“Oh, sorry, but my?—”
“Nothing to be sorry about, beautiful. I’m here now.” His smile wasn’t genuine, and I could tell this was a well-rehearsed line.
Even though I didn’t go out much in Tuscany, I was used to this type of man. Besides, his gelled hair and perfect teeth annoyed me. “Thank you for the compliment, but--.”
“There’s more where that came from,” he said with a wink and a suggestive tone. I had to force myself not to roll my eyes.
“Not necessary andverymuch not wanted,” I said sternly, hoping he’d get the hint, pulling my body as far from him as possible.
“I like your accent, and I think youwillactually want--.”
Before I could tear him apart verbally, a familiar voice growled out, “I’m giving you one warning andonewarning only. Do. Not. Finish. That. Sentence.”
When I turned, my husband was standing at his full height with a look of murder on his face.
Apparently, the man wasn’t too smart because he answered, “And who areyou? I’m having a conversation here.” The fool made the mistake of reaching for my arm.
Mike’s face turned the color of my dress, and his jaw ticked twice as he grabbed the man’s hand, making him wince. “Touch my wife, and you won’t be able to move this hand for a very long time.”
Understanding finally dawned on the man’s face, and he pulled his appendage back quickly and slid off the barstool to stand. Realizing that Mike was about four or five inches taller than him, he ducked his head and ran. There was no hiding what this unexpected protectiveness did to me. I was flushed and practically sweating.
“Mike,” I breathed out, swallowing hard.
He looked me up and down as if inspecting for any evidence of the man having touched me, then rubbed my arm softly. Just then, Miles and Vicky ran up to us, apologizing for being late. Realizing something was wrong as they looked back and forth between us, Vicky asked, “Hey, what’s going on?”
Mike took a deep breath like he was resetting from killer mode back to himself. “Nothing. Just taking care of what’s mine.” He held his hand out to me, helped me off the barstool, and walked towards the dining room as if nothing had happened. As if he hadn’t just wrecked my world.
I mouthed, “tell you later,” to Vicky and followed my alpha male, I mean,husbandto dinner, my heart racing and body overheating.
Mike hadn’t mentioned the incident again all the next week, so I didn’t bring it up. But I was tempted to call the restaurant to see if they had caught it on their security camera, so I could watch it over and over.
No need, really. It was playing nonstop in my head for almost a week.
Days later, I had just finished cleaning the kitchen after dinner when Mike walked in from his first session with Pastor Danny. With great fanfare, he teased me by carefully placing his keys and wallet in the imperfectly beautiful bowl he’d made, making me shake my head and smile.
His eyebrows pinched as he walked over to me and hugged me, his mood turning somber.
“Hey, you,” he said quietly as he kissed my head. I knew this first counseling session would be challenging for him. I pushed away the memory of his protective side, which I now had to have for him.
“Hey.” I hugged him tightly. “Missed you today. I’ve got some dinner if you’re hungry.”
“No, not yet. I want to talk to you first.” Taking me by the hand, he sat us down on the sofa, Max following and plopping down at our feet.
Mike rubbed Max’s head absently, so I waited until he was ready to talk. A few minutes later, he turned to me.
“I wanted to say thank you for suggesting I talk to Pastor. I have a long way to go, but tonight we talked about a lot of things that have been bothering me for years. Things that will mean a conversation with my parents when they get back.” Looking at him more closely, I could see that he looked tired, but there was a new spark in his eyes. It looked a lot like hope.
“That’s probably a good idea. We hold on to so much from our childhood. I could see it when you were talking to them at the wedding, how much you miss them.” I pushed the hair from his forehead back, and he closed his eyes.
He sighed and opened them again. “I also told him about my fight with depression. He said he wanted to strip it all down and get to the root, but for now, he said some things that helped me tremendously.”
I pushed back all the way to lean into the sofa and placed a soft pillow on my lap. “Lay back and just tell me what you want me to know. I’m listening.”
Without hesitation, he took off his shoes, the motion making Max grumble in his sleep at the disturbance. We chuckled as Mike laid his head on the pillow, making it easier for me to run my fingers through his hair as he spoke.
“He addressed my shame at feeling like I had to hide my struggle with depression, reminding me that so many of the great men and women in the Bible had faced something similar. The one that he talked about tonight was Elijah. After he’d watched God rain fire down from Heaven and defeated the prophets of Baal, he ran away after Jezebel threatened his life. I’d forgotten that part of his story in 1 Kings 19.”
He hummed as I lightly massaged his temples. Looking down at him, I said, “I remember reading about it. Elijah had watched God do a miracle that would turn the Israelites back to Him. I loved that story. But I can’t remember what came next.”
