But it was Seth, who had returned from Charleston a week ago, who was on my mind today. The moment he came back to the city, he had showed up on my front steps with a dozen red roses and plans to take me to my favorite restaurant in Georgetown. Though my anger had started to dissipate, I hadrefused and told him I wasn’t ready to rekindle our relationship. He’d left dejected.
Last night he had showed up again with another bouquet of roses, and it had been too much. I was writing a paper, and he tried to cajole me into putting it off so we could take a bike ride. The weather had been perfect, and though I didn’t want to be cooped up in my apartment, I couldn’t go with him.
“Seth and I had an argument last night,” I told Delilah, losing my appetite. “He left here upset with me. I think it’s officially over.”
“What kind of a fight? I didn’t hear a thing.”
“We didn’t yell, but I told him I needed more space, and he accused me of leading him on.”
“You? Leading him on? How?” She frowned and put down her fork. “You have a right to pull back, Meg. If he’s the right guy, he’ll understand.”
“That’s what I keep telling myself.” I tried to take another bite, but it didn’t taste as good as it should. “I need to tell my dad what happened. He and Seth have a meeting tomorrow, and Dad will assume things are going well between us, especially because of the dinner last month.”
“Your parents were pretty excited about you two, weren’t they?” Delilah asked.
“More than I was.”
“You don’t like Seth?”
“I do like him—did like him, but it was all too much.”
“And there’s Gray and Zechariah to think about.”
“What am I going to do, Dee?”
She offered a sad smile. “I wish I could tell you.”
“What would you do, if you were me?”
“That’s impossible to say. I love 2001, but I’m sure if I lived in 1861 and 1941, I’d love those time periods too.”
“Sometimes I wish God would just choose for me.”
“You wouldn’t really want that, would you?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. It would be easier.” I had continued putting off my conversations with God about the issue, since He remained silent. I’d accepted that if He didn’t make it clear to me which path to take, then I would have to draw straws or resort to some other method of unbiased decision-making.
“Maybe it would, maybe it wouldn’t.” She finished her omelet, licked her fork, and pushed her plate aside. “Sometimes we need to take a step of faith. If God isn’t clear about a decision, then we do what we think is best and hope that it’s the right choice. I truly believe He honors our choices when we make them out of faith and not fear. You’ll know what to do when the time is right.”
I hoped and prayed she was right.
She smiled. “Thanks for the yummy omelet. I should probably get dressed. I have a lunch date today.”
“A lunch date?”
“Yeah. I met him in my sculpting class. He’s pretty cute.” Her cheeks blossomed with color. “His name is Solomon, and he’s an art history major.”
“You like him! And you haven’t said a word to me?”
She lifted a shoulder. “I was waiting to see if he liked me, too. Apparently he does. Who would have guessed?”
“Me, that’s who. I’m so happy for you.”
Delilah held up her hands. “Don’t go planning the wedding yet.”
I laughed and shook my head. “You’ll have to tell me all about it tonight.”
“I will.” She pushed away from the counter. “What will you do with your day off?”
