Unlikely Romance Part 1 - The Clean Romance Chronicles

by H.B. Barstrum

  Chapter 3: The Proposal

  Michael was soon standing in front of them. His big grin showed off his sparkling white teeth. Michael’s piercing blue eyes were as deep as the water on a tropical island.

  Gwen smiled back as Jackie remained stoic.

  “Hi. My name’s Mike. Are you two Gwen and Jackie?” Michael asked, removing his hands from his pockets. He took out a hammer from the tool belt he wore around his waist.

  “Yeah, I’m Gwen. It’s nice to meet you,” Gwen announced. “And this is Jackie,” she said, pointing to Jackie.

  “Nice to meet you as well,” Michael smiled. “Pastor George told me you two would need some help setting up the tarp.”

  Jackie hesitated as she said, “I think we’ll be okay.”

  Gwen looked at Jackie puzzled for a moment before interjecting, saying, “Nonsense. We could definitely use your help.”

  “Cool,” Michael concluded, walking to the pushcart. “Do you ladies mind helping me with the poles?” he requested.

  “No, not at all,” Gwen responded, meeting him at the cart. She glared at Jackie, silently scolding her.

  Gwen nudged her head in the direction of the cart. Jackie put on a contrived smile, going over to the cart. She pulled out a metal pole.

  “Thanks. Let’s get these poles posted in the ground. Then we can just throw the tarp over them,” Michael said.

  Jackie and Gwen nodded and they began setting up their booth.

  Once the poles were in the ground, Michael pulled out a stepladder from the pushcart. Gwen and Jackie followed him with the blue tarp, helping him with each corner until it was complete.

  When Michael finished putting the booth together, he descended the ladder.

  As he came down, Jackie breathed a little sigh of relief. She was hoping he would be leaving soon.

  Michael dusted off his pant leg and looked around the perimeter of the booth. “What do you think?” he inquired.

  “It looks fine to me,” Gwen answered. “What do you think Jackie?” she asked.

  “Um, yeah,” Jackie mumbled, looking off into the distance. “Thanks for helping.”

  Observing Jackie’s strange behavior, he looked at her concerned and confused for a moment before remarking, “Okay.” He turned his attention back to Gwen, saying “Well, if ya’ll need anything else, I’ll be around.”

  “All right, sure thing Michael. It was nice meeting you again,” Gwen said.

  Michael turned around, walking off in the opposite direction.

  When she thought he was far enough away, Jackie blurted out, “Thank God. I didn’t think he would ever leave.”

  Gwen cocked her head, bewildered. “Why, what’s wrong with him?” she asked as she went to get her lawn chair.

  “He just creeps me out,” Jackie scoffed. She retrieved the chair she was sitting in, placing it next to Gwen’s behind the display tables.

  “Oh come on Jackie. Are you serious? Just because the guy has tattoos doesn’t mean he’s Al Capone or something,” Gwen pointed out. “You know, you shouldn’t be so quick to judge him. He could be your future husband,” she concluded.

  “Or my worst nightmare.”

  “Goodness girl. You are something else,” Gwen laughed. “Can you help me put some prices on these stickers?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Good.”

  Gwen and Jackie priced all of the sales and placed stickers on them. Before long, the yard sale had begun.

  A plethora of people filled the church parking lot, looking around and shopping at the various booths fellow parishioners had set up.

  The two of them laughed and chatted with the browsing shoppers, selling their goods.

  Jackie had all but forgotten about Michael aside from periodic sightings. She would see him coming in and out of the church and helping random people load up some of the larger sales items into their vehicles.

  After a few hours, they were down to a few remaining items. Gwen looked over at Jackie, giving her a high five. Her face lit up as she commented, “Wow, I can’t believe we sold almost everything. This is great.”

  Jackie nodded in agreement, adding, “And we made a pretty decent chunk of change too.”

  “Hey, I’m gonna get a bottle of water from inside. Do you want anything?” Gwen announced. She stood up from her chair, stretching her arms.

  “Nah. I think I’m all right for now,” Jackie confirmed.

  “Okay. Be back soon.” Gwen left the booth and headed towards the church building.

  To give herself something to do, Jackie began to take a count of their remaining items. As she checked the table, she saw an older woman approaching her. It was Maryanne, Pastor George’s wife.

  Maryanne was a short, stout woman with long braided grey hair that fell to her waist. Her brown eyes sparkled like chocolate diamonds as the sun’s light bounced off her eyeglasses.

  As she got closer to Jackie, a wide smile swept across her cherub shaped face.

  “Hi Jackie,” Maryanne greeted, stopping in front of the table. “How are you dear?”

  “I am good. How are you Maryanne?”

  “Wonderful. I think we’re going to have enough money here to fix up the church with plenty left over to give to the homeless shelter. What a blessing!”

  Jackie smiled. “Yes indeed,” she nodded in agreement.

  Maryanne paused for a moment to clear her throat. Her cheeks flushed as she coughed. Jackie glanced at Maryanne to make sure she was okay. Maryanne, raised her hand as she said, “Excuse me dear. I had a frog in my throat. Where’s Gwen at right now?”

  “Oh, she went to get something to drink. She should be back soon. Do you need her for something?”

  “I was just wondering where she was. I saw her here earlier,” Maryanne replied. “I actually came over here to talk to you sweetie.”

  “Oh, what’s going on?” Jackie asked. She walked back to her chair and sat down.

  “Well you know we are starting the volunteer rides program and I wanted to find out if you were interested in participating.”

  Jackie thought about it for a few moments before answering, “Yes. Sure. I wouldn’t be able to offer a ride in the mornings because of work, but I’m free in the afternoon between four and six o’clock Monday through Friday.”

  Maryanne clasped her hands together in delight. “Oh, that’s wonderful,” she beamed. “I know just the person you can give a ride to. His job is very close to yours, so you won’t have to travel too far out of your way. He’s a lovely young man.”

  Curiosity started bubbling inside of Jackie. She wondered who Maryanne was volunteering her to give a ride to.

  “So um, Maryanne, who’s the person you need me to take home from work?” Jackie inquired.

  From across the parking lot, Jackie spotted Gwen coming back to the booth, holding a bottle of water in her hand. She directed her attention back to Maryanne, waiting for her to reply.

  “Actually, you met him earlier,” Maryanne answered.

  “I did?” Jackie asked, puzzled.

  “Yes, my friend Sharon’s son, Michael. He helped you set up your booth.”

  The picture of Michael with his bald head and tattoo-covered arms came flooding back into Jackie’s mind. A feeling of disappointment washed over her just thinking about him.

  Slumping down in her chair, she murmured “Oh.” Jackie looked out into the parking lot, trying to avoid eye contact with Maryanne.

  Maryanne observed Jackie’s reaction. She frowned, asking, “What’s wrong dear? You look distracted.”

  Caught, Jackie’s cheeks blushed as she tried to recover from the lackluster response she had given.

  Jackie replied, “I’m sorry Maryanne, I thought I saw something.”

  “Oh, all right,” Maryanne confirmed as she continued. “As I was saying, I was hoping you could help him out. Since Sharon died last year, I’ve kind of taken him under my wing. He’s been away the last few years and is living in a halfway ho
me under a work furlough program. Michael has to stay there for the next three months until he's allowed to move into the house Sharon left for him. He’s also been trying to save money to buy George’s old truck. He really is a good boy who just caught a tough break and could use some help getting back on his feet.”

  “Oh, um, I don’t know,” Jackie hesitated. She didn’t have the heart to tell Maryanne no outright. However, Jackie could see the quiet sincerity in Maryanne’s eyes as she talked about Michael’s plight.

  By then, Gwen was back at the booth. Putting down her water bottle, Gwen stopped to give Maryanne a big hug before grabbing it again and sitting down in her seat.

  “How are you sweetie?” Maryanne greeted, smiling at Gwen.

  “I’m good. How are you?” Gwen asked.

  “Wonderful, I was just talking to Jackie about the volunteer rides program. We were talking about her taking Michael home after work.”

  “Oh really?” Gwen inquired. She glanced at Jackie who looked as though she had been completely caught off guard. “I think that would be an awesome idea. How nice of you to do that Jackie,” she commented.

  Jackie murmured, “Well, you know I just um….” She felt a slight kick on the side of her foot. It was Gwen’s tennis shoe against hers. Straightening her posture, she sat up, putting a quick smile on her face. Jackie took a moment to regain composure before saying, “Just give me his information, and I’ll take him home.”

  “Oh splendid,” Maryanne responded. “God bless you sweetie. You’re such a big help. I was so worried I wouldn’t be able to get something worked out.” She maintained her smile as she said, “Well, I better get going. I’ll give you all the information after service tomorrow okay.”

  “Okay,” Jackie answered.

  Gwen broke in, asking, “Will you or your husband be leading service tomorrow?”

  “Georgie will be leading worship tomorrow,” Maryanne replied.

  “Any sneak previews?” Gwen wondered.

  Maryanne looked delighted as she revealed, “We went over it last night. You’ll enjoy it.”

  “Wonderful,” Gwen commented. “We can’t wait. See you tomorrow.”

  “See you girls tomorrow,” Maryanne said. She waved and began to walk away.

  “Bye Maryanne,” Jackie and Gwen smiled.

  Once Maryanne had gotten further away from them, Jackie turned to Gwen, asking, “What the heck did you kick me for?”

  “Because you were gonna give Maryanne some lame excuse for not taking Michael home from work.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Okay, did you seriously just ask me that?” Gwen mocked in a sarcastic tone.

  “Yes I did. Besides, why do you care so much?”

  “Because if you’d get out of your way, you’d be a lot happier Jackie.”

  “Oh please. You should have heard what she said about him,” Jackie insisted. “The guy’s been locked up for God knows how long. Not to mention, he’s living in some halfway house. It would seem like my assumption about him was right on the money.”

  Shaking her head, Gwen sighed. She said, “I don’t understand. If he was so awful, why would Maryanne and George even bring him around here? Why would they speak so kindly about him?”

  “Because,” Jackie began to explain, “his mom was best friends with Maryanne. Of course, she’s going to turn a blind eye. She’s trying to do the Christian thing.”

  “Maybe you ought to try that for once,” Gwen chastised, grabbing her water bottle and opening the top.

  Jackie gasped in astonishment. “And what is that supposed to mean?” she demanded.

  Taking a drink of water, Gwen replied, “Whatever happened to not casting judgment upon others? Not like anyone’s a hundred percent perfect.”

  “Well I just don’t think premarital sex or not correcting someone when they give you too much change back at the restaurant is exactly in the same ball park as committing a jail worthy offense,” Jackie retorted.

  “That’s funny,” Gwen quipped. “I didn’t know there was a list floating around saying what sin was more okay to commit.”

  “Oh my goodness,” Jackie blurted, rolling her eyes.

  To break the smoldering tension, Gwen laughed out loud. Jackie glanced at her, shaking her head.

  “Maybe I’ll pray for you,” she volunteered, smiling at her friend.

  “Geez thanks,” Jackie stated. “I wouldn’t want to be too much trouble?”

  Placing her hand on Jackie’s leg, Gwen joked, “I thought trouble was your middle name.”