L ynette hit send to reply to Rick’s e-mail confirming their meeting after supper. When the words disappeared from her screen, she rested her elbows on the edge of the desk and buried her face in her hands. She didn’t know which was worse, working with another committee or working with Rick.
She didn’t think asking God for a little time off was a bad thing. Yet, not only was she expected to work on possibly the most important project of the church’s history, she had to do it with Rick.
Over the years she had seen a number of church members succumb to burnout syndrome from pushing themselves too hard for too long. For all Lynette did, so far she hadn’t felt overwhelmed. Up until now. She had started to feel herself falling into the pattern. Because of her experience in dealing with people, she thought she could pull herself out of the downward spiral before it was too late. She needed to retreat and spend some time with God, and that meant being away from people for a little while. After some time alone, she could face another committee meeting for the Lord’s work and do it with enthusiasm.
The saying that God didn’t give people more than they could handle echoed through her mind. For the first time she had to trust that was true, because deep in her heart she didn’t know if she could handle so much responsibility one more time. At least not now.
But then, Rick had come up with the community Fun Day concept. Therefore, he had to already have a workable idea in mind or he wouldn’t have made the suggestion. As tired as she was, she had to trust Rick to shoulder most of the workload while she did what she did best, which was the behind-the-scenes organization of the project.
Lynette stared at the computer screen so long the screen saver came on.
Rick.
Many of the single ladies in the church had a crush on him, yet to everyone’s dismay he remained single. Lynette had always been fond of Rick. He had asked her out a few times, and she was tempted. However, before she agreed to go out on what was obviously meant to be a date, images of what happened to her mother flashed through her mind. In the nick of time her good sense returned, and she turned him down.
Lynette rose from her desk and prepared a simple supper for one. Rick had asked if she wanted to go out to grab a quick bite so they could get down to business, but she wasn’t ready for that. She didn’t want to be near Rick when she was weak and unsure of herself. Yet now she had been obligated to spend time with him with no one else present.
Allowing herself to give in to what she’d worked so hard to maintain would be a recipe for disaster, both personally and spiritually. She was tired, and it would be easy to let her good judgment wane. Until whatever day they selected for the event, Lynette prayed for God’s strength to guide her, because she couldn’t do it on her own.
The doorbell rang at the exact second she finished her dinner. She tucked the plate in the dishwasher and ran to the door.
Before opening it, Lynette paused to remind herself not to stray from the topic of church business, regardless of Rick’s charm. They were together to raise money for the new roof, and that was all she could ever allow.
When she opened the door, Rick stood smiling in the doorway. “Hi, Lynette. I’m glad you could find the time to do this tonight. You looked so tired yesterday that I was almost surprised you agreed to it.”
Lynette tried not to be impressed with his sensitivity. “I know, but I always find it so hard to say no when people ask me things. I suppose I have to learn.”
He nodded. “It’s hard, but I’ve found it’s okay to say no. People do understand.”
Lynette wasn’t so sure. She had been involved in so many things for so long that people expected these things of her. But Rick wasn’t there to discuss people’s expectations. He was there to start work on the fund-raiser.
Lynette directed him into the living room. When he sat on one end of the couch, she sat at the other end.
“So, Rick, what do you have in mind? Have you selected a day? How many of the youth will be involved?”
“Uh—so far I have no idea what we’re going to do, I don’t know what day is best, and I haven’t talked to the youth group because our meetings are Wednesday and today is only Monday.”
“You’re kidding.”
He grinned. Little crinkles appeared in the corners of his bright green eyes. All of a sudden the supper she thought was so delicious didn’t sit too well in the bottom of her stomach.
“Nope. I was just as unprepared for this as you.”
Lynette shook her head to bring her concentration back to the problem at hand. “What are we going to do?”
His smile disappeared. “I have a number of ideas. We only have to get a proposal to the church board by Wednesday—not the whole complete plan—but we have to be realistic about this. We can’t waste time, because the next time the rains come we’ll be in serious trouble. I’ll phone the older members of the youth group about whatever we come up with today; then we’ll discuss it again. By Wednesday we should have a good idea about what we’re capable of producing.”
“I think I should warn you that Dad has already found a supplier for the shingles and made a tentative order, pending financing. He’s getting a good price through Jeff, who’s going to be heading up the actual work.”
Rick cringed. “Great—no pressure.” He let his sarcasm hang for a few seconds then cleared his throat. “He’s right to do it now, but we have to be prepared. I was thinking we should pick the Saturday before Labor Day weekend. That way people will be antsy to go out and do something, but not be out of town or otherwise have made plans.”
“That’s a good idea. What do you have in mind?”
“I don’t know. When I got home after church yesterday, I wrote down what I could remember.” He twisted, not rising from the couch, extended one leg, and pulled a crumpled paper out of his jeans pocket. He tugged on the paper to straighten it then began to read. “Bake sale, bottle drive, car wash, kids’ crafts.”
“I think someone mentioned selling hot dogs.”
“Yes, but none of those ideas can raise the kind of money we need. We have to think big. That’s why I thought of a community event, but I have no idea how to put such a thing together.”
“I guess that’s what I’m best at—putting things together. But I usually don’t come up with many good ideas by myself.”
His grin froze her thinking process. “Don’t we make a great team then?”
Lynette jumped to her feet. “Let me get a pen and paper, and I’ll start making notes, too.”
Once in the kitchen Lynette tried to stop her hands from shaking as she dug through the drawer. She didn’t want to be a great team with him, although she had to admit they worked well together. In the past when they’d served on the same committee, she had admired Rick’s creativity when they needed to get a job done. He came up with good and unique ideas, most of them workable if she set her mind to organizing the details and mechanics.
Then, when the time came to ask for volunteers, especially with the more difficult tasks, Lynette was more likely to be silent and do whatever was required herself. Rick, on the other hand, was good with people. No matter what task lay ahead, very few people could say no to him. As well, whoever ended up helping did so cheerfully and graciously. His gift for the Blarney made Lynette wonder if he had a little Irish in his background. As much as she didn’t want to, she couldn’t help but like him.
By the time she made her way back into the living room, she found Rick leaning over her coffee table and scribbling more illegible notes on the small paper.
“I think I’ve come up with a few more ideas,” he said, still writing. “We could make it into a mini-fair. Our parking lot is certainly big enough.” He stopped with the pen still touching the paper. “Did you know that the Robindales know someone who has a hobby farm and does a side business of a traveling petting zoo? Since we’re a church, I wonder if they’d let us use their portable pen and some animals for free if we let them display their signs in a prominent place on the day of the fair.”
For the first time since she heard of the project, a rush of excitement fluttered in her stomach. “I don’t know if we could charge money for that, but it certainly would be a drawing feature for the community.”
Rick nodded. “We can’t have rides or anything, so I’m trying to think of stuff I usually see at the smaller country fairs, like bake sales, displays, and contests with prizes.”
The excitement waned. “That would mean we’d have to buy prizes. I don’t know if we can afford that kind of expenditure.”
Rick shook his head as he wrote something else. “We don’t have to. I’ll make a few phone calls tomorrow and see if I can get a few donations. I have an uncle who runs a motel in Seattle. I could probably get a grand prize of a weekend for two, along with a couple of passes for the Space Needle. Of course, we’ll have to decide what kind of contest is worthy of that kind of prize.”
Lynette tapped her index finger to her cheek as she struggled to think. “If we’re trying to reach the community, we should emphasize kids’ and teen activities.”
Rick nodded and stopped writing. “I agree. What do kids like to do?”
Lynette grinned. She’d spent enough time in Sunday school to know the answer to that one. “Young children like to draw, and kids of all ages like to throw things. In fact, I know many adults who like to throw things—they just won’t admit it. I’m thinking about a paper-plane-throwing contest, with prizes. What about teens?”
Rick’s mouth quirked up at one corner. “Teens like to eat, so my suggestion is some kind of eating contest. The only two things I can think of are hot dogs and pies, but your father is going to be selling hot dogs. We don’t want the teens to eat all our profits.”
“Then a pie-eating contest is the best choice. One reason I love living in Washington state is because I know so many people with apple trees. Since apples are everywhere this time of year, we could probably get most of the apples for free.”
“Sounds good to me,” Rick mumbled as he started writing again, which emphasized that Lynette had not written a single thing. She rectified that by picking up her pen and making notes also.
As the evening continued, they discussed everything on Rick’s list, which allowed Lynette to make many tentative plans. They also drew a picture of the parking lot and building so they could get a better idea of the space required versus what they had available.
Before she knew it, the clock read 10:30. They still didn’t have a concrete plan, but they had come up with a number of good ideas that needed to be discussed with the youth group members before they could present their proposal to the church board.
Lynette followed Rick to the door. “So you know who you have to contact tomorrow?” she asked as she opened the door.
He nodded. “Yes. I’m pretty sure I can get most of the calls made on my lunch break. You’re going to call around and scrounge for apples, right? I’ll call my uncle about the weekend getaway idea. We should get together again tomorrow. Same time, same place?”
“Yes, I think we should.”
Rick smiled. “See you tomorrow, Lynette. Oh, and don’t cook tomorrow. I’ll bring something. Since I have to work late, I’ll be coming straight here.”
She almost said no but couldn’t justify why not. His coming over with dinner only meant church business, so they could discuss the matter at hand sooner, and nothing more.
All she could do was nod.
“Good. This has been a great evening, Lynette, in more ways than one.”
Before she could respond, he turned and left.
Lynette stood in the doorway, watching as he drove away. It had been a great evening. For the first time in a long time she hadn’t minded discussing and making plans for a complicated event. In fact she’d actually enjoyed it, which made her wonder if maybe she wasn’t as burnt out as she thought.