A Chance at Love (7 page)

O
ver the course of the next week, Emily and I spoke every day. She’d call me each evening at seven fifteen, after my grandmother had retired to her bedroom for the night. We were learning so much about each other, and I felt myself falling for her more with each conversation. On the day it was time to leave my grandma’s house, I started my car to let it warm up before I headed back to town. Through my windshield, I could see my grandmother suddenly come out from her house and down the walkway. She had her baby-blue pajamas on, a bathrobe over that, and a pair of rain boots as she limped toward my car. A book of some sort was also tucked under her arm.

“Kyle!” she called out, waving her free arm as she approached.

I got out of my car and shut the door. Approaching to meet her at the edge of the driveway, I asked, “What is it, Grandma?”

“Here,” she said, pulling the book from under her arm. She handed me my grandfather’s Bible that she had led me to Christ with the week prior.

“I can’t take this,” I replied, trying to push it back to her.

“Please do,” she insisted. “He’d want you to have it.”

I took the Bible in my hands and ran my fingers against the worn and weathered cover as a plume of air escaped my lips. My heart warmed.

“He highlighted a lot and wrote notes all over.”

I looked at her and smiled. “Thank you. I know how much this meant to you.”

“He was a smart man. You remind me a lot of him, Kyle. You two would have gotten along really well.”

“Thanks, Grandma.” Closing the Bible, I leaned in and hugged her tightly. “I’m going to miss you. I’ll be sure to visit as often as I can, and come by our house whenever.”

After settling in back home, I headed over to see my friend, Jake. He had texted me a few times while I was at my grandma’s house and wanted me to come over and game once I got back to town.

“Long time, no see,” Jake said as I walked in.

Closing the door behind me, I nodded to him as he stood in the kitchen. “It’s been a while.”

I joined him in the kitchen as he opened the oven and pulled out a cookie sheet full of burritos and tater tots. “Did you have to wipe her butt?” he asked as he took off the oven mitts and tossed them on the counter beside the pan.

I laughed. “No. She had a bruised hip. Some pain, but she was able to move around pretty well.”

“Ah . . . so a waste of time?”

I furrowed my eyebrows and shook my head. “No. Not at all.” My mind thought of last night’s conversation with Emily about witnessing and how it’s a duty of being a Christian. My heart began thumping as I felt anxiety raise up inside of me. I knew Jake didn’t believe, and I was to be a witness for Christ. “I became a Christian.”

“Shut your face,” he said. “You’re screwing with me.” He went over to the fridge and opened it.

I leaned against the counter that separated the kitchen and living room and said, “No way, man. I’m serious.”

He pulled out a jar of salsa and shut the door. Staring at me, he narrowed his eyes as he tried to figure me out. “You’re serious? The kid who obliterated that Christian girl in an argument in Mrs. Walker’s class our sophomore year is now a
Christian
?”

“Yep.”

His eyebrows went up and he turned, heading over to the cupboard. Pulling a plate out, he looked back at me and said, “So your grandmother brainwashed you into thinking there is a God. Cool.”

“Hey!” I snapped.

“Dude. That’s what happened. You were an atheist and went and hung out with your grandma. Now you’re a
believer
. That’s crazy.”

“It’s not crazy to believe in God, and I was never an atheist. There’s a lot of merit to Christianity. Think about it, Jake. All this world happened by some random chance? You really can’t honestly say you one hundred percent, whole heartedly believe that!”

He nodded slowly and replied, “Yeah, I actually can.”

“Guess you have more faith than me.” I turned and headed into the living room and sat down on the couch. My pulse stayed up. I began praying for God to help my nerves.

Jake soon came into the room with his plate of burritos and salsa. He set it down on the coffee table and said, “Hey, man. If you want to believe in God, that’s fine. It’s not my business. Just know that I lost respect for you.”

“What is your problem?”

He laughed. “How could I respect you? You believe in what now, Kyle? The Bible? You’re a bigoted, homophobic Bible thumper?”

I stood up and said, “Name calling? Do you know what a bigot is defined as?”

“Yeah. Christians who are stupid, unintelligent, and won’t accept changes and new ways of the world.”

“No. You’re wrong.” I walked around the couch as I continued to talk. “It’s someone who cannot tolerate someone with differing opinions. You’re the one who can’t accept that I have a different opinion of things . . . can you? You try to act like it’s fine, but in the same breath you say you lost all respect for me? By definition, you’re the bigot.”

“You know what? Fine. No, I can’t accept your new-found faith, Kyle! I’ve known you since kindergarten, and you go away for two weeks and everything I know about you changes? You suddenly believe in the Bible and in God?” He laughed and kept a smirk on his face. “Seriously?”

“I’m leaving.” I headed to the front door. I paused and looked back at him. “I’ll pray for you.” Opening the door, I left.

Calling Emily on my way down to the car, I had tears welling in my eyes. Jake was my best friend since I was five. Our friendship was one I used to cherish, and now it was reduced to nothing in a single conversation. I couldn’t have ever imagined a conversation like that going the way it had just gone. I was devastated by his hatred. As I felt myself breaking apart, Emily answered the phone and all the sadness shattered.

After explaining everything that happened, she said in the sweetest voice, “You did the right thing. Defending your faith the way that you did is sometimes the most difficult thing you’ll do, but God will comfort you. I’m impressed you were able to take a stand like that, Kyle.”

“I was scared, but I had to do it. I’ll be honest . . . I was hoping he might want to be a Christian too.”

“That’s normal. You can pray for that change to happen, but God calls us in His divine timing, not ours. His will has to come before ours.”

I nodded. “Makes sense since we are dead to Christ. Is there any chance I could come over and see you? I don’t work for a couple of hours and I’m pretty shaken up. It’d be nice to see you right now.”

“I’d love that. Wait, no. I can’t. I mean. I have to do a thing with my sister here in a few.”

“Okay.” Her stumbling words worried me. Was she hiding something? What was it if she was? A boyfriend? I needed to know. “What are you hiding from me? It can’t be the way you look, even if you’re having a bad hair day. I’ve seen you before. You’d look great no matter what your hair was doing.” I laughed. “I’m sorry if you’re truly not hiding anything. I just get the feeling I’m missing something here.”

She was silent.

“Usually people like to spend time with each other and see each other when they’re interested in each other, not just sit on the phone.”

“What about people in long distance relationships?”

“That doesn’t apply to us, Emily. Obviously.”

She sighed. “You’re right. I have
something
I’m not saying, but I don’t want to share it . . . ya know?” She began to cry as she continued. “I just need you to respect my decision to not share a certain part of my life with you right now.”

I felt a knot in my throat as I feared the worst. “Are you dating somebody else?”

“No!” she snapped and then began crying more. “I’m sorry. I’m trying not to cry. I don’t want to make you feel manipulated.”

“No. I’m sorry . . .” I felt myself desiring to know what this secret was, but I also wanted to respect her. Knowing she was trustworthy, I began backpedaling. “I shouldn’t push it. I want to respect your decision, Emily. I’ll wait for you to share that part of your life with me. Don’t worry about church, either. I’ll keep my distance.”

“Thank you.”

I had to trust Emily. While we had only just started talking a couple of weeks ago, I felt I already knew her. The secret did worry me, but I knew trust was required in any good foundation of a relationship. I also knew the God we both loved. I needed to not only put my trust in Emily, but in the Lord.

Delivering a pizza later that night to an apartment building over on the South Hill, I was surprised when I was hit on by a girl that answered the door.

“You’re cute,” the girl about my age said while I pulled their pizzas out of the delivery bag.

I laughed a little. “Oh yeah? Thanks.” I handed over the pizzas to her and said, “Here’s the pizza. It’ll be $27.07.”

“Let me get my wallet,” she replied, letting the door swing open as she disappeared.

“You have a girlfriend?” she asked when she came back over to the door to pay me. She was attractive, but I found myself without any interest.

“Um . . .” I replied as I counted her change. “I do,” I said, handing the money back to her.

“Shut your mouth, Nikki!” a blonde girl appeared at the door next to her. “Sorry about that . . . she just got out of a relationship and she’s
really
drunk right now.”

“It’s all right. Have a good night.”

Walking away from the door as it shut, I thought about Emily. She had a hold of my heart more than I knew. My worry soared as I thought about the information she was holding back from me. Why would she purposely hide something? And what could it be? The questions kept pressing against my mind, torturing me.

When I got back from the delivery to Pilo’s, Mike had shown up for his late shift. Knowing he was Christian, I approached him.

“What you grinning about?” he asked as I tossed the delivery bag onto the top of the others on the counter.

“I’m saved.”

His eyes went wide. “Like Jesus saved?”

I grinned. “Yep.”

He wrapped his large, burly arms around me and gave me a hug. “That’s great news, Kyle! Or should I say, brother!”

“Thanks!” I managed to squeeze out as he expelled all the air from my lungs. Releasing me, he said, “When did this happen?”

“When I was at my grandma’s house for those weeks.”

“That’s where you were?”

“Yeah. I’m sorry if you ever felt offended by anything I said previously. I know I was a little harsh with the Christian faith.”

He shook his head. “It’s all good. We’re family now. You are washed by the blood!”

I smiled. “Thanks, man.”

“Can you two get back to work instead of making out over here?” Jessica scolded from the cutting table a few steps away.

“We’ll go fold boxes,” Mike said.

We both left and went back to fold boxes out of earshot of her. As we arrived to the cardboard that was stacked in the back, I said, “Man, she’s so difficult to work for!”

He laughed as he handed me a stack of cardboard. “Forget her, man. She’s powerless over us.”

“Can I ask you an honest question?”