Chapter 23
S trings of lights sparkled , illuminating the interior of the barn with their dim, romantic glow. People smiled, and welcomed newcomers, as the ragtag band in the corner warmed up their instruments. There was a fellow with a banjo, a couple of people with guitars, and a violin. An elderly gentleman was picking a cello or maybe a bass fiddle, Cash couldn't quite tell through the press of people.
If all of these people were in church on Sunday morning, the building wouldn't be able to handle the crowd, he thought to himself, the way a pastor often did.
Of course, he knew that there were reasons for some people to not be in church. The Clybourn's were a good example of that. Sometimes a person needed to take care of their animals, and couldn't make it. And sometimes emergencies happened. Then, of course, there were those who had to work, because they didn't get the weekends off.
But for the most part, people just didn't want to make the effort.
How would he explain to the Lord that he just didn't feel like going to church on Sunday morning? Then he didn't feel like getting together with other believers and worshiping God in a communal setting? That he was happier outside in his fishing boat or walking through the woods?
It was true, often Cash felt closer to the Lord when he was outside. But that wasn't necessarily the point of church. To give a person a feeling. It was to keep a person on the straight and narrow. To remind them that there were guardrails in place for their lives, that God expected a certain type of behavior from Christians.
That wasn't a popular teaching in this age of God loves everyone, and it's all about grace, yet... If a person claimed to be a Christian, and yet didn't act like it - and the world didn't have a problem figuring out what Christians were supposed to act like, then... They needed to be reminded. And that was part of the reason for Sunday church.
Worshiping God, yes, but also being reminded of what was expected behavior from Christians. After all, God said be ye holy as I am holy . And Jesus told Christians to follow after him, and to do what He did. How was a person supposed to know what Jesus did unless they read the Bible? And how were they supposed to know what holiness meant unless they read the Bible? And how were they supposed to be nudged back on the narrow way, unless they had a pastor to guide them like a shepherd?
He knew people who didn't appreciate pastors who preached on sin, and all of the things that made people uncomfortable. But, it was that very uncomfortableness that caused them to change their lives and point them more toward Jesus. If all they ever heard was about how they were doing just fine, and that everything was peachy keen, they would never be inspired to change.
Regardless, those were heavy thoughts for a barn dance, and he was here to romance his wife, not write a sermon. He felt like Ada and he had gotten to know each other; he felt like they had built a good friendship. He even felt like they were going to have an amazing partnership, where she had strengths that bolstered his weaknesses, and he had strengths that bolstered hers. He looked forward to the years to come as they grew and matured together.
But for now, he wanted to grow the romance part of their relationship. He wanted to deepen that part, which was just as important to him as everything else.
And, unless he missed his guess, Ada wanted children. Lots of them. They hadn't talked about it, but he thought he might tonight. It seemed like a good night for conversation like that.
"I love the atmosphere here. It's country, and welcoming, but it also is fun and..."
"Romantic?" he asked, with his brows raised.
"Yes. But not in the way of a candlelit dinner at a fancy restaurant, romantic in a, we're just common people and we don't need to put on airs in order to have fun kind of way." She grinned at him, and he knew exactly what she meant.
Maybe he had been wrong about his church in Virginia. It was a little more highbrow. After all, it was on the outskirts of DC, and while he probably didn't have any people driving that type of distance to get there, he did have retirees who had a lot of money, and expected things to be a certain way with a certain type of decorum.
He had every confidence that Ada could have integrated herself into that church and been an amazing pastor's wife. He knew she would have. But, she would be an even better pastor's wife here in Sweet Water. And, he thought he might be a better pastor too. This was a different type of people, and God was growing him and molding him to be a different type of pastor.
"Good evening," Ezra said, walking up to them. This time he held a different child in his arms, the baby that had been in the high chair when he had first visited their house.
"Hey Ezra," Ada said, walking to her brother and wrapping her arms around him.
He hugged her with the one free arm he had. And he looked over her head at Cash.
"How's the dealership?" he asked, an easy question that could be answered with as much or little detail as he preferred.
He liked that his wife came back to him and put her arm around his waist, showing that it was the two of them together.
"It's going very well. Very, very well," he said, smiling down at Ada. He didn’t know if she did it on purpose and knew what she was doing, or whether it was just a natural thing, but he appreciated the show of loyalty.
"Wow. Very very, that's pretty good."
"It is. I’d like to talk to you at some point. I've made a decision about the pastorate and if the offer’s still open, I'd like to talk."
"If you want to talk about your salary, I don't have any authority over that."
"No. That doesn't matter at all to me. I wanted to say that I want to take it if it ever opens up."
"Interesting timing. Pastor Stone was going to announce from the pulpit tomorrow that he is resigning. That's not common knowledge, so don't spread it around until tomorrow."
"Gotcha," he said. He knew how to keep a secret. Pastors needed to possess such a skill.
"Anyway, I might be able to talk to a few board members tonight and we might be able to put you out there as a candidate as early as tomorrow. The congregation will eventually have final say, because they’ll vote, and the board will want to talk to you."
"Understood. It’d be weird if they didn't," he said.
Ada grinned. "Doesn't look like you're afraid."
"I'm not. God will work it out if it's meant to be, and if it's not, that's just fine. He paused, and then he continued, "And if the pastorate for the Clybourn family is still open, I'm interested in that position as well. Just let me know where I can submit my application."
"You're hired," Ezra said, winking at him, and then grinning at Ada. "What are you feeding this fellow? He's awfully agreeable tonight."
"He's been thinking on it for quite a while, and he's pretty sure this is where God wants us. I'm excited about it."
"Me too. The family is going to love it. It hasn’t been the same without you around."
"You mean everyone else has been doing a lot more work now that Ada isn't around," Cash said with a wink at Ada.
She smacked his arm. "Ada does not mind doing any work. She loves doing whatever she can to help her family."
"I know. And that's part of the reason that I wanted to stay in Sweet Water. I really believe that's where you're meant to be. And God has worked things out so that I believe it's also where I’m meant to be as well.
She smiled at him then, and he knew he had made the right decision. Not just because Ada was happy, but because in his soul, he knew it was what he was supposed to do, even if it wasn't exactly what he wanted. Being in Sweet Water would make him happier than anything he would've done in Virginia.
Ezra said a few more words, and then he moved away.
The music started to play, and the tune was upbeat and happy; it looked like people were doing some type of two-step.
"Are you going to teach me this dance?" he asked, looking around at the people who were dancing, and then squeezing his wife close to him.
"I can try. I'm not that good at it. We might look rather ridiculous."
“Does that bother you?" he asked.
"I would rather look ridiculous with you, then good with anyone else," she said.
He figured that was probably the exact right answer.
They started out, and she was right. She wasn't that good, and he was awkward. She kept changing her mind about what the steps should look like, and he would no sooner learn something, then she would decide that it was wrong.
He was rather happy when the slower song came on, and he said, "Let's take a break from that one. I can just hold you for this one, can’t I? After all, that's the reason I have you here." His voice lowered a bit. She had come willingly into his arms, so he said the last few words with his mouth right by her ear.
"That's the reason I agreed to come," she said, and he could feel her smile against his neck.
He didn't know if he could be happier, but he was guessing he probably could. It was just a theory though.
"So, on the airplane, you mentioned our children. I wondered how many of those you wanted to have?"
"Seventeen," she said immediately.
"Seventeen? And that's an exact number?"
"Yes."
"Can I ask what is special about seventeen?" he asked, wanting to laugh. She'd been so determined, and the answer came so quickly.
"I don't know. It just sounded like enough."
He laughed. "All right. Seventeen. Maybe we can renegotiate when we’ve had about four?"
"Oh. You want to chicken out when you hit four, is that it?"
"I don’t know if I can support seventeen children on a small town preacher’s salary."
"Then we might have to buy a ranch and put the kids to work, and start trying to grow our own food, so it doesn't cost so much."
"It seems to me like you might have had some wise counsel about this."
"Or experience," she said cheerfully.
They slowly turned on the dance floor. He was probably holding his wife a little closer than might be appropriate for a pastor and his wife, but they weren't in that position yet, and they were newlyweds. Surely they got a little bit of a pass for a month or two after the wedding?
"All right. Seventeen kids, no negotiating."
"That's what I wanted to hear," she said.
"So, my next question is... When do you want to get started on having these seventeen children?"
She was quiet for a moment. And, if he hadn't been so invested in the answer, he might have smiled and laid his cheek on the top of her head. She wasn't quite so quick on the draw with this one.
"I think we better practice a little before we actually get started," she finally said, her words coming slow. He had a feeling if he leaned back, he would see her cheeks getting red, and she might have trouble meeting his eyes. The thought made him smile, and he did lay his cheek on top of her head.
"Practicing? An interesting idea. So, you want to practice before we actually have children?"
"No. I want to practice before we start having children."
"All right. When should we start practicing?" he asked, and then he held his breath. He had tried to go a little bit slow with his wife, and he’d succeeded so far, but he’d been doing it for her.
"Tonight?" she said, and her voice sounded a little squeaky, like she pushed the word out when her throat wanted to close around it and keep it in.
"I was kind of hoping you would say that." He kissed the side of her temple, and then laid his cheek there. "I think tonight sounds like a really good time."
"So, you said we were too old to make out."
"I don't think we're too old to make out. I think we're just too old to call it making out. But, I couldn't think of anything else that would be better."
"Well. For lack of a better word, I think that we ought to take a walk outside, and see if we can find a good spot to...do whatever it is that you think we ought to do that is making out but not called making out."
"Are you propositioning me?" he asked. "Mrs. Johnson. I'm surprised."
"Was that a no?" she said, and she allowed a whiny, petulant tone into her voice. It was adorable, because it was so not Ada.
"No. That was definitely a yes." He didn't say anything more, but dropped his hands from around her, and grabbed a hold of her hand, as they found their way to the back barn door.
He opened it, and she slipped out along with him.
He didn't figure anyone noticed. The lights were dim, and maybe it would be good to remember that this might not be a good place to take their teenagers.
But, they were safely married and had been for some time, and he wasn't too worried.
"I've always thought this would be a good place, right here," Ada said, leading him to a bush that did indeed provide very good cover for anyone who wanted to make out.
"I feel like you put some thought into this," he said, stopping and pulling her around to face him.
She came easily.
"Maybe. Maybe I just look forward to it. And, even more so when I had a face to put with the idea."
"Interesting. What did this face look like?"
She looked up at him, and said, “Well, it was a little bit taller than me, but not so much that I couldn't reach up and do this," she said, standing on her toes, and kissing his chin.
"That was nice,” he said, maybe for encouragement, but also meaning it.
"Or this," she said, pressing herself to him, and putting her arms around his neck.
"That's pretty nice too."
"I'm feeling that way as well. But, when I pictured it, this handsome face that I was thinking about, met me halfway."
She lifted her lips up, and he did just that. Met her halfway, and then some. He kissed his wife the way he'd wanted to since the day they got married. The way he hadn't kissed her, because he wanted to give her time to get used to him, and maybe fall in love with him a little.
He had waited long enough, and he had to admit the kiss was definitely worth the wait.
He lifted his head a little, and trailed a kiss along her cheek to her temple. "I love you."
"I love you too. Thank you. This is the best barn dance I've ever been to."
"Already? We’re only two dances in. Who knows what's going to happen."
"Yeah. Who knows. But I'm pretty sure, whatever it is, it's going to be wonderful."
He figured he could make sure of that, and he lowered his head again, smiling as he did so. With Ada, everything was wonderful, and he didn’t expect that to change.
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T hanks so much for reading!