“Never mind, we don’t need anything here.”
I watched them suspiciously as they went out the door. I think they stole from my store. I clenched my fist. In fact, I was almost positive they stole something. I went down the aisle they had been down and looked around. I had just cleaned up this aisle. Was anything missing? I saw a box of expensive makeup not pulled forward. I had just straightened this aisle, and I knew that was not like that before those girls came in. I’d have to tell my boss to keep an eye on them when they came in next time.
The rest of the night was pretty uneventful. I was nervous about church the next morning. I closed up the shop and headed to Alison’s little blue house that had white shutters on the windows. Alison’s car was parked in the driveway. I parked behind her. I usually left before her anyways since I liked being early to everything under the sun. I went inside. Alison was curled up on the couch with a book. She smiled at me as I hung my purse up and put my shoes next to hers.
“How was work?” she asked.
“It was pretty good, though a couple girls from my old church showed up. Pretty sure they ripped something off.” I sat down on the couch beside her.
“Hmm…what are you going to do?” she asked as she reached over for her glass of juice on the end table.
“I didn’t actually see them steal it. But I went down the aisle I’d just cleaned up, and a thirty dollar makeup kit was gone. They were talking to me about Branson too,” I said and realized I was a little upset about what they said. I didn’t mean to be, but I felt like they were throwing rocks at me.
“Just ignore them. People who are under the law love to throw stones. Do you remember the story about the adulteress that the Pharisees dragged through the streets and threw at Jesus’ feet?”
I nodded as I rested my head against the back of the couch.
“They were so eager to throw stones at her. By the law they had every single right to kill her. When they asked Jesus what He would do He just simply said ‘if you have no sin go ahead.’ Jesus then told the woman her sins were forgiven. The heart of God is always to restore, not condemn. The Father God is not condemning Branson, but you will still have people wanting to throw stones at him.”
Where did these people get this kind of stuff? I was amazed. I’d barely gone to Grace Alive, but everything Branson’s friends said to me was just pure love. It overwhelmed me. I’d never been around people who talked like they did. People from Light on the Hill just simply picked up rocks and chucked them at each other. They didn’t look at their own mess ups; they just wanted to point out everyone else’s.
“Good point, Alison.” I gave her a small smile. I felt weary of this battle going on in my head. Law verses grace. Things my dad taught me were ingrained in there. Branson had told me something that I would remind myself of. Zoe, good things happen to those who know God loves them. When I simply thought about it my condemnation seemed to leave me. I started studying the Bible like I’d never done before too. Grace was all over the place. How come I’d never seen it before?
“I’m going to bed; I’ll see you tomorrow after church. Some stuff is going on at Light on the Hill, so I’m not going to make it to Grace Alive tomorrow.”
“I’ll pray for you, Zoe,” she said and turned back to her book.
“Thanks,” I said as I walked toward my room for the night.
Chapter 28
Sunday morning rolled around, and I could feel my tension growing. I took a shower, blow dried my hair, curled it, put my makeup on, and picked out an outfit. I ended up changing my clothes twice. For some reason showing up at Light on the Hill was making me feel like I wanted to vomit. People were going to see Branson and me together with his kids. Was I ready for their evil looks that I was bound to receive from them?
I thought about the story Alison and I had talked about last night. They would chuck stones at me in a heartbeat. I brewed some coffee and tried to calm my nerves. After reading my Bible, praying for awhile, Branson picked me up with the kids, and we rode to church. The twins babbled in the back and tickled Bree. Their laughter lightened my mood but didn’t ward off the feeling of coming doom.
We got to Light on the Hill and went inside. I showed Branson where the nursery and the children’s rooms were, and he dropped his kids off. I got some really heated looks from holding his hand as we walked back toward the sanctuary. Mia came in with her load of children and Tomas. A heated anger ripped through me as I looked at her.
“You okay, Zoe?” Branson asked as we went down the forth pew.
“I’m okay.” We sat down. Pastor Mike got up and began the praise and worship. I hadn’t really wanted to be an hour early to church today. The music sounded good, but unlike Grace Alive there was no passion behind anything. I never noticed that before until I had gone to the barn church. It felt hollow. After worship ended, Jacob’s dad, Kyle Whitmen, came up on the stage. Crap. This was it. He was going to do it.
“Good morning!” he said cheerily and clapped his hands once. He shot a look at my dad, and his eyes narrowed. “I know you all must be wondering why I am up making announcements today.” Silence filled the sanctuary. A couple people coughed.
“I just wanted to publically announce my membership removal from Light on the Hill.” Gasps echoed around the building. The Whitmens had been part of our church for years. My palms began to sweat, and I grabbed Branson’s hand.
“Pastor Daniel is an unclean preacher of the gospel. I caught him committing adultery with Mia Fellan. I didn’t want to say anything about it at first, because we have such a wonderful church here at Light on the Hill, but I can’t sit by idly knowing that the man of God we trust is freely committing sin.” Kyle crossed his arms over his chest. “I am starting my own church on Edward Lane, if you’d truly like a preacher of righteousness, join me there.” He walked off the stage, and you could feel the tension in the room.
Suddenly people started standing up and shouting things at my dad. Several people up and walked out. It was chaos. I gripped Branson’s hand and prayed to myself. I watched my dad’s devastation hit him. My mom came up to him, slapped him, screamed at him, and started crying hysterically. It was over. Everything was over. I looked around at the church that was my home. I found Mia in the crowd and saw tears running down her face. Tomas just stared at her in horror. The church started emptying. Pretty soon no one was left in the sanctuary. They’d all left. My mom ran out of the room tears pouring down her cheeks. My dad fell to his knees, curled up in a ball, and sobbed. Branson still held my hand as all this happened. I saw Tomas slip out of the aisle and walk away. Mia cupped her face in her hands.
“Go to your dad, Zoe,” Branson said. “I’m going to get the kids, okay?” He looked toward the direction of the nursery.
“Okay,” I said and couldn’t contain the tears that were pouring down my face. My dad was still sobbing, Mia was sobbing. My heart began to break for my dad, for Mia. Yes, they’d screwed up; yes they’d sinned against all these people and God, but God still loved them. He still loved them! The revelation of grace began to flood my mind. All the laws that my dad had heaped on me as a little girl began to fade as the grace of God filtered into my thoughts. I was not here to judge them. I bent down to my dad and wrapped my arms around him and held him. It made him sob harder, a broken, broken sob that broke my heart.
“I can’t ever be enough for Him, Zoe, I can’t fix myself. I judged you so harshly, and God’s judgment is going to fall on me. He doesn’t want me anymore. I…screwed everything up,” he said through his tears.
“Dad…God still loves you. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done. You made a mess, but God’s not going to kick you when you’re down. He loves you!” I stroked his hair like I would a child.
He pressed my face against his wet cheek.
“I read the book, Zoe, I read it,” he said and looked at my eyes. “It wrecked me. It completely wrecked me. I’ve been…so wrong! I did everything so wrong! Look at this! Look at the mess
I created! I hurt God’s people. I hurt your mom. I don’t deserve the grace of God, Zoe.” His shoulders shook.
“Dad, none of us do!” I held him tight against me as he cried. Branson came back into the sanctuary toting his kids with him. The twins ran to me and wrapped their arms around my dad too. He laughed as they started kissing his face. What was this? I giggled as they climbed all over him. I stood up and came to Branson.
“I told them to do a kissy fest with Pastor Daniel. We do them all the time at home.” He bounced Bree up and down and rubbed her tummy with his head.
“Right, Bree Bree! Kissy fest time!” He started kissing her neck, and she giggled and squirmed. My dad started laughing as they kept kissing him.
“Wow! You girls sure know how to sweep a man off his feet!” My dad held them in his arms, and they snuggled right up against his chest. He looked up at me, and I saw something change in his expression. All my fear, my pain of his rejection just left my heart. Love. Pure, pure love began to shine through his eyes, and I saw a look of acceptance toward me.
“Zoe?” he said. “I love you, Zoe.”
Tears started pouring down my face. That’s all I ever wanted from my dad. Just love and acceptance for who I was, not what I did.
“I love you too,” I said and joined the kissy fest that was going on. I heard Mia get up off the pew, her shoulders hunched, and her face beat red from crying. I ran over to her, and she looked at me in fear.
“Zoe, I…I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean for this to happen.” She covered her face in shame. I put my arms around my best friend.
“I forgive you, Mia. I forgive you. God forgives you. He loves you so much. I love you so much.” I held her for a long time. How could I be angry at her? How?
“Tomas…he hates me now. He hates me, Zoe. I can’t face him. How am I going to go home and face him?” Her pale face was splotchy.
“You can do it, Mia,” I encouraged her. I squeezed her hand. I walked back over to Branson. He was in a conversation with my dad. I didn’t hear what they said, but at the end my dad pulled Branson into a big hug. His little girls clung to my dad’s legs. Bree grabbed the collar of my dad’s suit and started sucking on it.
“You guys ready to go home?” I asked the kids. The twins jumped off my dad’s legs and came into my arms. I hugged them tight and kissed their cheeks.
“Let’s go!” CC said and tugged at my hand. Branson and my dad followed us down the main aisle of the room and out into the foyer.
“I have to go find your mother.” My dad looked at me with deep sorrow. “I love you, Zoe.” He kissed my forehead and walked down the hallway. I grabbed Branson’s hand as we headed toward his car.
Chapter 29
“I’m almost ready!” Branson said over his shoulder as he ran around his house. I was standing at the doorway, ready to head over to Grace Alive. The twins looked like Daddy had let them dress themselves. They were both in dress up clothes and princess crowns. I put a hand over my mouth to hide my smile. Branson was throwing Bree’s stuff in her diaper bag.
“Do you need any help?”
He looked like he was creating more of a mess than actually throwing anything useful in Bree’s diaper bag.
“I’m good!” He finished whatever he was doing and picked up Bree. “Sorry, we woke up late,” he apologized to me. I was always early.
“No problem.”
He was still rushing about. He grabbed his wallet, shoved it in his back pocket, picked up his phone, and grabbed his keys, while clutching Bree in his other arm.
“We’re good!” he said with a bright smile. My jaw dropped open, and I couldn’t help it, I burst out laughing.
“Branson,” I tried to say through my fit of giggles. It wasn’t working. I just pointed to his shirt.
“What?” He pulled Bree away from his chest and held her out. He then looked down at his nice clean shirt, which wasn’t so nice and clean anymore. A big huge smear of what I would assume was poop was running down his shirt and down Bree Bree’s leg. Oh man!
“Ewwwwwwieeeee!” the twins said together and started waving their hands in the air near their nose.
“Bree Bree is poopy!” CC said and then tugged on my hand. “Are we going to church now?”
“Um,” I said through my chortles. “Um, in a minute, sweetie.” I’m sorry, I’m sorry it was just so funny; I couldn’t help but laugh my head off.
“I’ll be right back. Can you…clean up Bree?” Branson asked in the calmest voice I’d ever heard. “You just wait, Zoe Grace, until she poops on you.” He raised one eyebrow, and the corner of his mouth turned into a smile.
“I can’t wait,” I said as I took the stinky baby toward the bathroom. I managed to get her yucky outfit off and used about 100 baby wipes to get the poop off her legs. I then carried her to the bathroom and began to fill the tub with water.
“Bree, did you make a mess?” I asked and kissed her cheek.
“Zo—ey…” she said and started clapping. I tested to make sure the bath was the right temperature and stuck her in it. I washed her up as fast as I could then wrapped her up in a big fluffy towel. She was so cute! Her red hair was a big mess of wet curls as I dried her off. I could hear Branson moving around as I headed toward Bree’s room. I picked her a fluffy dress with butterflies on it and a headband for her head. I got her dressed, and we walked back into the living room. Branson was waiting. He was brushing off the front of his shirt self-consciously, even though he’d already changed.
“Thanks, Zoe, I really appreciate that.” The clock read 9:39, so we weren’t late for church. I motioned toward the door when Branson looked at his twins.
“Oh man, what are they wearing?”
“I’m wearing my Belle dress, Daddy, and Evie is wearing Ariel!” CC informed him. “And we are princesses.”
Branson started laughing. “Yes, you girls are, CC. Come on, let’s go to church,” he said, and we headed toward his car.
***
We got to Grace Alive in one piece with lots of silly songs.
“I’m singing a song today,” Branson said as we unstrapped the girls from the backseat.
“You are?” My eyes lit up as he pulled Bree up into his arms. The twins kind of jumped out of the car and took off running toward the playground. The air was cold, but those girls never cared.
“Is it okay if they play outside?”
“For a few minutes, but church is going to start really soon,” Branson said as we walked toward the big barn. I spotted the girls jumping around with a few other little girls their age. I came over to them.
“Hey, girls, church is about to start. We gotta come in okay?”
“Are we late?” Evie asked and turned her head sideways.
“Yup, cause Bree pooped!” I said with a laugh. The girls giggled at that. We caught up to Branson, and we walked inside together. I spotted my parents as we came through the door. Branson’s friends came over and greeted us and hugged Branson’s kids.
“You guys better clap for me when I’m finished singing today,” Branson said. “So I feel like a rock star.”
“You are a rock star,” I said and leaned over and kissed his cheek.
“We will be your crazy fans cheering in the third row,” Alison told him.
“I’ll be right back, guys,” I said as I walked over to my mom and dad.
“Hi, guys.” I leaned down and hugged them both. They’d been coming to Grace Alive for about a month now. I could still see the struggle on my dad’s face at times when Pastor Dom preached, but he was getting there. A lot of stuff had happened since the incident at Light on the Hill Church. My dad had lost everything. Luckily, the building had sold to a nice pastor, and my dad had enough in the savings to last him a good while.
“Hi, sweetie,” my mom said with a warm smile. “Where are the kids?” She looked around me. I pointed toward a spot near Branson where the girls were playing with another little girl. My mom was so amazing. She forgave my dad after the
whole incident, but I could still see a lot of fear on her face.
“They’re the ones that won’t stop moving,” I said with a smile. “We had an accident this morning. Bree pooped all over Branson as we were about to step out the door.” I couldn’t help but want to laugh at the images stuck in my head. Branson’s face!
“Oh no!” my mom said. “Well, I’m glad you guys made it on time still.”
“Me too, I’ll talk to you after church.” I gave them a little wave and walked back toward Branson. We found our seats after Branson dropped Bree and the girls off.
The worship began, and instantly I could feel a tangible presence of God fill the sanctuary. I had been watching change happen in my mom and dad. I was in shock that after the incident my parents had decided to come to Grace Alive. Every time worship would begin I’d see my dad cry. I lifted my hands as I heard Branson’s voice singing beside me. I began to sing as well, and our two melodies began to intertwine. He looked at me and grabbed my hand.
“You have a beautiful voice,” he whispered and kissed my head. The music continued until the worship leader quieted down. Something thick hung in the air as just the strings played. I could feel the reverence toward God in this place. Every person was silent as just the piano held a few simple notes. Pastor Dom walked up front, his eyes closed, and his hands raised. A warm sensation filled me.
I love you, Zoe, watch and see what I’m going to do. I opened my eyes to watch. Pastor Dom began to smile.
“I hear the Lord say today that there is breakthrough in the atmosphere. A breakthrough for lives. Things that the locusts have destroyed I am bringing back to life! Newness from me, says the Lord, a newness that will set you free. Don’t fret; don’t fear, for I am the Lord who hears. I have seen your tears and heard your cries, and I the Lord say it’s a brand new day! A brand new day!” The silence fell back on the crowd. One by one I heard people begin to cry. I looked over toward my parents and saw my dad begin to weep. Go to him, Zoe. Prophesy to him, the Holy Spirit told me.
Grace Alive: a Christian Romance Page 16
