A Forever Thing: A Contemporary Christian Romance NOVELLA (5 page)

Kelly looked over at Tate for help, but she wasn’t going to get off that easy.

He sent her a smirk. “Well, Mrs. Larkin, answer her.”

“Yeah, Mom. I’m waiting.” Angie crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot. Only this time, not one ounce of rebellion showed up in her stance, only a challenge.

Tate crossed his arms over his chest and tapped his foot. “We’re waiting.”

Kelly shook her head, threw her hands up, and laughed. “Okay, okay.” She removed her coat, gloves, hat and scarf and handed them to Tate. “Where are your decorations?”

His joy dissipated. “I don’t have any.”

“What? What kind of person doesn’t have Christmas decorations?” Kelly teased.

“A bachelor who just moved from an apartment into his new home, and one who hasn’t had time to shop.”

“Oh.” Kelly planted one arm at her stomach and tapped her fingers against her lips with the other as she scanned the room.

Tate wondered if she liked what she saw even though nothing hung on the walls, and only a new microfiber couch, matching loveseat and recliner, and two end tables were in the large room. The place definitely needed a woman’s touch. His gaze slid to Kelly. But he needed to remember this woman was off limits.

Seeing the joy on Angie’s face, and not wanting to let her down, he figured it wouldn’t hurt just this once to let them decorate his place. In the meantime, he’d do what he’d always done in the past, keep his feelings for Kelly buried.

“I have extra decorations at the house. I could run and get them,” Kelly offered.

“Trust me, Officer Baker, she has tons.” Angie rolled her eyes all dramatic like.

He laughed. “I’m sure she does. But, I need to get some of my own. What do you ladies say we go shopping Saturday? You can help me pick out a tree and anything else I’ll need to make this place look as festive as yours?” It might end up looking as festive as theirs, but it wouldn’t be nearly as festive without them around.

“Why Saturday?” Angie asked. “That’s four whole days away.”

“Because that’s my day off.”

“Oh.” Her tiny chest rose and fell, and she pursed her lip to one side.

“How about…”

“Angie.” Kelly cut her daughter off. “If Tate says he can’t do it until Saturday then we need to respect that.”

“Okay,” she said on a heavy sigh. “I guess we can wait.”

♥ ♥ ♥

Kelly wondered what happened to that little girl who had only 24 hours before wanted nothing to do with decorating for Christmas. Tate had done wonders with Angie. In fact, he did in one day what she’d tried to do in three years. Working around kids on the street, he probably understood troubled kids and knew how to handle them.

“What time should I pick you ladies up Saturday?”

“Early,” Angie blurted.

Kelly laughed and so did Tate.

“Early it is. Is four a.m. early enough?” Tate teased.

“Four?” Angie’s eyes widened. “That ain’t going to work. I need my beauty sleep.”

When Tate looked over at Kelly, amusement danced across her face. She hiked a shoulder and a palm.

“Well, you don’t need any beauty sleep, Angie. You’re already beautiful.” Tate smiled.

“That’s what all the boys say.” Angie waved him away.

“What boys?” Kelly asked with concern. She’d never heard that before.

“The boys at school, Mom.” Angie planted her hands on her hips. “What boys did you think I was talking about? Those dorks at the center?” She rolled her eyes again and scrunched her face.

The boys at the correctional center across town didn’t go to Angie’s school. Relieved to hear Angie address them as dorks, though she should correct her about name calling, her comment showed Kelly that her daughter’s eyes were being opened, so she let it slide this time.

“How about eight?” Tate asked.

“Eight is good,” Angie answered.

Kelly shook her head and smiled. Now this was more like the Angie she remembered. A little sarcastic still, but much, much better. A huge improvement.

“You heard the lady, Mrs. Larkin. I’ll pick you ladies up at eight. Now…” He rubbed his hands together. “Since you’re here, what do you say we play a game of monopoly?”

“Can we, Mom? Please?”

Kelly searched the room for a clock, but the walls were bare. “What time is it?”

Tate strode to an end table next to a beautiful crimson red recliner and picked up a portable phone from an answering machine jack. “Seven twenty two.” He placed it back in the holder.

“Don’t you have to work tomorrow?”

“Yeah, but I’m used to getting very little sleep.”

Kelly sighed. She hated being the cause of him losing sleep, but she really wanted to spend more time with him, especially for Angie’s sake. She tried to convince herself how it was for that reason and that reason alone, but she knew better. “If you’re sure.”

“I’m sure.”

“Yay.” Angie let out a whoop. She looked around the room. “Where do you keep your game?”

“Angie.” Kelly sent an apologetic look Tate’s way.

She’s fine
, he mouthed. “It’s down the hall in the first room on your right. It’s in the closet.”

Angie darted off. Kelly turned toward Tate. “I’m sorry about Angie being so pushy. If you don’t want to decorate your house or get a tree, you don’t have to. I’ll explain it to Angie.”

He took Kelly’s hand in his. Every time he touched her, her heart did a backflip. “I want to do this. Honest I do.”

She moved her hand from his before Angie came back into the room and got the wrong idea again. Or the right idea. Either one wasn’t healthy.

“I found it.”

Tate turned and strode toward Angie. “Great. What say we set it up in the kitchen?” He leaned over close to Angie’s ear. “Maybe we can talk your mom into making us some hot chocolate. What do you think?” he whispered loud enough Kelly could hear him.

Angie nodded and whispered back, “I bet we can.” She shifted away from him. “Hey, Mom. How about making Officer Baker and me some hot chocolate. Oh, and you some too?”

“Oh, I’m sure I can. And thank you for including me.”

“You’re welcome.” Angie either didn’t get the playful sarcasm in Kelly’s voice, or she didn’t care to respond. Instead, she carried the game into the kitchen and started setting it up on the table. Kelly followed Tate into his kitchen. The room was large and basically as empty as the living room. She smiled at the red chairs situated in front of the gray and black marbled granite breakfast island. Those four chairs and a small black table with four red chairs was the only furniture in the room. He removed three mismatched cups from a nearly empty cupboard and set them down next to his Keurig machine.

“Me make the hot chocolate, huh? This is so simple even you can do it.” She sent him a sly grin.

“You know that, and I know that, but Angie doesn’t.” He waggled his eyebrows.

Kelly shook her head, smiling. Plenty of water in the reservoir, she placed the K-cup pod in the machine, set one of the mugs where it belonged, and hit the button. While it brewed, she planted her hip against Tate’s counter. “It’s nice seeing her smiling and happy again.”

“A completely different child from the other night. That’s for sure.”

“I just hope it lasts.” Knowing the pattern in the past, she couldn’t help but wonder when things would go sour again.

“I hope so too. I’ll keep praying that it does.”

She pushed away from the counter. “You’ve been praying for Angie?”

“And you,” he added.

“Thank you.” She turned and made another hot chocolate. “I’ve been doing a lot of praying myself these days.”

“You pray? The woman who used to make fun of me for praying. Since when?”

She turned, rested her back against the counter, and threaded her arms across her belly. “Since Brad and I accepted Christ some years ago.”

“Yes!” A smile split across his face.

“Hey, what’s all the yelling about?” Angie frowned at them, holding a handful of fake Monopoly bills mid-air.

Tate strode over to Angie. “You’re mom just told me that she and your father accepted Christ and that made me happy.”

“Oh, is that all?” Angie went back to sorting out money.

Tate sat down while Kelly added the last K-cup pod into the machine.

“What do you mean, is that all? Do you know how huge that is, Angie?”

Angie shrugged. “I guess.”

Tate looked helplessly over at Kelly.

Kelly didn’t know what to say. Even though Angie went to Sunday school and church and said her prayers, she never seemed to get too excited about the Lord. Another thing that had changed after her father’s death.

Chapter Four

Over the next four days, all Tate thought about was Kelly and Angie. Even though she never planned to marry again, he couldn’t shake the feeling that God was leading him to take them under his wing. Angie needed him, even if Kelly wasn’t interested in marrying again.

After a quick shower, he dressed in his warmest clothes and hurried downstairs. He stepped into his ski pants and coat, grabbed his hat and gloves, and out the door he flew. All the way to Kelly’s house, he prayed for Angie and Kelly. He prayed about their day and most importantly that he would be a light to Angie. When he turned down their street, he noticed Angie sitting on the porch swing bundled up in a fuzzy lined hooded coat, mittens, and a scarf. Her waiting for him warmed his heart. As soon as he turned into the driveway, Angie darted off the swing. She waited where he could see her until he parked the truck. The second he shut the engine off, she came around to the driver’s side of his four door pickup, her beaming smile contagious.

Tate opened his door and smiled down at her. “Good morning, Angie. Are you ready to go Christmas tree hunting?” He hopped out.

Angie frowned. “Hunting? You don’t hunt a Christmas tree, do you?”

He patted her on the shoulder and headed toward the door with Angie by his side. “It’s just an expression, cupcake.”

“Cupcake?” She glanced up at him with a half-frown.

“Yes. You remind me of a cupcake.”

Angie wrinkled her nose. “I don’t look anything like a cupcake.”

“It’s just a nickname for someone sweet. But, I won’t call you it anymore. I’ll call you by your name, if that’s what you want.”

“No. No. I like cupcake. It’s fine if you call me that.”

Kelly opened the door. She looked beautiful in her blue baggy sweater that resembled a mini dress more than a regular sweater. The pants and fuzzy-topped snow boots she had on hugged her nicely shaped legs. He forced his eyes to stop admiring her. “Good morning. You ready to go Christmas tree hunting?”

“He asked me the same thing, Mom. He said hunting for a Christmas tree is just an expression. But it’s a strange one if you ask me,” Angie said as she brushed past her mom. A second later she came back with Kelly’s coat and gloves in her hands. Once Angie handed them to Kelly, she strode out the door, and stood by the back passenger door, and stared back at them.

Tate laughed as he helped Kelly into her coat. “There’s never a dull moment with her around, is there?”

“Nope. I wish there was sometimes.” She said it so comically that Tate couldn’t help but laugh again.

“Good. I like exciting.” He winked at Kelly. He couldn’t believe he’d just flirted with her. Remembering what he had overheard her say the other night, he quickly changed his expression from flirtatious to a more playful one. “Your chariot awaits, madam.”
That’s what you call changing your expression from flirtatious to playful? Good job, bonehead.

Kelly shut the front door and locked it. “What did you have to drink this morning?” she asked, looking back over her shoulder at him as she headed to his pickup. “Too much coffee? Too many energy drinks? Too much chocolate?”

He stepped alongside her. “Expresso. Double shot.”

Her eyebrows disappeared under her hat, and she half-frowned just like her daughter had. Tate laughed. He opened their doors and helped them inside before hurrying around to the driver’s side. Seatbelt on, he fired up his pickup.

Before he’d even gotten the pickup moving, Kelly shifted in her seatbelt. “So, where did you want to go to get a tree? From the Boy Scouts? Or Girl scouts? The tree farm outside of town? Grocery store? Or what?”

“None of the above.” He backed out of her driveway and headed toward the highway.

She tilted her head. “I thought that’s what we were doing. Getting you a tree.” Her eyes widened. “Surely you’re not getting one of those fake things. Oh, tell me you’re not. Please?”

At her horrified expression, he chuckled. “Nope. I thought it would be fun to go cut one down ourselves.”

“Cut one down? What’s the fun in that?” Angie asked from the back seat.

“You’ll see.” He glanced back at her, then returned his eyes to the road.

“Sounds like work to me. Can’t we just buy one?” Angie mumbled.

“Since when are you afraid of work?” From the corner of his eyes, he saw Kelly peer around the headrest at Angie.