Claire's Hope: A Contemporary Christian Romance (Love's Enduring Promise Book 3)

by T. K. Chapin

  “That’ll be fine, thank you.” Standing up, I was about to go back inside and find Todd when he stopped me.

  “Hey Claire,” he said.

  “Yeah?”

  “I love you dear. I want you to know that.”

  “Thanks…”

  “And I’d tuck this bear away somewhere safe,” He said handing it to me.

  Glancing down, I looked at the bear and thought of my mother. Looking back at him, I smiled. “I love you too.”

  Coming inside I found Todd eating a bowl of cereal at the kitchen table. “I’m going to go to Nicole’s here shortly…”

  “Okay,” He replied as he continued to eat.

  My eyes widened by his much improved attitude over last night. “You okay with that?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” he replied smiling.

  “What changed from last night?” I asked curiously, taking a seat at the table across from him.

  “I woke up this morning pretty upset… Dale talked to me and now I feel better.”

  “What’d he say?”

  “That Mom and Dad are in Heaven, looking down on us.”

  Glaring towards the back door that led out to the porch, I knew there wasn’t much I could say to Todd without making him upset. I wanted to tell him there is no God, no Heaven, but I didn’t want the pain that would cause him. I wanted him to be happy and comforted by the thought, so I just smiled. “Wherever they are Todd, I’m sure they’re happy to see you with a smile on your face.”

  Giving him a hug, I left the room and gathered my things to head over to Nicole’s house. I didn’t agree with my aunt and uncle when it came to God or religion, but I was thankful for Dale helping Todd out, even if I felt it was just a crutch.

  CHAPTER 7

  On the ride into town with Dale, I stayed fairly quiet. Thankful for his words with my brother, I still couldn’t help but be a little agitated that he was projecting his religious views on him so strongly. I wanted to avoid the subject since I was happy about Todd’s improvement, but Dale had other plans.

  “I heard you talk in the kitchen with your Brother about your parents being in Heaven.”

  “Yeah, so what?” I replied.

  “You shouldn’t be upset about it…”

  There he went again, trying to tell me what to do. I didn’t want to hold back anymore, if he wanted to talk about it, we’d talk about it. “Don’t try to judge me; you don’t know me or my life. Stop trying to control me or my Brother.”

  “Both your parents accepted Jesus into their hearts in their younger years.”

  What? They did? Why wouldn’t they ever tell us something like that? Was Dale lying to me and using my parents being dead to his advantage? “I don’t believe that.”

  “Well it’s the truth.”

  “They never went to church, didn’t take us… obviously if that’s true… they didn’t really care about the whole God thing.”

  “They fell away, yes… but that doesn’t undo the commitment they made. In fact, the last time I really had a conversation with your Father was at that family reunion years ago.”

  “What happened?”

  Dale looked over at me and squinted for a moment as if he debated on telling me or not. “We got in an argument over the fact he wasn’t taking you all to church. I was trying to explain to him how we as Christians cannot forsake the assembly, but he said he wanted you kids to figure it out on your own…”

  “What’s wrong with figuring it out on our own?”

  “It just goes against the teachings that are in the Bible on how to raise a household. Your Dad was a good man, but he had some issues.”

  Tears welled up in my eyes, how could Dale say that about my dead father? Isn’t there some sort of rules about talking ill of the dead?

  “I’m sorry,” he added. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

  “Whatever. I don’t want to have this discussion,” I replied curtly. Staring out my window, I set my eyes on the fields as I tried to keep from having more conversation with Dale. Were my parents really Christian? I wondered.

  Arriving at Craig’s Pizza Parlor, Dale dropped me off at the front doors. Nicole had phoned me and told me she’d meet me there. “Thanks,” I said quickly as I shut the door of his truck. He gave me a nod through his driver side window and pulled out of the parking lot. How’s that guy keep his cool all the time? It was annoying how collected and well thought out everything he said appeared to come off his lips.

  “Claire!” a girl’s voice said from a nearby car. Glancing around the parking lot I spotted Nicole sitting in a rather nice silver car. Going up to the window, I leaned down to greet her.

  “Sup,” I said, checking out the interior of the car. It smelt like a brand new car and it was far cleaner than the Buick she had been driving around.

  “Dude! Your face!” She said with tears welling up in her eyes.

  Touching my face, I felt a twinge of pain in my cheek. “I know…”

  “Come around and get in, we’ll go smoke a bowl and help that pain of yours.”

  Smoking my problems away sounded like the perfect solution for me. It’d help take my mind off my problems and get me to a good place where I’m relaxed and happy. As I got in, I asked, “Where’s your Mom? And whose car is this?”

  “My Mom’s car, and she let me bring it to come get you… she didn’t want to come,” she laughed. “I think I’ll get to drive this around for now on, so that’s cool.”

  “That’s bizarre; you screw up an old crappy car and as a result get to drive this newer one around?”

  “I know, right?” She laughed.

  After my relaxation treatment around the back side of the pizza parlor, we went into Craig’s to satisfy the munchies we were both feeling. Leaning across the table at the booth, Nicole said in a loud whisper, “I had no idea Matt was capable of doing this to you!”

  “Yeah…” I said shifting my glance out the window that our booth sat against. I just wanted the conversation to stop. The drugs were coursing through my body now and the only thing I wanted to do was relax and forget the pain for a minute.

  “What can I get you gals?” The waitress asked, arriving to our table.

  “What’s your soup today?” Nicole asked.

  “Broccoli cheddar,” she replied.

  “I’ll do the soup and salad, water is fine to drink for me,” Nicole said, handing her the menu.

  “I’ll have the same. But I also want some of those little cheese fried things.”

  “What?” Nicole asked, laughing.

  “Cheese sticks?” The waitress asked smiling as she wrote on a slip of paper.

  “Yes! Those… and could I get a side of onion rings too?”

  “Did they not feed you out at your aunt and uncle’s house?” Nicole laughed.

  “I haven’t been eating much lately… but I’m feeling really hungry right now.”

  Nicole laughed.

  “That’ll be all?” The waitress asked. I nodded to her and she left to go greet a new table that just had people sitting down to it.

  Nicole leaned across the table again. “Hey, Max said you didn’t end up going last night to your bonfire.”

  “Yeah… I don’t really wanna see Matt’s friends. It’d be awkward… Plus you were busy anyways.”

  “Maybe awkward for a second, but they are your friends too Claire! You can’t hide away and not talk to people.”

  “Actually I can… especially with my beat up face.”

  Nicole reached across the table and grabbed my hand. “I’m sorry… I just worry about you. Don’t start backing away from people who care about you.”

  “Thanks,” I replied. “I’m not going to hang out with Matt’s friends, though… that’s a bit much.”

  “That’s your choice,” Nicole said.

  After lunch, Nicole took me over to the call center where she works so I could fill out an application. I didn’t like to say I hated anything, but if I had to choose something, it�
��d be filling out job questionnaires. The questions they ask are ludicrous and the format of the answers makes no sense. “Strongly Disagree,” “Disagree,” “Neutral,” “Agree,” or “Strongly Agree.” Gag me! Such a waste of time, but I had to do it if I wanted the job with Nicole. It was going to be perfect, we’d be able to work a lot together and I’d be able to get rides home from her on the days she worked; well as long as she kept her mom at bay and the car out of ditches. Way better than Slippery Treats regardless, that’s for sure.

  Coming out of the interview with securing the job, I felt pretty happy with myself. “Glad Mikey gave me the job… I’m surprised though he didn’t want more details about the whole Matt thing.”

  “I shot him a text during our lunch about what happened with Matt.”

  “Oh… Well, I hope the job wasn’t given to me out of pity…”

  “It wasn’t. You’re a good worker… or you better at least be here!” She laughed.

  “I will work hard, I promise.”

  “Good,” she replied.

  Getting back into her car in the parking lot, I saw Joshua’s car over along the row we were parked in. “Joshua works here?”

  “Yeah…” Nicole kind of looked at me strangely for noticing. “Why?”

  Shaking my head, I said, “Matt was super angry about Joshua and I talking… that’s how everything started.”

  Nicole looked over at the car. “Well, that’s stupid; we’ve known the kid for like ever.”

  “I know… Joshua’s just kind of a reminder, ya know?”

  “I understand,” she replied, getting into the car.

  Arriving at Nicole’s house, I found myself feeling extremely uncomfortable as I walked in the door with her. The vaulted ceilings, the oversized foyer, it all felt larger than it should be and when I tried to sit down in the living room nearest to the entrance, I got yelled at by Nicole’s mother.

  “That’s not a sitting couch, that’s a show couch. Follow me,” her mother scolded me. Jeez, such a warm welcoming to your house, I thought as I followed behind her and Nicole.

  I knew I hadn’t been able to visit Nicole’s house for a reason, but I thought it might have been something like she was embarrassed of her family. Which could be true, but I think it had more to do with her mom’s anal attentive attitude about the actual house. That was my guess. Her mother was wealthy, but Nicole and her brother didn’t experience much of the riches. That was easy to tell by Nicole’s lack of a car and her brother’s eighty nine Buick. Their mother insisted that they both earn their money just like she had back when she started her beauty cream business over a decade ago.

  “This is where you will be staying. You can sit on any chair or couch in here,” Nicole’s mother said with an open hand. The room was one of the three living rooms in the house and this one sat towards the back. It had large bay windows that overlooked a large backyard. Dropping my bag, I smiled over at Nicole as my gratitude swelled.

  “Thank you…” I said, as Nicole’s mom exited the living room.

  “You’re welcome,” Nicole said, hugging me. Her mother said nothing.

  Her mother soon returned to the living room. “I almost forgot. You will be expected to follow all rules here. You are to promptly put your pillows and blankets away when you wake up in the mornings; curfew is eight o’clock and no wearing shoes on the carpet. Leave those…” She glared at my shoes before continuing, “Vile things in the foyer, please!” Her chin was raised high as she continued out of the room.

  After I made sure her mom was out of earshot, I asked, “How on earth do you carry on with partying and having fun with such a stickler of a mother? I appreciate her letting me stay here, but dang!”

  Nicole laughed as she collapsed onto the big fluffy couch. “I think I party because of how crazy she is… Everything must be perfect in this house… so I just want to be imperfect outside these walls… ya know?”

  “Yeah, but how do you get away with it?”

  “Trish. Her Mom is totally cool and tells my Mom I’m over there a lot. Staying the night, studying… and whatever. Trish’s Mom just doesn’t care.”

  “Nice…” I replied as I took a seat. Sounded like my mom a little, but my mother would never lie to other moms in order to let me go do whatever I wanted. Glancing up at the television set above the fireplace, I grabbed the remote and turned on the guide channel. “You’re so stinking rich! You have like every single channel!”

  “Ha. Hardly. My mom is rich, not us. You’ve seen my brother’s car…”

  “Yeah… that whole thing seems weird.”

  “It is… My mom is the reason he stayed longer on his vacation in Kentucky, he hates it here.”

  “I’m sure,” I replied.

  I was glad to have a place to stay until I could get up on my feet again, but I was scared of upsetting Nicole’s mother. It felt like I would be walking on egg shells for the next few months while I get my life put together. The good thing was I was working full time for the call center, so I shouldn’t have to be around the house much.

  CHAPTER 8

  My nerves were on fire as I set foot into the call center on my first day of work after a weeklong of orientation. I didn’t want to be there, at least not looking the way I did. My bruises were mostly gone, but there were still a few big ones that were still showing. Plus all my new co-workers knew I got the job because of my friendship with Mikey. He and I weren’t super close, but he was a good friend. Earlier that morning he had sent me a text.

  Hey, I’m on the phone most days so you probably won’t see me much. But rest assured Matt is on my radar and if he manages to get out of jail… He’ll be taken care of.

  Mikey was a sweetheart, why couldn’t I have fallen for a guy like that instead of somebody like Matt?

  “Welcome,” Joshua said as he took a seat at a table in the break room as I walked in.

  Tossing my lunch into the fridge, I smiled politely as I worried he was going to ask about my bruises. When he didn’t say anything, I wasn’t sure to be offended or relieved.

  “So is it pretty fun to work here?” I asked, leaning against the fridge after I had shut it. There were a few minutes to burn and I didn’t want to waste them on working without pay.

  “It’s okay… It sure beats sitting through Mr. Joffrey’s English class,” he replied with a laugh. That English class was a ridiculously boring class that everyone in our sophomore year had to sit through. He smiled as he grabbed a random magazine from a pile that was sitting in the center of the table.

  I laughed at his comment. “So is it super sweet missing school?”

  “Yeah, I wouldn’t say I miss it.” He laughed. “It’s pretty cool, I work here a few days a week, and I am in the work study program so I get school credits for my hours here but don’t have to actually be in school. And I get paid.”

  “That is awesome.”

  “You dropped out of school, didn’t you?”

  Turning red in embarrassment, I replied, “Yeah…”

  “Interesting…”

  Ever since the incident with Matt, I had began regretting some of the choices I made, like dropping out of school. That was lame. I wish I could go back, but it didn’t really matter anyways. I needed to save up and work full time to move out of Nicole’s house, so it wasn’t really even a possibility to not work. “Yep, pretty interesting… Gotta put my big kid panties on.” What was that? I could feel my face get redder. “I gotta go find Michelle.”

  He laughed. “Okay, see ya around.”

  Searching the floor for Michelle, I knew what she already looked like from her help in orientation. She was the one that sat with me and helped me through the practice phone calls towards the end of the week. And now, she was the one that was going to be training me on the real phones. I found her cubical relatively quickly and made it just in time to start my shift.

  Turning in her seat, she smiled at me as she held up a finger, motioning for me not to speak.

  “I
understand that Mrs. Hons… I do apologize for the inconvenience that you have had during the outage. I will be happy to give you a call back letting you know when your service has been restored.” She paused for a moment and pointed over to the folding chair that sat in the empty cubicle directly behind me. “Mmmhmm…” Michelle said into the microphone that hung near her lips as I retrieved the chair. “Okay, thank you for calling. Have a nice day.” Reaching over to her phone, she pressed the ‘Busy’ button and dropped her headset to around her neck as she let out a sigh.

  “You ready for the big leagues?” She laughed.

  “Sure thing…”

  Michelle scooted over to allow more room next to her for my folding chair. Sitting down in my seat, I saw pictures of dogs, I said, “These must be your dogs you were speaking about in training.”

  “Those are my babies!” Grabbing for a frame that held a picture of a miniature poodle, she handed it to me. “That’s Sassy…”

  “So cute,” I said.

  “Do you have any?”

  “No, the people I’m staying with would never allow that.”

  “Nicole?” She laughed. “I met her Mother at a company party… Woowee…” She leaned into me, touching my arm. “Get out on your own honey.”

  “That’s why I’m here,” I said, forcing a smile.

  Her eyes narrowed onto the bruise on my cheek. “You’re a strong girl; I can sense that about you.”

  “Thanks,” I replied.

  At lunch, as I ate my ham and cheese sandwich at one of the tables in the break room, I stared blankly at the television set that hung in the corner of the ceiling. Golf classics were on, and it made me want to take a nap just like I used to when my dad would watch them every Sunday afternoon.

  I tried watching it with him from time to time, but I just couldn’t get into it at all. Football, I understood that sport – dudes running around tackling each other and trying to score points. Basketball – dudes running back and forth trying to score in the net. But Golf? Dudes slowly walking around hitting balls into holes while sipping on umbrella drinks and wearing slacks… It just didn’t make any sense to me.