Texas Weddings 3 & 4 (9 page)

“Okay, stop right
there,” she said, putting her hand up to squelch any further conversation on
the matter. “I don’t want to know anything else you might have read on my
computer.”

“I’m just kidding,” he
said with a grin. “I asked your dad where I should take you, and he suggested
Italian food. Said you had loved it since you were a little girl.”

“You talked to my dad?
When?”

“I called him this
morning from the church. He’s a great guy. Shared all sorts of information
about you and told me a little about himself, as well. He has quite a past.”

“Yes he does.” Shauna
smiled up into Kent’s kind eyes before finally speaking her mind. “Are you
always this nice?”

“I try hard not to be.
It’s bad for my image, you know.” He laughed, and she joined him.

Together, the pair
made their way up to the hostess. “Two for non-smoking,” Kent said.

The hostess grabbed her pen. “Name please.”

“Chapman.”

“It’s going to be
about a fifteen-minute wait.” Her curt voice had an edge of exhaustion to it.
Shauna wondered how Kent would respond.
 

“That’s fine,” he said
with no stress to be noted in his voice, “Take your time. We’re in no hurry.”

Shauna looked around
for a place to sit. “Looks like we might have to wait outside,” she said. “I
think I saw some benches out front.” Her heart skipped a beat as Kent opened
the door and waited for her to step through.
He’s such a gentleman.
She smiled in his direction as they
approached the bench together. He waited until she was seated before sitting.

“So,” he said taking a
spot alongside her, “how long have you lived in Houston?”

“All my life,” she
said, “I don’t have much to compare it to—except College Station. Remember,
I went to school at A&M.”

“I’ve been there
several times. I’ve spoken at several campus rallies there. In fact, I helped
start a student-based outreach ministry at A&M about eight years ago.”

“You mean the
Ambassadors program?” Shauna asked, amazed. He nodded his response.

“I was secretary of
The Ambassadors my senior year.” She stared at him in amazement. “Come to think
of it, I remember reading a booklet about how the group got its
start.
. .‘Ambassadors for Christ.’ Did you, I
mean—don’t tell me you’re the guy who wrote that pamphlet.”

“I’m the guy,” he said
with a grin. “But I don’t advertise it. I’m not much of a writer, remember.”

“I loved it,” Shauna
argued. “And it really motivated me to want to do more to reach people with the
gospel on campus.

“I’m glad. That was
the idea, really. I had a lot of zeal back in those days. After some really
rough years in high school, I’d finally gotten my act together and turned back
to the Lord. I took the Great Commission very seriously. Still do.”

“Wow.” Shauna sat in
stunned silence for a moment.
I tried to
get Joey to join us for some outreaches, but he said he didn’t have time. He
never had
time.
. .

Shauna looked up as
she heard children’s voices. Off in the distance, a youngster, probably four or
five, swung on a wrought-iron railing near the restaurant door.

“Some people just let
their kids do anything and get away with it,” she said, pointing. “Do you see
that?”

“Yeah. He’s a cute
kid.”

“Yes, but do you see
what he’s doing? He could get hurt. And look at his mother—just standing
there, ignoring him. Doing nothing. I tell you, nothing frustrates me more than
parents who won’t control their children.”

Kent’s lips tightened
before he spoke. When he did, his words surprised her. “Being a parent isn’t
easy. Before my daughter was born, I felt the same way you do now. But, I’m
telling you, it’s pretty nearly impossible to keep up with a toddler. I, uh, I
have a daughter you know. Not sure if you caught that on Sunday. I think she
was in the nursery.”

“What?” Shauna tried
to make sense of his shocking comment, but found herself too stunned to
comprehend clearly. “I don’t understand. Are you divorced?” Her mind reeled.
He can’t be divorced. He’s a pastor. On the
other hand, he did say he had a past. I can’t assume.

“No,” Kent’s eyes
shifted to the ground. “I lost my wife two and a half years ago.
She.
. .” His eyes grew misty, and he swallowed hard. “She
was killed in a car accident on Interstate 45. Hit by a drunk driver on her way
home from a Bible study. It was her first night out with her girlfriends after
having the baby.”

Shauna gasped. “I’m so
sorry,”

“There’s no reason for
you to be,” he said tenderly. “I’ve gotten over the most painful part. Time has
a way of healing much of the hurt. But every time I look into my little girl’s
face, I’m reminded again of Faith.”

“Faith. That’s a
beautiful name.”

“For a beautiful
lady,” he said wistfully.

“What’s your
daughter’s name?” Shauna asked, gazing at him with newfound admiration and
curiosity.

“Oh, her name
is.
. .”

“Chapman!” A voice
over the loudspeaker rang out his name suddenly, startling them both. “Chapman,
table for two.”

He laughed, half
startled at the interruption. “Guess we’d better
get
inside before they give our table away. We can finish this conversation later.”

***

Kent pulled the chair out, eyes following Shauna’s every
move. She sat carefully, placing her handbag on the floor next to the chair

“So, how’s your computer?” he asked, trying to make light
conversation.

“Fine. And yours?”

“Fine” He looked at her with a smile, relaxing. “I don’t
know why I’m so nervous. Then again, I, uh, I haven’t been on a date since my
wife passed away. But
listen.
. .let’s change the
conversation. I want to know about you. Tell me everything.”

“Everything?”

“Yes. Start at the
beginning. Where are you from? Your parents seem really nice. Very loving. Do
you have brothers and sisters?”

“I’m an only child,”
she explained. “And spoiled rotten.”

“I know how that
goes,” he said, thinking of Charity. “I’m not sure how a parent is supposed to
act with an only child. Ever since Faith
died.
. .” He
stopped himself quickly. “I’m sorry. I did it again.”

“That’s okay,” Shauna
said with a smile. “You can talk about her if you like. It won’t hurt my
feelings.”

Kent shook his head.
“No. This is a new day. I know that God has already given me all the comfort I
could ever need. He’s been with me all the way. I don’t know why things happen
like they do sometime, but after more than two years of agonizing over everything
that has happened, I can honestly say He never gives us more than we can bear.”

“I know that’s right.” Shauna said with a nod. “I haven’t
been through anything like you, but I lost my grandparents at a young age. My
mom’s parents, that is. They were killed in a house fire when I was seven. We
were very close, and losing them almost killed me.”

“I’m so sorry.” He paused for a moment. “My grandmother
passed away a few years ago. She was a big part of our family. My grandpa Buck
is the only living grandparent I’ve got, but he’s in a retirement home. I need
to see him more.”

They looked at each other in silence for a moment before
Shauna shifted the conversation a bit. Kent was grateful for the change in
subject.

Shauna’s face contorted as she spoke. “Speaking of things
that are hard to deal with, I guess I should tell you a little bit about my
job. Don’t know if this is the best time because I feel like I’m in over my
head right now.

“Really? What’s going
on?”

“It’s just that I feel
like such a failure. I spent all of those years in school learning everything I
could about kids, and now I feel like I know nothing at all.”

“Just wait till you’re
a parent,” Kent said with a laugh. “You find out that you know absolutely
nothing.
Nothing at all.
But you never finished
telling me about yourself. You’re an only child. How long have you lived in
Houston?”

“Oh, forever,” she
exclaimed. “I’m a Texan, born and bred. What about you?”

“I was born here in Houston,” he shared. “Lived on the north
end all of my life.
A suburban kid.
Everything about
my life was fairly typical until I hit my teens. That’s when my father passed
away.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry.” Her eyes reflected genuine sympathy.

“It was awful,” he acknowledged. “And unfortunately, I let
the incident drive me to do the wrong things. I turned to my friends for
support, and they were more than willing to show me their way of coping with
the pain.”

“What do you mean?”

“I got involved with drinking and drugs.
I.
. .” his gazed shifted to the table. “The whole thing was awful. But everything
came to a head when I was involved in a car accident that could’ve killed me.”

“Oh,
Kent.
. .”

“I wasn’t driving,” he was quick to add, “but I might as
well have been. We all lived so close to the edge that it could have been any
one of us at any time. And when you’re hurting like I was, you just want the
pain to end. I guess in some way, I probably wanted to die back then.”

“Wow.”

“You’d think the accident would have been enough to set me
on the right course, but I didn’t give up some of my bad habits until my mom
remarried. My stepdad is great. And I didn’t realize how much I needed a male
role model until he came into the picture. God began to work on my heart about
that same time.”

“You’ve been through so much.”

“Yeah.” He shrugged. “I guess you could say I have a
‘testimony,’ but I still tell the kids in the youth group that the greatest
testimony of all is living a life for God—uninterrupted by the junk life
has to offer.”

“Agreed.” She smiled warmly. “I guess you could say I have
that kind of testimony. I’m one of those kids who was raised in church and
loved the Lord from the time I was a little girl. Never really got involved in
drugs or anything like that.”

“That’s wonderful.” Kent gave her an admiring look. “And that’s
exactly what I want for my daughter.” He paused for a moment before asking,
“You said you were born in Texas, but you didn’t say if you grew up here in
Houston.”

Shauna laughed. “Yeah.
I loved it here as a kid. My parents were big on horseback riding and the
rodeo. What about you? Your
family into the whole
country/western scene like
most everyone else around here?”

“Hardly,” he said with
a laugh. “My parents were into the opera, the symphony.
The
arts, in general.
My sister Jessica sings with the Dallas Metropolitan
Opera.

“Wow.” Shauna gave him
a wide-eyed stare. “That’s amazing. I can’t sing a note.”

“I sing a little,” he
said with a shrug. “And play the guitar. Just enough to occasionally lead
worship in the youth group.”

“You’re a man of many
talents.”

“I love good music,”
he explained. “And going to the theater—that kind of thing. But now that
I’ve got my daughter to think of things are changing a little. Her idea of
entertainment is an evening at Chuck E. Cheese followed by a cartoon video. Things
are shifting pretty rapidly around our place.”

“I know what you
mean,” Shauna agreed. “Ever since I took my job—” She stopped herself
abruptly. “No, I won’t talk about that. I’m not at work right now, and I made
myself a promise I would try to put this day behind me. Trust me, if you had
any idea what sort of week I’d had, you’d understand.”

“Oh, I understand all
right,” he concurred. “Trust me. I understand.”

***

Shauna walked up to the front door, nervously anticipating
her last moments alone with Kent.

“I had a great time,”
she said, coming to a stop just under the porch light.

He grinned then
shifted his gaze to the ground. “Me, too. Not bad for a first date.”

“Not bad at all.” She
reached into her purse for a house key. She fumbled for a minute or two,
finally giving up. “I must have left my key inside,” she said, reaching to ring
the bell.

Kent caught her hand
just before she touched it. “Wait. I mean
,
do you mind
waiting just a minute?”

“Of course not,” she
said, turning back toward him, her heart beginning to race.
If he tries to kiss me on our first date, it
will ruin everything.

“I just wanted to say
thank you,” Kent said, taking hold of her hand. Shauna began to tremble
immediately. “The last few weeks I feel like all I ever do
is
rush back and forth between home and the church. Taking care of a toddler is so
hard, and work isn’t much easier. But tonight has been great.”