were Jewish!" Got a swat in return.

I shook my head and knocked on the door while they were whispering at each other, and we heard Hector call to us, "Over here, amigo. That door is too heavy for some of our older people, so we use this little one on the side. Come in! Come in!"

I saw he was dressed in the same kind of rough work clothes we had first seen him wearing, paint-spattered jeans and a tee shirt. Didn't really look like a pastor, more like a fisherman. Or maybe a carpenter. Then I thought, what better work clothes to outfit a man of God? I grinned inside at the thought, and felt humbled to have the privilege of knowing this man.

I introduced the girls as they filed past me through the door, then I followed Hector into his little church. It was a simple place, with an old keyboard, a railing with a cloth hanging from it that separated a group of folding chairs from the little pulpit in the front. A very well-worn piano sat to one side of the pulpit, and a young boy sat there, obviously practicing a music lesson. The piano didn't sound tooo bad, but...

Hector asked if he was finished for the evening, and the boy thanked him and left. He looked up at us and smiled, "Diego's family cannot afford a piano at home, so he comes here to practice. He may be our pianist someday!"

The place was spotless, everything pleasing to the eye except for the obviously hand-made cross behind the pulpit. Surely they could have afforded something more attractive than that, for the front of their church!

Hector saw me looking at it, and must have read my thoughts, because he said, "Everyone feels that way when they first see it, mi amigo." When I looked at him with the obvious question in my eyes, he simply smiled and said, "It reminds us of the great love that accepted being hung on something that ugly, just for us."

I was speechless. Never thought of it quite like that, and I guess the girls hadn't either, because they were far quieter, more subdued, than I'd seen them, up to now.

"But we are here to speak of wedding plans, yes?" Hector looked at Kay, and she blushed again and nodded. He looked at me and I just smiled, then he said, "Señorita Kaitlyn? Would you come with me over here into my study?" She followed him, and they sat at a small table in a little room off the sanctuary. Didn't close the door, so that we could see them, and I guess that made Richelle and Suzy happy, because I saw them relax a little. They are really into their jobs! Or perhaps in this case, their friendships.

I saw Kaitlyn smiling and nodding as he talked to her for a few minutes, and then she spoke back to him. Then he did something I thought was strange at first, but it made me realize how much he cared. He reached out his hand, and Kaitlyn took it, and they bowed their heads, just for a moment, and then they were coming out again to join us, and her eyes were shining.

He beckoned for me to follow him then, and I did. It was almost surreal, as this young man, about my age or even a few years younger, spoke to me about commitment and sacrifice, and 'til death do us part. He asked me a few questions about those things, and what I thought they were. I answered as best I could, and he must have been satisfied with my responses. He beckoned for Kaitlyn to come in and sit beside me. Then he reached out for both our hands, and spoke some simple words of prayer for "This young couple who have come to ask Your blessing on their desire to join together," and that was it. He seemed a lot like the Baptists back home, but like he was more comfortable, maybe more genuine, in it.

But I knew that it wasn't simply the end of an interview, as much as it was a very good beginning for a life together. I said that to Kay, later, and she smiled and said she'd got that same feeling.

We rejoined the rest of the girls, and Hector said, "One of the ladies of the church has made us some cookies, and there is punch, and coffee or tea as well. Would you like to join me in the fellowship room and we'll discuss the rest of what we need to do for the wedding?" We followed him, and were met by an older woman who smiled and asked what we would like to drink. We stated our preferences, and sat around the table.

Kaitlyn looked around and asked, "Will your wife be joining us? I'd hoped to get some ideas from the ladies, on the reception and all."

Hector smiled and said, "If I had a wife, I would hope she would be pleased to join us, but alas, I have never found one who would put up with a poor preacher. Someday, perhaps," and he smiled again. Kay showed her discomfort at having asked an embarrassing question, but he just smiled, and said, "No, Señorita Kay, do not worry. It is a question I am often asked, and I always say it is in the Lord's time." I saw that Renee looked up, interest showing in her eyes, at his answer. Richelle and Suzy shifted in their seats as if they were getting a little uncomfortable, but Renee was just sitting there, riveted by every word Hector was saying. Hmmm.

He continued, "Now, I had hoped our pianist could be with us, but she went to call on another of our people who is ill, and she stayed to prepare supper for them. She did say that she is very familiar with most of the customary wedding music, and is comfortable with most other music as well. I can vouch for her in that, and add that she plays a pretty mean Billy Joel, too!" He smiled again, "Even Scott Joplin! And if you do decide to hold a small reception here, we can do it right in this room. We have done this before, and even have extra outlets there in the corner if you wish to engage a disk jockey for dancing. The only thing we ask is that you refrain from smoking, and from alcoholic beverages."

Kay looked at me with a big smile on her face, then back at him and said, "That will be no problem at all, Pastor, not at all! We really don't want anything special, just a few friends, our families, and perhaps cookies and punch." She looked at the girls, then back at me, and asked, "Am I forgetting anything?"

I told her I didn't think she had forgotten a thing, and looked around at the other girls for reassurance, and saw that Renee was still just sitting there with her eyes locked onto Hector, as if she wanted to memorize everything about him! "No," I repeated, not wanting to draw any attention to the poor girl, "I think you've covered just about everything." I turned back to Hector and said, "I think that'll do it, then, unless you have any further questions for us."

Then I said, "Wait! We haven't said anything about renting the hall or a stipend or anything for the folks who will be helping. Is there a usual amount?"

He smiled again, and said, "No, my friend, we do this in a spirit of love, and we are provided for. There is no need to pay anyone here. If you wish to help some of the more unfortunate ones in the church, or outside of the church, for that matter, it is up to you. But we place no responsibility on you for that. And should you wish to join us for services on a Sunday or two, you will find a genuine welcome here." I nodded, and we shook hands again, and we left it at that.

As we left the church, our two cops went out first, and I saw Kaitlyn give him a hug and heard her say "Thank you, Pastor," and the other two girls shook his hand, one of those handshakes lasting noticeably longer than the other. And Kay and I both saw something in the way that Hector and Renee looked at each other. Not a look of passion, you understand, but a look as if something had started here, that was bigger than them, perhaps a germ of an idea that needed further exploration. Then she smiled and turned towards the car, and I shook his hand and thanked him again, and he seemed for just a second, to have lost his train of thought. Double Hmmmm!

Richelle and Suzy split for their place, while the four of us went the opposite direction, to drop Renee off at her place. Waited until she got inside the door, and her dad came out and waved at us, then we headed for home. By this time we were all tired, so we showered and headed for bed. I could hear the girls laughing as they recapped the highlights of their day, then I closed my eyes for a second, and it was morning.

Kay again:

I'm scared! This has to all be a very nice dream, and at any second I'm gonna wake up from it and find myself someplace I really don't wanna be. But then I pinch myself and nope, I'm not asleep, and Rob is really real, and he loves me! I looked over at Laurel, and she's awake too, and we got up and started getting ready to do the school thing all over again. Today and tomorrow are the only class days remaining, then review, finals, and graduation! And then we have a date at a little church down by the waterfront! That reminds me -- I've gotta call home today, and let Mom and Dad in on the details.

Laurel saw me smiling and said, "It looks like you haven't changed your mind since last night, there, girl."

"Nope, not a chance. I'm good to go."

She smiled and said, "Just seeing you like this makes me realize that I was looking for the wrong things, and almost found them. And hearing that pastor last night made me realize there's hope for me, too." Then she grinned, "If I can survive Suzy and Richelle, that is!"

We finished getting ready for school, then went out to the kitchen to find Rob already up, dressed, and flipping pancakes. Bacon was in the oven, and the coffee was just ready, in the old-fashioned percolator that Rob rescued from a garage sale. He said, "It was like brand new, but the people who had it didn't know how to use it, so I bought it for a quarter and brought it home. Makes great coffee!"

Laurel took in all this activity, grinned at me, looked at Rob, and said, "I could get used to this. Are you sure you guys don't need a second wife? It's accepted in some rather advanced societies even today!" Rob suddenly found a need to concentrate on the flame under the griddle, ducked a little lower than he probably needed to, in order to see the burner, and left me to field that one. Subject "needed changed right quick", as my dad would say.

"I think we'll try getting along with just the two of us for, say, the first fifty or sixty years, then get back to you on that idea if we need to. I'll keep you in my address book, just in case."

She pouted, then giggled, and carted a platter of pancakes to the table, and said, "Just as long as I'm first on the list!"

Poor Rob's head was way down between his shoulders by that time, as if he was ducking grenades! He said, "Laurel, sweetie, if there was a list, you'd be the only one on it!" Then he looked over at me and said, "Well, maybe along with Richelle or Suzy," and he put both hands over his head and ducked! Poor Laurel choked on her coffee.

I never batted an eye, and joined in the fun. "You forgot Renee and Krista, you horn dog!" Poor thing missed the pancake he was flipping, and it fell into the burner, and he scorched all the hair off the back of his hand, trying to save it. Laurel sputtered into her coffee mug.

"Speaking of Renee," said Laurel, wiping coffee off her chin as she deftly changed the subject, "is she meeting her brother at the airport this afternoon, or didn't she say?" I was chewing on a bite of pancake (good!), so I just shrugged my shoulders, and she continued. "God, I can't believe it hit me so hard when she told us his name. Wasn't expecting that one, not at all. Felt bad about rainin' on her parade; thought I'd ruined her good news. But she came in and said she was sorry she made me cry!" A kind of shadow passed over her face, then she brightened again. "Dunno why all of a sudden everybody's so damn nice to me, but I like it." Thought she was gonna cloud up again, but she just wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, took a bite of her pancake, and said, "Mmmmmm! Good! And real maple syrup too. Where'd you get that, Rob?"

"Business trip to New York." He looked at me and said, "Same one where I had that good corned beef hash. Only I had to have it shipped down here, 'cause the TSA regulations wouldn't allow me to carry it on the plane. And speaking of that hash, we gotta try making that soon."

"Nope," I said, "what if I don't like it? Then you won't wanna marry me."

He looked at me and I melted when he said "Babe, there will never be a second when I won't wanna marry you!" And I could see in his eyes that he was completely serious. Did I say before that he's got beautiful, soft, grey eyes?