Neither answered for a second, and Elijah gave her a sideways glance that held trepidation.
Oh, how she’d love to tell the truth, except she wasn’t fully proud of her actions—she could have made her point in a nicer way without the raised voice and name-calling. “We were practicing our lines in a stage voice, which probably came across as yelling. Everything’s fine.”
“Good.” Pastor Gray smiled and glanced toward the sanctuary. “We’ll be starting soon with standing room only. I haven’t seen the church this full in three years.”
“That’s great.” She forced a smile, all while the butterflies in her stomach multiplied.
“Break a leg.” Pastor Gray winked, then left, closing the door behind him.
She managed to hold her laugh, but couldn’t resist shooting Elijah a smug grin. “Even Pastor Gray doesn’t think there’s a problem with the door closed.”
He scowled. “I’m sorry, okay? Can we just put this behind us and do the show?”
“Fine, whatever.” She sunk back into the seat, wishing the night were over. The momentary joy of victory left.
One person had ruined tonight for her. Elijah could apologize all he wanted, but that didn’t change how he felt. His opinion she could deal with—it was of little to no consequence to her since she didn’t know him. Except, if that’s how he felt, it was a certainty others in the church also felt that way.
She couldn’t blame them, though she had hoped and prayed the situation would be different. After she’d been welcomed by numerous people, she’d allowed herself to believe she could find a place in her childhood church, but Elijah had crushed that dream.
This would be the last time she stepped foot in this church. Her family would be upset, but they’d realize this was for the best. Her presence would only serve as a distraction to the congregation. She’d take a few weeks to regroup, continue adjusting to this new life, and then seek other churches and hopefully find one that would accept her, past sins and all.
Chapter Five
Elijah knocked on the door to the pastor’s office and waited for him to look up. “Do you need anything from me before I leave for the day?”
“I saw your report about the youth’s winter camp last weekend, but do you have any photos you can email me? The association asked for several pictures to include with their newsletter.”
“Sure. Anything else?”
“That’s it. Any big plans for the weekend?”
“Resting.” Elijah grinned. “I’m still not caught up on sleep from last weekend.”
Pastor Gray chuckled. “A few years ago, our youth minister at the time had a family emergency the day before the youth left, and I had to step in and take them. My sermon that next week was on God’s plan for rest.”
Elijah burst into a fit of laughter. “Well fitting.”
“It’s worth all the effort though, isn’t it?” Leaning back in his office chair, Pastor Gray smiled. “Connecting with our youth becomes more difficult for me every year, but I loved that time of getting to know them better and witnessing their eagerness for life.”
“Our church has a great community of youth. I’ve seen them grow a lot in the four months I’ve been here.”
“You’ve done a great job. The congregation is pleased with your work.”
“Thank you.” He squelched the burst of pride, didn’t want to get too comfortable and relaxed in his position.
Plus, he knew he’d messed up plenty. Trixie hadn’t returned to church since the night of the nativity play. No one had said as such, but he knew he held the blame. A month later, it still made him mad. He still didn’t understand the big deal about keeping the door open, and he wouldn’t apologize for protecting reputations—his and hers—but he could have been more tactful in his actions.
Besides, she hadn’t been completely innocent. She’d thrown harsh accusations at him that continued to sting. He welcomed anyone into church, no matter who they were or what they had done, but behaviors had consequences. Why was that so hard for her to understand?
Walking to his office, he shook his head. Women—they were complicated creatures. That’s why he and Ella, his ex-girlfriend, had gotten along so well. She wasn’t like other women and didn’t play games, but neither had she been brash. Her demeanor made her the perfect candidate for a pastor’s wife, but there had been no chemistry between them and they’d peacefully broken up last spring.
He sat behind his desk and straightened the piles of curriculum samples he’d spread out earlier. None of them stood out to him. Many were outdated and didn’t address the issues the current generation faced. One was much too open-minded in their approach and made him blush. He couldn’t imagine presenting that to the pastor for approval. Why had Pastor Gray tasked him with this, anyway? Come fall, he’d leave and attend seminary. Whoever came in after him should be the person to decide what program to use. Either way, he’d been assigned the job, so he’d continue to search.
Before he got distracted and forgot, he logged into his computer and opened the camp picture files. He clicked through the hundreds of pictures, laughed at many of them, including a few of him that others had secretly snapped. Whoever caught him mid-fall while snow tubing down the hill should win an award. They’d captured his wide-eyed expression and surprise with astonishing insight for an amateur.
How could he narrow the choices down to a few? They all captured great memories, some serious, many fun and goofy. He opted for one right after he’d confiscated cell phones. Sick of seeing everyone with necks bent, he took the phones away and a wonderful thing happened. The kids interacted and enjoyed each other’s company. Granted, he found out later they’d been planning a prank on him, but it had been worth the ice-cold water dropped on him.
Not all the kids had made it into that photo, so he searched for one that showed the others. He found one of their morning devotions where the kids sat in a glass-enclosed sun room with a perfect view of the snow-covered ground outside. He attached his choices in an email and sent them to Pastor Gray.
