Chapter Thirty-Five
Roy – Sunday
“Morning,” June smiled at me as she turned to face my resting body. As always, I’d been up early, but once I’d sorted Tank out, I climbed back in next to her, just watching her sleep. I loved watching her slowly breathing in and out, whilst looking so serene. It made my heart flutter excitedly. “I can’t believe you’re still in bed; that isn’t like you at all.”
“Well, I have a plan for today,” I admitted to her, kissing her lightly on the forehead. “So, I thought it would be better to let you sleep in before I told you.” I knew that she wasn’t the morning person I was, and I didn’t want her to turn down my idea before I could even tell her what it was.
“I don’t think that 8 a.m. is sleeping in, but I’ll hear you out,” she teased, causing me to grin. “I can’t wait to hear what you have in mind.”
“I want you to come to church with me,” I stunned her by replying. It was something that I’d been considering for a while, but I hadn't felt ready to discuss it until now.
“But…but I’m not necessarily religious…” she trailed off, looking really uncomfortable, which wasn’t what I wanted at all. I knew she didn’t necessarily share the depth of faith that I had, but I wanted her to see another side of me. I wanted her to understand everything. I just wanted to share church with her.
“I’m not asking you to go every week; just come with me once.” I stood up and held my hand out to her, but she still seemed reluctant to take it. I understood her reservations, but they were unnecessary.
“It’s not that I don’t want to go with you, I want to see every side of your life…but what if everyone stares at me.”
I recalled that worry well. When Shelley died, I hated being anywhere for fear of everyone staring at me, but now I could see that I was wrong to be so afraid. People were only looking because they were concerned for me, because they wanted to help me they just didn’t know how. People might glance at June, but they wouldn’t be judging her, of that I could be certain.
“Don’t worry about it; people aren’t there to gossip.” With that, I grabbed her and pulled her from the bed. “Come on, get dressed. Trust me, will you?”
“It seems like I’ve been doing a lot of trusting you,” she grumbled playfully, clearly referring to yesterday and everything I’d gotten her involved in. It had worked out for the best then, and it would do so again now, I was sure of it.
“Yeah? And look where it’s gotten you – who would have thought that you’d ever drive a tractor?”
She shot me a look, but didn’t reply, which I could only assume meant that I was right. If June Powell was silent, it was because she had literally nothing left to say. She would see that I was right in the end, anyway, she would soon lose her reservations, and that would make her trust me even more.
***
“This is how God showed His love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
I watched June’s intense face as she listened to the preacher read out a Bible passage, taking in every word carefully. She’d been undeniably nervous when we’d arrived, scared of what was going to happen, but as we took the pew in the back and let everyone wander past us, none of them giving us even a second glance, she started to become more herself.
As she listened, I found myself wanting to reach out and hold her hand. The only reason that I resisted was because I didn’t want to break her concentration, not when she was actually looking positive. This would always be a place that I shared with Shelley, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t share it with June, too. I could open up my heart and have both of them in there – I could finally see that now.
I will always love you, Shelley, I thought in my mind, hoping that she could hear me, wherever she was. But I believe you have sent June to me to help me move on with my life, and that is exactly what I shall do. I felt positive about it, happy that I could finally do what she wanted for me, however hard it had been to get there. It was worth it now, all that heartache and suffering, just to be where I was today.
As the sermon came to an end and June stood up to go, I noticed a peaceful expression crossing her face, one that I’d never seen there before. I wasn’t trying to convert her or affect her beliefs or anything. I just knew how relaxing and uplifting church could be, no matter what you believed, and that was what I wanted for her. I wanted her to understand why church was important to me, and I thought that she might get it now.
“Shall we…” I started, but before I got a chance, the preacher was by my side, gripping onto my shoulder, grabbing my attention.
“Hello again, Roy; how are you today?” he asked, only sideways looking at June once.
“I’m good, thank you,” I grinned at him, grateful for his discretion. “That was a wonderful sermon, as always. Thank you for that. I would love to introduce you to my new friend, June Powell.”
“It’s lovely to meet you.” He shook her hand happily, and she smiled right back at him. “Now, I’m holding a luncheon in the church cottage, if you two would like to come along?”
I was just about to turn him down, not wanting to put June in an awkward situation that made her uncomfortable, but before I could come up with any excuses, June was happily signing us up to go. “That sounds great; we would love to.”
“Erm, yeah, sure…” How could I disagree now? Plus, it was likely to be very fun with June by my side, anyway. I never went to the luncheons with Shelley because she always had something else planned, so maybe it was time to try something else new. “Now?”
“Yes, I’ll see you over there.”
As we headed over to the preacher’s cottage, I noticed a few other people there, too, wanting to extend their Sunday church time. They were all people that I vaguely recognized, but not anyone I knew directly, which left me in the same boat as June. Only this time she seemed totally at ease with herself… I was the one experiencing nerves! It was an unexpected turnaround, that was for sure.
“Hi there,” a friendly-looking couple came up to us almost right away. “I’m Tom,” the man told us. “And, this is my wife, Kate.”
“Hi, we’re Roy and June.”
We both shook their hands, and made a little small talk with them before the subject of their wedding anniversary came up. As they told us that they’d been married for six years, I got a funny feeling deep inside. Almost as if I knew what Tom was going to ask before he even asked it. “So, how long have you two been married?”
“Oh no, we aren’t…” June started, looking really embarrassed. She looked so cute when she blushed, but I knew that she must be dying inside so I took the lead and took over the conversation for her. She was probably too afraid to admit that we weren’t married in case we were judged.
“We aren’t married. Actually, we have only been dating for a short while.” I pulled her close and grinned at her. “But we’re really very happy.” I was certain that we probably would end up married one day, but I didn’t want to freak June out by admitting that revelation aloud. She gave me a grateful grin and held me nearer to her, showing me her gratitude. Not only had I dealt with the question well, but I’d let her know how happy she made me.
“Well, isn’t that just lovely,” Kate grinned. “You know what? We should exchange numbers and go out on a double date sometime.”
That sounded wonderful; it was such a normal thing to hang out with other couples, but something that we hadn't done just yet. As we exchanged numbers with Kate and Tom, I was even more grateful that we’d followed my plan today and come to the church. It had led to things I hadn't even slightly expected.
***
“I had a lot more fun than I expected today,” June told me as she climbed into bed besides me. “And, Kate and Tom were really nice. I wasn’t expecting to meet such an awesome couple. I hope we end up friends with them.”
“Yeah, it should be good to have dinner with them sometime; they were good people.”
She snuggled in next to me, pressing her warm body up against mine, and I felt a familiar stirring. This woman was incredible, taking me all the way from zero to one hundred in just a few moments. Already, my mind was filled with all the crazy things that I wanted to do to her body and it became difficult for me to control myself.
“Well, I think I’ve proven that I trust you,” she announced, ignoring the clear signs from my body as she turned to face me. “So tomorrow, I want to take you somewhere.”
“You do, do you,” I smiled, before lightly brushing my lips against hers. As I ran my fingers through her hair and down her soft cheek, I felt my heart beat faster. I loved this woman with everything that I had, and I knew that I would do absolutely anything for her.
Of course, I had to tease her for a bit first though. “Well I think you’re going to have to tell me what you have planned, or I might not agree to do it.”
“No way,” she insisted, whilst pushing me away playfully. “You didn’t tell me anything. I’m not telling you. It’s a surprise.”
“Hmmm…okay,” I wiggled my eyebrows at her. “I suppose. I might not be happy about it, though.”
“You’ll just have to suck it up and like it,” she replied, before kissing me a little more passionately, giving me what I so desperately needed. I pulled her in closer, wrapping my arms around her, and the kiss deepened. As she swung her body over mine and she took total control of the situation, I felt so happy that I could scream. A lot of people didn’t get one shot at love in their lives, yet somehow, I’d been lucky enough to have two. Somehow, I must have done something right, even if it didn’t always feel like it.
“Oh my God, I love you,” I said as June moved her mouth down to my neck. “You really are amazing.”
“I love you too,” she muttered, making my heart swell with happiness. I didn’t think that I would ever tire of hearing those words, however long I lived.
June was the one, the one that I needed to spend the rest of my life with. I just needed to wait until the time was right to tell her as much.