Page 46 of Sing with Me

“That’s Matt’s pie. He only knows how to cook one thing.”

“Matt Garnett?” Diehl’s face changed slightly. “The guy who walked into class with you on Sunday morning?”

“You don’t miss a thing, do you?” Skye was surprised he had noticed them.

“Not when it comes to you.”

“Why me?” She put some jello on her plate. It was a mess. The jello dessert was next to a small slice of pecan pie, which was sitting on top of Matt’s chicken pot pie.

“You’re different from all the women I’ve ever known.”

“Inside our church, I’m quite ordinary. One of many.”

“You’re being humble, but God made each of us unique. There’s only one you in the whole world.” Diehl offered to carry her plate. “Where would you like to sit?”

“I’m assuming that means we’re sitting together.”

“Is that okay with you?”

“Yes.”

“Glad to hear that. I like sitting with you too.”

What was he saying? “Are you trying to tell me something, Diehl?”

“I’m trying to persuade you to come to my family picnic on Saturday. I’d like you to meet my twelve-year-old daughter, who doesn’t yet know what to do with her life, and my nine-year-old son who thinks he knows everything about his life.”’

“They sound like how I was at those ages.” Skye led Diehl to two empty seats to one side of the pavilion. Sitting down, they could see the ocean and the keyboard at the same time.

“For the record, you’re the first woman outside of my mom and my sisters whom I’ve invited to a family picnic on the beach,” Diehl said.

“You forgot Isobel.”

Diehl’s eyes met hers. “No, I didn’t. Isobel hated the beach. She liked the coastal atmosphere, but preferred rocky shores.”

“Wow. How could anyone hate the beach?” It baffled Skye.

“To each her own.”

“Didn’t she grow up in Hawaii?” Skye asked.

“Yes, she did. Never sunbathed. Never went surfing. She was on the island, but she wasn’t an island girl. As soon as she could leave, she did.”

Skye didn’t like where the conversation was going. Where was Diehl in his grief recovery? She would have to pray for him more, that perhaps he would get some grief counseling to overcome his past. From what he had told her on Monday morning and now, Skye had the impression that he had a complicated relationship with his deceased wife.

There was an underlying unforgiveness there.

Maybe he had to let go of the past—

She caught herself.

Throw the first stone, why don’t you?

Skye shouldn’t be talking—thinking—about Diehl’s life issues. She herself had a hard time letting go of her own past. The painful memories of having lost her parents at the tender age of thirteen had affected her entire life until this very day.

Hadn’t she been triggered on Sunday evening when Diehl asked about her parents?

She had yet to accept that her parents were gone forever, and that she had to move on with her life. Until then, she suspected she would have a hard time making her own love relationships permanent. At the back of her mind, she feared losing the one she loved.

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