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told him I would convey the message.”
    “Don’t give him my address!”
    “Kristina, I didn’t. But you need to get past this now. David’s dead, you don’t have to hide from him.”
    “I know, it’s just…I don’t feel safe yet. I know that sounds ridiculous to you, but I still want to remain hidden.”
    Lisa was silent for a moment, before she said, “Okay, but just as long as it isn’t because you are hiding from dealing with your past.”
    “I’m fine,” Kristina said, with more conviction than she actually felt.
     

Chapter Six
     
    Sunday dawned like an overzealous and unwanted lover, the air smothering her with warm wet kisses and breathing its hot humid breath down her neck. Or maybe she felt smothered as she debated whether to go to church.
    As stood before her closet, she pictured David eying her in the mirror on Sundays. No matter how modest she thought her choice, David was always near with a critical comment. “Are you trying to attract every wayward man in the church? Proverbs 9 talks about such immoral women: ‘She calls out to men going by who are minding their own business. "Come in with me," she urges the simple.’”
    Pushing aside the memories, she yanked out a light and airy yellow short-sleeve dress with matching sling-back sandals. Gathering up her purse and her Bible, she headed out the door, brushing away an errant tear, I am not an immoral woman .
    Arriving at the church, Kristina slipped into one of the back pews and laid her Bible and purse beside her. As she waited for the service to start, several members of the community came up and greeted her. Soon everyone seated themselves as the choir filed into their places. She had to restrain herself from gaping as Nathan walked out from one of the back stage doors and took a seat at the piano. The congregation stood and as Nathan's nimble fingers flew across the piano, the choir lifted their voices in a beautiful hymn. It was a few moments before Kristina remembered herself and began following along.
    Apparently, he is not only a carpenter, my assigned escort and official interrogator , she thought, but he also plays the piano and leads the church choir. What does this guy not do? Later in the service, she would get her answer, as Nathan stood and faced the congregation. The children of the church were gathering up near the front, seating themselves before him. He smiled and asked, “How are you guys doing this morning?” There was a weak reply and he said, “I thought I was going to get a thundering response. What is wrong?”
    One boy of about nine said, “It’s gonna rain, and I wanted to go fishing today!”
    “Jeremy, I’m glad you said that.” Nathan said, sitting down on the steps in front of them. “What do you think would happen to the pond if God never sent a little rain our way?”
    Jeremy shrugged his shoulders, and said matter-of-factly, “We’d get to fish a whole lot more?”
    Nathan’s rich laughter rumbled out, reaching out to her where she sat in the back pew, and a soft smile touched her lips as she watched him with the children. “Well, yeah,” Nathan said, “for a while. But then eventually the pond is going to dry up.”
    “Then we could just pick the fish up off the ground!” a little girl of about six said, her dark curly hair bouncing with her excitement.
    The church laughed, and a blushed stained the little girl’s cheeks as she sensed that she had triggered the laughter, but not understanding why. Nathan continued, “Good point, Alyssa, but I was thinking more along the lines of how God blesses us with things that don’t always seem like blessings. Rain, for instance, seems like a hindrance when we want to play outside or go fishing. See, Jeremy, God knows you love to fish, and He sends rain to keep your mama’s freezer full of fish."
    A little hand popped up from the sea of children, and Nathan said, “Yes, Jennifer?”
    “And God does that because he hears mama always saying she