The Price of Trust (3 page)

The following month was average for Carly. Billy Pruit almost left her alone, which she was glad of, and she was learning the store better. Most of the people were friendly to her. There were a few that were rude, but not too many. Sam seemed to always be around to help her with the mean-spirited people. But rude people included, it was a pretty good start. She was starting to really like this little town.

Wednesdays and Sundays were her favorite days. Carly had grown up going to church every Sunday morning, evening, and every Wednesday. She didn't know what she would do without going to church. It wasn't that she felt that going was her ticket to heaven or earning her some extra credit with God; it was that she really and truly loved going. She loved the singing, the reading, the music, but mostly, she just loved the Lord. He had helped her through some pretty rough times.

Her father had told her once before he died that when he went to church, he tried to put all his thoughts of the past week away, his pain, his sorrow, everything, and just sit and learn at the feet of Jesus. It was refreshing to him and prepared him for the rest of the week. At the time, Carly hadn't understood how he could feel that way with all the pain he was going through, but now, being alone, hurt, and scared, she understood everything better. It was like the Lord had used all those bad experiences to draw her closer to him, and to get her to trust him for every need she had. The last three years had seen her grow closer to God every day, and she was thankful for each hard experience she'd endured. She still had a lot of learning to do, and she never forgot that it was Jesus who had gotten her to where she was.

Wednesday evening, she walked down the street to the church, enjoying the weather. Birds were singing, the breeze was blowing, and leaves were changing colors. It was her favorite time of the year. Fall. The time when the plants take their break and go to sleep. Apple picking, pumpkin pies, spiced cider, all the good things that go hand in hand with autumn.

Her thoughts were disturbed by a noisy Camaro slowing down next to her. She looked over and saw Billy Pruit in the passenger seat, staring at her with a smirk. He said something to the driver, and they both laughed and drove past.

The walk didn't seem as pleasant anymore, so she quickened her pace to the church as the car turned around to come back. She reached the steps as the car stopped in the church parking lot. She tried to act unconcerned and unafraid as she struggled to keep her pace even going up the steps. If she ran, they'd know that they bothered her. Then they wouldn't leave her alone.

She didn't notice Todd, his girlfriend, and a couple of other people out on the steps, and would have walked right past them if they hadn't spoken to her.

"Excuse me," the blond girl with Todd called to her.

Carly turned. "Yes?" She tried to smile, but she could only see the Camaro out of the corner of her eye.

"My name is Kelly Martin. Are they bothering you?" she asked, noticing Carly's anxiety.

"Hi, I'm Carly Adams; it's nice to meet you. Yes, they're making me a little nervous. I've already met Billy Pruit, but I haven't met the driver. I don't think I want to," she said, looking over at the car again, shuddering involuntarily.

"Would you like me to ask them to leave you alone?" a deep, husky voice asked beside her. She turned. A young man about twenty-five or twenty-six leaned lazily on the railing.

She couldn't help but notice that he was very handsome. Tall, broad shouldered, dark eyes, brown hair, nice smile.

Take that back. He was better than handsome. Lots better. She stared at him for a moment, unable to tear her eyes away.

"No, I'm afraid that if I act scared, Billy won't leave me alone, and I don't want to make things worse. But thank you, I appreciate your concern." She smiled, her face turning bright pink. She hoped he wasn't able to read her thoughts as she forced herself to look at the blond girl that had spoken to her first.

"Todd, let's go in so they can't stare at her anymore. If they want to see her, they'll have to come inside," Kelly said, taking Carly by the arm and leading her into the church. "Would you like to sit with us? We usually sit together, and we'd like for you to join us."

"Thank you, I'd like that." Carly smiled, relieved to be inside and away from the piercing eyes of Billy Pruit. "Who was the driver?"

"Well, that was Randy Pruit's car, so I'd have to say it was Billy's little brother, Randy. Not a nice group of people there. Would you like me to introduce you to some of my friends?" Kelly asked, smiling. She was a likable girl. Blond hair, brown eyes, and friendly. Carly was comfortable with her right away.

"I don't want to be a bother. No, I'll be all right," she protested as Kelly led her to the group of young people that had been on the steps when she walked up.

"You're not a bother! I'd love to introduce you! You need some good friends to help you look out for the Pruit people. This is Mark, Christy, Paul, Angie, Meg, Todd…he's my boyfriend," she whispered. "Greg is over there, and this is my cousin, David. Oh and there's Jeff coming inside right now."

"Hi, it's nice to meet you." Carly shook hands with them. They were all pretty friendly, but she found herself looking for the tall guy she had seen outside on the steps. Disappointed, she turned her attention to the people in front of her. They didn't have much time to talk as the pianist started playing, and they were asked to open the hymnbooks to page twenty-four.

The group found their seats toward the front and opened their books. Carly was a little ill at ease being in front of so many people, but she endeavored to be comfortable. She was near the end of the long pew, with Kelly to her left. No one was next to her on her right, which was nearest the aisle. She began to unwind with the singing and enjoy the service when a movement caught her eye. She turned to see the tall man who had spoken to her outside take a hymnal and stand next to her.

It was impossible to be comfortable now.

Maybe he'll go away after the singing,
she thought to herself.

But she didn't really want him to leave. He was so handsome. But he made singing for her out of the question. It sounded like she was squeaking. Even Kelly noticed. She looked over at Carly, then at the guy next to her, and smiled, her eyes twinkling. Carly wasn't sure, but she thought she saw Kelly nudge Todd. She tried not to pay attention.

The singing over, she leaned forward to put her hymnal away. The man next to her did as well, and she caught a smell of some very nice cologne. This was pure torture. She could hardly pay attention to the sermon, so she tried to pray.

Lord, please help me. This guy next to me is getting all my attention, and I don't want to like him, or be attracted to him. It'll just make everything worse
.

"Maybe you won't have to leave again," a small voice in the back of her mind whispered. She pushed the thought away.
Please help me pay attention
, she prayed silently. She paid such hard attention, that when the preacher started to pray, she forgot to close her eyes.

After service was over, the man turned to her and introduced himself.

"Hi. My name's Joe Baird. That's Todd, my little brother, and that's his better half." He smiled at Todd and Kelly as he shook her hand.

Carly avoided his gaze as she stammered a barely audible, "Nice to meet you." Turning red, she pulled her hand away as soon as she could.

"Are you from around here?" he asked, walking with her to the end of the aisle, Todd and Kelly following them.

"No, I just got here. Bye," she called over her shoulder and quickly walked away, leaving a very amused young man behind her.

"Carly," he called, following after her. She turned around, a pensive look on her face.

"Could I walk you to the store?"

She smiled weakly her heart fluttering.
That wouldn't be very good,
she thought. "I can manage, thanks though." She turned around hastily and walked out of the church.

Carly began to walk back to the apartment as fast as she could without running, not carefree and joyful as she had been before church.
What was going on? Was she allowing herself to think too much of this little town? Or just the people in it.
She blushed as she remembered how her heart had sped up as Joe had sat next to her.

You're just being silly
, she said to herself.
You got yourself into trouble last time you allowed your feelings dictate what you should do. He's probably just another Ian, and I don't want to know anything about him. I just want to be left alone.

Deep inside, she knew he wasn't like Ian and that she did want to know him better. She would like him more than she felt was safe.

Maybe she already did.

She walked along deep in her thoughts, not knowing that he walked a little ways behind her to keep an eye out for Billy or Randy Pruit.

She didn't sleep well that night and came downstairs looking tired. Sam and Sue were standing in the office sharing some coffee and some turnovers.

"Carly! Come in, sweetie, and have an apple turnover," Sue called cheerily. "You look tired. Didn't you sleep well?"

"Good morning, mmm! Thank you. I slept all right," she replied, taking a bite of a crusty turnover. "They're delicious!" Sue was a very good cook, and Carly appreciated their generosity. The only thing she cooked was macaroni and cheese. It was all she could afford, and she enjoyed it whenever Sue brought in extra little treats for Sam and her. They were excellent people. She had started to think of them as grandparents. She had never known her real ones. They hadn't much cared for her mother, and they both passed away before they could mend their fences, so to speak. So, Carly didn't really know what grandparents were like, but she imagined them to be just like Sam and Sue.

"Did you have a good time in church last night?" Sam asked with a wink. Carly tried not to blush.

"Yes, I did. I love to hear the pianist. My mother used to play," she answered, trying not to notice the amusement in Sam's face. He knew she was trying to skirt the real issue. Joe Baird.

"Well, it sure was nice to see them young folk take you under their wing like they did. That Kelly Martin is something else, isn't she? She's always been so friendly, and that Todd almost worships the ground she walks on. They were made for each other. I tell you, I'm surprised he hasn't popped the question yet," Sue said dreamily. "I just love weddings, and we haven't had one in the church in so long. I kind of miss them." She sighed.

"Sue, I do believe that you're an incurable romantic." Carly laughed, sipping her coffee.

"Well, it's so rewarding to see two young people that really love each other get married and serve the Lord together. I just think that they have what it takes to make it last a lifetime like marriages are supposed to. Sam," Sue turned to him, abruptly changing the subject, "Are you going to give Carly any days off? Or are you just going to work her like an ole mule?"

Sam looked thoughtfully at Carly, rubbing his chin. "You know, we haven't really discussed the days off, have we, Red?"

"I don't really need any. I've already got Sundays off, and we close so early in the evening, I'm fine. Really. Don't worry about it," Carly answered, not wanting any more days off.

She would need the money if she had to leave again. She was saving as much as she could now, but her little horde of bills didn't seem to be growing any bigger.

"Oh, but surely you'd like to see the town and meet new friends," Sue suggested, putting an arm around her shoulders. "You know, there are some pretty good yard sales I've seen this morning already. Do you like yard sales?" she asked hopefully.

"Yes, I do," Carly answered. She had to like yard sales. That was the only place she could get "new" clothes that she could afford. She didn't even go into clothing stores anymore. She remembered how Ian would take her shopping anywhere she wanted and he would buy her loads of clothes, shoes, jackets, purses. Anything she wanted, he would buy for her. At first, Carly thought that was wonderful, until she started noticing that if he bought her something, it wasn't really for her. It was really for him. He would tell her what she could or couldn't wear, who she could or couldn't talk to; it was like he owned her. She wouldn't have minded it so much if he would have given her just a little freedom. But if she went out without him knowing where she went, or with whom, he'd get so angry that she'd be scared out of her wits. But that was only in the beginning of their relationship. Things had gotten progressively worse.

"Well, what do you think?" Sue asked excitedly, squeezing her arm.

Carly had been so lost in her own thoughts that she hadn't heard a word they had said.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" she stammered.

"You don't have to take a full day off, just a half day, and you could go with me to a few yard sales this morning, we could have lunch, and afterwards, I'll bring you back here. What do you think? Doesn't that sound like fun?" Sue looked so excited that Carly couldn't resist.

"If it's okay with Sam, but if he needs me this morning, I'll stay here. I don't mind." Carly added with a hopeful glance at Sam.

"Oh you girls with your shopping." He laughed as Sue flung her arms around his neck and kissed him. "How can I say no now? I shouldn't need much help this morning. It's Thursday, and people don't usually come in until afternoon anyway. Y'all go on and have fun," he said shooing them out of the office.