Page 95 of The Friend Game

“How about if I don’t need my girlfriend to be the holiest, I just need her to always point me toward Jesus despite my own imperfections?”

I grin. “That I can do,” I tell him. Then, just so there’s no doubt in his mind, I add, “And to be clear, I’d forgive you even if I wasn’t a pastor’sgirlfriend.”

Luke laughs again. “Even so, I’m ridiculously happy that youarethis pastor’s girlfriend.”

“I certainly waited long enough to be,” I say with an exaggerated huff of impatience. “Now are you going to make me keep waiting or are you going to kiss me?”

Luke doesn’t wait a second longer, he pulls me to him and kisses me, soft and sweet at first, then with a depth and intensity that communicates just how much he loves me.

Epilogue

Approximately six weeks later

THE CLOCK ON THE wall ticks loudly in the otherwise silent room and a not small part of me wonders if I’m being ridiculous, sitting here. If I put on this little black dress (a recent purchase) and skipped dinner for nothing.

I mean, just because I remember our conversation about tonight doesn’t mean Luke will. After all, we’ve been dating for almost two months now…there’s no reason for him to show up on this particular night.

Or morning, as the technical case may be.

I glance at the ticking clock. 12:08. He’s seven minutes later than he said he would be. Idly I smooth the skirt of my dress and fluff the ends of my hair. If he’s not here in ten minutes, I vow inwardly, I’ll simply change and go to bed.

And I will not be disappointed. Nope.

Even if I’m pretty sure that’s already disappointment I’m starting to feel at the mere thought of him not coming.

It’s unreasonable to expect Luke to come to my house in the middle of the night. Especially afterthe busy week we’ve both had. The church held what Luke is hoping will be the first of many “John 21” outreach weeks; a weeklong serving event based on the verses in John 21 where Jesus told Peter to feed and tend His sheep. The congregation passed out blankets and toiletry kits to the homeless, provided meals to low-income families in the area, turned the church kitchen into a soup kitchen for a few nights, offered free basic home repair services to needy families, and so much more. It was a beautiful week.

Even the students got involved. Grade level teachers all picked a service project to do. Specials teacher did too. In art class this week we made tie fleece blankets and cards to go with them.

That’s right. In art class. Because I’m the art teacher again. After all of the chaos of that night settled, everyone realized that they still didn’t have a replacement for me…meaning I’d need to continue on as a long-term substitute unless they wanted to not have art class for a while. Someone from the board volunteered to take on the job, probably in the hopes of earning some brownie points with Lexie.

As it turned out, though, her efforts were for naught, since Luke followed through on his intentions to meet with the Stones to discuss whether or not Grace Canyon was the right fit for them, and, since they didn’t want to change theirbehavior, they left the school. They claimed that Luke would regret this since their exit from the school was sure to initiate a mass exodus, but in the end no other families left.

Weird as this may sound, I was sorry to see them go. I really enjoyed having Mia as a student, and some part of me could recognize that Lexie’s issues weren’t so much with me as they were with herself.

But anyway, the long-term sub only lasted two weeks before resigning and showing up at my door with a penitent expression and a message from the board asking me to come back to work. Turns out without Lexie at the helm, the board members didn’t care so much about my lack of certification after all.

Amazingly, after all of these months of teaching, I’m not showing any signs of getting sick of it. To the contrary, each day I’m excited to go to work.

Of course it helps that I get to see Luke there.

That’s a definite employment perk.

Speaking of, the time is now 12:13. Maybe he’s not coming after all. It was silly to think he would. I mean, this hypothetical situation was only meant to occur when we thought we had to wait until today to date.

I’ve let my imagination get carried away with me again. Sure it would have been insanelyromantic for him to show up at my door, but honestly every day with him is full of romance. There’s no need for me to get greedy about it.

12:14. Four more minutes and then I’m packing it in for the night. Across the living room Holly raises her head, cocking it to the side for a second before getting to her feet. I straighten in my seat. Does she hear something? Is Luke–

A persistent knocking interrupts my thoughts.

It’s Luke. It has to be.

I try to stand but my legs have gone wobbly like even they can’t believe this is actually happening.

The knocking continues, and I finally find my footing, hurrying to the door and throwing it open.

There he is, just like he promised: Luke.

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