The Space Between You and I

Chapter 1

Using his teeth to pull down on the coffee tube, Henry Hart filled his coffee cup at Mama P’s Coffee Shop with their house coffee and then proceeded over to join his father, Jasper, at a table. The smell of fresh coffee lingered in the air that early February morning. Sounds of hushed conversations filled his ears as he journeyed toward the only father he had ever known, even if he wasn’t blood-related. He was almost to the table when a woman in line at the counter dropped her keys a few feet from him. Stopping, he turned and saw her with a baby on her hip. Moving closer, he bent down and retrieved the keys for her.

     

Henry rose to his feet and handed her the keys.

“Thank you, sir. It’s sure been one of those mornings!” Adjusting the baby on her left hip, she flashed a friendly smile and took the keys.

 

“Have a nice day, ma’am.”

 

Continuing to his father’s table, Henry was greeted with a warm smile. Pulling out a chair, he hung his coat on the back and sat down. A smile grew on his lips and in his heart as his father folded the newspaper he was reading formerly to his arrival. He loved seeing his dad, an occurrence that didn’t happen as often as he had hoped since he moved out of his parents’ house six years ago.

   

“Hey, boy. It’s good to see you. That weather is a bit bad this morning.” Jasper took a deep drink of his coffee.

 

“Yeah, I think I heard thirteen degrees on the radio on my drive over.”

 

“Yep. Hey . . .” His father leaned in slightly across the table with raised eyebrows.

“Your mother and I don’t see much of you unless it’s Christmas. What’s going on with that?”

  Taking a drink of his coffee, Henry set his cup down on the table and rubbed the rim lightly with the side of his thumb. He nodded lightly. “Work has been busy, Dad. You know all those new renting houses regulations I told you about a few months back?” His father nodded. “They finally rolled out to the production server and it’s a mess. One of the new testers on our team marked a ton of things as useful when they weren’t. We had to roll the entire update back and slowly release bits and pieces at a time. Lots of cleanup, and that means long hours of work and work.”

     

Raising a hand, Jasper shook his head. “I don’t know what most of that means, but I believe you, Son. Just give your mom a call occasionally and let her know you care. Would you?”

   

Henry nodded in agreement. “I can do that.”

 

Silence fell across their conversation for a few moments. Then his father changed the topic elsewhere.

 

“Any word on scholarships to get into Bible college?”

 

He shook his head. “I’m going to have to let that dream go, Dad. If I focus hard at my current job and dedicate it all to the Lord, He will bless that. God will just have to use me where I am.”

  “That’s the right mindset to have about it. If it’s God’s will for you to attend Bible school, you will.

 “I know.”

   

“How’s Noelle?”

   

Henry stifled in his seat. He knew the basic reason of his father’s question. Noelle wasn’t just any girl in Henry’s life but the girl, according to everyone but him. Henry and Noelle had gone to high school together and had been best friends for six years. A year ago, she had started attending the same church as he did, First Baptist. This last year, he had seen her more and more because of it. Their friendship had deepened and tilted back and forth on the fence toward a relationship, according to everyone around them. But Henry didn’t want more than friendship when it came to Noelle. He feared a relationship would only mess up their friendship, and he couldn’t put something so lovely at risk.

 

Clearing his throat, Henry nodded as uneasiness rose within him.

   

“She’s good, Dad. You know she and I aren’t ever going to happen. You and Rachel and Mom should all just give it up.”

“Is it because she’s black and Nigerian, son?”Jasper took another sip of his coffee.

“Geez Dad, I’m not racist.” Henry chuckled

“Then what exactly is the problem, son?” Jasper leaned to hear his son’s next words.

“Dad……uhm how do I start….”

     

“Son, listen.” Jasper interrupted his son, his voice lowered, and grew more serious. “Women like her don’t come around very often. She’s God-fearing, never been married, sweetest girl in the works and she’s single. You’ve been her friend for years, and that’s a very good start, but only a start.”

 Henry  smiled politely at his father’s words. “I know . . .”

 

A moment passed, then Jasper glanced away for a moment. His gaze came back to Henry. “What else is going on?”

 

Taking a sip of his coffee, Henry remembered his upcoming schedule ahead of him. His eyebrows furrowed. “We have a business meeting tonight at the church.”

   

“Oh, yeah?” His dad took a drink of his coffee. “You don’t seem too excited about that.”

 

“I’m not. I have a gut feeling Terry is going to be proposing more money going to that homeless camp in

   

with that. We have to take care of people, all

 

feel we need to keep pouring money into helping

 

gentle. “Caring for the needs of the poor is Biblical, Son. There is no way around it, and you know that. It’s a good thing your church is doing with these people who are

 

it, not the church’s money. You know what Terry did last week? He bought a BMW. Then tonight he’s going to come beg for more money to go

Jasper didn’t reply at all this time. He only held a look of disappointment

 

Sensing his father’s disappointment, Henry sighed and shook his head. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that about Terry The guy just bugs me, and I don’t feel his heart is

 

tone, Jasper asked, “Is your heart in

to be a good Christian of his resources

why

 

was rude and it upset you.”

 

God and your heart is

 

“I don’t get what you’re saying, Dad.”

 

hands on the table, he

 

from me, Son. Look at me. Don’t turn away

   

with difficulty into his father’s

 

unhappy toward one of God’s appointed leaders. Sure, you might be sorry for what you just said about him, but that doesn’t change the heart

 

his mind and letting them trickle down into his heart. Jasper had been beyond what a typical dad was to a child throughout the years. Jasper had been Henry’s spiritual leader. Through his father’s instruction, he had been taught what it meant to be a true man of God. His sister, Rachel, was taught what

 

depths of his soul but had assigned it all to the fact that Jasper and Priscilla weren’t his biological parents. Jasper had found him in a manger when

Henry home to be his son.

 

pray about my heart in

   

Jasper nodded and took a drink of his coffee. “Real men conduct their battles from their knees, not from their mouths. Don’t

     

   

 

     

         

   

* *

     

ended. He found a seat near the back and set his Bible and coat down on the long bench. He joined in the singing of the last chorus and then took his seat in unison with

a BMW, and walk around like you’re some spiritual guru, but when it comes

 

audience with a smile on

 

  Shouts of ‘Amen’ lifted from the congregation.

smiled as his gaze fell on a gray-haired woman. “This is Mary. She’s our guest of honor tonight.

 

at other people to pass time as Terry went on and on about the woman. After he was finally done talking, he read the church announcements. Henry listened to the announcements, and then Terry asked everyone to bow their heads to pray over the

   

you’ve been so gracious to give us. It’s only through Your grace , mercy and goodness that we have anything at all. Let us worship You through this act of generosity. Amen.”

 

from Terry’s lips  was Henry’s blame and judgment. He didn’t like the way he felt toward Terry but didn’t

 

person in the world and the only woman besides his mother and sister whom he had ever loved. Everyone wanted him to date Noelle but he didn’t want to confuse up the perfect friendship they had. Henry knew he’d be the luckiest man on earth if he ever married that girl, and maybe someday, that could happen, but until then, their friendship

collecting the offering, Pastor Jacob took to

“Take a moment, dear sisters and brothers and greet those around you. Then we’ll jump into the Word of God.”

   

brown eyes caught his gaze. The very next moment, she smiled that smile that lit up Henry's face and made everything else seem not important. Her dark

 

laughed and said jokingly, “It’s my first time here,

 

laughed and then embraced in a long hug.

 

Bips after this

 

I had my yogurt and granola before church to bat off the hunger to make it to a fast-food joint for dinner. I hope you know it’s all just for you. By the way . . . normal

 

into a smile. “What fun is normal? Plus, I barely

 

raised a playful eyebrow with a smile on her face and in her voice. “If you didn’t take naps at work,

 

both

   

hands, Henry returned to his seat near the back. His eyes still on her, he watched as she talked and laughed with Mary, the woman Terry had introduced earlier. He loved Noelle's personality and the fact that every person who knew her loved to be around her. That was just her. She was dark yet so shiny. She glowed with some sort of spiritual aura that seemed to attract everyone to her. She was everything he wasn’t and everything he wanted to be. He knew he had a lot of head knowledge when it came to God, but she had something different. She had the

“I love to see you all playing and talking, but

 

asked everyone to turn in their Bibles to Judges,

or a fire insurance Christian, but a real Christian. A Christ follower. He helped me get home that night, then he called me daily after that and even met with me weekly for the next six months. He taught me all about God, all about Jesus, and all about a thing called the Bible. He didn’t teach me religion. He taught me relationship. He sat and listened as I told him about my struggles, and that man prayed with me. His name was

 

again, Pastor Jacob cleaned his eyes with a tissue, then he continued. “I’m getting side-tracked. The point is, George shared with me years later that a man whom he didn’t know had done a similar thing for him, which led him to Jesus too. I’m a pastor now, but my start was in an alley behind The Spark. You see, brothers and sisters, God can use us no matter where we are in

   

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