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Gretchen whispered in my ear while everyone was singing. “Why is he looking at you?”
I sighed. “I saw him at the beach last night. He asked if we were still friends.”
Gretchen’s eyes widened, and she mouthed,What?
I would’ve laughed, because she was acting like a teenager.
“What did you say?”
I sighed and leaned back. “I said … that friends keep in touch.”
The song ended, and Pastor Lee said, “Since it’s December, I think it would be best for us to focus our attention on our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He gave His life for all of us. He beckons us to come to Him. He tells us that He will comfort us and He will be there for us. My question for you today is, are you asking for comfort?”
I was only half listening, still thinking about Charles and how he’d asked if we were friends. Why had I gone on and on about what friends do? I should’ve just said no.
Gretchen elbowed me again. I turned to look at her, and she nodded her head toward Charles. I glanced at him, and he was still looking at me. Our gazes held, and he lifted a hand.
I gave him what was probably a weird look and averted my eyes.
Gretchen leaned over and whispered, “Why don’t you wave at him?”
I glared at her. “Shh.”
For the next twenty-five minutes, the pastor continued his sermon. I focused on not looking toward Charles.
After the closing song and prayer, I got up quickly and said a fast goodbye to Gretchen, as well as her husband Kent, her teenage son Max, and her teenage daughter Ruby.
She grabbed my hand. “Are you coming for dinner today?”
This had become a tradition for us, and I actually looked forward to going over for Sunday dinner. She still had her parents and some siblings living in the area. If I didn’t agree, she would surely hound me. “Yes, thanks.”
I rushed toward the door to the building. Hopefully I could get out of here before anyone else engaged me in conversation, especially Charles. I doubted he would come after me, though; he had his grandmother to look after.
Yet as I was heading down the stairs, I heard, “Melody?”
Thinking of last night and how he’d chased me down, I paused and stepped out of the group of people that were exiting and onto the grass. He was coming down the stairs, and he gave me a huge smile. Wow. I loved that smile.
“Hey. I just wanted to catch up with you.”
“Why?”
The side of his lip tugged up. “Because I heard that’s what friends do—they say hi to each other and catch up.”
He had me there. “Okay, hi.”
He hesitated and then let out a light laugh. “Would you like to go get coffee? I hear that’s also what friends do.”
I shook my head, my thoughts racing. I wasn’t ready for this. I wasn’t ready for him. “Coffee is amorningthing.”
He cocked his head to the side. “You’re not going to make this easy on me, are you?”
I sighed. “What about your grandmother?”
“Oh, she comes with her home health care worker, Hazel, all the time. I told them I had plans afterward.”
My heart raced. He assumed I would be part of his plans? “Uh, I have stuff to do.”
“Melody, wait,” someone called out. We turned to see Pastor Lee walking toward us.
