The Preacher's Son - Juliette Duncan Page 0,28

resourcefulness and skill. If only more locals could learn skills that could improve their standard of living.

In that moment, I knew at some point I would have to seriously consider Felipe’s question. Did I want to go home? Of course, I wanted to be reunited with the children, but beyond that? And how would it affect them if we were to uproot them from their settled lives and move them halfway around the world? I felt Penny’s eyes on me and tried to push the matter aside for now, but Felipe’s words played on my mind throughout lunch.

Maria had made a simple dish of fish and greens with some kind of spicy sauce, but for all its simplicity, it was delicious and I wolfed it down to Maria’s amusement as she plied me with seconds.

The afternoon wore on and we laughed and chatted like old friends. Penny and I helped clean up and then Felipe suggested a short walk to a nearby park.

It was strange that such a beautiful and tranquil place could exist alongside the favela, which was anything but. Tall, shady trees, bright coloured flowers, a pond with lily-pads. It somehow seemed incongruous.

“It’s so strange that there can be such suffering in such a gorgeous place,” Penny murmured as she leaned into the crook of my arm, seemingly having forgotten, at least for now, our earlier moment.

“Fallen people in a fallen world,” I said, without thinking, then grimaced. “My father used to say that. Perhaps it’s true that as we age, we turn into our parents.”

I expected Penny to laugh, but she glanced at me with a serious expression. “I hope not,” she said simply, with an odd tone.

I wanted to say more. Address the elephant in the room that had been plaguing us for a while, but I couldn’t. Not with Felipe and Maria so close. Slipping my arm across her shoulders, I pulled her close. Somehow, we would figure this out.

After a while, we all said goodbye and Penny and I walked back to the camp. I waited for her to bring up the subject so obviously on her mind, but she didn’t, and so, I didn’t either. The time spent with Felipe and Maria seemed to have smoothed the waters, for now, at least. But we needed to talk. The last few days had started to make it clear to me. God was calling me in a different direction from the one I had been going in, and while I didn’t yet know exactly what that would look like, I knew it meant some kind of ministry.

I was also well aware that Penny most emphatically did not want to be a preacher’s wife. As much as she was growing passionate about her work here, I couldn’t see her giving up her well-paid and prestigious position back home. I wanted to discuss it, but I also didn’t want to burst the bubble we had both been in over the last two weeks.

God, please show me the right time when we can talk in peace and not in conflict. You know how much we need to discuss this issue. And Lord, bless our marriage. You know how precious Penny is to me.

“What are you praying about?” She scrunched her brows as she searched my face.

“How did you know I was praying?”

“After ten years, I know that look, Hayden,” she teased. She was happy, and we were going on a date the next evening, so I sensed that this particular moment wasn’t the right one to get into a discussion about my future vocation. “For God to bless us,” I simply replied.

She slipped her arm into mine and laid her head on my shoulder. “Amen to that,” she said softly.

When we arrived back at the camp, Penny headed to our cabin for a lie down. It was now the hottest part of the day and we weren’t entirely used to the different climate. I left her lying under the fan and went to find David. I wanted to talk through my thoughts with him.

I found him sitting by the small makeshift basketball court behind the back of the school, reading. Not wanting to disturb him, I hung back, but he sensed my presence.

“Hayden! Join me,” he said, shutting his book and shifting over on the bench. “Did you have a nice lunch?”

“Yes. Felipe and Maria are good people. It was a pleasure to spend some time with them.”

“Yes, they are. But I sense there is something on your