Bamboo and Lace (44 page)

“Or you can talk to Bailey. If we already had your father's permission to be engaged we could talk of it more openly, but it's probably best if at this point you get your details from the book or my sister.”

Lily looked into his eyes.

“I love you, Gabe.”

Gabe leaned close and kissed her for the first time.

“I love you, Lily. And I don't mind telling you that it's going to kill me to put you on the plane.”

“We kissed,” Lily said with wonder, having missed what Gabe just said.

Gabe smiled. “Yeah.”

“My parents used to kiss. I was just a little girl then.”

Gabe touched her soft cheek.

“I'm so glad you're not a little girl anymore.”

Lily smiled, and they kissed one more time.

“I'll get the book for you,” Gabe said knowing it was time for him to get back to work.

“All right. And if I have questions, I'll ask Bailey.”

“Okay.”

Gabe made himself start the cart, drop Lily at the front door of the house, and get back to the office, realizing as he went that he could easily forget he even had a job when he was with the woman he loved.

“Just get her out of the house for a few hours,” Bailey told the men the day after Thanksgiving.

“Doing what?” Jeff asked. “We've seen just about everything this island has to offer.”

“It doesn't matter what you do. But two weeks from tonight she needs to be gone from 2:00 until dinner.”

“All right,” Gabe assured her. “We'll figure something out.”

“Thank you,” Bailey said, smiling in delight that her plan was underway.

“Can you believe we're already to our final week of sharing with Jeff and Lily?” Pastor Stringer opened the evening service as he had done for a month now. “It's gone so fast, but I think you'll find tonight extra special. I persuaded Lily to come up and share on her own. If you've never heard what one of her main jobs is in the village, you'll be amazed. Please come up, Lily.”

Hoping her heart would stay in her chest, Lily stepped to the podium. She couldn't tell whether her voice was halting and unsure, but she did her best, reading from the paper she'd prepared for the evening.

“The job that Pastor Stringer spoke of just now is translating. For the past nine years I've been working on various books and passages of Scripture, translating them from English into Kashienese. It is long, intense work, but it has provided some of the most gratifying hours I've ever spent.

“I don't know if anything quite compares to watching one of my friends from the village read the Word of God for herself and understand it. And not only that, but having those books in her own language means she can read them to her children and show them the way of salvation.

“If you'll allow me, I would like to share a story with you, one that makes me ignore the ache in my neck and back and keep translating, even on days when my heart's not very willing.

“One of my closest friends is Ling-lei Chen. She's a little older than I am and has been married for several years. When I left, she was expecting her fourth child. I've been teaching Ling to read. We started in easy books, but her husband, who can read, also has copies of the Scripture that have been translated. When Ling was newly married, her brother came through the village and stopped to visit her. Ling's husband, Lee Chen, was not home. Ling is not a bold woman. As with all Kashienese women, she knows and keeps her place, but her brother made a criticism of my father and the church, and Ling spoke out.

“I had just been teaching her John 3:16. She could not read yet, but she quoted it to her brother. He paid her no attention and said she was just rambling, but Ling was not put off. She brought out the copy of the Scriptures and waited while her brother found the reference. He read John 3:16 for himself. He was so taken that this was actually written down in his own language that he waited for Lee Chen to return. He ended up staying the rest of the day with them, and before he left the next morning, he'd given himself to Jesus Christ.

“Please do not see me as anyone special. I am simply the tool God uses to get the translating job done. My father is in the process of teaching others to do what he's taught me. If others will come forward and help, then the Word will get out even faster. If others will see what the Lord has taught me through the intense time I've spent in the Word, then a great work can be done in my village in Kashien. Many souls are still lost, but God is working, and when He brings us to mind, we would covet your prayers on our behalf, not just for those of us who work to put the Word out, but for hearts to be open and receptive upon hearing.”

As on previous evenings, the congregation had many questions. Lily explained how the pages were printed on a small printer in the next village, then sent off to the larger city of Qufu to be bound before being sent back to the village. She also answered a variety of other inquiries. Had Pastor Stringer not brought things to a close, it would have taken the whole evening. Lily returned to her seat, a little shaky, but knowing that Gabe had been right. She knew these people now, and they knew her. It had simply been a time of sharing with friends.

“Do you realize you've created a monster?” Ashton asked Gabe while standing at Gabe's office window. Gabe joined his brother, and they both watched Lily in one of the golf carts.

“I don't think she's walked anywhere since she learned to drive it. Is that Jeff with her?”

“Yes, she's giving him a tour.”

Gabe had a huge laugh over this, but he wouldn't have been so lighthearted if he could have heard the conversation going on in the golf cart.

“I got a letter from Father, Lily,” Jeff said to his sister, happy to let her drive and enjoy her company and the view.

“You did?” she asked, her voice dropping to match his.

“He's not very happy that you stayed longer. He assumed that I influenced you, so he's upset with me. He said he's disappointed that my word doesn't mean what it used to.”

“What did he mean by that?”

“Well, he said you could have three months, and you've stayed longer.”

“Oh, Jeff, that's so discouraging. I somehow thought he would have changed as much as I have in these weeks.”

“I think we'd better stop counting on that.”

Lily pulled up to the Little Bay Restaurant, where she and Jeff planned to eat lunch. They walked in together and were seated before they began talking again.

“I have felt so optimistic about it all, Jeff, but I realize now that that's been based on my feelings, not facts.”

Jeff nodded. “I think Father is much the same as he's always been.”

Lily stayed quiet.

“What will you do?”

“About what?”

“Will you still talk to him about changes in your relationship?”

“At this time I'm planning on it, but if he seems upset when I arrive, I won't. I don't want to go in with an agenda so firm in my mind that I forget about Father's needs and wants. I mean, the whole subject will probably be somewhat upsetting, but if my timing is wise, then he might be more receptive.”

“That's a good plan. You know I'll be praying.” Jeff took a drink of the root beer the waitress had brought him. “Before I forget to ask you, how are you doing with leaving next week?”

“Oh, Jeff, I'm so torn. I miss Father and Ling and the girls, but I would never choose to leave you and Gabe. Or the church family here. They mean so much to me now. I even met a woman at the resort store this week. She's from the area—her name is Ana—and she was just shopping. We had such a good talk, and if I was going to be here I would keep getting to know her, but I feel so limited the way things are.”

“But you're doing the right thing,” Jeff encouraged her. “Father would never recover if you just wrote and said you were staying. The relationship you have now would be completely destroyed.”

“Why is that, Jeff? Father has the same Holy Spirit living inside him that you and I do. Why can't he change as we have?”

“You answered that for me right after you came to Hawaii: He has no accountability. He's a maverick, and since he sees God working, he assumes all is fine. What Father has never understood is that we can sometimes experience God's blessings in spite of the fact we're headed the wrong way.”

It was a good time for their food to arrive. Lily liked the way her brother had worded that and wanted to think on it. She found herself wishing that her father could hear the same words.

Chapter Twenty-Five

“Likewise urge the young men to be sensible; in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, sound in speech which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.”

Gabe looked at the passage from the second chapter of Titus and worked to accept what he knew God was saying to him. The little word “all” usually caught his attention when he was studying his Bible. It didn't say he needed to be an example of good deeds in the things that were easy, but in
all
things. And if that wasn't enough, Gabe knew there was to be no place for negative comments about his own character.

I've been angry,
Gabe confessed to the Lord.
I haven't wanted anything to stand in my way. I haven't told Lily how I feel, but my anger toward her father is there, and it's wrong. Help me, Lord. I can't have this my way. It's got to be Your way, even if it feels painful to me. Please help me to let go of this, and even Lily. Help me to see that if You want us together, You'll make it happen.

Gabe knew a peace after this confession and continued to search his heart for more hidden motives. It was time to let this go. It was time to come clean before God. Lily thought he was doing great. He knew better. Gabe looked at the clock. It was early, but this was the time Lily usually went out for her run. Gabe swiftly dressed, hoping to find her on the beach.