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“I’ve saved her a seat.” Alden said it so casual-like, as though he and Maggie had been friends for ages. “If she doesn’t make it until dessert is served, I’ll save her some. She likes anything chocolate.”
Now why would Alden say that? How well did he know Maggie?
“Is that right?” Forsythia said. “Maggie is in such good shape that I didn’t think she indulged in sweet stuff.”
“She told me that she prefers dark chocolate, but when it comes to Christmas, she’d eat anything chocolate, regardless.” Alden smirked.
Levi had nothing to say. Actually, he wasn’t sure if Maggie was such a chocoholic. Maggie loved hot cocoa year round, but chocolate itself wasn’t on top of her list. At Christmas, she loved cookies—although she couldn’t bake them herself to save her life—but did Maggie like “anything chocolate” as a matter of preference?
All right. Perhaps he was overthinking this. Levi looked away for a minute to gather his thoughts. He felt nervous in front of Forsythia, but found himself thinking of how to counter anything Alden said about Maggie.
Something was off.
Around them, singles from church and their plus ones were mingling with one another as they tasted the hors d’oeuvres. Most of them were in attire dressier than church on Sunday mornings, but not formal.
Levi’s eyes roamed about the restaurant near the entrance.
Where is Maggie?
He had last seen her on Wednesday after church when they went to the mall together. For the next two days after that, Maggie had been busy in meetings about the future direction of Midtown Village with the addition of the plot of land nearby. Pastor Kim presided over the meeting, but Maggie went because of her vast knowledge of the Village, having been the previous women’s ministry director’s right-hand woman—back when the women’s ministry was in charge of the Village since the city ministry had primarily served single mothers and their children.
Maggie canceled her plans to bake cookies on Saturday, so Levi ended up not going to her house to prevent her from burning down the kitchen.
The singles ministry pastor took the microphone and welcomed everyone to the dinner. “I want to thank RYUCP for sponsoring this event and to Skye’s the Limit for catering tonight.”
Everyone clapped.
Still no sign of Maggie. Levi reached for his phone and texted her.Where are you?
“I’m going to make a few announcements as you make your way to your tables, and then I’ll ask my lovely wife to come up here and pray over our meal tonight.”
Alden tapped Levi’s shoulder, leaned toward his ear to whisper: “I saved you a seat next to Forsythia.”
Levi was supposed to be elated, but he felt nothing.
Right now he wanted to know why Maggie hadn’t shown up. Maybe she had car trouble. Maybe she had been in a wreck.Maybe it was a fender bender and she was waiting for her car to be towed. That beat-up old car of hers couldn’t last two hours on the streets of Atlanta. Good thing she lived near church so she was at least close to work.
Atlanta traffic is so bad.
Uh-oh. Maybe Maggie was in the hospital right now, fighting for her life.
The more he thought about it, the worse it got.
Calm down, Levi.
What did Maggie always say when things seemed out of control? Sometimes things seemed difficult at work or at the Village, where residents sometimes arrived carrying baggage filled with grief and despair. Sometimes it was easy for church workers to take on themselves the burdens of others, thereby stressing out themselves.
Maggie had told him something he never forgot. “Trusting God begins with surrendering our thoughts to God. All of it, including our imaginative thoughts that might not be biblically based. If I keep imagining the worst, then I may forget that God is still the sovereign ruler over all.”
Then she would remind herself of Bible verses, including 2 Corinthians 10:3-6. As if it was necessary for his own sanity, he opened his Bible app and searched for the verse, one of Maggie’s favorites.
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.
Maggie often reminded him to pray about everything. “Nothing is beyond God.”
Levi realized that he was overly worried about Maggie. Why, though? Had he started to treat Maggie more than just a best buddy, but perhaps as his sister or more? He wasn’t sure. All he knew right now was that he wanted Maggie to be okay.
Levi checked his messages again. Radio silence.
