CHAPTER FIVE
There is no avoidance in delay. – Aeschylus
Sebastian was having quite the day, and it wasn’t even noon yet.
Mrs. Burns, one of the residents in town and wife of the owner of the only barber shop there, believed her only son was being possessed by the devil itself—and apparently, it had been going on for a while now, but they had been too afraid to report it. William was supposedly the one to handle it, but there was another incident on the opposite side of town that needed his attention, too—and so they flipped a coin and wished each other the best of luck before departing to their destinations.
When Sebastian got there, Mrs. Burns was beside herself, practically dragging him to the living room to serve him with a huge plateful of her famous cookies and milk. She chatted to him about her big concern for her son, telling him how absolutely sad she was that her precious little child was turning away from the Lord and succumbing to life’s evil ways.
“What has your son been doing to make you think that, Mrs. Burns?” Sebastian asked politely while chewing over a cookie, which was still warm.
The middle-aged woman turned teary eyes at him. “He has not been himself. He is distracted and sullen, and lately he has resorted to talking back to us whenever we try to reason with him! I’m just about all out of my wits trying to get him back in the world and the Lord. It’s the devil, I tell you!”
Mrs. Burns launched on with more descriptions of her sullen son, and after a while, decided to introduce Sebastian to the said boy, named Adam. She made a stomp for upstairs and dragged the boy down, who was protesting at the indecency of being dragged down by the ears. Sebastian saw a tall, lanky boy of about fifteen, who looked like he might still fill out his body if he ate right.
Mrs. Burns kept on with her nagging, and the boy only turned redder, avoiding his eyes. Sebastian didn’t say anything, merely kept eating his cookies and finishing his milk as he waited for the mother to finish.
Once she did, she turned to Sebastian expectantly, pleading for his help as she told him even her husband couldn’t control the boy’s rebellious ways anymore. Sebastian took one look at the boy. Then he nodded his head.
“I’d like to take him out, please, so we could have a heart to heart talk.”
There was surprise at the request, followed by eagerness. Mrs. Burns wished him good luck. With a smile, Sebastian thanked her.
*****
Adam Burns was in love—or rather, on the cusp of a very passionate teenage desire for his delightful sixteen-year-old schoolmate. It took Sebastian half an hour to pry it out of him, and even then he was reluctant to give out the details.
The schoolmate, Angela, had the face of an angel and was very popular in school for her kindness—but she was so, so poor that he knew his family would never accept her. Sebastian let him talk as he took the teenage boy to the town’s diner, ordering the works for the both of them—burger, fries and creamy milkshake.
When Adam was done discussing the love of his life, Sebastian turned serious and gently asked him what he thought rebelling from his mother would do to his chances with the said girl. Adam explained that it was the only way for him to gain independence. Sebastian contradicted this with as much calm and diplomacy as he could, by asking the boy one question.
“Don’t you think your parents will love it more if you’re obedient and respectful to them, and in turn it will make them appreciate the girl who had inspired you to such values?”
Obviously, Adam hadn’t seen it from that angle. It was like a cloud had parted and all the answers were clear based on the boy’s expression, and Sebastian inwardly smiled as the boy exclaimed out loud how so much easier that sounded.
When they went back to the boy’s home, he was back to his old, affectionate self, giving his mother a heartfelt speech about how he was going to be respectful from now on and apologizing for all his rebellion and talking back like an ungrateful son. Mrs. Burns looked teary-eyed again as her son excused himself and went back upstairs, but not without a wink from Sebastian, as if they shared a very special secret.
In gratitude, the middle-aged lady declared that the devil was banished and it was all thanks to the good pastor Seb. She gave him loads of cookies in one huge container, and he ate the delicious things on the way back to the church, leaving some for the other pastors.
At noon, there was a charity bake sale that was held in the front yard of the church. Headed by Ethel Green, it featured all the married women of Sunnydale with their favorite recipes.
The delicacies spread out consisted of home baked goods that were almost always to-die-for, especially when warm: baked apple pie, cinnamon croissants, and caramel brownies, among others. He was pretty sure Mrs. Burns’ chocolate chip cookies would make an appearance in a few minutes. The most popular so far was Mrs. Green’s chocolate fudge cake, which apparently had been a family recipe for years. She beamed when everyone heaped her praises and managed to cajole him to get a few bites of his own, despite already being full.
Sebastian spotted Janice soon after, gulping down some brownies and eyeing the apple pie. With a grin, he strode over in her direction and gently nudged her shoulder.
“Hi, there.”
Janice took one look at him and rolled her eyes, her mouth full. “Ahjrfrhh.”
“I’m sorry? I don’t think I quite understood you.”
She gulped and cleared her throat. “I said, you are quite late.”
He told her a brief explanation of where he had been, and she caught on enough to chuckle. Janice had been fresh out of college just last year, and was now working for the sheriff’s office filing papers and organizing things. Despite the age difference, they got on quite well, considering Janice was basically the most sarcastic woman who had the knack of getting away with it, and it never failed to amuse him.
They kept on chatting and catching up until Janice’s attention got snagged by someone behind him. Her eyes widened in recognition and a smirk slid up her face.
“Why, hello there.”
The smell of jasmine drifted up his nose, subtle and light. He would recognize that scent anywhere—especially after the day after he stayed too late at her house. Sebastian’s body immediately tensed before she even said a word, and to subdue his reaction, he didn’t turn, even while he heard her approach.
“Hi, Janice. This event looks awesome.”
Her voice drifted into his senses, making him think of hot summer nights. Slowly, because he was already being rude, he turned his head in her direction and looked.
Her light gray eyes met his, a hint of joy in them as she looked at him shyly. It reminded him of her warmth when he had been at her house, her openness as they talked about some parts of their lives. Then she said that one word, that almost-forbidden word—and what had been a semi-friendly chat suddenly shifted into territory that he was all too aware of, one that made his hands itch to touch.
“Hello, Pastor Seb.”
Not letting any of that show on his face, Sebastian nodded his head. “Hello, Lily. How have you been?”
Like he didn’t know how she had been when he was a little too close to her last night. A certain hint of awareness drifted up in her eyes, but she blinked and he wondered if it was his imagination. Lily smiled brightly. “I’ve been very good. Very excited about this bake sale. And you?”
“Wonderful,” he murmured.
Her eyes strayed to his lips before returning to his eyes, and no change of expression happened as she nodded innocently. “Good. I’ll go and mingle now. Want to come, Janice?”
Janice was all too pleased to find someone near her age, and together they went off to hunt for more good food and conversation. Sebastian did his best to ignore them, tried not to think of how alluring she was in her outfit.
She was wearing another conservative one, come to think of it—jeans and a slightly loose shirt that she tucked in a bit at the front of her waist. There was a blue, thin band on her head, nothing worth remembering.
And so Sebastian tried not to remember. He kept himself busy with the bake sale, helped those that weren’t selling well by charming the buyers to splurge, at the same time putting some of his own money in as an addition to the charity. The husbands and the partners soon arrived after their shift at work, and Sebastian soon found himself conversing with the town sheriff, who was the head of that department for years now and was a pretty affable—and overweight—fellow. Oftentimes, he would see flashes of blue within his field of vision.
All the time, he would ignore it, and ignore the temptation to turn in that direction.
One of the kids’ aunts, Rhonda, sauntered up to him just as the Sheriff left, holding a plate of chocolate cookies and giving him a coy smile. He immediately became wary, considering she had propositioned him before. True to habit, as Sebastian politely took one cookie and took a bite, she sidled closer and whispered in his ear.
“You know, there’s plenty more where that came from, Pastor Seb. Why don’t you come over to my house so we could discuss the recipe over dinner?”
There was a certain heat in her eyes, which she didn’t even bother to hide. A flash of blue appeared beside him, and the scent of jasmine made desire leap in his blood. He tamped it down and declined Rhonda’s invitation in his usual charming manner, complimenting her on her cookies and inviting her to come to his classes with the others when she had the time. Disappointed, but obviously not deterred, she slinked away with a definitive sway of her hips, one that didn’t arouse him in the least.
Not everyone was like Rhonda, though. There were a few women at the bake sale who were genuinely interested in him as a person, and who made time to ask him how he was doing. They were interested in him as a person and he felt more like a part of the community and not just a pastor of the church.
Eventually, the sale came to a close, and the town raised a larger amount than they had last year. The mayor, Mr. Dawson, went around and congratulated everyone on a job well done, and the front yard ended up being cleaned thoroughly before everyone left. After a quick settling of things with the Reverend and the other pastors, Sebastian got into his car and drove home.
He passed no broken cars along the way.