All I'll Ever Ask (The Greatest Love Book 1)

by Genevieve Woods

  Paige chimed in with, “Girl you know we got you. Besides, who knew we would find your baby’s daddy delivering mail at Kev’s office. What were the chances of that? Something good came out of Camille being hit by that SUV.”

  Camille just rolled her eyes, only Paige could say something caring, then follow it up with something so off. Karen frowned at Paige, “I thought you were working on yourself, you know trying to show Kevin you were sophisticated.”

  Paige gave a smirk, “I am a work in progress, besides Mille knows what I mean.” Paige looked at Camille for confirmation.

  “Paige you are fine. I am happy the driver is locked away for some time. I am healing fine and Karen has found love. All is perfect.”

  It was Paige’s turn to frown. “If all is perfect, then why do you have poor Benjamin looking like he has lost his best friend?”

  Sometimes Camille really wanted to deck Paige. “Ben and I are fine, Paige. You just work on your attitude, so Kevin will finally give you that ring he has had over a year.” Camille gave Paige a wink and a look that Paige knew meant she was about to cross the line with her mouth. “Oh look at who needs some lessons in etiquette.”

  Before Camille or Karen could utter a word, Frankie came over and took Karen’s hand and said, “excuse me ladies, I would like to have a dance with my wife.” The ladies stood and let Karen go dance with her husband while the D.J. played “Here and Now” by Luther Vandross.

  Kevin and Paige joined them on the dance floor. Ben had to pull Camille to the dance floor but she finally relaxed and enjoyed the feel of his warm embrace and they swayed to the melody and lyrics. Lyrics that rang true for all three couples. It spoke of looking into the eyes of one’s mate and seeing what they mean to each other. It spoke of knowing and believing in your heart that the one you are with, is the only person’s love you will need. The dance floor was full of partners enjoying a night of love and celebration for the happy newlyweds. It was a night for new beginnings.

  Chapter 7

  Baggage Sunday

  The altar at Liberty Fellowship Church was decorated with luggage of all sizes and colors. Camille looked up as she walked down the aisle and saw suitcases displayed on stage. There was more in front of the choir and orchestra. She wondered what on earth Pastor Caine had planned today? Entering the row where Mother Ellen sat, she was greeted with a warm smile. To the right of Mother Ellen was Mrs. Carol. Camille went to greet her while repeating in her head, it’s nice to be nice…it’s nice to be nice. However, she did not have to worry about speaking to the less than the nice lady. Ms. Carol sat down and started rummaging in her purse to avoid speaking to her.

  Mother Ellen compensated for Mrs. Carols less than Christian attitude. She took Camille’s purse and bible case and began a conversation. “Daughter that was some wedding you girls pulled off yesterday. It was beautiful. I can hardly wait to see what yours and Ben’s will look like in a few months.” That brought out a genuine smile from Camille. She loved how Mother Ellen always referred to her as daughter. Before Camille could respond, Ms. Carol decided to look up from her purse.

  “Ellen what are you talking about? I heard the cake fell apart. What is beautiful about that?” Mother Ellen’s eyes bucked and nostrils flared. Camille would not have her going there with Ms. Carol.

  She chimed in, “Mother Ellen you are so kind. I am happy Karen has what she deserves with Frankie and Nikki. They have both gone through so much, I pray they are satisfied with their day. I am certainly looking forward to planning our wedding, with your help of course. I am honored Ben believes I am the one for him.”

  “Well believe it daughter, because it is true and I believe it too. By the way, where is that son of mine?” Mother Ellen was turning around looking toward all the entrances for her son. Camille’s eyes drifted up to the overhead monitor where the media team had the countdown clock. It was twelve minutes until the service began. She had not spoken to Ben since he dropped her off last night.

  “I am not sure where he is, let me text him. I am sure he is in the building somewhere.” As she typed, her attention was drawn to Mrs. Carol who decided to join the “where is Ben” conversation.

  “Maybe Ben would like to sit with just his two mothers today, me and Ellen. You have really inserted yourself everywhere in his life. There was a time before you joined this church and stole him away, Ben would sit between us. Maybe he has come to his senses and this is a sign you need to back off!”

  Mother Ellen turned around and said, “Carol that is enough! Ben can sit wherever he chooses and he wants to sit near his fiancée! If you can’t keep your responses to yourself, I suggest – you move!” Camille had no idea how Mrs. Carol responded to that scolding. She was frozen in her seat. Her ears were now burning from being caught off guard by Mrs. Carol’s jab. How could this lady be so evil in the house of the Lord? Camille looked around the sanctuary and it was nearly full to capacity but she spotted Paige near the back. She grabbed her purse and as Mother Ellen tried to stop her, she paused to address her.

  “Mother Ellen please let me go. I will sit with Paige and Kevin, when Ben comes just tell him where I am.” She kissed Mother Ellen on the cheek and made a mad dash to the row to sit with her best friend. As she greeted Paige, she tried to check her embarrassment and frustration in the aisle.

  It was five minutes until the service began when Camille noticed Ben entering to sit by his mother. She could not believe when she saw Mrs. Carol moving over and motioning with her hands for Ben to sit down in between them. Her eye stalking was interrupted by Paige calling her name. “Camille, why are you back here and Ben up there?”

  “Um, Err… I just wanted to sit with my BFF.”

  “Why?”

  “Because Paige, let’s just enjoy the service. The praise and worship team is about to get started.”

  Ben closed his eyes as he stood singing Amazing Grace with the Praise and Worship Team. He was considering partnering with the music ministry. He needed to use the gift of voice the Lord had blessed him with. He was late entering the service because his Sunday School class went over the time allotted for class. They were discussing the life of Apostle Paul and the time had escaped them. Had he known Camille would not sit in her normal seat, by him, he would have left class early. He thought when he texted her his location, she would have sat tight. Her absence was making it hard for him to focus on the worship in the auditorium. There was something strange going on with his mom. She seemed to be in a bad mood. Not to mention Mother Carol trying to make him sit in between them. He hated sitting in between them. He was a thirty-something year old man, for goodness sake. He suffered through months of that, after Lauren’s death. Only because Mother Carol was grieving. However, enough was enough. The Lord had healed him and given him another chance on love. His mom and scripture taught him that Christians should bear one another burdens but he would not be holding Mrs. Carol’s hand any longer.

  When Elder John completed the welcome and said to go greet someone, he ran to Camille with his I-Pad in hand. Experiencing the worship service and God’s word with his lady next to his side was how Ben had started each week for last several months, today would be no different. He approached and grabbed Camille’s hand and shook it as if she was queen of England and sang the greeting song of Liberty to her. “Good Morning Sister. The Jesus in me loves the Jesus in you. The Jesus in me loves the Jesus in you, you’re easy, so easy, you’re easy, easy to love.” Camille blushed, what could a girl do after that? Smile and enjoy the remainder of the service.

  Paige watched the two lovebirds as the choir sang. She could not wait to get to the bottom of this musical chair act between Benjamin and Camille. But for now she had to key into the service. Kevin had given her notice that she had to change. More than his notice, Paige knew she needed to change. The choir was singing, This is Holy Ground, and it was the best place for her to start. Paige had to admit this choir could really sing. No, it’s the anointing she thought to herself. Paige smirked,
“Listen at me already feeling a shift within my spirit.” She stood to her feet, pulled her hands together to her breast, and closed her eyes as she let the lyrics break up the fallow ground in her heart and mind.

  This is Holy ground,

  we’re standing on Holy ground

  For the Lord is here

  and where he is, is Holy

  This is holy ground,

  We’re standing on Holy Ground

  For the Lord is here

  and where he is, is Holy

  We are standing on Holy ground.

  And I know that these are angels all around

  Let us praise Jesus now

  We are standing in Your presence, on Holy ground.

  With each visit to Liberty, Kevin was drawn into this Non Protestant way of worship and lifestyle. It was vastly different from his Catholic upbringing but he could feel the presence of the angels that the choir just finished singing about. He was heavily anticipating what Pastor Caine would lecture about using luggage. He was blown away by luggage on display. In his bulletin, there was a note card with a question, what is your baggage? It was like a college course and he supposed this was the best way to deliver instructions that could be applied by anyone who heard. According to Elder John, all the services were televised and streamed online, so there could actually be millions of people hearing the word of God. Kevin sat up in his seat as Pastor Caine came onto the stage with luggage chained to him. The lead pastor was about to fall face forward but he braced himself and began to deliver what Kevin and most in attendance, considered a timely word. Pastor Caine delivered a message about “Traveling Light.”

  “To do that in today’s society is difficult because we are weighted down with baggage. There are 4 types of baggage: 1) Personal, 2) Work, 3) Church, 4) Other People’s.”

  Kevin was intrigued by this analogy. Pastor Caine was on the mark with him when it came to Personal and Work. Pastor Caine proclaiming that,

  “As individuals we try to be light and happy. We try to leave our unhappiness at the door. As the ushers escorted us to our seats, we put on a smile trying to forget our failures, fears, and regrets but the personal baggage is stuck to us like glue. It is chained to us.”

  Kevin could only agree to that in his mind, heart, and soul, because his personal baggage was flowing over to his work baggage. It all was becoming too heavy, causing him both doubt and anxiety. As a public figure, he had to be transparent in all aspects of his life. Could he hold on to Paige and continue up the corporate ladder? Could he release the regret when perpetrators went free from the negligence of his office, leaving victims hurting? He wanted to release these burdens but another issue was plaguing his heart. He always understood Peter was the rock that we should lean on for strength to be the Christian example. This is what he learned from the nuns. Jesus told Peter, “Upon this Rock I will build my church.” Kevin shook that off. He assumed that was church baggage he needed to cast away because the more he attended the services and classes at Liberty the more he believed that Jesus Christ himself was that rock.

  As Kevin pondered those questions, Paige could do nothing but close her eyes as Pastor Caine continued this message that was nothing but the truth. Pastor Caine had one baggage for personal. Paige, if she had an honest moment with herself, had dozens of personal baggage chained to her. As Pastor Caine explained how personal baggage came to be, he was telling the story of her life. Her baggage began before she could remember. Her mother was addicted to drugs, causing her as a toddler to care for herself. That caused her self–preservation by any means necessary, to take root. That and every family hurt, which included being verbally abused and continual neglect. Paige was left chained and bound. Tears began to stream as she received Pastor Caine’s words of redemption. He explained 1 Peter 5:7. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Paige repeated that last phrase silently to herself, “He cares for me.” She had a heavenly father that cared for her and who wanted her baggage. Instantly her mind went to Kevin who wanted her to release the anger, venom, and vicious self-protection mask. Now she knew the Savior above, wanted the same thing for her. Paige looked in the bulletin and grabbed the blank note card that read, what’s your baggage? She began to write down every heavy burden that was chained to her.

  Camille was already writing down her baggage. She was weighed down with personal issues. Fear of telling Karen that they were possibly sisters and the disappointment that her father was not the superman she believed he was all of her life. That disappointment was leading her to doubt if Benjamin was her Adam or like her dad, too good to be true. Her work baggage was full with imbalance and the need to work long hours to prevent her fear of failure. Camille, just this morning, strapped on a baggage for church hurt. Mrs. Carol gifted that piece of luggage today with her ugly remarks and mean spirit. But she was determined to cast all these cares on the Master. According to Pastor Caine and Peter, He wanted her burdens and anxiety.

  Benjamin’s chained baggage was that he held other people’s baggage. Pastor Caine’s message was divinely inspired and Benjamin received that he could help carry Mrs. Carol’s burden of grief by praying for her, giving her a listening ear, helping her enroll in counseling, and by showing her love. However, he could not let her refusal to heal from grief become his baggage. The light bulb went off to Ben. If he continued to carry Lauren’s mother grief, he would lose his future. Ben wrote a one-liner on his baggage card, other peoples.

  In twenty-two minutes, Pastor Caine delivered a message of deliverance. As he ministered, he started to unlock and remove the chained luggage on his person. He explained Hebrews 12:1, Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

  Pastor Cain finished the sermon asking a key question.

  “Have you entered the race with Christ? If you are not in the race, you must accept Jesus as your personal savior. If you are in the race, you must prepare yourself to finish the race well. A runner when racing, dresses light so they may run a diligent race. We as Christians cannot run diligently if we are loaded with baggage. Therefore, we must cast and throw down the weights of: not forgiving others, anxiety, and doubt. We must do away with sins; doing things we know are wrong. We must look to Jesus for our help. It is not always easy to do this. Liberty Church is here to help you. We offer free counseling for individuals, couples, family, and grief counseling by licensed therapists.”

  Pastor Caine extended his hands toward the congregation saying.

  “The praise and worship team is coming to minister to our hearts through song. Please take your notecards and list the baggage you want to release today. Come throw it on the altar and leave it there. The elders are here to pray with you and the spirit of Christ is here to heal you.”

  As the praise and worship ministry began to sing the Tasha Cobbs version of Break Every Chain, the aisles of the sanctuary were filled with people eager to release their baggage and lay aside their weights and sin. Kevin, Paige, Camille, and Benjamin were among those people.

  None of them would ever be the same again.

  Coming Soon:

  The Second Installment

  The Greatest Love Series

  After Church

  Follow me:

  www.gdwoodsbooks.com

  www.amazon.com/author/genevievewoods

  facebook.com/Genevieve D. Woods

  Book Club Questions

  Do you think Mrs. Carol will ever get help and accept Camille and Benjamin’s relationship?

  Will the drama of a blended family tear apart Frankie and Karen’s marriage?

  How do you think Paige’s past has affected her present relationship?

  Do you think Jacob Darius (J.D.) will accept Karen and pursue a relationship with her and Nikki?

  What do you think happened to Karen’s wedding cake?

  Do you believe Paige can ever for
m a cordial relationship with Kevin’s mother?

  Do you think Shayla will allow Frankie to live in peace with his new wife and family?

  Do you think one message from a Pastor can be the answer to each couple’s problems?

  If you have any questions or concerns email me @ gdwoods75@comcast.net