Three

As he stood with Frank on Janice and Laura’s doorstep, Trevor strained to hear what Janice was trying to tell him.

He couldn’t hear her over Laura’s giggling.

Janice stepped away from Frank and Laura, so he stepped closer to Janice.

“What in the world are you wearing?” she ground out between her teeth in a stage whisper.

“Is this a trick question?” he asked as he raised one hand to the knot of his tie. As he did, he studied Janice, who was wearing fashionably snug jeans and a fluffy pink sweater. He looked further down. Instead of dress shoes, she wore sneakers.

Trevor cleared his throat. “Aren’t we going to church?”

“Of course we’re going to church. But it’s a regular Sunday service. Not a funeral. You’d better come in. If you don’t take off that suit jacket, everyone’s going to stare at us.”

A very bad premonition washed over him. He’d automatically chosen what he would have worn to his own church, which was his best monochrome pants and shirt ensemble with a matching sport coat and a plain tie. He’d grown up in a traditional church where all the men wore suits—or a reasonable facsimile. What he wore today was quite appropriate for a warm spring Sunday service.

It appeared her church was more laid-back than his.

Again, he looked down to her sneakers. He could almost see wearing jeans to a service if they were new and of a reasonably good quality brand name, but hers were neither. In addition to the condition of her jeans, he thought the sneakers were a bit much, no matter how relaxed the setting. “Are you seriously going to church like that? Or were you out in the park for a walk first?”

She laughed, probably thinking he was joking. “Of course not. I was right here, waiting for you.”

Trevor checked his watch. “I guess we’d better get going.”

As he turned, Janice grabbed him by the arm and pulled him inside. She held out her hand. “Wait. I’m being serious. You can’t go like that to church.”

“But. . .” He let his voice trail off at her stone-faced expression.

“No one ever wears a suit to Sunday service. You’re going to look silly.”

He opened his mouth to tell her that he was quite appropriately dressed for a Sunday service, but before he could form an argument, he stopped himself. He didn’t know Janice well, but he did know from previous occasions that once Janice set her mind to something, she stuck to it like a dog with an old bone.

He sighed as he shrugged off the jacket and handed it to her, telling himself that he was doing this for Frank, not for Janice.

She slung the jacket over one arm and held out her free hand. “Come on, Trevor. Lose the tie.”

Automatically, he rested his palm in the center of his chest, over his tie. “No. I haven’t been to church without a tie since I was a kid. I can’t go to church without a tie.” The only times he didn’t wear a tie to church was once a year at the church picnic, when they had the service in the park. Even then, it felt funny.

“Quit fooling around. We don’t have time for this.”

He stiffened his back and shook his head. “I’m not fooling around. This has gone far enough. It’s not proper to go to church without a tie.”

She sighed loudly and tilted her head toward their friends. “Look. Frank is taking off his jacket and the tie too. Can’t you just do the same, nicely?”

Trevor gritted his teeth and slipped off the tie, even though it went completely against his grain. Knowing Frank really didn’t know much about Laura, he should have guessed that Frank wouldn’t have known anything about her church either, even though he should have. After all, this was supposedly the church Frank had chosen to get married in and attend after the wedding.

The four of them went together in Frank’s car, leaving Trevor to share the backseat with Janice. Conversation was stilted, and Janice spent most of the trip seated as close to the door as her seat belt would allow. Trevor chose not to comment. If she chose to be in a snit because he didn’t agree with her dress code, that was up to her. He wasn’t going to ruin his time of worship by arriving at church in a foul mood.

They soon arrived at a massive parking lot adjoining a large multifaceted brick building. The main entrance consisted only of plain double doors, which were at the base of what was probably the modern version of a bell tower. However, instead of a hollow space and a bell at the peak, a huge white cross graced the top. The building itself was a three-story structure graced with tall, rectangular, starkly plain glass windows. A large flat section extended to the back, which Trevor guessed would contain the classrooms.

As they walked in, Trevor could barely believe the size of the place, which somehow seemed even larger from the inside. Music drifted from the sanctuary—not hymns, but a contemporary chorus played by a whole band.

“How many people attend here?” he asked, leaning down so hopefully Janice was the only one who heard his question. His own church had a regular attendance of approximately three hundred people. He liked being a member of a congregation where he could know everyone, by face if not by name.

“I don’t know. I suppose about twelve hundred people. There are two services Sunday morning, plus one in the evening. In the summertime they have a Saturday night service too. And on Friday, they always have youth and young adult functions. Lots of times I come here Friday night to play volleyball. There’s a gymnasium down the hall.”

It shouldn’t have surprised him that there was another huge room he hadn’t accounted for.

Just as Janice had said, everyone he could see was dressed casually. With the exception of a few of the older men present, most of those in attendance were under thirty years of age and wore jeans and a casual top. He did appear to be on the verge of overdressed. He would never admit it to Janice, but now he was grateful she’d made him take off his tie.

He continued to study the people milling about the foyer.

“Look,” he whispered as he leaned down to Janice. “There’s a guy in a tie.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder to direct her attention to the right person, as if she could miss him. He was the only one in the place wearing a tie, even if he wasn’t wearing a jacket.

Janice poked Trevor in the stomach, making him bring both hands down to protect himself.

“Don’t do that! He’s the only one here who ever wears a tie, but he can do whatever he wants. He’s my boss, Ken Quinlan. The woman with him is his wife, Molly. She’s the one who led me to the Lord two years ago.”

“Really? That’s amazing. There’s an older man who goes to my church named Walter Quinlan. I know that Walter never had kids, but I wonder if they’re related? It’s not a common name. Can you introduce me?”

Janice shook her head. “I can answer that. Walter is his uncle, and he used to be my boss. He still owns the company, but Ken started running it when Walter took an early retirement. Maybe I’ll introduce you later. We’re supposed to be with Frank and Laura, not socializing.”

He followed her into the sanctuary. Unlike the ornate wooden benches in his church, the seating consisted of padded stacking chairs. Like the outside, the sanctuary was also void of any decoration except for a single cross at the front. Even the wooden podium was rather plain.

A few people in the front rows appeared to be praying and readying themselves to worship. Other than that, most people talked freely in the sanctuary.

Still, despite the lack of formality, the place held a certain appeal. Since it wasn’t in the surroundings, Trevor figured the charm of Janice’s church had to be in the spirit of the people present—all believers obviously happy to be in God’s house on a Sunday morning.

His attention wandered to the speakers mounted near the ceiling at the front, which piqued his curiosity about the band’s sound system. At the same time as he checked the place out, he reminded himself that this was the church Frank was getting married in. As much as the place was growing on him, it still made him wonder how Frank could have agreed to such a thing without seeing and experiencing the congregation first. This church was very different from theirs.

He felt a tug on his sleeve. “Come on. There they are. We’d better sit down now if we want to get seats beside them. This place fills up fast. The service starts in five minutes.”

They took their places, and as Janice predicted, the service started exactly on time at ten o’clock.

To his surprise, he enjoyed the worship time, unexpectedly being able to forget about the crowd around him as he praised God in song. Still, he didn’t lift his hands like most of the people around him, including Janice. He listened politely to the testimony of a teenaged girl who had recently come to the Lord through the church’s extremely active youth group. In addition to being moved by her testimony, he greatly admired the girl for being able to speak so freely in front of a large group, something he knew he wouldn’t be able to do.

The pastor was a dynamic speaker, moving the place up another notch on Trevor’s scale. During the pastor’s message, a number of people boldly called out “amen.” One man called out a few comments that made many in the congregation laugh. Even the pastor laughed. For such a large place, Trevor was amazed that it could be so friendly.

At the close of the service, he didn’t want to admit it, but he kind of liked the place. Still, he knew he would never consider attending on a regular basis. As nice as it was for a change, the informal atmosphere wasn’t his style for a house of worship.

This time, he and Janice stuck close to Frank and Laura as they mingled with the people milling about. He recognized a few of Laura and Janice’s friends from having met them before. Janice introduced him to everyone as they chatted for a few minutes and carried on the conversation, just in case he didn’t remember their names, which he appreciated.

They were almost on their way out of the building when another couple joined them. Laura introduced them as Rick and Sarah, who were brother and sister.

Sarah and Rick remained close together, chatting with Janice in such a way that seemed to deliberately omit everyone else from the conversation. As the only relative stranger in the crowd, Trevor stood back to watch.

Trevor noted with amusement that much of Sarah’s conversation centered on her brother and all his finer attributes. Rick had very little to say while his sister dribbled on and on, mentioning Rick at every opportunity, slipping little plugs into the conversation about what she considered Rick’s best qualities.

Before long, Sarah began prompting Janice to say something. When Janice finally started adding more into the conversation, Sarah poked Rick in the back, much to Rick’s annoyance, forcing him to step forward and participate more as well. At that point, Sarah shuffled slightly back, starting to edge out of the little group, leaving Rick talking solely to Janice.

Any other time, Trevor would have found such lack of subtlety in matchmaking hilarious. This time it wasn’t funny.

Glancing out the corner of his eye, Trevor noticed Frank looking back and forth between himself and Rick as Rick’s actions and conversation began to cross the line from small talk into serious flirtation. Laura stared unwavering at Janice. Neither of them made any attempt to break into the conversation.

Janice giggled at something Rick said.

Trevor gritted his teeth. Without warning, he stepped forward, placing himself directly between Rick and Janice, purposely standing much too close to Rick, invading Rick’s personal space. He made a point to take advantage of his height, noticeably tipping his head to look down at Rick, who was only about average height. Rick quickly backed up a step, and his voice trailed off as he finished his sentence.

Trevor gave a lopsided grin and quirked one eyebrow. He sidestepped until he was side by side with Janice, then slipped one arm around her waist. “Sorry to interrupt, Rick, but we were just on our way out for lunch. Maybe we’ll catch you and Sarah another time. Nice to meet you.”

He heard as well as felt Janice’s sharp intake of breath. On his other side, he heard Frank clearing his throat.

“Yeah,” Rick mumbled. “Nice meeting you.”

Trevor nodded toward Sarah, who he noted was very pretty, although she did talk a little too much for his preference. He made a mental note when the whole fiasco with Frank and Laura was over to get Sarah’s phone number. “Have a nice day,” he said to Sarah.

Without waiting for either of them to respond, he removed his arm from Janice’s waist, picked up her hand, and linked his fingers through hers. “Come on, Shorty. Let’s go.” Not waiting for a response, he gave a slight tug and led her outside. Frank and Laura followed at a distance.

The second they arrived at Frank’s car, Janice yanked her hand away. “Shorty? And what did you think—”

He placed his index finger in front of his lips. “Shh. Here they come.”

On the way to the restaurant, conversation in the backseat of the car was even more stilted than on the way to church.

Trevor didn’t mind. The silence gave him time to think.

He stared absentmindedly out the car window as they drove to the restaurant, unable to believe what he’d done. He’d issued a nonverbal warning to Rick—and to any other male in the vicinity—to keep away from Janice.

He’d acted like some macho jerk, publicly staking his territory.

And he’d done it in God’s house.

Trevor squeezed his eyes shut. The only way he could justify his actions would be that he had to show any man who might be interested in Janice that she was taken. He had to perpetuate the illusion that they were dating so they could continue with their mutual mission with Frank and Laura.

He didn’t care about himself, but this instance made him realize that he hadn’t been fair to Janice. Rick seemed like a pretty decent guy. He appeared to be truly interested in Janice—interested enough that his sister had acted as a matchmaker for him, preplanned or not. Trevor couldn’t tell if Janice was interested in return, but she hadn’t exactly turned Rick away. She certainly appeared to be enjoying Rick’s company.

A pang of guilt settled in his gut. He had prevented Janice from seeking the companionship of someone who might come to love her someday for real. Trevor knew he had come across too strong. By doing so, he had caused Rick to look weak in Janice’s eyes, and that was wrong. Because he couldn’t tell Rick he wasn’t really dating Janice, there was nothing he could do, but he did know that he would have to apologize to Janice. With some luck, when they finally managed to convince Frank and Laura to either postpone or hopefully call off the wedding, maybe enough time would have passed for Rick to be able to face Janice again. If he was still interested. Trevor hoped he hadn’t scared Rick off permanently.

When the car came to a stop, Trevor forced himself to stop thinking about Rick and start thinking about the reason he’d made such an effort to show the world that he and Janice were an item.

Frank and Laura joined hands as they walked into the restaurant. Janice wouldn’t come near him, and he couldn’t blame her. However, he had worked too hard to arrange for this time they were to be spending together so they could talk in a nonthreatening environment. He couldn’t allow his mishandling of the situation with Rick to spoil it.

He would take his lumps later. For now, they had more important things to deal with.

While they waited for a table, he shuffled Janice to the side to speak as privately as possible amongst the crowd in the restaurant’s lobby.

“We have to talk.” He almost asked why she was mad at him, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Besides, he already knew the answer. Instead, he tried to think of something to say that would calm her down. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to see how she felt. Her whole body was stiff. Behind her glasses, her brown eyes absolutely flashed. She wasn’t just a little mad at him. She was furious.

Before he could think of the right thing to say, she leaned toward him. He tried not to cringe.

“You called me ‘Shorty,’ ” she ground out between her teeth.

Trevor blinked, then stepped back as he looked down at her. He was six feet tall, and judging from the height difference, taking into account her footwear, he figured Janice was only five foot two. She was short. It was a fact that couldn’t be denied. “It was supposed to be an endearment. . . .” He let his voice trail off.

Janice crossed her arms over her chest and glared up at him. “Oh? Really? Would calling an overweight person ‘fatty’ be termed an endearment? Or because I wear glasses, would ‘four eyes’ also be an endearment, in your estimation? Should I be flattered that you address me by my most prominent physical fault, something I can’t do anything about?”

Trevor stiffened from head to toe. He had been teased relentlessly as a child about his big nose because that was the problem everyone could see. Through his struggles in school, often the teasing about his big nose had been the straw that broke the camel’s back. No one but his mother knew how often as a young child he’d come home crying. As a teen, to his dismay, to top everything off his nose grew proportionally to his height. With the years, his fellow schoolmates became better at inventing creative insults. Short of plastic surgery, his big nose was the one thing he couldn’t hide. This was the way God had made him. Fortunately, now no one ever bugged him about his big nose, and it was a welcome relief, although he was sure many people thought about it.

“Uh. . .I never thought of it that way. I’m sorry.” He let the silence hang until he finished fighting his personal demons of his youth. When he finally returned his attention to Janice’s face, her expression had softened. He could see on her face that she’d forgiven him.

He cleared his throat. “I thought we should talk about Rick.”

Her eyebrows rose. “Rick? Why do you want to talk about him? That was quite a little performance you put on, by the way. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought we were together. You were quite convincing. I hope you can handle the gossip. You should have seen everyone watching you. It was really funny. Oh. They just called our table. Come on.”

Their time together progressed much the same as their pizza dinner the night before. Together, they did manage to point out a few things to Frank and Laura that made the outing a worthwhile expedition, but for the moment, nothing changed. Not that he expected them to realize how wrong they were for each other in only one day. Trevor only hoped and prayed that they’d planted the first of many seeds today that would make them think about things more realistically as time went on.

When they were done and the bill and tip were paid for, Trevor was pleased that Janice and Laura invited him and Frank to their house for the afternoon. It was another opportunity Trevor couldn’t turn down.

He stayed with Frank in the living room while the women went into the kitchen to make coffee. He realized too late that he should have offered to go into the kitchen with Janice, as he wanted to talk to her privately about a few things that were said at lunchtime. He didn’t need more time with Frank. They lived together and saw each other every day.

Frank’s voice jolted him out of his thoughts.

“What did you think of Laura’s church? It sure is different, isn’t it?”

Without thinking, Trevor’s hand went up to his throat, to pat the knot on his missing tie. “Yeah. It sure is. And you’ve already decided to get married and attend there, huh?”

Frank smiled and gazed out the window. “Yeah. It’s big, but I figure I’ll get used to it.”

Other than the informal atmosphere, Trevor couldn’t see anything else wrong with the church. The congregation all appeared sincere. Despite his personal preferences, he knew there was benefit to getting together with a large group to worship God. Therefore, he couldn’t say anything.

He decided to change the subject because Laura and Janice had returned.

Frank covered Laura’s hand as soon as she sat down beside him. Fortunately for Trevor, he’d sat in the armchair, so he didn’t have to sit beside Janice.

He looked across the room to Frank and Laura, who were all snuggled up. “Have you two decided on a guest list or anything?” Trevor asked. “And what about the size of the wedding party? As far as I know, Janice and I are it.”

Laura smiled at Frank as she answered him. “I thought we should have a small wedding. You know. Something private. Sunday is the time for a large gathering.”

Frank’s eyebrows rose. “I know guys aren’t supposed to care about stuff like this, but I’ve always wanted a big wedding. This is a celebration of the start of our new lives together. I wanted to invite lots of people.”

Trevor tried not to gloat. Here was something else they disagreed on. He and Janice exchanged sly glances.

“You know, Laura,” Janice said, folding her hands demurely in her lap, “this is something you should have agreed on first. It doesn’t look like you discussed the guest list either before you booked the church.”

Frank and Laura gazed lovingly into each other’s eyes. The last time Trevor had seen such sappy expressions was in an old B movie an old girlfriend once forced him to watch.

“That’s okay,” Laura said as she sighed airily. “We can meet in the middle. Isn’t marriage all about compromise?”

Trevor nodded. Of course he knew compromise was a necessary ingredient for a successful marriage. However, he’d always thought that the more a couple agreed on in the first place, the less compromise was necessary and, therefore, the better the chances that the relationship would survive the test of time.

“Okay,” Frank said. “I had figured on five hundred guests and four attendants.”

Laura’s eyes widened. “Are you counting Trev and Janice? So that means one bridesmaid and one groomsman besides them?”

Frank shook his head. “No, I mean besides them. Four attendants each.”

“But I didn’t want a big wedding party. How about this? If you reduce the number of attendants, I won’t mind more guests.”

“How many guests?”

“I only wanted a hundred guests. But you can have fifty more guests for each less attendant.”

“Each?”

“Total.”

“Then three hundred guests, two attendants. Each.”

“Only Janice and Trevor, you can have three hundred and fifty.”

“Deal.”

“Done.”

They shook hands, then turned and smiled at Trevor.

Trevor wanted to shake his head. They’d reduced the planning for a wedding to a bartering exchange. This wasn’t exactly the way he’d pictured a couple in love discussing their upcoming wedding ceremony.

Trevor cleared his throat. “Have you at least decided where you’re going to live when you get married?”

Frank nodded. “We’ll rent an apartment downtown, close to our jobs. A high-rise.”

Laura’s smile disappeared. “But I wanted a house in the suburbs. With a big yard and a garden.”

Frank shrugged his shoulders. “We’ll have lots of time to discuss that later.”

Laura shrugged her shoulders. “I suppose. . .”

Frank turned to Janice and smiled. “That coffee smells great. Is it ready yet?”