Page 54 of Leo and His Love Bunny

“Stuck between a rock and a hard place?”

“Yeah, a little bit like that. I mean, it’s always important to preach the word and not water it down for anyone, even the hardest worker in the church. I do think it would be hard to take her in hand regardless, but to know that she’s one of the few people you can actually count on to get things done, it would be even harder to let her know that what she’s doing is not acceptable.”

“I guess I hadn’t thought about it from that perspective.” That’s the other thing about Nora. She gives me a different perspective and things to think about. She mentioned something about me being a preacher, and the idea has stuck. I was thinking about a speaking career, and I know that’s what God wants me to do, but maybe my idea of a speaking career and the Lord’s idea are two different things. I’ve been thinking and praying about that. I’m wondering if maybe these speaking engagements aren’t the way I should be going.

I take another look at the mountains. They’re blue in the distance, towering and majestic. It’s not hard to figure out where they got their name Blue Ridge. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of that view. I look back at the road before I speak.

“You probably don’t remember, but not long ago, you mentioned about me becoming a pastor. I think it was just a comment in passing, but it kinda stuck in my brain. I’ve... I’ve signed up for some Bible classes over the summer from an online university. I don’t know if it’ll come to anything, but I just thought I’d tell you.” I’m not even sure why I felt the need to tell her. It seems kind of random.

But it makes her happy. She grins over at me and says, “That’s awesome. I think you’d make a really great pastor. You’re definitely a leader, and I know you’re concerned about doing right. And I think you’ll find you’re a natural speaker as well.”

“I suppose we’ll find out. People might leave in droves, and that won’t be good for your cupcake business.”

“It will be disappointing, but to me the cupcakes are secondary to what you’re doing. I’m hoping I get to listen.”

It turns out that she really doesn’t. She is led to a different room when we get there. I should have known they’d have the cupcakes in a room that is completely separate from the room that I am speaking in.

I thought maybe I would see her come in the back during my speech, but I don’t. Maybe my speech is being piped to the room that she is in, I don’t know. But I speak about the thing that happened five years ago. And then I also speak about my childhood cancer. I’m not sure whether Nora knew either of those two things.

I also speak about losing my mom.

Those are the three things that really mark me. And it’s like I tell the people who are listening to me, those are the three times where it was most likely that I would quit, but I used those times as a springboard to become better.

I don’t really get to talk to Nora during the evening at all, because once I am done speaking, people want to talk to me, and when I finally make it to the cupcake room, people are crowding around her.

Matt left long before we did, because there are no cupcakes to speak of to take home.

I see that, and even though I haven’t gotten a cupcake, it makes me happy. It also seems like she has given away most of the flyers that she had made, and I don’t see any price lists left on the table. I’m not sure whether she provided it or someone else, but there is coffee and tea and water to go along with the cupcakes, and that is a nice touch. I hadn’t considered that.

“No cupcakes left?” I say as I make my way over to the table. There are a few people left, mostly sponsors who are cleaning up everything.

“Did you get one?” she asks, looking up from the table where she’s wiping up crumbs.

“I didn’t, which is a little sad, but I’m mostly happy for you.”

“I was afraid that you weren’t going to get one when I saw that people wanted to talk to you, and we were starting to get low, so I set one back.”

Wow. I wasn’t expecting that. Not that one cupcake is going to change the world or anything, but it means a lot to me that she thought of me. It’s not the cupcake; it’s the thought. She was thinking of me.

I am not very good at putting those things into words, but that cupcake means a lot more to me than a little rush of sugar.

“Thanks,” I say as she hands it to me and then continues to wipe the table.

“As soon as I have this wiped, I’m ready to go. I just need to grab the coffee and tea.”

I know she has to be tired by the time we’ve packed her things up, and the evening didn’t quite go the way I had hoped—I thought she’d listen to me speak, we’d serve some cupcakes, and then maybe we’d go out for supper before we went home. Even though that didn’t happen, I consider it a success. I am pleased with the way it turned out anyway.

I give her a hand carrying everything out to the car, and soon we’re driving down the road in the dark. I want to ask her if she wants to go out to eat even though it is so late, but I’m not sure we’ll have anything but 24-hour diners and fast-food options at this time of night.

“I caught bits and pieces of your speech,” she began.

“I didn’t see you in the room,” I say, wondering if my idea of them piping the speech is accurate.

“There were a few times where people walked in and the door was open. And once someone held it open for a few minutes. I... I had forgotten about your accident.”

“I kind of wanted to talk to you about some of the things I was going to be talking about tonight. I don’t know what they’re going to be saying online, and I’d rather you get it from the horse’s mouth, so to speak.”

“I don’t want you to say anything to me that you don’t want me to hear, but I’m interested in anything you want to say,” she says, and I believe it. She’s looking at me, and I feel like she truly wants to know. Not just because of the juicy gossip, but because she cares about me as a person. There is a difference.

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