Grace Alive: a Christian Romance (6 page)

“I’ll take a mocha with lots of whipped
cream,” I said. He walked up to the counter, ordered our coffees,
and came and sat back down.

“So, tell me about your book,” he said. My
book? Oh man. He was going to think I was a weirdo if I told him
about my love story I’d been writing for like twenty years. Okay,
not twenty, but close enough.

“It’s a love story.”

“Yeah? Awesome,” he said with genuine
interest. Normally I tell a guy I’m a writer and that I’m writing a
love story, and they glaze over like a krispy kreme donut. I began
to tell my main plot points and could feel my excitement growing.
Whenever I used to tell people about my books, I’d always feel so
excited and happy. I hadn’t really talked about my writing with
anyone in ages. It felt nice. When I was done rambling, he leaned
back.

“Wow, I’m impressed. I think you’re going to
be the next J. K Rowling.”

I laughed nervously. “Yeah right, I don’t
think so.” Our coffees were done, so he went up and grabbed them
from the counter. I sipped at my mocha and got lost in its yummy,
yumminess. When I came out of my chocolate world, he was smiling at
me.

“Are you back on earth now?” He sipped at his
black coffee with a teasing smile turning his lips.

“Not quite yet, hold on.” I sipped it again
and made loud yum noises. “Okay, I’m back.”

He laughed, folding his arms across his
chest.

“So where do you work?” I asked him, trying
to think of a good subject to talk about to somebody I barely
knew.

“I work in advertising for Bill and sons.” He
took a drink of his coffee.

“I’ve heard of that place. You design
websites?”

“Kind of. Mostly signs and little errands for
the boss. It pays the bills.” It seemed like there was something
else lingering behind what he was saying.

“How long have you worked at Little Bit?” he
asked me.

“Little Bit?” I laughed.

“I nicknamed it, because Little Bit of
Everything makes me tired when I say it.” His eyes sparkled with
amusement. “The twins just call it everything, because they think
they can touch everything in that place.”

“I’ve worked there four years,” I said,
remembering coming back from college and desperate for a job. Mom
and Dad knew the owner quite well, and I was hired within a
day.

“You like it there?” he asked.

“Eh, it’s okay.” I got lost in my mocha again
for a moment. I really didn’t want to talk about my crummy job.
But, what did I want to talk about really?

“I don’t even think I know your last name,”
Branson said.

“Reed.”

“Reed. Okay, now I can stalk you on Facebook.
My last name is Tate. Branson Tate. In case you were wondering,” he
offered. He looked around the room at the people who were lazily
drinking their coffees and chatting.

“I was dying to know,” I said with a grin.
Technically I was curious. I wanted to find him on Facebook and
snoop around his page.

“Do you want to know my middle name too? I
mean you can learn a lot about a guy by his middle name.”

“Sure, why not,” I said and sipped my coffee
again. The whipped cream smeared my lips.

“Branson Quaker Tate.”

“Quaker? As in Quaker oats?” I laughed even
though I tried really hard not to.

“My parents loved oatmeal.” He shrugged, a
good-natured look on his face.

“I’m Zoe Grace Reed. Well, now that we are
all officially introduced and stuff…” I let my voice trail off as I
sipped my coffee again. What did we talk about? Silence stretched
between us. This was getting a little awkward. My mind drifted to
the mixer from the night before. I just wished Jacob would take a
giant hint! I was surprised when Branson started talking again.

“I know you’re dying to know about my kids,
so I’ll just talk about the elephant in the room.” He looked
slightly uncomfortable, but was holding his own.

I hadn’t been wondering about that at all. I
was just wondering what I’d do if anyone from our church saw me
with Branson.

“Oh! You don’t have to if you don’t want to.
It’s totally fine.” I mean this was a first date!

“I’m not married, never have been either.” He
held up his ring finger. “You probably think I’m some sort of
player, so I might as well talk about it.” He fidgeted slightly. He
looked uncomfortable, but then he took a deep breath.

“Okay, here goes. I was a player. Big time.”
He took a drink of his coffee and looked out the window. Cars
whizzed by in streams of color. I let myself follow his gaze.

“Was?” I asked.

“Was. Yeah, about a year and a half ago a
girl from my work invited me to Grace Alive Church. I’d just found
out my girlfriend was pregnant, and she was really upset with me.
I’d hit an all time low in my life. I was thinking about ditching
all my kids and moving to Florida.” His expression shifted, and I
saw that he was happy that he hadn’t acted on that. I listened
carefully. I’d heard of Grace Alive. My dad said the preacher over
that church preached
greasy grace stuff.
His words not mine.
My dad had even preached against that church before. I inwardly
winced. I don’t think I’d mention that to Branson.

“Anyways, she invited me, and on a whim I
decided to check it out. When I got there, my entire life flipped
upside down. I heard Pastor Dom preach for the first time, and it
wrecked me.” He brought his attention back over to my face.

“Wrecked you?” I asked warily. What did he
mean?

“I used to go to church when I was a little
kid, and all I heard about was how God was always mad at me. I
thought God was just a big hammer waiting to pound me at any
second. I left the church when I was 14 and never went back.” He
distractedly looked at some people who walked into the café. I
could see him battling with something. He really didn’t need to
tell me all of this. I barely knew him. His story sounded a lot
like mine. Didn’t I feel like God was always angry at me too?

“Once I heard Pastor Dom preach about grace,
it changed my life forever. I now know that God isn’t out to kick
me when I’m down. He forgave me once and for all.” He smiled at me
as he said the words, even though my heart was pushing against what
he just said. It couldn’t be that easy. I had to work for God to
love me. I mean, yes, He did send Jesus to die for me, but once I
asked Jesus in my heart, I had to make sure he stayed there. I
listened as Branson went on.

“The problem was, my life was still a mess. I
had two kids outside of marriage, ex girlfriends galore, and
another baby on the way.” He shifted in his seat. “Rachel, my
girlfriend at the time, began to just hound me about going to
church. I did a 180
°
that day. I started
throwing out everything trashy in our house, and Rachel got really
upset. She dumped me before Bree was born.” He shrugged his
shoulders. Wow. This guy was one of those radically saved
sinners.

“I still have the kids to think about. I help
my exes out whenever I can. Bree, the baby you saw, stays with me a
lot.” He folded his hands on the table, playing with the napkin
holder sitting there.

“They’re all so cute,” I said with a warm
smile, thinking of the little twins when they were chanting, ‘milk,
milk!’

“Thanks. They look like their moms,” he said
meekly. I wonder if Branson even knew he was good looking.

“Do you go to church?” he asked. “Because you
are totally invited to mine if you want to check it out.”

“I do go to church. My dad is…” I hesitated.
Do you blame me? Most guys find out I’m a PK and there’s this look
in their eye like
she’s a prude.
It’s super annoying.

“I go to Light on the Hill Church on Silver
Rd, the big one there.” I shifted in my seat.

“Oh, yeah, I’ve heard of that place. The
pastor is really tough I’ve heard.”

My defenses went up. Despite everything, he’s
still my dad, and I love him.

“He’s an excellent preacher,” I said in his
defense.

“Oh, I didn’t mean he was a bad preacher. I
didn’t mean to offend you.”

“That’s okay,” I said then added, “I heard
you singing to your little girl. Do you sing at Grace Alive?”

“A little bit, mostly I just make up songs
for Bree Bree and the twins.” He smiled at me. “So, you think my
voice is sexy then?” he teased.

I started laughing. “There’s just something
sexy about
Old McDonald Had A Farm.
” I took a drink of my
coffee.

“I know others
. Baa Baa Black Sheep, This
Little Piggy,
and my favorite,
Twinkle Twinkle Little
Star.
” He ran his fingers along his coffee cup. “Do you sing at
your church?” he asked me.

“Sometimes, but I haven’t for awhile. I used
to do specials. I’ve been asked to be on the worship team, but I
just don’t feel like I want to right now.” Or ever.

“You should sing me something.” He leaned
back in his chair and crossed his arms, his eyes probing mine.

“What?” I laughed and shook my head. “You
really want me to just belt out a song right here, right now?” I
asked.

“Yup.” He wiggled his eyebrows at me. I put a
hand over my mouth.

“Sorry, dude, I’m not singing.”

We finished up our coffee and talked a little
more about movies and TV shows, before we said goodbye.

“It was really nice talking. Would you like
to go to dinner sometime?” he asked me, as he headed out the door.
Should I? He went to the greasy grace church, he wasn’t a virgin,
and he had kids. Was this really the best guy for me?

Go out to eat with him, Zoe. Go.
Again
I heard that quiet voice that I recognized as the voice of God.
Weird. Why would God want me to date this guy? So, so, weird. So I
went with it.

“Yeah, I’d love to. Just give me a call.
We’ll set up a time.”

“This coming Friday? I’ll pick you up at
seven if you like?”

Oh crap, crap. Bad, bad, bad. I couldn’t have
this guy pick me up at my house.

“How about I pick you up?” I asked with a
shrug.

“One of those take charge type of girls. I
like that.” He laughed lightly.

“No problem. Here’s my address.” He jotted
down his address on a piece of paper and handed it to me. I gave
him one final wave and headed toward my car.

I mulled over my coffee date all day while at
work. I didn’t even mind when kids came in and knocked over stuff.
I was in this hazy dazy state that felt nice. It was Saturday
right? So, I had a few days before my dinner date with Branson. The
night blurred by. I was closing up shop and driving home still
thinking about Friday. I got home and headed inside, when I saw my
dad standing on the doorstep. Whoa. Oh man. I felt fear grip my
heart. Someone must have seen me with Branson and told on me. This
was going to be awesome. I made my way toward him, because I
certainly couldn’t turn around and leave again. Even though, I
desperately wanted to do that.

“Zoe, Mrs. Johnson called,” he started to
say, and his face worked into a deep scowl.

“Oh?” I said. I stopped where I was. The air
was beginning to get cold. It was September after all.

“She said you didn’t tithe last week.”

I didn’t? I started thinking back to Sunday.
I was so distracted on Sunday. I might have completely
forgotten.

“Oh, I must have forgotten. I’ll write a
check tomorrow.”

“You do know, Zoe, that you are under the
curse when you don’t tithe. I can’t have that happening. I don’t
want to invite the curse into my household.” He crossed his arms.
“God could strike us down for your forgetfulness.”

What the heck. I was still going to tithe.
Was God really as heartless as all that?

“Oh…okay…I…” I had no idea what to say to my
dad. He just stared at me like I had committed the worse crime on
the planet.

“You better get upstairs and beg God to
forgive you for your sins, Zoe, because I can’t do it for you
anymore.” He turned and went back inside the house. Terror gripped
my heart, and I felt tears well up in my eyes.

God, please don’t curse me. I’m so sorry I
forgot. I just…forgot! I still was planning on tithing! Please
don’t curse my family with my sin.
I ran inside and upstairs to
my room. I could feel an aching in my chest at the look in my dad’s
eyes that said
you always disappoint me, Zoe.
I couldn’t
measure up. I always failed him. No matter what I did. I climbed
into my bed and curled up in a ball. Tears began to pour down my
cheeks. He hated me.

I love you, Zoe,
God said. What? How
did He love me? I forgot to tithe. I sinned! God couldn’t love me
until I spent some time begging Him to forgive me.

Please, please, please forgive me, God.
I’m so sorry for messing up all the time. I really do love You.
Please, please, I beg You to forgive me for all my sins. Come into
my heart, Jesus, make me clean again. I don’t want to be full of
sin anymore.
After an hour of crying, I felt like maybe God had
forgiven me for forgetting to tithe. Someone knocked on my
door.

“Zoe?” my dad said through my door. My eyes
hurt from crying so hard and tears stained my pillow. My Bible was
opened up across my comforter, and a pile of Kleenex mounded
together. What did he want? I ground my back teeth together. Why
was I angry at my dad? He wasn’t the one who sinned and messed
up.

“Did you ask God to forgive you?”

“Yes,” I said so quietly I wasn’t sure if he
heard me.

“Good.” That’s all he said, and I heard him
walk away. I heard my mother mumbling something to him, and he
replied back with a harsh tone. They were always mumbling at each
other.
I hate him…
the thought came from deep in my heart.
My dad was always pointing the finger at me, always. What did I
have to do to have him really love me for me?
He’s going to hate
Branson no matter what. Branson is a messed up guy with the worse
kind of past. Dad is going to rip him apart.
That thought drove
me to tears again. I should just cancel my date before I get too
involved with the guy.