by Deb Kastner
“I’m quite adept at that skill, my dear,” Jo said, rubbing her hands together. “Only it’s not mind reading, it’s simple observation, it is. I’ve been watching people my whole life.”
“Well, we’re grateful for the cookies, aren’t we, Riley?” Zach prodded. It was his duty to coax the boy into a polite response, now that he was a father and all.
Right?
Boy, did he have a lot to learn. This was just the tip of the iceberg, he realized, feeling suddenly inadequate about all of the responsibilities into which he’d suddenly been thrust.
“Thank you, Mrs. Murphy,” Riley agreed.
Jo shook her hands forward. “Oh, no, my dear. It’s just Jo to everyone around here, even the children.”
Riley nodded.
“Are you ready to go, then?” Jo asked brightly.
Zach grinned and nodded, but Riley looked confused.
“Do you remember how I said I needed you to help me out with something, champ?” Zach asked.
“Yeah.”
“Well, I need Jo’s help, too.”
Riley cocked his head. “With what?”
“I thought it would be nice to surprise your mom with something special, just for her. She needs to have a little more fun in her life, don’t you think?”
Riley nodded but he looked hesitant, and Zach knew why. Fun for grown-ups was not necessarily fun for kids. Often the opposite was true.
Oh, boy, he thought, cringing inwardly. He hoped this bolt from the blue didn’t show on his face. His plans were going all awry and they hadn’t even started yet. He thought—hoped—Riley was going to enjoy the surprise on New Year’s Eve as much as Delia was, but the preparations for the celebration, Zach realized, were going to be pure torture to the poor boy.
“Shall I meet y’all at your house?” Jo asked, oblivious to Zach’s inner distress.
“Yes, ma’am,” Zach answered, rising to his feet. “We’ll see you there.”
He dug through his pocket and laid a few bucks on the table for the bill, and then he and Riley headed for his truck.
“What’s my mom’s surprise?” Riley asked as they drove the short distance from the café to Zach’s house.
Zach grinned. “I want to take her to see the Houston Symphony Orchestra on New Year’s Eve.”
The whole getting-the-tickets-for-the-grand-affair thing was a little more complicated than he’d expected, but he didn’t think Riley wanted to hear about it. He’d had to take an entire week of extra shifts to bribe the tickets from Chief. That they’d been donated to the fire station, and no one else had appeared to want them, hadn’t seemed to matter.
But it would be worth it, if it was possible that she could see another side of him, how completely God had changed his life.
He hoped.
“If I remember correctly, your mother used to love the symphony. You think she’ll like my surprise for her?”
“She likes that kind of music,” Riley agreed. “She’ll probably want to go.”
“I’m glad to hear it. I’d hate to go to all this trouble and then have your mother turn me down.”
Riley looked across the cab and just stared at him for a moment, his gaze thoughtful. “She won’t turn you down,” he said, sounding wise for his age and convinced of his statement. “I think she likes you.”
Zach’s heart jolted to life at Riley’s innocent words. Delia liked him? What did that mean in fourth-grade language?
Maybe he should send her a note.
Do you like me?
Check yes or no.
The thought made him chuckle.
“Why do you need me to help?” Riley asked.
Zach pulled into his driveway and shut off the ignition. Jo’s beat-up old green truck was already parked by the curb, and she was standing on the front porch waiting for him.
“Why don’t we go into the house and I’ll show you?” Zach suggested with a wink.
He greeted Jo and ushered everyone inside. Jo immediately took over.
“Bring out the tuxedos, dear, and let’s get started,” she announced merrily.
“Tuxedos?” Riley groaned.
“Yeah, champ,” Zach told him. “That’s part of the surprise. You’ll be going with us to the symphony.”
“In a tux?” He didn’t sound thrilled at all about this new twist in this supposedly nice surprise. In fact, he sounded as if he’d just been told he was walking right into a hungry lion’s cage.
Zach nodded.
“With a tie?”
Zach crouched down to be eye-level with the boy. “I know how you feel. I hate ties, too. But this is for your mom, to let her know how special she is to us. Think you can handle it?”
Riley exhaled deeply and dramatically. “I guess. If it’s for my mom.” He paused. His brow furrowed and he chewed on one corner of his bottom lip. “I don’t get it, though. I’ve been to the symphony lots of times, and I’ve never had to wear a tux before.”
Zach laughed and punched his boy affectionately on the shoulder. “It’s for New Year’s Eve. Everyone’s going to be dressed up, not just us.”
“All right,” Riley conceded, although he looked none too happy about it. “I’ll do it.”
“It won’t be so bad, will it? Other than the part about having to wear a tuxedo, you like going to the symphony, right?”
“Sure. I play trumpet in school.”
“I remember your mom saying that.”
“Do you guys have a school band in Serendipity?”
“We sure do,” Jo answered for Zach as she approached with a child-sized pair of black pants under her arms. “They’re a very talented bunch of young people. You’ll fit right in, Riley.”
The boy didn’t look convinced.
“We’ll adjust the slacks first, and then we’ll take a look at the shirt.” She handed the pants to Riley and shooed him into Zach’s bathroom so he could change.
“I hope I bought the right size,” Zach commented with a deprecating grin. “Shopping for a child is new to me.”
“But it’s so, so wonderful, dear, isn’t it?”
Zach took a deep breath and held it, letting the joy in his heart expand and wash in warm waves throughout his entire body.
“It is wonderful,” he agreed, marveling at just how happy he felt right now. God had certainly blessed him.
“They’re a little long,” Riley commented as he returned to the room.
“That’s what I’m here for, dear,” Jo responded. She pulled a box of straight pins from her purse and opened the lid. “You just hold still and I’ll pin the hems up for you,” she said through the pins she was balancing between her lips. “I’ll stitch these up tonight and get them back to you tomorrow. You’ll look just perfect when you surprise your mama.”
“I sure appreciate your help, Jo,” Zach commented, smiling at the older woman. “I don’t think I could have done this without you. When I got out to San Antonio I realized it would be easier to buy tuxes than rent them, but it sure would have been less of a hassle for you if I’d taken Riley along with me for a fitting.”
“Nonsense, dear,” Jo replied. “I’m happy to do it. And what I wouldn’t give to be a fly on the wall when you and Riley surprise Delia Rae, your being all gussied up and all. She’s going to absolutely love it.”
“I don’t know about that.” His voice sounded dry and raspy and he swallowed hard.
He wasn’t as confident as Jo was about Delia’s reaction to his plans. Doubts plagued him. Was he making a mistake in not telling her in advance? What if she was angry about being caught off guard? He might be taking himself two steps back instead of one step forward in their relationship. He wasn’t even certain exactly what h
e was trying to accomplish.
A pleasant working relationship, he supposed. And a pleasant co-parenting relationship. This was a peace offering.
“Of course she’ll be pleased,” Jo assured him. “Just stay with the plan and everything will work out fine. Now, you’re positive she has a nice cocktail dress in her wardrobe, right?”
Zach nodded. “I talked to her mother and she scouted out Delia’s closet for me.”
Jo tilted her head and raised one eyebrow. “How did that go for you? Speaking to Delia’s mama, I mean.”
“Not as bad as I expected,” he admitted, his lips quirking. “I ran my plans by her and she agreed that it would be good for Delia to have a little fun. I thought she’d still be angry with me about—well, you know—but if she was, she didn’t let on.”
Jo squealed and clapped in delight. “I told you everything is going to work out for you, dear. For the both of you. I just know it.”
Zach shook his head. There was a long, rocky road ahead of him before everything could even begin to work out.
But he was determined to walk that road.
For Riley.
And for Delia.
Chapter Fifteen
Delia knew something was afoot, although she couldn’t figure out exactly what it was. Ever since Riley had been out with his father two days ago, she’d caught the boy looking at her funny. Watching her. She couldn’t imagine why.
Her mother looked better than she had since Delia had arrived. Not only did she smile incessantly but today she was…hovering.
That was the first word that came to Delia’s mind when she considered her mother’s odd behavior. Mama was tailing her in her wheelchair from room to room like a private detective on a stakeout.
What was up with that?
Her father didn’t seem to be in on whatever was on her mother’s mind, or else he simply didn’t care. He was sitting in his usual place in his worn gray armchair reading a thick, hardbound book and completely ignoring the world around him.
She was in the kitchen finishing the last of the lunch dishes when the doorbell rang.
“You should get that, don’t you think?” Mama asked her from where she sat, her wheelchair pulled close to the kitchen table so she could play solitaire. “You know your father. He gets lost in a book and that’s the end of it.”
Delia stared at her mother warily. Something weird was definitely going on. She would have answered the door even without her mother’s prompting. She hardly needed to be told.
And was that Riley’s head peeking out from around the end of the hallway?
Her whole body tensed and her breath clinched. It was as if the world stopped and waited for her to open the door—and she knew why. Apparently, so did her parents and Riley, for whatever reason.
It was Zach.
She sensed his presence even before she answered the door.
What she didn’t know was what he could possibly be doing here. Even after all of the recent events proving Zach’s maturity and change in character, she wasn’t sure her parents would exactly welcome him with open arms.
Then again, maybe he was braving the new frontier. He was Riley’s father after all. It made sense that he’d be around this house from time to time, at least until Delia could get a place of her own.
“Zach,” she said as she swung the door open. “What’s going on?”
She saw what was going on the minute she laid eyes on him—drop-dead gorgeous in a fine black tuxedo with a slim silver necktie, his hair slicked back and the heart-slamming intensity of his bad boy smile firmly in place. The breath she’d been holding ached and throbbed inside her chest. She’d never been as attracted to a man as she was to Zach at this moment. In all these years, she had never experienced that lightning bolt feeling from any other man.
Only Zach.
He didn’t wait for an invitation to enter. He sidestepped her into the house, facing her all the while. As soon as she closed the door, he swept a dozen red roses, encased in baby’s breath, from behind his back and thrust them at her.
“Happy New Year,” he proclaimed in a pleasant drawl.
Delia reached for the bouquet and inhaled deeply. “Thank you,” she replied, “but don’t you mean New Year’s Eve? The new year doesn’t officially begin until tomorrow.”
He chuckled. “I’m getting an early start, then.”
“I can see that,” she said, laughing along with him.
Her dad put down his book. Her mother wheeled into the room from the kitchen. And Riley appeared in the hallway, also dressed in a tuxedo and looking so much like his father that it brought tears to Delia’s eyes.
Her pulse was racing and her head was spinning as she struggled to interpret the unspoken implications being thrown at her from every direction. Whatever this was, it was big. And apparently, it involved her whole family. Had everyone been in on this except her?
“Okay, so I have to ask, what’s up with the tux?” Her gaze flashed to Riley and then back to Zach. “Er, tuxes.”
Zach’s grin widened to enormous proportions. “I think I’ll let our son answer that question.”
Riley fidgeted and yanked at his half-attached bow tie. “I couldn’t get this thing to hook on by myself,” he said, instead of answering her question.
“Come here, champ, and let me get that for you,” Zach said, crouching down and reaching for the boy’s tie. “These things are really hard to fasten together sometimes.” When he was finished, he stood and ran his palm over Riley’s hair to brush back stray locks.
Delia’s heart just flipped right over. Zach was such a good dad, helping Riley with his tie without belittling him for not being able to secure the thing himself.
She crossed her arms and began tapping her right foot. “I’m still waiting for an explanation,” she reminded her two handsome men.
Well, one handsome little man. And Zach. He wasn’t exactly hers.
Riley laughed in delight. “We have a secret,” he told her cryptically.
Delia shook her head in bewilderment and chuckled along with her son. “Obviously. So are you going to tell me what it is?”
“We’re going to Houston!” Riley announced.
Delia raised an eyebrow, directing her gaze to Zach. “Is that so?”
Zach tilted his head and his lips quirked in amusement. “I managed to get tickets to the symphony, to be exact.”
Delia glanced at her son. Why hadn’t Riley said anything to her about it? He’d clearly known ahead of time because he was already dressed.
“One minute,” she said, bolting from the room. She’d been waiting for the orchestra’s new CD to come out for ages. Now she could have Riley and Zach pick one up personally for her and not have to pay for shipping.
Scribbling the title of the CD she wanted on a sticky note, she reached for her purse and dumped the contents on the bed. What a lovely time to discover she needed to clean out her purse. Houston was several hours drive, so she knew Zach must be in a hurry. She sifted through a number of crumpled papers and receipts until she found a couple of twenties.
She was a little bit jealous that they were going without her. And how silly was that? If Zach was taking Riley out somewhere, it was a good thing, right? He needed to spend some quality time with his son so they could get to know each other better, and the symphony had always been one of Riley’s favorite places to go on a special occasion.
Of course the same couldn’t be said for Zach. He was a down-home country boy from the soles of his boots to the tip of his hat—and that included his taste in music. Unless he’d done a one-eighty since his high school years, he wouldn’t be the least bit interested in classical music.
What a thoughtful thing to do for their boy.
&
nbsp; And it wasn’t as if he had completely left her out of the picture. She might not be attending the symphony with him but he’d brought her flowers, which was quite a nice gesture on his part and thoroughly unnecessary. She had nothing to be jealous about.
And yet she was green with envy.
She couldn’t help herself. What an epiphany to discover how fervently she wanted to attend the Houston Symphony with Zach and Riley, and how disappointed she was that she had not been invited.
But then, why would she be?
This was about a boy and his father, not about the reuniting of old high school flames. She needed to get over herself—and Zach. She ought to be thanking God that Zach had turned out to be such a great dad, not milling around wondering what might have been between the two of them had she not left town when she had.
She sighed deeply. She was getting in way over her depth here, and raw, heartrending emotions were riding far too close to the surface.
Still sitting on the edge of the bed, she closed her eyes. She had never been more alone in her life—not even when she was in labor with Riley. And yet—
Why didn’t she feel alone?
All of her five senses and then some became instantly alert and reached out to the nearly palpable sensations washing over her, that same sense of Being that had been following her around for weeks now.
Something was different.
She hadn’t been looking for God, hadn’t asked anything from Him. Honestly, she hadn’t been thinking about Him.
She had, in fact, been running from Him for years.
But starting from the second she’d entered the little chapel last Sunday—or maybe from the moment she’d moved back to Serendipity, God had been once more working in her heart, just as He’d done when she was a teenager.
What a strange time to realize that she wasn’t alone. She had never been alone. Her faith had wavered and sometimes failed, but in all that time God had never left her side.
She reached for the peace that had hovered just beyond her reach for all these years. Embraced it.
