Nothing Sacred

“And before anyone else has a chance to butt in, I’d like to apply for the job.”

“You want to cook and have a wet shoulder?”

“Okay.”

He had no idea how to do this. The only other time he’d tried had ended in…

“Would you like more than that?” David almost laughed out loud when the words came on their own.

“Yes.”

Still holding her hand, David lowered himself to one knee, uncaring of the grass stains he was getting on his light gray slacks. Mostly because he wasn’t sure his legs were going to hold him much longer.

Thank you, God.

You’re welcome.

He took a deep breath. “Martha Moore, would you marry me?”

Her response was lost in the cheers that went up from a crowd behind them, people who had apparently just noticed him on his knee.

“Was that a yes?” he asked, studying her for any sign of hesitation.

Martha yanked on his hand until he was standing in front of her, wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his head down to hers.

“That was a yes,” she said against his lips, and then taught him how a man kisses the woman with whom he’s fallen hopelessly in love.

“MY MOTHER WAS FIFTEEN when my father raped her.” It was late that night, and Martha and David were alone at the rectory, sitting on the couch in the living room he’d never used. They’d just finished making plans to attend his mother’s funeral the next week. “After her breakdown, when I was placed in foster care, my caseworker explained it to me. My mother had been walking home alone from a movie after having a fight with the girlfriends she’d gone with. He came up in a car, grabbed her off the curb, took her to some woods, and then, when he was through, left her there bleeding and bruised.”

Martha wanted to die for the young girl who’d been so traumatized. “What did she do?”

“Cleaned herself up as much as she could, snuck home and into the house before anyone could see her, took a shower, pretended it never happened. She was too ashamed to tell her parents.”

“She didn’t receive any medical care? Any counseling?” Thinking of Ellen, Martha shuddered. Without counseling, her daughter might have lived her entire life in the nightmarish world created by her attack.

“Even when she found herself pregnant, she didn’t tell the truth. She just accepted all the ridicule she got for not even knowing the name of her baby’s father. Allowed herself to be branded a whore by a strict father who washed his hands of her.”

Martha’s heart ached for the young girl. How had she ever managed? “It’s no wonder she had such problems later,” she said.

David nodded. “I understood that years ago, thanks to intensive counseling. I just wish I could’ve brought her some peace as well as all the agony….”

“From what you tell me, where she is now, I’ll bet you’re bringing her all kinds of peace.”

He didn’t say anything, but Martha felt the muscles in his arm relax against her.

“As horrible as it all was, I’m thankful for one thing that came out of it,” she said softly.

“What’s that?”

“You.”

With a long kiss, Martha felt David’s promise of a lifetime of discoveries. A lifetime of things to be thankful for. Starting as soon as he could arrange for a marriage license, he’d told her earlier. He wouldn’t be able to wait more than a day or two to make love to her.

To truly make love for the first time in his life.

Martha couldn’t wait for that, either.

“You know, this town of yours, of ours, is a pretty remark