He reached for her hand and held it tight. “But I’ve been around the world. The people here are no better or worse than anywhere else. I’ve worked side-by-side with people in Kiley, thanks to you. Yes, a few of them may be intolerant and mean-spirited, but the only way to change that is to stay and fight. You’ve taught me that. If I’m only going to look for the bad in people, I’ll find it anywhere. It’s time I started seeing the good.”
“And learned to forgive?”
He nodded. “And learned to forgive.”
Anna Louise pressed her lips to his. “I love you, Richard Walton.”
Richard sighed. “I love you, too, Anna Louise Perkins.”
* * *
They set their wedding day for mid-April, to give Richard a chance to get his new paper up and running, to give Maisey time to recuperate, which she was suddenly determined to do one more time, and to allow Anna Louise to devote all of her energy to the upcoming meeting with the church council.
Not that she could concentrate worth a darn. She finally understood exactly what she’d been asking of Jeremy and Maribeth when she’d encouraged them to postpone their wedding. Not a day went by that she didn’t scandalize the whole town of Kiley by kissing him soundly in public. If that was all she could do before the wedding—and Richard was sweetly adamant about that—then by heaven she was going to enjoy it.
She was thinking about just such a kiss on her doorstep the previous night—Richard flatly refused to be alone with her inside the house—when she realized that Orville Patterson had just addressed a remark to her. The most important meeting of her professional life and she’d been daydreaming like a smitten schoolgirl!
“What is it?” she said.
“Miss Perkins...”
“Pastor Perkins,” she corrected automatically.
His jaw worked, but eventually he managed to grit out the words. “Pastor Perkins...”
“Thank you.”
“I was just inquiring about your qualifications.”
Anna Louise bit back a smile. Bad question, Orville, she thought. She laid out her course of studies in college, graduate school and seminary. “I believe that more than meets the necessary standards, doesn’t it?” she said, trying very hard not to sound smug. She knew darn well it was more education than he had.
“Why, yes,” he said.
She wondered what kind of man would start a fight like this without knowing such a simple thing about her background. Or maybe he’d hoped to scare her off long before it ever became an issue.
He turned to the other pastors who had gathered at the Jasper Junction church. “I believe we have no grounds to deny Miss—rather, Pastor Perkins the right to maintain her position in the Kiley church.”
Anna Louise almost felt off her chair. Behind her, she heard Richard’s indrawn breath.
Apparently the comment took the others by surprise, as well.
“Now wait just a minute here. Are you saying you’re withdrawing your objections, Pastor Patterson?” one of the others asked. Anna Louise recognized him as Harlan Baskins, whom she knew to be as rigid and set in his ways as Orville.
Orville glanced at Richard, then met Anna Louise’s gaze head-on. “I believe there is room to argue this on Scriptural grounds, but I will not fight the majority if it is your will to grant her the right to continue in her present position.”
“But we haven’t even voted yet. How do you know it’s our will?” Harlan Baskins demanded, his flushed face a study in confusion. “What’s going on here? Did a bunch of you cook up a deal?”
“Harlan, are you saying you still object?” the council chairman asked.
“Of course, I do.”
“Well, then, perhaps, we should hear from Pastor Perkins.” He looked to Anna Louise. “Do you feel there are legitimate grounds for a woman to hold the position you currently hold?”
“Absolutely,” Anna Louise said. She stood and faced them. After a quick look in Richard’s direction to draw on his strength, she took a deep breath and began. She started with what she knew from studying the Bible, then wound up with the way she’d been raised to believe that all of mankind had the right to strive for whatever goals were within their reach.
“There are those who’ve said I am bold or daring or courageous. There are some who’ve labeled me blasphemous. I want to reassure you about my motives and about how I see myself. I am not doing this to be controversial. Far from it, in fact. I’d like to be a simple, country preacher in a town I love,” she said with heartfelt sincerity.
“Nor am I trying to be a trendsetter. I am just a woman whose faith is strong, whose sense of calling is powerful, whose desire to serve is built on an unconditional love of my God and my church. If you deny me the chance to fulfill the calling that has guided me for almost my entire life, then you will be denying me the opportunity to be myself. And worse, I sincerely believe you will be denying the people of my church in Kiley the right granted to every other church in our denomination, the right to select the pastor most suited to lead their congregation.”
Her voice held steady as she looked directly into the eyes of each of these men—some old, like Harlan Baskins, some young, like Orville, some liberal, some conservative, all genuinely dedicated to the conviction that their way was right.
“It is not just my career,” she said finally, “but my very life that is in your hands.”
The words lingered in the air. Eventually the chairman cleared his throat and looked around the table. “Gentlemen, are there any questions or are you ready to vote?”
“I’ve heard enough. Let’s get on with it,” Harlan Baskins grumbled, glaring
