Sweet Contradiction by Peggy Martinez

from anyone who’d put me through this much trouble too. I watched him as he headed toward the open produce market. I was already feeling the loss of his presence. This was exactly what I had been wanting all along, though, I reminded myself.
    “Let’s go home, Jen.” I sighed and rubbed a hand over the tender, already bruising spot on my upper arm. Jen nodded and stepped around Beau’s prone figure to get to my truck.
    My mind was a torrent of thoughts by the time we made it back to the house and I knew I would have to work out the over flow of emotions and feelings so my body would be able to relax by the evening. I helped Jen put away the groceries in silence before asking her the question that had been weighing most heavily on my mind since the scene in the grocery store parking lot.
    “Matt is the son of a Pastor?” I asked as I stacked the can goods in the pantry.
    “Yes. His dad is Pastor Wright of New Hope Community Church just outside of town.” Jen sighed heavily and sat down at the table once all the groceries were put away.
    “And I take it he isn’t like the rebellious, bad boy, cliché preacher kid type?” I knew the answer in my heart to the question, that Matt wasn’t, that he was probably the spittin’ image of his religious daddy. Jen gazed at me, her eyes saying she was sorry and how much she wished I’d had a normal upbringing, that I didn’t have issues with religion in general.
    “He’s a Sunday school teacher. The children in his class adore him. He never misses a Sunday and punching the crap out of Beau, though well deserved, was definitely out of the norm for him.” She let out a shaky breath and searched my face. I stood there for a few minutes, unable to think clearly. Jen had just confirmed everything I’d already figured out, but it was painful to hear said out loud. Matt was completely off my radar and I had to back the hell away from having anything to do with him.
    “Please say something.”
    I clenched my jaw and met her worried gaze. “It’s fine.” I waved a hand and walked over and opened the back door.
    “What are you doing?” she asked quietly.
    “I’m going to work in the garden. I need some time to process everything.” I smiled what I hoped was a convincing smile and shut the door behind me.
    I threw myself into my work in the back yard. I pulled weeds, pruned back the rose bushes and even built a pretty red brick border around the herb garden. I found myself relaxing, if just a little, as I put all my energy into one of the few things I’d missed when I left the country life. There was nothing quite like burying your hands in the earth, nurturing plants, watching them flourish and bloom all because of your hard work and tender care.
    A few hours later, Jen came outside with an ice cold glass of sweet tea and told me that Matt was on the phone for the third time. I shook my head and sat up on the steps of the back porch to enjoy my tea in the afternoon breeze. I couldn’t talk to him just yet. Jen didn’t say anything, just went inside and left me with my thoughts and the midday sun. When my tea was finished, I grabbed a bucket and filled it with cold, soapy water and began scrubbing the back porch on my hands and knees. My arms began to shake slightly in exhaustion, but I worked relentlessly on getting the back porch spotless.
    Everything I’d been concerned about getting involved with Matt had just quadrupled. It was more than the fact that he broke all my rules for dating … he was a freakin’ preacher’s son. He was so different from my normal dating pattern, that it was ridiculous. Not only that, but he was very involved in his church and religion. I just couldn’t go there. I couldn’t give him the kind of relationship he would be looking for. The perfect girlfriend who would hold his hand and attend services together and plan out their perfect, two-point-five kid family, who would be raised in a tiny town and taught to fear a god who would