The Scarlet Thread (62 page)

interested: music and education. She heard about various programs, scholarships, and activities and met dozens of people.

Charlotte seemed to know everyone and introduced Dynah to

them all. She met professors and students, the deans, the manager of the bookstore, and even two of the gardeners who kept

up the grounds. Dynah loved every minute of her stay.

On Saturday evening, to her surprise and delight, Ethan

joined them for dinner at the mess hall. She blushed when he sat

down. He lingered until a girl came over and asked if he was going to an evening Bible study.

“Half the girls on campus wish they could marry him,” Charlotte had remarked, watching him walk away.

“I’m not surprised,” Dynah had said, remembering how embarrassed she had been for daydreaming about just that during

the drive from the airport.

Charlotte had looked at her then, straight on, and smiled.

“You should come back. He’ll be a senior next year.”

She hadn’t dissembled. “Are you suggesting I join his legion of

admirers?”

Charlotte laughed. She didn’t say anything about Ethan after

that, but it was clear she had done her best to plant a seed for

thought.

They hadn’t been back at the dorm fifteen minutes when

Ethan called. He told Dynah he would be picking her up and

taking her back to the airport. She thanked him and said she

would be ready. By morning, Dynah had decided against coming back to NLC because of Ethan. If she was infatuated after a

few days, she knew she would be head over heels in love if she

saw him every day of the year. And NLC wasn’t so big a campus that she could miss him. No, she didn’t want to become one

of the legion, and she held no false hopes of becoming his

choice.

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She smiled now, thinking of it, feeling his engagement ring on

her finger with the back of her thumb. She had been so nervous

on the drive back to O’Hare. She had told Ethan he could drop

her off in front of the Delta terminal, but he had insisted he

would accompany her inside. He parked, took her carry-on, and

stayed with her. When they got inside the terminal, he stood with

her in line as she got her boarding pass. Then he sat with her in

the gate area. She had been so embarrassed, she wanted to crawl

under the seat.

“I know I haven’t seen much of the world, Ethan, but I don’t

need baby-sitting,” she had said, trying to laugh off his concerns.

“I know that,” he said quietly.

“I don’t need a bodyguard, either.”

He looked at her, and she felt foolish and young, too young for

him. There had been such an intensity in his eyes that she had

blushed.

“Come back to NLC, Dynah.”

It had sounded like a command. She smiled. “Do you have to

meet a quota?”

“God wants you here.”

He sounded so serious, so certain, she had to ask. “How do

you know?” Surely, if God wanted her at NLC, God would tell

her.

“I just know, Dynah. I knew the minute I saw you.”

Looking into his blue eyes, she decided not to dismiss what he

said. In truth, she wanted to believe him. She wanted to see

Ethan Turner again, and the thought that he wanted the same

thing was heady incentive indeed.

“Will you pray about it?”

She nodded, knowing she would be doing little else.

She didn’t hear one word from Ethan through spring and summer, but five minutes after she walked into the gymnasium for

registration that fall, he came up to her and put his hand on her

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did was introduce her to Joseph Guilierno, his best friend and

roommate.

Joe was a surprise. He didn’t appear to fit the NLC mold but

looked more like the many young men she had seen around San

Francisco on excursions with her parents. Tall, dark-eyed,

strongly built, Joe looked street-tough and older than Ethan.

Not so much in years as worldly experience.

“No wonder,” Joe said cryptically and extended his hand. His

fingers curved around hers firmly as he smiled. Three months

later, after she was wearing an engagement ring, Joe told her

that Ethan had come back to their apartment the day he picked

her up at the airport and said he had met the girl he was going to

marry.

“I asked him if he had consulted God, and Ethan said it was

God who put it in his head.”

Smiling again now as she had when Joe first told her that,

Dynah reached the corner of Sixteenth. She let her mind drift

along rosy avenues. Ethan had a wonderful future laid out for

them. He would graduate with honors at the end of the year.

Dean Abernathy was very impressed with his work and was encouraging him to go on for his master’s. The dean had already

arranged for Ethan to work part time at one of the local

churches. Dynah would be able to finish her education as well.

Ethan was adamant that she get her degree, convinced that her

studies in music and youth ministry would be of great use in his

ministry.

She felt so blessed. They would be equally yoked, working together for the glory of God. What more could she want?

Oh, Lord, you are so good to me. I will do anything for you. All I am, all

I ever hope to be, is from you, Father. Use me as you will
.

A car pulled up alongside her and slowed to her pace. Her

heart jumped as she noticed it looked like the same one that had

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passed her on Maple Street. Her nerves tensed as the window

lowered and a disembodied male voice said, “Are you going to

the campus, miss?”

“Yes, I am,” she said before she thought better of it.

“I can give you a lift.”

“No, thank you.”

“I’m going there myself. Visiting my brother. Unfortunately,

I’m lost. First time in town. He lives near the main gate of the

campus.”

She relaxed and stepped closer. Leaning down, she pointed.

“Go down a mile to Henderson and turn right. Keep going, and

you’ll run right into it. It’s a block past the city park.” She

couldn’t see the man’s face.

“If I give you a ride, you could show me.”

A strange foreboding gripped her. “No, thank you,” she said

politely and took a step back. She didn’t want to offend the man.

What excuse could she offer? She looked toward the bus stop

where a woman was sitting and found an excuse. “I’m meeting a

friend.”

“Sure. Thanks for the directions,” the man said, sounding far

less friendly. The window whirred up. As he drove on down Sixteenth, she saw the car bore the same Massachusetts plates. The

two red taillights stared back at her as the car passed the bus

stop.

Shivering, she walked on. She recognized the waitress sitting

on the bench. “Hi, Martha. How are you this evening?”

“So-so. My feet are killing me. Was someone trying to pick

you up back there?”

“Not really. He was lost.”

“Yeah, right. That’s his story.”

“He was looking for the campus.”

“I hope you told him where to go.”

“I gave him directions.”

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would’ve given him.”

They talked about their jobs until the bus arrived. Martha

climbed aboard first and moved to her usual place near the back,

where she could read her romance novel uninterrupted. Dynah

took a seat at the front, across from the driver.

Her first day aboard, she had noticed the pins on the lapel of

Charles’s neat uniform jacket. When she asked what they were, he

said he had one to show for each five-year period he had driven

without an accident. After a few weeks of riding with him, Dynah

had gone to a trophy store and had a plaque made up for him that

said, “In honor of distinguished service to Middleton, Charles

Booker Washington is awarded the title of Driver Emeritus.” He

had laughed when he opened it, but it was now proudly displayed

next to the No Smoking sign at the front of the bus.

“How’s things, Charlie?”

He grinned at her as he hit the button to close the door. “Pretty

good now you’re aboard. Missed your sunny smile last night.”

“Ethan picked me up.”

“He driving a Cadillac yet?”

She laughed. “No, sir. Still has his Buick.” She leaned forward

in the seat and rested her arms on the iron railing.

Charlie nodded. “When he gets a church, he’ll get his Cad. We

don’t let our preachers drive anything else. Treat ’em good.”

“I noticed.” When she had gone to Charlie’s church, she had

seen the new maroon Cadillac parked in the “Reserved for Pastor” space. She had enjoyed herself so much at the service, she

pleaded with Ethan to go back with her. He had gone once,

grudgingly, but had refused to attend with her again. He said the

service was a little “too lively” for his tastes. He hadn’t felt comfortable with the loud gospel music pouring from the choir, nor

with the way the members of the congregation interjected their

remarks during the pastor’s sermon.

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“It felt irreverent.”

She hadn’t shared his discomfort, though the service had been

far from the kind of service to which she was accustomed. She felt

the Spirit moving in that church. The members celebrated their

love for Jesus and for each other. She had enjoyed the experience.

Something about it had stirred her. The pastor had preached

straight from the Word, and the people made sure he knew his

points were sinking in. However, Dynah didn’t argue with

Ethan’s assessment. She had learned early that he took his role as

the spiritual head of their relationship to heart. She also knew he

had been brought up in a conservative denomination who showed

their zeal in other ways. His parents, like her mother and father,

were deeply involved in community action and charities.

She and Charlie talked about all manner of things. He had

been driving a Middleton city bus since before she was born and

had learned a lot about human nature. He didn’t mind sharing

what he knew.

Tonight, Mr. Packard was on Dynah’s mind.

“I know the Packards,” Charlie said. “He and his wife used to

get on the bus every Tuesday and ride it to the end of the line.

Good people. I read she passed on. Too bad. She was a nice

lady.”

“Maybe I could tell him you miss seeing him.”

“You do that, girl. Maybe I’ll drop by and see him myself. Between the two of us, we might get him out of his apartment and

back among the living.” He brought the bus close to the curb and

slowed to a stop at the corner of Henderson.

“Thanks, Charlie.”

“You watch yourself, girl.”

“I will.”

“Tell Mr. Packard I have a front seat saved for him,” he said

and hit the button. The doors swished closed, and he gave her a

wave through the glass.

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