An Unlikely Match by Beth Wiseman

Author:Beth Wiseman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Zondervan
Published: 2021-06-08T00:00:00+00:00

Twelve

Esther made the trek to Gus’s cottage much later than she’d meant to. It was well past dark, so she held a flashlight in one hand and carried a pie tote in the other. Her knees had given her fits all day, which usually meant bad weather was coming.

“What do you want?” he asked when he opened the door.

Esther hung her head, willed her blood pressure to stay within range, then looked back at him. “Gus, why is it that you must address a guest like that right when you open the door? Here.” She pushed the chocolate pie at him. He took it. “I heard you did a good deed today, and I thought you would enjoy this pie.”

“Yeah, you don’t bring me pie as often as you used to.” Gus scratched the top of his head. He looked freshly showered and shaved, his hair pulled back neatly in its ponytail. Beyond his broad shoulders she could see the squalor he still lived in. Whiskers, his cat, was stretched out on the couch, seemingly unbothered by the clutter. His only attempt to better his conditions was the time his daughter had come to visit, and that hadn’t gone well for either of them.

But he was right about the pie. At one point Esther had promised to bring him pie for the rest of his life. The more she’d thought about it, the more unreasonable it seemed, especially since he’d bullied her into it. The man was already guaranteed life in the cottage, and for minimal rent. So Esther had broken her promise and asked God to forgive her.

“I don’t know why everyone is making such a big deal about today.” He spat the words before he lowered his arm to his side. “That woman . . .” He pointed toward the larger of the motor homes. “She brought me a huge box of chocolates, said it didn’t seem like nearly enough, and then she hugged me for the second time today. I don’t need all that, Esther, but I reckon I’ll be traveling with them on their other shoots. People ain’t safe otherwise, because Brandon’s got a bunch of idiots working for him.”

Esther thought Gus could use hugs. “Saving a life is a big deal.” She turned to leave, too tired to carry on any more conversation with him. She was also afraid she might slip about Mr. Clarkson having no intention of actually including Gus in his movie. It was a dishonorable thing the film producer was doing, but Esther was going to stay out of it. Maybe it was best that Gus was on-site with the crew. It did sound like danger had found them twice already. “Good night, Gus.”

“Wait. We need to talk about something else.” Gus set the pie on the chair on the porch and took a few steps toward her.

She hadn’t even made it to the bottom of the stairs. Looking up, she whispered, “Gott, give me strength.” This had been an exhausting day.

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