Page 29 of Evan

“The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away…” Her laughter cut off the rest of the scripture he was automatically quoting from Job.

“Really?” She scoffed. “I suppose I am Job’s wicked wife who is going to tell you to curse God and die?” She closed her eyes and leaned her head back wearily.

“Have your affair if that’s what you want to do, William. I am getting to the point where I don’t care about anything anymore.” Tilting her head forward, she stared at him sadly. “I still love you, surprisingly. It’s still here…”

She thumped the place where her heart was. “I don’t know if we can ever go back to where we were before, in fact I doubt that very much. And I am sorry for that.” Rising a little unsteadily, she waved a hand at his desk. “I will leave you to finish your sermon.”

He watched her leave the room, a bleak and bitter expression on his face.

Chapter 8

Cassandra could not settle. He had dropped her home, and they sat there out on the driveway, not really saying anything. They had left the parking lot of the fast-food restaurant, and he had driven her home in silence.

She had sat there, staring out the passenger window, her mind in turmoil. She knew what was happening between them and the best thing to do was to call it quits. She should stop while it was possible to do so.

But she did not want to.

“Should I apologize?” His deep voice had jarred her from her troubled thoughts and had her looking at him.

“Do you want to?” She asked softly.

“No.” His voice was abrupt, brusque, an expressionless look on his handsome face. “I have wanted to do it since the very first time I laid eyes on you.”

She sucked in a breath and thought about telling him that the feeling was mutual. But he rushed on, not giving her a chance. “What does this mean to us?”

“I don’t know.” She confessed and she genuinely meant it. “We are different.”

He laughed, the sound far from being amused. “That’s an understatement if ever there was one. Look, if you don’t want to see me again, I will respect your decision as difficult as that that would be.”

“I want to see you again.”

He stared at her in silence for a few ticking seconds before dragging his hands over his face. “Good.” He whispered harshly. “Because I would have been unable to accept that decision. I amnot going to force you into anything, and I am not willing to…,” he waved a hand vaguely and petered off into silence.

“You are not willing to attend services or bend towards my religion.” She sucked in a breath.

“I have never felt this strongly about anyone before. My life was extremely difficult.” He drew in a breath. “I am not saying that to have you feeling sorry for me. I am past it. I did some awful things that are not worth going into. I should tell you to run the opposite direction.” He stared at her in that intense way of his.

“Being with me will have you thrown completely into the limelight, and I am not certain that is a good idea where you are concerned.” Turning his head away, he stared out the window and she had a feeling he was fighting an inward battle.

“But I can’t stay away.” She knew it was very difficult for him to admit that. “So, we’ll deal with it.” He turned to look at her, eyes wandering over her face and settling on her lips. Blowing out a breath, he reached over to unhook her seatbelt. “Go inside Cassandra, now.”

She had scrambled from the car and raced inside the cottage and slammed the door shut. When she peered outside the window, he was gone. An attempt to calm her rising pulse and shaking of her limbs, she had plunked the kettle on and tried to drink some herbal tea. Then she had switched to wine, which in hindsight had been a bad idea.

Then she had tried taking a calming hot bath but had given up in frustration. Now she was sitting in the spare bedroom she used as her office and was unable to concentrate on the Bible on the desk. The words were running together, and she could not stop thinking about him. He was right, she should be running in the opposite direction.

He was Evan Davenport, and she was Cassandra Daley. She had never yearned for stardom. She had a very good voice and was careful to give God the honor and glory and not consider that it was on her. It wasn’t.

All good and perfect gifts come from Him. She was happy and that was not mouthing platitudes. She was genuinely happy. She had a relationship with her Lord and Savior and was not missing out on anything the world had to offer. She had been praying for directions in her life and she was granted that.

When other young people were struggling to find their place in ministry, it had been pointed out to her at a very early age.

She had gravitated to singing and felt a pull to teach Sunday school. She loved children and found herself very excited whenever she had to prepare for classes. Her class loved her, and she loved them. She found herself looking forward to teaching them. She oversaw choir practice and was mostly the solo lead.

Her responsibilities would be considered daunting if she was not enjoying herself. Her days and most nights were filled, but she struck a balance. She enjoyed art and found the time to go out with friends. She had never really been on a date because she had never met anyone, she wanted to spend alone time with, until now.

Leaning her head back, she closed her eyes, but not to pray. To remember. To bring up the image of him – at the gallery, the parking lot of Wendy’s where he had laughed at her jokes and eaten the burger with enthusiasm.

“You never had a burger before?”