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Melody: We’ll pull it off. Wish me luck.
Jeremy: I’ll pray for you for sure. Sounds stressful. You doing okay?
Melody: Hanging in there.
Jeremy: Wish I could pray with you right now.
Melody didn’t know what to say. She didn’t believe prayers helped. Maybe others. But never her.
Melody: I’m good. Really.
Jeremy: You don’t pray?
Here it came. The judgment. The disappointment. She wasn’t good enough for Christian Jeremy, either.
Melody: Not anymore.
Jeremy: Sounds like a story there, but it’s not my business. I’ll pray for you anyway, okay?
Melody’s throat grew thick. He didn’t seem disappointed after all. He just…accepted her.
Melody: Thanks, I’d love to talk more but I’m exhausted after this long day of practice. Can we talk tomorrow?
Jeremy: Can’t wait! Goodnight, Melody. I’m really glad I’m getting to know you.
Melody bit her lip. So was she.
She slept in the next morning, did Pilates, then took a shower. As she sat at her kitchen table sipping a cup of coffee, her leg bounced with agitation.
She missed TJ. As her friend, of course… But she’d been around him so much in the past few days it hurt to be apart. Not considering the implications further, she got in her car, let it heat for a few minutes, and drove across town. Too late, she remembered that unlike her, TJ was a faithful believer and attended church with regularity. He would be there now.
She debated between waiting in front of his parents’ house for their Sunday lunch and going home. Spying the church across from the square, she made a last-minute decision. She wouldn’t gointhe church. But there was nothing wrong with sitting in the parking lot in her car, was there? There was even a vacant parking spot a few cars down from TJ’s Honda. She would wait for him there. The sun shone brightly today, and the wind was as calm as it ever got so close to the lake. She wouldn’t freeze to death. Not too fast, anyway.
As she waited, gazing at the double doors of the stone church, memories crawled back to her. Memories of sitting inside the sanctuary beside TJ as a teen, his thigh drifting dangerously close to hers. The jolt she felt all the way to the pit of her stomach every time they accidentally touched. Her racing heart whenever he shifted, wondering if he’d ever make a move, wishing he would just…lift his arm and put it around her.
Well, he made his move that one day in the school parking lot. And she pretty much ran in the other direction. He’d thank her if he knew all that lay within Melody Reed.
Before the morose thoughts could overcome her, she grabbed her phone. She was supposed to be chatting with Jeremy.
Melody: Morning. I hope I’m not disturbing you.
His reply took longer than normal, but at last, the message bubble appeared.
Jeremy: Never too busy for you.
Her cheek ticked with a smile. That was a TJ answer.
Melody: Awww thanks that’s sweet. I figured I should write now because TJ and I have to work on the play this afternoon, and that could take hours.
Jeremy: Thanks for squeezing me into your busy schedule.
He added a winking emoji, and Melody chuckled into the quiet of her car. Their conversations were simple and easy. Enjoyable.
Melody: My pleasure. So tell me what you do for fun.
They had been chatting for twenty minutes when she looked up and saw parishioners streaming from the church doors, bedecked with warm coats and winter hats. Phone in hand, she climbed out of her car and into the cold air, waiting on the sidewalk for TJ. She had just asked Jeremy to tell her about his family, and his reply was oddly lagging.
Checking her phone one more time, she gave up and slipped it into her purse just as TJ appeared through the door, frowning at his phone. He wasn’t wearing a coat, crazy fool, and his dark-green button-down was tucked into slim-fitting dress pants. The ensemble accented his fit physique. TJ Halverson was handsome.Veryhandsome.
