The door flew open, hitting the wall behind it.Bang!
Seth jumped, his heart feeling as though it stopped completely before taking off at a racing speed. “Mr. White! You scared me half to death.”
Mr. White didn’t seem to care. His balding head was splotched with color, and his eyes were so wide the whites screamed. “I did my best to let this go. I did. I went home last night instead of confronting you, but I can’t abide it any longer.”
Seth half rose out of his seat. “Abide by what?”
“You and your wife, sneaking behind the board’s back and starting a youth group—after we specifically told you to table it for a week.”
“Whoa.” Seth held up both palms.
“Don’t try to deny it. I saw them in here last night.” He pointed down the hallway toward the kitchen.
Seth’s heart sank. “That was just a study session.”
“With cookies and talking about dances and dating? Do I look stupid to you?”
How long had Mr. White eavesdropped on Evie? The idea made him sick to his stomach and angry. “The girls needed help with English, and Evie offered to help them. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“There is when she uses church property. One of those girls doesn’t even attend meetings.”
Seth narrowed his eyes. “All the more reason to invite her inside, wouldn’t you say?”
Mr. White huffed out like the Big Bad Wolf. “You’re missing the point. We specifically told you no on the youth group.”
“No.Yousaid no. The rest of the board were undecided. And what my wife and I do with our time is our call—not yours.” He was treading a fine line here. Technically, the board was his boss and could fire him at any moment. But he couldn’t just stand there and let Mr. White run all over him and Evie.
“You don’t have to worry about that for very long. After I tell them how you went behind our backs, they’ll vote you out like that.” Mr. White snapped his fingers. “I’ll see to it. Mark my words, this will be your last sermon.” He spun and left, a trail of anger and bitterness wafting behind him.
Seth sank back into his chair. He didn’t have far to go, because he’d never stood all the way up. Mr. White’s attack was a perfect blitz.
Removed. Discarded.Fired. No matter what word he used to describe what had just happened, they all had dire consequences. Not just for him, but for Evie too. She’d come to be the heart of this ministry. Sure, he was the preacher, but she had a way with people—a love that drew others to her and pointed the way to Christ.
Things had been strained between them lately. Not really strained, just off. Ever since that kiss and then the guitar …
What would she do if he wasn’t a preacher anymore? Would she be willing to go to another town, to start over, to build from scratch? Or would she leave him? He really didn’t know the answer to those questions, and that scared him more than Mr. White had.
He stood up, bumping into his guitar. He paused, a sense of something big hanging over him. He listened, straining for the prompting he’d been praying for when he’d settled into his desk. He was far from settled now, but that didn’t blur the message.
Play.
The sense that he was in the chapel, playing for the parishioners, came over him like a pillar of light.
He tried to shake it off. After all, the music he made was between him and God. It was sacred and came from the purest parts of his soul. He didn’t want to offend the Lord by making light of the gift He shared with Seth by acting like some wannabe Christian rock star.
Play.
He didn’t want to. Putting himself out there by singing a song he’d written was the hardest, most terrifying thing on the planet. He’d rather face an angry hippopotamus or be dropped in a fiery furnace.
“Really, Lord, if there’s a den of lions I could sleep in, I’d take that,” he said to the heavens.
An image of the pews full of lions flashed through his mind, and he chuckled. He’d always known the Lord had a sense of humor.
“Okay. I’ll play.” He picked up the guitar and plucked a few strings. The verse he’d read earlier came to mind. “I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.”
If this was going to be his last Sunday as a preacher and as a husband, he would stand with his rod in his hand and pray that God be with him.
Chapter Twenty-Two
