"Is that too soon?" he asked.
"No. I'll marry you today if you want me to."
"You don't want to plan something big and flashy?"
"No. I had a big first wedding, and maybe flashy isn't the right word, but it didn't help our marriage be any better, no matter how much money we spent on it. And I'm just not interested in that anymore. I have other things I'd rather spend our money on, for one, and I just don't feel like a big wedding equals a great marriage. Plus, I have candles to make. I don't have time to plan a wedding." She bit her lip. "Unless you want one?" Her brow was all crinkled up, and she seemed truly concerned about what he wanted.
Somehow, that made him happy. That she really cared about what he thought and wanted.
"I just want to marry you. I don't really care how it happens. And I want it to be soon."
"Then we agree on all of that."
He smiled, squeezing her hand as they sat on the couch together.
But before he could try to pin down a day with her, his phone rang.
"I don't need to get it," he said as he looked at her.
"Go ahead. It's your job."
He nodded. "Unfortunately that's probably the way it's going togo. Some evenings we'll have together, uninterrupted, and some evenings not."
"God knows. I guess if I start to feel neglected or like I'm alone too much, I'll let you know."
"Fair enough. As long as you promise not to suffer in silence without talking to me."
"I know that you'll do something about it if I say something, and that's important to me."
"Fair enough," he said as he reached in his pocket and pulled out his phone.
"Hello?"
"Hey, it's Noah," Noah said.
"What's up?" Mark asked, his stomach sinking a little as he realized that Noah probably had something he wanted him to deliver as a Secret Saint thing.
"I've got a problem and I was wondering if I could come talk to you about it."
"You can. Olivia is here... I can go to my office if you want, or if you don't mind if she listens in, you can come to the living room."
"She can hear, as long as she doesn't say anything. It's probably not something that I want getting around."
"All right. You can come then. Show up whenever."
"All right, I'll be right over."
He hung up and sat holding his phone for a minute, wondering what in the world Noah would want to talk to him about.
"That was Noah?"
"Yes."
"It didn't sound like he had a Secret Saint delivery for you."
"No. He wants to come talk."
"I can leave. I can head to bed." Olivia volunteered, and he appreciated so much that she didn't need to know every single thing that people were telling him. That would make his job as a pastor much easier. But he also intended to let people know that he considered Olivia and him one, and he didn't want to keep secretsfrom her. He wasn't sure how he was going to balance that with counseling, but he'd cross those bridges when he came to them.
