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David grinned. “What did you find?”
“A half-sucked life saver. Stuck in the hymnal rack in the second pew. It was gross,” he said, rubbing so hard at the wood that David had a moment of concern for the varnish.
“Wait till you get the crushed animal cracker or a permanent marker without a lid,” David told him. “Or my personal favorite, a puzzle book with every single puzzle finished.”
“You’re kidding.” His long body bent over the back of a pew, Aaron peered up at him.
“Nope.”
“Bet that pissed you off.?
??
“Nope,” David said. “Not really. If doing puzzles allows them to come here as opposed to not coming, I want them doing puzzles. You never know what might slip in while they do their word games.”
Aaron shook his head. “Like I said, man, you’re weird.”
David had finished five pews to Aaron’s two. “You trying to give me a complex?” he asked.
“Is that possible?” Aaron retorted.
“Nope.”
“Didn’t think so.”
David finished his side of the room and then moved over to the back of Aaron’s. “You don’t have to rub so hard, you know.” It hurt to see how much energy Aaron was needlessly expending. “The idea is to put the polish on, not rub the varnish off,” he added.
The youth grunted. And kept working. With the same amount of effort. When he met David at the back quarter of the room, he pointed to the pew David had just finished.
“You missed a fingerprint there, Preacher.”
David looked. And had to nod. “You can do an adequate job, or you can do an exceptional job,” he said out loud.
“I always do an exceptional job.”
“Anybody ever tell you you’re a weird young man?”
Aaron grinned, flicking David with his cloth. “Not to my face.”
There were few people David didn’t like, but not many that stood out as extraordinary. He had a feeling that Aaron would be one of them.
Vacuuming and bathrooms were all that remained. The two men finished the job in less than an hour. And met back at the supply closet once they were done.
“So what’ve you got on for the rest of the day?” David asked as they locked the closet.
“Not much.” Aaron shrugged. “Studying.”
Not the way David remembered his college days. “On a Saturday?”
“Beats watching the grass grow.”
“You don’t have dates lined up?” With his height, firm build and friendly features, Aaron was a good-looking guy.
“Nah.” The kid didn’t appear embarrassed, just disinterested.
“I’d have figured you’d be beating the girls off.” It was stupid guy talk. And yet it wasn’t. David was on a mission.
“Right. Well, I gotta be getting back,” Aaron said.
