Page 42 of A Cowboy's Convenient Marriage

“I’m sorry. I am not going to answer any more phone calls.”

“That one seemed like good news,” she said. And then she smiled a little apologetically and lifted a hand up. “I hope you don’t mind that I was listening.”

“No. Not at all. You’re my wife. There should not be any business that I conduct that you can’t hear too. I just feel bad that it happened while we were eating. I wish I wouldn’t have answered.”

“But, you got good news, right?” Ada said, and he realized that she was making assumptions and guesses from what he had been saying, because she couldn’t hear John. And that he was being more rude by not explaining it to her.

“Yes. Very good news. The girl who accused me of sexually molesting her has come clean, and admitted that everything she said was a lie. All of it. And that my behavior has been above reproach. John, he was my best friend and my head Deacon, called to apologize and then, he said that the church would like to have me back.”

“That’s great news!” Ada said, and he honestly believed she meant that. Even though if he took the church up on it, she would be moved two thousand miles away from her family, and possibly never see some of them again.

“I guess it is. I suppose I’ve considered that God had shut the door, and I had said to myself that I was never going back. But I promised John I would pray about it.”

“That must be why Abby called you,” Ada said softly.

His eyes widened. He hadn’t put those two things together yet, but Ada’s deduction made perfect sense. Of course that was why Abby called him.

“My goodness. You’re right. She must have heard.”

She must have heard, assumed he was coming back, and wanted her original position as the pastor’s wife of a big mega church. There would be plenty of opportunities for outreach and she would have a platform that she hadn’t worked for.

“I’m sure she loved you too. She was probably really happy to hear the news.” Ada again sounded sincere. He believed that she meant what she was saying, but there was something in her voice. Maybe a sadness that he couldn’t quite put his finger on, but that made him wonder if maybe there was more that she had already figured out that he hadn’t.

The waitress came back asking if they wanted anything else, and then set the check on the edge of the table.

He picked it up, pulled his phone out and used the code to pay. His mind wasn’t on what he was doing, though. He couldn’t have said how much the meal cost, or even how much tip he gave. He couldn’t help himself. He was excited at the idea of going back to the church that he started. It would require a lot of forgiveness on his part, but he was even excited about being able to minister there again. He loved the people there. Had loved them for years, and could understand why they had done what they did.

“I would have thought they would have filled that position by now,” Ada said, as he set the check down, and tucked his phone away again.

“Interestingly, they said that Pastor Stone had applied for the position, and he was the only one who had committed to going to filling the pulpit if they called him.”

“Wow. I would think a church that size wouldn’t have a problem. And, what is the chance of that?” She laughed. He had thought the same. What were the odds that the man they were sitting under now was the man who was probably going to be the next pastor of the church he just left.

“It’s like John explained to me, once the candidates heard what the church had done to me, how there had been no evidence against me, just the word of one girl who had been closed in my office for thirty minutes if that, and had absolutely nothing substantial to back up her accusations...if they had fired me over that, they found that their candidates were very leery to want to have anything to do with a church like that.”

Ada’s eyes opened, and then, to his surprise, she nodded. “That’s right. That’s exactly the way it should be. I know that it’s possible that a man can get away with something very dark and very wrong, but, when he has a reputation like yours, and the first accusations made against him are only by one person, and they’re questionable at best... I’m sorry. A man should be innocent until he’s proven guilty. And, I suppose they are reaping what they sowed.”

She gave a little smile. It wasn’t smug, but it was satisfying, like seeing God’s laws play out made her happy.

He hadn’t thought about it that way, and again, he had the distinct feeling that perhaps his wife was slightly more spiritual than what he was, and it made him feel offkilter. He would be more comfortable with a woman like Abby, to whom he knew that while she loved Jesus and wanted to serve him, he was more grounded in the Bible and Scripture than she was, and he would never feel like she was... Not usurping his authority, because Ada was definitely not doing that, but he didn’t like feeling that Ada was a little ahead of him in a way. What was wrong with him? Was that a male thing? Or was it just a preacher thing, where he felt like he should be the wisest person at the table, since he was the pastor.

He wasn’t sure, but the feeling bothered him.

“I think you’re right. I think that is God’s law playing out.”

“I wonder also if maybe they’re having money trouble. If that’s why they were calling you wanting you back.”

Again, he hadn’t thought of that, and was a little annoyed that Ada was so astute. Maybe he married a woman he couldn’t keep up with. That thought was a little disconcerting. Of course, he loved her brain, he loved her intellect, and he loved her spirituality. He wasn’t wishing that she was any less. Maybe he just wished that he was more.

“You could be absolutely right. I did think it was kind of weird that John was practically begging me to consider coming back. Maybe they lost big donors because of what they did, and they think that having me back would fix things.”

“Maybe. You have a charisma about you. Something that draws people. I think they see Jesus in you and that attracts them. And, with you gone, maybe people started leaving. Maybe they’re afraid that a new preacher won’t bring those people back.”

“That’s reasonable. I hope they’re not though, but it’s quite possible. I wondered at times if maybe we didn’t bite off more than we can chew, and get more in debt than we should have. The Bible definitely warns against it. But, I really felt like God was leading us in that direction. So I’m torn about that.”

“Maybe he was leading you in that direction because he had some lessons he wanted to teach people.” Ada lifted a shoulder, but he found her words again to be very wise.

He wanted to marry someone who would make him better, and Ada was definitely that person, but he had to be careful, because there were times where she made him feel inferior. And it wasn’t because of anything she was doing, it was just because of him not meeting his high expectations of himself. It was a new feeling, and he wasn’t entirely sure he liked it. As much as he thought Ada was almost perfect.

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