The woman sucked in a breath. "I think the real problem is going to be getting people to show up," she admitted. "Those things are usually something we ignore. I mean, unless there's something going on with the schools."
"How do we convince them to show up?" Berto asked.
Maisie looked at him and just chuckled. "If I knew how to do that, then I would probably be a politician. Maybe you should talk to David about it? I mean, if he makes a few announcements here at church, then at least it'll be on everyone's radar."
"I'll do that after the service," I decided.
Not long after that, the religious service started. Sadly, I still couldn't take the whole God thing seriously, but I was starting to see the value of church for the community connection. In truth, I liked a lot of the people, and I enjoyed coming simply so I could see and talk to them. Each time I showed up, I felt like the question of whether or not God was real became a lot less important.
Cy believed. Luke believed. I knew that Violet felt like there was a higher power, but she wasn't ready to commit to it being something quite as defined as the Bible said. Me? I couldn't imagine an all-powerful being who even bothered to notice that something as insignificant as a single species on a single world in a massive cosmic universe existed. In other words, God made no sense to me.
But I listened. I was even starting to learn the songs, and I liked hearing Cy sing them. The points David tried to make were the kind and loving sort, and the world needed more of that. So, while I didn't necessarily believe in God, I had been converted enough to think that church might actually be good. I was also willing to support anything that meant this much to the people I cared about.
Eventually, the day's sermon ended and people began to mingle. I leaned over to kiss the side of Cy's neck, and said, "I'll be right back. Want to talk to David before I forget about it."
He caught my hand and tugged me back. "Plan to tell me what's with you being so cute today?"
"You mean that I'm kissing you in public?" I asked around a smile. "We tried to be good and it didn't work. I told you before, and I will tell you again, I'm not ashamed of you. I love you Cyan, and hiding it isn't going to keep anyone safe. That means there's no reason not to show it. Nothing more. Nothing less."
He simply squeezed my fingers. "I was just wondering if it might have something to do with picking a fight before our kids had to do it for us."
"Our." I lifted a brow, making it clear I had noticed that word. "And while that's a good secondary reason, it's not actually why. But if anyone else asks, I'm definitely using it."
Cy just let me go and nudged me forward. "Go do your thing, Ash."
I was walking up the aisle towards the front, taking note of the people who gave me dirty looks and those who smiled at me, I heard my name. Lifting my head, I looked around trying to find where that came from, because the voice didn't belong to one of the Shades of Trouble. There, right at the front, I saw David looking at me with his hand up like he was trying to get my attention.
I continued walking that way. "Were you calling for me?" I asked.
David met me halfway, wrapping his arm around my shoulders just to angle me towards an empty section of the room. "You are actually just the man I needed today." he said. "I've heard that Southwind is almost back in business."
"Well, we're hoping to be," I admitted. "That's actually why I was looking for you. I was wondering if there's any way you can mention the city council meeting on the third week of November. It's that Thursday, and one of the things that they're going to bring up is whether or not Southwind should be allowed a business license. We're kinda hoping that we can convince the town to come persuade the mayor and council members to vote yes."
David began to smile. "Well, I was actually about to ask you a favor. So, before I do that, let me just say that I can mention the meeting, and I can mention the fact that there will be a vote on whether or not Southwind should be allowed to operate, but I don't really feel comfortable trying to persuade people which way they should think."
"Not even because Southwind hopes to take care of the children who fall through the cracks?" I asked. "I mean, isn't that sort of like God's work?"
David ducked his head and chuckled. "You make a very persuasive argument, but let me just hit you with my favor first. There's a guy who attends church with us who's had a recent turn of bad luck. He's actually been talking to me about his options because he thinks he's going to lose his home."
"Do I want to know why?" I asked.
Behind his lips, David ran his tongue over his teeth, clearly thinking. "He lost his job recently - downsizing, you know - and is falling far behind on his bills. The mortgage company's already sending him final notices, and he can't find work. The man has been looking everywhere. He even tried to get a job at the Tractor Supply up in Bonham. But he's old enough that he's not the ideal employee."
"So he lost his job because the company did a mass layoff, and he's not a young man," I said, making sure I had this right. "So does he need a loan?"
"What he needs is a job," David explained. "He was a crew foreman for one of those construction companies that go around making subdivisions. His entire crew was let go, and starting another construction job at his age isn't exactly easy."
"How old?" I asked.
"Mid-fifties, I think," David said. "I didn't honestly ask. I'm just hoping that you might have some work for him - even temporary - that can help him get back on his feet."
The man did construction. It sounded like he wasn't too proud to take the more menial jobs, and mid-fifties wasn't that old. If he'd been doing construction for most of his life, he should be in decent shape. In other words, I had a feeling we'd just found the man to handle renovating the inside of the cabins.
"Is he wanting full-time work?" I asked, lifting a finger to show I wasn't done. "A temporary job, a long-term job, or something else? Because yes, I have work. I'm just trying to decide which of our many jobs would be best for him."
"I can introduce you to him, if you want," David offered.
"Please."
