The Priority Unit (Maine Justice Book 1)

by Davis, Susan Page

  “Are we okay?” she whispered.

  “So far, so good.” Harvey kept her hand in his, and they walked about halfway down the aisle. Harvey stopped by a pew and raised his eyebrows. She glanced around and nodded. They sat down and waited.

  After a minute, Harvey leaned toward her. “Are we allowed to hold hands in church?”

  The idea that it might not be acceptable startled Jennifer, and she pulled her hand away and looked quickly around to see if anyone had noticed. He elbowed her, and nodded ahead. She looked, and saw a couple about three rows ahead, and the man had his arm across the back of the pew behind the woman. Harvey took her hand back. Her cheeks grew warm, but she was happy.

  “How do you do, folks?” A graying man in his sixties stood at the end of the pew. Harvey jumped up, releasing Jennifer’s hand, said hello, and shook the man’s hand.

  “I’m Pastor Rowland. Welcome. I don’t believe I’ve met you before.”

  Harvey gave the introduction, saying “Jennifer Wainthrop” quickly this time, so that her names didn’t get separated. The pastor smiled. He had a pleasant face, and Jennifer noted crow’s feet like Harvey’s behind his wire-rimmed glasses. “Do you live in the area, or just passing through?”

  Harvey said, “Jennifer lives a few blocks from here, and I live over on Arden.”

  The pastor nodded. “I hope you enjoy our class this morning. Perhaps we’ll have a chance to chat later.” He went on down the aisle.

  Harvey sat down and looked at Jennifer with a flick of his left eye, sort of a half-wink. “No sweat.”

  Ruthann and Rick came in the far end of the pew without the babies and sat down a couple of feet beyond Jennifer. Ruthann smiled at her, and she smiled back.

  Turning to Harvey, she whispered, “What’s their last name again?”

  “Starts with a B.”

  “Booker?”

  “Bradley.”

  She felt as if they had passed an examination. Harvey took out the pocket notebook that he used for witness statements and wrote, “Rick and Ruthann Bradley. Pastor Rowland.” He raised his eyebrows with a smile at Jennifer and slipped the notebook back in his pocket.

  “Is that how you remember everything?”

  “It’s a habit. Have to write everything down on my job.”

  A middle-aged man stood at the front of the auditorium, at a lectern set on the floor below the platform.

  “Good morning. Turn to Colossians chapter one.”

  Jennifer looked at Harvey in dismay. He was checking out the books in the rack in front of them. The two blue ones turned out to be hymnbooks. The black one was a Bible. Harvey smiled.

  “Where did he say?”

  “Colossians?” It was an odd word.

  Harvey flipped through the Bible. He turned to the front and found a table of contents and ran his finger down the row of titles, searching for something that looked like what the teacher had said.

  “Here.” Ruthann was close beside Jennifer, and she was holding out a Bible, opened to the right place. Jennifer accepted it gratefully and handed it to Harvey, noticing with surprise that there was writing in the margin in several spots, and some sentences were highlighted in yellow.

  The teacher introduced himself as Dick Williams. “Last week we began studying this book, and we learned that it is a letter written by the Apostle Paul to Christians in the city of Colosse. Today we’ll learn about the attributes and deity of Jesus Christ.”

  Jennifer hadn’t really thought about Jesus Christ in connection to the quest for God. In her mind was a nebulous idea that Jesus was supposed to be God on earth, or God’s son, she wasn’t sure which.

  Their eyes raced over the page, trying to catch up with Dick. Harvey located the place and tapped it with his finger. Dick was reading, “In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins, who is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature; For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible…”

  He read on, and Jennifer stared at the Bible, trying to keep up with the foreign ideas she was hearing. If it was really talking about Jesus Christ, then Jesus had created everything, and he existed before anything else. It didn’t make sense to her.

  When Dick stopped reading, she looked at Harvey, feeling overwhelmed by what she had just heard. Jesus could not be the same as God; it said he was God’s image. She felt very confused. Harvey stroked her hand, then let go of it and started writing in his notebook.

  To her relief, Dick jumped back to the beginning of the passage he had read and began explaining it slowly, phrase by phrase. Jennifer had never heard anything like it. Harvey scribbled notes furiously, and she wished she had brought a notebook.

  Dick reached a portion that talked about Jesus on the cross, and how that reconciled people to God. She had never understood how the cross could help people, and she wasn’t sure she did when the class was over, but she felt that she was close to a breakthrough and wished she had a recording of the class and could play it back a few times.

  Harvey sighed deeply and looked at her. “I got most of it. We can go over it later. Some of it’s too deep for me.”

  She nodded and passed the leather-bound Bible back to Ruthann. “Thank you.” She felt shy and slightly stupid. “We don’t know much about the Bible yet.”

  Ruthann smiled. “You can use it for the worship service if you like, or I can help you find the place in a pew Bible.”

  “Thank you, we can use this.” Jennifer touched the pew Bible. She hesitated, then leaned toward Ruthann. “May I ask you something?”

  “Certainly.”

  “I noticed that you write in your Bible. Is that okay?”

  “Yes, it helps me remember and understand things, and to find verses again later.”

  “Sort of like in a textbook?”

  “Yes.” Ruthann had a pointed chin, curly light brown hair, and nice hazel eyes. She wore a floral print dress and black flats. No makeup, except maybe lip gloss. She hadn’t laughed at Jennifer’s question, and Jennifer liked her.

  “Where do you live?” Ruthann asked.

  Jennifer told her.

  “That’s right near here, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, it’s not far.”

  “Are you two—” she broke off, and Jennifer realized she was looking at her left hand for an engagement ring.

  “No, we’re just friends. Well, more than friends, but…”

  Ruthann smiled. “Sorry. I shouldn’t be so nosy.”

  She’s seen us holding hands, Jennifer thought.

  “How do you know where to find the place in the Bible so fast?”

  Ruthann smiled. “I guess you just have to memorize the books of the Bible. I learned them when I was a kid, so it comes easily now. But you just take a list and memorize them in order, sort of like learning the alphabet.”

  Jennifer thought about that. “How many books are there?”

  “Sixty-six.”

  Learning sixty-six strange words like “Colossians,” for which you had no associations, all in order, seemed a huge undertaking. She turned to Harvey. “Did you hear what she said?”

  He nodded.

  “You could do it,” she said. “You remember names and numbers all the time.”

  “Not without my notebook.”

  Another man approached Harvey from the aisle, shook hands, and gave him a folded paper program with a color landscape on the front. Harvey opened it. Inside were the church address, telephone number, pastor’s name and service times. Then there was an agenda for the worship service, listing hymns, prayer, offering, announcements, and special music. The hymn numbers were listed, and the title of the sermon was near the bottom—“Come unto Me, text: John 6.”

  “This is helpful.” Harvey took the pew Bible and turned to the table of contents so he could locate John chapter six before the service began. He tore a scrap from his notebook and used it to mark the place.

  Th
e choir filed into the seats on the platform, and Pastor Rowland and another man sat in chairs behind the pulpit. The organist played soft music, and the auditorium grew quiet. The man with Rowland stood and began the service.

  The first half hour was full of music and inspirational comments from the song leader. They stood for the first hymn, a song that was strange to Jennifer. She found it in the hymnbook, and the words were also projected on the wall above the platform. After a few measures, Harvey began picking out the melody. As his baritone grew stronger with each line, she felt a pleasant shock wave. He could sing! How could she not know that? She tried to follow along and listen to him at the same time.

  When the offering was taken, Harvey whipped out his wallet and extracted a five-dollar bill. The choir was in tune, and the music washed over them. Whether God was really there, or it was a psychological effect, Jennifer thought she would like to go to church every Sunday. She felt virtuous for being there, and happy for being there with Harvey.

  The pastor stood up and prayed, then began his sermon. When he read through the scripture, Harvey had it ready, thanks to his bookmark.

  A few verses into the text, Harvey stiffened and peered intently at the Bible. “It’s Grandma’s verse,” he whispered, and out came the notebook. He kept up his marathon notes all through the sermon. Jennifer listened intently, trying to get beyond the atmosphere and find the faith her studies in philosophy hadn’t given.

  “All that the father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out,” read the pastor. Jennifer touched Harvey’s left hand. If that part was true, God would let them find him. He gave her the half-wink, and she knew he’d caught that, too.

  Suddenly it was over, and the pastor offered a short prayer. People got up and started walking out, talking in the aisle. Jennifer looked toward the Bradleys. Rick had left the pew.

  Ruthann smiled. “Rick’s getting the children. It was nice to meet you, Jennifer.” She held out her hand, and Jennifer took it.

  “You, too.”

  Harvey leaned toward her. “Thank you, Mrs. Bradley.”

  “I hope to see you again,” she said.

  Rick came back with the baby against his shoulder and Clarissa holding his other hand. A diaper bag hung behind him. When he was close, Ruthann began to move toward him. On impulse, Jennifer said, “Mrs. Bradley!”

  Ruthann turned around with a smile. Jennifer stepped closer. “May I see the baby?”

  “Of course.” Ruthann took Ethan from Rick, and brought him over to Jennifer. He was sleeping, and his eyelids were lined with blue veins. Fuzzy, light brown hair covered his head, and his miniature fingers curled delicately in repose. “Would you like to hold him?”

  “Oh, yes!” Jennifer put her arms out, and Ruthann laid the baby tenderly in them. He stirred a little, then settled back into sleep. Jennifer caught her breath. She couldn’t remember holding a baby so young.

  “He’s beautiful,” Harvey said in her ear, his voice husky. She turned around just a little so he could see better. As he reached out one finger and stroked the baby’s cheek, she watched Harvey’s large, soft eyes.

  She brought Ethan’s head up to her cheek for a moment, the silky hair tickling her skin, then handed him back to Ruthann. “Thank you so much.”

  “Anytime.”

  Rick leaned toward them. “Are you folks going to be here tonight?”

  “What’s tonight?” Jennifer asked.

  “Evening service,” said Rick.

  “Not sure,” Harvey said. “What time?”

  “Seven.”

  They looked at each other. “Maybe,” Harvey said to Rick.

  The Bradleys gathered up their children and belongings and moved toward the door.

  “Ready?” said Harvey.

  “Ready.” Jennifer hung her purse on her shoulder, and they stepped into the aisle. The auditorium was nearly empty.

  “I couldn’t understand it all,” she said.

  Harvey nodded. “There was so much to try to put together.”

  She said softly, “If I get my own Bible, I’m going to write notes in it like Ruthann does. And if we come back here, I’m definitely bringing a notebook.”

  Harvey gave her the crinkly smile and held her hand again. They moved into the foyer, and the pastor stood there with a woman beside him, shaking hands with each person who passed. When they reached him, Jennifer dropped Harvey’s hand and shook the pastor’s.

  “Miss Wainthrop and Mr. Larson,” he said with a smile. She wondered if he had a pocket notebook, too. “So glad you could be here.” He shook Harvey’s hand. “This is my wife, Mary.” She had a sweet, peaceful expression. Her hair had less gray than her husband’s, curling softly around her face.

  “We’re happy to have you here,” she said, and Jennifer believed her.

  “Is there anything we can help you with?” asked the pastor.

  Harvey hesitated. “This is all new to Jennifer and me. There are some things you said this morning that I just couldn’t take in.”

  “I’d be happy to talk about it.”

  “We’re not very quick at following you around from place to place in the Bible. I tried to write it all down so we could look at it later, but I think I missed a few things.”

  Mr. Rowland smiled. “Would you like to stay for a few minutes now, or perhaps come back another time?”

  Harvey looked at Jennifer. “Now okay?” She nodded. He said sheepishly to the pastor, “This is sort of an exploratory trip for us. We don’t have much of a religious background, but we both thought we’d like to look into it.”

  Mrs. Rowland said, “Why don’t you eat dinner with us? Then you can talk things over with my husband.”

  Harvey said, “Oh, we couldn’t put you out.”

  “Nonsense,” said Rowland. “It would be our pleasure.”

  Jennifer wasn’t used to spur-of-the-moment dinner invitations from strangers, but they followed the Rowlands to their house, across the parking lot from the church.

  Jennifer offered to help Mrs. Rowland set the table. She would have liked to hear all the pastor was saying to Harvey in the next room, but her mother’s training in guest behavior took over. The pastor’s wife removed potato salad and sliced ham from the refrigerator, followed by applesauce, pickles, and bread.

  “I try to plan a cold dinner on Sunday,” Mary said, “so we don’t have to worry about cooking. We usually invite someone over, and today was supposed to be the Penneys, but Mr. Penney was ill. I guess the Lord wanted you here.”

  Jennifer eyed her cautiously. Did God really want them there? How could he care about two people who didn’t even know if he existed?

  Harvey came to the doorway. “Jenny, come here! You’ve got to hear this!”

  She went into the living room. “What?”

  “I told the pastor about Grandma Lewis showing me that verse after the funeral, and he says it’s not a coincidence that he talked about it today.”

  Jennifer looked at Mr. Rowland. “You have an explanation?”

  He smiled. “The Bible teaches that there are no coincidences. God is in control of everything. He uses different circumstances and people to bring about various events.”

  “So God made Grandma Lewis read that verse to Harvey?”

  “Well, I wouldn’t say he made her, but he guided her.”

  Jennifer sat down beside Harvey on the couch and gave the pastor her full attention.

  “When a believer, such as Mrs. Lewis, is in fellowship with God and seeks to do his will, he will lay things on her heart,” Mr. Rowland said. “God prompted her to give Harvey that particular scripture verse. And then he guided me this week to prepare a sermon on the same passage. I have no doubt he wanted you to get a double dose of John 6:44.”

  Jennifer looked at Harvey. The implications were enormous. Harvey’s face was intent, but a little skeptical.

  “How do you know what to write your sermon about?” he asked. “How does G
od tell you?”

  “I pray and ask him to guide me,” said the pastor. “Usually as I read the scripture, I feel a burden to speak on a particular topic or passage. I expect your grandmother is a praying person.”

  “Oh, yes, she prays all the time,” said Harvey. “She’s praying for Jennifer and me. I saw her write our names on her prayer list.” Jennifer was startled. Harvey went on, “She told me she’s been praying for me for twenty years.”

  “And God has honored that today,” said Pastor Rowland. “He brought you here to learn about him.”

  “But we picked this church out of the phone book,” Jennifer said.

  “And who do you think caused you to pick this one out of the scores of churches in the area?”

  Jennifer shook her head. “Those things don’t happen in real life.”

  The pastor smiled. “They happen all the time.”

  They moved to the dining room and sat down to eat, and the conversation went on. Mr. Rowland patiently answered their questions. Jennifer helped Mrs. Rowland load the dishwasher while Harvey and the pastor sat at the table over coffee, continuing to talk.

  At last Harvey said, “We’ve taken so much of your time, pastor. We should go now, but I can’t tell you how much this means to Jennifer and me. We started out last night wondering how we could learn if God is real. You’ve given us a lot to think about.”

  “I’m very glad you came,” Mr. Rowland said.

  Harvey threw Jennifer a quick glance. “I haven’t asked Jennifer about this, but I’d like to come back tonight.”

  “Definitely,” she said. “You’re not coming without me.” Harvey laughed at that.

  The pastor handed Harvey the Bible he had been using. “Take this with you. You can use it until you get one of your own.”

  They left the house and walked across to the Explorer.

  “Thanks, Jenny.”

  “For what?”

  “For wanting to come back, and, well, everything today.”

  “Do you believe all that stuff he was saying? That God knew we were curious and brought us here?”