Head Over Heels

He frowned. “I don’t doubt that. Tell me, what are you doing here, in this neighborhood? You don’t seem like you belong here.”

“A few years ago, there was a fire in my apartment building. Everyone got out okay and there was minimal damage to most of the suites, but they had to close the building for a few weeks for inspections, repairs, and then to get out the smell of the smoke. It was the middle of tourist season and there was a big convention in town, and by the time I started looking for a hotel, everything the insurance would pay for was full. A friend of one of my aunts lives not far from here, and she invited me to stay at her place for a few days, so I did, because I didn’t have anywhere else to go. We made an instant connection. I went to church with her on Sundays, and the rest is history.”

She didn’t mention that Pastor Tom was the one who had given her the most emotional support and had guided her into doing something constructive with herself after Michael dumped her for another woman. Her own pastor had sided with Michael, telling Michael he had done the right thing, that they weren’t really suited and it was just as well that he’d cancelled the wedding.

That was definitely true, but the way Michael had dumped her was cruel and heartless.

Her own pastor hadn’t done anything to try to ease the hurt. In fact, it was Pastor Tom and a few people from this poor and needy congregation who had helped her deal with everything, including canceling many of the wedding arrangements. and it was then that Marielle had found the true meaning of friendship.

Besides, Michael and his new wife had started going to her other church, and she hadn’t been comfortable there anymore. Now, two years later, she probably could go back and worship in the same room as them, but at the time, the hurt was too fresh. She just couldn’t. Still, she would never leave this church and all the good people who helped her when she needed it. It was her turn to give something back, and she was.

“Didn’t you have anyplace else you could go? Parents? Siblings? I’ve always been close to my mother and my sister, and I know if anything like that ever happened to me, that’s the first place I would go.”

“My parents travel a lot. It’s hard to explain, but they really don’t have a place to call home, at least not with a regular address. Not long after I got a job and got my own place, they came into a tidy sum of money. They sold their house, quit their jobs and got a motor home, and they’ve been traveling ever since. They generally stay someplace for a few months, and then move on. It’s their goal to live for a while in every state, including Alaska, before they die. So far, they’re doing pretty well.” Marielle grinned from ear to ear. “You should see the pile of postcards I’ve collected over the past two years. And the pictures they e-mail to me are spectacular. My mother is talking about writing a travel book, and I think she should.”

He blinked and stared at her, which was a common reaction when she told someone about her parents’ adventuring ways. “Don’t you miss each other? When do you see them? Do you have any other family?”

Marielle shrugged. “Of course I miss them, but we keep in touch. They’re having the time of their lives, and I’m happy for them. They’ve planned to come visit me for Christmas this year, so that’s going to be extra special. I’m an only child, and both my parents are also from one-child families, so it’s just me here now that they’re gone. But that’s okay. I’ve got my church family here, and I’m happy. I haven’t felt this right about a place, ever. God wanted me here, and so here I am.”

She wanted to say that God had put her in the right place the day of his accident, too, but for the first time, he was asking her personal questions and she wanted to keep the conversation open. She didn’t want to give him any reason to shut her out.

He turned back to the teens, who were dividing themselves in to two teams. “Do you ever play basketball with them, or do you just watch? Or do you referee?”

Marielle laughed. “I referee and try to keep the boys from getting too competitive.”

“This I have to see.”

“We’ve changed the rules to be less aggressive and more fair for co-ed. They abide by it, so it works for me.”

They stood to the side to watch the scaled-down game until the sun began to set and the light became insufficient to see properly.

“Now what?” Russ asked, as all the teens moved back inside the building.

“I try to encourage them to play board games, but I’m not always successful. Usually we just sit and talk, and whenever I can, I try to steer the topic to an informal Bible study. They know this is a church, and they’re bound to get stuck being forced to listen to some religious content as a condition of getting to use the facility. Some of them are believers, some of them are undecided, some of them aren’t open yet, but they put up with me. I just do what I can, and I hope they make it through Saturday and come back on Sunday.”

“Do they?”

“A few, but I wish it was more.”