Zenith in Love (Zenith Series #5) - Leanne Davis Page 0,2
Pastor Jim? Or too eager to take his money? You aren’t as pious as you want people, including Kathy, to believe. And you have no idea what I am. Swearing doesn’t make me anything. It’s simply self-expression, not a gauge of my morality.”
“What about respect? How could you be Kathy’s sister?”
“Because I have morals. Deep ones. I just don’t judge people so shallowly or decide what they are based on whether or not someone says damn or darn or gosh or God. Seems kind of a shallow determination of someone’s worth.”
“Kayla, I’m the pastor here. Could you not try to be so…”
“What, Jim? Real? Human? You should try it sometime.” She smiled sweetly. His eyes widened and he nodded his head. She could read his warning. Kathy was coming. Kayla kept her expression neutral as Kathy slid into the chair beside Jim.
Kathy’s reverence for Jim completely puzzled and worried Kayla. She might be marrying the man for his oratory talents, but not his real personality. Not for companionship. Not because she loved him as a man, and a person, but for her love of God and her faith, making Jim the embodiment of that.
It presented a conundrum to Kayla. How to convince Kathy, and save her and Jim from an empty marriage lacking in love but full of adoration for a shared faith and Christianity? Oh, yes, those two worked together at the church like a professional team. But outside of that, in ordinary daily life, they seemed uncomfortable and unnatural with one another.
Kayla blamed their short-sightedness on lack of exposure to certain types of people and inexperience. Neither could boast of any past relationships, definitely none that were sexual or intimate in nature. They were both raised in oddly sheltered environments, and neither seemed to get that having one thing didn’t necessarily result in the other.
Kathy smiled at Jim. “Mrs. Carter was asking about the spring concert. Would you mind answering some of her questions?”
He smiled, shooting a dagger glance at Kayla before obeying her sister’s bidding.
Kathy turned to her with a cloudy look. “What were you arguing about?”
“Nothing? What are you talking about?”
“Don’t play that clueless act with me, Kayla. I can read you and Jim. He’s pursing his upper lip, which is something he does when he’s annoyed and trying to restrain his comment. What was it this time?”
She rolled her eyes. “He’s too prudish. I might have let one mild curse slip out and he jumped in and started correcting me. I’m not a child. I don’t need scolding.”
Kathy rolled her eyes. “You are in his church. His congregation consists of people who are mostly over the age of sixty and many find swearing offensive. That might be a decent reason to not swear inside here, Kay. Could you please respect whatever Jim asks of you? Hmm? It’s not unreasonable, and again, he is the pastor?”
Kayla blushed… Just a little though. Only Kathy could induce that. “Fine. I guess I might have been a jerk about it. But he tries to act like the purest saint and it’s annoying as—”
Kathy gave her a head tilt, indicating a censure and warning. Kayla sighed. “Fine. Annoying as gosh, diggity-dog.”
Kathy sighed. “Do you have to be so difficult for no good reason? Now you just sounded like you were mocking him and me. We don’t curse. It isn’t that shocking or annoying.”
“Sorry I’m so offensive.”
“No. You’re not. Your attitude is what ticks Jim off.”
Fuck. Kathy knew? She didn’t realize her guileless sister actually noticed that.
Kathy tilted her head. “What? You think I missed that? Just please stop.”
Totally chastised and feeling bad now, as only Kathy could bring on, she gripped her sister’s hand across the table. “I’m sorry. I really did want to hear your voice in the choir. That’s all I was doing.”
Kathy let out a long sigh and snorted, patting Kayla’s hand. “You are impossible to be mad at even when you deserve it. Fine. Just be nicer to Jim. For me.”
“I know. I’ll do it for you.” She smiled with a tight stretch of her lips. What most worried her as she watched Kathy telling him they were leaving was that Kathy forgot to be real and whole and human with Jim.
But not her damn, darn problem, huh? After all, she dared to—gasp—swear. She glared at Jim and waited for Kathy to put away her music accessories while Jim worked the room with the last of his parishioners. He was always so good with them.