A Forever Thing: A Contemporary Christian Romance NOVELLA (4 page)

“Why not?” She sounded far more like her actual age than she had the night before.

He had no idea how to answer that. He just knew they didn’t.

The girl shrugged. “I’m twelve and I have no problem telling how old I am.”

He nodded and half-grinned. “Well, I’m thirty-four and I don’t either.”

“Thirty-four!” Angie’s eyes widened. “You’re way, way older than my mom.”

“Nope, sorry. Hate to disappoint you, but I’m not. Your mother is thirty-two, so I’m only two years older than her.”

“Wait. How do you know how hold my mom is?” Her brows veed.

“Because,” He tapped her on the end of the nose. “Your mom and dad and I used to hang out together. That’s how I know.”

“You knew my dad?” Curiosity danced in her hazel eyes, eyes identical to her mother’s.

“I did. All through middle and high school, we were known as the three musketeers.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“What didn’t you know?” Kelly asked as she walked into the living room from the kitchen.

Angie hurried over to her mother. “I didn’t know Officer Baker knew Daddy.”

Their gazes collided across the room, and Kelly’s soft smile followed. “Yes, he did.”

“How come you didn’t tell me?”

“Because the subject never came up. That’s why.”

Angie frowned but didn’t have a chance to ask any more questions.

“Dinner’s ready. Will you get the milk out of the fridge for me?” Kelly asked Angie.

Angie looked over at Tate. “Will you tell me about my dad, Officer Baker?”

“At the table,” Kelly said for him.

“Awesome!” Angie scurried into the kitchen.

Tate strode over to Kelly. “Is this the same little girl I met yesterday?”

Kelly glanced toward the kitchen. “It is. I think it has something to do with the fact that you’re the first person to threaten to arrest me. She told me last night how she’d lost one parent, she didn’t want to lose another and that she was sorry.” Kelly sighed. “I just hope it lasts. With her, she’s up one minute, and angry and rebellious the next. I never know what to expect from her. But while she’s happy, I’m going to enjoy it.” Those lips he’d long to kiss, curled into a smile. “Thanks.”

He nodded and smiled back. Spending an evening with Kelly felt like old times. Only this time, Brad wasn’t around. The thought saddened him. He’d loved Brad. Growing up, they had been like brothers. So when Brad had asked Kelly out, even though Tate loved her, he had refused to do anything to hurt his best friend. Now that Brad was gone, he decided he would try to win Kelly’s heart. And her daughter’s. He had a feeling he had his work cut out for him there. Right now, the girl seemed to accept him. But how would she act when she found out that he wanted to marry her mother?

♥ ♥ ♥

Kelly laughed at every story Tate told about their antics growing up. “We used to let all of Mrs. Garner’s chickens loose because she would pay each of us a dollar to gather them. Years later, Mrs. Garner confessed how she knew all along what we were doing, but she couldn’t help herself. The three of us gave her a good laugh chasing those ornery chickens around. Them mean things would peck our hands and scratch us with their claws. Not once though did your dad ever get pecked or clawed.”

Angie hung on every word Tate spoke, her dinner barely touched.

He glanced at Kelly with a content smile on his face. “Your mom and I never figured out how he did it.”

“That’s cuz my daddy was smart.” Angie beamed with pride, smiling. “Ha, Mom?”

“He sure was, baby. He was a great guy.”

Angie’s smile dropped, her gaze fell to her lap. “I sure miss him.”

Kelly covered Angie’s hand with hers. “I do, too, baby. I do too.”

Her attention slipped over to Tate. She hiked a shoulder, sorry how dinner had taken a sad turn. Kelly read his lips as he mouthed. “It’s okay.”

She nodded.

“Mom, may I be excused?”

Kelly glanced at her daughter’s plate. “Excused? You’ve barely touched your food.”

“I’m not hungry.” The sadness in her voice broke Kelly’s heart. How she longed to comfort her. To make everything right again.

Kelly nodded. “I guess it’s okay. But just this once, alright?”

Angie gave her a short nod and stood. With one glance at Tate, she whispered, “Thank you for talking about my daddy.” Her sad eyes turned to Kelly. “Mom never wants to.” With those words she turned and fled to her room.

Kelly scraped her chair back, but Tate stopped her with a warm, soft hand on her wrist. “I’m praying.”

With a knowing nod, Kelly felt her heart soften. She remembered this well. Any time there was a situation, Tate had always prayed. She and Brad used to make fun of him for it, until years later. Shortly after they had Angie, they started going to church… for Angie’s sake. Eventually they both had accepted Christ as their Savior. And they both came to know why Tate prayed all the time. “Thank you.” She hurried to Angie’s room.

Angie sat on the floor at the foot of her bed with the framed photo she had of her dad clutched to her chest.

Wordlessly, Kelly went over and sat down next her.

After a few moments, Angie looked up at her, her eyes moist and red.

How could she explain what she herself had never wanted to acknowledge? Kelly didn’t know, but she had to try. “Angie, the reason I stopped talking about your dad was because every time I did talk about him, it either hurt you or made you angry. So I stopped because I thought that’s what you wanted.”

Angie weaved her head, her ponytail swished back and forth as she did. “I guess I did. But hearing Officer Baker talk about him, it, well,” She ran her finger over the picture of her dad that now rested in her lap face down. “It felt like he was here again, you know?”

“Yes, I know.” All too well. She’d felt it too.

“Mom.” The young girl sniffed and Kelly wanted to pull her into her arms, but Kelly knew in her gut not to.

“Yes, baby?”

“I’m sorry I wanted an iPad. Daddy would still be alive if it weren’t for me.” Her saturated eyes came up to Kelly’s. “I’m sorry, Mom.” Tears spilled over her eyelids and ran down her cheeks, landing on top of her dad’s photo. “And I’m sorry for the way I’ve been acting and treating you. When Officer Baker was going to take you away and put me in a foster home, I didn’t want to lose you too.”

Somehow in that instant, Kelly knew the time was finally right. She slid her arms around Angie’s shoulders and drew her daughter close. “You aren’t going to lose me.”

Angie’s tiny shoulder’s shook. Kelly tucked Angie’s head close to her. After a few minutes, keeping her voice soft, she asked, “Did you know a truck driver was going to hit your father?”

The little head shook back and forth slowly.

“If you did, would you have mentioned the iPad?”

This time, she vehemently shook her head. “No.”

“So you’re saying that you wouldn’t have mentioned it, knowing your daddy would get it for you if you knew he would be killed, right?”

“Right.”

“Well, you didn’t. So how can you say his death is your fault?”

She pulled her head back and gazed up at Kelly. The raw pain in Angie’s eyes, ripped her heart into pieces. “Because I knew he would get it for me if I said something. I should’ve never said anything.” More tears fell.

That hadn’t worked quite the way she’d wanted it to “Okay, then let me put it another way. If you tell me you’re hungry and that we’re out of groceries and I go to the store and get hit by a careless driver on the way, is that your fault?”

“No.”

“Why?”

Angie shrugged. “It’s the other driver’s fault for not paying attention.”

She sat silently and allowed that to sink in.

After a moment, Angie sat back. Dawning lit across her face. “It… it wasn’t my fault. I didn’t kill Daddy. That other driver did because he fell asleep when he shouldn’t have, right?”

“You tell me.”

Angie nodded and swiped at her tears. She started to wipe her nose on her shirt sleeve but stopped. She smiled up at Kelly, crawled over to her nightstand, plucked out several tissues from the box, and scurried back over to Kelly.

When she finished blowing her nose and wiping her eyes, she gazed up at Kelly again. “I like him, Mom.”

“Who?”

“Officer Baker.”

“Oh?”

“Do you?” Was that hope she saw in her daughter’s eyes?

“Yes, I do. Tate… Officer Baker, is a very dear friend.” A friend she and Brad had lost contact with once they’d moved to California. A fact she regretted.

“Do you think he likes you too?” Angie asked.

Kelly shrugged. Where was Angie going with this? “I think so.”

Angie nodded and chewed on her thumb nail.

“Why do you ask that?”

“Will you ever get married again, Mom?”

Confused by Angie’s line of questions, Kelly scrambled to find the right words. If she said yes, would Angie be angry? And if she said no… She exhaled. “I don’t think so, baby. I think my heart will always belong to your father.”

♥ ♥ ♥

Tate backed away from the door as his dream of winning Kelly’s heart shattered. He quietly made his way to the front door, put on his coat, and slipped out into the night, and headed home. He hated leaving like that, but he had no way of hiding his real feelings if she decided to come out of that room, which she would have eventually.

Minutes later, his cellphone rang. He didn’t recognize the number, so he let it go to his voice mail. A double chime indicated they’d left a message.

At the front door of his home across town, he slipped the key into the lock, stepped inside, and flipped on the light switch. No cheery Christmas music greeted him like it had at Kelly’s. No warm fire or bright lights flashed to whatever Christmas tune played. No Christmas decorations or fresh pine scented tree. Only a small nativity on one of his end tables. The smallest of reminders of what Christmas was really all about.

He tossed his keys and cellphone onto the kitchen counter and made a K-cup pod of plain coffee in his Keurig brewing system. He sat down in his recliner, sipping his coffee and wishing things were different. Wishing he could be at Kelly’s with her and Angie, but that wasn’t going to ever happen. Kelly’s words had seen to that.

Whenever something bothered him, he prayed and read his Bible. So true to how he’d always dealt with life, he reached over and picked up his well-worn Bible. On his lap, he let it fall open. Although he read the words, tonight none penetrated the melancholy in his soul. His mind simply wouldn’t let go of Kelly’s image. Or Angie’s. The little girl had stolen his heart, right along with her mother.

His doorbell rang, and he looked up at it in puzzled surprise.

Who could that be?

Tate put his Bible back onto the end table. He slowly made his way to the door, hoping whoever was there would go away and leave him alone. He didn’t feel like company. The bell rang again. His mind scrambled for a way to get rid of the person without offending them. Nothing came by the time he opened the door.

For one second, when the door revealed the surprise arrivals, his heart stopped beating.

There, bundled in winter coats, hats, scarves, and gloves and gazing up at him, stood Kelly and Angie. Red cheeks and all.

“Are you okay, Officer Baker? Mom and I were worried. Why did you leave without saying goodbye?” Worry creased Angie’s forehead.

Instantly he felt bad for causing it.

Guilt pressed in on him. Within seconds, he tugged them inside, and pulled Angie into his arms. “I’m sorry, Angie. I had to leave.”

“Why?” She pulled back to look at him. “Don’t you like us?”

Kelly stared down at him, the questions hung in her eyes as well.

“Of course. Of course, I like you. It’s just…” How was he going to explain why he’d left? If he told them the real reason why, what would they say?

“It was cuz we were gone too long, right, Officer Baker?” Angie asked as she nodded at him all serious like.

Tate wanted Angie to call him Tate, but Kelly had insisted she call him Officer Baker so she wouldn’t forget who she was dealing with. When it came to Angie, he became a marshmallow in a police uniform. “I thought it best if I left you two alone.” For reasons other than what they thought.

Angie gazed up at her mom. “Told you that’s why he left.”

“Yes, you did, baby. Yes you did.” She smiled at Angie, then up at him.

Angie stepped further into the living room. “Where’s your tree? Don’t you have any decorations?” She planted her mitten-clad hands on her hips. “This place needs a makeover. Don’t you think, Mom?”

A pink tint of embarrassment crept over Kelly’s face as she put her own mittened-hands on her daughter’s shoulders. “Angie, what Officer Baker does with his house is none of our concern. And where do you get all of this stuff?”

Angie shrugged. “TV. Friends. You. Especially you. You said he was your friend. Don’t friends help each other?” The challenge in Angie’s tone was clear.