LOST, BUT FOUND (EXCERPT)

Jessica turned to look at Anna. “What happened?”

“Excuse me?” Anna said startled. She had been staring at the other woman’s clothes and she had missed the question or something.

“I asked what happened. How come you’re in a wheel chair?”

Anna thought about it for a few moments. “Are you asking because you really want to know or you’re just trying to make polite conversation?”

Jessica’s mouth turned up at one side in a hint of a smile. “I’m sure a lot of people won’t think it’s polite actually. They would think I was being intrusive.”

Anna stared at her in silence for so long that Jessica wondered whether she was going to answer the question.

“I’m very sorry,” Anna said. “Please sit down.” She waited for the other woman to settle into the chair. “I was in my first year of college. I went out for drinks with some friends. It seems that we all had a few too many drinks. No one was sober enough to drive or to tell the person who drove not to drive. We all should have taken a taxi or something. On the way back to school, we had an accident. We hit another vehicle. There were five of us in the car that night. I was the only one who survived although I later found out that I was paralysed from the waist down.”

Jessica shivered. “I’m sorry.”

Anna shrugged. “I really don’t think about it that much anymore. I’ve accepted what happened. I don’t beat myself asking if the story would have been different if we hadn’t gone drinking that night. Or if only we had taken a taxi. You just hurt yourself more that way.” She shook her head. “I’m sorry, I didn’t offer you anything. What will you have? I’m sorry I don’t have any alcohol but there’s soda.”

Jessica shook her head. “I don’t want anything.”

Folding her hands in her lap to stop them from trembling, Anna looked at her. “Why are you here? I’m sure that you didn’t come just to ask about why I’m in a wheel chair.”

Jessica looked at her, her eyes narrowing. “If I remember correctly, you’re the one who came to me. You also didn’t object when I asked us to exchange numbers and addresses so that we could keep in touch.”

Anna was silent. The other woman was right.

“I came to ask you why you decided to come and introduce yourself,” Jessica said. “And I also came to find out if you were actually miserable and unhappy.”

Anna was taken aback. “Why?”

Jessica smiled but there was no mirth in her eyes. “Let’s just say that since I met you again a few weeks ago, I’ve been wondering what would have happened if I had done some things differently.”

“Meaning you’re comparing your life to mine and you think yours falls short somehow so you’ve come to see if I am, as you put it “actually miserable and unhappy”.”

The smile on Jessica’s face grew wider. “I see that you’re smart.”

“So, what conclusion have you come to?” Anna asked stiffly. So she had come here to compare their lives. Anna was sure that she held failed whatever test had been applied.

Jessica didn’t answer the question but instead turned her head to look around the room. There were a few pictures of Anna and her husband around the room. They were smiling and looked extremely happy in the pictures. There was also a couple of a baby.

“Where’s your child?” Jessica asked. “It it a boy or a girl?”

“A boy,” Anna answered. “He’s with Ben’s parents for the day. Ben and I wanted to catch up on some work.”

“How old is he?”

“He’s 2.”

“So why did you come to me?” Jessica asked again, turning her attention back to Anna. “You said quite a few nasty things to me the last time we spoke.”

“Let’s just say that we were friends once and when I saw you some part of me thought that maybe we could be friends again. Or something like that,” Anna added as she rubbed her eyes. “Let’s just say that I didn’t really think it through.”

Jessica considered the answer. “So you thought that once you came over and introduced yourself, I would fall on your neck in happiness and gratitude that you wanted to be my friend again?”

“I didn’t say that,” Anna said through gritted teeth. “Look, I’m sorry that I came over to you. I really don’t appreciate you coming here and making fun of me. I think maybe it’s time that you left.”

Jessica looked at her for a few moments. “I didn’t steal him from you,” she said softly.

“Excuse me?” Anna seemed to have trouble understanding things at the moment.

“I said that I didn’t steal him from you,” Jessica said, her voice stronger. “He didn’t want to go out with you.”

“You don’t have to explain anything to me,” Anna said quickly. Even though it was all in the past, she was surprised to feel a twinge of hurt that someone she had liked had not like her back. If it was that way, she didn’t want Jessica dredging up old memories.

But Jessica couldn’t stop. The words she had wanted to say all those years ago were building up inside her and she needed to let them out.

“I didn’t even know that I liked him but we met that weekend when you went to your grandparents and we got talking.” The words were falling over themselves, seemingly in a hurry to leave her mouth before she forgot them. “That was when I knew that I liked him. He asked me to go out with him and I wanted to say no because I knew you liked him. But I also desperately wanted to say yes.”

Anna felt like pressing her fists to her ears so that she wouldn’t hear the words but she didn’t. Her hands stayed in her laps.

“I always wanted to tell you but I didn’t have the courage. I knew you would be angry. Peter wanted to tell you but I told him not to. I wanted to be the one to tell you but I just couldn’t summon enough courage to do it. Peter said that if I didn’t tell you, you would find out and that it would be worse. He was right.”

Anna wheeled herself toward the other woman and held one of her hands as she cut into the flow. “I understand Jessica. The thing was that it was Peter’s choice to make who he wanted to go out with but I didn’t want to understand. I was hurt. My pride was injured and I took it out on you. I’m sorry.”

Her words seemed to take the wind out of Jessica’s sails. She looked blankly at Anna as if she didn’t understand what she had said.

Anna continued. “I’m sorry that I was so mean to you. You gave me your friendship and I tossed it back into your face. It was terrible of me. Forgive me?”

Jessica pulled her hand out from Anna’s own and stood up. She went to the window of the apartment, staring out sightlessly at the scenery.

The silence in the room stretched out till Anna wished she would say something, anything to fill the silence.

“I think that’s why I came to you at the antique center. I was hoping that maybe we could start afresh, be friends again. To know that you had forgiven me. I know that God has forgiven me and that Jesus has taken all my sins away. But I would love to know that you too had forgiven me.”

Jessica turned from her position by the window. “What’s this? God has forgiven you? Jesus has taken away your sins? You’re beginning to sound like my parents with all their religious babble. Don’t tell me that you’re one of them now?” she asked as she gave a mirthless laugh.

Anna straightened her body as much as she could and held herself up with dignity. I don’t know what you mean by “one of them”, but if you’re asking if I’m a Christian, yes I am. I believe in God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Bible. Everything.”

Jessica was shocked. For the first time she looked at Anna. It was then she noticed some of the things that were different about her. The extra piercings in her were not in use and the few tattoos she had were gone. Anna, a Christian?

It wasn’t as if she considered Anna the greatest sinner in the world or anything like that because she didn’t believe in those things. But if there was someone from her high school days who she would have said would be the last person to become a Christian, it would be Anna.

“So you believe in Jesus and all that nonsense now? And you probably want me to say that I’ve forgiven you so that you can feel better.”

Anna shrugged. “It’s not about me feeling better Jessica. I’m just sorry that I hurt you.”

“Why did you become a Christian? Was it after the accident?” Jessica asked. “Did you convert because you thought that a non-existent God was going to suddenly forgive your drunken mistake and miraculously “heal” your legs? Even when you know that you’re never going to walk again?”

Even as the words came out, Jessica knew that she had said too much. She watched as Anna’s face lost its color and became ashen. She wanted to apologise as soon as the words came out.

“That’s enough. I think you’ve said more than enough and I think you should leave.”

Jessica turned to see Ben Palmer who had walked into the room unnoticed. There were bags of groceries on the floor where he had evidently dropped them. Fruit rolled on the floor and a few found their way under the settee.

“I ...”

“I said that enough Mrs. Carver,” Ben Palmer said his face flushed and his voice high and angry. “I don’t know who you think you are coming here to insult and upset my wife but I think you should leave. Now.”

Jessica looked from Ben Palmer to his wife. Anna was crying, the tears rolling down her cheeks. Her chest was beginning to heave with the sobs wracking her body.

“I just ...”

“I don’t want to hear anything from you. I suggest you leave now before I physically throw you out.”

Jessica looked at his hands and saw that they were clenching and unclenching by his side. He looked angry enough to carry out his threat. It seemed that it might be wise to do as he said. She walked back to the chair she had sat on and picked up her bag from the table beside it. She walked past Ben Palmer on her way to the door and she could have sworn she felt the anger emanating from him. She opened the door and turned to look at Anna one last time. The other woman was sobbing openly now. She felt something painful in her chest. Then she walked through the door and closed it behind her.

Ben Palmer waited till he heard the door close behind the intruder, then he hurried to kneel beside his wife’s wheel chair and hold her as she cried.

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelson publishers.http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU000194087/Deceptio.aspx and LOST, BUT FOUND available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/.

LOST, BUT FOUND (EXCERPT)

Anna was looking around the sitting room. The place was lovely. It was a beautiful blend of antiques and modern furniture. She wondered if the place had been done by Jessica or by an interior decorator. She would bet that it was the latter. The whole place spoke of wealth. Again seeing evidence of the wealth that Jessica lived in made her start feeling sorry for herself all over again. Her apartment was nothing compared to this. In fact it looked downright shabby.

Stop it, a voice in her head said. She might not have all that Jessica had but at least she had Ben and their son and she was happy. And nothing could take that from her. Jessica might have all this but who knew if she was happy? And besides, she didn’t have the most important thing of all, even with all her wealth.

“I’m surprised that you’re here.”

Anna was startled out of her reverie by the words. She turned her wheel chair to see Jessica coming into the room behind her. As usual, she seemed to be dressed in the latest and definitely expensive looking clothes.

“I would have thought I was last person you would want to see,” Jessica continued as she sat on a settee that was opposite to Anna. Her words came out stilted and forced.

“I know,” Anna replied. “But I felt led to come and speak to you.”

Jessica stiffened. So Anna felt led. Jessica had grown up hearing her father say such things. It was supposedly Christianese for saying that some greater power was at work. It was a Christian’s way of saying that he was being made to do something he would normally not have done. Or something like that.

“Really,” Jessica said. She looked at her watch wondering how long she would let her speak before she threw her out.

Anna saw her looking at her watch and suddenly felt nervous. All that she had wanted to say and the order she had wanted to say them in became a jumble. She had to find a way to get her point across.

“Remember what you said when you were over at my place?” Anna asked. “What you said about me becoming a Christian just because I thought God would heal me?”

Jessica stiffened. “I believe I apologised for that. I’m sorry if I caused any offence.....”

“You were right,” Anna said cutting into Jessica’s rambling.

“Excuse me?” Jessica said, confused. She thought that was why she had brought it up, to get an apology from her.

“I said you were right,” Anna said speaking out. “For a long time, the reason I was calling myself a Christian was because I wanted something from God. I wasn't serving God because I should. I was serving him because I wanted something from him.”

Jessica was silent. She didn't know what to say. She thought both of them were the same thing.

“When the accident happened, I blamed myself every day. I used to tell myself that if I only I hadn't gone out drinking, I would still be walking. Or that if only I hadn't gone into the car not caring that the driver was drunk, I would still be walking. On the other hand, I thought about how life was so unfair and that God must be so wicked that he allowed it to happen. You can imagine that I wasn't a very happy person in those days. I could say that I was depressed.”

Anna stared into space as her mind went back to the days following her accident. “In the end, I slipped into denial. I began to tell myself that the doctor must be wrong and that I was still going to walk. Every day when I woke up, I expected that I was going to be able to move my legs. That I would suddenly get up from my wheel chair and begin to walk to every one’s astonishment.”

“I couldn't really find any peace from the worries on my mind so I began to go to the church in the evenings to pray. Then just because I felt there was nothing else to do, I started going to church. I would come late and sit at the back and then leave before the service was over.”

“Then one day, I got to church and the pastor was preaching about how there was nothing God could not do. How there was nothing impossible for God. He said that there was no disease, no sickness that God did not have a cure for. That all we needed to do was believe and have faith and trust in him like a child.”

Anna’s face lightened up with a smile as she remembered. “There and then I decided that if God could make me walk again even if the doctors had failed, I was going to try him. So when there was an altar call that day, I came out. I converted to Christianity because of my selfish desires. All the talk of being a sinner, needing Jesus, being repentant, everything went over my head. I didn't think I was a sinner at all. My whole aim was to get God to heal me.”

“I fasted and prayed for months that God would just make me walk again. It was as if that was all God existed for. To ensure he did all within his power to make sure I walked again. I went back to college and I started attending fellowship. I did everything I could do to deserve that healing. I practically worked or it. I didn’t mind all the people who made fun of me as I knew what I was going to get from God.”

“It was in college that I met Ben. From the first day that we met, I knew that there was something special about him. We hit it off immediately. But I was scared. I wondered what someone like him would want with someone like me who was in a wheel chair. But I would like to think he looked past the shriveled body and saw something that even I didn't know was there.”

“He was the one that made me understand that God is not some waiter waiting at our beck and call just to grant our demands. That God doesn't really need us but we are the ones who need him. Salvation and becoming a Christian isn't about God taking all our pain away, it’s about helping us bear the pain and trouble we go through so that we can share God’s love with other people.”

“I honestly believe that God does have the power to heal. I honestly believe that God can heal me. But I believe even more that God has a purpose for each of our lives. I believe that he uses the circumstances we go through to minister to us and to the people that we meet. Like he told Paul, his grace is sufficient for us. His intention is that even in the midst of our pain and trouble we will come to know and understand the purpose that he has for our lives.”

“I used to think that life was all about me. But I have come to understand that life is not about me but it’s about the people I meet every day. It’s about the people who come into my life and those who I meet. God wants us to be able to reflect him properly to them and show them his love.”

Jessica shifted uncomfortably in her seat.  She wasn't comfortable with all this talk. She wanted to ask Anna to leave but she didn't say anything.

“I believe that there is something on the inside of every man that makes you search for God. That makes you want to worship him. It’s when people don’t find him that they worship other things like wood, snakes, trees, iron, and goats. It’s when people don’t know where to look for him that they end worshiping the wrong things or they end up in a cult.”

“There are people who have come to God because they heard someone preach about him. Then there are those who find him in times of great pain and trouble or personal grief. But regardless of how they found him, they realised that they needed him and they held on to him. I believe that regardless of who we are or what we are or are not going through, we all need God.”

Anna held up something she had been holding in her lap. It was a small book and she held it out to Jessica. “That’s why I brought this. It’s a Bible. I’m not so foolish as to ask you to make a decision right now. But I want you to have this. I want you to read it and I’ll be hoping and praying for you that you find him too.”

Jessica stared at the Bible as if she had been offered a snake. She folded her arms across her chest and said, “Thank you but I think I’ll keep my problems to myself.” She made no move to accept the Bible.

Anna wasn't surprised. To be honest, she was a little hurt but she wasn't surprised. She wheeled herself over to a table and dropped the Bible on it. She turned to Jessica and smiled. “Thank you so much for your time, I really appreciate it. I’ll be on my way.”

Jessica followed her to the door. Just before they got to the door, it burst open with some force and Catherine stormed into the house. She slammed the door after her and began storming into the room. She stopped in her tracks when she saw her mother and another woman in a wheel chair.

“What’s wrong Catherine?” Jessica asked.

“I am so not going to be friends with Carrie again,” Catherine said fuming, “She is so mean.” She however refused to elaborate on how Casey had been mean. She was also busy staring at Anna as if she was from Mars.

Anna held out a hand to the girl and smiled. “Hello. My name is Anna. Anna Palmer.”

Catherine’s eyes widened as she shook hands with her. “I’m Catherine. Are you the one who fought with my mom over a boy in high school?”

“Catherine!”Jessica shouted, embarrassed.

Anna didn't know who was more embarrassed, her or Jessica. However, she was more surprised than embarrassed. She was looking at Catherine in surprise and there was a question in her eye. She would never have thought that Jessica had a daughter this old. The girl looked like thirteen or fourteen.

“It’s nice to meet you Catherine. I was just leaving. Maybe I’ll see you some other time,” Anna said as she wheeled herself through the door that Jessica held open. “Bye.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

Jessica closed the door behind her and walked back into the sitting room behind her daughter.

“You didn't tell me what happened between you and Carrie.”

“I don’t want to talk about it mom. At least not now,” Catherine said. She looked down and saw the book on the table. “What’s this?” she asked as she picked it up the Bible from the table. She opened the leather bound cover to look at first page. “Oh, it’s a Bible.” She looked at her mother in surprise. “Are you the one reading the Bible mom? Is it yours?”

Jessica removed the book from her daughter’s hands. “It must be Anna’s. She must have forgotten it. I’ll keep it for her.”

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelson publishers.http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU000194087/Deceptio.aspx and LOST, BUT FOUND available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/.

LOST, BUT FOUND (EXCERPT)

The entire congregation watched Greg as he made his way to the pulpit. By now, everyone in church knew that he was taking over from Bill Wilkinson in a couple of month’s time. Bill had already preached that morning so people wondered what it was he wanted to come and say. People whispered to each other trying to guess the reason for his speech or whatever it was.

Greg walked to the pulpit feeling the stares of the people on him. He had never felt this nervous before in all his years in the ministry. His knees felt like buckling under the weight of all the attention directed at him and he felt like running away. But he sent up a prayer for strength and continued walking toward the pulpit. It had never seemed so far away.

Ruth watched her husband walk up the steps to the stage as he made for the pulpit with a lump in her throat and a deep feeling of sadness in her heart. She had tried to dissuade him from his decision but he had refused to be moved. In a way she understood his decision but she felt it wasn’t necessary.

Jessie watched her father walk up to the pulpit and accept the microphone from Bill Wilkinson. Her parents had supported her decision to keep the baby. They had even said that if she wanted to marry Peter and go to New York with him as he had asked her to, they would give their permission. They had made it clear that all they were concerned about were her happiness and her welfare. Even though they had been extremely supportive, a distance had somehow developed between Jessie and her parents and she didn’t know how to bridge it. There was no laughter between them anymore and Jessie wished things could go back to the way they had been before. She wished that things had turned out differently for everyone. She was surprised when her mother took hold of her hand. She looked up at her mother who smiled at her wanly and turned back to look at Greg.

“Good morning church. As you know, Bill Wilkinson is retiring in a couple of months time,” Greg began, leaning one hand on the pulpit, “and I was chosen by the church’s board of trustees. Out of all the people who applied for the position, they felt that I was the best person to do the job. That for me was so humbling. I would like to thank Bob Carlisle and the entire members of the trustees’ board for their faith in my ability to do the work. I however want say that I will no longer be taking up the post of pastor here at New Earth Evangelical Church.”

The noise from a lot of people speaking together almost put him off but he continued, ignoring them all. “I have recently come into possession of certain information that would make it impossible for me to discharge my duties here at the church to the best of my ability. I wouldn’t want a situation where the word of God was treated with levity or there was a pointing of fingers due to certain circumstances. I do not seek to justify what has happened, but it has made it impossible for me to discharge the duties imposed on me as a pastor with all good conscience.”

“I have this morning informed the trustees of my decision to leave and once again I thank them for the opportunity given to me to lead this great people. I’m very grateful. I apologise for leaving everyone in the lurch like this and I take full responsibility. God bless you all.”

Greg handed the microphone back to a surprised Bill Wilkinson and walked off the stage. The entire congregation had by now lapsed into silence. One or two people clapped but when they saw that hardly anyone else was joining in, they stopped. As Greg got off the stage, Ruth stood up with her arms around Jessie and together they all walked out of the church.

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelson publishers.http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU000194087/Deceptio.aspx and LOST, BUT FOUND available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/. You can follow him on Twitter @Cruz_JCReal

LOST, BUT FOUND (EXCERPT)

Ruth dove to the center of town and stopped in front of the grocery store. Getting out of the car she walked inside. The bell above the door chimed as she opened it, announcing her presence. She joined the small queue at the counter and waited her turn to be served.

“Good afternoon,” she said, smiling when it got to her turn.

The woman behind the counter smiled back at Ruth. She was in her fifties and her brown hair was almost completely gray. She was small in stature but there was a sparkle in her eyes. “And good afternoon to you too. And what would you be ordering  today?”

“I was thinking of doing some baking for my husband and my daughter,” Ruth answered. “I would like some flour, eggs and some other stuff.” She handed over a list of the things she wanted with the required quantities.

The other woman went about gathering the things that were on Ruth’s list. “You’re new around here aren't you?” she asked, turning her head to look at Ruth.

“Yes,” Ruth said, smiling back.

“Let me guess, you’re not from around these parts,” the woman said as she continued searching for the required items.

“No I’m not. My husband, Greg and Jessie our daughter and I came from Boston, although we are originally from Vermont. My name is Ruth. Ruth Myskill.”

“Pauline. Pauline Foster. So what are city people like you looking for around these parts?”

“My husband Greg got a job here, so we all followed. Hopefully we will be here for a long time.”

“Really?” the woman said turning to look at Ruth with a quizzical frown on her face. “What job is that? I didn't know there was an opening at the high school.”

“It’s not at the high school,” Ruth answered smiling. “My husband is the new pastor at the New Earth Evangelical Church. That is, he is going to be the pastor when Bill Wilkinson retires.”

Suddenly the other woman’s back seemed to stiffen and her movements slower. “The new pastor? I thought Bill was going to continue?”

“Well, you know he’s going to be 75 soon and he has to retire,” Ruth said slowly. She watched as the other woman turned around and moved to the computer to ring up the purchases. The smile had disappeared from the other woman’s face and she had a not-too-pleased look on her face.

“So the church board are still thinking of kicking him out from his church,” Pauline said bitterly punching the computer keys in anger. “We thought they had forgotten about all that nonsense.”

“No one is kicking him out,” Ruth replied mesmerized by the woman’s hands and the anger that moved them.

“And I say that it’s not fair for them to be kicking him out just like that,” the other woman replied in anger. “After all that he has done for the church and the town.”

This time Ruth was silent, not knowing what to say. The other woman was definitely aggrieved with the church board and she didn't want her to find another target in Greg or herself.

“It’s just disgraceful,” Pauline said as she began to pack the items in paper bags. “Disgraceful I say. What do they want him to do when they chase him out? Where is he supposed to go? That will be twenty five dollars fifty cents.”

Ruth brought out her wallet to get money to pay for the groceries now wishing she hadn't come to the shop or introduced herself. It seemed her simple plan of getting to know the people hadn't been so simple after all. She collected her change from Pauline, mumbled a quick thank you and made a quick exit out of the door.

Ruth walked back outside, feeling slightly relieved that she had made it safely out of the grocery store. She walked with the bags to the car and put them in the back. She got into the car but she didn't start the engine, thinking about the little episode in the grocery store. If she’d had slight misgivings before, now she was very worried. If Pauline’s view was representative of the people who attended New Earth Evangelical Church, it seemed that they didn't want Bill Wilkinson to leave.  So where did that leave Greg?

Driving slowly through the center of town, she noticed a coffee shop. She parked in front and got out. She wanted to think and she didn't think she would be able to that at home. Jessie would soon be back and she would get caught up house work again. She needed time alone to herself to think about the situation her family had found themselves in. She walked into the coffee shop and sat at one of the tables, looking round as she waited for someone to come and take her order.

There were few customers there at that hour. Quite a few of the people seated there were in military uniforms. Some were with female companions, some were alone. Ruth remembered that Greg had told her that Fort Rucker the home of Army Aviation was close by and that one of the entrances to the army base was just on the outskirts of the town. Apart from the military types, there were a few other men in the room, taking their time over their coffee. They didn’t look like there was anything they were in a hurry to get to. They didn't seem to have a care in the world.

“May I take your order?”

Ruth jumped, startled by the voice. She turned in the direction it had come from and the sight of a protruding stomach covered by a red check apron filled her vision. She looked up at the owner of the protruding stomach. The woman looked to be in her late twenties with a mass of brown hair that hung limply from her face. Beads of sweat ran down her face. Whether it was from the hot kitchen or from the strain of carrying the weight in her tummy, Ruth didn't know.  It was probably a combination of both, she guessed.

Smiling to win the trust of a stranger for the second time that day, Ruth said, “Good afternoon. Do you have coffee? Preferably decaf.”

“Sure we do.”

“Then can I get a cup of coffee?”

“Sure you can,” the other woman replied, smiling back as she scribbled with her pencil in the notepad she held in her hand. “One cup of decaf coffee coming up. Will that be all or will you be having anything with it? We have pecan pie and muffins if you want.”

“I’ll take the pecan pie,” Ruth replied.

“Okay,” the other woman said as she walked away.

As soon as the waitress went away to fulfill her order, Ruth became lost in her thoughts and they were not pleasant ones. It seemed Greg was already facing an uphill battle winning over his parishioners without them getting to know him or his doctrine first. And it was all because they seemed to be attached to their current pastor who was supposed to retire but who himself seemed too attached to the position. All of which didn't bode well for Greg.

She was deep in thought about how everything was going to work out when the waitress arrived with her coffee. She however didn't notice the other woman until she placed the cup of coffee and the plate with the pie in front of her. Snapping out of her somber thoughts, she looked at the food set before. Now, it seemed she didn't have the appetite for the pie. “Thank you,” she said.

The waitress nodded in response. “You seemed pretty much lost in thought.”

Ruth sighed. “I have a lot of things on my mind. There’s a situation and I don’t see how it can be resolved without someone getting hurt.”

“That’s bad. You wanna talk about it?”

“I really don’t know,” Ruth said undecided. She didn't think it was right to unload all her troubles on a total stranger. Besides, for all she knew, the woman was one of the people in support of Bill Wilkinson.

“If what you’re worried about is that I’m going to blab about it, all I can say is that you don’t know me. I know quite a lot of people who talk about me behind my back. I don’t like it so I don’t do it to others,” the waitress said firmly as she settled in the seat opposite to Ruth.

Ruth felt reassured. “The thing is that it has to do with Bill Wilkinson.”

“Bill Wilkinson,” the other woman repeated woodenly, stiffening perceptibly. Her hands clenched and unclenched themselves involuntarily on the table. Ruth however noticed none of this. She was lost in her thoughts.

“The thing is that Bill Wilkinson is supposed to retire as the pastor of the New Earth Evangelical Church in like six months time. The church board has chosen my husband to replace him and the thing is .....”

“I see,” the other woman said as she stood up abruptly from the chair. Her movements were awkward because of the size of her stomach but she managed it. “I see. So your husband is replacing Bill Wilkinson. So, is he going to come here himself to do his dirty work himself unlike Bill or is that why you’re here? To do it for him?” By now her voice had risen and several other people in the room had risen as well. Everyone was staring at them.

To say that Ruth was embarrassed was an understatement. She stood up as well, reaching out to the other woman, trying to pacify her. “I really don’t know what you mean. I was just trying to say ...”

“You don’t have to say anything,” the other woman said bitterly. “Bill and Ida have said everything that could be said. I don’t go where I’m not wanted and Bill and Ida have made it crystal clear I’m not wanted at their church. Unless you've come to repeat what they've already said. Don’t worry, neither I nor my “bastard” will ever darken the door of your church,” she said with feeling. Her hands were clasped in front of her belly as if to protect her unborn child from Ruth.

Ruth recoiled as if she had been slapped. The word shocked her and made her stomach roll. She couldn't understand what the other woman had just said. Had Bill and his wife really used that word about her unborn child? While she had assumed that the other woman was married, she wasn't one to condemn some other person like that.

“Wait, you don’t understand. It’s not like that,” she said trying to explain. “It’s not what you think.”

“Lady, I think it’s time you left.”

Ruth turned to see one of the military types coming towards them. He stopped for a moment to put his arms around the waitress. “Are you alright Bee?” he asked. She couldn't get the words out to answer him because she seemed to be on the verge of hyperventilating. He turned to look at Ruth with menace in his eyes. “I thought I told you to get out?”

Ruth wanted to stand her ground but she could see there was no use attempting to speak reasonably with anyone. Everyone in the coffee shop was looking at her with venom in their eyes.

“I’m so sorry,” she said as she began to pack her things from the table. “I’m really very sorry. I didn't mean .....”

“Get out,” the man snarled as he held the waitress he had referred to as Bee in his arms, offering her comfort. “Get out and don’t come back.

With one last apologetic look in the woman’s direction, Ruth walked out of the coffee shop.

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelson publishers.http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU000194087/Deceptio.aspx and LOST, BUT FOUND available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/. You can follow him on Twitter @Cruz_JCReal