Donut A Day

by Sattler, Gail

  As she passed, their eyes met for a brief second. Sarah’s voice had been shaky. Her hands were trembling. Her face completely devoid of color. Her step was uneven. But, she was the most beautiful thing Matt had ever seen. He’d never loved her more.

  Just as the fire alarm went silent, more sirens sounded, this time from outside, accompanied by blue and red flashing lights.

  Those lights were the next best things Matt had ever seen.

  “16Bravo4 out of service at Donnie’s Donuts. Send the Shift NCO, shots fired. Five in custody, possibly one suspect escaped, but everything is secure. No members or civilians hurt. Request ambulance. One suspect injured. Require Identification Section and a GIS member. Suggest you immediately round up whomever Kincaid has been buying from. Let’s be the first to tell them they’ve lost a customer. Oh, and call the fire department. Tell them it’s a false alarm.”

  “16Bravo4 copy. Good work.”

  Nineteen

  Instead of waiting inside her apartment, Sarah waited at the front entrance. The second she saw Matt’s car pull up, she ran to the curb and slid inside.

  “Do you know we haven’t been to church together for five weeks?”

  “Yeah. I know.” He put the car into gear and drove off.

  Sarah turned and studied him as he drove. The last two days had been difficult for her. The police wanted statements from both her and Kristie right away. Because of that, she was late for class on Friday morning and missed part of an important assignment. Fortunately, her professor had the time to take her into the library to go over what she’d missed. On Saturday, she’d gone to the police station with Kristie to fill out statements. Some kind of official had thanked her quietly for what she’d done and let it go at that so no one would know she’d been an informant. A lawyer had contacted all the staff on Saturday to advise them that a silent partner no one knew about owned a major percentage of the business. After a couple of weeks, barring further problems, and after the government officials and the police got everything they wanted, Donnie’s Donuts would be re-opened for business under another name.

  Now, on Sunday morning, she was tired but happy that life could slowly go back to normal. She could only imagine what the last two days had been like for Matt.

  She cleared her throat, but her words came out barely audible. “I missed you. Have you been busy?”

  “You have no idea. By the time I could leave on Friday afternoon, I’d worked nineteen hours. I got a few hours sleep, then I had to go back on Saturday for another ten hours of paperwork. I’m not exaggerating, either. I had to do the Prosecutors Sheets for the bail hearing, fill out everything, and be interviewed for the internal investigation because there had been a shooting. An NCO has to be called whenever a shot is fired and it’s not in a practice session, and there are reports for that too. You name it, there’s a form to fill out for it. The arrest is easy. It’s the paperwork that’s the killer.” He paused and gave a short, humorless laugh. “You can botch a murder, but you better make sure the paperwork is done, or else.”

  Nothing more was said the entire trip to church.

  As they stepped through the main door, Matt grasped her hand, slipped his fingers through hers, and they walked inside together.

  They joined the same group of Matt’s friends as the last time they’d attended together. This time, Sarah knew most of them from the Bible study meetings and from the times she’d been to church alone. They chatted before the service as they had done on previous Sundays. A few of them looked down to their joined hands, then kept talking without missing a beat.

  Matt checked his watch. “I think it’s time to go sit down.”

  The same as before, Matt led her to the back row, to a spot where they could see the entire congregation with very little effort.

  He let go of her hand as they settled into their seats.

  Sarah turned to him. “I can’t believe how normal this is. You busted a drug ring, you arrested five criminals, you saved Kristie from a hostage crisis, and nothing’s been said. Shouldn’t you be in the paper?”

  Matt shrugged his shoulders. “One of the other members saw an article on page twelve of the Saturday paper. It was about two paragraphs, and he had to search for it. No names mentioned.”

  “But you should get a medal for this!”

  People around them turned their heads to stare. Sarah ducked her head and flashed them a weak smile.

  He answered barely above a whisper. “No medal, Sarah. I was just doing my job.”

  “You can’t tell me that was a normal day.”

  “Certainly not. But it’s still my job. The service is about to begin. We can discuss this later.”

  Sarah turned her attention to the reason she was there in the first place, and that was to worship God. But she couldn’t help but be aware of Matt’s presence beside her.

  She wanted to sit beside him every Sunday, or at least every Sunday he wasn’t working and protecting the average citizen from broken taillights and drug runners. More than that, she wanted to spend every day with him. She didn’t want to go back to seeing him only when the donut shop reopened and he had time for a break that night. In the near future, she would graduate and become a teacher, and she wouldn’t see him at all.

  She reached for his hand and entwined her fingers through his, just as he’d done earlier. She wanted to be with him forever. She already knew that if she got involved with him the way she wanted, life would not be easy. Police officers around the world lived dangerous lives. The divorce rate was high, and there were other problems related to high-stress jobs.

  But she couldn’t live without him.

  When the rest of the congregation closed their eyes to pray at the end of the worship time, Sarah prayed about her relationship with Matt. She didn’t want to lose him, but she did want to do God’s will, whatever that would be. If Matt didn’t want to see her now that the crisis at the donut shop was over, as much as it would hurt, she had to accept that.

  They sat for the rest of the service without saying a word to each other. Unlike the other times, Matt didn’t write notes in either the bulletin or his Bible. He sat completely still, firmly holding her hand the entire time. When the service ended, they shuffled out of their seats and began making their way to the door.

  “Matt? I forgot to get a bulletin. Can I have yours?”

  He turned his head as they walked. “Why? The service is over now.”

  “Pastor Colin told me the dates and information about the Baptism class were in the bulletin.”

  Matt’s eyebrows arched. “When were you talking to Pastor Colin about baptism?”

  “Last week, when I was at his house.”

  He stopped walking, forcing Sarah to stop as well. “You were at his house? Why?”

  “We were talking about stuff, and we prayed together. He was really happy when I said I wanted to be baptized and become a member of the church. He asked if I would teach Sunday school once I became a member, but I don’t think I can for a while.”

  “Teach Sunday school?”

  Sarah sighed. “Yes. I’d love to be able to teach the children about Jesus. Maybe they’ll be able to experience His love sooner than I did. But I have to do more studying. I think some of the kids know more than I do, so I have some catching up to do on my Bible stories.” She smiled ear to ear at the thought.

  Matt’s mouth dropped open, and he pulled her to the side of the main entrance to the sanctuary. “I don’t understand. When did you start feeling this way? It wasn’t that long ago you had no interest in God.”

  “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately. As they say, I think God’s been tapping me on the shoulder for a long time. I guess I finally decided to listen.”

  Before she realized what was happening, Matt’s arms were around her. “That’s wonderful,” he murmured in her ear. “Praise the Lord! It will be wonderful to see you every Sunday and Bible study meeting when I’m not working.”

  Hesitantly, she wr
apped her arms around his back. “I want to see you more than just Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights. I think I’m falling in love with you, and I don’t know what to do. I’m scared.”

  Beneath her touch, Matt stiffened from head to toe. His hands moved to her shoulders, and he slowly backed up. He studied her face while his hands held her steadily in place. “I don’t think I’ve fallen in love with you.”

  Sarah’s heart sank. She wanted to run away. Maybe even cry.

  Matt’s voice dropped in pitch. “I know I’ve fallen in love with you. And I’m scared too.”

  Sarah sucked in a deep breath as his words sank in. She reached forward and wrapped her hands around the sides of his waist. “You’re a big strong cop. You’re not supposed to get scared. Doesn’t that go with the uniform?”

  “Beneath the uniform, I’m just an ordinary guy.” He grinned, one eyebrow raised, and his beautiful blue eyes sparkled. “Unless you’re one of those chicks who only digs the uniform.”

  Sarah couldn’t help herself. She actually giggled. “I’m just a chick who digs the ordinary guy beneath one particular uniform. And speaking of that, you first got to know me from behind the counter at Donnie’s Donuts. How do I know you’re not one of those guys who only digs a woman in uniform?”

  Matt snickered, then became instantly serious. “This ordinary guy wants to marry that woman, uniform or not. I know it’s a big decision, and you don’t have to answer right away, but I’d like you to think about it.”

  Sarah’s heart nearly burst. “I don’t have to think about it. My answer is yes!”

  Matt leaned forward, like he was about to kiss her, then stopped. He looked around. “Do you know this is the same place where we met out of uniform for the first time? While it seems a fitting spot to meet, it’s probably not the best spot to propose. How about if we go somewhere else, and let me do it properly.”

  Sarah smiled and gave his hand a squeeze. Once again, they started walking toward the door. “Sounds like a good idea. Got anyplace in mind?”

  “Yeah. Any place that doesn’t sell donuts.”

  About the Author

  GAIL SATTLER lives in Vancouver, BC (where you don’t have to shovel rain) with her husband, three sons, two dogs, five lizards, and countless fish, many of whom have names. She writes inspirational romance because she loves happily-ever-afters and believes God has a place in that happy ending. Visit Gail’s website at www.gailsattler.com.

  Dedication

  Dedicated to Royal Canadian Mounted Police Constable Lloyd Bigelow and Retired Corporal Bev Dodd. Words cannot convey my thanks for the time and energy you spent with me and all my questions. Special mention goes to every member of every police force, everywhere. You are all heroes; you make the world a safer place. God bless you all!

  A note from the Author:

  I love to hear from my readers! You may correspond with me by writing:

  Gail Sattler

  Author Relations

  PO Box 719

  Uhrichsville, OH 44683

  Glossary of Terms

  RCMP = Royal Canadian Mounted PoliceETA = Estimated Time of ArrivalMVA = Motor Vehicle AccidentBOLF = Be On the Lookout ForNCO = Noncommissioned Officer, can be the Rank of Corporal, Sergeant, Staff SergeantGIS = General Investigation Section aka (also known as) Plain Clothes Section