worked and prayed and saved money until I had enough to
come here."
"Did you ever become a pastor?" asked Maggie with
concern.
of "Yes." He smiled proudly. "For eight years I was pastor
Yosaba Church. I also worked as a teacher in the primary
school."
*"Was it hard to leave your church behind?" asked Rosa.
He tapped his chest. "My church is with me-in my
heart. I left three good men in charge back in Yosaba. Pastor Looking for You All My Life69
James went to the same college as I, and he is a good man
who loves G.o.d. And now that I am in Pine Mountain, I can
keep my promise to Steven."
"So, you are going to be a missionary in Pine Mountain?"
asked Clyde, scratching his head with a somewhat skeptical
expression.
"I believe it is the will of G.o.d." Michael smiled warmly.
Clyde chuckled. "Well, now I"ve heard everything. But I
wish you the best, son."
"I told Michael that I"d ask our church board if he might
preach at a service sometime," said Jed, glancing at Sam for
approval.
"I can"t speak for the whole board," said Sam, "but the
pulpit is mine this Sunday, and I"d be happy to offer it to
Michael."
Michael beamed. "If your people agree, I would be most
honored."
Sam turned to Jed. "I"ll call around tomorrow and let you
know."
It was already dark when the rest of the visitors began to
leave, but Leah managed to coax Jed and Michael to stay a
bit longer, discreetly tempting them with promises of left-
overs that Maggie later arranged buffet style on the kitchen
table. Then everyone returned with loaded plate~s to eat
around the warm fire in the library.
"You are a happy family," observed Michael after setting
his now-empty plate aside. "But I don"t fully understand."
He looked curiously at Jed. "Leah is your daughter, I know.
Is Maggie her mother? Does that make Maggie your wife?
But you live in different houses."
Jed laughed. "That"s not quite right."
"Maggie isn"t my mother," said Leah quickly, "but I live
here and she"s been a good friend to me."
L.
70Melody Carlson
Maggie smiled at this, the second warm thing Leah had
said today. Perhaps things weren"t as bad as she"d imagined.
"Yes. Leah"s been living here with us for a while, and we just
don"t want to let her go. Spencer is my son. His father died
two and a half years ago."
Michael looked into Spencer"s eyes. "I am very sorry. I