The Pastor's Heart (4 page)

“No
, I am not spoken for Kingston and I would love to go out to dinner with you.”  Sinclair was definitely feeling this handsome pastor.  “Besides, how can I say no to a man that has white chocolate?” Sinclair joked.

Kingston could have sworn his heart took a leap right inside his chest when Sinclai
r accepted his dinner date invitation.  He looked over to the receiving line that had just ended to see his parents smiling at him.

“Sinclair.
” Desmond called out to her.  “There you are. I was worried about you for a minute.  I thought you had escaped and went home.  But I see that you are in good hands.”  Desmond was beaming from ear to ear when he saw who Sinclair was speaking to.

“No I di
dn’t escape, I’m still here.”  Sinclair was blushing by this point and Desmond could tell something had just happened.

“I just wanted to tell you we will be waiting at my car so
you can follow us home.” Desmond said while carrying his nephew.

“
And Pastor Carter, I loved your sermon today, it was great.”  Desmond said as the two shook hands.

“Thanks.  I’m glad you liked it.”
  Kingston replied while still keeping his eyes on Sinclair.

“Anyway Sinclair, I will meet you at the car.  Bye Pastor Carter,” Desmond said leaving the two to finish their conversation.

“I don’t want to keep them waiting,” Sinclair went on as she reached into her purse and wrote her number for Kingston.  “So here is my number, call me and we can go out.”

“And here is my number,” Kingston said as he gave Sinclair his business card.
“Here, let me walk you to your car.”

It was only the middle of April and Washington DC was having unseasonably warm temperatures.  Instead of it being a comfortable seventy five degrees it was a humid eighty five degrees.  Sinclair had been tending to the garden in hopes that the corner lot brownstone would look good all the way around.  Dressed in her red shorts and a white tee shirt she tended to the garden for what seemed like eternity.  She cut weeds, planted new flowers and trimmed ones that had overgrown.  Before she knew it, she was knee deep in dirt replanting a flower.  She didn’t even realize that Kingston was watching her the whole while.

Dressed in a dark blue suit with a light blue open collared shirt, Kingston stood watching Sinc
lair.  Even though Sinclair was covered in dirt, to Kingston she still looked beautiful.  Watching her reminded him of how well his mother tended to her garden of numerous plants and flowers and even vegetables too.

He cleare
d his throat before speaking.  “Hello, Sinclair.”

Hearing someone call her name
, Sinclair turned around to see Kingston peering through the black wrought iron gate.

“Oh
my God I am late, I’m so sorry,” Sinclair said as she stood and dirt slid down her legs.

“No, it’s no problem at all,” Kingston said while smiling.  “Mr. Parker told
me where to find you.  I hope I didn’t scare you.”

Sinclair began brushing the d
irt from her legs as she walked toward Kingston.  “No you didn’t scare me, but time just flew by me.  If you don’t mind waiting, it will only take me thirty minutes to shower and change.”

“Not a problem at all. 
I have a motto, it’s better to be a little early because you never know when you need to be a tad bit late.”  Kingston said while admiring Sinclair from head to toe.

“Nice motto to have.  Why don’t I meet you around
front and I will let you in?”  Sinclair informed him.

Moments later Sinclair had escorted Kingston into her spacious apartment on the second floor.

“I brought you something,” Kingston said holding a gift bag out to Sinclair.

Opening the bag Sinclair replied.  “You didn’t have to bring me anything.”  Once she saw what he
brought her she just laughed.  “White Chocolate candy shaped bears, you remembered.  That’s so sweet, thank you.”             

“You’re more than welcome,” Kingston knew he h
ad already scored points and the date hadn’t really begun just yet.

“Kingston I won’t be long.  The remote control for the TV and the CD player are both over on the end table to your right,” she pointed
in the direction of the items.

Sinclair walked into her bedroom and closed the white French doors behind her.  Within minutes a loud thump came from the bedroom and a louder scream.  Kingston was getting up off the sofa when Sinclair appeared from her bedroom.

“You’re bleeding.” Kingston said in shock as he came rushing to Sinclair’s side.

“Stop!
”  She threw her hands up before Kingston could come any further.  “I’m okay and I am not bleeding.  This is paint.”  She explained as red paint was plastered to her dirt covered legs.

“Wow, paint?”  Is all the Kingston could say.

“Painting is a hobby of mine
.  I have a huge bedroom so half is my studio.  I was painting before I started gardening and I must have forgotten to put the paint away.  That is until I tripped over it,” Sinclair explained while feeling like a complete idiot.

“Are you sure yo
u are all right?”  Kingston asked in a concerned voice.  “That sounded like it hurt.”

”Look Kingston,
I am covered in dirt and paint.  Why don’t we just call it a night and reschedule our date for another time?”  Sinclair said in an exasperated voice because total embarrassment took over the pain she was feeling.”

“You got away from me the first time without me asking you out.  Now I’
m not letting you get away again.  Now go do what you need to do & I will be waiting right here for you.”  Kingston said as he took his seat back on the couch and crossed his leg and grabbed a magazine off the coffee table.

“
It’s going to take me at least an hour to get ready and we are going to miss our reservation.”  Sinclair was just ready to call it quits and be done with the whole date thing already.

“I’ll tell you what, why don’t you go get yourself cleaned up and I will handle dinner.  I mean we both have to eat right?” Kingston asked her.

“I am hungry but..,” she lingered.

“But nothing,
Mr. Parker told me you have been working for hours in that garden.  So let me handle this now. All I ask for is free run of your kitchen.”  Kingston said in a convincing voice.

“Okay deal, b
ut I promise I won’t be long,” she said as she led the way to her kitchen with Kingston following her.

“I have a confession before you begin
to do whatever you intend to do in my kitchen,” Sinclair announced as she turned to face Kingston.

“Confessions on the first date, this should be interesting.”  Kingston joked as he cros
sed his arms.  “What is your confession my child?”

Sinclair smiled at him before beginning and bracing herself for his response.  “I can’t cook so you might not find a lot.”  Sinclair rambled so fast that she thought Kingston didn’t hear her.

“I have a confession as well.”  Kingston added as Sinclair looked at him very inquisitively.  “I don’t care as long as one of us can cook we will never starve.  Now go get yourself ready and I will handle dinner.”

Sinclair could not even argue with him if she wanted to because she really needed a shower.

“I won’t be long I promise,” she said as she left Kingston in her kitchen.

Kingston had opened the refrigerator to fi
nd very little of anything to cook. He thought he could maybe defrost something from the freezer but all he found were frozen meals.  In her entire refrigerator there was nothing to use for dinner, only food that needed reheating.  Checking the cabinets he found even less food.  He found very few pots and pans and where he thought there would be food he found a fire extinguisher.  Kingston was shocked.  He had never met a woman in his life that could not cook and yet here he was in this woman’s kitchen and there was nothing to cook.  Cooking dinner was out of the question, so he had to come up with another plan.

Not long after Kingston and Sinclair had
been seated at their table in a nice restaurant in downtown Washington DC.  Sinclair wore a turquoise wrap dress which tied into a side bow on her left hip.  Sinclair paired her black heels and black clutch to her ensemble.
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“This is my fi
rst time here at DeVette’s Jazz Spot and I’m really feeling this nice vibe.” Sinclair said while admiring the lovely place.

The huge restaurant was decorated with ivory and burgundy paintings that compliment
ed the table and chair covers.  Each table had a single candle which glowed inside an extra-large brandy glass.  The musicians were playing soft music that set the tone for the elegant upscale restaurant. 

“I
totally agree it is a very nice place, that’s why I chose it.  The music is great and the food is phenomenal.”  Kingston explained as they waited on their dinner and had small talk.   “This is my second favorite restaurant in DC.”

“Well I am glad you cho
se this place, I like it a lot.  Now what is your first favorite restaurant?” Sinclair asked him while sipping on her beverage.

“Without a doubt
Sam’s on U Street,” Kingston replied, smiling at Sinclair.

“What do you know about
Sam’s? You don’t even live in DC do you?”  Sinclair taunted Kingston.

“And how would you know that my dear?”
Kingston asked slyly.

“Ah, let’s see.  You told me when w
e talked briefly on the phone.”  Sinclair reminded him the well-dressed Kingston.

 
“I forgot I told you.  Now just because I don’t live here doesn’t mean I don’t know about Ben’s.  My parents used to bring my brother, sister and I down here at least once a month when I was a kid.” Kingston replied as the flickering candle danced on their table.

“Is that so?” A
surprised Sinclair asked.

“I lived on Ben’s when I played at Georgetown.
Back in the day I could put away two large bowls of chili, two hamburger steaks and still have room for dessert.”  Kingston replied while sitting back enjoying his time with Sinclair.

“So you played for
Georgetown? Nice, very nice.” 

Sinclair was not surprised he played basketball because he was most certainly built like a basketball player. 
His tall muscular physique had Sinclair thanking her lucky stars she had met him. 

“
I had torn up so many ligaments my doctor said if I didn’t stop playing basketball I would never walk again.  That was the end of my sports career then and there.  After I graduated I got a job in my family business and I have been there ever since.”  Kingston explained as much as he could while still admiring Sinclair’s beauty.  “What about you? What’s your story?”

“What would you like to know?”
Sinclair asked while she began to cut into her chicken breast. And Kingston began to cut into his sirloin steak.

Kingston reached across the table an
d took Sinclair’s hand and looked into her eyes.  “I want to know about the beautiful woman behind those gorgeous legs.”

Sinclair pu
t down her fork and stared Kingston right in his gray eyes.  “There is not much to tell.  I was raised in the foster system in Oregon and I don’t know who my parents are.  When I aged out, I moved here to DC to get away from everything.  I now own my own business where I help former foster kids transition to independent living.”

“
So how did you start your business?” Becoming more interested, Kingston put down his fork to give Sinclair his full attention.

“
I used the computers at a bookstore so I could find resources for myself.  I was there so much that the owner, Miss Marjorie offered me a job helping other people like myself and she even let me sleep in the backroom too since I was homeless.”  She was definitely nervous after telling him her story because she didn’t know how he would react to it. 

“That was very nice of her.” The more Kingston found out about Sinclair the more he wanted to know.

“Yes it was.  When she died she left the store to me to convert into a permanent place to help former foster kids.  I didn’t know it, but she was a former addict who lost her baby to the system.  She was paying it forward in hopes that her daughter would find someone like me along the way to help her.”  Sinclair explained thinking back.

“You had a rough life but you’re still standing.
  And not only that but you’re giving back to the community.”  Kingston smiled brightly at Sinclair.  “You are a living and breathing testimony.  It was no one but God that kept you.  I mean no one.  You are an amazing blessed woman Miss Sinclair Madison and don’t you ever let anyone tell you otherwise.”  Kingston could not believe the things Sinclair went through yet she was helping others make it through.

Sinclair always got choked up whenever she would talk about Miss Marjorie
.  She mouthed the words thank you.