Unlikely Praise Read Online Free Page B

papers from the printer. “Should be any time.”
    Candi glanced around the small room. Something was missing from the tired off-white wall. “Where did the pictures go?”
    “Well,” the older woman mused, as she tapped a stack of papers into place and arranged them on the counter. “One of them just fell right off the wall. I was going to put it back up, but realized whoever hung them hadn’t used strong enough hangers. I’m going to get someone to redo them all. Sure is ugly, huh?”
    “On the bright side, have you seen the latest drawings from the architect?”
    “Not recently.”
    “Well, let me tell ya. In the new building, you’ll have a huge office all to yourself. There’s also a bigger work room, a separate meeting room, and a kitchen.”
    “I won’t know what to do with all that space,” Mattie said as she squeezed herself back into the area between her old metal desk and the reception counter. “Want some coffee?”
    Candi dropped into the wingback chair by the door. Her stomach gurgled and a surge of warmth crept across her body and heated her face. “No, thanks. I’ve had enough caffeine this morning. I think I’m over the limit. I feel a little charged if you know what I mean.”
    Ms. Mattie dipped her head to look at her over the top of her reading glasses. “How much did you drink?”
    “A whole pot.”
    “That’s a lot of coffee.”
    “I didn’t sleep last night.”
    As Mattie opened her mouth to no doubt begin the lecture, Pastor Charles came through the front glass double doors.
    He spotted Candi and turned to leave again.
    She jumped out of the chair. “Oh, no you don’t. I need to talk to you.”
    He stepped back inside. “All right, all right, I’m just kidding.” He dropped his keys into the pocket of his khakis and set his planner on the counter. “I knew I’d see you today, but I didn’t think it would be before I made it to the coffee pot.”
    “Don’t let her have any more,” Ms. Mattie interjected. “She’s already wired.”
    “Fan- tastic ,” he said and started to roll up his sleeves. “That means she’ll be yelling at me at twice the speed she usually does.”
    Ms. Mattie snickered.
    Candi crossed her arms to keep from waving them around in her caffeine-induced frenzy. “I can see you’re both enjoying this, but I have to get back to class eventually.”
    Pastor Charles motioned toward his office. “Have a seat. Let me get my coffee.”
    Candi entered his office and crossed the small space to turn on the brass lamp at the corner of his large mahogany desk. Late morning sun peeked through the partially open mini-blinds and illuminated the same stack of books that had been sitting on the floor by his chair for weeks. She knocked the dust off and set them on the bookshelf along the wall. He’d never know the difference.
    She sat down in one of his well-worn, hunter-green visitor chairs and then hopped up again. As she always did when she came to pour her heart out to her beloved pastor, she made her way around the room to scan the latest photos of his children and grandchildren. Someone graduated from college, someone had a baby, someone had their first haircut.
    And because she had very few of these idyllic family photos featuring her own parents, she remained continually grateful that God had sent Pastor Charles to be the mentor and father figure she desperately needed.
    He came in and placed his mail on one of the many piles on his desk. “What’s up?” he asked and took a gulp from his Real Men Love Jesus mug.
    What’s up? What’s up? She returned to her chair.
    So he was going to play this like he had no idea what was up ? He leaned forward, folded his hands on his desk and waited.
    “Have I done something wrong?” she asked calmly. “I mean, am I being punished? Do you think I offended God in some way that He’d send one of the Dead Lizards to join my praise and worship team?”
    Pastor Charles’s bottom lip twitched and a flash of red