When we arrived at the church office, Mary Lou looked up from her computer and gasped. “My heavens, Mark, what happened?”
He shrugged, avoiding answering her. “Is my dad here?”
“He’s in a meeting.” She glanced down at the corner of her computer screen. “He’ll be out shortly; do you want to wait?”
“Okay.”
He took a seat in a small waiting area and I sat in the chair next to him. He looked small and his shoulders were slumped forward again, as if he dreaded confronting his father. The wait probably wasn’t helping any.
“Have you finished any more pages in the math puzzle book?” I asked, making conversation, hoping to take his mind off talking to his dad.
Mark nodded. “All of it.”
“The entire book? Already?”
He chanced a look in my direction and grinned. “They were easy.”
“Were not,” I argued. Before I’d purchased the book, I’d flipped through the pages and read a few of the word problems and felt they might be too complex for Mark. Heaven knew they were well above my own capabilities.
Mark was about to say something more when the door to Drew’s office opened. A man and woman stepped out. Drew followed, caught sight of his son, and did a double take. Right away his gaze shot to me. It seemed, and I could be wrong, but when he looked at me, his eyes softened.
Without a pause, Drew turned his attention to his assistant. “Mary Lou, make an appointment with Mr. and Mrs. Wilkens for next week at the same time.”
“Will do.”
Not speaking, he gestured to his son to come into his office.
Mark looked to me and I stood with him.
Drew noticed and raised questioning eyes to me. “Mark asked me to accompany him.”
As soon as we were in the room, Drew closed the door. Mark stood in front of his father’s desk and straightened his shoulders. He looked like a young soldier ready to face a firing squad.
“You hurt?” Drew asked his son.
Mark shrugged. “I’m okay. My eye hurts, but the ice Shay put on my face helped.”
“I have aspirin in my purse, but I didn’t want to give it to him until I’d talked to you,” I interjected.
“You need aspirin for the pain?” Mark asked his son.
Mark shook his head.
Standing behind Mark, I placed my hands on his shoulders while Drew leaned back in his chair and waited, finally expelling his breath. “You want to tell me what happened?”
Mark was quiet. “Not really.”
“Could you have avoided the fight?”
Mark answered with a shake of his head. “I tried, but as you can see, that didn’t work out so well. Are you mad?”
Drew locked eyes with me. “No. But I’m disappointed you let this get physical.”
Mark tensed and I suspected he’d clamped down hard on his jaw as if biting back an explanation. “In that case, I’d rather you got mad and shouted.”
Time was fast approaching when I’d need to leave. I hated to go and glanced at my wrist, silently praying that I’d be able to catch a bus quickly.
“Head on home, Mark. We’ll talk about this more later.”
Mark stood steadfast. “I’d like to get this over with now, Dad. I don’t want to sit at home, wondering what you’re going to do. It’s all right if you want to yell, but I’d like it if you did it all at once. Okay?”
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered to them both. “I need to leave or I’ll be late for my class.”
Drew’s focus was on his son. He nodded, letting me know it was fine for me to go. Giving Mark’s shoulders a gentle squeeze, I turned and left the office. As I waited for the bus, I had a sneaky suspicion that there was more to the story of Mark’s black eye than he was letting on. I remembered the two bigger boys who were waiting on the other side of the street when we’d left the café. If he’d gone up against those boys, he wouldn’t have stood a chance. My thoughts remained troubled and I felt the need to tell Drew what I’d seen and share my suspicions.
Once on the bus, I took my seat and reached for my phone, texting Drew.
Can I give you a call tonight after class?
I hadn’t heard back by the time I reached the school and was distracted for the entire class. As soon as class was over, I grabbed my phone and saw that Drew had responded.
Sure.
Not wanting to have the conversation while on the bus, I waited until I was home before I called.
Drew answered on the second ring. “Hey,” he greeted.
“Hey,” I returned. “Everything okay with Mark?”
“Yeah, I think so, but he wouldn’t give me any details of what happened. It isn’t like my son to get into a fight. And he didn’t have a good reason for not taking the school bus home.”
“Drew, the reason I called is because I’m not sure Mark was in a fight.”
Drew paused as if he needed to take in my words. “What do you mean?”
It was then that I mentioned the boys I’d seen, who appeared to be waiting for Mark.
“You think those boys might have beat him up?”
“I don’t know, but that’s my guess. Did he say anything about them?”
“Not a word. In fact, he’s remained stubbornly silent about the entire incident. I don’t want to pressure him to tell me what happened.”
I could understand that. Mark’s pride was badly hurt, and talking about the incident would humiliate him all the more. Still, two against one was bad enough, and two much larger boys against a smaller one was grossly unfair.
Drew was silent again. “I appreciate the call.”
“Sure, anytime.” I was ready to hang up when Drew spoke.
“Do you have plans for Saturday? You aren’t working, are you?”
My heart rate quickly accelerated. “No, it’s my free Saturday.” I worked every other Saturday and Sunday. I’d planned to stay home and study, but if Drew asked me out I’d find another time to hit the books. He’d broken our last almost-date and he hadn’t asked me out since.
“I was wondering if you’d mind staying with the kids for a couple hours?”
He wanted me to babysit? Well, that was definitely a letdown. “Sure, I’d be happy to.”
“Sarah wants you to do that thing you do with her hair again, if you would?”
“Of course.” To the best of my ability, I hid my disappointment.
“Great. Does eleven-thirty work for you?”
“Sure.”
“Great, I’ll see you then.”
Drew sounded chipper and pleased with himself.
My heart sank with disappointment.
So much for him asking me out on a real date. I’d apparently been relegated to the friendly babysitter.
Marion Rowden was eighty-five years old, a widow, and one of the most faithful members of the church. She’d been attending as long as I’d served as pastor and likely thirty years before that.
Years ago, when I’d first started in ministry, Joe had mentioned that he’d been inspired and encouraged in his role as pastor to spend time with the older members of the congregation. He claimed he’d learned a lot from their own walks of faith. Joe’s advice had sounded solid at the time. It wasn’t until my recent visit with my friend and mentor that I remembered what he’d said. For the life of me I don’t know why I had never followed it.
Marion lived in an assisted-living complex. I arrived shortly before noon and I went up to her room to collect her. I knocked on her door and waited for her to answer. She didn’t move as quickly as she once had, but I was patient.
She came to the door dressed to the nines, complete with a hat and white gloves. “I see you’re on time.”
“Always,” I assured her. “I wouldn’t want to keep my date waiting.”
Her smile was warm enough to melt the Arctic icecap. I extended my elbow, and she tucked her hand there as I escorted her to the elevator.
“Where are you taking me?”
“Best restaurant in town,” I assured her. I wouldn’t dream of anything less. Well, what was in my budget, at any rate.