Chapter 28
The next couple of days went by quickly, as they waited for her furnace to be repaired and stayed busy—busier than Olivia had ever been.
She made soup for needy people in the community, while Mark continued to help people who were still shut in, visiting them, doing Secret Saint activities.
And both of them were involved in the activities at the church, practicing for the various Christmas festivities and taking care of her children.
Usually, they found a few minutes in the evening to get back together and to chat, but several times Mark had to go out for Secret Saint activities while she stayed home, wrapping gifts that he was coming back to pick up and deliver.
She loved that life and thought that it would be a very good one, but she wouldn't have minded seeing Mark more. However, she reminded herself that there weren't typically storms as big as this one, and this was probably not going to be a typical schedule.
They decided not to tell anyone that they were engaged on Sunday, but they did figure that they could allow their relationship to become public.
Mark was careful to let everyone know that she was only staying in the guest room until her furnace was repaired, although he said nothing from the pulpit.
As he explained to her, the pulpit was for church business, not his personal business.
She couldn't agree more.
The reaction from the congregation was almost exclusively positive.
She had caught a couple of side looks, but she honestly didn't know what they meant.
Maybe people just couldn't imagine that the pastor would like someone like her.
And it had nothing to do with her staying in his house until her furnace was repaired.
Thankfully, the repairman came early Monday morning, and they spent Monday afternoon moving her and the boys back into their house.
"I've managed not to stress about getting the candles made this entire time. There was nothing I could do, you know? But now that I'm back in here, I feel a little overwhelmed at all the work I have to do."
"I told you I would help you. And I meant it," Mark said, his words calm and confident. Like he had absolutely no doubt that they would get the candles done.
"You've been so busy. When will you find time to help me?"
"I will make time. I think that's what we do anyway.
We have time—everybody has the same amount.
Some people just manage to get more accomplished in different things.
Because they place their priorities in different areas.
If we're getting married, my family will be my top priority, right after God. And that has to be the way it is."
She looked at him, so sincere, so upright, so confident in what he was saying.
She believed him, believed he believed it, and meant what he said.
She just didn't know too many people like that.
They seemed to be tossed about with every wind, blown here and there, without too much effort on their part.
But she felt like he was right. If they needed to make time for it, they could. It was a human thing.
"It doesn't help that my parents are arriving this evening too. I'm definitely nervous about that."
The boys were running around in the activity center, and they stood by the door, everything packed and ready to take over to her now-warm apartment, but he stood in front of her, grabbing her hands.
"Can we pray about that right now?" he asked softly.
Her eyes opened wide. She hadn't even considered praying about it. Of course, she spent a little bit of time in prayer every evening, but instead of being nervous, she should just give it to the Lord. She knew that.
She nodded. "Thank you for recommending it."
They bowed their heads, and he said a short prayer, asking God to alleviate her nervousness, to bless the time with family, and to strengthen and solidify the relationships between parent and child, grandparent and grandchildren.
And Mark even said a little bit about himself, that God would grant him favor in her parents' eyes.
After he said amen, he didn't let go of her hand, but instead, when she opened her eyes, he was looking down at her with such love and tenderness that it was all she could do not to close the distance between them, wrap her arms around his neck, and press her lips to his.
"You're amazing," she said instead.
He shook his head, grinning and looking a little bashful. "All I did was pray."
"That wasn't all you did, but I appreciate it.
Truly. Are you sure you want to be stuck with me for the rest of your life?
" Sometimes she had this feeling of not being good enough for him.
Or not that she wasn't good enough—that he deserved someone who was more spiritual, more considerate, less encumbered by the cares of this world, like her shop and her kids and the baggage with her parents.
"Absolutely. We haven't talked about a date, because I didn't want to pressure you."
"You suggested a Christmas wedding. I thought that sounded great."
"All right. Let me see what I can do to make that happen."
She nodded, but before she could say anything else, Aiden and Ethan ran up, laughing and telling them about the funny thing that had just happened.
Mark dropped one of her hands, keeping hold of the other one, while he grabbed Ethan and picked him up.
Ethan had really opened up with Mark and was chatting away, talking more than Olivia had ever heard him speak.
That was just one more way that Mark had been good for her family.
Mark opened the door, and they walked across the parking lot, holding hands, heading over to unpack all of the things that Mark had just delivered to her apartment while she kept the boys.
Just before they got to her place, a car pulled up along the street. At first, Olivia couldn't figure out why it looked familiar, and then she recognized it.
"My parents! They're early!"
"They're probably really eager to see their long-lost daughter, and the grandchildren they've never met." Mark's words weren't censure, but they made a lot of sense.
"You're right. I guess I should've expected this."
She stood on the sidewalk while her parents got out of the car.
Both of them looked almost exactly the same—maybe a few more wrinkles, a couple more gray hairs—but they still looked young, relatively speaking, and the smiles on their faces couldn't be bigger.
If she had been nervous about the reaction to seeing her, she shouldn't have needed to worry.
Her parents were not the kind of people to hold grudges.
And maybe five years was more than enough time for all of them to have not spoken.
"Olivia!" her mother said, hurrying, pausing for a moment, as though unsure of Olivia's reaction, but when Olivia smiled and made a small move toward her, a huge grin broke out on her face, and she hurried toward Olivia with her arms out. "I've missed you so much!"
"I missed you too, Mom. More than I could ever say."
They hugged tight, and it felt good to be in her mother's arms again. She hadn't realized how much she had missed having a mom to depend on, someone to talk to, someone who loved her more than anything or anyone else in the world.
Her dad came over and hugged her too, and then she introduced them to the boys.
She had been telling the boys that they were going to meet their grandparents, which didn't really mean a whole lot to them, but both of them seemed excited and interested as she introduced them.
They weren't hard to tell apart, and her parents caught on right away.
"I haven't been in my apartment because the furnace quit working during the storm, and we were actually on our way over to unpack all the things that we've been using while we've been out.
" And that's when she realized she hadn't introduced Mark.
"But I'm sorry. This is Mark—Pastor Mark.
" She paused for just a moment, not because she was embarrassed, but because it was unfamiliar. "My fiancé."
Her parents' eyes grew big, and they looked at her, then Mark, then each other.
"This is certainly different from the last time," her mom finally said. And then her mom shook her head and turned a beaming smile on Mark. "Pastor Mark. It's so nice to meet you. We're excited to welcome you into the family."
"We are. Whoever Olivia chooses will be treated like family by us."
Olivia's mouth wanted to drop open, but she kept it closed. It was obvious that her parents had done some soul-searching after the way they'd treated Cam.
They were right—she'd have to tell them that later.
She shouldn't have married him. He wasn't a good Christian, and their marriage might not have lasted.
But her parents hadn't been kind to him either.
She supposed they'd both learned some lessons from that, and all of them were probably better people because of it.
"Thank you," Mark said. "I lost my parents a few years ago, and I'm excited to be getting new ones. God provides."
"He sure does," her mom agreed. Then her mom slipped her arm through Olivia's and said, "I sure hope you're going to be busy for the next week, because I can't wait to spend all day every day babysitting my grandchildren."
Olivia thought about how Mark had just said, "God provides." Boy, did He ever.
"You can't even begin to believe how busy I am, how many candle orders I have to fulfill, and how much I will appreciate you watching the children."
"I always love the way God works," her mom said.
Boy, Olivia did too. Her eyes met Mark's, and she knew they were both thinking the same thing.
That God had worked everything out perfectly, even when it looked like He wasn't going to.
With the storm, and all the orders, and her having no idea how they were going to be completed, and then they couldn't even get in because of the furnace being broken, and her getting backed up, and then her parents came, and it was like God rolled the clouds away, and she could see clearly that He had a plan all along.
It was a beautiful sight.