I, Saul by Jerry B. Jenkins Page B

Never a smile. Never a kind word. Not even a thank you for dinner. Hewas not a TV watcher but rather a reader. When not studying theology, he read history. Before bed it was word games.
    Edsel rose at the same time every morning, six days a week, shaved, showered, dressed, ate, left, and returned late every afternoon like clockwork. Even on Saturday he spent the day at his office. Sunday he went to services morning and night, napping in the afternoon.
    Augie hated to think what he might have become had his mother not been, in essence, both parents to him. Yet he could never elicit one disparaging comment from her about his father. She defended her husband, spoke lovingly of him, and said she felt privileged to help him to be the man of the Word that he was.
Man of the Word maybe,
Augie thought,
but no man of God.
    Had his parents ever—even in the distant past—enjoyed a magical experience like Augie and Sofia enjoyed at the high place in Petra? His father’s reaction to the news of Augie’s engagement was simply, “You think they’re going to let their daughter marry so far out of her class?”
    His mother said, “August is good enough for anybody.”
    â€œTell a Greek millionaire that.”
    Augie shoved his chair back. “I wouldn’t be the first man in this family to marry outside his class.” “August!” his mother said.
    His father gave him a look that would have made Mona Lisa frown.
    Now Augie wondered if the man ever fathomed how fortunate he had been to find such a wife. Who else would have put up with him for so long?
    The elder Dr. Knox had proved maddeningly prescient. Nearly two months from their first kiss Augie arranged a short trip to Athens,leaving just enough time to get back for his fall teaching load. During the flight he couldn’t sleep, couldn’t read, couldn’t concentrate, paced whenever he was allowed, and jabbered so long to a flight attendant about Sofia that she said, “Tell me any more about her and I’m gonna have to be in the wedding.”
    When the eternal flight finally touched down at Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos, Augie was haggard and unshaven, but he found her smile above the crowd, and it was all he could do to keep from running over people to get to her. Had any couple ever been more in love, more destined for each other?
    That night, after he had napped and freshened up, Sofia introduced him to her friends over dinner. They were pleasant and talkative, but Nomiki, one of the guys from her work, seemed to be studying Augie. Finally the man said, “You guys are in love, right?”
    â€œOf course,” Sofia said. “Now don’t start . . .”
    He shook his head. “I don’t get why you’ve exiled him to a hotel. Who does that?”
    â€œDo you really want to know?” Augie said.
    â€œNo, he doesn’t,” Sofia said. “We’ve already been through this. He didn’t think there was anyone left in the world like us.”
    â€œThere’s not!” Nomiki said. “You’re adults. You’re in love. You’re planning a future together. Get on with it!”
    â€œDon’t think we wouldn’t love to,” Augie said.
    Nomiki smiled. “So you agree with her that you’re somehow honoring God this way?”
    â€œShe’s worth it.”
    â€œSorry I asked.”
    Sofia held up a hand. “Enjoy your dinner, Nomiki.”

    At the end of the evening, when the group was saying its farewells, Nomiki shook Augie’s hand. “You’re a lucky man,” he said. “More power to you.”
    Two days later the flight to Thessaloniki took less than an hour, and Augie was surprised when Sofia headed for the rental car counter.
    â€œDad and Mom are both busy at the main store.”
    â€œToo busy to—.”
    â€œThey need a little time to get used to this, Augie. I am their one and only,