"I just really loved having the laughter and the splashing and the conversation and just everything about last night," he said.
That made her close her mouth and look down at her Bible on the table. Everything? Even when Ethan had prayed that Mark would be his dad?
She just did not have the nerve to ask that, and so she didn't say anything.
"Olivia, I am—" His phone rang, and she looked up, saw the frustration on his face, and thought for a second that maybe he wasn't going to answer.
"I'm sorry, I probably should get this. Unless you had something else you wanted to say?" he asked, and she thought maybe there was hope in his voice. Was he wanting her to bring that subject up?
There was no way. She wasn't going to say a word about that if she could get away with not. Although... what would it hurt? They could just talk about it and see how they felt.
Maybe he was okay with that idea. And honestly, she was busy being embarrassed about it, mostly because she was okay with thatidea. But she didn't want him to know, especially if he was looking for someone who was super spiritual and well respected in the community to be his wife. After all, that was hardly her.
She felt like she was hanging onto her spirituality by a thread. The rift with her parents made her feel guilty, and she had been withdrawing from the community more than she realized. Being shut up with everyone in the activity room made her see that she had been keeping herself from accepting help, and also from giving it. She just had her head down, focused on all the things that she needed to do in order to function. But that wasn't the kind of life she wanted to live.
"No. You go ahead and get it," she said, and he looked at her for another moment before he nodded, and then swiped.
She stood up, closing her Bible and putting it on the counter, before deciding that she might as well make some bread. Mark seemed to really like it, and she might as well make herself useful.
She hummed as he carried on a conversation in low tones while still seated at the table. And she moved around the kitchen, getting the ingredients out that she needed, and then running to the kitchen in the activity center in order to get yeast, which unsurprisingly, he didn't have.
By the time she got back and had the bread in a greased bowl to rise, Ethan came out, rubbing his eyes and looking sleepy.
It was about time for both of them to get up, and she bent down, picking him up and squeezing him to her. She loved this time of day when her kids were all cuddly from sleep, and before their hyper energy kicked in and they didn't want to be still for two seconds to get a hug from their mom.
"Are you hungry?" she asked, looking at the bacon and eggs that she'd brought over from the activity center that had been left over. People had donated them to help feed the people the church was housing, and she figured that meant she could go ahead and use them, since the church was still technically housing her.
"I am! Are you making breakfast?"
"I sure am, buddy. Why don't you grab a chair, and you can help me crack some eggs."
She set Aiden down, and then cautioned him, "Pastor Mark is on the phone, so you need to be quiet, okay?"
He nodded, used to such a command, because she'd had no choice but to conduct business around her children, and they knew that occasionally she needed to be on the phone and they needed to be quiet. They actually did a pretty good job with that, although they were children, not perfect.
"I hope it's okay with you if I go out. There are a few people that need me to check on them."
She turned around quickly, not realizing that Mark had ended his phone call.
"Of course not. I wouldn't want to keep you from doing your job."
He looked at her as though he wanted to say something else, was thinking about something, but he just shook his head.
"Please make yourself at home. Use whatever you need to, help yourself to anything. There's nothing you can do that will hurt anything."
"Thank you. I have a few ideas that might involve homemade bread, if you don’t mind."
"Of course I'm not going to mind anything that you cook, and who in the world would fuss about homemade bread?" He grinned. "I'll be looking forward to it."
There was something about his smile that made her stomach curl. That, and the fact that he was looking forward to eating with her.
"I'm serious. Help yourself to anything." He glanced over his shoulder. "And don't worry about the boys. There's nothing they can hurt."
"I might want to go over and check out my shop and apartment."
"If you don't mind waiting, I'll do it with you. Even if we do it after we put the boys to bed." He looked over his shoulder. "By thenthe lights might be on, and I can get started on fulfilling my promise of helping you."
She grinned, but then her brows drew down. "I don't want to take you from your other duties."
