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It’d been like a scene from a romantic movie, she decided.
At least she’d been able to experience something that intense once.
Chapter Twelve
Patience didn’t realize she’d left her computer at the motel until she got to the office at the church and it wasn’t sitting on her desk. She’d been focused on other things—getting her daughter off to school on time even though she was exhausted, and replaying Kanon’s kiss in her mind over and over again on a loop.
Her father normally beat her to work, since she had to drive Ari to school. And he was there today. He looked up when she walked in, obviously surprised when she suddenly halted in her steps. “What is it?” he asked.
She wiped the startled expression from her face. “I just… I promised Tara I’d come over to the bakery and take some pictures this morning,” she replied. She hated to lie to him, couldn’t remember the last time she had, but she wasn’t going to mention Kanon—not when she was so close to getting away with last night. “I should do that now.”
“Pictures for what?” he asked.
“The festival. What else?” she said with a chuckle, hoping she sounded unconcerned, normal. “I need it for some Facebook ads. I’ll be back soon, okay?” She put down her thermos, pivoted and strode briskly to the door. It wasn’t as if she could wait until later. There was nothing she could do at work without her computer.
But before she could escape, her father called her back. “Patience?”
She curled her fingernails into her palms as she turned. The gravity in his voice suggested he had something serious to discuss, which scared her. Had he realized she’d been out all night, after all? “Yes?”
“What’s going on with Glenda?” he asked. “I saw her in church on Sunday and was excited to think she might start coming again. But Ari said something at breakfast this morning that led me to believe you two aren’t getting along.”
After making oatmeal for both of them, Patience had gone to shower, so she hadn’t been there for that conversation. She’d been too overwhelmed and jittery to eat. She was still jittery, didn’t even want the coffee she’d brought with her. “Glenda’s going through a hard time. Divorce is never easy. Things will probably be weird with her for a while.”
“Weird in what way?”
She felt her fingernails cut deeper into the flesh of her palms. She didn’t want to talk about her ex-best friend, especially when her father was acting in the capacity of pastor. That tended to shift his perspective. “I think she’d like to make up and be my friend again.”
“And? That’s good, isn’t it? I’m sure you’ve missed her.”
“I have missed her,” she said. “Terribly. But I’m not interested.”
Lines of disapproval creased his forehead. “You’re not saying you haven’t forgiven her…”
“It’s not about forgiveness, Dad. It’s about broken trust and knowing what she’s really like. Once burned, twice shy, as they say.”
“But she’s been pretty good since the…adjustment, hasn’t she? Maybe she’s changed. You’ve often remarked on the fact that she’s been a kind stepmother.”
“I’m sure that wasn’t hard. Jack wouldn’t put up with anyone mistreating Ari for one. And Glenda got what she wanted. What reason did she have to be mean? Anyway, even if she has been a decent stepmother, she should’ve been a better friend. Then I wouldn’t have had to deal with her in any other capacity.”
“Patience,” he said in a scolding manner, “I’ve taught you better than that. In the Bible, Jesus tells Peter we should forgive seventy times seven.”
“I have never mistreated Glenda, and I won’t. I put up with what she did to me, made nice even though it felt as if she’d ripped my heart out. And I won’t do anything to make her think she isn’t welcome at church. But I don’t think Jesus expects me to be a fool.”
His eyes widened. She’d spoken a little more sharply than she’d intended, but she was irritated and so tired after last night that her emotions were too close to the surface. “I’m not asking you to be a fool,” he said. “Only to reach out the hand of fellowship.”
Patience sighed. “Dad, can we talk about this later? It’s so much easier to get good photographs when the lighting is soft.”
He wasn’t happy to be put off. He wanted to count Glenda on his “Good Deeds Stat Sheet” under the “Reclaimed Another Lost Sheep” column, and he thought he should be able to use her as his shepherd’s crook. But she was too eager to get Glenda out of her life—as much as that was possible while knowing they’d occasionally bump into each other around town. “Okay,” he relented. “In the meantime, I’ll pray that the Lord will soften your heart.”
He’d just done it again, she realized—poured on the guilt. He’d always used religion like a club to make her do what he wanted. Jack had been the first to point that out. She certainly hadn’t been critical enough to see it at seventeen. But she’d noticed many examples of it since she’d moved back in with him, which made her feel bad for the fights she and Jack had had where she’d defended her father and probably shouldn’t have.
She was tempted to tell Carl not to bother praying about her feelings for Glenda, that her mind was already made up, but she’d just lied about where she was going. She needed to get her computer and put some distance between her and last night, make sure her actions didn’t come back to bite her. Now was not the time to start a fight. “You do that,” she said and left.
* * *
Kanon didn’t answer her text message when she asked if she could swing by and pick up her computer. Patience thought maybe he wasn’t awake yet. They hadn’t gotten much sleep last night. But when she arrived at the Lucky Day Motor Inn, she found him shoveling snow in the parking lot.
She took a moment to admire his quick, efficient strokes and marveled a bit at his work ethic. He even manned the front desk at times, like when Kelsey went to Reno. He was making repairs and adjustments on the motel itself. He was also diving into promotion ideas and helping with the festival. She felt bad for assuming the worst when she first learned that he’d inherited half the inn. He was already proving to be a huge help. At this point, Kelsey would probably hate to see him go.
