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Ezra’s words played havoc with Hadley for the next two days. She had the best time that night at the bonfire. It had been so long since having a genuinely relaxing night out with friends. So many people just came by to chat, share s’mores or swap stories. The three hours had passed in a blur, followed by a long Saturday spent on house cleaning.
Cleaning was a de-stressing activity for her, and she had plenty of work. Her mother had loosened the stance on the dining room and kitchen area now, which for the first time in nearly two years, was utterly free of items on the floor, shelves, or corners. It made her smile as she glanced around. They would make it, little by little.
She headed upstairs; her mind still dense with the information that Ezra had shot at her as she prepped herself for church. She had decided it was time to cross the threshold into the sanctuary of the place whose doors she hadn’t darkened in a few years. She had lost faith, her way, and along the way, become as much a recluse as her mother. It only enabled the issue according to Belle, and having a more regular life was something she had been preaching for years. Today was the day, Hadley took back the reins of her world.
Once dressed and headed downstairs, she encountered her mother’s watchful gaze. “Where are you going, looking so pretty?”
“Church.”
Her mom froze. “We don’t do church anymore. You know me and the big man have major differences in opinion these days.”
“I understand, but I feel like this is something I miss and will reconcile in my life.”
“I understand,” her mom whispered, catching Hadley off guard. “Maybe someday I can get there also,” she whispered.
“Well, I tell you what,” Hadley said, moving forward to where her laptop was lying on a chair across the room. With a few clicks, she brought up the broadcast link for the services this morning. Little Bend might be small, but Pastor Necome prided himself on reaching anyone needing the word. “If you watch here, and click this button,” she showed the one on the lower right. “At the beginning of services, you can watch without having to be there. Your choice.”
Her mom looked at her, “you’re an obedient daughter.”
“Thank you,” she said, dropping a kiss on the top of her head. “I will see you afterward, and maybe I will stop and get us chicken dinners from the diner?”
“That would be nice,” she said, with a brief-expression on her face that caught Hadley.
“What’s up?”
“Can you take me to Living River on Tuesday morning, early?”
Hadley thought she would pass out from the rush of blood to her head. She had to be hearing something wrong. Her mother never went out. “Mom,” she said calmly. “You want to go to Living River Ranch?”
She nodded. “Belle said she couldn’t make it this week, and if I come out early, there won’t be people. She said, like when you go to work. It will be calm so I could see her. Do you think you could bring me home afterward?”
“Yes,” Hadley stuttered so happy she wanted to jump up and clap her hands. “Definitely. I will let Amy know I might have to run you home when you finish up with Belle in the clinic.”
“Thank you,” she said, gazing at the laptop screen. “It says services begin in eight minutes. You better get going.”
That knocked reality back into Hadley, who swiveled around and with one backward glance headed for the door. The church was two blocks from their house, and she made the trip in a daze. She knew it should make her ecstatic how her mother was progressing in such a short time, but she instead wallowed in what she hadn’t been able to do on her own for so long and hoping the progress wouldn’t stop. With a melancholy expression, she didn’t make eye contact as she climbed the steps.
The organ started its serenade to begin the services when she was just about to the large double door entry. She waited a few minutes and then slipped inside the door jamb. She hated making such an entrance on her first day in church in more time than she was happy admitting.
As she walked in, the sense of calm fell on her, and she inhaled deeply. Looking about for a place to sit, her eyes fell on Ezra a few pews up and sitting toward the middle of his bench. She thought about going elsewhere, but he was her safety blanket. She moved forward and slid into the open space. He glanced at her with a huge grin and adjusted to the left so she could share his program.
“I will take that as an all-in,” he whispered.
She shook her head with a tiny giggle, biting her lips, she found his eyes. She had never been surer of any decision in her life.
