She found it unsettling to realize she was standing close to Gabe with his arm anchored around her waist for the second time in less than twenty-four hours. She had no idea why God kept sending this man into her path, but for right now, she couldn’t think of an excuse not to go along with his offer. Other than the obvious one, that spending time with Gabe wasn’t smart.
But she breathed a little easier when she was safely seated in the passenger seat of his car. She waited until he slid into the driver’s seat before glancing at him. “You know, I wouldn’t mind if you dropped me off at church and came back in an hour if you don’t want to go in with me.”
Gabe looked past her, over his shoulder as he backed out of the parking space. “Is that a polite way of saying I’m not welcome?” he asked.
“No! Of course not.” She was horrified that he would think that. “I guess I just never noticed you attending church services before.”
A smile bloomed across his features. “Isn’t it the job of a good Christian to convince us non-goers to attend church and to rediscover our faith?” he asked in a teasing tone. “At least that’s what my sister always tries to do.”
She relaxed after hearing his sister was a Christian. “Yes, you’re right about that. I would love for you to come to church, but I can’t force you to believe in God. You have to come to that realization on your own.”
Gabe was silent for a moment. “I have to be honest with you. I haven’t been to church in well over a year.”
She wondered what had happened to cause his lapse in faith. And given what he’d just told her, she had no idea why he’d even offered to come with her in the first place. But she didn’t want to pry into his personal life by asking. She, better than anyone, understood the need for privacy. “Well, I have to tell you that out of all the church services I’ve attended in my lifetime, Pastor John gives one of the best,” she said lightly. “He’s down to earth and yet always helps remind us what God would want us to do. Maybe I’m being presumptuous, but I think you’ll like him.”
Gabe made a noncommittal noise but didn’t say anything more as he pulled up to the parking lot of the church. She struggled to get out of the car, which wasn’t easy, but within moments, Gabe was there, helping her.
“Thanks,” she murmured, hoping he wouldn’t notice the breathlessness in her tone.
“Stay there,” he told her. “I’ll get the crutches.”
He pulled the aluminum crutches out of the backseat and set them next to her. “Try these. I set them up for your height based on memory, but I might have the measurements wrong.”
She took the crutches and propped them beneath her armpits, not surprised to discover they were perfect. “They’re great. Thanks so much.”
“I broke my foot once, so trust me, I know what you’re going through,” he confided. “It’s not as easy to crutch walk as it looks.”
She flashed him a smile and made her way over toward the sidewalk leading up to the front door of the church. Gabe stayed right beside her, his hand hovering on the small of her back, as if he was worried she might fall.
There weren’t many parishioners in attendance as it was the holiday, but those who were there greeted her by name. She didn’t know if she should introduce Gabe, and if so, as what? Her friend? A colleague? One of the doctors she worked with? She couldn’t bring herself to use any of those options, so she decided not to say anything at all.
Gabe was likely regretting his offer to bring her, based on the knowing looks being flashed their way. Did Gabe realize the power of small-town gossip? She could feel her cheeks turning red and ducked her head, hoping no one would notice.
She told herself not to worry what anyone else thought. If this was what Gabe needed to bring him back to the church, then the minor discomfort was well worth it.
Closing her eyes, she sent up a small prayer. Please, Lord, show Gabe the way home.
____________
Gabe stood beside Larissa in church, wondering why on earth he’d agreed to this. She’d given him an out, had offered to be dropped off and picked up in an hour when the service was over. Honestly, that was exactly what he’d considered before she mentioned it.
But he hadn’t taken the chance to skip out. Instead, here he was, attending church in the first time in over a year. His sister had dragged him to services whenever possible back in Madison, but after moving to Crystal Lake, he hadn’t bothered.
When Larissa had mentioned that she couldn’t force him to believe in God, he’d relaxed his guard. He loved his sister, Kimberly, but she was constantly preaching at him, trying to get him to buy into every one of her beliefs. Instinctively, the more she pushed, the more he’d backed off.
He picked up the hymnal and found the opening hymn. One thing he’d rather liked about the church services was the music. It occurred to him now just how much he’d missed it.
As the organist began to play, they rose to their feet and began to sing along. His baritone was a bit rusty, but he soon got into the rhythm.
He caught Larissa’s pleased smile as she joined him in singing along. Her arm lightly brushed his, and he kept his eyes centered on the hymnal, pretending not to notice.
Even though he did.
The pastor was younger than he’d anticipated. Gabe hadn’t expected to enjoy the service, despite Larissa’s glowing praise of Pastor John Gorman, but since the theme of the sermon today was forgiveness, he found his attention riveted on the pastor’s words.
Pastor John paused for a moment and then read, “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses (Mark 11:25).”
The passage struck a chord deep within. He’d remained so angry with Rebecca after the way she’d destroyed his reputation at the University Hospital in Madison. Telling his boss and the hospital leadership that he’d sexually harassed her when, in fact, she was simply upset because he’d broken off their relationship. She’d cost him his job. No matter how much he’d tried to deny her allegations, he knew there was no way to recover from the stigma.
It was her word against his, and he’d lost. Big time.
Shaking off the past, he focused on the pastor’s sermon. According to Pastor John, if he wanted to find peace, he first had to cleanse his soul. And that meant forgiving Rebecca.
Could he really do that? He knew he should, but saying and doing were two different things.
The organist began the closing hymn before he’d even realized the service was nearly over. And he was even more surprised that he hadn’t been watching the clock, the way he used to. In fact, he’d enjoyed the service.
“Thanks for bringing me, Gabe,” Larissa said softly. “That was exactly what I needed this morning.”
“My pleasure,” he responded. “Don’t tell my sister, but I liked it, too.”
She laughed, and the sound reminded him of picnics at the beach. Or maybe that was just the last time he could remember being happy. Odd that he felt more lighthearted and relaxed around Larissa.
“How would you like to go out on my boat this afternoon?” he offered. “I know the lake will be busy considering it’s the Memorial Day holiday, but we can still have fun.”
Her blue eyes glowed with excitement and surprise. “Oh, I’d love to do that. You have no idea how horrible it is sitting inside the apartment while everyone else is out having a good time.”
“Great. How about we grab some lunch and then head over to my place. Unless you need to go home first for some reason?”
“No, I’m fine.” She blushed. “And I was thinking of stopping at Rose’s Café, anyway.”
“Rose’s Café it is.” He was glad she’d agreed to come with him, even though he wasn’t exactly sure why he’d brought the idea up in the first place.
Nothing had changed. Larissa was still a nurse at Hope County Hospital, and he was still vying for the medical director position. He couldn’t afford to get emotionally involved with someone he worked with. Yet he could relate to where she was coming from. Sitting at home alone didn’t hold a lot of appeal for him, either.
He would just have to make sure that spending the day with Larissa was about being friends and nothing more.
____________
Larissa told herself that being out on Gabe’s boat didn’t mean anything. Even though Josie had wagged her eyebrows when she’d noticed Larissa and Gabe together. Larissa tipped her face to the sun and tried to calm her racing heart. Maybe this wasn’t the best idea she’d ever had.
So why had she said yes?
The logical answer was that she’d been bored and hadn’t wanted to sit around in her apartment. But the real reason was that she liked Gabe. As a person, not just as a physician she worked with.
And she hadn’t liked a man in a really long time.
For the first time, she realized that she’d been running away from her past. As much as she learned to love Crystal Lake, the fact of the matter was that she would have worked anywhere that wasn’t Chicago Central.
