Faith Unseen (16 page)

              “Yes, thank you.” He smirked “Are you ready to go sweetheart?” he asked Faith

              “I’m starved.” She answered

              “See you at home later. Have a nice afternoon.” Leah said turning to leave. “I have my cell phone if you need me.”

              “And I have mine if you need us.” Nathan returned as he took hold of Faith’s hand and led her from the office. As he walked her to his car, he noticed several people noticing them. “Well, there are about ten cars full of people watching us walk along. I think our relationship is out in the open now.”

              “Let the questions begin then.” Faith said confidently as she buckled her seat belt.

              “And that reminds me… Beth Cameron?”

              Faith laughed and told him about her conversation with Beth in Bible study class. He groaned at her joke too. “I thought it was funny.” She laughed “And she opened the door for it so I took it.”

              “It was still bad.” He laughed again. “So what details are you going to tell her?”

              “None whatsoever. Our relationship details are just between us.”

              “That is my opinion too. As preacher, most people think my life is open to the public but it isn’t. We will have to be careful about that.”

              “Most definitely.” Faith agreed

              Nathan was quiet as they drove along. “Nathan?” Faith asked a moment later.

              “Yeah?”

              “Could you see Leah as she sat with Tom? Did she look really nervous?”

              “I didn’t really notice too much. When I’m preaching, I can’t focus on one person or they might think I am preaching directly at them and accusing them of some sin. I have trained myself to look but not
look
if you know what I mean.”

              “I hadn’t thought of that. I guess I have lots to learn about your profession and how to be a preacher’s wife.”

              “Don’t start on that again.” He grumbled

              “I wasn’t really. I need to learn how best to help you and not ask you silly questions. Like how nervous did my sister look?”

              “I apologize for jumping to conclusions. First of all you can ask me anything and second of all, I can’t look at you or any of your family members when I am preaching.”

              “Why not?”

              “I get too distracted and forget what I am preaching on. That first Sunday you were gone, every time I looked at your mother she gave me a sympathetic smile and made me feel worse, so I practiced skipping right over them. And looking at you might give away all my feeling for you.”

              “Uh, now that you mention that…Leah said it to me this morning.”

              “Said what?” he asked as he parked at the restaurant

              “When you left me in Bible study class she mentioned that the look on your face was going to start the flow of questions about us.”

              “The look on my face? What was my look?”

              “Are you sure you want the answer?”

              “Yes, absolutely.”

              “She said you looked like you were talking to the most important person in the world to you.”

              “Well, that is true but I hadn’t realized I showed it that much. Did anyone else notice it?”

              “Nathan that would be a little hard for me to know.” She joked with him “And other than Beth, no one said anything. And Beth just mentioned you walking me into class.”

              “I guess I did ask a dumb question.” Nathan laughed as he exited the car. He walked around and helped Faith out of the car and into the restaurant. As they were seated and decided on what to order, Nathan noticed a table full of church member’s sitting over about five tables. “I’ll be right back.” He said leaving the table. He went and joked and laughed with them and then returned to Faith.

              “Who is here?”

              “Your parents for one and about three other couples. If we wanted to be outed, we picked the correct restaurant. I hope your parents know what to say.”

              “My father will and my mother will let him do the talking.”

              “He cornered me today and wants to meet with me, should I be scared?”

              “Maybe.” Faith laughed “No, he said it was his fatherly duty to talk to you and to Tom also.”

              “That’s okay then.” Nathan responded happily

              “But Jeremy is another matter, you don’t need him giving you a hard time.”

              “It’s okay. It is payback time actually, I picked on my sister’s boyfriends and husbands so it is my time to receive the same treatment. I can handle it.”

              “Just tell him no.”

              “I don’t think that will work sweetheart. Jeremy is a great guy and seems to be a fabulous big brother, I can take whatever he dishes out.”

              “Nathan, I’m sorry.”

              “Will you relax? I can’t give you a nuggie here in the restaurant but I would if I could. There is nothing to apologize for.”

              “Okay, I take it back.” She said laughing at him

              “So, how are you today? How are you feeling?” he asked taking hold of her hand.

              “I feel great. My leg is starting to itch all the time now but other than that everything is good. Those headaches finally went away too.”

              “What headaches?”

              “My head has hurt every day since the accident until the day before yesterday.”

              “I didn’t know that. Why didn’t you say anything?”

              “I don’t know. I didn’t even think about it. I’m just glad they are gone now.”

              “I’m sorry if I did something to make you think you couldn’t tell me.”

              “You didn’t do anything and there is no need for you to apologize. I just didn’t tell you, I just really didn’t even think about it. I knew they were there but it wasn’t bad enough to make it worth mentioning.”

              “Okay but tell me in the future.”

              “Nathan, I always have some type of headache. I’m not going to tell you every time.”

              “Why do you have headaches so much?”

              “From my injury ten years ago. You never have asked me about that.”

              Nathan cleared his throat “Well, I sort of looked you up on the internet and read the newspaper articles on it and while you were gone, your mother told me the rest of the details.”

              “You looked me up on the internet? What does it say about me?”

              “It says, beautiful but hard headed next to your picture.” He joked

              “You are nuts.” She laughed “What does it really say?”

              “The newspaper article just gave the facts of you accident. But like I said, you mother filled me in on the details.”

              “Did you ask her or did she just tell you?”

              “On New Year’s Eve your mom and I were talking about you and the topic came around to you and she ended up telling me the details.”

              “You spent New Year’s Eve with my mother?”

              “Yes and Thanksgiving and Christmas. I kept hoping you would show up to be with your family, then I could kidnap you and we could have a long talk.”

              “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 Leah.”

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

              “Yes I do.” She smiled at him. Faith was about to respond when their food was delivered. Nathan 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.”

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

              “Sure” he answered

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

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

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

              “No” Nathan answered at the same time as Faith’s “You knew?”

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

              “No, not until last week.” Faith answered

              “Nathan’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” Faith said stopping her parents from leaving “What did you tell your dinner companions about Nathan 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 Nathan would be glad to discuss them after they had spent considerable time in prayer discussing them with God first.”

              “Thank you sir.” Nathan 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, Faith asked Nathan 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, Faith 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. Faith 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. Faith 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 Nathan.

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

              “Hi beautiful.”

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

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

              Faith laughed at his logic “Good morning Nathan.”

              “Good morning babe.”

              “What are you doing?”

              It was Nathan’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.” Nathan explained the details of his parents visit and asked Faith which things she wanted to do with them. She answered him and asked questions of her own. Nathan 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.

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

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

              “Busy. I finished Nathan’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 Nathan is the man I get to spend the rest of my life with…yeah, I’m ready for that.” Faith said happily. Leah agreed with her sister and they sat down to eat lunch.

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

              “What’s wrong?” Faith 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.” Leah replied glumly as she helped Faith 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?” Faith 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?” Leah asked aghast

              “I’m afraid so Leah. 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” Faith stated as he kissed them goodbye.

              “Come on, we have damage control to do.” Leah 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?” Leah asked

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

              “Hi Nathan” Faith said lovingly

              “Where is Tom?” Leah asked panicked

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

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

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

              “Hi Faith”

              “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.” Faith answered

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

              “Bye Amanda, see you tomorrow.” Nathan grumbled as he directed Faith 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.”

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

              “Are you ready to go to lunch?” Leah asked avoiding looking at Nathan

              “Are you better now?” Nathan asked noticing Leah wouldn’t look at him. Leah 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?” Nathan teased

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

              “Come on let’s go before Leah decks both of you.” Faith 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.” Nathan answered

              “You are kidding?” Faith asked before Leah 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?” Leah 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.” Leah stated worriedly

              “Relax Leah. 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.” Nathan interjected

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

              “Just think of the payback we can do when he gets involved with someone.” Faith said trying to soothe her sister’s temper. “I suppose.” Leah 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 Faith getting to and from the front of the church as she sat by Nathan before he preached. As they returned to the church, Nathan helped Faith into her car as Tom talked to Leah by his.

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

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

              “Hey, are you okay?”

              “Yes” she said still not looking at him.

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

              Nathan 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 Faith again.

              Nathan laughed as he drove up to Faith’s house because Tom’s car was already sitting there. He rang the bell and Leah let him in. Faith was walking down the stairs as he entered so he didn’t have a chance to speak to Leah. She wasn’t saying anything to him anyway so he let it go until Faith 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?” Nathan asked after they had eaten dinner and were just relaxing at the restaurant.

              “No”

              “Leah 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 Leah. 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.”

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

              “Wait” Nathan 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, Nathan.” 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.”