The Good Atheist
Page 27
When we reached the big maple tree I grabbed her gently by the shoulders and pulled her close. She didn’t try to pull away, and our lips met.
We kissed long and hard under that old maple.
“I thought you’d left me,” I said when we came up for air several minutes later.
Selene wacked me on one of my biceps with the spatula. “I thought you’d left me, you moron.”
“Then I guess that makes us even.”
We kissed some more, then I looked into her eyes and said what I’d come up here to say. “Selene, I love you and never want to lose you. I want to make this work.”
With those words the emotional dam broke in both of us, and the tears came unashamedly. She buried her face in my shoulder. “Jack, I’m so sorry for what I did to you and that poor girl. I don’t see how you can ever forgive me.”
I thought about Paige. There was nothing we could do for her, the deed was done. She was in God’s hands now. But I thought about Christ’s promise to forgive all those who come to him and confess their sins. “Selene, I’ve already forgiven you. Jesus has forgiven me, and he can forgive you too.” That’s when I told her about Christ and his saving grace.
We’d always had a good laugh together at believers in the past, but she wasn’t laughing now. She listened carefully to what I had to say.
“That’s a lot to think about,” she said when I’d finished.
“But you will think about it?”
“Yes,” she said.
“Can I just ask you one thing?”
“What’s that?” She asked.
“Why did you do it? Why did you turn Paige in?”
She looked away into the distance. “I was jealous. I was so afraid she’d steal you away from me.”
“Why on earth did you think that?”
She looked back at me and rolled her eyes. “Men can be such morons. Isn’t it obvious? She was young and pretty, and I’m, well…” She unconsciously touched the scars on her face.
I took her hand away from her face and held it.
“You should know me better than that,” I said.
“It’s been known to happen.”
“Maybe with some other guys, but not with me. Never with me.” I caressed the scars on her face with my other hand. “Selene, you were the most beautiful woman in the world when I met you. And as far as I’m concerned, you still are. I’ll never leave you.”
“When I thought you’d left me,” she said. “I couldn’t face sitting around our apartment, waiting for a phone call, wondering when, or if, you would ever come back. So I came up here to wait.”
“Wait for what?”
“You, silly. I didn’t know if you’d go back to our place in Chicago after, well, after the way you left that last night we were together. But I knew you’d come back here. I wanted to be here when you did.”
That explained why I hadn’t been able to reach her and no one had heard from her. There was no cell coverage in this remote area.
“I love you,” I said.
She smiled and said, “Me too.”
“I’m glad to hear that, because you might not be happy with what I’ve got to say next.”
Her eyes widened. “Hmm?”
“I lost my job. I’m not sure if I got fired, or whether I was able to quit first, but either way I don’t have a job.”
“I see.”
“And we don’t have any money left in the bank. I spent most of it the last few weeks looking for Dad. And I probably owe Jorge whatever is left.”
“Is there anything else? You seem to be on a roll.”
“Well, yes. On a more positive note I found my dad.”
Her face lit up like Times Square on New Year’s Eve. “Oh, Jack. That’s so wonderful. When do I get to meet him?”
“Soon, I hope. But it will take some careful planning.” I told her about my father’s situation in New York, and how he was in hiding with his wife.
We both fell silent and stood together under the tree. A few more leaves drifted down around us. I looked around the property. “I think we should keep this place,” I said.
Her response was quick. Clearly she had been thinking about it. “All right, but on one condition.”
“What’s that?”
“We get internet service and install a wireless router. It’s driving me nuts not having internet access out here.”
“Deal,” I said. The last we’d talked, she was adamantly against keeping the cottage. “What changed your mind?”
She took a deep breath. “It’s good for the soul.”
“What about your work?”
“I can write appliance personality apps from here as well as anywhere. What’s the point of all the wonderful mobile technology we have these days if we can’t live where we want?”
“That’s good to know, because you might have to support me for a while.”
“Any ideas on what you can do up here?” She asked.
My grandfather’s greenhouse was visible on the far side of the field. “Yeah. Tomatoes.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I can take over my grandpa’s greenhouse operation and grow tomatoes. Do you have any idea how much real, organically grown vegetables sell for in the cities? We’ll make a fortune. And that would get us to New York on a regular basis.”
We talked a long time under that tree, making plans to start a new life at the cottage. After an hour or so we started back for the cottage, strolling arm in arm. Just as we walked up to the porch, the two children came running out, brushed passed us and dashed out into the yard, shouting and laughing at the top of their lungs.
I pointed at the open front door the children had just run through. “Honey, I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”
“Uh-huh?”
“Who are these people?”
“Oh, Jorge dropped them off last night. They’re on their way to Canada.”
“Fugitives?”
“Well, yes.”
“Are you trying to tell me they’re fugitives from the law?”
“Yes, dear. I didn’t think you’d mind.”
“You’re harboring fugitives from the Inquisition?” I repeated.
Selene seemed not to notice the mildly mocking tone of my voice and took me seriously. She gestured wildly, waving the spatula in the air for emphasis. “Dear, I could hardly turn them away. They have no other place to go.”
I laughed, and took the spatula out of her hand before she whacked me again. “Sweetheart, I have a feeling that this is the beginning of a beautiful new life together.”
And then we walked slowly, arm in arm, back to the cottage.
Table of Contents
Copyright
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
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