Pastor's Assignment Read Online Free PDF Page A

hurt.
    When he lifted his gaze, his eyes held a trace of defiance. She met his eyes and deliberately put her hands palm up on the table.
    â€œHis name was Mickey.” He looked up at her, but it was clear his mind was somewhere else. “He died three years ago.”
    â€œHow?”
    â€œA school shooting. He saved a group of kids in the path of gunfire.”
    Without thinking, Laney reached across the table and covered Ty’s fists with her hands. In less than a second, her fingers were comforting the tablecloth. Ty scowled at her, as if she’d tried to stab his hand with the butter knife. Covertly her fingers ran over her fingernails to test their points. The blunt tips reassured her she hadn’t inadvertently jabbed him.
    â€œI’m sorry about your brother,” she said.
    Ty’s eyes darkened. An odd light burned in them, as if he were about to play a trump card. “Can you explain why your God would let that happen to someone?”
    Laney shook her head sadly. “No, but I do know He has a purpose for all of us and a plan for our lives.” She leaned closer to him. “You have to trust Him.”
    Ty made a sound of disgust. “I’d prefer less mystery and a little clearer sign.”
    â€œA sign?” Laney laughed. “Have you ever spent time with Him? He speaks to hearts. What do you want Him to do, beep you?”
    As the words left her mouth, Ty’s beeper went off. Laughing in surprise, Laney watched him try to cover up his shock as he dug the beeper out of his jeans to check the message.
    â€œThere’s your sign.” Laney couldn’t keep the smile off her face.
    He checked the number on the pager. “I have to make a phone call,” he said. “Be right back.”
    Laney chuckled, for the first time realizing she had been right to come to the restaurant. She envisioned herself gently leading Ty back to the path of happiness, mending his broken heart. Perhaps they would even be friends. She would be the sister he’d never had.
    She closed her eyes and leaned back in her seat, soaking up the moment. Lord, the credit is Yours. Even if Ty said nothing else the entire evening, the meeting would be a success. With God’s help, he would soon be surrounded by the love of God and his church family.
    When she opened her eyes, Laney saw a tall, thin woman in a light-blue silk pantsuit entering the room on the arm of slightly bald man. Even in the dim lighting and from a distance, Laney recognized the woman. Her heart exploded into her chest as Tilly Weyeth, her future mother-in-law, paused. Tilly’s long nose pointed as accurately as a compass in Laney’s direction.
    Laney slid lower in the seat until the stiff, white tablecloth touched her chin; then she took the final plunge and slithered over the edge of the seat onto her hands and knees.
    She squeezed between two clay pots and peered through the palm leaves as Mother Tilly and her date, Malcolm Teeters, the president of Southwest Bank, made their way to the smoking section of the restaurant. Further crystallizing her faith in God, she watched them being seated in a booth that faced away from where she and Ty sat.
    â€œWhy, Laney, is that you behind the palm tree?”
    She recognized the voice, and goose bumps erupted over her flesh. Turning slowly, still in a crouched position, Laney looked up into the amused blue eyes of Gertha Williams, Good Faith’s secretary and leader of the women’s Bible study group.
    â€œHello, Mrs. Williams,” Laney replied, reaching for her manners in the absolute horror of discovery. “It’s good to see you again.”

Five
    Gertha Williams leaned as far forward on her chair as she could without falling. “Are you ill, dear?”
    Laney tried to think of an acceptable reason to be squatting behind the palm trees. She opened her mouth, but no words came out.
    Gertha leaned even more precariously forward until she