“What did you think?” he asked. She was still smiling as she walked up to him. Anyone listening to them would hear only a casual inquiry.
“It was great. I mean… it’s not great there is so much need, but…” She shook her head. Jim wanted to grab her and give her a hug while holding her near him. He understood exactly what she meant. “I mean, I’ll come back next time. As often as I can.”
“I know what you mean. The other volunteers are great and it feels good to see people who need food the most getting it.”
She snapped her fingers. “Yes. That’s what I was trying to say, but in a clumsy and annoying way.”
“I’m glad you found something rewarding in it. As you can see, volunteers are always needed and welcomed here.”
“Yes. I wasn’t sure how many were needed, but it seems like a lot.”
“It’s rare when we don’t have a long line waiting for food, and rarer still when we can’t put all the volunteers here to work. Besides the front lines, we are always restocking shelves, cleaning the facility, or boxing up the deliveries we make.”
“You do more than that?”
“Yes. I’m here a lot. As often as I can be.”
Her gaze looked puzzled and he wasn’t sure how to interpret it.
“I can see how much good you do in the community and I totally undercut you. Making fun of you was so stupid and I’m sorry. I didn’t fully grasp how important and valuable your work is to so many deserving people.”
Jim fought the urge to hug her for that. He gave her a smile instead. “Thank you, Kayla. It’s nice to hear. Some mistake my meager salary as a lack of true success, but some things can’t be measured like that.”
“This is far more successful than Rob or me. I never realized how much Kathy got involved with the local community.”
“She is very involved. Yes.”
She lowered her voice. “I did gather that. Judith? My trainer? The way she adores Kathy, she could start dating her.”
Finally, Jim grinned widely because he knew exactly what Kayla meant. Judith wished Kathy were her daughter instead of the one she had. “Yeah. She really does enjoy Kathy’s nice manners and demeanor. She’s so quiet, sweet, helpful, and such a rare girl nowadays. She doesn’t curse and her voice is like an angel… do I have that right?” He did a fake smile and parroted Judith’s unique voice and verbiage.
Kayla’s eyes bulged and she puckered her lips. “Wow, you sure nailed her. And yes. She thinks all of that. Oh, Judith also mentioned I could be Kathy’s twin…”
“Not identical. But a fraternal twin, maybe.”
Her eyes popped and Jim laughed. She had to keep her voice down and could not really respond the way she felt. “I do have a type…” Jim went around her before she could respond and gave her a smile over his shoulder as he rushed out to help Martin. Jim grabbed the heavy bag of left-over potatoes from him to return to the store room. Martin was close to seventy and ready to lift the enormous weight without assistance. Jim always offered his help because Martin wouldn’t ask for it.
Besides, it got him away from Kayla temporarily.
Putting in a full day there was tough, but Kayla made it much more enjoyable. No harm in fun and flirting if the job got done on time and it was a good outcome.
Sighing, Jim thought making it as good as possible could never be enough and that fact bothered him. Kayla misinterpreted him by thinking he was feeling dour and sour. He suffered from heavy guilt knowing that the church and community could not provide for all of those in need. The most vulnerable always seemed to be forgotten. They were incessantly behind the eight ball, no matter how many donations, volunteers, and strategic fundraisers they held.
But it felt nice to know Kayla appreciated what he did much more now.
The career of a pastor was not a lucrative profession.
Jim finished cleaning up, filing the receipts, and reporting the volunteers’ hours. That was the part of the bookkeeping he handled. A conversation with Stacy centered on the need for more perishables and a discussion of where to invest the most recent donations. Clara made jokes and Janice suggested venues where he and Kathy could get married. Jim cringed. Crap. That needed to be made clear once and for all. Since the church was closed right after the shooting, his breakup with Kathy wasn’t known to very many people yet.
He left the warehouse that the food bank operated out of, palming his keys and sliding into his car seat when he noticed a lone car in the corner of the parking lot. Kayla? Her sedan was as nice as Kathy’s. The guards’ car was idling close by. He walked to her car, leaning on the rim of her open window. “What are you doing now? Did you wait here the whole time?”
“No worries. I wanted to wait. Wanna grab some dinner? It’s a perfect summer evening. How about a run to the beach?”
He knew she was right. The warm July sun and clear sky were bright and inviting. “Yes.”
She grinned and said, “Good. You skipped out on a date with me. I deserve at least that much. So you’re buying tonight, Pastor Jim.”
He nodded. He didn’t mind treating her, but hoped she understood there would never be expensive meals in five-star restaurants with him. No dinners at The Four Seasons
