A Chance at Love

by T. K. Chapin

  “I love you, Son.”

  “I love you too, Dad.”

  CHAPTER 18

  The following day, I was dreading going into work early. There was a large order, and Jessica had called and asked if I could come in at ten instead of eleven to help make pizzas and get everything situated. After I got off the phone with her that morning, I was lying in bed, glaring at my dirty work shirt that was lying on the floor. I had worked until one in the morning last night because the orders wouldn’t stop coming in. Pilo’s had a strict policy of not closing until the orders stopped.

  Leaning over the edge of my bed, I let my arm drop toward the floor and I looked over at my jeans that were sitting near my work shirt. The business card that I had gotten from Charles the other night at the Bible study with Mike was in perfect view, lying out on the floor. Reaching out, I grabbed the card and rolled onto my back as I looked at it.

  This was it.

  I could get out of the pizza business and start moving in some direction with my life. If I didn’t want to do it long term, I could always quit down the line, unlike if I went and worked for my Uncle Brady in Redmond. There wouldn’t be upset family members over my leaving a job with some random guy.

  I called him.

  “Hey. It’s me, Kyle.”

  “Kyle! How’s it going?”

  “Good, good. That offer still on the table? With the app?”

  “Yes.”

  “Awesome. I’ll have to give notice at Pilo’s.”

  “That’s fine and totally understandable.”

  Jessica, Mike and the others were a bit saddened when I gave notice later that afternoon before clocking off for the day. They all understood, though, after I explained that I was going to help develop a mobile application.

  As Jessica and the others walked away, Mike stepped up to me and said, “I’ve been praying God’s will would be done with that situation ever since it happened.”

  “Thanks,” I replied. “I don’t know if it’ll be long term.”

  “But it’s something to do for now. A lot better than tossing pizzas around here. I can tell you don’t care much for the work here.”

  “Am I that obvious?” I replied, crossing my arms as I leaned my back against the counter near the phones.

  He laughed and patted my shoulder. “Pretending like you have to use the restroom whenever the phone rings when I’m around was a dead giveaway.”

  Laughing, I turned red and said in a soft tone, “I thought I was being pretty sneaky.”

  He grinned and headed over to load up a delivery. As he put the stacks of pizzas into the delivery bag, I said, “Have a good night, Mike.”

  “You too,” he replied.

  Joanie was sitting outside on the front porch when I arrived home that afternoon. She didn’t look upset, just contemplative.

  Walking up the driveway after I got out of my car, I made eye contact with her. “What’s up, Sis?”

  She smiled and said, “Promise not to laugh at me.”

  “I can’t promise that,” I replied as I sat down next to her on the top step. “But I’ll do my best.”

  “Well . . . I’m in love with him.”

  “C’mon, Joanie. You just started seeing this guy.”

  “I know, but he’s the one. I’m telling you . . . I have never felt so loved in my life.”

  “All right,” I said raising my hands up. “You’re in love.”

  “There’s a problem though.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I found out that he’s deeply religious.”

  Shaking my head, I looked out to the street and said, “That’s not a problem. That’s a good thing.”

  “I know you’re a Christian now, but can you empathize for a second?”

  I looked over at her and furrowed my eyebrows. “No, Joanie. I can’t empathize. Being religious isn’t a bad thing. You just have a jagged viewpoint from . . . well, I don’t know what it’s from.”

  “We didn’t grow up in church. There are too many rules for me to feel comfortable with Christianity.”

  “Like what?”

  She paused and tilted her head as she thought about it. “I don’t know. It’s just not me. It works great for other people, like you, and I get that.”

  “Sounds like it works for this guy you love, too.”

  She nodded.

  Standing up, I said, “Sister. I love you. Do me a favor and don’t close yourself off entirely to God. I’m guessing God is the reason why this guy can love you the way he does.”

  “I didn’t think of it like that. I promise you I’ll think about it.”

  Going inside, I shut the door and headed into the kitchen. As I walked into the kitchen, I saw my mother preparing a casserole of some sort on the counter. Leaning over her shoulder, I saw that it was chicken rice casserole. “Mmm . . .” I said.

  “I made it because I knew you’d be home tonight. You’ve been working so much the last couple of days.”

  “Thanks, Mom.” My dad walked into the kitchen just then and I said, “I have some news for the both of you.”

  Joanie came in from outside and walked into the kitchen as I began to tell them. “I met a guy that needs some help with a mobile app he’s working on. The pay’s good, so I’m going to be leaving Pilo’s.”

  “A mobile app?” my dad asked, taking a seat at the table.

  “Yeah,” I replied, sitting down in one of the chairs.

  “Isn’t that temporary? What happens after the app is done?”

  “He has other prospects out there. I’m sure it’d work out. I don’t really know if I’ll end up doing this job forever. I’m still kickin’ around the idea of college.”

  “I thought you didn’t know what you wanted to do,” my mother said, coming over to the table and resting a hand on the back of my chair.

  “I don’t,” I replied, looking up at her. “I’m okay with that, though. I know God will lead me. I just know that I can’t sit idle forever, hoping something happens.”

  “Really embracing this God thing, aren’t you?” my dad asked.

  “Yep.”

  “Maybe it’s because we didn’t force it on you like we had it forced on us,” he added.

  “I, for one, am glad you didn’t force it on us,” Joanie said. “That’d be annoying. We should get to choose.”

  “You didn’t get to choose to be taught the theory of evolution in school. They taught it as truth,” I retorted.

  “Who taught ya that? Grandma?” Joanie lashed back at me. “Stop trying to force God on us because you had some magical experience up in the sticks at Grandma’s house.”

  “We believe in God,” my father replied to Joanie. “I even tried talking to you about salvation. You need to show some respect in this house, missy.”

  Joanie’s words penetrated my heart like poison from a viper’s bite. She was being ruthless with little to no reason. It instantly brought back all the memories of high school when I had done much of the same with my classmates who were Christians. I didn’t reply to Joanie’s hatred. There was no desire to continue the conversation within me. Instead, I stood up and excused myself to my room.

  When I got into my room and shut the door, my eyes searched for my Bible as my heart began a prayer.

  Help me be comforted by You who preserves. Amen.

  Sitting down on my bed, I began thumbing through the books of the Bible. I wanted to find something, anything to do with persecution and comfort.

  Exhausted from searching, I set the Bible down beside me and pulled out my phone. Remembering what my grandma said about looking things up online, I did a search and found a wealth of verses.

  “Matthew 5:44 . . . But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,” I said, reading the screen. Looking toward my bedroom door, I thought of my sister. There wasn’t a thought in my mind that considered her to be an enemy, but I knew she was one of God. I needed to pray for her.

  Getting off my
phone, I went and sat down on my bed. Holding the worn Bible of my grandfather’s in my hands, I let my fingers glide over the worn cover. I thought about the fact that my mother, his only daughter, ran off with a guy and raised a family outside of the church. He must have been devastated by that choice that my mother and father had made.

  While I was upset over the persecution I felt by my family, I knew God was working everything together for His will. Reminding myself of that brought a peaceful, easy feeling over me. The more I felt in turmoil over what was going on in my life, the closer I could feel the peace of God dwell within me. He was carrying me when I couldn’t walk.

  CHAPTER 19

  Two weeks came and went with little to no change in my life while I worked out my notice at Pilo’s. Continuing to attend the men’s group every Thursday, I got to know Charles quite a bit before my first day on the job with him. I found out that he lost his wife a couple of years back, and his two older daughters both lived halfway across the country and didn’t visit often. I also learned that he attends a Baptist church up on the South Hill that he has gone to for twenty-three years. He has a sister in town, and he tries to have dinner with her at least twice a month, but his startup company eats up most his time.

  Charles started his software company, Lighthouse Beacon, with money he received from the life insurance policy on his wife. He declared to me that the startup was indeed his swan song. It seemed a bit optimistic, in my opinion, given the financial climate the nation was in, but he seemed eager and full of energy about the project. While he showed a lot of energy for the project, he refused to tell me a lick of information about the details before I showed up for my first day of work.

  That day had finally arrived.

  Arriving at the address he provided me, I noticed that there were about six other companies that shared the same office building. My skepticism over this start-up was already pretty high; seeing that its base of operation was in a tiny office didn’t help matters.

  I should have listened to my father, I thought to myself as I got out of my car and shut the door. Remaining optimistic, I reminded myself of the fact that I knew I’d be getting paid, so that would at least give me some time until I figured out my next move.

  Opening the door, I went into the lobby and looked around. Spotting a piece of white paper taped to the front of a door across the carpeted lobby, I went over and read it.

  Lighthouse Beacon

  Oh, goody, I thought as I knocked on the door. There was no answer. Pulling out the key Charles had given me on Thursday, I opened the door and went inside. Taking off my coat, I tossed it over onto a chair and walked over to the desks that lined the walls of the office. Six computers lined the wall, and it looked like a fairly effective setup.

  “Why six computers?” I asked out loud as I looked them all over.

  “I have interns that come in from the community college and volunteer some,” Charles replied, startling me as he walked in through the open door behind me. “What do you think?”

  I nodded back to him and said, “Seems a little small, but a good set up.”

  “Keeping those costs down by staying in a small office.” He rubbed his hands together and asked, “You ready to finally learn about the project?”

  I nodded. “Been pretty anxious.”

  He took his coat off and made his way over to one of the computers. Sitting down, he logged in and started up a video.

  The video looked like a commercial. It showed Bible characters walking across the screen and a bunch of different Bible related games. After it was finished, my perspective about the company changed dramatically.

  “Looks amazing!” I said.

  “We have at least eight companies that are lined up and ready to market this for me. We just need to build the ninety percent that’s left in the code.”

  “Wow.”

  “You been reading those books I brought you?”

  “Yep.”

  “Good. Grab a computer, and I’ll show you what you can start coding.”

  My first full day was complete, and it was overwhelming. Almost every twenty minutes or so, I was asking for Charles’s help understanding things, and it made me feel like I might not have been cut out for it. He must have suspected some of those feelings I was having, because he went out of the way to assure me at the end of the day that it happens to everyone. He was actually quite impressed with what I had already learned and brought with me to the first day.

  Arriving home around five thirty, Joanie and a guy were sitting at the kitchen table.

  The guy looked up at me as I entered the kitchen. “This must be the infamous brother Kyle I heard so much about,” he said, rising to his feet and extending a hand as I shut the door behind me.

  I smiled and shook his hand, “You must be Brad. Right?”

  He nodded and sat back down.

  My mother was pulling a pizza out of the oven just as I sat down at the table. She turned and looked at me as she set the pizza on the stove. “Brad and Joanie are going to church tonight.”

  Raising an eyebrow, I looked at Joanie. “Oh, yeah? Where you two going?”

  Joanie smirked.

  Brad said, “Calvary Community. Joanie says you go to that church?”

  Thinking about how I had been surviving on small glimpses of Emily at service for the last couple of weeks, I nodded. “Yep. I haven’t ever seen you around there before,” I replied.

  “It’s not my home church. I heard they have a good young adult group that’s for teens transitioning out of school. I wanted to go check it out.”

  “What ages?” I asked, leaning in.

  “Eighteen through twenty.”

  I slapped the table and beamed with a smile.

  Brad was taken aback. “Did I miss something?”

  Joanie laughed. “His girl is eighteen years old and goes to that church. Her parents won’t let them date or see each other.”

  I nodded. “I don’t know how I missed knowing about this group.”

  “Didn’t you just start going there?” Joanie asked.

  “Kind of, but I’m always on the lookout for opportunities to see Emily,” I replied.

  Brad looked at Joanie and then over at me, “You could come with us, if you want to?”

  I grinned. “All right.”

  Walking in the doors of the church, I broke away from Joanie and Brad and began weaving through the two or so dozen kids my age in the lobby just outside the sanctuary. I searched the faces for the one I loved. After five minutes of searching, I realized she wasn’t there.

  Suddenly, a familiar booming male voice came from the crowd. I looked around and saw that it was Tom. “Everybody head to the sanctuary. And please sit in the pews near the front.”

  A stampede-like motion of the crowd of teenagers began filing into the sanctuary. Tom was watching as everybody filed in. I tried to rush by him, but he saw me and grabbed my shoulder.

  “Kyle,” he said, pulling me out of the crowd.

  “I came with my sister and her boyfriend. I don’t want any trouble,” I said respectfully, desperately trying to prevent any issue from arising.

  “Come with me,” he said with a dry and monotone voice.

  We walked down a hallway, turned, and followed another one until it led to a bunch of doors on both sides. Opening one door, he held the door open and tilted his head to motion to me to go inside.

  I turned the corner of the doorway and was surprised when I saw Emily inside. Darting into the room and up to her, I grabbed her hands and said, “Emily!” as tears welled in my eyes.

  “Kyle!” she said as she began crying.

  Everything inside of me began to melt. The door shut behind me and I smiled as I looked at her. My eyes welled with tears.

  Holding her, I felt as if the world was right again. The universe was set back into place and the stars were once again in their spots.

  “I missed you so much,” I said as tears escaped my eyes. Her hair smelled just
like it had the one and only night I had seen her. It was a comfort, even though I had barely known it.

  “I missed you too. My parents are being so ridiculous,” she replied as we pulled back from embracing. “They think I need to be safe and smart about the world, starting with you.”

  Grabbing her hands, I held them in mine. “You can live independently. You don’t need to stay there, Emily. You can be free.”

  She shook her head. “There’s no way. I can’t navigate around full-time and living somewhere.”

  “It’s not true. I read stories. Lots of them. There are blind people who have jobs, live alone, and are perfectly normal.”

  “I can’t drive a car.”

  I laughed a little. “Well, duh. You’re not going to be able to do that. But you can do this.” Realizing that Tom helped me see her, I said, “How come Tom helped us see each other? I thought he hated me.”

  “He thinks what my parents are doing is wrong.”

  “Seems a bit overstepping.”

  “He’s my uncle and believes you’re a good guy. He also usually goes against whatever my father thinks is right. It’s a brother thing, from what I’m told.”

  I smiled. “Oh, wow, they’re brothers? And he said that?”

  “Yep. Not in so many words, but he believes in us.”

  Leaning in, I gently held her face and let my thumb slide down her cheek. She leaned into my palm and smiled.

  “I love you,” I said.

  “I love you, too,” she replied. She turned her head and kissed my hand.

  Leaning in, I held her face in my hands and kissed her. Releasing a few inches from her face, I said, “We’re going to figure this out, and we’re going to be together.”

  More tears began to fall from her eyes. “I hope so,” she said.

  “It’s going to be okay. Try to have your uncle help you. He could help you get a job and moved out if he’s on team Emily.”

  She nodded. “I don’t want my parents to hate me.”

  “We have to keep praying for them.”