“Come here.”
He let himself be hugged by her for a long time. Good thing neither Dad nor his brother were here to see. They’d call him a wuss for sure. Well, Dad wouldn’t, but John sure would.
“I’m praying for you, and for her,” Mum murmured.
“We both need it.”
“Mm. We all do, I’m sure. But come on. Let’s get ready for church.”
The drive into Wattle Vale didn’t take long, the Sunday drivers not yet out in full force. No doubt plenty of the local coffee shops would be doing a roaring trade, but as they didn’t pass any on their way into church, it didn’t affect them at all. He parked and they went in, and he was greeted by various family friends, most of them asking about EJ.
He offered a bland smile but simply said, “She’s been pretty busy,” which seemed enough to satisfy most people. Except for Miss Bates, one of the gossipy older ladies who EJ had referred to yesterday, who kept pecking him with questions he couldn’t answer.
“Sorry, gotta go.” He escaped and hurried to Elinor, who was working on the projector. Or at least hiding behind the projector’s computer while she frowned at her phone.
“Hard at work, I see.”
She jumped, then swatted him. “What are you doing here? I thought you were in Sydney this weekend.”
“I got back late last night.” He punctuated his comment with a yawn.
“Okay, I’m convinced.” She chewed her lip, studying him.
Uh oh. What was wrong? “Call me sleep-deprived, but you look like there’s something you want to say.”
Her nose wrinkled as she grimaced. “I’m trying to understand this picture I found.”
“What picture?”
She shoved her phone at him, and he took a second to realise who was in it. Eric. And—was that Gwen? Hugging? And in a way that suggested much more than just a friendly hug.
He blinked. Glanced back at Elinor.
She nodded. “Exactly. I mean, that is Eric, right?”
“Looks like it.”
“And that’s definitely not our EJ, is it?”
OurEJ? “No.”
He couldn’t imagine EJ consenting to a man hugging her with his hand cradling her, uh, posterior like that.
“I don’t understand.”
Neither did he. But there was no time for further speculation as the church service’s countdown was on the screen, and he needed to take his spot beside Mum in the third row.
“We’ll talk after.”
“Too right we will.”
His heart felt like a popcorn machine, little kernels of truth exploding into fullness, and he struggled to sing, let alone keep his focus on the sermon.
But a few verses and phrases sank in.
Like the name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run into it, and they are safe.
He bowed his head in prayer, glad that today wasn’t one of Pastor Bryan’s longer efforts. And while he was grateful for the postservice coffee, he couldn’t linger and do small talk, not with so many questions looming over him. So as soon as it was feasible, he escaped and caught up with Elinor, who’d been joined by Katie. Katie clearly knew too, her brow pleated with worry as she joined Elinor in dragging Jordan to the side, away from prying ears.
