Chapter 9

Cassie

I hadn't realized how tired and worn out Yirmeyah had gotten in the short time he'd been at Hopeful Church, but after we installed the deacons he gained a lot of spark, and I could see then that we'd been letting him wear himself down. It wasn't long before he seemed more chipper, and seemed to walk straighter, and he seemed to smile more, not that he'd ever been gloomy the way I've heard the preachers of the Church of Scotland used to be. Daddy's idea to put in some deacons who'd actually do the work of deacons had proved to be a brilliant stroke, and Yirmeyah clearly reaped the benefits of it.

As the burden lifted off of Yirmeyah's shoulders, I found that he was really a friendly, nice, fun guy. He still talked like a hick and I figured that he always would, even though he was still young and had said things at various times that indicated he didn't plan to ever move to another church, even though Hopeful was only his second church and he'd come here after less than a year in Cisco. I guess he was so much a Texan that no amount of time in New Mexico would eradicate it from his speech. He did buy a couple of proper suits, with regular ties, but mostly he still wore the western style suits and string ties, and about half the time he wore cowboy boots in the pulpit too, though he did have some nice dress shoes and loafers.

I remember particularly a day in April when I opened my mouth and put my foot right in it, though in the end things worked out pretty well in spite of me. It was after church, and I'd somehow gotten separated from Mama and Daddy, though that wasn't really a problem since I had my own car. I still sat with them in church, but I did like drive to church on my own since sometimes I liked to go to the park or something after church.

I went ahead and worked my way toward the door, and when I came up with Yirmeyah I shook his hand and smiled, and opened my mouth to insert my foot. I said, "You look so much better these days now that you're not having to do everything."

He laughed. "I swan, Cassie, you're getting pretty perceptive in your old age."

"Old age, Yirmeyah?" By then I was able to say his name without too much trouble, though I did have to be careful not to say it too fast or it would bobble up. "I'm only 23 you know, and that's not old, not even by the standards of you farmer types who marry off your women early."

Now his eyebrows went up. "Are you sure you know about us 'farmer types, ' Miss Cassie?"

I looked at him, but there didn't seem to be any sarcasm there, just good humor, which is always nice. "Probably I don't know as much as I think I do, Yirmeyah, and I don't suppose I know an awful lot, since I'm from New Mexico and I've lived here in Albuquerque all my life." A thought came to me and I pursued it. "But maybe we could sit down and talk about it, and straighten me out where I need straightening."

He seemed to think about it a little bit, though of course I couldn't read his mind, not being one of those tabloid psychics who are usually wrong anyway if you go back later and check their predictions, which I guess the people who buy the tabloids never do. "You know, Miss Cassie," he said, "I think I'd like that. Would today be all right?"

Now I had to think about things, since I'd never planned anything like that and it caught me by surprise. "Sure, why not? I like to go to the park sometimes, and we could go there and find a bench and sit and I could get my education."

"Sure, Cassie, let's do that. Why don't I greet all these people who are waiting, and then we'll coordinate."

I looked back in surprise, for I'd forgotten everyone else, and there was a whole line of people looking at me and Yirmeyah, and some of them with smiles that seemed a bit more knowing than I could see justification for. I dropped my eyes, and clutched my purse, and scuttled out into the parking lot where I sat on one of the benches that flanked the main door.

It was probably 20 minutes later when Yirmeyah came out, locking the door behind him, for he was the last person out almost every service. Hopeful Church met in a building just south of Menaul on Deanna, and across Menaul, on Phoenix Avenue, was Ross Enchanted Park, where I'd been many times. I had decided that we'd go there, since it was close and Yirmeyah could find it easily, though by now he was getting around Albuquerque a lot better than he'd been able to do when he first came to town. But as we stood there in the pleasant spring sunshine, knowing that the park wasn't that far off and that it was a nice day for walking, we decided to walk there.

That was a natural thing to decide, but once we got walking I realized that it wasn't typical for me, and probably not for Yirmeyah. It almost felt like a date, though of course it wasn't. I hadn't been on a date in a long while, and I certainly wasn't ready to go on a date now, especially not with my pastor, who I actually had come to accept and even like by then. When this notion came to me I felt my face getting warm, and wished that I had a tan like Yirmeyah's instead of my creamy complexion that I supposed came down from my Irish ancestors, although like most Americans my ancestry is so mixed that I'm not any more Irish than I am German and English and French. But wherever it comes from, my skin is this creamy white that I absolutely love, even with the little spray of freckles across my nose, except when I get embarrassed because the slightest little flush shows like a floodlight.

I blushed again when we crossed Menaul. Yirmeyah gently took my arm when we started across, although it was perfectly safe to cross without that, or at least as safe as it ever is to cross a street in Albuquerque, where the walk signals are short and the drivers sometimes act like pedestrians are targets. But I guess he was a gentleman, and that was how he showed respect for a lady, which I wasn't sure I was but hoped I might be.

Yirmeyah

Even though the idea was completely innocent, I began to wonder if it was wise. I was a young man, with normal young male desires, and Cassie was a young woman with, I was sure, the normal impulses of her age. And young men and young women need to be awful careful with each other. Especially today, with all the inducements to jump into bed, we've got to be very careful. And on top of that I was the pastor, and Cassie was the daughter of one of the church's leading men. The last thing either of us needed was to give even an appearance of improper conduct.