guess who was Lucy and who was Ethel. As he watched them head for the parking lot, Sienna tripped over her own shoelaces. Kaia prevented her from falling, and then they threw their arms around each other’s waists and moved on, both laughing.
Chuckling, he turned in the direction of his office and discovered Brother Kraft standing only a few feet behind him. He glanced at his wristwatch, grimaced, and sauntered over to his boss. “I’m sorry if I held you up.”
The man smiled, but it lacked its usual sparkle. He looked tired. “No problem. The kids all seemed happy. Things go okay tonight?”
Jase didn’t want to toot his own horn, but he thought the evening had gone better than okay. “Yes, sir, I’d say so. The kids were pretty open during our share times, listened during our study, and some even volunteered to pray during our prayer time.” He’d been relieved to see that many felt comfortable praying out loud. He wouldn’t have to be the one to always lead prayer.
“Glad to hear it. So…Cullen cooperated with you?”
The seemingly nonchalant question set Jase’s senses on alert. “Yeah. Shouldn’t he?”
Brother Kraft chuckled. “Well, let’s just say Cullen can be unpredictable.”
A senior girl, Leesa, had introduced Cullen to the group. Jase tried to remember what she’d said that would explain unpredictable behavior. Cullen liked baseball, didn’t have a dad…and was he the one who hated hot dogs? Jase inwardly groaned. Why hadn’t he recorded the intros somehow? He should go to his office and write down everything he could recall before he forgot all of it.
“A lot of his acting out is a bid for attention.” Brother Kraft was talking, and Jase forced himself to listen. “He’s better than he was a few years ago, but he’s not fond of change. Several of us were worried he’d give you some trouble, so I’m glad to hear he did all right.”
“He did.” Jase inched in the direction of his office. “The whole evening actually went real good. Real smooth. I think the kids and I are going to get along fine.” Thank goodness.
Brother Kraft moved alongside Jase. “Just so you know, the adults in Bible study this evening prayed you’d have a good first night, and we prayed for each of the kids individually. At the end of prayer time, people took names and committed to praying through the summer for their teens.”
Jase should appreciate the concern and support, but a snide question flitted through his mind. Were they worried he wouldn’t be able to handle things without extra prayers? He cleared his throat, an attempt to eliminate the unkind idea. Hadn’t he given up looking for the worst in people to instead look for the positive? Brother Tony would be disappointed with the direction his thoughts had gone.
He paused and gave Brother Kraft an honest smile. “That’s real nice of y’all. The prayers of the faithful…they avail much.”
An odd expression creased the older man’s face. “Yes. Yes, they do.” Then a smile broke. “Well, everyone else is gone, so we can head home.”
Jase cringed. “Actually, I’d like to do a little work in my office, if that’s all right with you. I’ll lock the door when I leave.” The church didn’t even have a security system, so locking up only meant turning a key in a dead bolt.
“How ’bout I take care of the front doors, then you let yourself out the west door and lock it behind you when you go?”
“Works for me.” Jase lifted his hand in a wave and set off for his little office in the northeast corner of the church. As he turned at the end of the hallway, the sweet scent of chocolate teased his nostrils. Odd. They hadn’t had anything chocolatey for their youth supper. He opened his door and flipped the toggle light switch up. The overhead fluorescent tubes flickered, then steadied, and he spotted a foil-wrapped plate in the middle of his desk. Was the chocolate smell coming from whatever was under the foil?
He hurried to the desk and lifted the crinkly cover. Brownies. His mouth watered, and he pinched up one of the rich-looking squares and took a bite. At once he remembered tasting these before—the night of his welcome-to-Bradleyville party. Rounding his desk, he took another bite and settled into his chair. The corner of a piece of paper stuck out from under the plate. He popped the last of the brownie in his mouth, swiped his hand