Abridged

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 2

“Is this about as high as you think we should go?” c*****g her head to the side, Willow stared at a column of chairs the girls had pushed against the wall. “Dude, I really shouldn’t have worn these shoes.”

Kennedy glanced down at Willow’s open-toed platform sandals. “Think you’d be more comfortable if you just took them off?”

Willow shrugged. “It’s all right. My own fault, really, my punishment for being vain.” She smiled to show Kennedy she wasn’t serious. “Ok, should we start the ones on the other side now?”

Kennedy didn’t want to admit how tired she was. Apparently, reading books all day and working in science labs didn’t require that much muscle. She wasn’t built for pushing, stacking, and moving hundreds of chairs in a single afternoon. Although she appreciated Nick’s commitment to gender equality, she wouldn’t have complained if he handed this job over to a bunch of the teen boys from his youth group.

She sat in one of the chairs. “I just need a short break.”

Willow plopped down beside her even though Kennedy was sure her roommate could keep up this kind of manual work for hours. Who would have thought yoga built up such impressive endurance? Of course, Willow labored all summer around her parents’ farm in rural Alaska. Kennedy had spent the first several weeks of her vacation at the Winters’, learning how to milk goats, catch unruly piglets, and muck out chicken stalls. It was no wonder Willow was so fit and toned.

Kennedy leaned back in the chair she was sitting in, panting slightly. In a way, it actually felt good to be breathless for a reason other than an imminent panic attack. After her month in Alaska with Willow, Kennedy had flown back to the East Coast where her parents rented a little cottage so they could spend the rest of the summer in Cape Cod. Her mom and dad needed a break from their missionary work and overseas printing business, and Kennedy was thrilled for some time off her grueling academic schedule. While at the Cape, her parents found a psychiatrist who decided to write Kennedy a prescription for her anxiety. The medicine could take quite a while to fully incorporate into her system, and they’d already had to adjust the dose a couple times, but so far Kennedy was hopeful the worst of her PTSD was behind her. What really convinced her parents to take her to the psychiatrist wasn’t the panic though, but the depression she’d fallen into after what happened last spring. Kennedy was glad that the medicine allowed her to get out of bed each day. She was thankful the drugs helped her progress past the stage where walking from one room to another was enough to sap all the energy out of her system, but in a way, she wondered if she shouldn’t rely on her pills so much. Ironically, Dominic was the only Christian she’d been close to who was against prescription meds for things like anxiety or depression, and it was losing him that dragged her to the point where she had to accept a little psychiatric help.

“Should we go find Nick?” Willow asked.

“Hmm?” Kennedy had been busy brooding and wasn’t paying attention.

“I said should we find Nick? See if he has another job for us to tackle for a little while? My feet are killing me. I could use a change of pace, and it looks like you could, too.”

Kennedy grinned. “How about I give you my shoes and cheer for you while you finish?”

Willow stood. “Come on. Let’s go see what he’s up to. If I find out he’s goaded Carl into another one of his arguments ...”

“I think Carl’s just as guilty as Nick when it comes to that.”

Willow shrugged. “I guess you’re probably right. Well, let’s make sure neither one is misbehaving, then.”

They walked down the hallway, and Kennedy noticed Willow limping slightly in her platform sandals. They slowed their pace when they got closer to Carl’s office and heard Nick’s angry voice on the other side of the closed door.

“... bunch of wife-abusing, fundamentalist pigs.”

Kennedy and Willow glanced at each other. Unfortunately, Kennedy couldn’t say she was surprised to find the two had resumed their fight.

“You know that’s not fair, and you know that’s not what we stand for.” Carl’s voice was steady but just as elevated as Nick’s.

“Of course you won’t admit that’s what you stand for. But what are you doing to change the status quo? What are you doing to elevate the women in our church to their proper place? Do you know how long it’s been since you’ve called on a woman to offer the opening prayer? The opening prayer! It’s not like you’d be asking her to preach from the Bible, heaven forbid. Or are you going to tell me that women are barred from praying in church?”

“I never said that.”

“No, but you spend so much time focusing on the verses that say women should be silent in church, that they shouldn’t teach or hold positions of authority. Have you forgotten all the women Paul addresses at the end of his epistles, women like Priscilla or Lydia who were just as involved in ministry as the most active of men in their day? Or maybe you’ve forgotten his instructions that when a woman prophesies in church, she should do it with her head covered. You don’t seem to care what women do with their hair these days. You’re fine saying that was just a cultural suggestion for the people of ancient Corinth, but Paul obviously didn’t have a problem with a prophetess addressing the congregation. So she can prophesy, speak the very words of God, but she can’t be one of the ushers who stands in the aisle to collect the offering basket?”

Kennedy shifted her weight uneasily. “Maybe we should come back later,” she mumbled.

Willow sighed, her disappointment etched clearly in her expression. “I hate when he gets so worked up. I mean, I see what he’s doing, but this isn’t the way to change anybody’s mind.” She shook her head.

Kennedy took Willow gently by the arm. “Come on. We’ve had our break. Let’s see how many more chairs we can stack up.”

Willow glanced once more at the door to Carl’s office. Carl’s reply was too low to hear, but Nick’s response was even more vehement than before. “You keep Willow out of this.”

Both girls stopped and turned around.

Nick’s voice was so loud Kennedy was surprised the walls of the hallway weren’t vibrating. “This has nothing to do with who I do or don’t plan to marry.”

“Marry?” Kennedy stared at her roommate.

Willow fingered her feathered earring. “That’s not supposed to be common knowledge yet.”

Kennedy couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“I told you to keep her out of this,” Nick yelled. “This isn’t about her.”

Kennedy tugged on Willow’s arm. “We should go.”

Willow nodded but didn’t move. Something crashed in Carl’s office. Kennedy flinched.

“Get out.” Carl’s voice was low and steady the first time but escalated when he had to repeat himself. “I told you to get out.”

Kennedy would have preferred to run down the hall, but Willow’s silly sandals only allowed the two of them to get a couple feet away from the door before Nick barged out, slamming it shut behind him. “That man!” He started when he saw Kennedy and Willow. “Oh, I mean, umm ... what are you guys doing here?”

“Wanted to see where you were.” Willow seemed perfectly content to let Nick hear the annoyance in her voice. “And how’s good old Pastor Carl doing?” she asked with sarcastic sweetness. “Did he appreciate your little apology?”

Nick shook his head. “Don’t ask.”

Willow placed her arm on his shoulder. “Come on. You know I’m just giving you a hard time. You wanna talk about it? Would that help make things better?”

He shook his head. “You won’t believe that kind of bull-headed arrogance. Makes me so mad.”

“Come on.” Willow laid her head against his shoulder. “Let’s go to the library or something, ok? Kennedy, think you could give us a few minutes?”

“Of course.”

“Come on.” Willow spoke soothingly. Like a mother comforting a petulant toddler. “Let’s find someplace quiet, and we can talk about whatever you want, all right?”

Kennedy watched them turn down the hall, unable to explain the deep level of sadness, an ever-tumultuous sea of emptiness that crashed around her.