20

It was all happening so fast.

Christina had hated this dingy apartment from the first day she moved in. She walked through the handful of rooms to make sure she hadn’t left anything she might care about later. Once she had given the key to the manager, there was no coming back. He’d made that clear. First thing tomorrow morning, his maintenance crew would come through and clean everything out. Everything would go to Goodwill or the dumpster.

She was betting on the dumpster getting the bigger share.

The apartment had come unfurnished, except for a few odd chairs in the living/dining area. She had added a wobbly dinette table with two metal folding chairs (her ex-boyfriend had actually pulled these out of someone’s trash pile). In the bedroom, the same decor. In the center of the floor, a double bed mattress—no box spring. In the corner, a fake-wood chest of drawers—no mirror. One end was actually propped up by three bricks, making it one inch higher than the other.

An image of the garage apartment she was moving to flashed through her mind. Stepping out of the bedroom, she shook her head in fresh disgust. “This is so awful.” Back in the living area, she slowly spun around the apartment. “Thank you, Lord, for delivering me from this place.”

Shutting the front door behind her, she felt such relief. Marilyn had told her all the furniture in her new apartment was staying. Doug was coming back this weekend to gather up the few things he’d left behind, but everything else she had seen when touring the place was hers to use for as long as she lived there.

Bending forward, she locked the front door . . . for the last time. “This is so wonderful,” she said aloud. She walked down the steps toward her car, wondering if she’d see Doug at church that morning. She hoped so. Marilyn had invited her to join the Anderson family afterward for dinner. Then she could move into the apartment. Starting today, she would be a resident of River Oaks.

River Oaks. She couldn’t restrain a smile.

Her car started right up, compliments of the new battery. Another Anderson family provision. She glanced at the seat beside her then at the floorboard. She reached behind her, pulled out an empty Walmart bag, and started cleaning up. From now on, this car would be parked in a garage on Elderberry Lane. It had better start looking the part. Right then, she decided to spend the five bucks and drive through the car wash. She had enough time before church began.

She turned around in her seat to back up her car, noticing the smattering of small boxes covering the backseat. All she owned in the world. But that was okay. God was giving her a fresh start. Half this stuff might go in the dumpster too in the next few days. Even looking at it now, she saw a number of things that were much too ugly to fit in that adorable little place.

She put her foot on the brake and typed the church address into the GPS app on her phone. She felt a little nervous about visiting a new church, but just a little. It couldn’t be worse than the handful of churches she had visited nearby. No one would miss her in any of those places, that’s for sure. No one had even attempted to reach out to her.

She drove out of the apartment complex then down the road toward River Oaks without looking in the rearview mirror a single time.

Christina pulled into the crowded parking lot of the high school where the church met, following the directions of several men wearing bright orange vests. People of all ages were getting out of their cars and making their way toward the auditorium. They all looked pretty happy.

She parked the car and wrestled with whether to wear her sweatshirt or just carry it in. Now that she had reached the seven-month mark, she was usually too hot, and it did a lousy job of hiding her . . . bump.

She lifted herself out of the car and began walking behind a nice young family a few yards ahead. Mom, Dad, a boy, and a girl, both preschool age, and a baby in a stroller. This is what a family looks like. This is what I want for my baby. God meant for babies to be in families like this one. She was doing the right thing. Adoption was the right choice.

For her, anyway.

As she neared the double set of glass doors, she began scanning the crowd for Marilyn, who was supposed to lead her to where the rest of the family sat. She began feeling edgy and realized why. At the last church, each of the official greeters by the door had done the same thing: smiled, extended their hand, noticed her pregnant belly, noticed she was alone, and noticed there was no ring on her finger. Then the same look in their eyes. She couldn’t quite name it, but it sucked all the welcome out of the air.

But here, that didn’t happen.

Oh, a few of the greeters noticed she was pregnant, but that was as far as it went. The joy in their eyes remained. She didn’t feel judged. She felt . . . welcome.

“Christina, over here.”

She looked toward the voice but didn’t see Marilyn. Lots of other people. A few seconds later, she felt a gentle tap on her shoulder.

“There you are.” Marilyn gave her a hug. “I love that dress on you.”

It was the same dress Christina had worn at the restaurant. “Thanks. This place is crowded.”

“Especially just before the service begins. The pastor said when we get our own building, we’ll make the lobby much bigger, so people can stand around and chat without bumping into each other. Come on, I saved you a seat right next to Jim and me.” They started walking toward the auditorium doors. “Tom and Jean and the kids are here. So are Allan and Michele. They’re a few rows back. But you’ll get to meet them at dinner.”

“Is Doug here, or did he—”

“Yes, Doug’s here. Right next to Jim.”

They walked into the auditorium, which was a little darker except by the stage. The worship band began to play, and everyone stood. The music was fairly loud with a strong beat. People started clapping. Marilyn led her toward the left and down a side aisle. “Just a few rows more,” she said.

The vocalists up front began to sing. Christina recognized the song. It was one of her favorite worship songs on the radio. In fact, the band sounded just like the group on the radio. The people began to sing.

“Here we are,” Marilyn said.

Christina looked down the row and recognized Marilyn’s husband Jim, who was clapping and singing. Doug stood next to him, not clapping, but he was singing. At least, she thought he was. People leaned back to let them by. As they got closer, she looked up at Doug again. Even better looking than she remembered.

He noticed her, smiled, then looked back toward the stage. Suddenly, she felt self-conscious. Stop this. She had to put any thoughts of him out of her mind. That wasn’t why she was here. Anyway, with the way she looked, who she was, and who he was . . . it was obvious he’d have no interest in someone like her.

After the closing song and prayer, everyone stood up and began to file out of their seats. Marilyn turned to Christina. “So, what did you think?”

“I really liked it. All of it.” She really did. She wasn’t saying that to get in good with Marilyn. “I really understood what the preacher was saying. Parts of it felt like he was talking right to me.”

“I know,” Marilyn said. “That happens to me every week. Come on, I want to introduce you to my other kids. Well, they’re not kids. They’re older than you. There’s Tom and Jean right over there.”

Christina followed Marilyn a few rows back, closer to the exit.

“Christina, I want you to meet my oldest son, Tom. This is his wife, Jean.” Christina shook their hands. “They have three children, Tommy, Carly, and little Abby.”

“Which reminds me,” Jean said. “I’ve gotta go get them out of children’s ministry. It was nice meeting you, Christina. You’re coming to Sunday dinner, right?” Christina nodded. “Then I’ll see you there.”

“And here’s Allan,” Marilyn said. “My daughter Michele’s husband.” Marilyn looked all around. “Where’s Michele?”

“She ducked out already. She’s got a quick meeting with Julie, to go over some new thing with the children’s ministry. But we’ll both be there for dinner.” He reached out his hand. “Nice to meet you, Christina.”

“Julie is Ray’s wife,” Marilyn said. “He’s one of the pastors. You’ll like Michele. I’m sure of it.”

They stood around a few seconds. Christina looked back to see if Jim and Doug were coming. They were. She thought Doug was looking at her, but he quickly looked away.