Hide and Seek

by H. L. Wegley

  Running on empty both mentally and physically, he got out and walked to the driver’s side.

  Jennifer’s window slid down. “Here’s something to tide you over until morning.” She grabbed his chin with one hand and the back of his head with the other, twisted his head ninety degrees and planted a kiss on his cheek. “It’s been a wonderful date, Lee, but I broke curfew by twenty hours. I might have to ground myself.”

  “I’ve never had a date quite like that one either, Jenn. But then I haven’t dated since I was seventeen, so I have no real basis for comparison.”

  “No other dates? Then I hold the number one rating on your date list. But what happened when you were seventeen?”

  “I made a decision not to date. I’ll tell you about it sometime.”

  Jennifer’s frown and cocked head said she had questions, but she didn’t ask them. When the time was right, he would explain.

  “See you at 8:45 a.m. I think we’re both going to need a big coffee before church in the morning.”

  He dipped his head. “A triple-shot mocha at least. The pastor frowns on people falling asleep during his sermons.”

  “Gotta run, Lee. It may take an hour to work this big beast into my tiny parking space.”

  “Goodnight, Jenn.” There was a lot more he wanted to say before the goodnight part. But it would have to wait until tomorrow. Tomorrow.

  He was delighted that she seemed willing, even eager, to attend church with him. It was quite an ending to a day with such a terror-filled beginning.

  Lee scanned the rental lot. One light-colored sedan of the same make. Unlike Jennifer’s, it was brand new. He took it. The price was right. If his insurance agent came through the price wouldn’t matter.

  Through blurred vision he managed to sign the papers. He drove into his driveway as darkness fell, walked to his bedroom, set the alarm for 7:45 a.m., pulled off his shoes, and crashed.

  ****

  Lee pulled the pillow over his exposed ear. “Not the alarm already. I just laid down.”

  Eventually, he relented and rolled over to shut off the CD his alarm was playing. He looked out the window. The sun had topped the Cascades on a beautiful, sunny, Sunday morning. But best of all, a beautiful woman was going to pick him up in an hour. He needed to shower and dress, but the previous thirty-six hours had emptied his energy reserves.

  Lee stumbled through the routine of getting ready for church. At 8:30 he studied himself in his bedroom mirror. He looked presentable. Well, everything except the foot-long, gauze-covered abrasion on his right forearm looked presentable. His red badge of courage. He was running for his life. It fits.

  At 8:44 a.m. her car rolled along the street in front of his apartment. This was his second appointment with Jennifer and she was right on time, again. Prompt. It pleased him. But despite her temper and an IQ significantly higher than his, there wasn’t a single thing about Jennifer he didn’t like. On the flip side, there was a whole lot to like.

  He grabbed his Bible and hurried out the door. He could barely see Jennifer through the dark glass, but his first view of her reminded him of last night’s omission. He meant to tell her how people dressed at his church.

  Maplewood Community was a come-as-you-are congregation, but Lee wanted Jennifer to be as comfortable as possible during her first visit to his church. Maybe she was an as-you-are person and would be comfortable regardless.

  He opened the passenger-side door and peered in.

  She had dressed on the nice end of casual.

  Perfect.

  “Morning, Lee. How did you sleep?”

  He looked at her long, dark hair, her brown, almond-shaped eyes and concluded she was totally and absolutely—

  “Lee, where did you go? Are you awake, yet?”

  “Uh…I think so.”

  She eyed him with suspicion. “I’m not convinced.”

  “I did have a little trouble waking up. Zonked for nearly eleven hours, but I’m still going to need coffee to get me through the morning.” He slipped in and closed the door.

  Jennifer pulled away from the curb. “Me, too. The exhaustion came from more than missing a night of sleep. We went through a lot of emotional stress. Things went up and down so fast, from we’re alive to we’re about to die—I got really wrung out.” She paused and pointed towards his rental car. “Is that your parking spot?”

  “That’s my spot.” He smiled and waited for her reaction.

  “Don’t tell me you actually rented a white car like mine.”

  “Not white, but close.” He gave her a smug smile. “Ten years newer than yours, though.”

  She gave him a frowning glance. “Wait a minute. Mine had a lot of character.”

  “Unlike the characters who shot it.” He had accidentally taken their conversation in an unintended direction. Maybe he could steer it back towards them.

  Her twin frown lines appeared. “I wonder when we’ll get an update on the search for goon number three?”

  He didn’t want to see frowns on her face this morning. The day was too beautiful and Jennifer…well, she outshone even the day. One look at her and his mind was already—

  “Lee? There’s a question on the table.”

  Caught again.

  He yawned much wider than his fatigue prompted him to do. “Uh, soon, hopefully. At least by tomorrow, when we see Peterson.”

  “I’ve been thinking about…you know, what they should do after they catch and convict him.” She was smiling now.

  He returned her smile. “I’m open to any punishment you can think of. As long as it’s not illegal.”

  “How about sentencing him to ninety-nine years in the flea cave?”

  “Hmmm. Each year he would have eleven months to think about the next March.” He paused. “But can’t we talk about something other than caves?”

  She gave him a lingering glance. No smile. No frown. Her eyes were deep, brown pools. “Lee, caves aren’t all bad. I…I fell in love with you in a cave.”

  That silenced him.

  Jennifer took the conversation so far so fast he was left grasping for an appropriate reply.

  “Just like Tom and Becky.” He finally managed. Why did I say that? He hadn’t a clue.

  She was frowning again. “I’m not following you. Is that from some movie?”

  “Didn’t you read Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain? Probably when you were about ten or eleven?”

  “No. I never read Mark Twain. Well, not exactly. We had to read Huckleberry Finn in junior high. I wasn’t into Mark Twain at that age, so I checked out the book for reference and then just read the Cliffs Notes.”

  “So honest Jenn was sometimes deceptive?”

  “I never said I was perfect.” She grinned. “But tell me about Becky.”Jennifer pulled into the coffee shop drive through. “But first you’d better tell me what you’re having.”

  “A grande, triple-shot mocha.” He dipped his head and smiled.

  “Got it.” A pleasant, upbeat-sounding voice came from the speaker.

  Jennifer thought for a second. “Make it two of those, please.”

  The speaker squawked again. “I’ll have your total at the window.”

  Jennifer turned to him, waiting for his synopsis of Tom Sawyer.

  “Becky Thatcher. Tom is head over heels for her. She’s his first girlfriend. Tom thinks she’s beautiful and, like a fool, he’s always trying to impress her.”

  “It fits so far.” Jennifer grinned. “Keep going.”

  “They get lost in a cave and Injun Joe turns up there. He wants to permanently silence Tom.”

  “Sounds familiar.”

  They rolled up to the window. He handed Jennifer his coffee-shop credit card. She looked at it for a moment. “You must be a heavy drinker.”

  “At times. You drove me to it.”

  “You actually came up with that before we got the caffeine. You amaze me sometimes, Lee Brandt.”

  The morning sun lit up her smiling face.

&nb
sp; Not half as much as you amaze me, Jennifer Akihara.

  His glance at her derailed his train of thought. “Let’s see…uh…Joe chases Tom and Becky through the cave with a big knife.”

  “I can identify with that.” Jennifer braked to a stop at the sign.

  He pointed. “Turn left here and the church is about one mile ahead. Back to the story. Tom saves Becky. There’s a kiss somewhere in there. Can’t remember just—”

  “I hope Tom appreciated it.” Jennifer glanced at him.

  She was smiling. Her smile, with the sunlight shining through the window on her hair, once again created a train wreck in his mind, destroying his comeback for Jennifer’s comment.

  “Let’s see, when they get out of the cave, Tom’s a hero.”

  “That’s where the analogy breaks down, Lee. You went from potential hero to pure goat, but only for a little while.” Jennifer smiled again, causing a third train wreck in his mind.

  She glanced at his face and prompted him. “What happens next?”

  Some women would have gloated over their power to attract and distract men.

  The story. Get back to it, man. You’re not done, yet.

  “Uh. Oh, yes. After the initial popularity, Becky goes back to her upper-crust social class, leaving Tom dejected.”

  “Bummer.” She shot him another glance. “By the way, I’m not the Becky type.”

  “I gathered that and I’m glad you aren’t. But, Jenn, if you weren’t reading Mark Twain when you were ten or eleven, what were you reading?”

  “You don’t want to know.” Jennifer sounded a bit guarded.

  He grew more curious. “Try me.”

  “If you insist.” They were stopped at a red light. She stared at him for a moment. “Introduction to Automata Theory, Languages and Computation—oh, and Compilers…the Dragon Book.”

  “Sorry I asked. I didn’t even look at those until my master’s program.”

  “I told you, Lee.”

  He sensed that somehow his left brain, murdered in the cave, had been resurrected. Now both sides ganged up on him.

  Just do it, man!

  “Jenn?”

  “Yes?”

  He put his left hand over Jennifer’s right. She shoved her coffee cup into the cup holder and grabbed the wheel with her left hand. Her right hand clasped his.

  “Jennifer Akihara, I love you, too.”

  “It took you long enough to say it. I’ll assume you needed the caffeine.”

  “No. After yesterday, I just assumed you like suspense.”

  “Don’t you lie to me, Lee Brandt. What you just told me, you knew yesterday and so did I.”

  He dipped his head. “You’re right. I guess I’ve known since—”

  “Since the close call with the flying-dirt machine gun.”

  Sometimes this woman knew him better than he knew himself. That was another reason to be scrupulously honest with her.

  It was all on the table now. Both had shown their hands and neither of them sounded disappointed at the outcome. Maybe both had won.

  He sure hoped so. And hope ran strong, because she was in good hands.

  He didn’t want to, as Jennifer said, be presumptuous with God, but…

  Lord, I know she’s a seeker. Don’t You think it’s time for her to become a finder?

  Jennifer was, in his books, a keeper. Could he handle being a loser?

  22

  When Jennifer turned in at Maplewood Community Church, she noticed Lee was unusually antsy.

  While they rolled through the parking lot his right heel tapped out a snappy rhythm on the floorboard. “Just so you know, nothing weird goes on at the church. No rattlesnake handling. The people are really nice. You’re going to feel right at home.”

  “I’m sure I will.”

  Good grief, he’s more nervous than I am. Oh yes, he’s the worrier—or what was it—the man with concerns? At least they’re thoughtful concerns. I can handle that.

  She centered the car on her target parking space, pulled in and cut the engine.

  Lee tried to open her door, but she stopped him. “C’mon, Lee. I’m geek girl. You don’t have to do that to impress me.”

  “At least give me your arm so I can escort you.”

  “I guess geek girl can handle that.” She restrained her response to a smile, but she nearly burst out laughing watching the confident, reliable man—the man who saved her life during several, danger-filled moments—become so frantic over making her feel comfortable.

  When they approached the front of the building an usher at the sanctuary door turned to greet them. From his expression she concluded he was one of Lee’s friends.

  “Well hello, Lee and hey, it’s the two celebrities.”

  “Jim, this is Jennifer. I found her in a cave out by Iron Mountain. Jennifer this is Jim Williamson, a personal friend. A guy who holds me accountable for my behavior.”

  “Accountable? Lee, are you sure you really want to account for all the things you do?” She didn’t give him a chance to respond. “Well, Jim, I should tell you this caveman clubbed me and dragged me here to church this morning.”

  Jim gave her a warm smile. “I’m sorry, Jennifer. We take them any way we can get them. Welcome to Maplewood Community Church.”

  Jennifer noticed Lee’s friend tap him on the shoulder. After they passed Jim, she caught a glimpse of him standing in the doorway with two thumbs-up. That was good. Someone close to Lee, someone he trusted, approved of her.

  It seemed to Jennifer as though every eye in the building were on Lee and her as they made their way to a seat midway down the aisle. There were more brief introductions to people who seemed sincerely friendly—people who weren’t pretentious—people Jennifer felt drawn to though she had just met them.

  When the worship leader took his place to start the service Lee whispered to her, “This guy likes the old hymns. That’s probably all we’ll get today.”

  “Maybe I’ll like them, too. By the way, I notice we’re back to whispering again.”

  “Only for the next hour.”

  The first hymn started. As the lyrics displayed on the overhead screen Lee sang them.

  She studied the words to this old hymn.

  He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock.

  The hymn reminded her of their experience on the chimney wall. The context of the cleft in the song was different. God led her to the cleft on the cave wall that saved her life. In the song God hid a person’s immortal soul in a protected place, and then covered it with his hand. A soul protected forever.

  God saved her mortal body and Lee’s, too, by hiding them in the cleft. But how much more secure to know one’s immortal soul was covered by the hand of God for eternity.

  Eternity. An indescribable concept the mathematical symbol, the lemniscate, couldn’t really convey. A symbol for the incomprehensible. Was the infinite, eternal God also incomprehensible?

  Mathematics seemed so precise to her. Mathematical propositions were so provably true and correct she hadn’t really thought how imprecise mathematics became on the fringes. The precision was lost until somewhere along the edges nothing was enumerable or computable. There, only an Infinite Being could possibly make sense of things. He would have to reveal the infinite things to finite human beings in a way that made sense to them. If He didn’t they would never understand.

  Why had she never thought about this before? So that’s how God became comprehensible to people.

  He reveals Himself. Is that what He’s been doing with me?

  The mysteries she probed with her algorithms all the way to the mathematical edges—where Turing machines never halt—where formal grammars lack the ability to specify—where recursive functions perform another recursion and that without end—beyond all that was computable, comprehensible, and enumerable, God was barely beginning. He extended infinitely beyond the edges to—

  Jennifer shivered as an overpowering sense of awe overtook her. Beyond all she explore
d there was God. One could only reach Him by God reaching out. She knew without a doubt He was reaching out to her and she wanted to respond.

  The first song ended and another began. Still thinking about the message of the first song Jennifer remained humbled and awestricken that a few simple words from a song, capturing only a tiny fraction of God’s revelation to human beings, could so surpass any knowledge she could acquire on her own.

  She prided herself on being someone who could do everything by herself and relying only on herself. The last thirty-six hours proved her self-reliance to be mostly self-deception.

  She needed Lee in the cave and he needed her. But they both needed God to make it through. Maybe that’s how life was supposed to be, consisting of vital relationships between people, and between individuals and God. That would be far better than trying to make it through alone.

  The song service ended and the pastor walked to the podium.

  “It’s only two weeks until Resurrection Sunday. We’ll probably get some kind of message about that,” Lee leaned close and whispered.

  The pastor was a soft-spoken man, but he spoke firmly and with great conviction. His subject was a set of claims Jesus made about Himself. Jesus said He was the Way, the Truth, the Life, and also the Resurrection.

  Pastor Nelson clearly explained each concept he introduced. “The Way” was an exclusive claim.

  Jennifer had no problem with that concept, because truth was, by definition, exclusive. Like a correct mathematical answer, all other answers were wrong.

  As for the Truth, the pastor’s explanation surprised her. It seemed strange that truth wasn’t embodied in a mathematical equation or a philosophical argument.

  “I am the Truth,” Jesus stated. Truth was a living person.

  Jennifer could see clearly if someone relied on the wrong source for truth they would miss everything that mattered. If she missed Jesus she would miss the very thing she held in the highest regard, the truth. When she said in the cave she could see the light and it was wonderful, she knew Whom she needed, but she didn’t understand His nature, or how to reach Him.

  Prayer, yes, they prayed and God heard them.

  But “The Way” was Jesus. He was the missing ingredient she needed in order to reach God. But knowing this still left her wondering how she could bring Jesus into her life.