Nothing Sacred

“I have.”

The grin broke through. “You talked to Ellen and she told you she wants to get back together with me.”

Had the situation not been so grave, David might have smiled at the college-boy bravado that never seemed to be far from the surface at that age.

“No, Aaron,” David was sorry to say. Sorry to see the light fade from the young man’s clear gaze.

“I may clean toilets, but I don’t do romance.”

“Then what’s this about?”

“There are things you don’t know, things I’m not at liberty to tell you,” he stated slowly, choosing his words with utmost care. “Things I wouldn’t tell you even if I could, because you don’t need to hear them from me.”

Eyes narrowed, Aaron looked almost afraid. “What?”

David shook his head. “Ellen has to matter more than those things.” He heard the words, although he couldn’t remember ever thinking them.

Aaron flopped back in his seat. “Of course she matters more than those things. More than anything,” he said, frustration giving an edge to his words. “What’s going on?”

Focus, man, David admonished himself. Listen.

“I wanted you to know that there are facts you’re not aware of, so you have an explanation for any behavior that doesn’t currently make sense to you.”

Aaron seemed to be thinking about that.

“But I didn’t tell you this so you’d obsess over these…facts.”

“Okay.” The young man leaned forward again, his hands tightly clasped.

“I believe—” David paused “—and this is only my belief, with no basis in anything else.” He waited for Aaron to nod so he knew the young man was with him. “I believe that, in spite of what Ellen might say, she still loves you.”

Aaron let out a huge breath. Grinned. Nodded. Opened his mouth but said nothing.

“More than that—and this is why I’m speaking to you today—I believe she needs you.”

Serious at once, Aaron looked at David long and hard. And seemed to receive the understanding he’d been seeking. “Okay. What do I do?”

“That’s up to you,” David said, glad to be able to hand off this particular responsibility. “Don’t force anything. Gentleness is the key word at all times. But I wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

Aaron stood. “Done.”

David joined him at the door. “And Aaron?” he said.

“Yeah?”

“Don’t blow it.”

“Are you kidding?” Aaron grinned again. “I never saw you as Cupid, but your secret profession is safe with me. I won’t let on.”

“No, Aaron,” David said, his eyes narrow with the intensity of his mission. “This is not about romance. I am a man of God, not a matchmaker.”

The grin quickly left Aaron’s face. “She’s in trouble, isn’t she?”

“I’m not at liberty to tell you anything about Ellen’s private life.”

A pause filled w

ith heated emotions fell between them. “It doesn’t matter,” Aaron said seconds later, his hand on the doorknob. “If she’s pregnant, dying, in trouble with the law—absurd as that seems—I don’t care. I love her and I’ll stand by her.” He yanked open the door.