32
Muriel had thrown Clarence’s contact information away so she wouldn’t be tempted. The telephone operator absolutely refused to give out an unlisted number. And Muriel couldn’t think who might have it. She had already emptied two of the three bags that held paper for recycling. The contents were scattered all over her living room carpet. She was just about to upend the third bag when she realized that she did know someone who’d have Clarence’s number. Kevin! He was much less suspicious than the telephone operator.
Clarence picked up the phone on the third ring.
“Clarence. This is Muriel. I just wanted to thank you for the beautiful leis at my party. Nobody’s ever done anything like that for me. I can’t tell you how touched I was.” And how much I wanted you there by my side.
“I’m glad you enjoyed them. But if you really want to thank me, please have dinner with me one more time. I’ve made up my mind. If my wealth comes between us, I’ll give it away.”
“I could never ask you to do that.”
“But I haven’t always been rich, you know. My father was a plumber, and my mother was a housewife. ‘I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound…’”
How to be poor and how to be rich.
“Clarence! That’s Philippians! It’s one of my favorite verses in the whole Bible.” And it’s my sign, Lord! It’s the sign I asked for! My Gideon’s fleece!
“It’s one of my favorite verses, too.”
“You don’t need to give anything away, Clarence.” Just your heart.
“What made you change your mind?”
Giving an explanation over the phone was too hard. Telling him how all she’d prayed for was someone to mow her lawn. How the carjacking didn’t seem like an answer to prayer at all. How it led to her friendship with Kevin and her meeting with Patrick and her tutoring business and to Clarence himself. How even her unanswered prayer for a purse was a blessing. Because if the clasp had held, she would still think her mirror was worthless and the two of them were hopelessly mismatched.
“I’ll tell you over dinner, Clarence. I’ll explain the whole thing.”