Well, that was heavy.
Elena climbed into the passenger seat of the SUV still holding the cross. It had been an unusual service, to say the least. Pastor Wesley had been more passionate than ever before, and the thing with the cross had been quite a performance.
Bobby shut his door and started up the vehicle.
“Maybe I’ll hang it from my rearview mirror,” she said to him while she examined the wooden piece.
“I don’t think that’s exactly what he had in mind,” Bobby said. “The point was it’s not just a decoration.”
Ouch.
His tone was judgmental. The last thing Elena wanted was an argument, but she wasn’t in the mood. He didn’t have to be so gloomy.
“Well, I think it would look cool,” she told him. “Now let’s get something to eat. How about the Blue Fish?”
She knew Bobby hadn’t exactly been thrilled to leave the kids with her brother. The kids loved Uncle Carlos and his sense of humor and his funny stories, but they didn’t know the other parts of Carlos. The parts that Bobby was worried about.
“Seriously?” he said. “The Blue Fish?”
“Why not? My brother can handle the kids.” She smiled. “Let’s live a little.”
Bobby didn’t seem to believe her, however. For somebody who spoke about his faith so much, Bobby sure didn’t seem to have much in others.
We just need some time for both of us.
And Elena believed that Carlos needed some time to get comfortable being around them. Spending time with the kids was a great start. To get used to having people he could rely on, people who could look out for him, people who loved him. She knew he was wary of anybody and anything. Maybe, just maybe, if they gave him time, he’d come around and become the brother she once knew.
“Interesting sermon, huh?” Bobby asked as he turned down a street, a signal that he’d given in to her request for dinner.
“Yes, very,” Elena said.
“Pretty convicting stuff.”
She nodded but didn’t say anything more. Elena knew that Bobby was trying, that he was figuring out what this newfound faith he claimed to have meant. She didn’t understand it. It wasn’t like she didn’t believe in it. But it didn’t have to be so front and center in his life and their lives. It didn’t have to go everywhere with them. It was fine to do the church thing—they’d always done that in bits and pieces their whole marriage. But now Bobby was talking about it all the time with her and the boys. He was doing things with the church and other ministries. Donating time he didn’t have and money they didn’t have.
She wanted to tell him to ease up on things, but how could she do that without sounding awful? She really wanted to respect what he was going through.
The question she always came back to was, why? Why did he want to talk more about the sermon they just heard? Why feel the need to listen to the Christian radio station that was playing similar music to the kind they just came from?
Why, after entering the restaurant, did Bobby feel the need to take her hand and make a public display of praying for their meal? Out loud? For several minutes?
Elena didn’t understand. Maybe, in time, she would, but now it was becoming a little too much.
She simply couldn’t force herself to tell Bobby. At least not yet.