The Pastor's Heart (15 page)

“Okay
Robyn we can rotate to help out Sinclair and I can get Oliver to take care of the agency when I’m with Sinclair.”  Sasha offered.

“Oh
that’s a great idea, I will bring my laptop and I can work on my column from there.  Pastor Carter can you pull the third shift?” Robyn asked as the three of them huddled in a circle.

“I will do a step
better; I will take care of Sinclair myself. I know she doesn’t want me here but I will take care of her one way or another.  I will ask a few of my church members to come help her out while you guys run her agency.  Sasha, you know the business extremely well so I need you to go to all of Sinclair’s appointments.  Robyn, if you could help Oliver out at the agency that would really help.”   Kingston delegated his plan to a surprised Sasha and Robyn just like Sinclair would herself.

“Okay,” both Sasha and
Robyn replied.

“Great then its settled.  I will sign the release forms and you can go home tomorrow.”  Dr. Lundy said bef
ore shaking Kingston’s hand.

“Pastor Carter, always a pleasure.  Take care now,
bye ladies.”  The doctor said as he walked to check on his other patients not even bothering to wait for Sinclair’s response.

“Umm, hello.
  Me the patient do I get a say in this arrangement?” Waving her hands in the air Sinclair tried to object.  “I vote no. I can take care of my own self because I have been doing it this long.”

“Did you forget abo
ut your broken ribs, you can‘t even sit up without help or more important, that ten pound cast on your leg? Maybe that cast should be on your head because you have obviously lost your mind.”  Sasha added in an irritated voice.

“I think she has lost her mind,”
Robyn agreed as she turned and looked to Sasha and Kingston and then back to Sinclair.  “If you could take care of yourself we would not be standing here having this conversation.”

“Remember
I told you that my dad went against my mother when he found out she was doing so much work in the church?  Do you remember that?  My dad took all her duties and spread them out amongst the congregation so she could rest.  Well, this is the same situation.”  Kingston began as he made his way closer to Sinclair while Robyn and Sasha backed away.

“Well I’m
…” Sinclair started to say.

“I’m not done yet.” Kingston continued as his voice became deeper.  “I will have someone at your house to help you every day until you get better.  I am not asking you for your permission
, I’m telling you they will be there.  I won’t be there because I know you need your space right now and I understand.  Now whether you believe me or not I truly do love you,” Kingston said with such sincerity that a tear almost fell from Sinclair’s eye. 

“I admit it; I was wrong for doing business with someone I didn’t know.  It was the dumbest mistake I ever made
in my life.  I had no idea it was your property that he, we were trying to buy.  Nor did I know the manner he was trying to get it.  Had I known any of this I would have stopped it before you got hurt.”  Kingston needed for Sinclair to know exactly how he felt and she would hear it whether she wanted to or not.

“If that’s not love I don’t know what is?”
Robyn knew that Sinclair had a very stubborn streak about her especially when she was hurting.  Kingston had rubbed her the wrong way and now she wanted nothing to do with him.

“Only until I get this cast off.”  Sinclair told Kingston in a snooty voice.

“Only until the doctor says you can take care of yourself by yourself.”  Kingston countered her.

“Fine.
Whatever.”  Sinclair glared at him.

“Fine.  R
egardless of what you might think right now I really do love you and when you are ready we will talk.”  Kingston said as he looked into Sinclair’s dark eyes. 

“Good
, now that that’s settled I have to go. Feel better and I will see you soon.”  Robyn said just as Sasha realized she had to get to work as well.  They both departed together leaving Sinclair and Kingston by themselves.

Sinclair was o
n the verge of tears knowing that Kingston really did love her, but the mental pain hurt so much she held them back.  Kingston had taken his usual seat next to her bedside and sat quietly so crying Sinclair could not do.  They spoke not another word between the two.

Sinclair had fallen asleep and awoke to find that she had cried in her sleep and Kingston had left his pocket square under her eyes to stop her tears.

It had been three long weeks since Sinclair flipped out on Kingston and three weeks that Sinclair refused to speak to or see him. He had left several messages but she never returned any of his calls.  He felt like his world had come crashing down on him yet he was the cause of everything that had happened.  Kingston was totally lost without Sinclair he didn’t know what to do to repair the mess but he knew he had to do something because he couldn’t let her lose her business.

Kingston’s head
was pounding with such a headache that he thought he was going to pass out from the pain.  He had missed Sinclair so much that he just could not bear the pain that he inflicted on her.  The pounding still went on until Kingston realized it wasn’t his head pounding that hard but rather someone pounding on his front door.

“What took you so long? I have
been ringing this bell and knocking on your door for ten minutes,” Calvin said as Kingston opened the door and he slipped right in.

“Pop, what are you doing here?” Kingston asked looking
disheveled with his tee shirt hanging half way inside his pants.

“What do you mean, what am I doing here?” Calvin asked looking at his weary son.
“It’s third Saturday, it’s fishing day, Son.” Calvin replied as he walked into the living room to find it a complete mess.

His once clean house was now the total opposite of its normal stage.  Clothes, dirty dishes and papers littered his living room, kitchen and family room and even the dining room too.

Kingston took a seat on the couch
in the family room and held his head in his hand.  “Pop I have a pounding headache and I am not in the mood to go fishing today, I’m going to have to skip it this time.”

Calvin moved a shirt off a chair and took a seat himself.  “Well, that’s not an option because Jamison is home sick
, so it’s just you and me and I do plan on getting some fish today.”

“Pop, I
really don’t feel like going. I will make it up to you another time just not today.” Kingston pleaded as he leaned his head back on the sofa.

“
When is the last time you actually cleaned this house, it looks like a pig sty?  And since when did you start growing a beard?  You look like you haven’t slept in days because you have bags under your eyes, you look horrible.”  Calvin asked as noticing the physical changes in his son.

“Pop, I’m fine.” 
Kingston lied barely opening his eyes because the light made his head hurt even more.

Calvin d
ropped the clothes he had started to pick up and took Kingston to his mirror in the hallway.  “This is not the face of a man who is fine.”

Kingston almost didn’t recognize his own self.
His normal gray eyes were dark and he had bags under his eyes from lack of sleep, just like his father had said.  He had begun to grow a beard and even his bald head was now covered with hair from lack of shaving.  He couldn’t even stand looking at himself in the mirror and so he backed away.

“S
top lying to yourself.  You’re not fine; I see the way you have been walking around here looking like you lost your best friend.  The fact is you did lose your best friend and I can see it hurts.  There is a huge difference in the way you are now compared to the way you were before Sinclair left you.”

“Pop, I have done all that I can and I don’t know what else I can do.”  Kingston walked to the kitchen and took
a seat at the counter, with his father following him.

“No, you haven’t, y
ou look like you have already accepted defeat.”  Calvin said going into the refrigerator and grabbing the glass pitcher of orange juice.

“
Top left,” Kingston said pointing to where the glasses where in the cabinet.

“Thanks.  Your
mother and I have had our share of problems so I understand.  I have learned that if you give up before you even try your relationship is doomed.  It’s doomed because you didn’t try hard enough to make it work.”  Calvin said while he poured two glasses of orange juice and handed one to Kingston.

“I failed her and all I ever wanted to do was to protect and lover her.  I mean I wanted for her to never, ever have to suffer the way she did growing up.  The last thing on my mind was to hurt her.  She is a beautiful person inside and out and does not deserve what I did to
her.  No one deserves that, not even Satan himself.”  Kingston said as he sipped on his orange juice.

Calvin finally found what he was looking for in the draw next to the counter.
  “Take these they should help that headache.”  Calvin said holding out two pain killers to Kingston.  “I don’t believe you meant any harm to her in any way.  It was Dunbar who schemed and lied his way into your lives. You should have done a background check on him before doing business with him. Had you taken the time to check him out thoroughly you would have known he was a con artist.”

“Stop trying to make me feel better.  This was my fault any way you look at it.
I should have checked out all the information but I didn’t and I made a foolish mistake.” Kingston said as he held his head down.  “I feel so guilty about the whole thing.  The doctor said she might be dependent on crutches or a cane for the rest of her life and I feel responsible for that.  It’s because of me that she might not walk again on her own.  The whole time she was in the hospital all I did was pray that she would be all right.”

“You can’t
blame yourself for any of this especially the car accident.  That had nothing to do with you.”  Calvin said as he took a gulp of his orange juice.

“If I did not let her
get into that SUV she would never have gotten into the accident,” Kingston said shaking his head.

“No
Kingston.” Calvin said touching his shoulders causing Kingston to look up at him.  “One of the officers suggested that I have the SUV checked out because of the way the accident happened.  The officer said he had seen tons of car accidents, but none like Sinclair’s.  I took his advice and had it towed to my mechanic while you were at the hospital with Sinclair.  I knew you said she was having problems with the radiators but it was never that, it was her engine.  The engine blew and caused a small explosion under the hood that in turn caused the SUV to catapult into the air and flip over. So the accident was not your fault.” Calvin explained to a surprised Kingston.

“What?” A confused Kingston asked
.

“No
it wasn’t your fault.  So you can stop beating yourself up about it.” Calvin reassured Kingston. 

“That’s one problem
solved.  Now, I just need to convince Sinclair that I really didn’t know Chad Dunbar was scamming me.”  Kingston said, taking a gulp of his juice.

“
Speak it into existence that she is coming back and watch God bring her back.  Now I’m going to clean up this mess down here while you go take a shower and for God’s sake shave already.”  Calvin said as he finished his juice and picked up the pile of clothes he had dropped.

“But
Pop.  I’m not…” Kingston began but his father cut him off.

“I told you I was getting me some fish today, didn’
t I? Now hurry up and get ready I know this little spot not far from here where we can get some grits and fried fish for breakfast.”  Calvin said as he plucked clothes off the floor.

“
Thanks Pop.”  Kingston said walking over to his father and hugging him.

“You’re welcome.  Now go clean up yourself
; you look like a caveman with all that hair.” Calvin said as he continued cleaning.

Kingston had agreed to go to breakfast with his father but little did he know it would turn out to be lunch and even dinner as well.  They spent all day shopping for new fishing equipment and things for the boat.  They even stopped at the men’s store where Kingston bought a new suit.  Kingston had not expected to be out all day, but he had enjoyed every minute of it.  He had needed to get out and get some air. 

It was three am and he couldn’t sleep yet again.  He sat i
n his office staring blankly at his computer screen.  Kingston could have any woman he wanted because they were constantly throwing themselves at him but he didn’t want any of them, he only wanted Sinclair back in his life.  She had brought so much joy to his lonely bachelor life and finally he had someone worth bringing around his family and church too.  Sinclair had blended in well with everyone and everyone adored her.  They loved her so much that when he asked for help taking care of her everyone was eager to volunteer.