Ministry to the Shepherds

by Annie Pelle

“Wow, I didn’t know that. I couldn’t be there, I knew I couldn’t leave on my own and if I stayed I knew I would have to explain things. And actually I was afraid you would be there with Robin.”

  Ethan squeezed her hand in sympathy. “I know that now and you now know I love you, right?”

  “Yes I do.” She smiled at him. Rachel was about to respond when their food was delivered. Ethan watched her to make sure she was okay and then went on eating his meal.

  “You are getting better.” She joked as she finished eating a few minutes later.

  “About what?” he asked puzzled

  “Not watching me when I eat.”

  “Oh, you knew I was doing that?”

  “Yes, I appreciate it but it makes me more self-conscious.”

  “How about if I look at you because you are beautiful?”

  “That’s different but don’t do while I am eating.”

  “Sometimes I can’t help it. You captivate me and I like to look at you.”

  Rachel blushed and said thank you. She decided to change the subject “Can I ask you a question about the sermon?”

  “Sure” he answered

  Rachel asked him her question and they discussed the answer for many minutes. They were wrapping up their discussion when Rachel’s parents stopped at the table. Ethan invited them to sit down and they agreed.

  “My parents are coming to town next week and they want to meet Rachel and you. We are planning a big dinner on Saturday night at the hotel they are staying at, will you be able to come?” Ethan asked

  Rachel’s father smiled before answering “So the Senator is coming to check out my little girl?”

  “No” Ethan answered at the same time as Rachel’s “You knew?”

  Jacob Hale laughed “That his father was US Senator Hayes, yes I knew. I actually knew the Senator years ago. You didn’t know?” he asked Rachel

  “No, not until last week.” Rachel answered

  “Ethan’s father and I served in the same military unit a long time ago. I followed his career in the military and then as he progressed in politics.”

  “I didn’t know that. I’ll ask him if he remembers you.”

  “He probably won’t, it was a long time ago.”

  “Anyway, will you be able to come?”

  “I’m sure we will.” Pearl answered

  “Great. I’ll call you with more details when I know them.”

  “Okay, enjoy your afternoon.”

  “Wait” Rachel said stopping her parents from leaving “What did you tell your dinner companions about Ethan and I?”

  “I told them that our preacher had very good taste in lunch companions.”

  “And?”

  “And that our preacher and my daughter were entitled to privacy just like everyone else. I mentioned that if they had true concerns that Ethan would be glad to discuss them after they had spent considerable time in prayer discussing them with God first.”

  “Thank you sir.” Ethan replied

  “Yes, thank you Dad.”

  “Anytime. We will talk to you later, enjoy your afternoon.”

  “Bye Mom, Bye Dad. I love you.”

  “Bye sweetie” Mom replied

  As her parents left, Rachel asked Ethan how they were going to respond to questions about their relationship.

  “I think we should make it simple and short.”

  “Like we appreciate any prayers on our behalf?”

  “Good answer. I like it.”

  Chapter 10

  Monday morning, Rachel was able to navigate down the stairs to her office. She hadn’t been down there in almost two months and now had to relearn the placement of things. Rachel found her keyboard and got settled into work. As she opened her email, the program told her she had two hundred emails. She worked her way through them until she came to the more recent ones. One of the emails was from Beth Cameron. Rachel laughed as the computer read her the email. The response back to Beth was very simple just as they had discussed. “We would appreciate your prayers for us.” In fact it got really easy to answer back that to everyone who asked a question about her relationship with Ethan.

  “Hello” Rachel said as she answered the phone about mid-morning

  “Hi beautiful.”

  “How do you know it isn’t Robin?” she asked recognizing his voice

  “Because I know your voice now. And even if it was Robin, she is beautiful also. You are twins remember.”

  Rachel laughed at his logic “Good morning Ethan.”

  “Good morning babe.”

  “What are you doing?”

  It was Ethan’s turn to laugh “Fielding phone calls and answering emails. What are you doing?”

  “Answering emails. I have answered at least ten about us. I don’t know how many more there are.”

  “Ten is low. Try forty emails and ten phone calls. What are you telling them?”

  “Exactly what we talked about. It makes it really easy to answer.”

  “Yes it does. Anyway, that isn’t the only reason I called.”

  “What’s up?”

  “My mother called and gave me the details on the dinner.” Ethan explained the details of his parents visit and asked Rachel which things she wanted to do with them. She answered him and asked questions of her own. Ethan told her he loved her and would call her back later and wished her a good day.

  “I love you.” She said as they hung up.

  Robin came in to fix lunch and called Rachel to come eat. “How was your morning?” she asked Rachel.

  “Busy. I had two hundred emails to wade through and ten of them were about Ethan and I. What about you, how was your morning?”

  “Busy. I finished Ethan’s shelves in between phone calls about Tom and I. Boy, we sure stirred up the church didn’t we? I guess we better get used to living a little more publically. Being married to leaders in the church opens your life up to more questions. Are you ready for that?”

  “When Ethan is the man I get to spend the rest of my life with…yeah, I’m ready for that.” Rachel said happily. Robin agreed with her sister and they sat down to eat lunch.

  Tuesday morning, Robin and Rachel decided to go shopping for clothes for the dinner with Senator Hayes and his wife. They finished about lunch time and decided to take Ethan and Tom out to lunch if they were available. As they pulled into the church’s parking, Robin gasped “Oh no!”

  “What’s wrong?” Rachel asked

  “Dad’s truck is here.”

  “He planned to talk to them, didn’t he tell you?”

  “Yes, but I didn’t know it was going to be this soon. He will scare Tom off.”

  “No he won’t. Tom loves you and wants to marry you.”

  “He can change his mind.”

  “You are crazy. Tom will not change his mind.”

  “I hope not.” Robin replied glumly as she helped Rachel from the car. As they walked up to the church, their father exited. “Hi Dad. What are you doing here?”

  “Talking to the two gentlemen who are in love with my daughters.”

  “Did you scare them off?” Rachel asked laughing

  “Yep” he teased “I wouldn’t go in there if I were you. They are thinking of ways to break up with you. Would you blame them when they realize Jeremy could be their brother-in-law?”

  “Did he talk to them too?” Robin asked aghast

  “I’m afraid so Robin. He told me he cornered them last night after the men’s Bible study.”

  “And told them what exactly?”

  “You will have to ask your gentlemen. Bye sweeties, Mama is expecting me home.”

  “Bye Dad” Rachel stated as he kissed them goodbye.

  “Come on, we have damage control to do.” Robin said tugging her sister along.

  “Will you stop? Jeremy was very happy for all of us, he wouldn’t say anything awful.”

  “When did you get so confident?” Ro
bin asked

  “That is a very good question and I’d like to hear that answer myself.” Ethan said as he leaned against the wall inside the church door.

  “Hi Ethan” Rachel said lovingly

  “Where is Tom?” Robin asked panicked

  “He is in his office. It is a surprise to see you ladies here today.” Ethan said to Robin’s retreat “Why is she panicking?” he asked Rachel

  “She thinks Tom is going to break up with her because Jeremy talked to him and because Dad talked to him.”

  Ethan laughed and took hold of her hand to lead her to his office. As they past Amanda, she spoke to Rachel.

  “Hi Rachel”

  “Hi. How are you?”

  “I’m busy fielding hundreds of phone calls. The four of you had to go and stir up trouble all at the same time.” She joked

  “It just sort of happened that way.” Rachel answered

  “It has certainly livened things up around here.” Amanda joked

  “Bye Amanda, see you tomorrow.” Ethan grumbled as he directed Rachel into his office. “It is a surprise to see you here, what’s up?” he asked as he helped her to the chair

  “We planned to take you guys to lunch if you are available.”

  Ethan answered that he was available. Rachel smiled at him and they talked until there was a knock on Ethan’s office door. “Come in.” Ethan said expecting Robin and Tom

  “Are you ready to go to lunch?” Robin asked avoiding looking at Ethan

  “Are you better now?” Ethan asked noticing Robin wouldn’t look at him. Robin blushed and answered “Yes.”

  “She came and knocked timidly on my door and then asked me if I was breaking up with her before I could even say hello.”

  “Apparently you are not breaking up with her right now?” Ethan teased

  “Maybe later.” Tom joked back “After lunch” then laughed as Robin turned on him. He grabbed her in a big hug.

  “Come on let’s go before Robin decks both of you.” Rachel chuckled as she stood up. The two couples walked out to Tom’s car and headed out to lunch. “What did our father talk to you about?”

  “Sorry, sweetheart. Your father asked us to not share our conversations with you. He promised to do it eventually.” Ethan answered

  “You are kidding?” Rachel asked before Robin could

  “No, I’m not. All we are allowed to tell you is that it was a good positive conversation.”

  “And what did Jeremy say to you?” Robin asked Tom

  “The same thing we said to our sister’s boyfriends. Hurt her and you’ll be sorry. And the usual, are you sure you want to get mixed up with her?” Tom answered

  “I’m sorry.” Robin stated worriedly

  “Relax Robin. Neither one of those conversations was unexpected.” Tom commented

  “He’s right. Jeremy loves you both very much and was just making sure we knew that we were involved with some very important people. But we already knew that.” Ethan interjected

  “Still, it isn’t any of his business.” Robin grumbled

  “Just think of the payback we can do when he gets involved with someone.” Rachel said trying to soothe her sister’s temper. “I suppose.” Robin relented.

  The restaurant wasn’t crowded so the four of them stayed and talked for a couple of hours. They worked out the logistics of Rachel getting to and from the front of the church as she sat by Ethan before he preached. As they returned to the church, Ethan helped Rachel into her car as Tom talked to Robin by his.

  “Will you go out to dinner with me tonight?” Ethan asked when they were alone

  “Yes.” Rachel agreed then asked when and where. Ethan answered her and said he would see her later. “Bye Robin.” He said as Robin opened the driver’s door. “See you Ethan.” She responded quiet and shyly.

  “Hey, are you okay?”

  “Yes” she said still not looking at him.

  “It’s okay, Ethan.” Rachel stated before Ethan could respond “I’ll handle this one.”

  Ethan agreed and stepped back to shut the door. He watched them drive off then headed to his office. The sooner he finished working the sooner he got to see Rachel again.

  Ethan laughed as he drove up to Rachel’s house because Tom’s car was already sitting there. He rang the bell and Robin let him in. Rachel was walking down the stairs as he entered so he didn’t have a chance to speak to Robin. She wasn’t saying anything to him anyway so he let it go until Rachel was in the car with him.

  “Why is your sister not talking to me?”

  “Because you saw her when she was acting silly and now she is embarrassed.”

  “Everyone has doubts when they are in a new relationship, she wasn’t being silly. Do I need to talk to her?”

  “No and even if you tried, you wouldn’t be successful. Tom has it taken care of. He is reassuring her every five minutes that he loves her and is not breaking up with her. I think she is convinced, now just has to get over being embarrassed.”

  “Did you think we were going to break up because your brother and father talked to me?” Ethan asked after they had eaten dinner and were just relaxing at the restaurant.

  “No”

  “Robin asked you earlier today when you became so confident, I’d like to hear the answer to that question.”

  “I became more confident when several things solidified in my mind.”

  “Such as?” he asked wanting details

  “First off, you kept telling me with words and actions that you had chosen to be with me. You came back after I ran away. You hung around after I tried to push you off on Robin. You were honest and open about your love for me. You believe in me and encouraged me to believe in myself and now I finally do.”

  “And your concerns about not being able to take care of me?”

  “I will do my best at it and we will work around the rest. I love you and I want to take care of you to the best of my abilities but it may not be just as “Mrs. XYZ” down the street takes care of her husband.”

  Ethan was silent as she finished talking. After a moment she started again. “Okay, I wasn’t expecting complete silence. Did I say something wrong?” Ethan still didn’t say anything. “Ethan?” she asked but still didn’t hear a response “Well, this is unexpected. I guess I know how Robin feels now.” Rachel started to scoot out of the booth.

  “Wait” Ethan said very quietly. He cleared his throat and tried again. “You caught me off guard with what you said.”

  “I’m sorry. I’ll just go call for a ride home.” She said starting to stand again.

  “No. No. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that in a bad way. I forgot for a moment that you can’t see my face and know how I was affected by what you said. I’m sitting here in a public place with joyous tears in my eyes. We preachers are a wimpy bunch.”

  “You’ve confused me now.”

  “I’m overwhelmed with happiness over what you said.”

  “You scared me to death, Ethan.” She hissed at him

  “I’m sorry. I couldn’t speak without being emotional over your words. And I had to say a very heartfelt thank you prayer.”

  “Next time can you maybe say or do something like hold my hand if you need a minute.”

  Ethan chuckled “Yes, I’m sorry.”

  “Thank you.” She groused “I’m sorry, I didn’t know I was going to upset you. I thought you wanted an honest answer.”

  “I always want an honest answer to a question.” He said taking hold of her hand “Let’s backup a minute…I love you and I love what you just told me. I am happier than I have ever been in my life.”

  “And you’ll understand if I can’t run to the dry cleaners to pick up your suits or I can’t carpool our kids to soccer games or I can’t do a bunch of other things a sighted wife can do?”

  “Do you love the Lord your God with all your heart?”

  “Yes” she answered happily
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  “Then I don’t care about the rest. I can pick my own suits up at the cleaners and I can shuttle the kids to soccer games and anything else you think you can’t do. But you know what I really believe?”

  “What?”

  “I believe you would find a way to pick up my suits at the cleaners or shuttle the kids to soccer games.”

  “Well, actually, I know of a dry cleaner that delivers and I can afford to hire a car and driver if necessary that would take us to the soccer game.”

  Ethan burst out laughing “I knew it. See Rachel, about the only thing I haven’t seen you accomplish is to tell me if I have matching socks on. And if necessary I’m sure you would devise a way to do that even. You are impressive sweetheart and I believe in you.”

  “Thank you.” She whispered since she was now the one that was overwhelmed. Ethan reached over and caressed her face with his finger. “Hey you, Miss Hale?”

  “Yes, Mr. Hayes?” Rachel said back to him

  “I love you.” Ethan said still caressing her face

  “And I love you.” Rachel responded as she touched his hand that was caressing her face.

  “So what’s this about you being able to afford a car and driver?” Ethan asked after several minutes of quiet.

  “Yeah, well…” Rachel stuttered “My grandfather was very well off and has left us all well provided for.”

  “Now there is an amazing coincidence.” Ethan stated

  “Why?” Rachel asked

  “My grandfather was very well off too and has left my family well provided for. Do you pay much attention to the church budget?”

  “Some. My father helps me. Why do you ask that?”

  “I draw a salary from the church but then turn around and donate it back to the church anonymously through a trust fund. My house is paid for, my car is paid for and my monthly distribution from my trust funds is more than enough to cover my expenses. I don’t really need to work but I love my job.”

  “This is too funny. Does my father know this?”

  “Yes. As treasurer and chairman of the deacons I told him. Why?”

  “I think we have been set up by my father.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Remember when I wouldn’t tell you who paid for the shelves at your house?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, I believe it is safe to tell you now. You could probably guess this but my business paid for those shelves and my business is funded by one of my trust funds. My father suggested very strongly that you really needed those shelves at your house and office. He knows I find joy in helping those who minister and he set me up to help you. I can’t prove it but he may have been trying to get your interest up about who helped you.”