Pastor's Assignment

by Kim O'Brien

  Angel yipped in triumph as Ty examined the stack of books, ranging from a textbook promising all the joys biology had to offer to an existential novel by Kafka.

  Ty reached for the paper bag at the bottom of the locker. He lifted it gently out of the locker as Angel barked wildly.

  “That’s Angel’s noise when he’s made a find!” Laney cried.

  “Okay, everyone,” Ty said. “Stand back.”

  Laney hung on to Angel’s collar as the small dog strained to stick his nose in the evidence bag.

  First, Ty pulled out a can of soda. Next he pulled out a rectangular shape wrapped in aluminum foil. He carefully peeled back one side. “Meatball wedge.”

  Rewrapping the wedge, he then pulled out a large bag of corn chips, two chocolate cupcakes, and a banana more black than yellow.

  Ty replaced the lunch and meticulously inspected the windbreaker’s pockets. When this yielded nothing more than spare change and gum wrappers, he turned to the stack of books and flipped through each.

  Beside her, Rock nudged Laney. “Congratulations. Your bloodhound has saved the school from a meatball wedge.”

  Laney’s stomach flip-flopped. “Check the lunch again,” she said. “There has to be some kind of mistake.”

  “Right,” Rock said. “We’d better make sure those are real meatballs.”

  “There is no mistake,” her father said. He put his hands on his hips and faced Laney. “The dog found food, not arms.”

  Laney released Angel from his leash. “Go on, boy,” she urged. “Find.” The dog lunged forward and pounced on the bag with the determination of a terrier digging out from under a fence.

  Her father swooped the little dog in his arms and then handed him to Rock. “There’s your proof, Laney,” he said gruffly. “The dog wants to eat the evidence.” He smiled apologetically at Mrs. Henley. “Do you want to press charges for breaking and entering?” His gray eyebrows arched. “I wouldn’t blame you if you did.”

  The principal appeared to give it a thought then shook her head. “No.”

  The older man nodded. “In that case, Detective Steele, you’re on desk duty until further notice, pending a full investigation.”

  “But, Dad,” Laney protested, “it wasn’t his fault. I talked him into letting Angel search the school.” She squeezed her father’s forearm. “I still think we should search some more.”

  Rock and her father exchanged looks of agreement, and Laney knew her fate was sealed. “The only thing you’ll be searching for is a complete explanation of what happened here today.” Her father pointed his index finger at her. “Which you will begin in my car.”

  “Dad,” Laney said, “we have to keep searching.” She looked at Ty for support. “Tell him about the drawing.”

  Her father stared hard at her. “In my car. Now.”

  When he got like this, her father didn’t hear or see her. He looked through her, and her voice passed through him unheard. Laney felt a familiar frustration rise.

  “I’m serious,” Laney insisted. “Don’t let the way you feel about me get in the way of doing what’s right.”

  Her father rolled his eyes. “For the last time, there is no reason to believe there are guns in the school.” He didn’t bother to conceal the exasperation in his eyes. “You are coming with me.”

  Laney gave Ty a look of appeal. “Are you just going to stand there?”

  “Your father’s right,” Ty said. “Our search is over.”

  Their friendship was over, too. She saw it in the way he looked right through her, the same way he had the very first time she had met him. A sense of loss slammed through her. Her heart ached with the realization she had done what he had feared most. She’d inadvertently created a scandal that might cost him the election.

  Who was going to vote for a man who conducted illegal locker searches that netted nothing more than a meatball sandwich?

  Lord? I’ve done it again, messed things up completely. Ty Steele needs You, Laney prayed. Please help him. You can do miracles, and it’s going to take one to make this right.

  ❧

  Ty Steele jabbed the button that controlled the airconditioning in his squad car. Cold air immediately blasted from the car’s vents but did nothing to stem the sweat that poured down his back.

  He blamed the air-conditioner and then the hot weather for his discomfort. Most of all, he blamed himself for trusting a civilian and a rat-sized dog to do police work.

  Over and over he imagined the laughter that had followed when Angel discovered nothing more than a meatball sandwich.

  This, he reminded himself, was what happened when he stopping thinking like a policeman. Instead of looking for firearms, he’d been looking at Laney’s face. He, who had always prided himself on his professionalism, had acted in the most unprofessional way and at the worst possible time.

  He’d stepped forward in faith, wanting to believe for the first time since his brother’s death that there was a reason for it. That God had allowed Mickey’s death in order to prevent other deaths and that He would use Ty as an instrument. The anger and guilt he’d carried around for so long had finally disappeared. In its place, Ty had found the reawakening of his faith, and it had felt comforting and familiar. For once, it seemed, he would trust God to lead him where he needed to be.

  His step of faith, however, had placed his career in jeopardy. He didn’t know how to begin to fix the damage. Going backward wasn’t an option. Nothing he could do would change what had happened. What then?

  More sweat rolled down the back of his shirt. He wiped his hands on his pants and tried to lighten his grip on the wheel.

  He didn’t want to surrender control of his life. Didn’t want to make himself vulnerable by depending on anything or anyone else. He’d spent the past few years perfecting this ability.

  His power to separate himself from his emotions had driven Anna Mae crazy. She’d wanted picnics, long walks, and even longer conversations. When Mickey died, Anna Mae had been relentless, coming at him from every angle to talk to her. Strangely, the more she accused him of having no emotions, the deeper she drove him into himself.

  He realized now that he hadn’t loved Anna Mae as much as she needed to be loved. Strangely, the knowledge of his own culpability freed him of the lingering traces of hurt that had consumed him.

  You’ve stepped forward in faith. Now what are you going to do? Go back to your empty house? Salvage your career by letting Laney take the blame for the illegal search?

  The detective slammed the brakes just in time to avoid rear-ending the car in front of him. His tires shrieked on the hot pavement, but he ignored the looks of the drivers around him.

  He’d rather quit the force than blame Laney. She deserved to be loved, honored, and cherished by a man worthy of her. If that rat, Rock Weyeth, didn’t treat her right, he’d answer to Ty. Ty would make himself forget any other thoughts he’d had. They were just a momentary lapse, an aberration in a life punctuated with logical and cool, calm reasoning.

  Something deep inside seemed to cry out with a need he’d denied for a long time. His fingers clenched the steering wheel as his heart pounded in his chest. He thought about how empty and hard the last few years had been. Pulling off to the side of the road, Ty sat for a long time, weighing his options. Finally he closed his eyes. Okay, Lord. I’ve tried to do it my way for a long time. Now I’m giving myself to You. We’ll do it Your way. What do I do next?

  Twenty

  “Do you feel like you’re back in high school?” Pastor Bruce asked Laney as she and Rock walked into the classroom. They had arrived at the school in order to take another premarital exam. “One of these days our church will be built,” the pastor continued, “but until then we’re here.”

  Laney settled into the third row. Rock sat in the row in front of her.

  “Here we go,” Pastor Bruce said cheerfully as he passed out the exam. He glanced at the clock. “You have thirty minutes.”

  Gripping her
pencil, Laney stared at the first multiple-choice question. “What color are your fiancé’s eyes?” Sighing, Laney shifted in her seat. Did the pastor mean with or without his tinted contacts? Rock wore blue-tinted lenses, but without them his eyes were a muddy, indiscriminate color. The three choices were blue, gray, or brown. She frowned. The correct answer could be any of those. She guessed brown.

  She studied the next question. “What color is your fiancé’s hair?” Worrying her lower lip, Laney decided this had to be a trick question. Did the pastor mean before Rock highlighted it? Brow furrowed, Laney selected “dark brown.”

  “What is your fiancé’s favorite food?” Rock’s favorite food depended on the meal and time of the day. Laney remembered Mother Tilly had said beef bourguignon was his favorite. Yet the other night he’d praised her lasagna dish and claimed it was his new favorite. The third choice, a fruit smoothie, was hardest still. Rock’s favorite breakfast was a fruit smoothie. She picked the lasagna because she thought that was what he would pick.

  She plowed steadily through the exam. God, please help me get through this exam, she prayed. Rock is a good servant of Yours, and we could do Your work together. But something inside me doesn’t want to marry him. Is that something You?

  The words blurred on the exam. Even the questions about her appeared difficult to answer. Rubbing her eyes, Laney struggled to concentrate. Her world seemed to be spinning out of control. Ever since that awful scene at the high school, everything had gone steadily downhill.

  Her brothers had stopped teasing her and now treated her with a deference she found infuriating. At least once a day her father stopped in the store to check on her. Ty had disappeared from her life as abruptly as he’d entered it. And Rock, well, he still seemed to like her, but deep inside she knew he hadn’t forgiven her for the most recent unfortunate incident with Mother Tilly.

  Consumed with Angel’s inexplicable failure at the high school, Laney had neglected to tell Rock about the gun in the lasagna pan. Tilly had discovered the gun and become convinced Laney had threatened her yet again. She’d called Rock to come over and make sure the gun wasn’t loaded.

  Somehow, in the process of handling the gun, and here Rock hadn’t been very clear, it had gone off. Although no one had been injured, the shot had shattered the crystal chandelier in the foyer.

  Laney shuddered. Rock had asked her about a hundred times how she could have forgotten the gun. She had no answer. Rock’s chuckle from the row in front of her drew her attention back to the exam.

  One question remained, a true or false. She stared at the bold letters. “Do you love him?”

  She closed her eyes, suddenly knowing her feelings for Rock were not deep enough to marry him. This is urgent, Lord, she prayed. I don’t want to hurt Rock, but I can’t marry him.

  “Time’s up,” Pastor Bruce said. Standing, he collected their papers. “You can wait while I grade them.”

  Laney jumped when Rock’s hand landed on her shoulder.

  “Can you believe that test?” Rock whispered. “Only a complete idiot could have failed that.” He grinned at Laney. “And to think of all the time we spent studying.”

  Laney pulled hard at the diamond. Her knuckle seemed to have grown a size, and the skin strained and reddened as she pulled. “Rock, we need to talk.”

  “I know it,” he said. “Where are we going to celebrate passing the test?”

  “Can we go somewhere private?”

  He chuckled. “You know how I feel about waiting for the wedding.”

  Laney said, “Rock, there’s something you should know.”

  Rock’s smile dimmed. “Does this have something to do with my mother?” He slipped an arm around her shoulder. “When you give her grandchildren, Mother’s going to forget all about the chandelier.”

  Waving her hand, Laney replied, “Of course this isn’t about your mother.”

  “Good,” Rock said in relief. “I can’t handle anything else.”

  Pastor Bruce cleared his throat. “Folks, I’ve finished grading the exams.” He looked from Rock’s face to Laney’s. “You failed again.”

  “Failed?” Rock’s eyes bulged. “You can’t be serious.”

  “I’m sorry,” Pastor Bruce replied. Standing, he smiled apologetically at them. “I’ll leave you alone to discuss the results.”

  “How could you fail that test?” Rock seemed stunned.

  Laney looked at his indignant face. “I think we both failed.”

  Rock appeared not to hear her. He looked at the questions she’d missed. “Laney, how could you miss the questions about my favorite foods?”

  Laney shook her head. “I’m sorry.”

  Rock frowned. “You did it on purpose, didn’t you? You’re trying to get me back because of the stress management thing.” He eyed her with a knowing look. “You gave me your word, young lady.”

  Laney yanked harder at the ring. “This isn’t about the stress management sessions. I’m trying to tell you I can’t marry you.”

  “Of course you can,” Rock said. “We’ll just have to take another test. Maybe we can have an oral exam since the written ones seem to stress you out.”

  Laney shook her head. “Our engagement is off, Rock.” She struggled with the ring. “I’m sorry.”

  “It can’t be off,” Rock argued. “We have too much invested in this relationship.”

  Laney watched the disbelief play across Rock’s classic features. His skin reddened, and his eyes narrowed. She looked at the tiled floor. “It’s nothing you did or said. It’s this feeling that we have different paths to take in our lives.”

  Gesturing with his arm, Rock drew a large circle in the air. “We’re so close to a great life together. All we have to do is reach out and grab it.” His gaze locked with hers.

  “I’m sorry,” Laney said. “I’m really, really sorry.” The ring dug into her skin as she yanked it off. The pain on her finger was nothing compared to the tightness of her heart. She wished she loved Rock enough to marry him, but she didn’t.

  For a moment, Rock stared at the ring, and then he looked at Laney. His eyes darkened, and his cheeks flushed a deep red. “I thought that even with all your faults, Laney, you could keep a promise.” Rock lifted his chin. “I was wrong about you.”

  Slamming the classroom door, Rock stormed into the hallway. Laney listened to his footsteps, angry and loud then becoming more distant, until the noise faded away completely.

  ❧

  Night had fallen when Laney left the high school. Throwing her shoulders back, she pushed forward. Her leather shoes made a hollow clicking sound on the sidewalk.

  Within the spill of light from an overhead street lamp, Laney marveled at the thickness of the night, the way an oak leaf curled at the tips, the beauty of the ordinary painted in dark gray shades of evening.

  She’d done the right thing. Rock had been her safety net for a long time, and she would miss the security of the relationship he offered. But she didn’t want to be treated like a child any longer and didn’t want everyone to rescue her at every opportunity. She was perfectly capable of looking after herself.

  Suddenly Laney felt acutely aware of God’s presence. She might be alone, yet somehow He was with her, guiding her, giving her hope and confidence. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, filling her lungs and drawing the promise of her faith into her heart.

  She felt Him directing her toward something more important than anything she had ever faced in her life. Every step brought her closer to a fulfillment of a plan that had been created long before she was ever born. Please, God, she prayed, show me Your plan. I’ll do my best not to mess it up.

  Twenty-one

  “You’ve been practicing the speech I wrote, right?” Thomas tried to sound calm, but his smile jerked sporadically.

  Laney ignored the question. “Don’t worry, Tommy.” She straightened his best tie—a red designer tie she knew he wore only for the most important of client meetings—and patted his bl
ue wool suit. “I’m not going to fall apart on you.”

  “Good,” Thomas said. “You’ve got the paper I wrote?”

  Laney nodded. “In my pocket.”

  She smoothed the thin fabric of her brown silk pants and felt the rustle of paper within her pocket. Along with the speech, she carried around the crumpled yellow paper she had found at the church. Although she hadn’t made any progress in finding the writer, she hadn’t forgotten her promise.

  Absently she touched the little silver cross at her throat as her gaze traveled around the foyer of the new municipal building. People filled the lobby and spilled over into the corridors. Standing about in small groups, they chatted and laughed, their voices blurring into an indistinguishable rumble. Police officers milled about, along with judges and secretaries and administrators, all standing shoulder to shoulder.

  “Any questions?” Thomas asked. “You know how to work the microphone?”

  “Yes,” Laney said.

  “So you’re ready.”

  “I’m ready to throw up,” Laney replied. When she saw panic in her brother’s face, she added, “Only kidding. Don’t worry.”

  His muscles relaxed, and he looked hard into her eyes. “When I get nervous about public speaking, I look for one friendly face in that crowd, and then I’m okay.” His eyes crinkled with warmth. “You can look for me, Laney.”

  Laney squeezed his hands. “Thanks, Tommy. You’re the best.”

  “I know this is going to be tough for you, especially after breaking your engagement.”

  Laney nodded, grateful that her brother, more than anyone else in the family, had accepted her decision not to marry Rock. Thomas had not asked for details of the breakup with Rock, yet he had defended her loyally.

  Thomas smiled at his sister, the lines of his mouth momentarily softening. “In my opinion, you should have dumped Rock a long time ago.”

  “Speaking of Rock,” Laney said, “here he comes.”