© copywrite 2009 by Sarah Baughman

Chapter 1

Zach Taylor opened the door to the Narthex of Redeemer Lutheran Church, holding it while the Brown family went through. Josh Brown had been his friend since he moved to Cedarville, and the two exchanged a friendly handshake. Josh had married a woman he met at college, and they already had two children. Zach gave a high-five to the oldest boy, Peter, who was seven. Heading to the Sanctuary for the Sunday School opening, he spied Liz Watson. She was leading her class to their pew for the songs and prayers which made up the opening.

“Hey, Eliza!” he called, sauntering toward her.

Her head snapped up, and something that could almost be called a glare shot from her eyes. Such nice eyes shouldn’t have that sort of expression. Zach grinned in her direction.

“Can I sit with you?”

“May I sit with you?” she corrected.

“Yes, you may,” he rejoined.

Flushing, Liz just sat down. He scooted into the pew, then motioned the little kids Liz’s right side to scoot down. When he sat, he casually draped his arm along the pew behind Liz’s back, mostly because he knew it would annoy her. A small voice in his head asked, Is it right to do things just to get a rise out of her? But Zach ignored it. It seemed that Liz was ignoring him, too.

“Timmy,” she whispered, “please stop poking Sophie’s arm.”

Zach leaned close and whispered for her ears only, “Aw, leave him be. He just likes Sophie.”

“He has a funny way of showing it.” Liz looked skeptical.

“Sometimes boys don’t know how to show it, so they tease.” Zach held his breath, waiting for her reaction.

“Timmy still shouldn’t be tormenting. If the girl doesn’t respond favorably to the teasing, he should stop.”

“And do what?”

“Nothing! Second graders are too young for crushes.”

Zach sat back straight at this. He had forgotten they were talking about the children.

* * *

Liz ushered her kids from the room as each of their parents came to pick them up. Only Peter Brown was left. To her surprise, Zach came for him.

“Josh asked if I’d get Pete.” He squatted down in front of the boy. “Your daddy had to help mommy with Baby Lila.”

Pete grinned, then grabbed Zach’s hand. “C’mon, Uncle Zach. Let’s go find them.”

Pete started to dash down the hallway, but Liz saw Zach pull him gently back and say, “Pete, you know we shouldn’t run in church. Let’s see if Miss Watson wants to come with us. You know how much she loves babies.”

From his squatting position, Zach looked up at her with a grin. Liz felt her face warm. Am I blushing? No! I can’t be!

Pete grabbed her other hand and pulled her along. She barely was able to pull the door shut behind her before starting off down the hallway.

When they reached the Sanctuary, they easily located Josh and Susie Brown. Liz didn’t see how Susie needed help with anything, but she kept any comments to herself. She liked the Browns, but generally avoided them because Zach always seemed to be hanging around them.

“Good morning, Liz!” called Susie. Her bright smile made Liz think perhaps she should get to know them better, despite their poor choice of a friend.

“Good morning! How are you all doing?”

After a few minutes of exchanging pleasantries and Liz adoring Baby Lila, Liz turned to go take a seat. As she did, she heard Susie tell Pete to scoot over so Uncle Zach could sit by Josh.

“Uh, sorry, Zach, but we can’t scoot,” came Josh’s unconvincing voice. “The Rainers were going to sit here. See? Their diaper bag is here.”

Liz glanced back over her shoulder in time to see Susie give Josh a strange look, but Zach just shrugged and grinned. “That’s fine, I can sit somewhere else. See you after the service.”

Mere seconds later, a large body nearly sat on her. “Scootch!” came Zach’s deep voice. She did, but almost right into an elderly couple who had come to sit on the other side of her. She had to settle for sitting closely with Zach.

“There is an entire pew open in front of us,” she whispered, for the prelude had begun.

“So there is,” came his reply. He took the hymnal from her hands, flipped it open to the first hymn, and then let it rest on his lap.

With a slightly resigned sigh, Liz tried to scoot a little away from him, deciding she’s rather be closer to Mrs. Rauch than to Zach. But he was sitting on her skirt. His arm, like any time he sat by her, came to rest behind her.

While it shouldn’t bother her – he was not actually touching her – she still wished he would keep his arms at his sides. Casting a quick glance in his direction, she saw that he seemed to almost need to have his arm where it was; his frame was so large that perhaps he was more comfortable this way.

Before Liz could turn her eyes down to her hands folded in her lap, she took in his brown, wavy hair, blue-striped button-down shirt, khaki pants, and brown dress shoes. Looking back up at his face, she saw that it had turned to study her. His brown eyes, both dark and bright at the same time somehow, were fixed on her. His mouth formed into a grin. He quirked an eyebrow, seeming to ask Like what you see?

Liz blushed and lowered her head. She tried to calm her breathing, but the sound of his quiet chuckling made it difficult. What an egomaniac!

Throughout the service, Liz did her best to concentrate on the Word of God that was present in the hymns, the Scripture readings, the Sermon. She was surprised by Zach’s nice bass. She hadn’t heard him sing since high school youth events, when his voice, though nice, had none of the rich masculinity it did now. She blushed again. Somehow, she managed to make it through the service and then returned home.

by Sarah Baughman (email: mailto:baughmanks@gmail.com)




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