"Amen," Olivia said softly, and Mark realized that Ethan's prayer was over too.
"All right, boys, I'll see you two turkeys in the morning. Thanks for being great kids today."
He grinned at both of them, kissing their foreheads before he stood and nodded at Olivia, barely meeting her eyes before he walked softly out of the room.
It would be awkward to talk to her again, although perhaps he didn't have to allow it to be so. He could just go on like it wasn't a big deal. Because it wasn't. Kids wanted one thing one minute, and the next minute, they wanted something completely different. So what if Ethan had prayed that Mark would be his dad? And so what if he wasn't against it?
Chapter 19
At five o'clock the next morning, Olivia was out of bed, in the kitchen making coffee.
It did not surprise her at all to hear Mark moving back the hall, and to see him appear in the kitchen.
"Good morning," she said softly.
"Good morning. Did you sleep well?"
He saw that she was making coffee, and he grinned as she poured a cup of straight black and handed it to him.
"I did. Like a baby." She didn't really understand that saying. Her babies hadn't slept all night for at least four months. But he knew what she meant and nodded.
"I'm glad to hear it."
Thankfully, things weren't strained between them this morning as they had been last night after Ethan had prayed that Mark would be his dad and they could be a family together. Olivia had wanted to sink through the floor. It felt like he had gone on and on and on talking about how he wanted a dad and he wanted Mark to be it and he wanted Mark to be part of their family and all of that. And Oliviawanted to lean over to Pastor Mark and say that she had not said anything about that and had not put that idea in his head at all.
But she didn't want to interrupt his prayer, and she also didn't want to draw more attention to it than it needed to be. Maybe Mark wasn't even paying attention to his prayer. After all, he was praying to God, not Mark.
Maybe Mark was thinking about the coming sermon, what he was going to talk about for Christmas.
She had no idea.
Still, it had been a little awkward when they met in the hall and she'd thanked him for his hospitality and told him she was taking a shower and then going to bed.
He seemed like he wanted to talk about something else, but she just wanted to escape.
But that was last night. Now, they both sat down at the kitchen table with their Bibles open, and an hour slipped by before she even knew it. There was companionable silence, and it felt good and right to have Mark beside her, as he talked to the Lord, just as she did.
She actually had a few things she was studying that she wouldn't have minded talking to him about, but she didn't want to bother him and didn't know how he felt about that. Although, she kind of thought he wouldn't mind, considering that the night before he had explained that anytime he had a chance to talk about the Bible with someone, he eagerly did.
She had just opened her mouth to ask what he thought about a particular passage when his phone buzzed.
He looked over at it, picking it up and reading a text.
"That's John at the power company. He said that he thought the lights on the other side of the road might be on later today, possibly this afternoon. They think they've found the problem, but they need another truck, and everyone has been dispatched somewhere."
"Oh. That would be wonderful. I've been trying not to think about all the candles I have to make."
He grinned. "We have to make. Remember? I said I would help you."
"I do remember. But I also know that this is your busy time of year, and I don't expect you to help me if you just can't."
"You don't expect me to keep my word? Tell me you have higher standards for me than that."
"Well, when you put it that way, I guess I do expect you to help me."
He smiled at her, and he seemed totally at ease, which enabled her to feel like that as well.
"Well, that's good. It makes me feel better that we won't be inconveniencing you any longer, even though I know you said we weren't," she said, adding that last part when he put a hand up and opened his mouth as though he were going to contradict her. She couldn't imagine that having people in his house, including two four-year-olds, wasn't an inconvenience at some level.
