A New Day (5 page)

CHAPTER TWO

    
Sunday morning dawned very warm and still.  Tasha stretched, and rolled onto her tummy.  Her first thoughts were of Gary’s steady, smoldering eyes. 

     “
Damn you to hell, Gary Taylor!”  she muttered.  She hated him for not kissing her! 
Hated
him!  How dare he not give in to her?  How dare he not kiss her?  She
had
to know that he found her attractive! 

    
She’d been so sure, and then when she gave him an opening, he'd laughed in her face!  How
dare
he not assure her that he found her beautiful?

    
She threw the covers away, and flounced into her robe.  The bathroom door was locked.  “Deb?” she bellowed, pounding.  “Are you in there?”

     “
Yes.”  came the muffled reply.

     “
Well, let me in!” she demanded.

     “
All right, all right, already!”  Deb muttered.

    
Tasha was suddenly spun around.  She found herself eye to eye with glowering, blue beams of fury.  She sucked in her breath at the sight of Gary’s anger, close up.

     “
My aunt and uncle are still asleep, young lady.  Deb will have to deal with your rudeness however she sees fit, but I’m afraid that I will have to see that you respect Nolan and Ruth’s right to some peace and quiet in the early mornings.”

     “
Rudeness?” she gasped.  “Honestly, I just wanted to get in.” Tasha reddened as her voice began quivering tearfully.

    
Deb opened the bathroom door, and looked from Gary to Tasha with wide eyes.

     “
G’morning, Deb.  Excuse me, ladies.”  Gary said tightly.  He turned on his heel and walked away. 

    
Tasha stared tearfully after the coal-gray suit and suede boots as Gary disappeared quickly down the stairs.

    
Deb’s hand was warm on Tasha’s shoulder.  “He’s a little bit more than you’re used to, huh, Tash?”

     “
You can say that again!  The insufferable beast!”  she gasped, trying to hold her tears in check.

     “
No, he’s not.”  Deb laughed.  “Really, he’s a darling, Tash.  He just can’t abide heavy-handed women.  He’s very ... well, old-fashioned, I guess, for lack of a better word.  He kind of insists on being in charge.”

     “
Male chauvinist ...”

     “
Definitely not.”  Deb cut her off.  “Really he’s not, Tash.  Someday, you’ll understand him.”

     “
I doubt it.  What’s he all gussied up for this morning, anyway?” Tasha growled.

     “
Church, of course.”  Debora said, sounded surprised that Tasha wouldn’t have guessed.  “He has to get there earlier than the rest of us.”

     “
The
rest
of us?”  Tasha hissed.  “No way, Deb.”

     “
Didn’t you know?  Tasha, mother will insist.  But it’s not so bad.  I think you might enjoy it.”

     “
Right.”  Tasha snorted.  “I can hardly wait.”

    
The church was small, and didn’t look much like a church.  It was a square, blue building, out in the middle of nowhere.  Tasha could hear the surf and feel the Pacific breeze, though she couldn’t see the ocean.

    
Debora linked her arm through Tasha’s, and led her up the pebbled walk to the building.  They climbed a shallow flight of stairs, and Tasha put up her guard as they entered the sanctuary. 

    
It was done simply, but nicely.  Skylights filtered sunlight down onto the wide, raised platform at the front.  Rows of narrow, vertical windows lit the length of the room from front to rear.  There were chairs set in a curving half-circle, rather than pews.  There was a wide aisle up the center.

    
Deb led Tasha toward the front, and sat down close to the inside aisle of the second row.  Tasha stared in fascination at the musicians tuning their instruments in the area to the right of the podium.  There were guitars, flutes, drums, violins.  There was even a harp, in addition to the piano and organ.

    
Tasha was distracted by a steady flow of people who stopped to greet Deb.  All kinds of people – old, chubby men;  beautiful girls; young men; long-hairs, Orientals, Indians, Mexicans – even people who were obviously quite well to do.  It was amazing to Tasha that the rich were sitting among the poor, Chinese among Chicanos.  And they all greeted Tasha with smiles and warm hugs (despite her obvious chilliness), and they said the oddest things to her, offering her the blessings of God.  It was clear that they wanted to welcome her.

    
It was the strangest menagerie of people Tasha had ever seen in her life.  She was absolutely sure these weird people were all insane!  Gary watched Tasha’s introduction to the church with ill-concealed mirth.  It was hilarious to watch her reactions.  She was growing more incredulous by the minute.

    
A young man with long hair, wearing slacks and a knit sport shirt went to the podium, and smiled at the people before him.  “G’morning.” he said brightly.  He tossed his straight, black bangs away from his eyes, and opened a song book.  Tasha rolled her eyes and thought she’d die from the boredom of it.

    
She wasn’t bored for very long.  She had never heard such singing, in all her life.  There was something almost intimidating about it.  It was like there was an underlying tide of some kind of strong force, pulling her along.  It was becoming frightening.  She wasn’t used to intensity in others. 

    
Even Debora was different, here.  As she sang, she began to look somehow transformed, in Tasha’s eyes.  Her soft, peachy skin was glowing, her eyes were closed.  She looked simply blissful.  Tasha had never known Deb could sing, but her voice was lovely. 

    
Tasha looked around her cautiously.  At last, her eyes fell on Gary.  He was standing behind the piano, facing her.  Singing like the rest of them, deep into it, like the rest of them.  She watched his lips as he sang, but couldn’t figure out what he was singing ... it didn’t seem to be what everyone else was singing.  A curious feeling invaded her breast as she realized that Gary was taking it all very seriously.  She thought he was praying!

     “
My God.”  she mumbled.  “Is this for real?”

    
They sang song after song; not just hymns, but songs that were strong and determined, jubilant and powerful.  Tasha hadn’t heard any of them before.  Finally, the church erupted into a familiar hymn, and sang that with even more gusto than the songs that had gone before.

    
As they went on, excitement seemed to build, until the roof threatened to burst.  Voices rose to a great, thundering crescendo, and then burst into shouts and applause; a mighty wall of sound.

    
Tasha blinked, and looked around her frantically.  She began to realize that everyone was singing, but each their own song.  Debora, next to her, was simply singing without words, letting her soft voice blend in harmony with everyone else's.  

     
And it was, strangely, very harmonious.  It was amazing that so many voices could blend to make a song so complete and unified.  It was scary as hell.

    
Her eyes wandered back to the podium; and she found that Gary was standing with his eyes closed, but not singing.  It’s like he was drinking in the music with every pore, just listening and drawing. 

    
As the overall sound softened and gentled, it became almost a whisper, and Tasha saw Gary’s face relax.  He almost smiled, as if in relief, and began to sing softly.  Tasha couldn’t hear him, to make any of it out.  She became more intrigued with every passing moment.

    
The excitement flared again spontaneously, and the voices raised almost to a shout.  The musicians followed in a free form, but their song was wild, and so beautiful that it caused Tasha’s heart to pound strangely.

    
Just when she thought the flow of music would overpower her, it dropped to a whisper and went to near silence.  Then, a hushed stillness fell on the room.  Tasha hardly dared to breathe.  She felt that the room was filled … with a heavy, frightening presence she couldn't put any name to … but it was warm and pervasive.  And the room was filled with Love.  Pure love.  That much, she knew.

    
Gary closed his eyes, and gave a deep sigh.  It was a long time before he broke the silence, to walk to the podium.  He let his eyes wander across the congregation.  A ripple of chuckles followed his shaking head and dubious grin. 

     “
You people amaze me,” he said, clipping a tiny lapel microphone onto his chest.  “Wasn’t that beautiful?”

     “
Amen!” a chorus of voices answered him.

     “
I’m so pleased to see the dedication growing so deep in all of us – the demanding tenacity to hold on until we’ve got everything the Lord has to give us.  And I know it pleases Him, beyond our wildest dreams.”

    
His eyes wandered and came to rest on Tasha.  She met their steady gleam dubiously, unable to sort out what she was feeling.

     “
Last night”, he said in a husky voice,  “I discovered that what I had to say to you, was all wrong for today.”  He allowed a corner of his mouth to turn up as he bathed Tasha with the warmth of his glance.  “And, I found that the Lord was going to keep me awake far into the night so that I could face something I’d rather not have looked at so closely.”  he said gravely. 

    
It was so quiet, you could hear hair growing.

    
Gary dragged his eyes away from Tasha and found another target, as he began speaking again. 

    
Tasha felt stunned.  Her eyes were glued to the man who stood with so much assurance and authority at the podium.  His elbow casually rested on its edge.  He was
preaching
!

    
A stab of angry shame coursed through Tasha’s heart when she remembered how she’d tempted him to kiss her the night before.  He seemed like a different man up there this morning.  Oh, if only she'd known last night!  She was mortified that she'd invited a preacher to kiss her!  Good night!

    
She couldn’t help listening carefully as he talked about the curves that life throws our way, about taking them in stride and learning how to react only the way Jesus would have – waiting in prayer and trusting God for answers, before taking actions which might later be regretted.

     “
Circumstances can make life mighty miserable for us.”  he said quietly.  “And so often, I know I am left at a loss, totally incapable of knowing how to cope.  I can guarantee you that if you react before waiting on the Lord’s leading, you’ll make a mess of things.  Sometimes, that means wounding a tender heart.”  he said quietly, looking steadily into Tasha’s eyes.

    
He paused, and grinned.  “I found myself in an odd predicament just yesterday.”  he admitted.  “The situation went from bad to worse, and by the time I got to bed last night, I was absolutely bewildered.  I couldn’t figure out which end was up.  I slept badly, so this morning I reacted to that stress and let my personal feelings take over.”

    
Tasha felt Deb’s dubious, sympathetic eyes on her.  She kept her head down, knowing that her cheeks were flaming. 

     “
I knew what the Lord was asking me to do, but I wasn’t able to accept it yet.  I was still fighting Him, when I came here this morning.  Still looking for the way out.” 

    
He lifted his eyes and his hands toward heaven.  “Dear God, when will we ever begin to overcome our own wills and senses, and ask to see Your plan and purpose, before we react?” he asked in frustration. 

    
He looked searchingly across the congregation.  “His ways are not our ways.  The wisdom of man is foolishness to God, and He uses the foolish things to confound the mighty.  We’re so quick to judge.” he lamented.

     “
But you know, the worship this morning set me free.” he almost whispered.  “All the objections are gone.  All the  barriers are suddenly non-existent.  All I did was change my attitude, and let the Lord have His way.” he said forcefully.