Someone to Trust by Lesa Henderson

before the projectile sandwich hit me, what do you think of Lee Grainger? I know he’s very handsome, but that was some response.”
    “Boy, you sure know how to change the subject.” Megan took a bite of her sandwich as she stalled for time and chewed slowly trying to think of the best way to answer her friend’s question. She didn’t want to create any problems or hurt Cindy.
    “Really, Cindy, it would be unkind of me to comment negatively about a friend of yours and Alan’s,” Megan answered truthfully and evasively. Cindy’s mouth popped open in surprise.
    “How could you form a negative opinion based on one meeting—the encounter being one where he saved your dog’s life?” Cindy was obviously perplexed.
    “It was more than one encounter. Let’s just say Dr. Grainger and I have bumped into each other a couple of times,” Megan somewhat explained.
    “Still, I’m assuming those were brief encounters. Lee is one of the kindest, most dependable, trustworthy men I know. He and Alan are cut from the same cloth, you know. He serves the Lord faithfully, he’s intelligent and he’s handsome to boot—”
    “If you must know, he asked me out!” Megan blurted, before Cindy could continue with her recitation of Dr. Grainger’s wonderful attributes.
    “And?”
    “And he’s married!” Megan exclaimed, with an exasperated breath. Good grief, what’s wrong with Cindy? Had she taken leave of her senses?
    “He is?” Cindy asked in confusion and then adamantly responded, “He is not!”
    It was Megan’s turn to be confused. “He’s not?”
    “Not to my knowledge and I should know. He’s living in the cabin on the back of our property until he decides if he wants to move here and take on the partnership with Alan. He eats dinner at my table nearly every evening.”
    Megan swallowed hard. Then, she swallowed again. This was a lot of information to digest. It would seem she’d been misinformed. As she replayed the events in her mind, she realized she hadn’t been informed at all—she had assumed. Her lack of trust for the opposite sex had caused her to completely misjudge Cindy and Alan’s friend. As a result, she had treated him harshly.
    “But…I thought…somehow I’ve gotten my wires crossed, Cindy, and I’m afraid I haven’t been very pleasant to your friend Lee.” She would forego mentioning dumping macaroni salad all over him, although that had been an accident.
    “I’m sure you’ll have the opportunity to make amends, and if I know Lee, he will be quick to forgive you,” Cindy tried reassuring her.
    “I’m afraid I’ve made a terrible impression on the man. I don’t know what I’ll say,” Megan admitted.
    “How about—I’m sorry. Followed by, what about that date?” Cindy teased.
    “You’re terrible.” Megan laughed.
    “Yeah, but you gotta love me.”
    “That I do,” Megan agreed and then continued on a serious note. “I definitely need to apologize, but even if he does speak to me again, I don’t think I’m ready to date.”
    Cindy didn’t press the issue. In high school and in college they had kept no secrets, sharing all of the hurts from childhood and all of their hopes for the future. Cindy knew Megan was a very private and proud person while she knew Cindy was sensitive and would wait until she was ready to share whatever it was. Until then, Cindy would continue to pray for her.
    Cindy interrupted Megan’s thoughts. “So tell me what gave you the impression Lee’s married?”
    Megan explained about the night at the church social, unable to leave out the part about the macaroni salad. This time Cindy was laughing so hard she nearly choked and tears were streaming from her eyes.
    “So, let me get this straight. He gets a phone call and you mentioned his wife which left you thinking he’s married?”
    “I thought it was his wife and he didn’t say it wasn’t…come to think of it, I think he may have tried but I rushed away. He did manage to get in that he