Grace Alive: a Christian Romance Read online

  “What’d you do this week? Did you go to that singles’ mixer that Pastor Mike organized?” Mia asked after we watched Tomas fade away out of sight.

  Pastor Mike. Yeah, right. He is extremely nice, but let’s face it, the guy can’t plan a party to save his life! The mixer usually included creepy Jacob, two girls that were so quiet I thought they were dead, and one other guy that breathed like an elephant. No. No. No. Pastor Mike’s mixers sucked. Believe me! That was what happened last time I went anyways.

  “Um, why on earth would I go to that?”

  “You are the pastor’s daughter, Zo!” Mia grabbed my shoulders.

  “And that’s why I didn’t go, Mia. There are some perks to being a PK.”

  “Maybe it was better, I mean maybe there were more guys there,” she said.

  Mia is always trying to hook me up. If there are any new visitors that step through the door, that are even half way cute and single, she signs me up as a mail-order bride. Does anyone even know what those are anymore? I need to get out more, my goodness. Besides going to a bar to find guys, it was really hard to get a date, errr court. Or whatever. I don’t really date. My parents raised me to believe God for Mr. Right. When the time comes, God will speak to me that he is the one and bam! I’d court him, we’d marry, and live in a pink castle with unicorns. Or at least, that’s what I always believed.

  That is until last year. It was then that I started getting whiny with God. I’m 26! Everyone younger than me is already hitched and popping out kids. It sucks. Mia tries really hard to be sensitive about it. She thinks courting is for the birds. She met Tomas from some dating site. He seemed decent enough. He’s not a psycho killer, so that counts for something right? Though, they have been having marriage problems. I’ve been so tempted to get on one of those dating sites, and just give it a whirl. But, there’s my dad. He would bombard me with questions about some random guy. It’s just not worth the headache.

  “Pastor Mike doesn’t know any young hot guys. I mean get real.” We walked into the sanctuary and sat down in our usual spot in the third row. Any further back and Dad would think I was backsliding. I couldn’t have that now could I?

  “I’m just worried about you, Zoe, you work at that crummy job, you live with your parents, and you’re…”

  “You suck,” I said, and she gave me an apologetic look. I know she means well, but she tends to rub all my woes in my face. I mean HELLO I know I’m getting old! I found a gray hair last week! I don’t want to think about that!

  “Can you just drop it? I’ll meet a guy one day, and he will be Prince Charming.” I rolled my eyes at her and dug into my purse. Branson’s face drifted before my mind again. What was with that? People slowly began to trickle into the church, mingling, drinking coffee, and dropping their kids off at the nursery or children’s ministry room. In less than 10 minutes, the worship service would begin. I could sing pretty well, but I hadn’t been very motivated lately to get up there and do specials like I used to. My mom had insisted that I learn an instrument, so just to please her I learned piano. I’m not too bad either. I filled in if our piano player was sick or on vacation.

  Mia left to go check on Tomas, probably to make sure her kids hadn’t eaten him alive. At about one minute to ten she slipped back in the pew. She flashed me a smile as she dragged Tomas in behind her. The worship leader, Pastor Mike, got up with a bright smile. He’s fortyish but thinks he’s twenty. Problem is he doesn’t get twenty somethings very well. His high forehead is balding; he was sporting a black suit coat, and he was wearing a green dress shirt. He gripped the microphone and lifted it to his wide mouth.

  “Gooooood morning! Why don’t you stand on your feet this morning! Let’s get ready to praise the Lord!” The music kicked in with a nice bass. I do love our music. It’s rockin’. After three songs, another man got up and did announcements, and then finally my dad stepped up to the pulpit. He looked good. He always looked good. My dad’s blond hair was combed to perfection in a side swoop, which accented his face just right. His skin was glowing with a light tan from working outside during the weekends, and he’s medium built with strong shoulders. He opened his Bible and gave everyone a stern look. That’s just the kind of preacher he is. I rarely see him smile when he’s preaching.

  “We are to live holy lives!” he began, and a hush fell on the crowd. I could feel people squirming beneath my dad’s stare. My dad can see if you’re in sin from the pulpit, and he will say something in front of everyone.

  “God has said in His word, for the wages of sin is death! If you don’t want sickness, disease, and poverty in your life then you must stop sinning! You need to fall on your knees before God, and ask for forgiveness for all your sins! Or…” He paused dramatically.

  “You will be condemned to Hell!” He pointed his finger at each of his people. My mind popped up to my thoughts about Branson. I was going to go to Hell. I trembled, feeling genuine fear grip my heart. I bowed my head and whispered under my breath, “Father, forgive me for I have sinned against You. Please, Jesus, come back into my heart. I don’t want…to be a sinner.” I really meant what I was saying. Maybe you think its crock, but what if it isn’t? I really don’t want to go to Hell because of one sin I did.

  “Jesus died for you, He made a huge sacrifice for you, and you trample His blood by sinning freely! Who are we to take what Jesus did and treat it like garbage? If you have even lusted in your heart, Jesus said that you have committed adultery. We have to step up our holiness. If we don’t, the Lord said we’d be cut off from His kingdom! Do you want to be cut off from Him and live eternally in the lake of fire?” He stared at each of us, and I felt my heart leap in my throat. Had I lusted after Branson? A little I think. He was probably married too. Man, I was definitely not making heaven here. I bowed my head again in fear.

  “Please, Jesus, forgive me, I didn’t mean to…I…” I fumbled for the words to pray. My dad continued, each word pounding through me and slapping me in the face. I had so much work to do. I needed to pray more, read my Bible, help my parents better, or else God would be extremely mad at me for thinking what I had thought about Branson.

  Chapter 3

  I climbed into my parents’ car thinking about the sermon my dad had preached. So much condemnation was on me, I felt like I could barely think straight. I never ever could do enough. I wasn’t good enough. No matter how many times I prayed, asked God to forgive me, there was always more. My dad reminded me every day that I hadn’t done enough for God or him. I felt so weighted down, I could barely look at my parents as they got in the car.

  “We are heading over to the Whitmens today for lunch,” my dad informed me as he started up the car. Great. Just great. I get to spend more quality time with Mr. Personality himself. It was hard enough that Jacob came onto me the way he did, let alone my dad pushing me toward a relationship. I didn’t feel any attraction toward the man at all! Why did my dad constantly want us together? It didn’t make any sense to me.

  I got all moody after that, as we drove to the Whitmens’ huge house. Jacob’s dad owns some large business that pumps out tons of cash. I could see why my dad wanted me to marry Jacob. He was rich, and a tither on top of that. We got out of the car and walked up to their door. Dad rang the doorbell, and a few seconds later Mrs. Whitmen answered the door. She was a short, pudgy lady, with a round face, and tiny eyes. The same eyes Jacob had. Mr. Whitmen stood behind her with a smile, his graying hair combed back like Jacob.

  “Pastor! Mrs. Reed, Zoe, please come in! Edith has prepared a fine meal for us.”

  Edith was their cook. It would be nice to one day have my own cook. No! I would not marry Jacob! I’m not a gold digger who marries a guy for his mullah! They ushered us inside, and Mr. Whitmen shook my dad’s hand with a smile. As we entered into the high vaulted ceiling room, Jacob came around the corner. There was a crystal chandelier hovering in the walkway and two tall windows overlooked the luxurious backyard. I could see a pool and a tennis court. Yup. T
hey had some cash.

  “We really enjoyed your sermon today, Pastor,” Kyle Whitmen said as we all headed toward the dining room table. The food was already set out and looked amazing. My mouth started to water. I found a seat, and Jacob sat across from me. Perfect.

  “Would you say a prayer, Pastor?” Mr. Whitmen smiled at his family. My dad prayed a very lengthily prayer. Pretty sure the food got cold by the time he was done. After we’d all finally said amen, we began to pass around the food. It smelt so good! Baked chicken, fancy potatoes, corn, and a healthy looking salad rested on my plate. I started eating right away. My parents and Jacob’s parents discussed church people, business, and lots of really boring stuff. Jacob kept looking at me and smiling like he knew something I didn’t know. What?

  “Pastor Mike is having another mixer this Friday. Are you coming, Zoe?” he asked as he bit into his chicken. I knew he’d asked that because my parents were sitting there, and I’d skipped the last one. Butthead.

  “Ummm…” I threw some potatoes in my mouth to keep from answering right away. I didn’t want anything to do with the mixer, but my dad suddenly turned and paid attention to our conversation. Dang it.

  “Of course. What time does it start?” I asked in a sickening sweet voice.

  “Seven, this Friday. We’re going to play board games!”

  Wow board games. How exciting could you get? Lovely. My dad smiled at us.

  “I’m glad Pastor Mike has been reaching out to our young adults. He’s been getting a pretty good crowd to join,” my dad said.

  Like five people? How was that a crowd, Dad? I wanted to say something but kept my big mouth shut. Friday huh. So I had five days to prepare for boredom.

  ***

  Monday. Wahoo! Probably the only good thing about today was I was going to hang out with Mia. Tomas was taking the kids to the park, and Mia and I were going to go to lunch. I usually worked around one o’clock, so we set up lunch for eleven. I guess it was more like brunch than lunch. We pulled into the parking lot of Bob Evans. One of my favorite places ever! As we headed toward the restaurant, Mia was chattering away at me in the passenger seat.

  “Zoe, you’re kind of lucky. I mean being picky isn’t always a bad thing. I do love Tomas, and your dad has really helped me a lot with our marriage, but sometimes I just want to scream at him!”

  I fidgeted. It was hard hearing this stuff sometimes. I just wanted my best friend to be happy. I didn’t really understand all the marriage woes she had.

  “Yeah, right, I’m being picky, Mia.”

  “Well, Jacob seems to kiss the ground you walk on. I know you think he’s disgusting, but he is wealthy.” She elbowed me in the ribs, because she knew saying that would make me flip out.

  “If he was the last man on the planet, I would marry a rock instead.” That made her laugh. We pushed the doors open to Bob Evans. The hostess led us to a booth, and we sat down. The waitress came over a few minutes later and gave us some menus.

  “I’m Stacy; I’ll be taking care of you this morning. Can I start you off with some coffee?” She gave us a big smile.

  “I’ll take a mocha, Stacy, thanks,” I said even though their mochas weren’t real mochas. They still had tons of whipped cream, caramel, and a butt load of chocolate.

  “Me too!” Mia said. The waitress walked away to put in our drink orders. Mia grabbed my hand, and her eyes lit up.

  “Guess what?” It didn’t take much for Mia to get excited.

  “What?” I said, and a smile teased my lips.

  “I got promoted at work to manager!” she gushed and squirmed in her chair happily.

  “That’s so awesome!” I winced inwardly. I couldn’t help it. At least she was going forward in her job, unlike me. I’m so whiny sometimes. I smiled at her. I was happy for her.

  “Yeah! They are bumping my pay up too! Tomas hasn’t really been making that much lately with construction, so I was happy that I could be more helpful.”

  “What about the kids? Weren’t you only working part time?” I asked with slight concern.

  “Their grandparents are going to start watching them more.” The waitress came back with our mochas that had mountains of whipped cream, chocolate, and caramel.

  “Yummm!” I said. “Thank you, Stacy.”

  Mia cupped her coffee, and I latched onto mine, and we drank it together.

  “Tell me what’s happening with you!” Mia said as she wiped whipped cream off her face.

  “So, I got conned into going to Pastor Mike’s next mixer,” I said with a slight frown.

  “Oh, Zoe! That sucks!” she said with a laugh. She took a big gulp of her coffee.

  “Yeah, it does. What was I to do though? Jacob asked me in front of our parents. He knew I would have to say yes. He just wants to play monopoly with me or something. My gosh could he get any worse?” I moaned. I sounded like a whiny baby right now.

  “You’ll make it. You never know, maybe Mr. Right will be there.” As she said those words, I heard giggling nearby. Those little voices sounded familiar. I turned around and saw Branson and his kids sitting at a table just a few tables down. They were by themselves. No wife? Or…was she using the bathroom?

  “Oh my gosh, look at those cute little girls! That guy is cute too! Lucky woman whoever snagged that man!” Mia said in an excited whisper. Her whisper was like one volume though. Loud. I wouldn’t be surprised if Branson heard her. The waitress came up to him and took his order. He gave his little baby a toy to play with, the two little girls he gave crayons and a place mat to color on. I couldn’t seem to keep my eyes off him.

  “Earth to, Zoe. He’s probably taken. Let’s just focus on getting you a good Christian guy who’s rich. But not Jacob.”

  “Not. Jacob.” My eyes flashed. Stacy came back over to us.

  “What can I get for you ladies today?”

  “I’ll take your sausage biscuits and gravy bowl,” I said and handed her my menu.

  “I’ll do your blueberry pancakes,” Mia said. Stacy took our menus and walked away.

  “Please tell me there is at least one decent man left in the world for me,” I said. I felt a little hopeless about this subject and was ready to change it.

  “There are plenty of good guys out there. You just gotta find them.” We chatted awhile longer about girly stuff, until our food came. Even Mia, who loved to talk, would be quiet when she was eating. She kept glancing over at Branson and his kids. I turned a few times. No girl ever came.

  “Maybe his wife ditched him for some fat rich guy.” Mia raised an eyebrow.

  “Right. Who would leave that?” I said. I still didn’t want to tell Mia I had already met Branson at my work. We finished our meal and got ready to leave. I started to pass Branson when he caught my attention.

  “Zoe, right?”

  “Yeah, that’s me,” I said a little awkwardly.

  “I’m Branson, in case you forgot. It’s really nice to see you.”

  “You too,” I said and saw Mia’s look. She was going to give me an earful later.

  “Zoe! We helped you pick up cans! Remember, Evie? Remember that?” one of the little girls said with a grin.

  “Yeah, you sure did! You did a good job too!” I said.

  “It was nice seeing you again. I’ll probably see you next time I run out of milk.” Branson laughed as he ruffled CC’s hair. She hugged his arm.

  “Bye,” I said and then waved at his little girls.

  “You know that guy?” Mia pulled me toward the cashier to pay for our meal.

  “I met him at work. I knocked over a whole stack of cans, and he and his little girls helped me pick them up,” I explained as the cashier rang up my meal. I handed her my card.

  “That’s so cute. His girls are adorable. His wife is lucky.” Mia paid for her meal, and we headed out the door.

  “Yeah, lucky,” I repeated as we left.

  Chapter 4

  After Mia and I had our breakfast/lunch, I got ready for work, my mi
nd bouncing around with images of Branson. It was like he was one of those popular songs that played in my head over and over. I brushed my teeth, attempted to braid my hair and gave up. Instead, I curled it really fast and hair sprayed the heck out of it. When I was finished, I bounced down the stairs and came into the kitchen to say goodbye to my mom. She was sorting stacks of paper, or something like that. I don’t know what she was doing, but that’s what it looked like to me.

  “Hey, sweetie, off to work?” she asked, and I got a glimpse of her papers. They were flyers for different events our church hosts. There are other people who can do stuff like that for her at our church, but she likes to keep busy.

  “Yeah, I’m heading out right now. Are you doing anything special today?” I leaned and kissed her cheek. My mom shoved her papers in a neat little pile.

  “No, just organizing this stuff. My big ladies meeting is coming up on Friday. Are you and Mia planning on being there?” she asked. I knew she really, really wanted me to go. Mom’s meetings are great and all, but they are more geared toward 50-year-olds. I usually go anyways just to support her. Mia only goes because she gets a break from her crazy kids.

  “We are both planning on it. We talked about it earlier at lunch.” I gave my mom one final kiss and headed out the door. I drove to work with my worship music blasting. I love worship music. I’ve even written a couple songs that I kept buried on my computer. I don’t really want to be on the worship team. I pulled into the parking lot of Little Bit of Everything and headed inside.

  I punched in and waved to another employee as she got ready to go. We usually don’t have more than one person at a time that works here. It’s odd I know, but it’s a tiny craft store. Most of the time, I just stand there waiting for customers to come in. I straighten the store, but then after that there’s usually nothing to do.