Page 24 of Gideon

“See you then.” He tucked his hands in his pockets and strolled toward the road, whistling a tune she recognized as an old hymn, but she couldn’t remember which one.

She hummed it as she went into the church. Then the words came. “Come thou fount of every blessing. Tune my heart to sing thy grace…” Those were all the words she could remember, but they were enough. That man couldn’t have known what she needed, but God did.

She picked up her Bible from the front pew, and her thoughts went in a frustrating direction. What if this guy was the help she’d asked for? But she wasn’t willing to make the same mistake she’d made with Gideon. Perhaps God had sent an encourager. That would be enough.

On her way out, she stopped on the steps, looking down at the railing that had listed to the side for years. It was now standing upright. She gave it a tug, and it resisted.

“Huh.”

It had been a long time since anyone besides herself showed any interest in the upkeep of this building that held so many memories for her. Good and bad. It was the small things she had to hold close.

Gideon yanked the bulb cord, then put his tools on the bench while the light danced, dragging shadows through the basement. He reorganized a few consumables he expected to need over the next week. It would be his second full week in town. But God had blessed his time, and, knowing this could be his last time in Asher, he wanted to make the most of it. Through the work he was now doing, he’d built a tenuous thread of a relationship with his dad. Not to mention it felt good helping people who really needed it.

He shifted to another shelf, still hobbling on his injured leg. His limp was almost gone, but he didn’t want to risk re-injuring it, so he’d been going easy on it.

Climbing out of the basement, he entered the dusty workshop. His finger traced along the edge of a shelf until he reached the end, where he could remember setting up a display when he was a boy. He’d done it wrong and gotten a beating for it. It was memories like that that had kept him away for so long. He knew he’d never get a sorry for them. The word had never come out of his dad’s mouth.

He flicked away the dust he’d collected on his finger, hoping the memories would go with it, but they still pinched.

“Never mind,” he said, clearing his head. “I didn’t come back for a sorry.” He patted his stomach when it grumbled, reminding him he hadn’t eaten breakfast. Lunch would be a welcome distraction.

Gideon looked up at the bell over the door that jingled when he entered. It was his first time in the diner since he was a boy. It hadn’t changed since then. The backing on the booths—a wood-paneled laminate—was peeling now, and the checkered floor was worn down to the concrete along the center row where most people walked.

“Gideon, there you are,” said the woman behind the counter, whose car he had fixed a few days ago. He’d found out from Nikki that Fairfax owned the diner, which meant low wages. With four kids to look after, she relied heavily on tips, but no one had much extra to give around town. When he’d tried to give his services for free, she wouldn’t hear of it and made him promise to let her feed him. “I was beginning to worry you wouldn’t come by.” She was a forty-something, trim woman with a pile of blonde curls on her head.

“Well, Katrina, I can’t say no the best burger and fries in town, now, can I?” He’d learned a lot about the desperation of the people in town as he’d done small jobs for them.

“I’ll get you a milkshake too.”

“Hold the shake. My stomach doesn’t take to milk, but a water would be great.”

“Sparkling?”

“Why not.”

“Coming right up.”

“Gideon.”

He turned and saw Beth, Nikki, and another man who he didn’t recognize sitting in a booth.

“You here for lunch?” Beth said.

“Yeah, a quick bite.”

“Then you should join us. Come meet our new friend.”

“Thanks.” He pulled a chair over, taking the hand that was offered by the stranger.

“This gentleman is Eric Cunningham. He’s passing through town and decided to grace us with his presence.”

Eric smiled broadly. The lines etched on his face suggested he did it often. “That’s a bit extreme,” Eric said, “but it’s nice to meet you, Gideon.”

“So, you guys met for the first time today?” Gideon said.

“He was waiting at the church this morning,” Nikki said. “Hoping to join the service.”

“I was disappointed to hear there wasn’t one,” Eric said. “Lucky for me, Nikki and Beth were nice enough to invite me to lunch.”

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