Arizona Pastor by Jennifer Collins Johnson

Author:Jennifer Collins Johnson
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781460379097
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2014-08-24T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Kristy sat in a padded maroon chair and glanced around the obstetrician’s office lobby. A thirtysomething woman dressed in running shorts and an oversize T-shirt perused a magazine while rocking a car seat with her foot. A couple was seated a few chairs away from her. The woman appeared to have a month or less before her baby’s due date. Several more ladies and a few men waited around the room. Kristy glanced toward the front desk, and her stomach twisted at the sight of Mel and Joel signing in for her appointment.

If their calculations were correct, Mel was eleven weeks. She blinked and swallowed the knot in her throat. Her grandchild would most likely be born before Kristy would be able to fully believe her baby was having a baby.

Mel and Joel sat down beside her. He took Mel’s hand and held it in his. She leaned her head against his shoulder and then sat back up. “We should be able to hear the baby’s heartbeat today.”

“Mom told me the slower the heartbeat, the better chance for a boy,” said Joel.

Mel nudged his arm with her shoulder. “Are you saying you want a boy?”

“Well, sure.” Joel scratched his head with his free hand. “I mean, a girl would be okay, I guess, but a boy would carry on the family name.”

Mel stuck her nose in the air. “A girl can keep her family name if she wants.”

Joel’s expression dropped, like a puppy who’d just been scolded for making a mess. “Are you saying you wanna keep your last name when we get married?”

“Of course not.” Mel nudged him again. “I can’t wait to become Mrs. Joel Conners.”

Kristy bit her bottom lip. Did that mean Mel had renewed her decision to marry Joel? Her daughter had been more open with her, but she hadn’t shared any decisions she’d made after promising Carrie she’d think through her choices. The more time Kristy spent with God, studying His word and praying for Mel and Joel and the baby, the more unsure she felt about how to advise Mel about marrying her boyfriend. Or fiancé, I should say.

They were young. Life would be hard. But they were both Christians. Naive. Immature. But they’d made a grown-up, outside-the-will-of-God decision to have relations before they married. They were in for a big shock when the end of January rolled around, but she had been shocked as well, when Mel had made her appearance into the world. She’d survived being a mom at eighteen. She was glad she and Tim had never married, but they’d had different life goals and had realized that early on. Contrasting ideas about God and family and what their future should look like. Joel and Mel, though young, were more in accord about what they wanted.

And yet the thought of the two of them getting married... standing before God and their families and friends and pledging to love one another until death do they part? The idea was absurd. Kristy hadn’t planned on thinking about Mel’s wedding for several years to come.

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