Hidden Burdens (working title)

Chapter Eighteen

Ben walked into the house from the garage to Samson happily barking and circling around him. "Well, it's just you and me today," he told the dog, rubbing his face with both hands.

Ben kept going and headed into the kitchen to empty the dishwasher. Since the kids had cereal for breakfast, there weren't many to wash and just placed the dishes in the dishwasher once he rinsed them off.

Yesterday played in Ben's mind, over and over again. It was a chore to push all of it away to focus on Kimmy this morning. The kid doesn't show much emotion a lot of the time, but something must be going on inside her head when she couldn't walk up to the school on her own. He tried to let her take her time. If Mrs. Kendrick hadn't come when she did, they probably would still be standing there in the parking lot.

Ben finished cleaning the kitchen. Unsure what else to do, he headed upstairs to grab his bible and sat on the back patio to spend time with God while Samson sniffed around the yard. He read the week's chapter in Matthew now that he was caught up with the rest of the guys, having missed the week before last.

Chapter thirteen had a lot to take in, and the majority were parables Jesus told. Even with the explanations Jesus gave, Ben barely understood the text, nor did he find anything profound in the text. Though he related to the end when it said Jesus couldn't do much of his works in his hometown due to the people's unbeliefs and knew who he was.

His family, especially his parents, had been surprised when they found out Ben had joined a church. Joining a church was mostly because of Kayla, who had kindly rejected him when they met. A co-worker he worked with at a car repair garage had invited him on a few occasions until Ben finally took him up on his offer. It was only to check things out, and the friend wasn't expecting to convert him. Despite not being much of a reader or even a straight-A student, Ben always had a curious nature and eventually accepted his offer. Ben wasn't even expecting anything.

That is... Until he met Kayla.

Kayla was a friend of the co-worker's wife. When she and Ben were introduced, he loved how easy and compassionate she was to talk to. She answered his questions the best she could while honestly admitting when Kayla did not know the answer, and Ben wanted to know more. Not just about her faith, but Kayla, most importantly. But when he tried to ask her out for lunch after the service, she kindly declined and explained she didn't casually date and not with someone who did not share her faith. It seemed a little closed-minded to him, but Ben didn't push her if that was Kayla's choice. Later, his co-worker shared it was because she had openly dated in college and even a couple times afterwards, and it never worked out. So, she found it easier to stick with guys who had a heart for God.

"And how's that working for her?" he had asked. Ben hadn't meant that to sound cocky, but he also could not get this lady out of his thoughts.

His co-worker shrugged. "Kayla has found it best to focus on her career while she waits. Things seem to happen when we least expect them to."

Ben knew from country music, a way to a girl's heart was sometimes through her father. Kayla was raised only by her mother, though. So, if getting to know God was the key to reaching her heart, Ben gladly accepted. Thus, his spiritual journey had begun and let his co-worker walk him through accepting Jesus.

Ben never really felt any different. There was no special ritual like in the Final Fantasy games he played as a kid. Or some fusion dance like from Dragon Ball Z, one of the two anime cartoons he could ever get into. 

When he learned he had to read a big, boring book practically daily, with stories that confused him to no end, he wondered if it had been a mistake. But then he thought about Kayla and he pushed through the constant questions his mind came up with and the doubt. Once word had gotten to her what he had done, she considered grabbing a cup of coffee first to hear him out and see for herself if Ben was serious about this.