She had scribbled "furnace" over the top of the envelope, so he would know exactly what it was for, and she tried to picture howhappy and excited he would be to find it.
He would thank God for providing it, and only God and she would know that God had used her to help.
After all, what were the odds that she would have an opportunity to make that much cash that close to where she was, on the exact evening that she needed it? It had to be God.
She was so excited and happy that she had made it to the door and had almost started punching numbers in when she realized there were shadows moving inside.
A light flickered, a face was illuminated, and it was not Noah's.
Her eyes widened.
Was his store being broken into?
She hadn't quite gotten her wits about her to grab her phone and call the police when another face came into the light, looking down at something, the mouth moving, and then as though it sensed her presence, the face looked up, and she looked into Noah's eyes.
His eyes widened, and something like panic entered into them, and then he almost seemed resigned.
He shifted around and came to the door.
She wanted to run, but she couldn't do that. Then she would have to explain why she was there and why she ran on top of it.
She wanted to hide the envelope, but that was the whole point of her visit. So she just stood there, doing nothing, as he opened the door and looked both ways before he said, "Can you come in?"
He didn't ask her what she wanted or why she was there.
She didn't think about that, but just stepped in the store while he shut the door behind her.
"Is everything okay?" he asked immediately, a warm hand coming down on her shoulder. She felt the heat through her coat.
"Everything's fine. What are you doing here rustling around in the dark?" she asked.
Then she realized there were bags on the floor by their feet, which was probably why he hadn't moved her further into the room.As her eyes adjusted to the light, she could see that there were at least five grocery bags.
"Where were you grocery shopping at?"
He took a deep breath and then blew it out, and then said, "I have a confession to make."
Yeah. She felt her stomach drop and her heart stop. She had thought that he was too good to be true. He seemed like such a great man. But, he was harboring a terrible secret.
"Okay?"
What could the secret be? She couldn't think of anything that she would believe that Noah was doing that was wrong. But it had to be. What else could the explanation be?
"You have to promise me that you won't tell anyone."
"Unless you're doing something illegal."
She was not going to hide information from the cops.
"And I can't lie."
"No. I would never ask you to lie."
That made her heart tremble and start thumping in a regular rhythm again. That was the Noah that she knew. The one who would never ask her to lie. That was the one who she wanted to be with, not this secret hiding person who was doing something underhanded that he didn't want anyone to know.
"I'm the Secret Saint."
He said it so quickly and so softly that she almost missed it, and her mind was racing with so many other things it took a moment to process.
