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Esther
Walter picked Esther up at five to take her to dinner in Bangor. She couldn’t wait to tell him what Zoe and the kids had found out.
She climbed into the car. “Wow.”
He was wearing a tie. He laughed. “Wanted to make it a special occasion.”
Her stomach did a flip. “Why?”
“I’m taking you to The Fiddlehead.”
Wow. She’d never been there. Didn’t even know anyone who’d been there. At least she didn’t think so. “Have you been there?”
“I have. The lamb is divine.”
Esther had never eaten lamb. She didn’t know if she wanted to. Lambs made her think of the baby Jesus.
Walter read her mind. “You don’t have to get the lamb. You can get whatever you want.”
“All right. Thank you.” She hoped they had something simple. Like meatloaf. Her stomach growled. “So I need to tell you something about church.”
He reached over and took her hand. A tingle traveled up her arm. “Please, no church talk. I am sick to death of church talk.” He squeezed. “It’s not that I don’t want to talk to you. I do. But lately all we’ve talked about is church. Could we just have a nice evening out without it? And then, when we get back, if you still want to, we can talk about church.”
While she was dying to tell him her news, his offer was also enticing. It dawned on her that she too was sick of talking about church. “All right. What shall we talk about then?”
“Whatever you want.”
She didn’t say anything.
“How are the kids?”
“Great, actually. Christy’s talking about coming for another visit when school gets out.”
“Really?”
“Yes. At first she wanted Zoe to go back to Missouri for the summer, but Zoe didn’t want to leave Levi. So Christy and Danielle are coming here.” She was excited.
“I doubt Levi was Zoe’s only reason for staying. Do you want them to stay at my place?” He chuckled. “Derek is locked away at night now. They’d be perfectly safe.”
“How is that going? Is he still okay with it?”
“Working like a charm. He seems to find security in it. He did miss ... I hate to use the word curfew. I don’t act like I have given him a curfew. But anyway, he did get home one night past eight, when he’s supposed to already be in his room. It occurred to me to not let him in to reinforce how strict these boundaries are, but I couldn’t do that, and he was so apologetic that I nearly wept. He had only lost track of time, said he wouldn’t let it happen again. Anyway, he is doing really well. I thought I was doing this for Jesus, but I never realized how much I would enjoy having him around. There is never a dull moment.”
Esther remembered the Hoyt Axton argument. Certainly not.
Walter continued to chat, and the miles and minutes flew by. Esther grinned from ear to ear as she marveled at how much she enjoyed this man’s company. He was so smart, so sweet, and so witty. Not much like Russell, but that was okay. He wasn’t supposed to be like Russell. He was Walter.
Esther was a bit relieved when he pulled his Lincoln in front of the restaurant. It didn’t look that fancy. She’d feared she would be underdressed. She stepped inside and was relieved to see several patrons wearing normal clothes. Good. One could always count on Mainers to dress reasonably.
Walter told the host that he had a reservation, and they were led to a table for two near the bar. Walter pulled out her chair for her and then seated himself.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“I was hoping it would be a bit quieter.”
Esther frowned. “I like the sound of people having fun.”
Walter’s face relaxed into a smile. “Good then. Maybe I’m just nervous.”
Nervous? Why would he be nervous?
A server approached and asked if they would like some beverages.
Walter smiled at Esther. “Would you drink a bit of champagne if I ordered it?”
She didn’t want to disappoint him, but she didn’t want to drink champagne either. “No, thank you. But you go ahead.”
He smiled at the server. “Do you have any sparkling cider?”
He nodded. “Coming right up.”
Walter took a drink of his water. The glass shook in his hand. Wow, he was nervous. He cleared his throat. “I wanted to take you out to a nice place because I want to tell you something and then ask you something.”
“All right.”
He took a deep breath. “I have stepped down from being an elder.”
What? Her first thought was, Oh no, that leaves only Joe! But then she realized Joe might not be an elder for long either. “Why?”
He stared at the wall.
She knew she should wait for him to answer her first question, but she couldn’t. “When did you do this?”
“This morning.”
Goodness. Pastor had endured a rough day.
Walter looked at her. “When Pastor asked me to become an elder, I was flattered. I let that flattery answer the question. I didn’t even know what being an elder entailed, what it meant. And now I know that I wasn’t asked because I was suited for the job. I was asked because Joe thought I would be easy to manipulate and control.” He exhaled. “Not such a flattering invitation, in fact.”
Esther’s heart ached for him.
“It’s all been quite humbling. And so I’ve stepped down. Esther, it’s seems so silly now, but I thought being an elder would impress you. It has done the opposite. Because I’m not suited for the position, I haven’t done a great job at it, and far from impressing you, that has annoyed you. And I’m so sorry. I don’t want anything to come between us, not even church.”
She nodded as the server returned with their cider.
“And this brings me to the second half of my pitch.”
She held her breath.
“Esther, I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I think it’s time we make this official. I am happy to go slowly and to wait for you to be ready, but I also know that life is short and it’s speeding by me. So ...” He stood up, came closer to her, and got down on one knee. Then he laughed. “I practiced this just to make sure I could still kneel.”
She still wasn’t breathing. Was this really happening?
He pulled a ring box out of his pocket, opened it, and held it out toward her. “Esther, would you do me the honor of being my wife?”
She stared at him. Everyone in the restaurant was staring at her. She didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t make herself say anything. She tried to breathe and struggled.
His face sank into disappointment. “You’ve got to answer because I can’t stay down like this for much longer.” He laughed awkwardly.
She wanted to answer him, but she didn’t know what the answer was. She couldn’t believe he’d asked the question. One by one the gawkers looked away.
Walter snapped the ring box shut and put it on the table beside her plate. Slowly, he got up. Then he bent and kissed her on the forehead. “If the answer is no, you can tell me. I can take it.”
Still, she said nothing. She hated herself for it, but she didn’t know what to do. She wished she could say something witty to ease the tension, but she couldn’t come up with anything. She tried to say, “I’m sorry,” but her mouth wouldn’t move.
“Good.” He sat in his seat. “Then can I assume the answer isn’t no?” His eyes were questioning.
She nodded.
“Great. So then the answer is maybe?”
She nodded again.
His lips spread into a relieved smile. “Fantastic. I thought that might happen. All right, take your time. I’ll bother you about it again sometime. For now, let’s enjoy supper.”
Again she tried to say something, and again she failed.
“Oh and by the way, we can have a long engagement.” He winked at her. “Engagements are romantic.”
“It’s no bother,” she said, which was a bit nonsensical as it replied to something he’d said two sentences ago. Or maybe three. She wasn’t sure.
He laughed. “Good. Glad to hear it.” He handed her a menu. “Pick out something delicious, honey. We can figure out the rest of our lives later.”
