10
All of Harper’s fears about her first bridal brunch came to nothing. The event had been an unqualified success. The food was elegantly plated and delicious and she had managed to get two new bookings for similar events. Her calendar was filling up and for that she was thankful. She was also thankful for Dalton. She could never have pulled it off without his support.
He went early to help her set up for the event, insisting on doing all the lifting. He was strangely protective since the ultrasound, attentive to whatever she might need. He’d arrived again later to help with the tear down and in the process charmed every female in the room. More than one enchanted woman had wondered out loud why no one had yet snatched up such a dreamy creature as Dalton Kingston.
Harper wondered that herself.
She still knew virtually nothing about him, which she supposed was only fair, since her own secrets hovered, always present but never spoken of between them. If things between her and Dalton progressed, and she hoped they would, she would have to tell him the whole, ugly truth. But not today. Not with the sunshine streaming through her window, and the sounds of church bells ringing out in the quiet morning. Not when she was finally starting to feel as though everything would be OK after weeks of living with fear and uncertainty. All at once the future seemed bright, and that had a lot to do with Dalton.
As the sugar-and-spice aroma of Aunt Clara’s cinnamon rolls drifted through the house, Harper climbed out of bed and dressed in a pale blue, loose-fitting tunic dress, one of the few in her closet she could still fit into. She turned slowly in front of the full-length mirror. The dress had never been one of her favorites, but it would have to do for today. She’d definitely have to go back to the plaza this week and buy some maternity clothes, though.
In the kitchen, she found Aunt Clara spreading a thick layer of icing on a pan of golden-brown cinnamon rolls. She smiled when Harper walked in. “Good morning, darling.”
“You’re up early,” Harper said, helping herself to a cup of decaf. “Looks as if you’ve been busy this morning.”
“Yes, I have. It’s my turn to make the refreshments this week.”
“For what?”
“Why, for coffee hour, my dear.”
She held back a grimace. They’d stopped going to the church’s coffee hour weeks ago, when Harper’s morning sickness made it unbearable. Aunt Clara seemed to have forgotten about the weekly gathering and Harper hadn’t reminded her. Though she knew the event was an important social outlet for the church’s elderly congregants, including Aunt Clara, the hour before church services had somehow turned into a running commentary about everything from health issues to the rising cost of city utilities. Harper had little to add to these conversations, but Aunt Clara thrived on the fellowship. She seemed set on going this morning and for once Harper felt up to the task.
When they arrived at the church basement, Bertie Roberts, the pastor’s wife, smiled warmly and enveloped Clara in a hug. “I’m so glad you came out this morning, Clara. And not just because of these heavenly looking cinnamon rolls you’ve brought.”
Aunt Clara beamed and Bertie turned the warmth of her smile on Harper. “How are you feeling?” she asked.
Harper smiled. “I think I’ve finally turned a corner.”
“That’s good to hear. My baby, Josiah, turns thirty this year, but oh, the morning sickness, the exhaustion. I remember it all as if it was just yesterday.”
As Aunt Clara went off to join her friends at a table, Bertie cut the cinnamon rolls and arranged them on a platter. “Seriously, Harper. I hope you know that Ken and I are here for you if you need anything at all.”
“I appreciate that, Bertie.”
Harper had known Bertie Roberts since her husband, Ken, had taken over as pastor of the church nearly ten years before. Compassionate and kind, a woman with a heart for God, Harper had always thought Bertie was everything she herself would like to be one day. She followed with a stack of plates and plastic forks as Bertie carried the tray of refreshments to one of the tables, where four senior women were discussing the church’s upcoming ice cream social.
“I just don’t know why we’re switching to frozen yogurt this year,” Esther Cardwell said. “What was wrong with good, old fashioned strawberry ice cream?”
“And why do we need so many toppings?” Mary Johnson fussed. “Who’ll pay for all that?”
“We have plenty of money in the church fellowship fund, Mary,” Bertie said. “And Charlie Anderson’s son, Chip, who owns The Big Chill, has been gracious enough to donate the toppings for our event.”
“But Charlie Anderson is the pastor at the Red Door Church. Why would his son donate to our event?”
“We thought it might be nice to include our sister church in the ice cream social this year,” Bertie told her.
A ripple of displeasure spread across the room.
Harper sighed.
Some things would never change, no matter how many decades passed.
The city of Redford’s Crossing was like a ten-thousand-member dysfunctional family. Most folks would give a person the shirts off their backs if needed, but that didn’t mean they liked any kind of change. The two churches were the same denomination, but started by two different families at about the same time. Despite inter-marriage amongst the members, sometimes the competition got the better of them.
Seeing Aunt Clara laughing and talking animatedly with her friends, clearly enjoying herself, made Harper put on a smile even though she hadn’t wanted to attend.
Nicky and Dalton arrived at church just as Bertie announced the opening hymn. Dalton slid into the pew beside Harper with a grin and her stomach did a familiar flip-flop. She’d known him only ten days, but she felt that even in ten years she would not get used to his heart stopping good looks.
When the songs ended, Pastor Roberts walked to the podium, wearing a coral-colored shirt that matched Bertie’s dress.
“Good morning, Church!”
“Good morning, Pastor!”
He went over the announcements in the weekly bulletin, making notes of new prayer requests before opening the service to praise reports, or God sightings, as he liked to call them. When the last person had shared, the pastor paused to arrange his notes before he began.
“Jeremiah 31:3 says: I have loved you with an everlasting love. I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.
“What is an everlasting love, you might ask? Is it like the love between spouses? Between parents and children? Between siblings and friends? It is all of that. Only better.
It is forever love; the ever present, never changing, eternal, overwhelming love of your Creator. You might be surprised to discover that God’s kind of love is very different from ours. It doesn’t give up. It doesn’t give in. It doesn’t let go.
“God’s love is not conditional, as ours often is. God’s love does not hinge on your goodness. It hinges on His. On what He is. And what He is, is love in its purest form. You cannot experience God-love and come away the same because love, real love , God-love, well, it changes everything.
“But Pastor Roberts, you might ask, what does that look like? I’m so glad you asked! Radical love looks like radical change. It looks like the kind of love that can transform a demon possessed woman into a saint, a zealot murderer into an apostle, a hot-tempered fisherman into a faithful servant. It looks like the kind of love that can change you. Yes, you .
“It’s impossible to experience God’s love and come away unchanged. It turns resentment into forgiveness, bitterness into kindness, sorrow into joyfulness. It makes you, you, only better. Because it makes you more like Him.”
Dalton tensed beside her, as if the pastor had struck a nerve.
“I’d like for all of you to close your eyes for a moment, block out the noise, and hear me. He loves you.”
A hush settled over the church, as everyone stilled, settled, barely breathed as they sought God’s Presence.
“Come on now, don’t hear it with your ears, hear it with your heart. He loves you, child .”
Harper’s mind and body calmed as the words flooded over her spirit, a truth as old as time that she’d once known but had forgotten. God loved her. Despite her fears. Despite her flaws.
Human love was limited and messy. Time and time again, it had let her down. Bo’s love had proved to be superficial. Her own father had walked away and never looked back. But God’s love had always been there, even when she did not understand what He was doing in her life. It gave her the patience to care for Aunt Clara, the courage to accept the child growing inside her, to love the brother who often disappointed her, and yes, to love the complicated man who sat beside her in this pew.
Or at the very least, it made love seem possible.
After the service ended, they walked out of the church and into the sunshine.
Clara made her usual rounds of hugs and handshakes.
Dalton’s gaze swept over Harper’s dress.
“You look nice today,” he said. “I like the dress.”
“I feel like I’m wearing a circus tent,” she said, though the comment pleased her. “I’m glad you came today.”
He shrugged. “Day of rest, isn’t that what they say?”
“Speaking of which, I thought it might be nice to pack a picnic lunch and drive up to Lake Moonshine this afternoon. Did Nicky happen to mention it to you?”
“He said something about it.”
“You’re welcome to come with us.”
“Harper!”
As if to test Harper’s resolve to be more loving, Babe approached them, moving in like a storm cloud on the horizon of her newfound optimism.
“I expected a call from you this week. Haven’t they called to reschedule the ultrasound yet?” she asked. “I can go any day this week except Wednesday. That’s the day our truck comes in at work and?oh my, you’ve really popped out, haven’t you?”
“Our Harper is having a baby,” Clara said. “A little baby girl.”
Babe looked amused. “A baby girl ? And what makes you so sure of that, Clara?”
“We have pictures.” Clara’s brow wrinkled. “At least I think we do.”
Babe’s smile disintegrated. “What do you mean? What kind of pictures?”
“I had the ultrasound on Friday, Babe,” Harper confessed. “They rescheduled on short notice, and I know your work schedule at the Busy Bee is kind of crazy, so I?”
“A perfect little pumpkin, due to arrive on Halloween,” Clara continued. “And already so smart! Dalton said she’s already learned to suck her little thumb!”
“ Dalton went with you?”
“As I said, it was kind of last?”
“I can’t believe you’d take this… this person … instead of me!”
“It’s nothing personal.”
“It’s very personal!”
People turned to stare.
Uncomfortable heat prickled the back of Harper’s neck.
“Look, everyone knows you’re feeling desperate right now, but?”
“No. I am not feeling desperate.”
“ But you’re wrong if you think he’ll come in here and sweep you off your feet like this is some sort of fairy tale. Life doesn’t work that way, Harper. You, of all people, should know that by now.”
Babe’s lack of tact was astounding. Harper staggered beneath the weight of her words, beneath her angry stare, completely at a loss for how to answer. Thankfully Dalton stepped in.
“That’s enough, Babe.”
She whirled to face him, her eyes glittering with fury. “This doesn’t have the first thing to do with you. At least it shouldn’t . And furthermore, it’s enough when I say it’s enough,” she hissed.
As she stalked away, Clara gazed after her with a frown. “Who was that dreadful woman?”
“No one we have to worry about,” Dalton assured her.
Babe got into her car and speed from the parking lot.
Harper hoped to heaven Dalton was right.