Page 289 of Cold Case, Warm Hearts

“Why don’t you hang out with the dog while I see if she’s going to stay here with you or join me at church?”

Gavin nodded.

Emily rose to her feet as he approached. “I heard you two talking. I suppose I won’t be making it to my own church today, so I should probably call my pastor’s wife and let her know.”

“Why do you need to call? Do you teach a Sunday School class or something?”

“No. It’s a simple courtesy. I don’t want them to worry about me,” Emily said.

“Would you like to join me for church?”

“I don’t know.” She shook her head before looking up at him. “I don’t know anything about your church and the doctrine they teach. It’s hard for me to stay quiet when I vehemently disagree with what is said in the pulpit.”

“If you’re uncomfortable for any reason, we’ll leave, but I promise you our pastor teaches God’s words straight from the Bible, rightly divided.”

“None of that prosperity nonsense?”

“None.”

She rose to her feet. “In that case, I’ll join you. Let me go get dressed.” She made it halfway across the room before turning around. “I didn’t pack a dress.”

“You’ll be fine in slacks, but we can swing by your place if you’ll be more comfortable in a skirt. It’s not far out of the way.”

“That would be great. Thanks.”

Gavin joined them with Ruger in tow. “What’s the word?”

“Emily’s joining me for church, so you can join us, hang out here, or go home. Your choice. If you head home, I’ll call you later to work out a schedule for the rest of the week.”

“What about tonight? Don’t you have youth group?”

He smiled at Emily in a pleading fashion. “Want to help out with youth group tonight?”

She chuckled. “Sure. How hard can it be?”

“I’m not answering that lest you back out,” Wade said. He turned to face Gavin. “Let me get you a key. You know the security codes since you set them.”

“You were supposed to change them.”

“Why? I trust you.”

“Get me that key.”

Sunday evening,Wade watched as Emily wrote out the memory verse on the chalkboard in the large room they used for youth group. He rustled around in the equipment locker andpulled out some jerseys and a ball. After the lesson, the kids would play kickball in the field behind the church.

Bobby strode in and approached Emily, greeting her in typical teen fashion. “Whatcha doing here?”

Emily’s smile was radiant. “Helping out Mr. Wade.”

The boy turned to face Wade. “Pastor, is she your girlfriend?”

He saw Emily take a step back and raise her eyebrow. He should’ve mentioned it earlier. He’d have to address her questions sooner rather than later, but now wasn’t the time. The rest of the group wandered in, some ignoring the newcomer and others intensely curious as to what she was doing there.

After they all took their seats, he moved over next to the board and introduced Miss Emily.

“Who remembers the story of Jonah?” A hand went up in the back. “What do you recall about it, Cyndi?”

“He disobeyed God, so he was swallowed by a whale.”

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