A Forever Thing: A Contemporary Christian Romance NOVELLA

by Ullrick, Debra

  “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 b
y 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.

  “I’m not. But if we go cut one down, we won’t have time to decorate it. And I wanted to help Officer Baker decorate his tree.”

  “We’ll have plenty of time to do both, cupcake. You’ll see.” He turned onto the highway heading out of town.

  “He calls me cupcake now, Mom. Cuz I’m so sweet.”

  “When you want to be,” Kelly whispered.

  Certain she never meant for him or Angie to hear those words, he glanced in his rearview mirror to see if Angie had heard Kelly. If she had, he wouldn’t know it because she stared out the window as they drove past a hill where kids were sledding on inner tubes and toboggans. Tate made a mental note to take Angie and Kelly sledding.

  He turned the radio on and the three of them sang along with the Christmas carols that filled the truck cab.

  In between songs, Angie asked, “Are we there yet? How much longer?”

  “If we were there, Angie, we wouldn’t be sitting in Tate’s truck now, would we?”

  Angie tsked. “I know that, Mom. What I meant was, are we almost there?”

  “Almost, cupcake. Another ten minutes and we will be.”

  Angie sighed dramatically. “Okay,” she dragged out the word in exasperation.

  One thing Tate had learned over the years working with kids was girls could be real drama queens. It never really bothered him though because he loved children.

  He turned into his cousin Dave’s lane and rolled his window down.

  “You still drive with the window down in the freezing cold I see.”

  He glanced over at Kelly. She shook her head and grinned.

  “Sure do. Just be glad I didn’t have it down on the highway.” He winked and turned his attention back onto the lane.

  When he pulled into the yard near the house, Dave stepped out onto his porch, holding his barking dog by the collar. “Dandy. Hush.” Dave ordered the Dingo.

  The second they climbed out of his truck, Angie ran toward the corrals. Several horses had their heads draped over the top rail looking on curiously. But that wasn’t what had him worried. It was the two draft horses nearby hitched up to a sleigh and tied to a hitching post that had his heart pounding like a jackhammer and his adrenaline surging because they were the ones Angie headed straight for at a dead run.

  “Angie. Stop!” Angie completely disregarded Kelly’s command.

  Tate raced toward Angie, stopping her several yards from the horses. “Angie, don’t ever run up to a horse.” He used the same authoritative tone he used while on duty. “You could get seriously hurt.”

  She stared up at him. He waited for the attitude, instead tears pooled in her eyes. “I’m sorry, Officer Baker. I didn’t know.”

  He bent a knee into the hard packed snow and took her trembling hand in his “I know you didn’t, cupcake. That’s why I stopped you. You never run up to a horse. It startles them and they can end up hurting you.”

  She nodded, the tears still visible.

  He stood and caught Kelly’s gaze.

  “Here.” He offered Angie his hand. “I’ll show you the correct way to approach a horse, okay?”

  She nodded, her smile filled with uncertainty. “Can Mom come too?”

  Tate rubbed his chin. “Hmmmm. I don’t know.”

  “Please.” Angie blinked her eyes up at him.

  Who could turn down that face? Tate chuckled. “Okay. But just because you want her to.”

  Angie beamed at his answer. The exact result he hoped for.

  Hand-in-hand, he led them toward the team of horses. Holding both of their hands in his felt right. It was something he wished with all of his heart could be a forever thing.

  ♥ ♥ ♥

  Kelly still couldn’t get over the change in Angie’s attitude. Before Tate, it didn’t matter what kind of punishment or discipline Angie got, if someone tried to stop her from doing something she wanted to do or even something harmful…like now… she would have pitched a hissy fit. Not this time. Angie clung to Tate and his every word as he explained the proper way to be around a horse. When he finished, he peered over Angie’s head at her. “Well, are you two ready to go tree hunting in style?” He yanked his thumb toward the sleigh.

  Angie and Kelly looked at each other, then back at Tate. “We’re going in that?”

  “You sure are.” The answer came from Dave who had on a black cowboy hat, a black cowboy scarf around his neck, black insulated coverall type pants, and a black coat that reminded her of the one the guy in the movie The Man From Snowy River had worn.

  “Dave, these are my friends, Kelly and Angie. Ladies, this is my cousin, Dave.”

  “Nice to meet you, Dave.” Kelly stepped forward and shook his hand, a hand covered with lined leather gloves. Just like in the movies.

  Angie stepped forward and extended her hand. “I�
�m Angie.” She yanked her head once toward Kelly. “She’s Kelly. Er. Um. I mean. Mom.”

  Dave grinned. “I’m so glad you clarified that for me, Angie. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” Angie stepped back beside Tate and smiled up at him. Obviously Angie sought Tate’s approval and she adored him.

  In all truthfulness, Kelly adored him too. Always had. In fact, she had a huge crush on him back in high school but he never showed her any encouragement that he thought of her as anything more than a friend. So, when Brad asked her out, she went, in hopes it would make Tate jealous. It didn’t. And over time, she had fallen in love with Brad. It wasn’t hard to do. Brad had been gentle and caring and had such a way with people. Her husband treated her like a queen, made her feel special, loved, cared for. The man constantly put the needs of others before his own and always helped others. Like Tate. Those two were so much alike. No wonder they had been friends. She loved them both. That’s probably why it meant so much to her to be able to spend time with Tate again. Besides, he was good for Angie. And, Kelly had to admit, he was good for her also.

  “You ready to go?” Dave asked.

  “Sure am!” Angie blurted out in overflowing excitement.

  Everyone laughed.

  Angie took Tate’s hand and walked slowly up to the horses. She talked to them as she did, just like Tate had shown her. When they reached the sleigh, Tate helped her into the sleigh first, then turned to help Kelly. When her hand settled in his, their eyes met. The softness in those brown orbs, along with the kindness in his gentle, boyish smile, had her heart doing a triple somersault. A heartbeat, and she broke the connection to keep it from going too deeply into the softest spot of her heart, and sat down next to Angie. “Well, this should be fun.”

  With a yank up, Tate joined them. Only when he went to sit down, Angie scooted over, and Tate had no choice but to sit in between them. She shifted over as far as she could to give him room, but his broad shoulders took up most of the space. Their shoulders touched, and Kelly found with surprise, she didn’t mind at all. In fact, she rather enjoyed it.

  Tate leaned over and whispered in her ear, “Cozy, don’t you think?” He winked and this time her heart didn’t flip, it sighed a huge sigh of contentment.