2
That Sunday, Gigget shepherded her two little ones into church and down to their Sunday school classrooms. She walked back to the sanctuary and picked a seat toward the back. If she could have found a spot where no one would see her, she’d have preferred that.
“Good morning, Gigget,” her friend Lulu Fizzlebang said. Lulu’s husband, Tink had gone a few rows ahead and found seats before realizing his wife had stopped to chat.
“Good morning, Lulu.”
Lulu leaned forward. “I heard there was a bit if a dust up at the Farmer’s Market yesterday, and you were rescued by a knight in shining armor,” she whispered.
“I don’t want to discuss that now.”
Lulu stood back up and gave a nod before joining her husband.
Why, oh why, did people need to gossip? She was aware of the rumors that had circled for months about her husband’s affairs, and she’d been mortified by the pitying side-eyed glances she got on many a Sunday. Of course, she’d always been alone at church since her husband never would have been such a hypocrite as to walk into these hallowed halls. She doubted he ever realized she had uncovered the truth a year before he passed away. And now this? Who had seen her being rescued but had not come to help when she needed it? Scripture said that orphans and widows should be cared for—not slandered and abandoned.
Yet that was exactly how she felt. Abandoned by her husband. Abandoned by some of her church family who gossiped about an affair rather than asking if she was OK.
But the Almighty hadn’t abandoned her.
Her thoughts traveled to the man who helped her yesterday. Never before had she experienced such a magnetic attraction to someone. A mere touch, and she was all aflutter inside. Dreams of a man actually liking her and gazing at her with sweet grey eyes, were not appropriate. She should be cautious, gun-shy, even. His slightly gruff but soft tone of voice had soothed her. He wasn’t necessarily a polished kind of guy, but he was a hard worker. His hands were calloused, but they weren’t scratchy.
The music began, and the congregation stood to worship. Time to set away foolish thoughts and focus on the One who truly loved her—no matter what—because she belonged to Jesus first. Any man who might become a part of her life would need to be pursuing the Lord as well.
Her mouth sang the words, but her mind was more focused on the man who entered the church a few minutes late and found a seat on the far side of the sanctuary. Bing? Here? How long had he been coming? Why had she never noticed him before?
Stop! You’re not here to moon over a man but to worship the Lord. How she wished she could have someone splash her with a bucket of cold water. She was in church and shouldn’t be thinking of how someone made her insides quiver. Lord, help me!
When they all sat down, she couldn’t see Bing. That was probably for the best. Even her children had repeatedly recounted how the kind man had come to help them out from Fez’s harassment. Thankfully, they had missed the underlying subtext for Fez’s pursuit of her. He probably thought that if her husband had loose morals, perhaps she did too. The man had worked side-by-side with her husband at one point, but she didn’t think they were ever friends.
She tried to pay attention to the pastor’s message, but her thoughts kept straying. She was frustrated with herself.
Soon the service was over, and Lulu met up with her in the lobby.
“Did you do well at the market yesterday?” Lulu asked.
Did her curious friend know about what happened there? “Well enough. Still have plenty of food to process for winter though. Between work and the kids, it’s been a challenge to keep up with everything. The weeds are taking over my garden.” She didn’t want to talk more about it all or explain the sweet man who had rescued her. She couldn’t stop thinking about him and his kindness but wasn’t ready to share that with anyone.
Lulu shook her head. “Tsk, tsk, tsk. I’d have thought you’d have been better provided for by your late husband so you wouldn’t need to work or scrounge for food. It’s not right that you have the weight of the world on your shoulders like you do.”
Gigget straightened her spine. “It’s not that bad. Sure, things are tight but we’re making it and my children have decent clothes to wear, shoes that fit, coats, a comfortable home, and all they needed for the start of school. We will have heat for the winter and food to eat.”
“It’s not a shameful thing to go on public assistance,” her friend whispered.
Sighing, Gigget suspected her friend had good intentions but the pity was hard to swallow. “I need to get the kids.” She took off down the hall toward the classrooms and waited in line.
No one spoke with her, although people gave her kindly nods. She wasn’t an outcast but even after a year of widowhood, it seemed no one could figure out what to do with her. It wasn’t as if she had a contagious disease. As a young widow she didn’t fit into any of the normal social groups. She was a mom but not a wife, and she was too young to connect well with the older widows in the church. She wasn’t a good fit for a singles’ group either. The grief class had been helpful, but everyone was grieving someone different: a beloved child’s death, the loss of a parent, or a beloved spouse. She wasn’t grieving the loss of a person. She grieved the dream that had been trampled on by the person now gone. Unlike the other people in the grief class, she wasn’t sad at all but had hoped to find a way to express the turmoil inside, and since she couldn’t openly explain or admit that to anyone else, attending the grief class had only added to her turmoil.
At last, she reached the classroom. She pasted a smile on and greeted her kids. Her trials were hers alone to bear. They’d suffered enough as it was.
“Mom, look at what I drew.” Djoni proudly presented his drawing with a Scripture verse on it.
“That’s good. You’re so much better at coloring inside the lines than you were before. Why does this man have grey eyes?”
“He’s the Good Samaritan, Mom. I thought I’d make him like Mr. Twinkle who helped us yesterday. He treated us like a neighbor, didn’t he?” Her boy’s earnest expression warmed her heart. “Yes, son, he did.”
They headed out to the parking lot.
“Here’s mine,” Amoretta said as she handed her mother the drawing. This was a different image from the story of the Good Samaritan. The part where someone proud walks away from the injured man.
“You gave this man an interesting haircut and facial hair, sweetheart,” Gigget said.
“He’s Mr. Ponderosa—stirring up trouble.”
Taken aback, Gigget paused before unlocking her old sedan. “How else has he stirred up trouble?” Had her children been aware of the previous occurrences of him pestering her?
The kids didn’t answer the question but climbed into the car.
Gigget made sure they buckled, put the key in the ignition and turned it. The car didn’t start. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the headrest.
“Mom? Is something wrong?” Djoni asked.
Gigget tried again, the engine made a feeble attempt but refused to turn over. Great. Now what would she do? She didn’t have extra money to repair a vehicle or rent something in the meantime. The truck for the farmer’s market was old and not something she liked driving either. It had been her husband’s. Their home was farther away from town, and while the kids could catch the bus to school, the truck was less reliable than this car. September weather could be fickle. Rain and cold were more likely than the hot sunny day they had yesterday. Fall was coming far too quickly.
She pulled the switch to pop the hood and exited the car. She stared down at the engine, clueless about what could be wrong.
“Car trouble?” The voice from yesterday got her attention.
“Yeah, won’t start. I understand very little about cars other than putting the gas in, and getting oil changes regularly,” she confessed.
Bing leaned over and touched a few things and checked some fluids. He frowned. “Try it again,” he said.
She got behind the wheel, leaving the door open so she could hear him if he were to give her further instructions, and turned the key. Nothing.
“I think your battery is dead. I’ll bring my truck over and give you a jump. After that we can head over to the store to get a new battery, and I’ll put it in for you.”
“Oh, but—,” she doubted he heard her as he moved away too quickly.
“Yay! Mr. Twinkle is helping us out again. See, Mommy, he really is the Good Samaritan,” Djoni said.
“I prayed he would come help us again and God answered my prayer. Isn’t that good, Momma?” Amoretta asked.
“Yes, you are both correct.” Gigget glanced at her two kids in the back seat to see them beaming with joy over their new hero. The upside was that they got to witness a man treating a person well and being helpful.
~*~
Bing positioned his truck so the cables wouldn’t need to stretch too far. The parking lot had thinned out considerably. Departing vehicles would be able to get around him. He grabbed the cables, lifted his own hood, and fastened the clips to the battery terminals. “Try to start it,” he said.
The car stuttered a bit, and then started.
The kids in the back seat cheered.
Bing smiled.
Gigget stepped out of the vehicle. “I don’t know how to thank you enough.”
“We’re not done yet. We’ll let it run for a little bit. You can follow me to the store so we can get you a new battery.”
She glanced away. She was about to refuse his help. But why?
“I really can’t afford that right now,” she whispered. “I’ll just drive home. Maybe I left the lights on or something.”
He frowned. “Your battery is old and corroded. If it died now when the weather is good, it won’t make it through winter. If your lights had been left on, they’d be on now and they aren’t. You didn’t mess up anything, Mrs. Wicket.”
“Ms., please. I don’t go by Mrs. anymore.”
Bing couldn’t imagine someone as sweet as this lady going through the death of her husband and the rumor mill afterwards. He’d tried to avoid gossip, but there were people who volunteered information without him asking. “Let me do this for you in exchange for some of those canned goods we discussed yesterday.”
“That wouldn’t be a fair trade.”
“I’m OK with that,” he countered.
She shook her head. “I will pay you back, but it might take a while.”
“I understand you wouldn’t want to be indebted to anyone.”
Her brow wrinkled. “Why would you say something like that?”
Bing tried to convey kindness as he turned to her. “Because you seem like a strong woman who’s raising two adorable children. That takes courage and perseverance, and I’m sure it isn’t easy. No matter how you got to where you are right now, I admire the way you are handling it. And you may pay me as you see fit.”
She held his gaze. “Thank you. I’ll follow you.”
“Fair enough.”
She got in the car and shut the door. There was a muffled conversation between her and the children but he couldn’t make out the words. For a moment, his heart clenched. He’d wanted kids but divorce had destroyed those plans. Bing disconnected the jumper cables and closed both hoods.
Bing took the lead and Gigget followed him.
At the store he purchased the battery and returned outside to find the hood to the car open. Gigget gave a shy smile when he hefted the battery to the fender. The kids were wide-eyed with curiosity.
“You want to watch how this is done?” he asked.
“Yes!” Djoni came to stand on one side of him.
“Me, too,” Amoretta said with excitement.
“This is the old battery. I will disconnect the positive and negative connections to the battery posts, and then I should be able to pull this large box of a battery out.” He reached in to wiggle it loose.
“It’s really dirty. Yucky.” Amoretta wrinkled her nose and stepped back.
“Girls. Always so wimpy around dirt,” Djoni said and stuck his tongue out at his sister.
Bing paused to address the little boy. “I bet your mother has no trouble getting dirty when she’s working in the garden, or cleaning up after you, right?”
The little boy nodded.
“So maybe fixing cars and getting oily and greasy isn’t something your sister would like to do, but there are some women who don’t mind.” He paused and lowered his voice, “Personally, I like girls to be clean and pretty, don’t you?” Bing winked at Gigget, whose cheeks turned pink.
“Yeah, I guess so.” Djoni crossed his arms, and his face scrunched into a slight frown as he processed Bing’s words.
Bing picked up the new battery and reattached the cables to the posts. “Ms. Wicket, why don’t you go start this up and make sure it runs.”
Gigget leaned in and turned the key. The engine hummed to life without hesitation.
“Yay!” Amoretta and Djoni cheered and spontaneously hugged Bing.
Warmth spread through him. Bing closed the hood.
“I’d hug you in return, kids, but my hands are dirty, and you are in your Sunday best. Why don’t you get in the car so your mom can take you home? I need to take this old battery in so they can dispose of it properly.”
The kids released him and scampered back to the car. Gigget rolled down the window. “Thank you, Mr. Twinkle. I really do appreciate it. I’ll make sure to have some extra special canned goods for you on Wednesday.”
“You are welcome, fair lady. Have a wonderful rest of your day.” He picked up the old battery and headed back into the store.
When he returned to the parking lot, he noted that her sedan had left. What? As if she would invite him to lunch or something? She barely knew him. It would be an uphill climb to develop a relationship.
Good thing he didn’t mind hard work. He was up for the task.