Salvation (Joseph Seed)

17. Self Restraint

Despite what happened during Evelyn's last visit to the Project's church, she still went to the sermon on Sunday. Even though she was dreading having to see Joseph again, she strangely wanted to attend the service. Whether it was for the sermon itself or because of the man holding said sermon, she wasn't sure and wasn't in any hurry to find out.

She sat in the church, listening to the sermon but barely able to watch the preacher, the same man that she could barely take her eyes off of on a normal day. How are you meant to look the Father in the eyes after you kissed him?

After the sermon, Evelyn headed straight for the door. She couldn't risk any sort of conversation with Joseph, she knew that she would just die from embarrassment. She kept her head down as she walked towards the gates of the compound, figuring that it would just be best to go home.

"Evelyn! Where are you going?" Lonny asked as he jogged over to her.

"Oh hey, Lonny. I'm just heading home" Evelyn told him with a small smile, letting him know that there was nothing to worry about.

"You aren't staying for a bit? I didn't even see you before the sermon. Are you alright?" he asked with a look of concern on his face.

"Yeah, I'm fine...I can stay a little longer" the woman sighed as she gave in, laughing quietly as Lonny's face lit up again.

"Great! So, how have you been?" Lonny asked and they walked back towards the congregation.

"Pretty good, I had my baptism and everything the other day. So I'm like an official member now" she informed him, not sure if he knew when her baptism was.

"I assume that you didn't do the atonement?" He hummed, remembering how she reacted when she first found out about the scars.

"The scar thing? No, I don't think I could ever do that. Definitely not brave enough" Evelyn laughed slightly as she shook her head.

"Ah, I'm sure that's true" Lonny laughed along.

"Oh, it is, trust me" she smiled up at him.

Both of their attention was turned to the man confidently approaching them, the one and only John Seed. "Hey Lonny, can you go and mail those papers that are on my desk in my office?" John asked, looking straight at the younger man.

"Back at the ranch?" Lonny asked. Was John really going to send him all the way back to the ranch to mail some legal documents? Couldn't that wait for an hour or two?

"Well, that's where my office is" John shrugged.

"Yeah, sure. I'll see you later, Evelyn" Lonny nodded at them both and Evelyn gave him a little wave and a smile as he walked away from them.

"Hey, Evelyn. How are you feeling now that you are an official member of the Project?" John asked as he turned to look down at Evelyn. She instantly smiled back. Just something about John was so charismatic that it made you want to talk to him about anything. Evelyn was pretty sure that he really could sell ice to Eskimos.

"Good, I guess. It doesn't really feel any different but it feels good to be a real part of this" Evelyn admitted, vaguely gesturing around at the compound and Joseph's flock. To be honest, she was a little worried that John knew about the kiss in the church. She assumed that Joseph would speak to his siblings about that.