Unexpected Gifts

by Holly Jacobs

  Suddenly Ariel’s expression changed to a look children had worn on Christmas Eve for centuries. “Ms. Cartwright, do you want to give me a hint?”

  Eli chuckled. “No. But come see me after school.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Go. I don’t want you being late for your next class.”

  When Ariel left, Eli went back to crunching figures and making sure her facts were in order. She wished she could find the enthusiasm for this meeting she once had. Today everything felt muted. Dampened. As if she were viewing the world through cotton gauze.

  She kept eying the clock.

  Finally.

  Lunchtime.

  She stood and smoothed her skirt, then without realizing it, her hand brushed her stomach, as if to make sure her baby was all right.

  Baby.

  Her baby.

  It still felt so unreal. Part of her would have liked to deny the reality, but those six little sticks wouldn’t allow her to.

  She had a standing dinner date with Arthur on Friday nights. So tomorrow, she’d tell him. She could almost imagine stoic, dependable Arthur’s reaction. He would probably be as shocked as she was, but he’d be supportive. He’d understand her mixed emotions over this unplanned, life-altering event.

  Together, they’d work it out.

  Right now, she needed to put all that aside and get going or she’d be late for this meeting.

  She stopped at the main office and checked out with the school secretary. “Doris, I’m not sure when I’ll be back. If anyone needs me, I’ll have my cell. Marion’s covering my one o’clock class.”

  “Good luck. I know how important this meeting is to you, to the new program.”

  “Thanks. I’m pretty sure he’s on board. Today we’re supposed to finalize everything and decide on our test-student.”

  “You’ll do fine. Just give me a holler when you get back in.” Doris had been with the school longer than Eli. Longer than most of the staff. She was an icon. She ran the main office with a fluid efficiency and had an aura of everyone’s favorite grandmother about her.

  Her confidence in Eli’s ability to make this work helped bolster her own flagging belief in herself.

  She drove across Whedon, wishing that this meeting was in an office. She felt at home in that setting or in a classroom. But a local restaurant had sounded convenient when she’d agreed to it. Instead she now worried the location would detract from the business Zac needed to accomplish.

  “Eli,” he called, waving.

  Despite the craziness since her doctor’s appointment, seeing him made her smile. There was something engaging about Zac Keller. He was a nice-looking man who was defined by what he wasn’t. He wasn’t tall, wasn’t short—maybe about five-ten. He wasn’t fat, wasn’t skinny, wasn’t a bodybuilder, wasn’t scrawny. He had average brown hair and a medium complexion.

  But once someone met Zac, he stood out. Maybe it was the devilish look in his brown eyes—a look that said life was a joy and there was always mischief to be made.

  “Hi,” she said as she took the seat across from him.

  His smile faded as he studied her a moment. “What’s wrong?”

  “Wrong?” she repeated dumbly.

  “Wrong. Something’s wrong.”

  First Ariel, now Zac.

  Eli tried to school her expression and concentrate on the task at hand.

  She passed a file to him. “Not wrong, exactly. Although…”

  She jerked her head toward the file. He took the hint and opened it. “Ariel Mayor?”

  She nodded. “I’d like her to be the first student we enroll in the program.”

  “And this troubles you because…?”

  “She’s having a hard time of it. To be honest, she’s the type of student the Community Action Teen-Parent Apprentice Project was designed for. She’s a senior who’s always been a straight A student, popular with her peers and teachers. If you’d asked me, asked any of her teachers, we’d have told you that she was one of those kids who are blessed. Yet when her parents found out she was pregnant, at the beginning of the school year, they kicked her out. I got involved and learned that Ariel’s home life was less than blessed. She’s staying at an aunt’s, working at a nearby restaurant, going to school, and other than one small incident, she’s done a good job balancing everything. She’s college material.”

  Eli paused, needing to make this absolutely pitch perfect. Working for Zac instead, in the CATA Project, could make such a difference for this girl. “Zac, I think it would be a shame if she didn’t go to college because of the baby. She deserves to have the life she planned.”

  “With a baby in the picture, even if she goes to college, it won’t be exactly as she planned,” he pointed out.

  “No, not exactly. But what in life ever goes exactly how we plan?” Eli might have said those same words a few days ago. And she’d have believed them. But now, they rang truer.

  As if he’d read her mind, Zac asked, “You didn’t plan to be here?”

  Here? Pregnant? She almost snorted, but then Zac added, “Helping teen parents?”

  Oh. Yes, of course, that’s what he meant. “No. Truth is, I never planned this to be my life’s work. I stumbled into it when a girl in my class became pregnant and asked for my help. When I looked for services in the district, I realized there was nothing.”

  “So you helped her yourself?”

  She laughed. “Don’t make it sound all noble. I liked her. Still do. Over the years, she’s become my best friend. I’m surrogate aunt to her son.”

  “When the school district didn’t help, you stepped up and did it yourself. That’s not a question. I know you, Eli. You couldn’t stand by and not try to do something positive.”

  He’d said things like that before and as always it made her uncomfortable. Not in a stalker sort of way, but this man saw her in a way no one else did, not even herself.

  “Don’t glamorize it. I was in the right place at the right time and simply did what needed to be done. Anyone could have done it.”

  He snorted. “I don’t want to argue with you, but you’re wrong.” As if sensing she was about to dispute it more, he picked the file back up. “So, Ariel’s going to be our guinea pig?”

  “If you agree. I noted in the file that she’s never been in trouble, except for the recent incident. And I don’t believe that would have happened if she hadn’t been stretched so thin. That’s where you come in. No more late hours, time for homework…support.”

  “Fine.” He tapped the file on the table. “Ariel Mayor is our inaugural student in the CATA Project.” He raised his water glass. “To many years of a successful partnership between us.”

  She clinked her glass against his.

  “Now, let’s order lunch and get down to the nitty-gritty of how we’re going to make this work.”

  Eli had so much to do. So many things to think about. She knew she should excuse herself, instead, she found herself saying, “So, did you find out what the special is today?”

  After they ordered, Zac asked, “So what else is new with you?”

  If only she could tell him, but she wasn’t about to when her parents and Arthur still didn’t know, so she simply said, “Not much. You?”

  “Well, I was in some little Podunk town and I…”

  Eli listened to Zac’s story and soon forgot all her worries. Like Tucker had said, they’d be there tomorrow. Or rather tomorrow night when she went to see Arthur.

  THE HOUR FLEW BY TOO FAST in Zac Keller’s opinion.

  He always enjoyed Eli Cartwright’s company. There was something about her that touched him. Her enthusiasm for her work. The girls she taught were more than a job. He could see it in her expression as she talked about them. And this Ariel Mayor he’d just hired was obviously a favorite.

  Eli’d talked of her boyfriend in the past, which was the only reason Zac hadn’t long since asked her out. Even if he couldn’t date her though, he could enjoy her company.<
br />
  “Why don’t we meet on Saturday morning? I’ll treat you to coffee at Tim Horton’s—the one next to Keller’s Market. Then we can both go over and meet your Ariel?”

  “You want me there?”

  “Not for future student hires, but for this first one, I thought it might be a good idea if we both followed Ariel’s progress closely. We can see what works, and where there’s room for improvement. I’d like CATA to become one of Keller’s pet projects, so I think it’s best to really concentrate on this first student and make sure everything runs smoothly.”

  “I appreciate it, Zac. I don’t know if you understand what this program could offer to our girls.”

  “I think I understand, at least as much as I can.”

  Eli glanced at her watch. “I better get going.”

  “See you Saturday, around nine, then? Tell Ariel to meet us at the market at nine-thirty?”

  “Sounds good.”

  She stood, and he immediately followed suit. She thrust out her hand and they shook. “Thanks again, Zac.”

  “No problem. And Eli, I know we’re just business associates, but if you want to talk about whatever’s wrong, I’m here.” Before she could deny there was anything wrong, or laugh at the idea of her needing his help, he took the bill and headed for the register.

  She followed him, and handed him a ten, then, before he could protest, dashed out. “See you Saturday,” she called over her shoulder.

  Zac knew he should return to his office at the market, but he felt an uncharacteristic urge not to. So instead, he drove in the opposite direction toward his parents’ house, under the guise of talking to his father about the business.

  The house on East Street was a rambling building. The original one-story heart of the house was built in 1898, and generations of owners had added a room here and a room there, leaving a building with unusual lines. His parents had purchased it forty years ago, a month before they married, determined to fill the seven bedrooms with children.

  They’d waited.

  And waited.

  After waiting ten years, with only their master bedroom in use, they’d decided on adoption.

  Zac was their first child.

  He was only five but he could still remember his social worker, Mrs. Bowler, pulling up in front of the house, with its flower beds and porch swing. He’d been sure that there was a mistake, that the man and woman waiting on the steps had wanted one of the other boys in the group home. But then the woman had knelt down, held her arms wide and said, “Welcome home, Zac.” A feeling of disbelief and hope had filled him.

  It was the same feeling he got whenever he pulled in to the driveway.

  He hurried into the house. “Mom? Dad?”

  He was already almost in the kitchen when his mother called, “In here, Zac.”

  Deborah Keller was a petite, well-rounded woman, with salt-and-pepper hair she’d pulled loosely into some kind of bun thing, and a smile that lit up the room. She swept Zac into a hug.

  He sniffed the sweet scented air. “Cookies? Cake?”

  “Gingerbread, tateleh.” She glanced at the clock. “If you wait about ten minutes, you should be able to sample a piece and let me know if the new recipe is as good as the old one.”

  “You could probably twist my arm into staying.” He pulled a stool up to the counter. “Cessy home yet?”

  “Not for a while. If you have time to wait, I know she’d be thrilled to see you. The house is just too quiet since Layla went to college.” His mom grinned at him. “Of course, if our older children started marrying and gave me grandchildren…” She let the sentence hang there, since he’d heard the entire spiel more than once.

  “Just so happens I had lunch with a lovely woman.”

  “You did?”

  His mom seemed so happy, he felt guilty about misleading her, and added, “Of course, she’s got a boyfriend.”

  “A serious boyfriend, or just some man she’s seeing?”

  He laughed. “I was only kidding, Mom. It’s serious between them, I guess. They’ve been together now for five years.” He’d collected a lot of Eli Cartwright trivia since he met her a few months back.

  “Five years, and they’re still dating?” She shook her head. “That’s not serious, that’s going with the status quo. Why, your father saw me at the fair—”

  “And knew I’d met the woman I was going to marry right then and there,” Abe Keller finished the sentence as he walked into the kitchen. He was a big man. He had a Grizzly Adams look about him. A bit wild. His hair was always unkempt and he went days on end without shaving now that he’d retired from Keller’s and left the business to Zac.

  Zac watched his father walk over and simply place his hand on his mother’s shoulder—he’d noticed years ago that whenever they saw each other it was as if they needed to touch, to reconnect.

  His hand still in place, his father continued the story. “And three months later, I married her. So, why are we trotting out that old story? Did your mom want to set you up?”

  “No. I don’t set my children up. I trust them to find their own dates. Zac was just telling me he had lunch with a woman who’s been dating a man for five years. That’s not a relationship.”

  “Now, Deborah, we can’t measure other’s relationships by ours. If it works for them.” His father shrugged.

  But Zac could, and always would, measure every relationship against his parents’. This is what he wanted. Someone who needed to touch him, even if they’d only been a room away for a few minutes.

  “She’s not the one for me, Mom,” Zac admitted with regret. “But when I find a woman as good as you are, one who’s not dating someone else, you can be sure I’ll whisk her off her feet as quickly as I can.”

  The timer buzzed. His mom busied herself with the gingerbread and his father took the stool opposite him. “So, if you didn’t come to get set up…?”

  “Thought I’d fill you in on the store.”

  The next forty-five minutes passed quickly as he and his dad talked business and his mother bustled around the kitchen starting dinner.

  Then he heard someone enter before any of them saw her. “Zac.” Cessy ran into the room at full speed, still wearing her coat and bookbag, and threw herself full force at him, trusting he’d catch her.

  He stood and did. He hugged his fifteen-year-old sister, Cessy, with her mass of curly brown hair, and her honey-toned skin. She backed up. He was five-ten, and she was almost as tall as he was now. “Stop growing, already, would you?”

  “Poor little Zac, intimidated by a tall, strong woman?” she teased.

  “If I see one of those, I’ll let you know if I’m intimidated.”

  “Hey, you coming to my game on Sunday afternoon?”

  “Wouldn’t miss it.”

  “Good, ’cause May, Dom and Layla aren’t coming in from Pittsburgh. And Seth—” Cessy stopped short and looked at him. No one talked about Seth, who couldn’t forgive their parents for not being enthusiastic about him marrying Allie right out of high school. They’d loved her. The whole family loved her. Still, their parents had wanted them to wait, but Seth and Allie wouldn’t. When she got pregnant, they’d started to mend the rift, but when Allie died…Zac wasn’t sure what it would take for his parents and Seth to fix their relationship. Seth hadn’t cut them off completely, but he’d erected a wall that their parents couldn’t breach.

  He knew Cessy was thinking the same thing as she glanced at their mother, and added, “So, it’ll be you, Mom and Dad cheering me on.”

  “I’m pretty sure your brother can make enough noise that you’ll never notice the rest are missing,” his mom said.

  Zac looked at Cessy’s face and knew she’d notice. Cessy, more than the rest of them, needed her family around. Zac would rearrange his Sunday. He’d call Dom and May. Granted, they were in their mid-twenties, and busy with their own lives, but if he told them Cessy wanted them at the game, they’d find a way to be there. Layla would fuss about scho
ol work, but if Dom or May did the driving, she’d have a little less than two hours in the car each way to study.

  And Seth? Well, he’d try. That’s all he could do.

  Seth had never gotten over his parents not supporting his marriage to Allie, and since her death, he’d been ever more distant. But for Cessy, he might show up.

  Zac would do all he could to get his whole family to the game because it was obviously important to Cessy.

  That’s what family did—supported each other when it was important.

  And the Kellers knew that better than most.

  FRIDAY PASSED QUICKLY.

  Eli set things up with Ariel for Saturday morning. She smiled as she remembered the girl’s excitement about the job. But that smile quickly faded as the reality of talking to Arthur that night hit her for the umpteenth time.

  Eli had never thought of herself as a coward, but right now, she wanted nothing more than to call and cancel her date with Arthur.

  Instead, she called Tucker, hoping her friend would tell her to suck it up and just get on with it. That was Tucker’s normal attitude. Face whatever scared you. And yet ever since she’d told Tucker she was pregnant, her friend had continually surprised her. Instead of giving her a kick in the butt, she assured Eli that avoiding Arthur wasn’t cowardly at all, that it would give Eli time to get her feet back on solid ground.

  Eli had used similar phrases to girls entering the program. She’d meant them to be as comforting as she was sure Tucker intended hers to be, but until now Eli’d never realized how hollow they sounded.

  She knew her feet weren’t going to be on solid ground or anywhere other than limbo until she talked to Arthur and her parents. She wasn’t sure how long it was going to take her to adjust to the turn her life had taken, and she couldn’t wait any longer. She was pregnant and Arthur deserved to know he was going to be a father.

  She clutched the bags with the Chinese takeout as she got out of the car. She’d decided a private dinner was better than a public one for this news.

  She stood outside his Brent Hollow condo. The development was for people over fifty. No one younger than that could buy a home here. And no children were permitted.