Sweet Accord. Felicia Mason

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СКАЧАТЬ members left the classroom they used for their meetings, Reverend Baines asked Haley and Matt to wait. They remained behind while the minister finished talking with Annabelle.

      Haley shifted the file folders in her arms. Matt stayed in his seat. He leaned back, crossed his feet at the ankles and tucked his hands behind his head. He took a moment to study her. Her blond hair came to her shoulders; he couldn’t tell if the crimped curls were a natural gift or the effect of a salon. Today it was pulled together with a clip and left hanging in the back. Her skin glowed with the health and vitality that only came from clean living. But her eyes, a deep chocolate brown, and her smile arrested him.

      In the time since he’d been hired at Community Christian he’d had the opportunity to see her eyes flash with anger, frustration and mischief. The latter, of course, not directed his way. He just got the glares. But that, he knew, was a good thing. Though she sported no ring, she’d seemed the hearth-and-home type, all-American, apple pie and lots of kids at her feet. He’d already found out that she wasn’t married, so a boyfriend or fiancé who’d give her all her heart desired had to be lurking somewhere. Matt just hadn’t met the paragon yet.

      “Didn’t your mother teach you it’s not polite to stare?”

      A slow grin lifted the corners of his mouth. “As a matter of fact, she didn’t. She died when I was two.”

      Haley’s mouth dropped open, mortification filled the eyes he’d just been admiring. She came around the table and reached for his hand. “I’m so sorry,” she said gently pressing her hand to his. “I didn’t mean to be snippish or rude. I didn’t know.”

      In the face of her genuine regret and concern, he was sorry he’d been so blunt. She truly looked contrite and sympathetic, as if she hurt for his loss, even though he’d been too young to understand it at the time.

      “Matt, we’ve gotten off…”

      “Ah, there you are,” Cliff said. “Thanks for waiting.”

      Haley dropped her hand and clutched her folders. Matt wondered what she’d been about to say. It had almost sounded like the beginning of an apology, an olive branch offered. In a way, he was sorry the minister had intervened at that moment. Matt found it curious that mention of a deceased parent had triggered a turnaround in Haley’s attitude toward him.

      “I know you two don’t get along very well,” the minister said. “That’s one of the reasons I put you together to come up with a compromise. You’ll find common ground. I know you both have very strong opinions about this, and I know you also have the best interests of the church at heart.”

      “Thank you, Reverend. I won’t betray that trust.”

      Matt cut a glance at her. “Neither will I. We’ll work out our differences. One way or another,” he added in a barely audible mutter.

      Haley’s quick intake of breath told him she’d heard though.

      “Excellent.” The minister patted Matt on the shoulder and did the same as he passed by Haley. “Have a good day.”

      Matt looked at Haley. The day had been just fine until he’d been tasked to spend time with her. As long as he remained focused on his ministry, though, everything would be fine. Just fine.

      “I’m sorry about what I said,” she told him. “I didn’t know about your mother.”

      He shrugged, then gathered his own papers before standing. “Not a problem. Look, when’s a good time for us to meet? The sooner we get this over with, the faster we’ll be done with each other.”

      “Our task is very important, Mr. Brandon.”

      He sighed. “Call me Matt.”

      “You make light of it, but we can’t have tambourines and guitars in service. I can understand if it were during some sort of special program, but not in the regular service.”

      “Too much like having fun in church?”

      “Yes!”

      His eyes speared hers. “Then we really have a ways to go before we reach a compromise on this committee,” he said. “The God I serve says make a joyful noise. Do you even know how?”

      He walked out of the room before she sent a scathing reply his way.

      Haley seethed.

      “He’s the most conceited, self-absorbed, egotistical lout I’ve ever had the misfortune of meeting.”

      “Lout?” Haley’s cousin Amber grinned. “Now that’s a word you don’t hear very often.”

      “Whose side are you on?” Haley said as she snatched a saucepan from a cabinet in Amber Montgomery’s tiny but well-appointed kitchen and banged it on the counter.

      Amber winced. “I think I’m on the side of those very expensive pots and pans you’re slamming all over the place. Those are my work instruments, you know.”

      “Sorry,” Haley said. Amber was such a terrific cook that she carved a living at it.

      Amber put down the knife she’d been using to chop celery and took the saucepan from Haley’s hands. “Why don’t you sit down? I’ll finish this.” She drew a bit of water, put the pan on a burner, then returned to a waiting pile of fresh broccoli and grated carrots.

      Haley stomped through the small kitchen and plopped into a chair at the drop-leaf table Amber used as both eating surface and desk in her studio apartment.

      “He sounds like a dreamboat.”

      “You’re taking his side again.”

      Amber adjusted the flame, then dumped all of the chopped veggies in the saucepan with the now boiling water. After a quick blanching they’d go into the salad.

      “Well, from what I remember, the Bible does say something about making noise in church.”

      One of Haley’s missions in life was to get her cousin back to church. She couldn’t make the faith decision for Amber, but she could try to get her back to a place where she’d be exposed to the Word.

      “Come with me Sunday, you’ll see.”

      Amber glanced up. “Nice try. But I’m running in a 5K in Portland on Sunday. You should come with me. You hardly ever go into the city. We could have brunch and then stop at Powell’s.”

      Haley considered for a moment, the bookstore a temptation. “No. This situation with Matt Brandon is tenuous enough. If I’m not there, Lord only knows what he’ll do.”

      “So, when’s your date with him?”

      Haley leveled a heated look at her cousin. “It’s not a date. It’s a committee meeting.”

      “Yeah, whatever,” Amber said as she nibbled around a leftover carrot. “I think you object too much. You haven’t even heard any of his music.”

      “I heard what he played during his interview and believe me it’s not at all church music.”

      Amber СКАЧАТЬ