Lori bowed her head and closed her eyes. Within her hand, Jase’s fingers twitched. Was he nervous? Of course he’d be nervous his first time with these people—yikes trikes, he probably still hadn’t memorized all of their names!—and then being put on the spot. Even if he was a minister, he was human and needed time to settle in. One of the others should’ve prayed instead. She squeezed Jase’s hand, hoping it would communicate her support.
“Dear God…” His hand continued to quiver, but his voice was strong. Jase expressed gratitude for the enjoyable evening, then asked God to get everyone home safely. He cleared his throat, a barely discernible ahem, and he spoke again. “ ‘The Lord bless you and keep you…’ ”
Lori recognized the beginning of a passage from Numbers. Brother Kraft often read it to end their services, and she automatically began reciting with him. “ ‘The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you.’ ”
The others joined. “ ‘The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.’ ”
Jase said, “Amen,” and he released her hand.
The couples in the circle paired off and spread across the parking lot, waving goodbye to one another. Lori, Jase, and Kenzie went, too, but it felt awkward walking three abreast when all the others moved in twos. Jealousy wove itself through Lori with such intensity her skin tingled. Would she ever know the pleasure of walking hand in hand with a man who truly loved her? She glanced down at herself. At her chubby knees sticking out beneath the hem of her tentlike top. Doubt brought the sting of tears. Kenzie’d said she was a good person, and she was. She worked hard, she loved God, she was fun to be around—all positive traits. But men her age cared a lot more about having a pretty girlfriend. No one, not even Kenzie, would call Lori Fowler pretty. And now that she’d started her down-on-herself roll, she couldn’t seem to stop.
They reached Lori’s car, and Jase turned to Kenzie. “Do you want to ride shotgun? You had the back seat on the way over, so it’s only fair.”
Lori read the unspoken message. He didn’t want to sit next to her. She flounced around to the driver’s side of the car. “Yeah, Kenz, I’m gonna let Brother Jase off at your apartment anyway, so it doesn’t really matter who rides up front.”
Kenzie shrugged. “Okay.”
Jase opened the passenger door for Kenzie, and she climbed in. Then he got in the back, leaving Lori to open her door for herself. The last time he’d walked her and Kenzie to the car, he’d opened her door for her. So why not this time? Had she scared him when she squeezed his hand? He’d seen it as a come-on probably, and now he’d try to avoid her. It’d happened with guys in the past—her meaning to be friendly and them taking it as more. She’d blown it with Jase before they could even begin to form a friendship.
Jase and Kenzie talked all the way from the bowling alley to Kenzie’s apartment, but Lori set her lips in a grim line and refused to participate. Her heart hurt. And she was hungry. She’d skipped lunch, the same as she’d done every day since Monday—her self-induced punishment for indulging herself with those brownies—and then she hadn’t finished even one piece of pizza at the bowling alley. Now she was famished, and all she could think about was food.
At least food was always there for her, ready and available when she needed it.
She pulled into the parking area of Kenzie’s apartment complex, located an empty spot for visitors, then put the car in park. “Well, here we are, end of the road. Kenz, I’ll see you at work tomorrow. Brother Jase, I’ll see you Sunday.”
Jase reached forward and gave her shoulder a light squeeze. “Thanks a lot for taking me with y’all. I really had a good time. I worked at a bowling alley in San Antonio, but I didn’t get to bowl very often, so this was a treat.”
Lori flashed him a tight grin, then faced forward again. “I’m glad. Now that you’ve met most of the group, it ought to be easy for you to make friends. You’ll get lots of chances to do things with the group, and the men’ll probably include you in their guys-only activities. You won’t feel like you’re stuck with Kenzie and me.”