Page 22 of A Cowboy's Convenient Marriage

Ezra didn’t say anything for a bit, and Ada tried not to fidget in her seat. Finally, she said, “I’ve watched him at church, and he seems like a really nice guy. He’s been there every Sunday since he first started coming. I heard that he’s living with his Aunt Karen and he has taken over management of her used-car dealership outside of Sweet Water.”

“Yes. That’s what happened. He came from Virginia, and I have permission to tell his story to you. I spoke with him at length and called six or seven people to talk to people who knew him in Virginia.”

“Okay,” she said, feeling like there was a lot more Ezra wanted to tell her.

“He was accused of molesting a girl at the church he pastored.”

He was a pastor?

That shocked her, because she had been thinking he was a used-car salesman, which was fine but a lot different than a pastor.

And then the rest of Ezra’s statement hit her. He had molested someone? She wasn’t going to marry anyone like that. No way.

“It was one of those he said, she said kind of things. Apparently, Cash has been very careful about making sure that he has guards up, meaning that he never counseled any female in his office without having his secretary or one of the deacons or someone from the church in the room as well. He just was never alone behind closed doors with anyone, because he didn’t want something like this to happen.”

Ezra steepled his fingers and leaned back.

“His church was about two thousand regular attendees, so it’s large. And he had spent his life building it. It was one he started. He dealt with a lot of people a lot of the time. And as was almost inevitable, a girl ran into his office, slamming the door behind her and crying, and he comforted her instead of opening the door. He said they spent about an hour in the office, and the girl did not like his advice. He had been telling her that the boy that she was seeing was not someone that she should be with, that her best friend was not a good friend for cheating with the boy behind her back, and that maybe the boy breaking up with her was for the best. Anyway, the girl got mad and knew what she could do in order to ruin his career, so she did it. That is Cash’s story. I don’t expect you to believe it, so I called the head deacon of the church, who also happens to be Cash’s best friend. But he’s also the man who fired Cash the next day.”

“He was fired?” she gasped.

Ezra nodded. “They said that they didn’t want the community to think that their church accepted or defended people who molested girls. They felt like they had no choice. It came down to money too, because they would have lost members and they had big bills to pay. Since they just put an addition on.”

“I see,” she said, and she really did. A lot of things came down to money. Which was probably why the Bible said the love of money was the root of all evil. People would rather have money than honesty or integrity or character or family or relationships. It seemed to trump pretty much everything.

“John did the firing, but he had nothing but glowing words for Cash, and he told me that he didn’t believe for one second that Cash did what the girl accused him of. But he told me that he hadn’t had a choice. The community would hate the church and blacklist it. They would lose members, and they would lose the church. He told me that he’d never met a man with more character, and he missed him every day.”

“I bet Cash has to hate him for what he did,” Ada said, hardly able to believe that Ezra was calling this man Cash’s best friend, when he’d obviously betrayed him for the sake of the church, knowing that Cash was an innocent man.

“I don’t know. I guess. I know he said he was angry. But he said he thought that eventually he would be able to forgive not just John but the entire church for allowing him to leave without defending him. After all he had done for those people, after everything that he had built there for the Lord. It seems inconceivable that the church would just turn their back on him, but that’s what happened.”

“I can totally see why he would be angry and bitter.”

“He had a fiancée too. She also broke up with him as soon as she heard, and he’s still on the hook for some of the wedding cancellation fees. He had to take a loan out for them, since obviously he wasn’t getting his salary anymore.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah. He pretty much lost everything, but from my perspective, it seems like maybe God wanted to move him, maybe God had something for him to do here, maybe God had something better in mind and wanted to bless him even more.”

“I guess you can say that, but it’s hard to see.”

“The reason he’s asking if I would give my permission for you to marry him is because he got a letter similar to others that we’ve heard about, stating that he would get one billion dollars if he got married within a certain amount of time. The letter was rather old when he got it, and he has three days to make that decision. He needs to be married by Thursday.”

“Oh, wow.” Her heart fell to the floor, and her stomach splattered there along with it. He wanted to marry her, and she had to make a decision fast. “How many other women has he asked?”

She didn’t know where that question came from, but as she was asking, she thought of Kendra last night. Was that why he was at Kendra’s?

Ezra looked rather surprised. “I didn’t think to ask him that. I assumed you were the only one, but it’s a good question. I told him that you would be willing to talk to him after I spoke with you and explained everything. I thought it would sound better coming from me, just so you know why I gave him my permission.”

“You gave him your permission?” she repeated, although she had heard what he said.

“I did. With all of the men I talked to, none of them had anything bad to say about him, other than what that girl had said. If you take that out of the equation, the man is upright and has as much character as they come. What happened behind the closed door... We might never know. But I have a tendency to believe him, because a child molester does not just become a child molester overnight. There is a pattern, usually. Plus, it’s already been proven that some of the other things she’s said about him were not true. He had alibis for the different times she said that they had been together. So, she’s lied, and it’s been proven. He has not.” He tilted his head and lifted his shoulder. “I believe him. And that’s why I gave my permission.”

“I trust you,” Ada said simply, and she didn’t even need to think about it. She knew her brother would not recommend she marry someone he did not approve of and did not think would be a good match for her. “Unless you’re trying to get rid of me? Because I’ve asked several times if you and Alaska wanted me to move out of the house, and you know I’m willing to do it without getting married.” She was teasing.

He laughed, knowing that she was joking. “I actually considered not giving him my permission, because I knew that that meant you would be leaving, and I don’t want you to.”

The way he said it made her feel so loved and wanted that she almost got up and walked around the desk so she could hug her brother. She knew he loved her, knew he wanted her, knew he admired and respected her.

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