Page 71 of The Friend Game

As he thinks Luke eyes his watch. “Three minutes until the start of service,” he murmurs under his breath.

“Not enough time to hold an emergency elder meeting,” I say morosely.

“No, it’s not,” he agrees, his gaze swinging off his watch and up to me, lingering on my mouth in a very unfriendlike way. He clears his throat and jerks his eyes away with a penitent shake of his head. “Good grief, I can’t wait to kiss you again, Hannah. I might just have to go out there and tell everyone right now.”

“Luke!” I gasp with a giggle. “You can’t be serious!”

“That probably wouldn’t be the best choice,” he says regretfully. “No, I’ll just have to see if the elders can meet after the service for lunch.”

Ha! No picnic lunch for you, Morgan.

“Sounds good,” I tell him, then bend down and pick up my Tupperware off the ground. “And here, you can offer these as a peace offering.” I proffer the cookies, some of which, I notice with a grimace, are now broken from their fall—eh, worth it.

It’s only when I’m back in my seat, lots of curious eyes on me, that I remember something else. I still haven’t told Luke about my past, specifically Marshall.

But it’s fine, I assure myself. I will tell him. The only people who truly knoweverythingthat happened with Marshall are my sisters (and probably Max), and they’ve been sworn to secrecy per the “we don’t talk about The Disaster” oath I made them take. So it’s not as if there’s any risk that someone else will tell him first.

So I’ll just wait and see how things go with the elders, and then I’ll tell him.

Luke walks out onstage and in spite of my angst I let out a happy sigh.

Maybe I’ll wait and see how things go with the elders, then, assuming they go well, spend the afternoon kissing Luke…then tell him about Marshall.

Yup. Good plan.

Chapter 28

MY GOOD PLAN takes an unexpected turn, when halfway through his sermon on Jacob wrestling with God Luke stops mid-sentence and lets out a long sigh.

“Wrestling with God,” he says with a deprecating laugh. “Have any of you been there before, because I tell you what, I have. For most of the last few months, actually. I’ve laid up in bed so many nights arguing with Him about the circumstances in my life, asking Him why, after years of being able to take or leave dating, I suddenly found myself falling hard for a woman that I couldn’t date because I’d signed a contract to remain single my first year here?” This pronouncement is followed by a collective gasp around the sanctuary. My gasp included, because, hello—he was supposed to just talk tothe elders about this! I’m simultaneously thrilled and mortified.

Thrilled because Luke is declaring his interest in me in front of everyone.

And mortified because there are a lot of people here, many of whom are likely about to get judgy.

“About time you found a wife, pastor! Tell us about her!” I hear someone that sounds an awful lot like Etta shout from the back of the room. There are a few nervous titters in response, and somebody lets out a whoop and a whistle. I sink lower in my seat, anticipating the moment all eyes turn to me.

“Well, thank you, Etta, for your endorsement,” Luke says wryly, “but this confession is really about me, and I intend to safeguard the privacy of the woman in question for now. At this time though, I do need to ask for the forgiveness of the congregation because though I set out to remain just friends with this woman until the contract expired, my feelings have grown well outside the boundaries of a friendship.” He draws in a deep breath. “And just this morning I completely crossed those boundaries when I kissed her.”

There’s another round of gasps then someone starts clapping. My money is on Etta. Or Belinda if she’s here. A few people do join in, though. So that’s sort of encouraging.

“I know that this was a direct breach of my contract, and the elders would be completely within their rights to fire me. So all I can do is stand before you and apologize for breaking your trust, then await your verdict. But please know that should you decide to keep me employed here at Grace Canyon, it would be with the understanding that the contract is no longer active, meaning I would be free to pursue a God-honoring relationship with her—as both of us had planned to do after my contract expired. I understand the elders believed that dating would serve as a distraction from my role here as pastor, however it has been my experience that not dating this woman has been far more of a distraction. Not only that, but I would never even consider a relationship with a woman unless I felt she would readily embrace the privilege of serving this congregation together. Given the ways I’ve already observed her bringing meals to families, helping the elderly, and loving on the children of the congregation, I have no doubt in my mind that for the woman in question this is the case. She has a beautiful heart, a generous spirit, loves Jesus fiercely, and makes me laugh like no one else.” He shakes his head, seeming to realize he’s gone slightly off point. I purse my lips against the smile threatening to break free. I may not think I’m totally worthy of all the accolades he just gave me, but thatdoesn’t mean hearing he thinks so highly of me doesn’t make me a little giddy.

“Anyway, that’s all I have to say for now,” he goes on, “but I understand there may be further questions that need answers, so I’ll plan to meet with the elder team whenever they’re ready, and as for anyone else who’d like to chat, my door is always open.”

He steps back and beckons the worship director, Will, forward to move into the post-sermon time of prayer and worship. In turn Will, who I’ve never met, but I know is a good friend of Luke’s, gestures for his team to come on stage with him, stopping along the way to clap Luke on the back, a broad smile on his face.

There’s a buzz of conversation all around me, and it doesn’t stop even as Will plays the opening notes of Maverick City’s “Broken Melodies”. I force myself to get to my feet and join the singing. As much as I’d like Luke to seek me out in the crowd so that I can try and silently express my appreciation and respect for what he’s done, I know he won’t search me out, not when he’s committed to keeping my identity private.

I guess I’ll have to wait and meet up with him later. Anticipation of our next meeting fizzes inside me. No more friendship boundaries.

Luke and I can finally go on a date.

Chapter 29

WHAT I DIDN'T anticipate was the way half of the congregation would descend upon Luke as soon as the service ended. But descend they did. Meanwhile I spotted Belinda and Etta both making their way toward me and, in a fit of panic, retreated as quickly as possible to the nearest hallway, making my way all the way to the back of the church then doubling around to get to my car without talking to anyone.

Now I’m locked up inside Max and Jill’s guesthouse, eyes glued to the door, waiting for Jill to come barging in using the spare key she keeps in her kitchen, demanding answers. So far, though, everything has been quiet. Scarily quiet. Like the way quiet settles over the earth right before a storm hits.

---