Page 30 of Sing with Me

“How are your parents?”

Diehl told him about their delayed flight. “They should be arriving Monday afternoon.”

“I’ll pray for travel mercies.”

“Thank you.”

“How may I pray for you?” Pastor Gonzalez asked. His voice showed care and concern.

Diehl wondered if anyone knew what he was doing—or not doing—here on the island. Then again, surely Ivan and Brinley had put him on the Sunday School class prayer list, which the church leadership no doubt knew about.

Then again, he wasn’t that important.

“Well, praying for the safety of my parents and kids flying home is plenty,” Diehl said.

“How old are your kids?”

“My daughter is twelve and my son is turning nine.” As Diehl said it, he watched Skye pick up her guitar case. He wondered whether she heard him, and whether his having kids made any difference in her view of him.

View of him as what?

Diehl wasn’t sure where he was going with his thought process.

“We have some summer camps for those age groups,” Pastor Gonzalez said. “In fact, they start next week, if you’re interested.”

“I think it’s a great idea.” From the corner of his eye, Diehl saw Matt come up to Skye. He wondered if there was something going on between those two. They had entered the Sunday School classroom together this morning, for example, although they could have easily run into each other in the hallway. “Frankly, I haven’t thought about summer much, and here it is.”

“I know. And we started planning for the fall semester way back in the spring.”

Diehl nodded. “Man, the church runs like a corporation.”

“Well, in some logistical ways, yes, but not exactly. We have to answer to God for all our failures and successes. No boards.”

Failures and successes.

Might as well get it out now.

“Pastor, the last time we talked, I said some things…”

“All forgotten. All forgiven.” Pastor Gonzalez placed a palm on Diehl’s shoulder. “If you heard what I said to my wife in anger… Whew. Who am I to cast the first stone?”

In anger.

Diehl tried to recall how many times he had been angry with Isobel in their ten years of marriage. It seemed that they had ticked off each other almost every day and every time they were together. In the last years of their marriage, they had slept in separate bedrooms. And then Isobel was gone half the time—to Hawaii or the Amalfi Coast.

For all practical purposes, their marriage was broken long before they were divorced.

So why had he remarried Isobel?

If they had remained divorced, would he be called a widower today?

The word widower made him feel old. Like he wasn’t supposed to be one at his age.

Someone came to talk to Pastor Gonzalez. One of the deacons that Ivan had pointed out to Diehl this morning.

He let the pastor go and then he couldn’t see Skye or Avery anymore. He was standing alone on the platform.

He looked for them, and there in the distant pews by the wall, Skye waved to him. She pointed to the edge of a pew where she had placed her guitar case.

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