Chapter 7: By His Wounds - Faith & Ross, Martin
Faith looked around the Railroad Crossing Cafe and admired their design element. She appreciated when businesses took the time to make the room where their customers sat more appealing to the eye. Ross was quiet as he signaled for the waitress to take their order. Faith had been in the cafe a few times but wasn’t sure what to order. She felt a bit awkward since she hadn’t really spent a lot of time with Ross and personal conversations really weren’t his thing. They had gone to school together, their parents knew one another but they themselves hadn’t hung out. They had been more acquaintances then friends. She struggled with what to talk about and since he was so quiet, she felt a bit unnerved.
“Do you think Dek and Norman plan to use “So Close” in the regular song rotation,” he asked out of the blue as the waitress brought them their coffees and an appetizer to munch on.
“No clue. Their song rotation is a lot different than what I am used to. At Compass Point they paired music with the sermon. Here it just seems a bit more random as if they shuffled their entire song list and picked the first four that showed up at the top.” That fact had always bothered Faith but it was just a thing she had become used to. If you spoke about the scripture about how by his wounds we are healed, why not sing the song By His Wounds?
“Huh, I never really thought about why Norman always asked me about my sermon each week. I guess he was using those insights to pick songs to sing,” Ross said sipping his dark black coffee.
Faith took a mental step back. Talking about Norman wasn’t a topic she wanted to pursue. Ross knew the chasm between them was pretty large. Pastor Chase had left a lot of lies in his wake. The lie about Norman outing Faith being one of them. This was a wound he surely wanted to heal.
***
Martin Steele watched the feed on the surveillance cameras inside the Railroad Crossing Cafe and watched as Faith met with Ross. He had taken up a bit of the Watching of her considering Noah was persona non-grata lately. Franklin had agents out in force looking for both Raymond James Chase and Noah Stone. Noah’s job as a Watcher was over until the day he could explain his and James’ actions. They were supposed to be protecting Faith, not pushing her out and leaving her unprotected. Dek was also going to take up a majority of this surveillance which would test him for sure. He had never admitted to anyone that Faith was the woman he considered his life mate. Admitting weakness by showing love to another person put that person in danger and Dek was keenly aware of that fact which is why he struggled with approaching her even now.
Detective Danny Cornelius had contacted Faith relaying his location at the secret base at Area 51 where he was meeting with Taffy Appleton and Dr. Charlie Jenkins. Both Noah and James had come from this community and getting to know their histories would be very important as a way to think like they would to catch them both.
***
“Heaven’s closer than its ever been.” The words filtered through Faith’s mind. Her inner DJ was reminding her of the song “So Close” and how inspiring and in spirit it made her feel. Having coffee with Ross had been a bit awkward. Faith just wasn’t used to stepping out socially. She had spent so much time at home since her mom’s death two years earlier. It had hit her so hard. So she stayed home more because he was an introvert but also because finding friends had never been her strong suit. She was a perfectly happy and vibrant person but finding connections was so hard for her. She had had this trouble her whole life. So, when her dad started showing signs of dementia out of nowhere, and her niece and nephew came to live with her, Faith knew she had to get her act together.
That’s why the whole “let’s kick Faith out of everything” conspiracy had her so flummoxed. She was so saddened and blown away by the whole situation. James and Noah weren’t around anymore to straighten out the situation so most of her notice was put onto Norman, which she knew was unfair. The distance between them all hurt her since she had felt so close Norman, almost like a brother from another mother. She felt he was one of the few she could connect with. That was why his betrayal hurt her so much. She hadn’t seen it coming at all.
When they all perform “So Close” earlier, it felt to her like a healing was taking place. She didn’t feel that normal distance with Norman. When they would sing this song for real Dek would be singing lead with her and Norman filling in with background and keys. They were so fortunate at North Point to have an amazing worship choir. Although, a few of the gals still hadn’t warmed up to her. I guess that was the way with everything. Not every single person in your world would be your friend or advocate. They were led in song by Norman’s almost ex-Kerrigan. She didn’t know what had happened to break them up, but Faith was still praying for reconciliation. Ross had mentioned earlier in the day he had been planning to approach Kerrigan and join the worship choir. As a new deacon, inserting yourself into the church teams was important part of their ministry.
There seemed to be a lot of churches in transition in the area. Compass Point had closed due to lack if funding. They had discovered where the main leak was and had covered it up with some strong bandaids but that still hadn’t stopped the outflow of cash. It was discovered later that much of their missing money were due to the kicked out people who tithed were no longer there and so neither was their money. Many of the people left had been small young families with little to no extra income. Even families considered really well off were now of the struggle bus.
