Chapter 23

© Copyright 2006 by Kendra Cornell



Paul waited in the small diner two hours after leaving Karen. A cold cup of coffee sat half-empty in front of him on the worn Formica tabletop. He had written in his notebook and prayed, but still had no idea what to do. Lord, what are You up to here?

Steve walked in and sat down at the table, taking in Paul’s weary face.

“You alright?” he asked shaking Paul’s hand firmly.

“Not really.”

“I wouldn’t imagine so- Larry’s been calling everyone on the Board at church. Elders, deacons, anyone in ministry, and he doesn’t have anything flattering to say about you, my friend.”

Paul looked up at this- he hadn’t been expecting Larry to move so quickly. “What’s he saying?”

“Oh, mostly some junk about you having a blonde ‘floozy’ waiting at your house while fooling the rest of us at church this morning.”

“Great… That’s all I needed.”

“Paul, he’s calling for your resignation.” Steve hadn’t meant to drop the comment like a bombshell, but the shock on Paul’s face made it clear that he was dumbstruck.

“No one believes him- well, there are a few, but mostly the same old guys that Larry bums around with anyway. I guess I should ask you first… Is it true Paul?”

“Of course not. I mean… there was a woman there this morning, but you won’t even believe what happened, Steve. This has got to be straight from the Lord because the coincidence is too big to swallow.”

Steve leaned back in his chair, “You want to tell me about it?”

Paul gave Steve the short version of Karen’s story. By the end of it, Steve’s brow was furrowed in disbelief.

“Are you telling me that this woman showed up in the church last night?”

“Yes, but didn’t you hear me? She said she worked for Tom Delaney.”

“That’s what concerns me Paul. What if this is part of some kind of a hoax? Do you believe her?”

“Steve, God has a hand in this. He has to- this is too big for coincidence.”

Steve nodded and sighed, “Paul, you are the best thing to happen to that church in a long time. And there’s no way I would ever think you would make a mistake like what Trudy and Larry are accusing you of, but don’t you think you made an error in judgment by allowing this woman to stay at your house?”

“It was ten o’clock, Steve. She was bleeding, couldn’t walk and had about passed out from sheer exhaustion. She didn’t need to go to a hospital, and I gave her my word I wouldn’t call the police. What other option did I have?” Paul asked in frustration.

Steve thought for a moment before replying slowly, “Okay… I get it. I’m just not sure what to advise at this point, Paul. She can’t really stay with you anymore. It just doesn’t look good. And I think you may have a firestorm on your hands. The longer we let this go, the more opportunity Larry is going to have to turn people’s minds against you. We can’t give him that opening.”

“I can agree with that- but where is she going to go? I believe she’s telling the truth, and if it’s a God thing- then we can’t throw this away. We have to give her a place of refuge at least for a while- until we can sort all of this out.”

“Well…” Steve said slowly, “I’d have to check with Lucy of course, but maybe she could stay with us.”

“No way… There’s no way I’m involving you. There’s no one else on earth that I’d trust as much, but I refuse to put you in a position where you could get in a lot of trouble.”

There was no immediate retort, and Paul got the feeling that Steve hadn’t been all that thrilled about the idea, but he was touched that even so, Steve had offered so quickly. Steve sat in silence, his brows furrowed, before an impish smile gradually replaced the troubled look, “What about your Mom?”

Startled, Paul looked at him. “What about her?”

“Well, either you leave, this woman leaves, or someone comes to chaperone. No one better than dear old Mom, and haven’t you been saying for a while that she needs to get out of that big house and spend some time here? And no offense brother, but it seems to me that you might need the support personally if Larry has his way.”

Incredulous, Paul just fixed his gaze on Steve for a few moments. He opened his mouth to speak, but the right words wouldn’t come out. Finally, he removed the glasses and pinching the bridge of his nose, he said, “I’m an adult, Steve. I think it might look a little odd if I go running to my mother.

Steve shrugged- he seemed to be enjoying Paul’s discomfort. “Take it or leave it- as you will. But it’s the only solution I can think of right now.”

Paul raised his eyebrows, considering Steve’s words.

They spoke for a few more minutes and then Steve excused himself, explaining that he needed to get home to his family.

Paul paid for his coffee and walked out, deep in thought. He took the long route home, giving himself more time to work through alternate possibilities, but there didn’t seem to be any. His next move was to speak to Karen, he knew, but even if she objected, did he really have a choice? Was there any other option here? Of course there were, but they all seemed less plausible than this one.

Karen had nowhere to go. She had ended up at Refuge Christian for a reason. What that reason was remained to be seen. And with his mother there, it might lend stability to at least that aspect of this multifaceted plight. The longer Paul thought about it, the better the idea seemed to be.

He arrived home to a closed door. Unlocking it, he found Karen lying in the living room, her feet propped up and a cold cloth on her head. She had fallen asleep watching the news, her hand still gripping the remote control loosely in one hand. Not wanting to wake her, he trod silently to the kitchen. He was going to have to find them both something to eat before he dropped another bomb on her world. Rummaging in the refrigerator, he took stock. He wasn’t the world’s best cook, but he managed to keep body and soul together.

He began to set pans on the stove, and set bread and cheese on the counter. Though he tried to be quiet, the stillness of the once-empty house had been disturbed. Karen woke in a panic, but realized quickly that it must have been Paul in the kitchen. She rose and walked quietly, setting the remote on an end table and sliding the damp cloth off of her forehead. She looked around the corner and saw Paul in a flurry of activity.

“Hey there.”

Paul turned and saw her looking a bit groggy. “Hi. Have a seat. I was just getting some dinner going if that’s okay with you.”

“Uh… that would be great. Thanks,” she said, not used to having someone wait on her. “So… um, what are we having?” Karen seated herself at the small table and watched him with interest.

“My specialty- grilled cheese sandwiches and chocolate milkshakes, with a side of French fries.”

She laughed to herself- dinner was usually a salad, with maybe a half of a grilled chicken breast if she was really hungry. And here she was ready to gorge on junk food that, surprisingly, sounded sublime.

“Can I help with anything?” she asked him.

“No- not with dinner, but there are some things we need to discuss.”

She thought she knew what he was going after- he wanted to know more about Tom Delaney. She had already resigned herself to complying with his request, at least to an extent. As far as she knew, a non-disclosure agreement still bound her legally to keep from discussing anything in his bio that wasn’t public knowledge.

They ate together companionably- and Karen actually enjoyed the delicate crispness of the sandwiches and the frosty sweetness of the shakes. The man may not have been a gourmet, but he was good at putting a simple meal together. After a short time, they both pushed their plates away. An awkward silence passed before Paul broached the topic that was preying on his mind.

“Karen, I believe that you are here for a reason. I’d like to find out what you know about Tom Delaney- not for personal reasons exactly, but because I think our paths have converged for some higher purpose.”

Karen stared at him and then shook her head. Holy rhetoric wasn’t exactly what she had expected. “I’m sorry Paul, but you’re losing me here.”

“Okay… I want you to know that I talked to one of my deacons this afternoon about you. He’s also a very good friend.” Although Karen said nothing in protest, Paul must have picked up on her silent objection because he held up one hand in defense, “Steve is a very good friend and I trust his judgment implicitly. He knows that Trudy has made some inaccurate assumptions based on what she saw here this morning. And he thinks we need to be proactive so that we won’t give them any time to mobilize something.”

From a strategy point of view, it made sense, but Karen had no clue where he was going with this.

“Okay… what did you have in mind? Do you need me to leave, because I understand. I can find somewhere,” Karen began before Paul interrupted.

“No- I don’t think that’s a good idea. I think you need to be here, but I don’t want anyone getting the wrong idea about this. So…” he stopped, a little reluctant to share his plan. He felt as though she might consider this a tad… childish. But all things being equal, he considered it a tad childish.

“So, what?” Karen asked interested, now curious at his hesitation.

“So I am going to call my mom and have her fly out here for a few weeks.”

Karen blinked at him as if to say, You’re calling your mommy? But thankfully, she didn’t answer for a moment.

After an interminable silence, she fought the disbelief that was tugging at the corners of her mouth. “Paul, this is your home, and I’m on your territory. If that’s what you think is best, then I respect your decision and will do whatever you think will help. I want to reiterate however, that I don’t know that I should be here in the first place. I never meant to cause anyone any trouble.”

“Let’s just sort that out later, okay? I’d better go call my mom if she’s going to make plans to get here soon.” Paul left the room, going into his study and closing the door. Karen sat at the table for a few more minutes contemplating this man. He was like no one she’d ever met in her life.

He had gone out of his way to take her in, clean her up, and clothe her. He’d already suffered for his decision- apparently that woman this morning was causing some problems.

What is it with these people?, she thought. On one hand Paul has already put himself out more than any human being ever has on my behalf. But… is it for show? Is he just like Tom Delaney, preaching one thing and doing another? That didn’t make any sense, though.

Karen knew very little about Christianity- she believed organized religion to be a crutch for the weak-minded. After all, religious types like Tom Delaney might have been high-minded for a while, but they were just like every other person who had had a taste of power and money. It degraded them- made them want more- made them compromise whatever morals they might ever have had. He was cheating on his wife- and that to Karen was repulsive and common- and who wanted common? Common was every slimy, nasty excuse for a man that had ever hit on Karen. And she wasn’t interested.

Soon, Paul returned looking sheepish and a bit embarrassed. “She’s taking the red-eye, and should be here tonight. I’ll pick her up at the airport in a few hours.”

Karen looked at him, somewhat taken aback at the surge of protective instinct that surfaced. She inclined her head and spoke, trying to put him at ease.

“I think it’s nice that you’re having your mom come here.”

“I’m glad you say that, because she’s sort of convinced that there might be something else going on here.”

Karen raised her eyebrows and bit her cheek, “Like what exactly?”

“She thinks that you and I might be a bit romantically involved. I didn’t get a chance to tell her the whole story- but I will as soon as she gets here. Karen, I’m sorry- I just wasn’t sure how much to tell her over the phone, but she needed to know at least a little bit what she was walking into. My mother is strong- but she can be a touch… presumptuous at times.”

Karen grimaced, “And that leaves me doing what?”

“Whatever you’re comfortable with- this is just a short term fix. So let’s just relax. When my mom gets here, we can all just get to know each other.”

But Karen already felt like she knew Paul- she realized that she was beginning to trust him, which was both a discomforting and entirely comfortable sensation all at the same time. At that realization, she thought incredulously, I actually trust this man. She was surprised to realize that it wasn’t nearly as disconcerting as it had been earlier in the day.

“Okay, well then. We do have a few other things we need to discuss. You said you had some information on this guy from the news?”

Karen had left the rumpled file upstairs, but recalled to the best of her memory what she had discovered at the library as well as pertinent information she had already told him.

After she filled him in on the minute details, she paused for a moment, something gnawing at her memory. “Oh yeah! I also saw a picture of him with Tom Delaney. They were all buddy-buddy. Although to the best of my recollection, they certainly didn’t appear as if they knew each other at the debate.”

Paul responded, “Is that normal in your circles?”

Karen shrugged, “It might be. Maybe Tom didn’t want anyone to think Jeff had treated him differentially. On the other hand, who knows?”

Karen had tried to update herself on the campaign by watching the news this afternoon, but had fallen asleep after getting another bad headache. Despite the events of the last few days, the strategist in Karen needed to know what was going on. After waiting a few more moments in silence, it appeared that Paul was lost in thought. Karen thought this might be a good opportunity to slip away.

“Would it be alright if I caught up on the election?”

Snapping out of his reverie, Paul replied, “Of course. Help yourself to whatever you need around here,” and he went around the table to help her up. Intending to shoulder some of her weight, Paul made to help her up.

Without intending to, Karen smiled at him, “I have been getting around on my own for most of the day.” Abashed, Paul nodded.

“Of course. Please excuse me.” He then wandered back into the kitchen to clean up the remains of their dinner, blushing to the roots of his hair

Flipping on the television, Karen found the news channel she wanted and was gratified that she hadn’t missed much.

And our top story in the news tonight- a bombshell in local politics. We have just discovered that Ellen Delaney, wife of front-runner in the Denver mayoral election Tom Delaney, has separated from her husband for undisclosed reasons. Tom Delaney refused to comment, but in a telephone interview, their daughter said that Mrs. Delaney is facing some sizable issues and asks that the public respect their privacy at this difficult time. Opponent Andrew Dade had this to say…

The camera switched to a shot of Andrew Dade at what looked to be a public picnic, shot against a green background of trees and grass, “I’d like to extend my best wishes to the Delaneys at this difficult time. Regardless of their personal circumstances, I would ask voters to focus on the issues at hand and to elect the candidate they believe best suited to lead our fantastic city.”

Karen stared in shock at the television. Nothing could go more wrong than having a conservative politician’s marriage break up two days before the election. Unless of course, there’s a murder coupled with attacks on innocent people, she thought with a touch of irony. Despite what was going on personally, Karen felt her heart go out to Ellen Delaney. That woman was the epitome of grace under pressure, and something must have gone terribly wrong for her to do something so drastic.




HEY! and don't forget to e-mail Kendra Cornell if you have a comment! She would really like to hear from you.





Return to Right to Refuge

Cybergrace Banner Exchange 2000