She blinked away tears. “But—”
“I need to get back to the office. But once they leave, come over there okay?”
“What about your new assistant?”
“She only lasted a week.”
“Why?”
He kissed her nose. “She wasn’t you.”
40
Engaged. A word Maddie still couldn’t wrap her head around. Was she really engaged to Reuben? How crazy was it that she had no clue. On one hand, Reuben seemed ultraserious. On the other, it’d been Kyle’s fault, and was he maybe just playing along to help her out?
The whole thing was all fuzzy.
God, this day is so not turning out how I thought it would.
But, nothing in her life could be classified as normal. Maybe she was destined for a weird, complicated existence. Like poor Moses.
Fine, maybe comparing herself to the guy God used to free a whole nation of people was a tad bit self-indulgent. But the dude went through some wacky stuff.
Almost killed when he was a baby, saved by Pharaoh’s daughter in a river, raised as a son of Pharaoh himself. Then he committed murder, hid out for a while, then was commanded to go back and free the Israelites. Burning bushes … plagues … Ten Commandments … dealing with the impossibly stubborn and rebellious Israelites.
She wasn’t sure the guy ever had a break. Then to die just short of the Promised Land he’d worked so hard to reach? That had to bite big time.
She pulled into a parking spot at the side of the building beside a black Ford truck and made her way to the familiar front office.
Maddie gulped as she knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
She slipped in the door and shut it behind her.
Nothing was changed. Except for additional stacks of paperwork everywhere. Reuben still sat in his big office chair.
“Did Kyle get off okay?”
“Yeah. I told him I might try to go see him at Thanksgiving.” He stood and walked around the desk. “That’d be nice.” She picked up a stack of invoices and fanned through them. “You need to hire another assistant.”
Reuben moved toward her, his eyes and gait determined. She set down the papers and backed up as he came closer, not sure what he intended, but after a few steps her legs hit his desk, and she almost sat on it.
“You offering?” He stood directly in front of her, offering her no room for escape.
Hope sprouted in her heart. “Reuben—”
He caught her lips as she tried to argue, kissing away any words until her brain couldn’t remember what she’d been trying to say. His hands found hers, and they stood, touching only at the lips and hands, until Maddie came to her senses. She broke apart and looked at him. “I thought the Bible said it was better to give than to receive.”
He put his forehead to hers and smiled. “If someone gives something, then someone else is receiving. It’s as true as the law of gravity.”
“But it’s greedy.”
An impish smile came over his face. “You can be greedy with my kisses every day of the week, Maddie.”
She punched him playfully in the stomach. “I’m serious. You agreed to this engagement thing to help me. Your mom and Gary have given me more than I could even add up. All I ever do is take, take, take and I just … I just want to feel like I can stand on my own two feet.”
Reuben pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “We all want to feel that way. But we just can’t do it. The Bible is full of times where people needed help. Good grief, Jesus’s first miracle was because a party ran out of wine. God created us to need Him, to need one another.”
She looked up into his eyes. “But you don’t need anything. I mean, besides an assistant of course. But on a personal level.”
“What I need is someone who will yell at me when I jump to stupid conclusions. Someone who will forgive me when my temper flares and will tell me when I’m overly obsessed with work. I need someone to take me, faults and all, and love me.”
She snickered. “That’s a good answer. I figured you’d just say you needed another kiss.”
He winked at her. “Is it bad that I want to kiss my future wife?”
Then he was serious … no doubt about it. At least, she was pretty sure…. “No, I guess not.”
He wiggled his eyebrows. “It’s just the two of us. Alone.”
Very much aware of the situation, Maddie gave him a gentle shove. “You’re right. Thanks for the reminder.”
“Hey, hey. I didn’t mean for you to do that.” He grabbed for her hands and tried to pull her back, but she resisted.
“I know, but … I just feel better with a little distance between us.”
His eyes twinkled. “Am I too tempting for you?”
Hardly. Well, maybe a little. “You flatter yourself. But I’ve been down that road, Reub, and don’t want to revisit it.”
He took a step forward. “I wasn’t going to clear off the desk and make love to you right here. I promise. I’m a ‘wait for marriage’ kinda guy.”
“Are you a—” She couldn’t even bring herself to say it. Since when did saying the word virgin make her blush?
He nodded. “I am.”
Maddie gripped her hands together and studied them. “You already know I’m not.”
Reuben put a finger under her chin and raised her head until their eyes met. “But that was before you came to know Jesus, and it’s all in the past. He’s forgiven you, and your sin is gone.”
Her teacher had told her the same thing, but knowing it didn’t take away the shame, the feeling of inadequacy and remorse.
Suddenly, she needed to know. For sure. “Do you really want to marry me, Reuben? Are you really, truly serious?”
He stepped closer and lowered his forehead to touch hers. Their noses grazed as he smiled. “Really, truly. I love you, Madison Buckner.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and brought him close, burying her head in his shoulder. “I love you, Reuben Callahan.”
Thank you, God. I prayed long and hard that you’d keep Reuben away from me. Thank you so very, very much for telling me no.
Epilogue
Maddie twirled in front of the mirror for the billionth time. White had never been her favorite color, but today was a major exception.
“Sis, come on. You’ll get a complex if you keep staring at yourself.” Kyle stood behind her, a big frown on his face. Tuxes weren’t cool, or so he said, and he’d argued with her about it right until she sent him to the other room to put it on.
But he sure did look handsome. At twelve, he was just starting to hit a growth spurt, but his weight hadn’t quite caught up with his gangly height, not for lack of eating.
“I’m almost done. I just like seeing my dress twirl.” So it gave away her youth a little, but she’d be twenty-two in a few months, and Reuben didn’t seem to mind, even when she teased him about being so old at age twenty-eight. She’d even plucked a gray hair for him the other day. He hadn’t been pleased.
The door to the small office opened and Corina entered, a white veil in hand. “Okay, the groom is now in the building, so no more coming out of this room, you hear?”
“Yes, drill sergeant.”
“Don’t sass me, young lady. Here, let’s pin this in your hair.”
The tulle draped over her face finalized the picture-perfect image. Never in her life had Maddie imagined getting married, much less to a handsome, sweet, lovable guy like Reuben. The last year had been full of ups and downs as they “dated.”
Reuben had decided opening one restaurant at a time was his limit, so most of his time had been spent working on those plans and keeping everything moving, not to mention the court date for Kyle, which was canceled at the last minute. A week before scheduled, Sid had an episode and was diagnosed with a blockage in his heart. The bypass went fine, but Sarge, er, Mrs. Blakely finally admitted that Kyle was better off with Madison and Reuben. Maddie had even invited them to come visit, so she’d k
now that everything was going well.
A new court date was now set, one for after they were married.
She smiled, knowing that the couple who only wanted the best for Kyle sat outside the door, waiting to wish them well.
Betty fluttered into the room, looking all fancy in her sequined mauve gown. “It’s time, dear. Are you ready? Oh, my goodness, you look beautiful. Just lovely.” She rested her hands on her arms and squeezed her from behind. Looking at her in the mirror, she smiled. “Your momma would be so proud of you, darling.”
Maddie smiled. She and Betty had some long, heart-to-hearts over the last year, so the older woman probably knew her better than any shrink child services had sent her to back in the day. “I miss her.”
“I know, sweetie. But today is a time for rejoicing and new beginnings. Just remember that.”
Corina cleared her throat. “It’s time, ladies.”
Betty went to fluttering again. “Oh, yes, yes, it is! Corina, you have your flowers?”
She waved them in front of her. “Check.”
“Good good. Now, I’ll go get my seat. Allie and Gary are right outside with Sara, ready for your cue.”
Butterflies did the jive in her stomach as Corina walked in front of her and Gary met her at the door. “You ready?”
She nodded. “As I’ll ever be.”
The dining room of the new restaurant had been parted down the middle, the guests taking seats at tables and booths on either side of the dining room. In front of the waitress stand stood the pastor, and beside him, Reuben.
Maddie caught her breath. He looked so handsome she thought she would melt on the spot. That would put a whole new spin on the sandwich “Reuben melt.”
Gary urged her down the aisle, and she was only semiconscious of her hand being placed in Reuben’s.
His strong grip reassured her. This was the man she loved, and in just a few moments, they’d be one.
The pastor went through the motions of the ceremony, and Maddie managed to say all the right things at the right times with only minor prodding. Her eyes were for Reuben alone.
That is, until the closing line. “I now pronounce you man and wife. May you go with God, and may He be the peanut butter that holds you two lovebirds together. Reuben, you may kiss your bride.”
The crowd snickered, and Reuben smiled, but the humor of the moment didn’t keep him from his mission. He lifted her veil over her head and claimed her lips to his.
Getting married in a restaurant had its perks, the biggest being no need for a change in venue for the reception. And in keeping with the menu and theme of the day, they’d be serving sandwiches. Maddie walked from table to table on her husband’s arm, greeting the guests and thanking them for coming.
When she approached the last table, she almost stumbled. Reuben gripped her arm and steadied her. “You all right?”
Maddie couldn’t answer. Instead, she stared at the guest whom she hadn’t seen in over five years. “Rachel?”
The woman who looked not much older than Maddie, stood, her hand fluttering to her chest. “Maddie, oh, Maddie.”
Tears flowed as Maddie moved to hug her. “But … how? I thought—”
“I saw your announcement in the newspaper. I told myself to stay away, but I just couldn’t. I needed to make sure for myself that you were all right.”
A million questions ran through Maddie’s mind. “But what happened to you? I … you left, and there was blood, and—”
Rachel nodded. “Your dad was … not a nice man, as you already know. I finally had enough that day, and told him I was leaving and taking you two with me. He … well, let’s just say it didn’t please him. It killed me to leave you two there, but after he left, I called child services, and … I called my mom.”
“Your mom?”
Rachel smiled. “In case you didn’t guess, I wasn’t much older than you are now when I met your Dad. He was older, and I was in the mood to rebel. After I moved in with you all, I saw his colors real fast. But by then, I couldn’t leave. Not with you and Kyle there, all alone with that brute of a man. My mother, bless her heart, prayed for me every day I was gone, so when I called asking to come home with my tail between my legs, she rescued me. I just hated not knowing what happened to you and Kyle, if you were okay.”
Maddie hugged her again. “It’s okay. We’re fine. Kyle lives with me now, and as you can see,” she looked over her shoulder and winked at Reuben, “I’m doing very well for myself.”
Two hours later, Reuben and Maddie stood beside their big ol’ black truck, a Ford F150 Reuben finally decided on, that was decked out with cans, streamers, and balloons. Maddie had tried to convince him they should drive the Tracker as their get-away car, but he’d put his foot down.
They waved good-bye to the crowd of well-wishers, and Reuben helped Maddie into the truck to escape the barrage of rice being thrown at them. He hopped in the other side and revved the engine.
“You ready to ride, little lady?”
She slid over closer to him and put a hand in his. “Ready if you are.”
Later, as they parked at the hotel outside of Chicago where they would stay the night before catching a flight to Hawaii the next day, Maddie pulled a cooler out of the back. “Did your mom pack this?”
Reuben shrugged. “She likes to send food.”
Maddie lifted the lid and found two sandwiches, with a note from Betty. “Maddie and Reuben, just in case you get hungry, I packed some sandwiches for you. Love you!”
“That was sweet of her.” She sniffed and grinned. “I think it’s PB&J.”
Reuben took the container from her and brought her lips to his. His kiss ignited a passion inside that Maddie had tried desperately to keep under wraps. “Reuben, I—” Why couldn’t she seem to get a breath?
“I gotta be honest with you, Maddie.”
She smiled at his husky voice. “Hmm?”
“A PB&J sandwich is not what I had in mind tonight.”
She giggled. “Oh really? Maybe a tuna sandwich?”
He kissed her again, deeper this time. When he came up for air, he shook his head. “No, more like a Reuben and Maddie sandwich.”
Discussion Questions
1. Maddie had some interesting experiences with her bosses. Have you ever had a difficult boss? How did you handle it?
2. The Callahans were “givers.” They took Maddie in and helped her without questioning her past because it was what God called them to do. How would you have reacted if you had been in their shoes?
3. Maddie was clearly a little rough around the edges. Imagine her coming to your church before she was saved. How would she be welcomed? What about after, when she was a new Christian but had no clue the “rules” that many view for Christians? Would she be welcomed in your church then?
4. What do you think it means to be a graceful receiver?
5. How does one balance being a graceful receiver with not wanting to take advantage, or, in the extreme, not being greedy?
6. Reuben struggled with being in a relationship with Livy while not knowing if he was still in love with her. How do you know the difference between affection and true, lasting love?
7. Related to the above question, many couples divorce these days because they “fall out of love.” Is there such a thing? Or is love a choice? If it’s a choice, should Reuben have stayed engaged to Livy and chosen to love her regardless?
8. Reuben had a habit of making harsh judgments before getting all the facts. Is this something you struggle with? How do you overcome it?
9. Maddie was irritated with God for not answering her prayers in the way she would have preferred them to be answered. What are some times God has answered your prayers in a way that wasn’t what you expected? How did you deal with it?
10. What’s your favorite type of Sandwich? (Me? I like a good ol’ PB&J!)
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