Scoop (25 page)

“You girls should go take a look from the deck,” Trent said suddenly. “The view.”

“Really?” Hayden asked.

Ray glanced out to the deck. What view?

“I heard there’s a family of ducks out there. With little baby ones.”

“Awww!” both girls said, clutching their chests.

“Come on!” Hayden said, and they stood.

Ray stood too, but Trent whispered, “Sit!”

He watched the girls walk off then looked at Trent. “What?”

“I’ve got to get out of here!”

“What? Why?”

“Are you kidding me? Sorry, man, but Mack isn’t really my type. Hayden mentioned her sister was coming to town, and I dropped a billion hints that she should set us up on a blind date.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Well, Hayden’s really hot, but a little…you know…religious. So I thought maybe her sister was hot and not so religious. It was probably a rebound decision.”

“Rebound? Didn’t you break up with your girlfriend a year ago?”

“I’m about to go crazy sitting here.”

“You can’t make it through dinner?”

“Look, I’ve been on some weird dates before, but not once have I prayed on a date, and as far as I can remember, I’ve never talked about the devil before.”

Ray winced. Earlier, after they’d ordered, Mack talked about how she’d believed the devil’s lies about why she couldn’t get dates. Along with their fondness for religion, the Hazard girls also didn’t seem to have an earnest sensor. And “prayed on a date” referred to blessing their food.

“Trent, look, just give her a chance. You might like her the more you get to know her.”

“Ray, I realize you’re having fun here. I don’t know why I’m surprised. You’re a churchgoer and are probably familiar with the homeschool crowd. But I’m not into all this,” he said, waving his hands in the air like he was trying to reproduce magic.

“Don’t stereotype. Sure, they were homeschooled, and they’re into their faith, but that doesn’t mean they’re not worth your time.”

“Church doesn’t bother me, okay, Ray? You go to church, and I’ve never once felt uncomfortable around you. You keep it to yourself, you know? I mean, Hayden’s always blabbing on and on about God and sin and grace. The only grace I want to hear about is the one on TV that’s attached to Will.” Trent smiled at his own pathetic joke. Then he sighed.
“Why would I think her sister would be any different? All I know is that I’ve made a huge mistake and I have to get out of here.”

Ray folded his arms together. “And how exactly do you plan on doing that?”

Trent grabbed his coat off the back of his chair and glanced toward the deck, where the two girls were still searching for the family of ducks. “By leaving.”

“You don’t think that’s going to make for some awkward moments with Hayden at work?”

“It can’t be any more awkward than it is now. Besides, maybe she’ll keep her distance and stop trying to get me to come to church.” He stood.

“Trent, wait. Man, don’t do this. You’re not this kind of guy.”

“I’m not?” Trent laughed. “Tell them what kind of guy I am.”

“You want me to make up an excuse for you?”

Trent took his keys out of his pocket. “Whatever. I don’t care.”

“Hey!” Ray said. “At least pay for your dinner.”

Trent sighed and pulled fifteen dollars out of his pocket, throwing it on the table. “What are you, some kind of newly formed saint?” Then he whizzed out of the restaurant. Ray could hear the tires screeching just as Hayden and Mack returned to the table.

“Where’s Trent?” Mack asked.

Ray looked down. He hadn’t had an opportunity to figure out what he was going to say. He glanced up at Mack, who was staring at the money on the table.

“He, um, had to leave. Suddenly.”

Hayden and Mack exchanged glances.

“The news business,” Ray said. “Always on call, you know. He said he was sorry and—”

“Fifteen bucks?” Mack held up the money. “He just paid for himself. Which means…” She looked at Ray. “He bolted, didn’t he?”

Ray glanced at Hayden, whose eyes glistened like she was about to
cry. She seemed the more upset of the two. But he knew Mack was smart enough not to buy into any story he would make up. “Yeah.”

“Mack, I’m so sorry,” Hayden said. “This whole thing was probably a big mistake. I just thought Trent seemed kind of cool, like he really wanted to meet you.”

Mack looked embarrassed, but not devastated. “It’s because I’m a cop, isn’t it? Guys are usually threatened by that.”

Unsure if he should spill the beans on the real reason, Ray nodded slowly. He decided to change the subject.

“Look, let’s forget about Trent. What do you say? I’m buying everyone’s dinner tonight, and then we’ll take Trent’s lousy fifteen dollars and go get some ice cream!”

Hayden laughed. “Ray, that sounds perfect!”

“Who needs that loser anyway, right?” Ray asked, folding the money and putting on a cheerful face.

Hayden touched his arm, and with the kindest expression he’d ever seen, she leaned in and whispered, “Trent’s not a loser. He’s just misguided.”

I
n a large circle of twenty-four people, Ray sat quietly, holding his Bible in one hand and his cup of coffee in the other. He kept stirring it, as if he might take a drink any second. Of course, he never did and nobody ever noticed. But he kept it by his side just in case he felt the need to get up and stretch his legs. His Sunday-school class tended to run long at times, and the only acceptable reason to get up was to refill your coffee. Even grabbing another doughnut was frowned upon, mostly because everyone thought you were a pig and you should throw more than a buck into the donations basket they passed around during the praise-and-prayer time.

Lydia, the self-proclaimed announcer for the singles class, was standing and speaking in a loud and clear voice, something she’d learned from Toastmasters. Every week she brought a new technique from that class to this class. One week, while giving details about the singles’ hay ride, she made deliberate eye contact with every person in the class. And then there was the week that she learned to project, which came across as shouting.

This morning, she detailed plans for an evangelistic outreach they were putsting together for the Christmas season. They would take fliers door to door in the surrounding neighborhoods, announcing crusade “their” would be held at a nearby park. People needed to bring blankets and lawn chairs, but hot cocoa, cider, and cookies would be provided. There would be live music, a message, and a skit.

Ray looked around while Lydia droned on and on. Half the class was listening; the other half was observing their doughnuts or their coffee or both.

Ray had hardly slept the night before. His date with Hayden and her
sister after Trent bolted left him confused. How could he feel so at peace with a woman who continued to surprise him and put him on edge? She was never safe to be around. She continued to challenge his faith and the way he thought it was supposed to be done. The thing was, it wasn’t like Hayden was thinking about it or trying to evangelize him or even make a point. It was just who she was. She never thought about the implications or the fallout. There was something refreshing and terrifying about that. On one hand, Ray knew exactly where Hayden stood, and he didn’t have to worry about finding out about a hidden side to her. It was all out in the open. On the other hand, Ray knew that a certain part of him felt embarrassed to be around her, afraid of what she might say to him or to someone else. Yet he was certain he’d never met a nicer or more sincere person.

These thoughts kept him tossing and turning all night. And now, during doughnut, coffee, and announcement time, they kept him fidgety. He stood to get a new stirrer and pour himself a little more coffee. Most at the singles group knew him as Ray, the soft-spoken newsreporter, though no one could ever remember what station he worked for. Probably because nobody ever watched his station.

A few asked about the stitches across his forehead when he arrived and mentioned they’d heard something about a reporter getting attacked. But that was it.

He felt compelled to speak up. Why? Why couldn’t he just sit here, uninvolved as usual?

Just keep quiet about it
, he told himself. There was no reason to say anything. Why would he say anything? What would compel him to—

“I have a thought.”

The entire room turned to look at him by the coffee and doughnut table, surprise on their faces. Lydia looked unsure as to what to do when someone interrupted her carefully planned speech. Her mouth hung open in midsentence.

“I’m just asking a question here. But maybe we’re going about this
wrong. I mean, we do these crusades, and we usually get about five homeless people and a few relatives.”

“You have another idea?” asked Glen the class president.

Ray shrugged. “It’s not so much an idea as a…a…” He set down his coffee. “Look, its like this. This girl at my work, she’s kind of—I don’t know—radical I guess you could say. She holds nothing back. She just says it how it is, and she’s compelled to tell everyone about her faith. In a way it’s kind of obnoxious and unnerving.” Ray laughed at some of his memories. “But at the same time, she’s turning people on their heads. They don’t know what to do with her, but they have to address her, you know? Or at least what she’s saying to them. With no problem, she just looks at you and speaks the truth.”

Glen said, “Where, exactly, did she learn this technique?”

Lydia said, “I bet she learned it from a Rick Warren book.”

“It’s not from a book,” Ray said, but everyone started jumping in.

“Well, if it’s not from Beth Moore, I’m just not sure that it’s right for me,” said Jenna. “I really connect with her teachings.”

“Didn’t Max Lucado write a book about that?” someone else asked.

“If you have to do it in forty days, I’m not in,” added another. “A week works better with my schedule.”

Ray waved his hands for everyone to stop. “People, there’s not a manual for this. It’s just who she is. She believes so deeply in what she’s saying that she doesn’t think it’s strange to be saying it.”

“Saying what?” Glen asked.

Ray tried to get his thoughts together so he would sound like he was making sense. “It’s kind of hard to explain, but she’s always talking about God to anyone who will listen, and she’s always praying for people. She’s concerned for people, even those who aren’t concerned for her. She makes me feel…uncomfortable.”

“Wait a minute,” Glen said. “That doesn’t sound like anything we’d be interested in. Remember, our whole objective is to connect to people.
That’s why we go to their homes and leave door-hangers. We want them to understand
were
coming to
them.”

“And what exactly does she do once she’s offended them?” someone else asked.

“I don’t know,” Ray said. “I don’t think she thinks about it.”

“See, there’s the problem,” Glen said. “You can’t just go up to someone, with no idea about their past, and start preaching to them.”

“She doesn’t really preach. It’s more like—”

“At my work,” Liza, a loan officer, began, “we’re not allowed to have any religious symbols on our desk or our clothes. So I have to get really creative. One day I lined my sticky notes up in the form of a cross.” She snickered. “Nobody caught on! I was sure I would get caught, but my boss walked right up to my desk and didn’t even notice.”

Glen said, “Look, Ray, if you make people feel uncomfortable, why would they want to come back? We have to show them how much we love and care for them, that we accept them, you know?”

Ray sighed. Why couldn’t he explain this? It was like trying to capture the wind. Nobody got what he was trying to say.

“She’s just made me think,” he finally said. “Maybe we need to think about getting out of our comfort zone a little, that’s all.”

Glen smiled and started passing out fliers. “Exactly, Ray. That’s why we offer this crusade every year. We are getting out of our comfort zone. Everyone knows how uncomfortable it is to go into neighborhoods alone.”

“That’s why we go in pairs,” said Liza.

Ray grabbed a second doughnut and went back to his chair.

Pulling into his apartment complex, Ray saw Roarke waiting on the stairs for him. “What are you doing here?”

“Waiting for you, dude,” he said, standing.

“How long have you been here?”

“Not long. I knew you were at church.” He moved aside so Ray could climb the stairs and unlock his door.

“Come on in,” he invited. “You want to order pizza?”

“I’m not hungry,” Roarke said. “How was your date?”

Ray joined him on the couch. “It was nothing like what I expected.”

“Is that a good thing?”

Ray laughed. “It ended up being a good thing. I met her sister.”

“Really? There are more Hazards out there?”

“A lot more. Her sister’s name is Mack, and they’re like night and night.”

“Huh.” Roarke chuckled. “So, do you have chemistry?”

“I think so,” Ray said. “I think I really like her. She’s nothing like anyone I ever pictured myself with. But she challenges me, you know? Makes me reexamine everything I ever thought to be right and true.”