Chapter 9
Mark pulled the last sleeping bag out of the dryer.
His washer had been doing laundry nonstop for what felt like forever. But all the sleeping bags the church had were now fully washed and dried and ready for the storm.
He wasn't entirely sure that people would actually come to the church, but he wanted to be prepared. About the time he wasn't, the lights would be out for a week.
He thought about Olivia in the candle shop by herself with her twins.
She hadn't mentioned not having a good relationship with her parents, nor had she mentioned any siblings.
He wished he would've asked, because he wondered now if she was truly alone.
As alone as he was. Although he didn't really think of himself as being alone, not with his church family.
But not everyone was as involved in the church as he was, of course, considering that he was the pastor.
Still, there was a nagging sense of needing to make sure that Olivia was okay. He wasn't entirely sure that it was just because she was alone, either.
He felt an interest in her that went above and beyond his pastoral duties.
Lord, I don't want to be inappropriate or act out of place. If how I feel about Olivia is going to cause me to stumble, I pray that you'll show me somehow that I need to change things so that your work is never in jeopardy.
That was one thing about being a pastor. Other people had a tendency to hold him to a higher standard than what any normal person was held to.
He already held himself to a high standard, but with the added pressure of other people, sometimes it got to be a little much.
That's when he would go to the Lord and admit that he cared a lot about what other people thought, but it was mostly because he didn't want to drive people away from the Lord because of his actions.
The single biggest reason that people gave him for not going to church was because it was full of hypocrites.
He couldn't always square that, because no one was perfect. Every single person who came to church was a sinner, no matter how long they had been a Christian, up to and including the man behind the pulpit. He ought to know.
But still, people acted all holier-than-thou at times within the church walls, and then after they left, it was shocking to him how Christians could act worse than non-Christians.
He shook his head. Those were all thoughts of a pastor, and problems that he couldn't solve.
Yes, there were hypocrites in the church.
There always had been, and they always would be, because humans were sinful creatures.
And they were just as prone to being hypocrites as they were to being liars and adulterers and thieves and fornicators. Unfortunately.
But of course, that didn't mean that it wasn't his job to preach on all of those things from the pulpit, as well as to remind everyone that no matter how much they sinned, God still loved them.
It was the message of hope and grace that he loved the most, but sin still needed to be preached on as well.
His next sermon was practically writing itself, he thought to himself as he finished folding up the sleeping bag and carried it through the room that connected the parsonage to the church.
It was clever the way whoever had designed it, where a person could walk from the church to the parsonage without ever setting foot outside.
He put his hands on his hips and looked around the big activity room.
Most of the tables were down, although there were a few up in the corner where people could eat if it came to that.
There were plenty of spaces for families to stake out an area for their own.
He even had a few tents, cots and camp chairs as well.
Lord, I don't want anyone to get hurt in the storm, but I am thankful that we have a place for people to go. Please let people be willing to come and be safe here. Help me to be a blessing to them.
Curious to see if the snow had started, Mark walked to the window to look out on the road, as headlights flashed and a car pulled into the parking lot of the church.
It didn't seem like it was going very fast, and he couldn't tell exactly what was wrong with it, but it didn't look quite right.
Maybe it was lopsided in some way. He squinted to get a better look, noting that there were a few flurries coming down, but nothing major had started, at least not yet.
Maybe his eyes were deceiving him, and there was nothing wrong with the car. Maybe someone was stopping by the church to deliver some supplies.
Or it could just be someone meeting someone else. Regardless, he turned around, walking back into the parsonage where he could grab his coat, purposefully shoving his arms into it and opening up the door and hurrying out.
Whoever it was had already gotten out of their car and was looking at the front wheel.
It looked like a woman, although they had a hat and coat on, and in the dark, with only the streetlights for light, he couldn't tell for sure.
Still, he was pretty sure it was someone who needed help.
"Excuse me?" he said as he came around the front of the car, not wanting to startle whoever it was.
The person looked up, her eyes wide, and immediately he recognized Olivia.
"Olivia," he said, thinking it interesting that he had just been thinking about her. He glanced at the wheel in front of her. "A flat tire?" It was a question, but a statement as well, because it was obvious the tire was flat.
"Yeah. And I know I don't have a spare, because I didn't replace it when the other front tire went flat earlier this fall. I had intended to put snow tires on closer to winter, and I guess I was hoping they would hold out a bit longer."
"I've done that before. You always hope there's a little more life in them.
" That, and he always hoped that he would somehow have more money in the next month than he did in the current one.
But he didn't say that. If that was what Olivia was doing, he didn't want to embarrass her by pointing it out.
"Exactly."
"Do you have the boys with you?" he asked, as a gust of wind blew and he shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his coat, while a long strand of Olivia's hair blew across her face.
She pushed it back with one mittened hand and glanced at the car.
"Yeah. I just got finished delivering the candles that needed to go before the storm, and I have one more delivery to make, although... it doesn't have to go."
"How about you guys come on into the parsonage and get warmed up, while I call Tom's Towing and see if he'd be able to come out and put a tire on. I think I can figure out what size these are."
Relief washed over her face, but only for a second. Then her brows drew down in a stubborn, mulish look.
"I couldn't possibly impose."
"You're not imposing at all. And I don't mind or I wouldn’t have offered."
"It's not that far." She bit her lip. "But I didn't put coats on the boys. I just assumed... they're only wearing their jammies, because it was so close to bedtime."
"And my house is right here." Then he realized that sometimes it was better to sweeten the pot a bit, so to speak.
"I've been getting the church rec room ready just in case the electricity goes out in town and people need a place to shelter.
Would you mind coming in, checking it out and giving me any advice or tips that you have? "
Yeah. That did it. She tilted her head, and then a smile lifted the corners of her mouth up. "Sure. I'd be happy to."
"All right. I'll give you a hand getting the boys in, and then you can look it over while I call Tom's."
"Are you sure you don't mind?" she asked, brows knit together.
"I told you. I don't mind at all. I visited Tom earlier this week, and I'm actually welcoming a chance to reach out and to remind him that the invitation to come to church is still open." He winked at her, and she laughed.
The sound made his insides twirl a bit. Why was the sound of her laughter so intriguing?
He walked around the car to the other side and opened the door.
"What are you doing?" Aiden asked, staring up at him from his booster seat.
"Your mom and I are gonna get you out of your booster seat and take you inside for a bit. She's gonna check things out and let me know how I did getting ready for the storm that's coming."
"Mommy was making deliveries before the storm. And we almost had them all done," Aidan said, obviously parroting something that Olivia had said.
"Is it snowing yet?" Ethan asked his mother as she unbuckled him.
Mark looked up, and his eyes met Olivia's across the backseat. He smiled at her, and while there still seemed to be some worry on her face, she smiled back. "Not yet. And we're gonna go check and see if the church is ready for it to snow."
Aiden came to him easily, his outgoing and inquisitive personality clearly on display.
Ethan clung a little tighter to his mother, but he didn't seem overly fearful. Probably as long as his twin was around, he would be okay.
The parsonage door was closer, so Mark walked up the walk, and then opened it, holding it for Olivia to go through first.
"Thank you," she murmured as she walked in.
"Head to the left. There's a door there, and that leads through my office directly to the church."
"That's neat," Olivia said. "I've been in the parsonage, and I've been in the church, but I've never used the secret passageway," she said.
He laughed. He hadn't really thought about it as a secret passageway, but he supposed it probably was something that was designed for only the pastor to use.
Especially since it went through a room that he used for his office, and he suspected Pastor Johnson had too, since there were empty bookshelves in there when he moved in.
"It's just through that door right there," he said, flipping on the lights as he walked in after her. "And don't mind the mess. I don't have things quite unpacked."
"That doesn't surprise me. It seemed like it was more important to you to get to know the people of your congregation rather than getting everything in line perfectly."
She was making a general statement, he was pretty sure, although he also thought that she seemed a little impressed.
He kind of hoped so. He'd always thought that people were more important than things.
And his ministry was more about people than anything else.
Even more important than giving a good sermon.
Although that was the second thing that he spent the most time on during the week for his job.
Although spending time in personal prayer and Bible study was probably his top priority.
How could he help others if he wasn't nurturing his own relationship with the Lord?
"So this is where this door goes. I've always wondered about it," Olivia said.
"It's pretty nice. You can get to the parsonage without getting wet on rainy days or cold on winter ones."
"Yeah, I like the way it's set up," Olivia said, stopping to look around.
Ethan wiggled a little in her arms, and she set him down, his footed pajama bottoms making a soft swishing sound on the floor.
"The boys won't hurt anything. In fact, if we have people coming, there'll be lots of little kids running around hopefully, so they can play if they want."
"All right. Thanks for letting me know."
"I'll be back in a minute. I want to double-check the size on those tires and give Tom a call."
"All right. Thanks," Olivia said, although from the set of her shoulders and the way she pulled her lip in between her teeth, he suspected she wasn't very comfortable.
Hopefully, he could come back in and put her at ease.