The Prodigal Comes Home (18 page)

“I
thought we saw the last of Zoey Decker, but I heard she’s back. Again.”

Matt paused as he heard a familiar voice rise above the pre-potluck commotion in the church kitchen.

Rose Williams.

“Someone told me that Pastor Wilde actually drove all the way to Lake Delton and
asked
her to come back.”

A harrumph followed the whispered statement. “If he did, he must not know what people are saying.”

Oh, Matt knew what they were saying and he didn’t care. But he still wasn’t sure he’d convinced Zoey of that.

Matt closed his eyes and asked God for an extra measure of patience.

Gina had accused him of being blind, but Matt remembered the simmering resentment in Rose’s eyes the night he’d shown up at Liz’s house to give Zoey the sermon notes. He’d asked Liz about it and discovered that Rose and Tyler Curtis’s mother had been best friends. Matt understood that Rose’s unresolved grief and anger needed a target but he also knew it shouldn’t be Zoey.

“I heard her parents came back because they found out Zoey has been staying with Liz and they got worried about her.” Another hushed voice joined the conversation.

“I would be worried, too, if I were them.”

Matt’s hands clenched at his sides.

“My friend, Gina, refuses to come to the service tomorrow,” another woman whispered.

“I’m afraid a lot of people feel that way,” Vivian Clark said. “Some of the people in my book club usually attend the Easter service, but they already said they’re going to skip it this year.”

“It’s terrible,” Rose agreed. “The way Zoey Decker just waltzes around town like she didn’t do anything wrong.”

Because she didn’t, Matt thought. And maybe this was a good time to tell them that.

He stepped into the kitchen. “Ladies,” he said evenly.

Absolute silence descended on the room.

“Pastor,” one of the women finally croaked out.

Rose Williams lifted her chin. Under her defiant stare, Matt saw a woman still bound by grief. The same kind of grief that had once weighed Zoey down.

Conversation in the fellowship hall quieted and several people inched closer.

“I’m sorry you have a problem with Zoey,” Matt said. “I wish you would have come and talked to me about it.”

“You know I’m right about her,” Rose said in a hard voice. “The accident—”

“Was just that,” Matt interrupted gently. “An accident. An accident that Zoey didn’t cause.”

“Janet was my best friend—our boys grew up together. They were going to room together in college.” Rose’s voice thinned as it increased in volume. “If it wasn’t for Zoey, Tyler would still be alive.”

“She wasn’t driving the car that night.”

Rose sucked in a breath. “She provided the alcohol…”

“Zoey said that she didn’t.”

“And you believed her?”

“Yes,” Matt said simply.

“Then why did she leave right after she got out of the hospital?” Jason, a man who worked side by side with Matt on the mentoring team, sidled up and stood next to Rose.

“Maybe she didn’t think anyone would believe her side of the story,” Matt said. “Or maybe she didn’t want to say anything that might damage Tyler’s reputation.”

“
Tyler’
s reputation?” Rose glared at him.

Matt hesitated, not sure how much information he should share until he had an opportunity to talk to Zoey first. He’d called Jake Sutton earlier that morning and asked him to pull up the incident report taken on the night of the accident. What he read hadn’t come as a shock, but Matt knew it would to the people gathered around him.

Then he remembered the pain he’d seen in Zoey’s eyes the night she’d told him about the accident. Even then, she’d tried to protect Tyler’s reputation at the expense of her own. Further proof of the kind of person she was.

“Excessive speed and alcohol both contributed to the crash,” Matt reminded Rose. “Zoey was in the passenger seat. She was injured, too.”

“We know that,” someone muttered. “She walked away with a mild concussion, a few bruises and a broken wrist.”

“The concussion happened at the scene of the accident. The other injuries happened
before
the car hit the tree,” Matt said softly.

“Before the accident?” Walt Jenkins’ bushy eyebrows dipped together in a frown. “What do you mean?”

Matt chose his words with care. “Tyler had been drinking. He didn’t appreciate Zoey cutting their…date…short that night.”

Rose stared at him, wide-eyed. “That can’t be…maybe Tyler had a bit of a temper when he didn’t get his way, but…” She clapped a hand over her mouth when she realized what she’d been about to reveal.

Out of the corner of his eye, Matt saw several people exchange grim but knowing looks, leaving him to wonder if Tyler had been as perfect in the eyes of the town as Zoey believed.

It wasn’t his intent to smear Tyler Curtis’s name or shift the blame to a young man whose life had been cut short. But if there was going to finally be healing, Zoey had to stop blaming herself for something that had been out of her control. And others had to stop blaming her, too.

“She’s never going to forgive me,” Rose said, her eyes dark with another kind of grief. “The things I said…”

“Yes, she will,” Matt said with absolute certainty.

Rose sagged against her husband. “You don’t know that.”

“I know Zoey.”

Matt heard the stir that followed and his heart clenched. Were people still going to reject Zoey, even now that the truth had come out?

His gaze swept over the room. That’s when he realized it wasn’t his words that had jumpstarted another round of whispers.

It was Zoey.

Zoey’s gaze collided with Matt’s across the room.

Up until ten minutes ago, she hadn’t even planned to attend the potluck. While her parents and Gran got ready, she’d retreated to her room.

Delia and Morgan had agreed to perform their duet for the potluck. Everything was in place for the Easter service the following morning. There was no reason for her to go…except for an overwhelming feeling that she
should.

Zoey had quickly fixed her hair, changed into a white blouse and a lavender ballet-style skirt and caught up with her family just before her parents’ rental car pulled out of the driveway.

Liz had commented on how quiet the church was as they made their way downstairs to the fellowship hall.

When Zoey heard Matt’s voice, she thought they had somehow misjudged the time and he’d already started the message.

Then she realized that he was talking to Rose Williams. About her.

Zoey’s knees suddenly felt as if they were filled with wet cement, and there was a rushing sound in her ears.

How had he known? She’d never told anyone that the alcohol Tyler consumed that night had turned him into a stranger. Someone who’d turned on her—who’d
hurt
her—when she’d said no to his advances. But somehow, Matt had guessed the truth.

“Zoey?” Rose took a tentative forward, and Zoey’s heart went out to the woman when she saw the shattered look on her face.

“I’m sorry,” Rose mumbled. “I hope…someday you can forgive me for holding a grudge all these years.”

Zoey’s throat tightened, making it difficult to breathe. “How about right now?”

Rose bit her lip, as if she didn’t quite believe forgiveness could be offered so freely.

Zoey understood. It had taken her a long time to accept God’s forgiveness. And to forgive herself.

She spotted Delia and Morgan standing near the old piano in the corner and suddenly knew what to do.

“Usually the choir performs a song from the cantata,” she said. “Tonight we’re going to do something different.” Zoey saw Delia’s eyebrows disappear under the brim of her straw hat and gave her a reassuring wink. “We’re all going to sing one of the songs together.”

She sat down on the rickety piano bench and took a deep breath. And started to play “Amazing Grace.”

One by one, everyone pushed closer.

Tears blurred Zoey’s eyes as Gran and her parents joined in. She felt Matt’s hand rest on her shoulder, and the promise lingered in the warmth of his touch.

As the chorus ended, the air felt lighter. Conversation and soft ripples of laughter stirred the air as everyone made their way to the tables laden with food.

Kate paused and looked back at Zoey and Matt, a mischievous grin on her face. “So, Zoey, does this mean you’re looking forward to tomorrow?”

Zoey glanced at Matt. What she saw in his eyes both terrified her and filled her with joy. “Yes,” she whispered. “I think I am.”

“Looks like we’re done here, Pastor.” Daniel Redstone tucked the last of the folding tables away in the oversize storage closet off the fellowship room. “Do you want me to lock up for the night?”

“I can do it.” Matt’s gaze swept around the room. Most of the people who’d attended the potluck had left already. The last few volunteers on the cleanup crew had finished straightening up the kitchen and drifted out, the low murmur of their voices echoing in the stairwell.

But where was Zoey?

Matt knew she hadn’t left with her parents. Liz had gotten tired, so Paul and Sara Decker had taken her home shortly after the meal ended. Zoey remained to check on some last-minute details for the cantata. Matt had seen her talking to Haylie and Rob, but there was no sign of the teens now. And no sign of Zoey, either.

Matt shut the lights off and made his way upstairs, determined not to let another moment go by without telling Zoey how he felt about her. And find out how she felt about
him.

A sliver of light shining beneath the doors of the sanctuary caught his eye.

He should have known.

Matt pushed open the door. Zoey remained silent as he sat down on the pew beside her, so close their shoulders were almost touching.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

“How did you know?” Zoey finally asked. “About… Tyler?”

“I heard what you told me—and what you didn’t,” Matt said simply. The police report Jake Sutton provided had only verified his suspicions.

“I didn’t think anyone would believe me. And I…I couldn’t help but feel that it was my fault,” Zoey murmured. “I left with Tyler willingly. I knew he’d been drinking.”

“You were a victim,” Matt struggled to keep his voice even as he pictured Zoey the night of the accident, scared and hurting. “It was time the truth came out.”

“Not everyone will believe it.” Zoey shifted away from him and Matt felt a moment of gut-wrenching fear.

After everything that had happened, did she still think that her past would always cast a shadow over them? Hadn’t she realized that the things she’d gone through had forged her character—had made her into the only woman he wanted by his side?

“I can’t change people’s attitudes or their hearts, but God can,” Matt said, silently praying for the right words to say. The words that would convince Zoey that he wanted her to be part of his life. “I trust Him.”

“But—”

Matt put a finger against her lips. Maybe the words weren’t so hard to find, after all. “I trust God…and I love you.”

Zoey stared at him, wide-eyed. It was what she’d been afraid of—yet longed to—hear. A lump formed in her throat, making it difficult to breathe.

“I love you, Zoey,” Matt repeated.

Zoey shot to her feet. “How can you?”

“How can I
not?
” Matt countered softly. “Sometimes I wondered who—if anyone—God had in mind for me. You don’t know how many times members of my congregation tried to set me up on blind dates with someone they claimed was “perfect.” No one ever was. Until I met you.”

“But that’s just it.” Zoey closed her eyes. “I’m
not
perfect.”

“You’re perfect for me.” Matt’s hand cupped her chin, and he gently forced her to look at him. “That’s what matters.”

Zoey wanted to believe it. Matt had boldly faced some of her accusers and told them the truth about what had happened with Tyler that night, but she also knew that some people would never forget her rebellion and the heartache she’d caused her family.

“I don’t want to damage your reputation. Everyone wants their perfect pastor to find the perfect wife.”

A shadow passed over Matt’s face. “This pastor is far from perfect, Zoey. There are things in my past that I never had the courage to tell people about because I was afraid I might lose their respect. I didn’t realize that if I was honest about my mistakes, if I could share how God had forgiven and healed me, it would encourage people who had gone through the same thing. You showed me that.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you. I told you that you’re a wise woman. Wise and sweet and strong.” Matt gave her a lopsided smile. “To be honest, I wonder if I’m good enough for
you.
”

The glint of laughter in Matt’s eyes told Zoey that he was teasing, but she also saw a flicker of uncertainty. He’d shared his heart—confessed that he loved her. But instead of throwing herself into his arms—which was what she’d wanted to do—she had retreated behind her doubts once again.

It was time to follow Matt’s example. To put her trust in God and open her heart to the man He had brought into her life.

Zoey let out the breath she’d been holding. “I love you, too, Matt.”

He froze. “What did you say?”

“I love you, Matt. I—” Zoey forgot what she’d been about to say as Matt drew her into his arms. Slowly, carefully, as if she were something precious. They fit together perfectly—two halves of a whole.

“One more time.” Matt demanded, his voice unsteady.

Zoey’s hand lifted to cradle his firm jaw. “I love you.”

“Zoey…” Matt drew in a ragged breath. In his eyes, Zoey saw the promise of a future. Their future. Then he bent his head and his lips met hers in a kiss that was sweeter than the first—and shattered the last of her remaining doubts and fears.

“I guess that means you believe me,” Zoey gasped when they finally broke apart.

Matt smiled down at her.