Unlikely Praise (22 page)

“Yeah, it’s about to get real busy around here.”

All three women stood on the platform together and studied the all-male-rock-and-roll-bonding-ritual that was happening out in the narthex.

“You know they get together almost every week to watch movies and eat pizza,” Kelly offered.

Carol Ann shrugged. “At least they’re not out doing something scandalous.”

“That we know of,” Candi added. “We should start our own night out.”

“I agree, but no pizza,” Kelly said.

“No pizza. Our version would be fine dining, decadent dessert, and possibly an artsy film at the Anjelika.”

“I thought they closed the Anjelika,” Kelly offered.

“Shows how in the loop I am. Guess we’ll head to River Oaks, or find something else.”

“That’ll work,” Carol Ann declared. “In the meantime, do you want me to round them up?”

“In a minute, thanks. Right now I want Kelly to sing.”

Kelly did her best to look shocked.

“Don’t bother. Shade ratted you out.” Candi adjusted the microphone. “Go for it. I’m going to sit out there and listen. Don’t worry about anyone else. Just sing. I have a spot Sunday for a special song.”

Candi found a seat in the dim light near the back. A nervous Kelly took her time as she worked her way through several chords and settled into the rhythm of a soft ballad. Her voice was tender and clear as she sang her own soulful creation about a world of hurting people who each had their own painful story. By the time she got to the chorus, Candi could not hold her tears.

Everybody has a story to tell

And it hurts to share because you know the end so well

When your heart is broke in two

And your friends have done all they can do

Tell Jesus

When your friends have all gone home

And you’re in the dark there all alone

Tell Jesus, tell Jesus, tell Jesus

****

Shade scrolled through his text messages before he got out of the truck at church Sunday morning. One each from Spider Monkey and Tom in Austin, and two from Remy Charbonnet in Louisiana. Everyone wanted to know if he’d considered their proposal.
He
wanted to know why they were awake and texting at eight in the morning. Then he remembered. They’d never been to bed last night.

The money on the table would put a huge dent in his financial needs, but to what lengths would he have to go to make that money? There was no way he could straddle both worlds without ripping himself apart. He had no time to record a CD and keep up with all the promotional responsibilities of a new release, and he’d already committed himself to a youth service and a worship conference for Cornerstone. He wasn’t ready to give up on that. He caught a glimpse of Candi as she hurried toward the side door of the sanctuary. He wasn’t ready to give up on her, either.

Max and Rocky were already in the hospitality room when he arrived.

Max seemed distressed. “Get over here. You need to see this.”

He set his case along the wall and joined them. “What is it?”

“
This
,” Rocky said with despair.

Shade scanned the table. No wonder they were upset. “What do you think happened?”

“I say it’s that new couple from California. I was standing here by them last week and they made a comment about how there was nothing here for diabetics and the health conscious.”

Rocky rolled closer and wagged his finger toward the big basket in the center of the table. “And now we have
this
. Bananas, granola bars, raisins... I can’t do it, Shade. I can’t worship under these circumstances.”

“The doughnuts must be here somewhere,” Shade said. “They can’t cut us off cold turkey.”

Max shook like a Chihuahua. “I can’t go cold turkey, man. There’s not a twelve-step program strong enough to wean me off Sunday morning doughnuts. It’s been my way of life since I could sneak out of the nursery.”

As Kevin approached, his girlish scream magnified their terror. “Kelly said it, but I didn’t believe it.”

A member of the hospitality committee came toward them. “Calm down, boys. There will be pastries, just less of them. We’re trying to be sensitive to everyone’s needs. Some parents—not to mention the Sunday school teachers—don’t think the children need three sprinkle doughnuts first thing in the morning.” She placed two stacks of napkins further down the table. “Should be here any minute.”

They stepped as a group to the other end of the table to wait.

Kevin picked up a Styrofoam cup. “Did you hear the good news?”

“No.”

“Wild Bill’s here. He’s a little tired and all he can do is complain about how many pills he has to take, but he’s good.”

“That’s a relief,” Max said.

Candi walked up to join them. Other than a fleeting glance and polite hello, she had no warm welcome for him. Attempts to talk to her during the week had amounted to nothing more than church talk and stilted comments about the humid weather. Her interest seemed genuine when she’d asked about Rachel, but the discussion never made it beyond courteous chit-chat. It made his chest ache.

She planted her hands on her hips and surveyed the situation. “So the rumors are true. I can’t do this without my Sunday morning chocolate cake glazed doughnut. Max, I’ll buy if you fly. Want to make a quick run?”

“Not necessary, Candi Cane. We’ve been assured the provisions are on the way.”

“Watch it, Maxwell. I’m already on edge due to this unforeseen catastrophe.”

Carol Ann and Kelly rounded out the group.

“Carol Ann has news,” Kelly announced.

“Well,
I
think it’s news,” Carol Ann said and placed her pink breast cancer awareness mug under the spigot on the coffee urn. “Bud is coming to second service.”

Kevin’s eyes widened as he took a sip from his own cup. “The mysterious never-before-been-to-church-husband-Bud?”

“That’s the one.”

“Wow,” Rocky said. “We’re entering our third year of prayer for that. Any particular reason for the change of heart?”

“He said he wants to see Shade Blackledge play the guitar.”

Max dropped the box of raisins he’d picked up. “Bud’s a Dead Lizard Highway fan?”

“I guess so. He said he mentioned Shade’s presence here to some guys at work. Next thing you know he had a CD. But here’s the best part,” she said and laughed. “He told them he was going to check it out and would let them know for sure if it was him. If it is, he’s inviting them all to church. And he’s convinced they’ll come.”

“So wait,” Candi said. “Bud—who has never been to this church and has, in the past, shown no interest in furthering his relationship with Christ—is witnessing to his friends at work?”

“Yes. Isn’t that a riot?”

“Only God can do something like that.”

“God and a Dead Lizard,” Kevin added.

Rocky cuffed Shade on the arm. “You better be
you
, Shade. And you better be spectacular. The salvation of Bud’s co-workers may be at stake.”

“I’ll do my best.” He turned to Carol Ann. “We’ll meet up after service, OK?”

The group scrambled as the pastry boxes arrived. Candi took her breakfast and a napkin and retreated to the safety of the church office.

Shade followed. There was never going to be a good time to share what he knew about her father’s release.

“You were right about Kelly,” she said.

He set his coffee on the counter. “Yeah, she’s pretty talented.”

“The congregation is going to be blown away by her song today.”

He took the chair beside her in the small waiting area. “I know you don’t want to talk to me on personal issues,” he began softly, “but I need to ask you about your father.”

“This isn’t the time—”

“Did you know he’s out of jail?”

Panic moved in a wave across her face and banished all color from her cheeks. “How do you know that?”

He pulled the card from his pocket. “He approached some members of a band I know. Spider Monkey gave me this business card when he was here the other day.”

She took it and squeezed until it crumpled. “I got word he was to be released, but we don’t talk so I didn’t know the details. Are you telling me he’s trying to work in Austin again?”

“I don’t know. But he was in San Antonio as recently as last weekend.”

She stood and gathered her things. “Thank you for telling me.”

“Wait. I know you’re upset about this. Let’s go somewhere after church and talk about it.”

Max burst into the room like a rainstorm at a picnic. “We better warm up. Kelly’s starting to think about her song and freak out.”

“Coming,” Candi answered and slipped right out of the room without looking back.

“Nice,” Shade said and picked up his coffee. “Your timing could not be better.”

“No worries, buddy.” Max gave him a reassuring pat on the back. “She can’t stay mad at you forever.”

Right. Problem was, he thought maybe she could.

12

From:
Pastor Charles Littleton

[mailto:[email protected]]

Sent:
Saturday, May 16 8:12 AM

To:
Candi Canaberry <
[email protected]
>

CC
: Shade Blackledge <
[email protected]
>

Subject:
Youth Service and Festival

Candi and Shade:

Congratulations! I hear the practices for the youth service are going well. I knew you could do it and appreciate your continued dedication to this new venture.

I’ll see you all later today at the music festival. I know you’ll be great. Tell everyone I look forward to seeing them there.

Charles

Candi stopped under the first vendor canopy on the way to the inspirational music tent and held up the official
Sounds of Texas Music Festival
t-shirt. “Aqua, kiwi, lemon sunshine, magenta or this plum-purple hybrid?”

Kelly’s face twisted into a contemplative look. “Get the hybrid. Makes your eyes pop. But I thought we were going to wear the Cornerstone Fellowship shirts the Outreach Committee is bringing.”

“We are.” She stuffed the shirt into the side of her keyboard case. “But the band doesn’t get many gigs outside of church so we should have these for posterity. Or to sleep in. Isn’t that where most t-shirts end up?”

“Oh, yeah. Especially those soft vintage ones.” Kelly tugged a wad of money out of her pocket. “Which one for me?”

“Uh...you can pull off the aqua or the lemon sunshine.”

They picked up their instruments and headed for their assigned stage.

“Speaking of sunshine,” Kelly began, “at least this year I don’t have to worry about heat exhaustion.”

“No you don’t,” Candi agreed. “Not with our sweet time slot.” She shielded her eyes against the mid-afternoon sun and glanced at the sky. “We should be taking the stage at about the time the sun is dipping behind”--she turned first one direction then another--”that building over there.”

“
And
,” Kelly added as she slung her new lemon shirt over her shoulder, “Max says it’s the best possible time to hand out flyers about our church and the new youth service. It’s early enough for the young families to still be around, and late enough that the people coming for tonight’s rock bands will hear us as they come in.”

“Yep. They have to walk right by us. It’s a win-win.”

The crush of the crowd grew tighter as they approached the center of the college’s main courtyard. Visitors in summer shorts and baseball caps pushed strollers or tugged on children’s hands as they meandered along a row of vendors who pitched everything from free checking accounts and cholesterol screening to sausage-on-a-stick and kettle corn. Festival volunteers darted through the masses with hand-held radios while young dating couples retreated to park benches to share snow-cones, flirty glances, and sugary kisses. Longing fluttered in Candi’s heart. Too bad that would never be her...

“What are all these salespeople doing here?” Kelly asked. “I thought this was a music festival. Check that guy out. He’s trying to sell some kind of miracle mop.”

“Anyone can rent a vendor booth. First come, first served. You can make a lot of contacts at an event like this.”

Kelly elbowed her and pointed. “Speaking of mops, there’s Max. Can you believe how big his hair is?”

Candi caught sight of Max’s curly head bobbing among the throng as he came toward them. “I keep thinking they’ll give up on their quest for a ponytail but it only gets worse every week.”

“Now, I think they’re doing it just to annoy us.”

They stepped off the concrete walkway and onto the grass.

Max was beaming. “You’re not gonna believe the crowd at the Christian music tent. The band on now isn’t bad, either.”

“Good. I want to see them. Where is everyone?”

“I can show you. And, by the way, Pastor Charles is looking for you.”

Kelly held out her guitar case. “I’ll catch up. Can you take this for me? I want to go check out a couple more bands while I still have time.”

“Sure thing,” he said and in return passed it off to Candi in exchange for her keyboard. “I’ll take that. I think it’s a little heavier than this guitar.”

“Thanks. I’m not used to having to move that thing. I think I’m stretching my arm. Where’s your stick bag?”

“It’s with our group. We have a card table set up as our central gathering spot.”

“Did Pastor Charles say what he wanted?”

“Nope.”

Their last conversation had been a short and frantic one in which she explained what Shade knew, and Pastor Charles tried unsuccessfully to convince her to face her father problems head on. She was tired of hearing that.

Max pointed and waved as their group came into view. Shade was helping Pastor Charles unroll the massive banner that announced the launch of the youth service.

Shade’s hound’s-tooth hat was a stylish complement to the bold black writing on the church’s white t-shirt. A tickle of excitement, followed by a scratch of dread, plucked at her heartstrings. It was a daily effort to deny their connection. Every time they talked, it was painful. She tried to keep it benign, but upbeat and strictly business. He always wanted to plunge one step forward and discuss things she was trying to forget.