Unfold

Chapter Twenty (20)

It had been a couple weeks since Jean had been to church. Last time, it had brought up feelings and emotions she wasn't ready to deal with. Shawn had told her after the service that it was more heavy than usual, but she still found the unknown scary. She enjoyed the people there; people were eager to meet her and talk to her, but her one shift a week had been moved to Sunday mornings and Jean had an excuse not to go. However, Jean found herself missing her mornings spent with Shawn and his friends, and she was able to switch her day with someone else.

She wasn't sure how things were going to be between Shawn and her after the night before. I mean, all he did was kiss her on the cheek, but even that was enough to make her head spin.

As she checked out her outfit and turned in the mirror, she heard a knock at the door. Confused, she wondered if it was Brooke. She was the only one to ever knock on her door. When she opened it, she was surprised to see Shawn standing there.

"Shawn?" she said, stepping aside to let him in. "Why didn't you text me?"

Shawn stepped inside and shut the door. "Because I know where you live now, and I'm old-fashioned."

"You do read the newspaper."

He smiled. "I'm sorry, I hope it's okay that I came up. You look great!"

"Thanks, but I've had a heck of a morning," Jean stated. "I don't usually blow dry my hair, but I did today. But I also had the dishwasher running. Half the power in my apartment is out now." She shook her head. "My goal in life is to live in a place where I can dry my hair and wash dishes simultaneously."

"Did you get the power back on?"

"No, I finished drying my hair in the kitchen."

Shawn smiles. "Sounds like you just blew a fuse. I'll help you fix it after church."

"Thanks, I think I'm just about ready." She glanced at his outfit. "What the heck, Shawn? You're more dressed up. Is something special happening today?"

Shawn knit his eyebrows together and looked down at his outfit. "I'm wearing jeans..."

"But you're wearing a button-up."

"I am?" Shawn said, touching his plaid shirt. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to? I just grabbed something."

Jean looked down at her own outfit again, now unsure. "Maybe I should wear a dress again."

"No," Shawn said, covering his face as if he was exhausted. "You look perfect."

Jean smiled and put her fingers up for another second as she started to back up towards her room. "Just let me try on a couple more things."

"Jeanette Anne Arthur, you stop this nonsense right now."

She shook her head at him, suppressing her smile at the new guess of her middle name. If he was trying to impersonate her parents, they never used her full name. "You're not even close."

He reached forward and grabbed her hand before she could back up any farther. "Let's go."

She tried to pull away in protest, but he put an arm around her shoulders. She sighed as she gave in and grabbed her purse off the wall and they headed out the door.

***

The service did not bring up as many emotions as the last time, and she was thankful for it. The pastor even referenced a story that Shawn had told her about on one of their morning runs. Excited, she nudged him and he chuckled quietly to himself.

The pastor was still talking about peace, and he talked about how "the enemy" who Jean assumed was the devil, puts lies in your head. At one point he quickly mentioned that everyone has a lie about themselves that they believe and hold with them. Jean assumed she had a couple of those floating around in her heart.