Before acting out the impulse, Dave looked down and reverted to a reasonable thought pattern. Eddi would probably slap me if I tried such a move. This wasn’t the first time she’d given him the “come closer” look. Every time they touched, Eddi’s eyes stirred with a warmth that couldn’t be ignored. That’s why Dave had convinced himself she would respond favorably to his suggestion that they become better acquainted.
Boy, was I wrong, he thought and resisted another glance toward the red-suited lady. Just because Eddi’s attracted to me doesn’t mean she wants a relationship. The last thing Dave needed was her turning him down again. He didn’t think his pride could take two venomous rejections in just over a week. Dave refocused on his songbook, held his ground, and decided that Eddi would have to make a move before he risked another rebuff.
Somewhere in all his thinking, Dave lost track of what song number they were on. After the hymn finished, he closed his eyes and concentrated on the lyrics of “Open Our Eyes, Lord,” a prayer chorus they often sang before the open altar time. Try as he might, he couldn’t concentrate on one spiritual matter. All he could think about was the alluring woman across the aisle. Keeping his head down, he strained to catch a glimpse of her from the corner of his eye.
During the chorus’s closing bars, the minister of music spoke the familiar words, “The altar is open for anyone who has a special prayer request or burden this morning.”
A movement from Eddi’s pew indicated that she was stepping into the aisle. Dave watched her red shoes until she was halfway to the altar. Then he lifted his attention to the lady who had captured his heart. Dave couldn’t remember Eddi going to the altar during prayer time before. While she always struck him as reverent, she was not the most demonstrative church member. Eddi knelt with her back to Dave. She reached for a tissue, dabbed at her cheeks, and lowered her head. In all the months he’d known Eddi, he never recalled seeing her cry.
Dave shifted and placed his hymnal on the pew. Something must be terribly wrong. His mind began to churn with various possibilities from issues with her health to an unexpected death. When her shoulders began shaking, Dave could take no more.
He stepped into the aisle. I’m going to regret this if she rejects me, he thought as he walked toward the altar.
After kneeling beside Eddi, Dave detected her light floral fragrance—the scent he smelled the day he buried his face against her hair. He reached to touch her shoulder, hesitated, and then lightly brushed her hand with his fingertips.
“Eddi?” His faint whisper mingled with the organist’s rendition of “Amazing Grace.”
She opened tear-drenched eyes and mopped at her cheeks.
“Is everything okay?” Dave questioned and felt like an idiot. If everything were okay, she wouldn’t be bawling her eyes out. He waited for an answer. When none came, he began to wonder if his worst fears about rejection were being realized.
“N-no,” she finally whispered as the pastor began to pray. “It’s Linda,” she continued. Eddi tucked her chin next to her chest. “You were right about Rick Wallace.”
Dave’s jaw clenched. “What has he done?” he rapped out. Dave cast a cautious glance over his shoulder and thanked God the organist had crescendoed during his question.
“I feel like such a fool,” Eddi continued. “I don’t even deserve for God to hear my prayers. I . . . I believed Rick would . . . would be a good influence on Linda.” She sniffled. “I worry about her s-so much. I might not always agree w-with what she does, but she’ll al-always be my little sister.”
“Yes, I know the feeling,” Dave said.
Eddi reached under the altar, tugged up a fresh wad of tissue, and sponged her eyes. She looked up. The agony stirring her soul bade Dave to wrap his arm around her. His hurting pride insisted he resist.
“She was planning a trip to Hawaii with a bunch of her friends who have more money than good sense. I really thought Rick would help keep her out of trouble. So . . . I paid his way on the trip.” She looked down as if the shame were too great. “He claimed they would be staying in separate rooms.”
Dave could only imagine where this story was leading. The further Eddi progressed, the more disgusted he became. Rick Wallace’s schemes never ceased to astound him.
“What an idiot I was to believe him.” Eddi balled her fist upon the padded altar. “Jenny just called on my cell—right before I walked into the church. She said Linda called her this morning. She’s pregnant. Rick is the father. And he’s going to pay for an abortion—and after telling me he couldn’t afford a trip to Hawaii.” Eddi glanced behind her.
Dave followed suit. The whole congregation remained standing with heads bowed. Dave’s pulse began a hard thud in his temple. “Does Linda want an abortion?”
“Jenny doesn’t seem to think Linda really knows what she wants. We wondered if this was something Rick has talked her into to get out of the responsibility of a child.” Eddi rested her forehead on the altar’s edge.
“That sounds about right,” Dave rumbled.
“I’m wondering if he’s done this sort of thing before,” Eddi’s distraught words were barely discernible.
“It wouldn’t surprise me,” Dave growled. He hadn’t cursed in years. While he held no plans of reverting to the old habit—especially not while at the altar—the temptation was nearly too much. He was as disgusted with himself as he was with Rick.
I should have told Eddi everything the first time Rick showed up with Linda, he thought. Dave closed his eyes, clamped his teeth, and began a slow count to twenty. When he reached fifteen, the pastor pronounced a firm Amen. While others at the altar began to stir, Dave grappled for something to say. At last, he realized there were no appropriate words. This situation required action.
As Eddi moved to her feet, Dave stood. Without another glance her way, he marched down the aisle, past his pew, and into the foyer. One mission drove him into the unforgiving heat—a mission that would be in full swing by five that evening.
Two years ago, he successfully assisted distraught grandparents in saving their twin grandsons from the gang scene in Houston. Both their parents had skipped out on them, and Mr. and Mrs. Howell were left with raising two angry teenagers who were more interested in partying than academics. With Dave’s influence and full-paid scholarships, both men left street life, attended community college, and succeeded on the basketball team. They each stood six-six and tipped the scale at 280. While empowering their team to win third place in state, their teammates had dubbed them the Deadly Duo. Even though Dave expected both of them to positively impact society, he couldn’t deny that they were a formidable-looking pair. If he were in a dark alley, they were the last type Dave wanted to meet.
He received a letter last week from their grandmother. She reported that Larnell and Klynell were each expressing an interest in doing something in Dave’s ministry to help repay what he’d done for them.
“Do I have an assignment for you,” Dave mumbled as he rushed across the parking lot. When he reached his Chevy truck, Dave whipped off the suit coat and loosened his tie. He tossed the coat into the passenger seat and retrieved his cell phone from his belt holster. By the time he steered out of the parking lot, Dave was making an appointment with the Deadly Duo for that very evening.
After the benediction, Eddi accepted that Dave was not coming back into the church service. She debated the reason for his abrupt departure after their conversation at the altar. One of the reasons he gave for fighting his attraction for her had been that he doubted their families would gel. An unexpected onslaught of insecurity suggested that Dave was so disgusted with Eddi’s family problems he could endure her presence no longer.
With sinking spirits, she stepped into the aisle and joined the after-service bustle. As usual, the post-service mix resulted in several conversations, smiles, hugs, and pats on the back. With Eddi’s increasing popularity around town, escaping the church grounds was becoming more and more difficult. After answering a myriad of que
stions about the coming play, Eddi decided she would never again have to wish to be a part of the community.
Just as she prepared to step through the foyer doors, Calvin Barclay approached from around the corner. “Eddi!” he called and hurried toward her.
Her hand on the glass door’s bar, she stopped. As he neared, Eddi struggled with her feelings. After a pleasant friendship, she and Calvin had been sidestepping each other for weeks—all because he had believed Dave’s assumptions about Jenny. An unexpected tide of exasperation nearly sucked Eddi under.
Then she remembered her own error in judgment . . . her own refusal to consult Dave about Rick’s story. The exasperation disappeared.
She observed Calvin with a welcoming smile. “Hi, Calvin. How are you these days?”
“Great!” he said with wary enthusiasm. He stopped mere feet away and awkwardly shifted his weight. “And how’s Jenny?”
“Jenny’s . . .” Eddi debated her options and then decided the time had come for transparency. “Jenny is missing you, actually.”
Calvin looked down and nudged at the carpet with the toe of his leather shoe. Eddi wondered if the socks he wore today had a hole in the toe. “I, uh, guess there’s no reason to pretend here,” he finally said. “I feel so foolish.”
“You know, Calvin,” Eddi laid her hand on his arm, “we’ve all made mistakes. I think you should just chalk this one up to experience and move on. I’ll do the same.”
He looked up and appraised Eddi. Speculation soon turned to relief. “Thanks,” he breathed. “I never expected you to be so gracious.”
“I’m not sure what that says about my reputation,” Eddi said with a wry smile. For the first time since her crying jag at the altar, she concluded that she probably looked a mess. Thankfully, Calvin seemed too distracted to notice.
“Do you think Jenny would mind if I call her?” He toyed with the flap on his suit jacket’s pocket.
“I was actually just on the phone with her,” she said. “She mentioned you emailed.”
“Yes, I—I finally got up the courage this morning.” His ginger-colored eyes reminded Eddi of a basset hound with an anxiety disorder.
“I think you’re worrying too much, Calvin.” Eddi looped her arm through his and the two walked again toward the door. Calvin opened it, and Eddi stepped from cool air into unbearable heat. “She’ll be thrilled to hear from you.”
“So you don’t think she’s angry?”
Eddi laughed and released his arm. “I learned how to be gracious from her,” she claimed. “Jenny is the queen of mercy.”
“Yes, and she deserved better treatment than I dished out.” The two slowed as they neared the parking lot.
She’s not the only one who deserved better treatment, Eddi thought and scanned the parking lot for Dave’s vehicle.
“Why don’t you just plan to move forward from here?” she asked as they stopped near her Mustang. “Who knows where it will lead?” She gently punched his upper arm and moved away.
Eddi hesitated and debated whether to say more. Finally, she decided enough had been left unsaid. The time for complete honesty was upon them. “My sister isn’t the most demonstrative woman on the planet,” she continued. “But I have it on good authority that she thinks you’re a special guy.”
A relaxed smile chased all vestiges of distress from Calvin’s features. “Thanks,” he said.
“No problem.” A group of chattering teens rambled around them, and Eddi glanced toward her vehicle. All she could think of now was getting out of this hot suit and calling Jenny again. She had delivered some pointed prayers in that church service, and Eddi fully expected positive results.
“I’m ready to go home and change now.” Calvin slipped his suit jacket off.
“Me too,” Eddi said and moved to her vehicle’s door. “I can’t wait until fall. This heat is killing me.”
“Oh my word!” Calvin slapped his forehead with the heel of his hand. “I can’t believe I almost forgot!”
“What?” Eddi pulled her keys out of her purse and was thinking toward her car’s air-conditioner being on max.
“Have you heard the latest?” Calvin questioned.
She hadn’t been to Dina’s for coffee in five days. Eddi figured she was behind on tons of gossip. “No, what’s happened now?” She pressed the Unlock button on her keychain and the car door produced a muffled click.
“You are never going to believe this one!” Calvin shook his head. “The whole choir nearly fainted this morning when we heard.”
“What?” Eddi asked and leaned forward. “I wasn’t in choir today because I overslept.”
“Well . . .” Calvin observed Eddi with an anticlimactic droop of his features. “Oh, I just realized, you probably already know since it involves your cousin.”
“My cousin?”
“Conner Boswick,” Calvin supplied. “Oh, well, maybe you don’t know. He and Cheri Locaste have eloped!”
Eddi’s mouth dropped open.
“I was thinking you probably already knew since he’s your cousin.”
“N-no, I hadn’t heard,” she stuttered. “For pity’s sake, Calvin! They’ve only known each other a week!”
“That’s what Dina said in choir practice this morning!” Calvin shook his head as if confirming the town authority’s opinion.
“Has Cheri lost her marbles?” Eddi squeaked.
“Who’s to say?” Calvin said. “I sure wouldn’t get married after only knowing someone a week.”
“Me neither.” Eddi eyed the church’s stained-glass windows. The sounds of car doors slamming and engines revving attested to the departing congregation.
Eddi focused on a young mother chasing a toddler toward the parking lot. “I never suspected Cheri would be so . . . so . . .”
“Impulsive?” Calvin inserted.
“Yes, I guess.” Eddi dropped her purse on the top of her car and slipped out of her jacket. “Maybe rash would be a better word. . . .” she added. “I once worked on a divorce case when I was in England that involved a lady who married a guy after she’d only known him for two weeks,” Eddi said. “She met him on a cruise, and he swept her off her feet. I’m not a proponent of divorce—not in the least. But when I saw the horrible abuse photos and gathered evidence of the man’s adultery, I think that woman was wise to take legal action. But it could have been avoided if she hadn’t rushed into marriage with a total stranger.”
“But this is your cousin, right?” Calvin questioned.
“My third cousin,” Eddi said. “And he was trying to get me to marry him the day he met Cheri.”
“Oh,” Calvin said, and his lips remained puckered. Then he grimaced. “Are you saying you think he’s abusive?” he asked.
Eddi laughed and shrugged. “Oh, I guess I insinuated that, didn’t I? No, I don’t think he’s abusive. I’d say he’s a bigger wimp than anything else.”
“That’s kinda what I thought,” Calvin agreed.
“I just think it’s dangerous when people haul off and get married so soon. One in a million might work, but for the most part, I think it’s like playing Russian roulette.”
A blast of hot wind did little to ease Eddi’s perspiration. “He’s got money, though,” she said. “I guess that’s what Cheri wanted.”
“I guess a lot of women feel that way.” Calvin looked passed Eddi as if he were afraid to make eye contact.
“Not me,” she said with an assuring grin, “and not Jenny.”
He peered at her. For the first time, Eddi was reminded of what so attracted Jenny to Calvin. While his fair good looks didn’t hurt his appeal, the man’s heart was in his eyes, and his heart was good.
“I already knew you weren’t a fortune hunter,” he affirmed. “But . . .”
“You needed affirmation about Jenny?”
“Well . . .” He shrugged and leaned against Eddi’s Mustang.
“Believe me, if Jenny wanted to marry for money, she could have done that a long ti
me ago.” Eddi didn’t detail the suitors whom Jenny had spurned.
“And I guess you probably could have, too, right?” Calvin asked.
Eddi crossed her arms, tilted her head back, and laughed outright. “You don’t see a line of waiting men, do you? I’ve about decided I’m too ornery to have a man chase me for long.”
“Some men like their women a little ornery,” Calvin teased. “Frankly, I think the fact that you aren’t chasing Dave is driving him crazy.”
Her shoulders stiffened. “Oh, and did he tell you that?” she asked with all the nonchalance she could muster.
“No,” Calvin admitted. “But I know what I see. Ever since he moved to London, nearly every available woman in town has made a play for him. I honestly think he thought you’d do the same thing. When you didn’t, you got his attention. Now that you’ve hooked him, you still won’t give him the time of day. I think the whole thing is hilarious.” His genuine smile brightened his face.
“Maybe you just have a weird sense of humor,” Eddi chided and tried to hide the fact that she cared more than Calvin ever suspected.
“Maybe, but I’ll have to admit the show has been fun to watch this summer.” Calvin straightened and stepped away from her car. “In case you don’t know, the whole cast is waiting on the two of you to get married.”
“So I’ve heard,” Eddi drawled. “They might have a long wait.”
“Maybe.” Calvin’s shoes tapped along the pavement as he moved toward his ebony Jeep, parked three cars away. “And maybe one day Dave and I will be in-laws. Who knows!” he said with far more certainty than Eddi felt.
Twenty-Nine
After all the arrangements had been made, Dave tread up the flight of steps to the apartment building’s second landing. Klynell and Larnell Howell were close behind. He rang the doorbell and jutted his thumb to the left. “You guys stay away from the peep hole, okay?”
First Impressions: A Contemporary Retelling of Pride and Prejudice Page 25
