Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
“Okay, I think you guys are the cutest ever, but…do you think you’re moving too fast?” Sunny looked up from the batter she stirred, her eyes concerned as they met Summer’s.
Her chest tightened, and there was a sinking feeling in her stomach.
“I know it is fast. And I don’t know what to say about that. Don’t some people believe in love at first sight?”
“Sure, love at first sight, but not marriage the day after you decide you’re in love. Just because you said I love you to each other doesn’t mean you should get married right away.”
They hadn’t even said that. They just agreed that they were both…
attracted to each other? Couldn’t keep their lips off each other?
Neither one of those things seemed to be the ideal way to counter the idea that they hadn’t said I love you, so Summer just kept her eyes on the flour that she was measuring.
“Summer? You’re not mad because I told you the truth, are you?”
“No. Not at all. I appreciate you being honest with me, and I figure that’s probably the way a lot of people are going to feel. After all, you’re not wrong. It’s been really fast.”
“Yeah. It’s going to be surprising, and people are going to talk.”
“People are going to talk because I’m living in his house.”
Sunny waved a hand in the air. “Everybody does that nowadays. No one thinks a thing about it.”
“Christians do. It’s not right.”
“Christians live together too. In fact, I think Christians live together as much as secular people. The idea of sin is kind of old-fashioned.”
“It’s not. It’s just as relevant today as it ever has been,” Summer said, unable to keep the shock and defensiveness out of her tone. She had no idea Sunny felt that way.
“I’m not going to argue with you about it, because you can use the Bible to back up your position, and I know there’s no Bible for mine, but that’s the way society feels.
That if you don’t sleep with your boyfriend, if you don’t kiss while you’re dating, you’re being a prude.
Everybody does it. I mean, come on, don’t they?
Do you know a single person who says that it’s not okay to kiss whoever you feel like kissing, even a perfect stranger?
” Sunny paused. “But everyone, and I mean everyone, will tell you that getting married weeks after you decide you like each other is crazy. I mean, you’re not even dating! ”
Summer was quiet. It was true that it was hard to find anyone who thought that kissing should be reserved for the person you were getting married to.
Even Christians didn’t believe like that.
A good night kiss after a date was kind of a given.
Not that she had had a whole lot of those, but she had two serious relationships, and she knew, from both of them, that the kiss was almost a requirement.
“Never mind about that. I just feel like it’s fast. I mean, nobody moves that fast.”
“But I thought we just agreed that I’m not doing things the way society does them.
I want to live by the Bible. The Bible doesn’t say that you can’t meet someone one day and get married the next.
It just says that the person you marry has to be a believer.
And then, after you’re married, you have certain requirements you have to meet, and certain things you have to do as husband and wife.
So I guess, making sure that the person you’re with is a Christian, and then making sure that you’re married to someone who is going to uphold their part.
You take that seriously, and I feel that Gilbert is that kind of person. ”
“You would be the first person to tell me that I shouldn’t do everything my feelings tell me to do, so why should you? Am I wrong?”
“No. You’re exactly right.”
“All right then, it doesn’t really matter how it feels then, right?”
“No. What I said before is what matters, that he’s an upright man, who will do what he says he’s going to do, and if he says he’s going to stay with me for the rest of my life, I need to believe that.”
“I guess you’re right. So do you?”
“He hasn’t said it, but yes.” She thought about the cheating that his wife had done on him and how that had hurt and affected him.
He hadn’t gone into the pain he felt, but it had been evident in his voice and in his expression.
She wasn’t going to tell Sunny about it.
She couldn’t. She said she wasn’t going to.
“I just know that when he says it, he means it. I can see that. I can see the character in him, and other people can too.”
“You mean the character of that man?” Sunny said as she pointed out the window.
Summer had been ready to take her apron off, finished for the day, when Sunny had pointed.
Sure enough, she was absolutely right. It was Gilbert who sat outside across from the bakeshop, on a park bench with another woman.
It must be the Darla that Mrs. Tucker had asked him to spend the day with. She wore high heels, along with slim dress pants, and a fashionable sweater. Her makeup appeared to be applied perfectly from this distance, and her hair was short and stylish, bobbed around her head in a flattering way.
As Summer looked, Darla laughed at something Gilbert said, throwing her head back and lifting a hand, the bracelet on her wrist sparkling in the sunlight as her rings glittered.
“Yeah. That’s the man.” She tried to infuse nonchalance to hide the depression that had stolen over her.
Appearances could be deceiving. She felt she had to defend him, but she didn’t want to sound defensive, because Summer would see right through that.
“I was with him Sunday in church when Mrs. Tucker asked him to take someone who is looking to purchase a weekend getaway here in town on a tour.”
“Another Washington, DC person looking to get out of the city for the weekend?” Sunny rolled her eyes. They were nice for the money, but their beliefs contrasted with those of most small-town residents, and they tended to be loud and vocal, and ordinances and rules were changed to accommodate them.
They were not popular with the locals.
“Yes. She sounded really nice,” Summer offered.
“I’m sure she did. She looks like a DC suit. And your boyfriend looks like he’s having a really good time with her.”
“He’s not really my boyfriend, and I was telling you, Mrs. Tucker asked him to show her around. He said he would. And… He’s doing what he said.”
“Let me get this straight. Yesterday he was kissing you, today he’s all snuggled up with her on the park bench.”
“No. They’re not snuggled up.” They weren’t even touching, although she had her body pointed toward him, and as she spoke, she put a hand on his knee.
Even from this distance, Summer could see that he was uncomfortable with it as he moved around, pretty much doing everything but picking up her hand and taking it off his leg.
Or maybe that was what she wanted him to be doing. Maybe he actually enjoyed her hand being there. Maybe he’d realize that a businesswoman was exactly what he wanted, as she had been afraid of on Sunday when she had heard Mrs. Tucker ask him to spend time with Darla.
“I’m sorry. I don’t need to rub it in.” Sunny’s arm came around her shoulder, and her voice sounded sincere and compassionate.
“It’s okay. I really think that he’s just doing what Mrs. Tucker asked. But… It doesn’t feel good.”
“But we don’t go by our feelings, right?”
“That’s right. I can’t react in a negative way just because I don’t like what I see. I actually do appreciate the character of a man who does what he says he’s going to do, even if he doesn’t want to.”
“Even though it looks like he’s having a good time, probably, deep down, he doesn’t want to,” Sunny said, and Summer did not miss the sarcasm in her voice.
“Right. That’s exactly what I want to hear, but—”
“It’s not necessarily the truth. I don’t know, Summer.
I really want this to be good for you, but I’ve played devil’s advocate a little bit because I don’t want to see you hurt.
You’re special. You are one of the best humans I know.
And you have a tendency to trust everyone.
You just believe them. But sometimes that bites you.
Sometimes your gullibility hurts. And this is a pretty big decision.
Now, you’re right, he is a Christian, and I like the fact that both of you have decided to not touch.
I agree with that, even though I told you that no one else does it.
That’s true, but if you have that kind of self-control, that’s the best way to be. ”
Summer listened, but she watched out the window as Darla laughed again, and Gilbert smiled.
He had a smile that she absolutely loved.
And forgive her, but she had thought that it was only for her.
Obviously it was a smile he used on everyone.
He didn’t seem like he was fighting the urge to kiss her.
She didn’t have hair like Summer’s, but that didn’t mean the man wasn’t wishing he could bury his hands in it.
Maybe it all was a line. Maybe she really was too gullible.
And she couldn’t confirm that his wife had cheated because he had said that he didn’t tell anyone else.
Maybe that was all a line too, and she couldn’t even know that it was because there was no way to confirm or deny it, since he already admitted that no one else would know what she was talking about if she tried to talk to them about it.
“Thanks for your help. I understand if you need to go and want to run over and wrap your hands around someone’s throat.”
“His or hers?” Summer said with a laugh.
“Either? Both?” Sunny said, laughing along with her.