Salvation (Joseph Seed)

4. Decision Made

At Joseph's house:

Joseph sat down in an armchair while his brothers sat on the couch opposite him. He had invited his brother over like he often did, it wasn't unusual for them to all gather at Joseph's house on occasion.

"Have either of you had a chance to speak to the new face yet? The young woman with dark hair, she sat up front for the last two Sundays" Joseph asked his brothers, trying to jog their memories a little. He hadn't been able to get Evelyn out of his mind, part of him hoped that one of his brothers had noticed her so that he had an excuse to speak about her.

"I know that one you are talking about, I saw her both Sundays. She seems rather quiet, doesn't talk to anyone...other than you" Jacob nodded, being able to recall the woman that his brother had described. She clearly wasn't any sort of threat to what they were building here. Jacob also noticed that the only person she had spoken to was Joseph himself.

"Yeah, she's rather young. Pretty though" John nodded, smirking slightly as he took a sip from his glass.

"John, she is a child" Jacob grimaced. He never had a problem with John's hobbies, but she was so young. She shouldn't get involved with John.

"No she isn't, Jacob. She is a young woman. She might be joining us actually" Joseph told them, taking a drink from his own cup.

"What is her name anyway?" John asked, looking over at Joseph curiously.

"Evelyn Monroe" Joseph told him both, and they just nodded.

"She has just got here, right?" Jacob asked, sure that she must be new to the area because of how lost she looked.

"Yes, she just moved to Hope County with her parents" Joseph nodded, thinking back to the little information that she had told him.

"They never come to church?" John asked with a slightly furrowed brow, sure that he had only ever seen her alone.

"She hasn't said much about them but they've never come here with her" Joseph shook his head.

"I was watching her last Sunday, doesn't look like she even would be capable of committing a sin" John chuckled quietly to himself, she surely wasn't capable of doing anything sinful.

"I know. She is good...innocent, pure...angelic even" Joseph hummed, speaking mostly to himself than to anyone else.

"It's the eyes" John hummed along with a small smile. Jacob looked between his brothers and shook his head, it was just a girl.

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At Evelyn's house:

Evelyn sat down at the dining table for dinner with her parents. Her father sat at the end of the table while her and her mother sat down on either side of him. The three of them began to eat their meals in silence.

"How is church going?" Evelyn's father finally asked. Both of her parents had been curious about the church that Evelyn was attending because both times she came home she had a smile on her face.

"Well. Everyone there is nice. The Father is very welcoming" Evelyn answered with a smile.

"The Father?" her mother asked with a furrowed brow.

"Yeah, he is like the pastor but everyone calls him 'the Father'" Evelyn explained with a small shrug. She knew that it could seem strange at first but somehow it already felt normal to her.

"Not strange at all..." her mother hummed, seeming unimpressed as she continued to eat her food.

"Shush, she is going to church by choice and is enjoying it. Just leave it" her father shook his head, just happy that Evelyn was doing what they told her to do.

"Actually...I was speaking to the Father...he asked me if I wanted to convert to the church" Evelyn told her parents, knowing that an argument was about to start.

"They want money?" her father asked, ready to drag her out of the church if he had too.

"No, he said I just have to have a baptism and go through a confession. That's it" she shook her head, shrugging a little.

"Do it" her mother nodded, not leaving any chance for argument.

"Do I get a choice?" Evelyn asked with a sigh as she placed her knife and fork down on the table.

"Of course you don't. We've told you that you have to learn to be responsible, God will help you" her mother reminded her, fixing a stern gaze on her daughter.

"I've said I'm sorry, it won't ever happen again. I made a mistake-" Evelyn began to argue for, what felt like, the millionth time.

"You did more than make a mistake, Evelyn. What you did was disgusting, it was disgraceful. You need to understand that and you need to sort your life out, you need to grow up" her mother warned her, raising her voice slightly.

"So let me make my own decisions" Evelyn whispered, hanging her head in shame.

"You're doing it and that's the end of it" her mother snapped, putting an end to this argument.

"Do it, Evelyn. What harm would it do?" her father encouraged, patting her shoulder in an attempt to be comforting.

After dinner, Evelyn retired to her room for the evening. Her mother always said that she needed to act like an adult, yet she always insisted on making decisions for her. Evelyn was beginning to think that her parents would never forgive or forget what happened before Hope County. All she knew was that her decision had been made, even if somebody else had made it for her.