Page 47 of Evan

“Hi.”

He went weak at the sound of her voice.

“Hi.” Waving a hand at Gavin, he indicated the meeting was aborted. Waiting until he had left and closed the doors, he gave her his full attention. “I was going to call you later after you had time to forgive me for putting my foot inside my mouth.”

“I thought about it and realized you are right. Oh, did I interrupt a meeting?”

“Nothing important.” He assured her. “What was I right about?”

“I am not a hypocrite.” He heard her sigh. “I always told myself that I will always be real no matter what. It doesn’t matter how much I care about the person; I am never going to look past that person’s fault. No one is perfect. Russell Baptist has been my family…”

“Cassandra…”

“No, please let me finish. Pastor William has been there for me, ever since I can remember and has always shown me the utmost love and absolute kindness. I owe him a lot. But he is human, and I know that.”

“I shouldn’t have said anything.” He murmured contritely. “I keep hurting you and I cannot bear that.”

“I am fine.” She assured him. “You said you want to talk, and we will. I don’t know how this is going to work, but I want to try.” He heard the catch in her voice and felt as if his heart was melting.

He had meetings lined up and his phone was ringing off the hook, but he did not want to end the conversation. Her voice was becoming his lifeline.

“I have to go. It’s a full day today and I have a lot to do.” She hesitated slightly. “Will you call me later?”

“Try and stop me. Any particular time?”

“I am going to be finished here until seven.”

“I have meetings as well, so around that time is fine for me. Cassandra?”

“Yes?”

“Thanks for calling me. I dreaded not hearing from you again.”

“I will always call you.” She promised.

“I hope so. Talk to you later.” He hung up and sat back in the chair, a smile touching his lips. The phone rang again and brought him back to reality.

*****

Her mood improved drastically after the phone call.

Not even the irascible Brother Calvin could get to her when he started complaining about the draft in the music room. She was feeling euphoric and happy. She was in love with a wonderful man. He might not be part of her faith, but she was certain it was ordained by the Lord that they would be together.

For now, they were playing it safe, and she could not believe he was the one to come up with the idea that they stay separated for now.

She was not going to worry about it. She loved talking to him.

If he was willing to do it this way, then she would be okay with that. They will make it work.

Her faith was shaken later in the day when Pastor William made his appearance. He had called to tell her that he would be doing home and hospital visits and would be gone for most of the day. But he came back earlier than anticipated.

She had avoided questioning him about his wife and what was happening there. He had not said anything to her, and she figured he deserved his privacy.

She was just collating some music sheets and placing them in colored folders when he walked in.

“Hi, I thought you would not be back until late.” The expression on his face had her turning around to face him. “What’s the matter?”

“Sister Shirley succumbed to her injuries this afternoon.”

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