Pastor Jacob Stone was a very hard man to shoo away.
Jacob was silent for a moment, studying her. She kept her eyes on his and waited him out.
It worked. Although he clearly wasn’t happy, after a minute he blew out a slow breath and shrugged. “Well. If you’re sure that’s what you really want...”
“It is.”
To her horror, he pulled out a worn leather wallet. “Here. At least let me—” he started.
“I don’t need your money.” She flushed at the startled expression on his face. Maybe she had been a little too forceful, but she didn’t want this minister’s charity. She’d already been humiliated enough for one day. “Thank you, though,” she added belatedly. He’d gone out of his way to be kind. She could at least be polite.
“I was going to give you a card with my cell number on it.” He pulled one out and held it in her direction. Pine Valley Community Church was written in blocky blue letters across the top of it. “I want you to promise to call me if you need anything. Okay? Anything at all.”
“Thank you.” She wouldn’t call, of course. She didn’t need this man or his church involved in her problems. She’d find a way to deal with them herself, like she always had.
Granted, she’d never had problems quite this big before. But she’d manage.
Somehow.
“I’ll bring in your overnight bag before I leave. And I’ll be back to check on you tomorrow after services.”
Natalie shook her head. She was having enough trouble getting him to leave this time. She didn’t need to go through all this again tomorrow. “You don’t have to do that. I’ll be fine.”
His mouth hardened into a stubborn line. “You’re stranded out here without a car. I don’t even like leaving you overnight. Are you sure I can’t talk you into going back to town?”
“Yes.” She spoke firmly, but softened her refusal with a smile. “Completely sure.”
“Then I’ll see you around lunchtime. No,” he interjected as she opened her mouth to argue again. “It’s not up for debate. I’m coming back. I’m a minister, remember, and helping people through difficult situations is what I do. I’m here for the duration, Natalie. Until we get your situation more...stable, you can consider me your right-hand guy. Okay?”
It wasn’t the least bit okay, but how could she explain that? He was smiling at her, a friendly smile that came complete with a set of boyish dimples. But underneath all that charm, she saw a firmness that made her heart sink right down to the toes she hadn’t seen for the last month and a half.
Natalie had dealt with enough bullheaded people in her life to recognize stubbornness when she saw it. Jacob Stone wasn’t going to budge, so she might as well give in now as later.
“Suit yourself. But it really isn’t necessary.”
She didn’t sound particularly gracious, but he didn’t seem to mind. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then.” Casting one last uneasy look around the cluttered room, he headed for the door.
When the rumbles of his truck finally faded into the distance, Natalie sank onto a sticky chair and rubbed her chilled arms.
Alone for the first time since she’d heard the news about Adam, she realized how comforting Jacob’s company had been. Even if he was a minister, he was also a friendly, concerned human being. Without him, the house felt colder and dirtier, and the reality of how alone she truly was began to seep in.
She would not cry, pregnancy hormones or not. She was a Christian now, wasn’t she? All those encouraging devotionals she’d been reading told her to pray and trust God when things went wrong. Granted, right now that seemed nearly impossible, but what choice did she have? She shut her eyes and clasped her hands together.
Lord, this sure isn’t the way I thought today would turn out. I read in the Bible that Your strength is made perfect in weakness. I hope You meant that because I’m just about as weak as anybody can get right now. Please...help me.
She opened her eyes, but the scene in front of her hadn’t changed. Her gaze wandered over the room, lingering on the litter of food wrappers and the pile of dirty dishes in the sink. She glanced down at her left hand, still bare, resting on a pregnant tummy that seemed to get bigger by the minute.
None of that was too encouraging.
Her cell phone suddenly erupted in a burst of reggae music, and she gasped, digging wildly in her purse. That was Adam’s ringtone. Her hands were shaking so hard that it took her three tries to answer the call.
“Adam?”
There was a silence on the other end of the line, then a sheepish sigh. “Sorry, Nat. I kind of freaked out.”
He sounded like a guilty kid, and she’d never liked the nickname Nat. Still, getting angry with Adam never helped. Natalie rubbed her temples wearily. “Where are you?”
“I’m crashing at Gary’s place for a few days.”
Natalie frowned. “You drove all the way to Tennessee?”
“I didn’t know where else to go. I just snapped.”
Natalie’s head was beginning to pound, and she was feeling a little shaky. She’d been too nervous to eat breakfast or lunch today. “You snapped.”
“Well, yeah. The last couple of days out on the farm, I kept remembering how Grampa Ed loved that old place. He always talked about retiring there and growing blueberries, but Nana Cora wouldn’t let him. She wanted to stay in Fairmont. That’s all I could think about today at the church, you know? How Grampa Ed never got to do anything he wanted, and how I’m going to be just like him.”
She couldn’t muster up too much sympathy for Adam, or his grampa Ed either, for that matter. But of course, Adam had a right to make his own choices, no matter what his grandmother thought.
“Adam, look. If you really don’t want to get married...”
“Come on, Nat. Let’s be honest. Neither one of us really wants to get married, but we’re stuck because of this baby thing.”
She started to argue but stopped. It was the truth.
She didn’t really want to marry Adam. She just wanted a better life for her baby than she could provide on her own. And Adam wanted to hang on to his grandmother’s good graces, and more importantly, her checking account.
What a mess they’d made.
“So what are we going to do?”
“Get married, I guess. What choice do we have?”
“So you’re coming back?”
“Yeah. But—”
“But what?”
She heard Adam take a breath, then the words tumbled out. “Here’s the thing, Nat. Gary and some buds of his are leaving tomorrow to hike a leg of the Appalachian Trail, and I want to go with them.”
What? Whatever she’d expected Adam to say, it hadn’t been that. “You want to hike the Appalachian Trail? Now?”
“Just part of it. It’ll only take about two weeks, and I think it’ll help clear my head, you know? I’ve already talked to Nana Cora, and she’s good with it because we’ll still have enough time to get married before the baby comes.”
“That’s cutting it kind of close, Adam.” The doctor’s warning sounded in her mind.
Any day now.
“It’s