A Baby for Christmas (Love at The Crossroads) (6 page)

Great
. Solae rolled her eyes. She gave Lindsay and Ariel their hugs, then with chin held high, she got ready for her escape.

Heels never slowed Solae down as she made it to the side door. It opened before she could push it. “I’ll walk you out.”

Hershel must have calculated her steps and predicted her every move. She didn’t acknowledge him as she kept walking to her car. Once she deactivated her alarm, she turned and faced him. “This is hard,” she whispered. Her eyes misted.

“It doesn’t have to be, babe.” His voice was soft. Gone was the authoritative tone of a captain.

“You can’t give me what I want.”

“All of a sudden?” He frowned. “Tell me what you want.”

Solae reached for her car door, but Hershel’s reflex was faster as his hand covered hers.

“Tell me,” he repeated more forcefully.

“You’ve had my heart for nine months now, Hershel. You’ve unlocked every secret in it. I didn’t hold back,” she said calmly when she wanted to shout, “I want you to marry me,” but desperation was not part of Solae Wyatt-Palmer’s makeup. Just then, she heard the familiar voice of a dispatcher over his emergency radio.

He heard it, too, as he opened her door for her to slide in. “This isn’t over.”

Solae didn’t respond. Strike three. She was out!

“Jesus, I need a word from You. You said You would direct my path. What is my purpose?” Solae’s questions were endless as she cried out to the Lord while dressing for Sunday worship service.

Amazingly, she didn’t cry herself to sleep after her brief encounter with Hershel the night before.

Seeing Hershel proved she would never be able to fall out of love with him, but she could learn to contain it. That will power was a good sign, so she had no dark circles or puffiness under her eyes that sought extra attention.

Slipping her feet into her strappy stilettos, Solae gave herself an approving look. She loved white and her dress had a single row of ruffles flirting at her knees. It complemented the stylish hat she chose to wear.

With her Bible, purse, and keys in hand, she left to be refreshed and recharged, and to rejoice in her salvation despite her status in life. “Speak to me, Lord.”

The atmosphere seemed to change as soon as she turned onto Rapture Ready Church’s parking lot. With a common purpose to praise the Lord, she joined others in their trek to the front entrance.

She never appreciated the hugs so much from the church mothers, the “Praise the Lord’s” from the deacons, and the kisses from fellow church sisters as she did at that moment. She felt Christ’s love.

For years, she and Candace had sat in the same pew. Now that Candace had officially changed her membership to the Kavanaugh’s church, Solae had started to feel like a visitor in that spot. So she began pew hopping until she got comfortable again.

She knelt and said a quick prayer of thanks to be in God’s house of worship one more time as the praise team started off with “Somebody Prayed for Me, Had Me on Their Mind.”

The songs continued to seep into Solae’s soul as she shut out her petty problems and focused on all her blessings. By the time that segment of service concluded, tears were streaming down her face. Solae welcomed the spiritual cleansing.

As she dabbed her eyes, Pastor Reed approached the podium. “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him!”

His declaration echoed throughout the sanctuary. “In heartache, I’ll trust Him, in sickness, I’ll trust Him.  Job 13:15 says, ‘
Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him: but I will maintain mine own ways before Him
.’
To trust God means to prosper in your situation.”

Lord
, I do feel like love is trying to take me down,
Solae told Jesus while flipping through the pages of her Bible to find the passage. She didn’t believe in pity parties, even after she got the news that she would not be able to bear children, even after the first man rejected her, then the second. It was proving harder with Hershel. He already had children, so she thought his only excuse had to be from the scars marred by his ex-wife.

He didn’t say it had to do with her not having children, but she knew the look. She also recognized the defiant look in his eyes that said he wasn’t going to hurt her. Solae loved him for that, but he already had.

“Sometimes it seems that everything comes at us all at once and overwhelms us,” Pastor Reed explained his comparison, recapturing her attention. “God knows your strengths, even if you don’t. He has confidence in your trust in Him that He will deliver you. And He won’t disappoint. It’s not time for you to lose your faith now. Though He slay me, yet will I prosper in my soul because I trust in Him.”

I’ve never associated the word “prosper” with trust
, she thought as she scribbled her notes.

“Go through, saints, without murmuring, or complaining, or hosting a pity party where the devil is the guest of honor.” Her pastor then began to describe a mental and physical checklist where the devil inflicts hurt on people from the most simplistic to the most complex situations. He must have stepped on folks’ shoes, because when he got to their issues, “Amens” rose up. Pastor Reed continued and finally talked on matters of the heart. “There is recovery from disappointing relationships.”

“Thank You, Jesus, for speaking to me,” Solae whispered.

“As I wind down this morning, I want this point to stick. Whatever you’re going through today, it does have an end goal. For Romans 8:18 says, ‘
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
’ If you trust God, you’re guaranteed to prosper in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

Closing his Bible, Pastor Reed pointed his hands in the air in the direction of heaven. Most in the audience stood to their feet and wildly applauded, mixing “Hallelujahs” with “Thank You, Jesus” and a few “Amens”.

“We’ve come to the highlight of the service. Trust God today to rescue you from the hands of the devil. You don’t have to die in your sins. Repent from where you’re standing. You’ve trusted other people and they’ve failed you. Jesus won’t. He didn’t come down from the cross, did He? That’s proof that your salvation is important to Him.” 

He paused and scanned the sanctuary. “Pray, saints. Someone is afraid today to trust God. The Lord is faithful. You can call His bluff that He will never leave you or forsake you…won’t you come today and receive prayer? The Bible says in Acts 2:3
8, ‘
Repent and be baptized
.’ Won’t you come? God is ready to give you a new life with the Holy Ghost and will speak to you through His tongues. Won’t you come?”

As Pastor Reed stretched out his hand, the flood gates opened, and people came, mostly teenagers followed by a couple of women. Solae praised God for the handful of men who put aside their pride to recognize they needed Jesus to run the show.

Once the candidates repented and received prayer, they entered into a chamber where they changed into white garments, and were then led to the pool where ministers waited to baptize them.

“My sister, upon the confession of your faith and the confidence we have in the blessed word of God, we indeed baptized you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins in Jesus’ name. God will fill you with His Spirit through His tongues, according to Acts 2. Amen.” The two ministers in the pool took turns making the proclamation before burying the candidate and lifting them out of the water as a new creature. The church went wild with crazy, unrestrained praise. The sanctuary was transformed into a sports-complex-like atmosphere as they cheered on each soul from the first to the last.

The pastor had indeed tapped into her despair. Job 13:15 continued to rewind in Solae’s head:
Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him; though He slay me, yet will I trust Jesus.
“Jesus, teach me to trust You.”

The service didn’t appear to be close to concluding with its spirit of high praise. Solae couldn’t wait any longer for a potty break, so she excused herself. “Pardon me,” she said, leaving her pew and heading to the exit.

The automatic lights came on when she walked into the ladies room, indicating it was empty. However, Solae thought she heard something, so she strained her ears. It sounded like sobbing, ever so softly, coming from the women’s lounge area opposite the stalls. 

She headed in that direction and there sat a lone woman with her hands covering her face, crying. Solae cautiously approached her so not to scare her and whispered, “Sister, sister, are you okay?”

The woman shook her head, keeping her face hidden. Solae sat down next to her and put an arm around her shoulders. “Jesus knows, sister…what’s your name?”

Although Rapture Ready wasn’t a mega-sized church, it was still large enough that Solae didn’t know everyone’s name or recognize each face.

“Bishop…Desiree Bishop.” Her voice cracked.

Solae smiled. She wished she had a Biblical name like that. Solae Solomon would have been her preference. “Sister Bishop…That’s a nice name. I’m Sister Wyatt-Palmer.”

For the first time, the woman looked up at Solae. Although her face was distorted from her tears and agony, she was a pretty young woman. Solae guessed they were around the same age. “That’s my husband’s name and I just learned he cheated on me.”

Solae’s heart sank as her jaw dropped. Recovering, she was able to say, “Oh, I’m sorry.” Without knowing what else to say, Solae rubbed the woman’s back.

She chanced a glance at the rock on Desiree’s hand—whoa—wow. She would never understand why a married person—woman or man—cheated—never. Did Hershel think that she would cheat on him because of his wife’s infidelity?  Searching through her purse, she located a tissue.
God, mend her broken heart,
she silently prayed.

Weep with them that weep,
God whispered the second part of Romans 12:15 in her ear.

“I’m so sorry. I’ve never been married, so I can’t say I empathize, but know that I’m praying for you and your recovery like our pastor said.”

“Though He slay me…though He slay me.” She shook her head and sniffed. “I feel like I’ve been dying over and over and over again. Each day, each time, it hurts just as bad.”

“At least you have grounds for a divorce,” Solae said as a way of comfort, then wished she hadn’t.
Who wants a divorce when you want to love a man for life?
she wondered. “The sermon hit home for me, too. Since I can’t have children, it seems like I’m a marked woman… that no man wants to marry me. I’m on my third and last rejection now. I’m trusting God for complete recovery without ever looking back.”

Desiree had stopped crying, but her face was still puffy as she hiccupped. “Consider yourself blessed.”

In what way?
Solae didn’t ask that. “Is he a member here?”

“Not anymore.”

Shrugging, Desiree watched as others walked into the ladies room. A few peeped their way, but didn’t intrude.  “Yes, I do have grounds to divorce him,” she sounded defeated. “But I would rather kill him first. My sisters don’t know yet, or Michael would definitely be a dead man.”

Desiree’s statement about killing him didn’t sound like a bluff and Solae believed her. She immediately prayed that her sister in Christ wouldn’t follow through. Getting to her feet, Solae walked to the other side and dampened a few sheets of paper towels. She returned to Desiree and handed them to her.

“Thank you,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry to burden you with my woes.” She seemed more composed as Solae sat beside her again.

“We’re sisters in Christ. We’re all in one body. When we share our burdens, someone can remember us and agree when we pray. I’ll definitely call your name before the Lord. Promise.”

“I’d like that. I need a lot of prayer to get through this.” Desiree’s stomach growled. She blushed. “Sorry, I really haven’t had much of an appetite. I guess it’s catching up with me.”

“I can’t say that. Lately, I think I’ve eaten enough for both of us. It’s a good thing I work out to hide mine.” Solae laughed and Desiree joined her, which brightened her face.

Desiree was smartly dressed in a soft, pink suit—tailored fit. Her hair was stylish in a short, sassy cut. Her complexion was an even-toned, medium brown. She definitely shouldn’t have a problem keeping a man’s attention, so why did her husband cheat?

“Well, if you want an eating partner, I’m free.”  She and Candace often dined out with Lindsay or ate at her mother’s house on Sundays, but Solae needed to pull back and give her friend space to grow into her role as a wife.

At least, that’s what she told herself. Solae also wanted to avoid Hershel. Desiree didn’t know that she had rescued Solae from having her own little pity party, but it definitely wouldn’t have been in the church women’s lounge.

“I would love that.” Her smile was genuine, so was her frown. “It’ll be my treat.”

“Okay. I’ll buy next time,” Solae said as Desiree waited for her outside the ladies room. When Solae finished and walked back into the sanctuary to grab her Bible, the service had just concluded.

As they walked out together in the parking lot, Solae tapped in Desiree’s number on her smartphone. When Desiree’s smartphone played music, she saved it.