Chapter 31

thirty-one

JACOB

Stepping into the admin area in the church office, I saw Elijah sitting behind a desk, sorting through a pile of papers. “Is it okay if I interrupt?”

“Of course, it is.” He sat back and smiled. “If you’re looking for Pastor Adam, he’ll be back soon. Story time at The Welcome Center finished a few minutes ago.”

“Story time?”

“Our volunteers read children’s stories to anyone who wants to listen. Between the books, the hot chocolate, and the cookies, it’s a hit with everyone.”

In spite of the smile on Elijah’s face, there were dark circles beneath his eyes. I hoped he was okay. “What are you doing?”

“I’m sorting Pastor Adam’s receipts into date order. How are your filing skills?”

I looked at the pile of paper sitting on the desk. “Good enough to help.”

“Thank you. Even ten minutes would make a difference.”

“I can do better than that. If you show me what you’re doing, I’ll come back in the morning and finish everything.”

Elijah frowned. “Are you sure that’s okay? You must have lots of things you want to do before you start working in the medical clinic.”

“Until I hear back from the hospital in Boulder, I can’t do much. If I come across a problem with the receipts, I’ll ask Pastor Adam what to do.”

“He’s right,” Pastor Adam said from the doorway. “You’ve been here long enough, Elijah. I’ll help Jacob tomorrow.”

Molly, Elijah’s six-year-old daughter, rushed across the room. “Hi, Daddy. Guess what? We saw Jesse. He went to the hospital.”

Elijah picked her up. “How’s he feeling?”

Molly wrapped her arms around Elijah’s neck. “Good. He liked the wobbly jelly the best.”

Eddie stood quietly beside his dad. While his sister was talking, his blue eyes moved between me and Pastor Adam. I knelt on the ground and smiled. “Hi, Eddie. I’m Jacob. What did you enjoy doing today?”

Eddie’s eyes widened. “I played with the dump trucks. Mr. Jessop used to drive big trucks on his ranch.”

“Mr. Jessop’s the head gardener at The Welcome Center,” Elijah explained.

Eddie gazed up at his dad. “I like Mr. Jessop.”

Elijah ruffled his son’s hair. “He likes you, too.”

Pastor Adam leaned against the doorframe. “Why don’t we grab a coffee, Jacob, then make our way to The Welcome Center? We can talk and drink at the same time.”

Molly sent me a toothless grin. “You could have a cookie, too.”

“Thank you. I might just do that.”

Molly held Elijah’s hand and looked at her brother. “Come on, Eddie. Dad said we could all play with the Legos.”

Elijah’s gaze fell to the desk.

“Don’t worry about the receipts,” Pastor Adam said. “I’ll put them away.”

“That’d be great,” Elijah said. “The pile on the left are in date order. The ones on the right still need to be sorted. If you put them in separate folders, it’ll make it easier to file them tomorrow.”

Pastor Adam smiled. “Consider it done.”

After Elijah disappeared into the hallway, I picked up a yellow folder. I looked at the dates on the invoices and carefully placed them inside.

Pastor Adam took another folder out of a drawer. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

“The Colorado Board of Medical Examiners has officially signed off my paperwork, but I haven’t heard back from the hospital. While I’m waiting, would you like me to do a clinic at The Welcome Center? It might take some of the load off Doc Martin’s shoulders.”

“Will you have the time?”

I frowned. “I’ve got nothing but time.”

“I thought you were doing some maintenance around your property?”

“Most of it’s finished. While I was overseas, Jenny and Allan looked after my house. Apart from staining the deck, there wasn’t a lot to do.”

Pastor Adam took the folder out of my hand and added it to the one he was holding. “You could always sit back and relax.”

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d taken time out of my life to unwind. Even if I’d needed a vacation, I felt guilty when I was away from the refugee camps. “I’m not that great at relaxing.”

“Not many of us are.” Pastor Adam left the folders in a drawer. “If you’re sure you don’t have anything else to do, we’d love to see you at The Welcome Center. Give Doc Martin a call and see what works for him, then let me know.”

I followed Pastor Adam into the hallway. “It sounds as though Doc Martin’s looking forward to retiring.”

“Has he shown you any pictures of his boat?”

“Not yet, but he’s mentioned it a few times.”

“Don’t be surprised if he invites you onto Willow Lake. After his wife, his boat is his pride and joy.” Pastor Adam looked down at his watch. “We’d better head to the kitchen before all the cookies get eaten.”

With one last look at the desk, I followed Adam into the hallway. I might not be any good at relationships, but I was a connoisseur of cookies.