Father John clasped his hands on the table. “Jesus said the two greatest commandments were to love the Lord with all your heart and soul and mind and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. Can committed love then truly be sinful? I’ve struggled with that question myself.”
“What if the commitment is only on one side?”
“Do you have reason to think Ricky Lee isn’t as committed as you are?” Father John asked.
Alex sighed. “You’ve heard what his life was like growing up. He’s overcome all that to become successful, even wealthy. What reason would he have to want to stay here?”
“It seems he has you.”
“Me, who’s been a failure at everything and whose only prospect is running the family hardware store for the rest of my life. How much of an incentive is that?”
“Alex, there’s being humble and then there’s belittling yourself. What you see as failures, I call wise choices—your health over ephemeral fame and fortune playing football, supporting your family over your own self-interest. You know better than to judge a person’s worth by the size of their bank account. The things you give to this community have a value far beyond their monetary price. Why is it so hard for you to believe Ricky Lee sees and values those things in you? Do you really think he’s that shallow?”
“No, of course I don’t.”
“Then have faith that just as you see what there is to love in him, he may see the same in you.”
Alex laughed. “I came here expecting to get a rebuke, not encouragement.”
“And I expect to see you back in church on Sunday.”
“No one cared when we were in Oklahoma City, but that’s not true here. If people know we’re together—”
“Then I’ll be able to pull out my favorite sermon on John 8:7—‘Let the one who is without sin among you cast the first stone.’”
ASAlex expected, the escalating rumors didn’t concern Ricky Lee at all. “Drug lord? That’s pretty funny considering I don’t even drink, let alone do drugs. Though I suppose a drug lord would be more successful if hedidn’tuse his own product.”
“I still don’t understand why this doesn’t bother you. You could clear it all up by letting people know the truth.”
“And spoil all their fun? They’d only look for some other reason to gossip about me—like you. And while I’d be fine with letting everyone know the truth about us, I don’t think you feel the same.”
What is the truth about us?Alex almost asked, but that wasn’t a discussion he wanted to have over the phone. Instead he said, “I’m trading with Alanna tomorrow night so I can be off Thursday for the town council meeting.”
Ricky Lee sounded amused by the change in subject. “Don’t tell me you’re on the town council too.”
“No, but Thursday night is the vote on Odell’s bid to buy the library land.”
“Odell Tillman wants to buy the library? I didn’t think he ever set foot in it except when he had a required tutoring session to keep his grades up enough to stay on the football team.”
“He doesn’t want the library, just the land it’s on,” Alex explained. “He wants to add another lot to expand his car dealership, and the library building is so old it always needs upkeep and repairs. If his proposal is accepted, he’ll tear the building down, and the books will either get distributed among the local school libraries or be disposed of.”
Ricky Lee was silent for a moment. “It seems like an odd time to want to expand his business. I read inForbesthat auto sales overall have been dropping. Is he really selling that many new cars?”
“I don’t actually know. I never looked at it that way. Odell’s always been one of the richest people in town, though he does have two ex-wives to support, and his current wife likes to one-up the Joneses. He must be bringing in enough money for all of that.”
“Do you think he has a chance of winning?”
“It’s hard to say. Input at the public hearing was fairly split. I think we made a good case for the value the library provides to the community, but the funding we receive through local tax revenues isn’t enough to maintain the building, let alone add the kind of books and programs we’d like to provide. And Odell and his supporters made the argument that expanding his business will bring in more tax revenue and add jobs. Not to mention that he and Mayor Findlay are pretty tight.”
“This is really important to you.”
“Call me a sentimental fool—Odell already has—but a lot of happy childhood memories took place in that library. Reading favorite stories, discovering new authors….” Alex paused, afraid of giving away too much. “It’s where you and I first met.”
“And the first place I kissed you.”
Alex had to swallow back the lump in his throat. Maybe the library meant something to Ricky Lee too. “So yes, it’s important. I’ve done everything I can think of to convince the council to vote in our favor. I’m just not sure it’s enough.”
“Then instead of building a case for the library, you should try to weaken Odell’s.”
“What do you mean?”
“He claims he’s going to increase tax revenue and add jobs, but that’s not going to happen if he can’t sell more cars. Dig into what his actual sales have been over the past few years. Look at his employment records and see how many people he’s hired recently. See if what he’s promising is feasible or if he’s just blowing smoke.”
“We should have thought of that sooner,” Alex said. “I’ll see what I can find out, but two days doesn’t give us a lot of time.”
“If anyone can do it, Alex, you can.”