Page 19 of A Cowboy's Convenient Marriage

“Sure. Ask away,” John said, and Cash appreciated his friend’s generosity and his honesty.

“If you had a sister or daughter, would you think it was a good idea for them to marry Cash?”

“Absolutely. I would have no qualms about it at all. In fact, I would feel like they were getting one of the best men in the world.”

“What would you say his worst flaws are?”

John was silent for a moment before he said, “I think everything has always come easily for him. I... I don’t know if he has the ability to dig in and stand his ground, to fight for what is right. He... He left really easily. No one believed what Zoe said was true, but we had to let things play out.” There was another pause. “I don’t know for sure that he’s not bitter or angry about it too. I know I would be. But that’s not really a flaw that I know of. It’s just something I know could be a potential issue.”

“Is there anything else you think I should know about Cash’s character if I’m going to be around him a lot or have my children and my wife around him?”

Cash appreciated the fact that Ezra wasn’t saying exactly what was going on. If Ada decided not to marry him, he would prefer not to have the entire world know that she turned him down. He’d already been through enough. He didn’t need that additional issue.

“Nope. I meant it when I said he is one of the best men I know. He was a great pastor, but more than that, he was a great friend. I hated to see what happened to him. But that type of thing could happen to anyone if it could happen to Cash. Because Cash was one of the most careful people I know. He knew what God wanted from him, and he kept guardrails up around his life to keep him from straying off the path and to keep others from being able to corner him the way that girl did. And he didn’t do it because of legalism or trying to make himself look good. He did it because he loves the Lord. His love for God is one of the most genuine things I’ve ever seen.”

Cash could have hugged his friend right then, although he hadn’t realized until he had been sitting there listening to him that he did hold bitterness in his heart toward John. John could have squashed this completely. He could have stood behind him, defending him against the allegations. He could have said, “We’re not going to listen to this girl. She’s a known liar, and we know that our pastor is doing right.” Or at least that it was her word against his word and a man was innocent until proven guilty.

But John hadn’t done any of that. It was like he had dropped him the second something came into his life, and it made Cash feel like perhaps John was just looking for an excuse to knock him down.

But to hear John talk about him now, it didn’t feel that way. But he could still feel bitterness and anger in his heart because his friend had not supported him from the beginning.

Still, he couldn’t have asked for a better recommendation.

Ezra and John talked a bit more before he hung up the phone.

“Do you have anyone else I should call?”

“I can give you a few numbers,” he said, pulling out his phone and giving the number of his parents and the number of a distant friend who didn’t know him that well but who would give a different perspective. And then, he took a chance and named three upstanding men in the church. One was a deacon, one had been a Sunday school teacher for years, and one worked on the bus ministry.

“I have no idea what these men will say about me. But that should give you a good idea of how people feel.”

He didn’t want to try to deceive Ezra. That was not what he was here for. If Ezra wanted to know what people said about him, he could find out, and Cash wasn’t going to try to manipulate the outcome. This wasn’t like getting a job. This was something he was going to hopefully be for the rest of his life. He didn’t want to enter into the union under false pretenses, and he definitely didn’t want Ezra to give his blessing without knowing everything there was to know.

He wanted Ezra to be able to make an informed decision, and he felt the same about Ada. She didn’t have much time, so he needed to help in every way he could.

An hour later, Ezra finally hung up from the last call. One man hadn’t been home, one had given short, uninspired answers, and all of them that Ezra had talked to had mentioned the allegations against him and the fact that they had been shocked and taken off guard because his reputation had been spotless up until that point.

Ezra clicked off his phone and looked across the table at Cash.

“Do you mind if I ask you a couple questions?” Ezra asked, his posture relaxed, his voice or face not showing anything that he was thinking or feeling.

“Sure. Ask me anything.”

“Are you angry?”

Cash swore to himself that he would answer all questions honestly, but with the very first question, he was tempted to lie. He didn’t want to admit that yes, he was very, very angry. He had everything that he had been working for stripped from him, forever. He lost his fiancée, and he lost the dreams that he had. His life had no meaning. And a man without meaning was a man who was most likely angry, bitter, and depressed.

“Yes. I don’t think I would be human if I wasn’t angry about what happened.”

“I don’t think you would be either. If you would have said no, I would have thought you were a liar.”

He felt like he’d answered the question correctly, even though it wasn’t the answer he wished to give.

“Do you think you’re going to be able to forgive those people?”

He didn’t get specific about the people who needed to be forgiven, and that was probably on purpose. Cash knew that there were a lot of people he would need to forgive. All the people who allowed him to be run out of his own church on the allegations of a teenager, with absolutely no proof to back them up. No proof, because there was no way she could back up her allegations since they were false.

Could he forgive?

---