Race to the Altar

by Judy Duarte

  “Can I drive?” she asked.

  “My new Corvette?” he asked. “Do you know how to use a stick?”

  No. She was lost in anything other than an automatic.

  “I meant that we could take my car.” She clutched the shoulder strap of her purse, running her fingers along the braided strands of black leather, thinking that’s what her tendons and muscles were doing right now, knotting up.

  Chase might be a better driver than she was, but she’d be uneasy riding with someone who was known for speed and aggressiveness behind the wheel.

  “You’d rather go in a Honda Civic than a Corvette?”

  Swallowing her pride, she opted for honesty. “I’ve got to tell you, Chase, I’m not comfortable riding in that car.”

  “Not even with me driving?” he asked.

  Especially with him driving.

  “Would you mind if I followed you in my car?” she asked.

  His brow wrinkled as he studied her expression. “Are you kidding?”

  She wished she was.

  He placed his hand along her cheek, and she assumed he was going to give in. “I’ll tell you what. I promise not to drive over the speed limit. Are you okay with that?”

  Not really, but she didn’t want to be a slave to her fears. So ignoring her pride, as well as her apprehension, she gave in.

  It was tough, though. Tougher than she’d expected. And for the next half hour, she sat in the passenger seat of his sports car, gripping the armrest, her body tensed as she swayed with each turn in the road.

  She wondered if she’d be able to trust her knees to hold her up when they finally arrived. But true to his word, Chase stayed under the speed limit; she knew because she’d been watching the speedometer like a cornered mouse kept its eye on a hawk.

  “You’ve been hanging on to that door ever since I backed out of your driveway,” Chase said. “Are you that uncomfortable riding with me?”

  She bit her lip and looked away. She wanted to gloss over her fear, to tell him that she’d gotten over the tragedy. And while that was what she’d been telling herself for years, she had to admit that she still carried a few invisible scars. “Ever since the accident, I don’t like riding in vehicles, although I do it whenever I have to.”

  “Like now?” he asked.

  She nodded.

  “Did you ever get any counseling?”

  “No, although I probably needed it at the time.”

  “Why didn’t you?”

  “After the accident, I went to live with my grandparents, who were too wrapped up in their own pain to consider therapy for me, or even for themselves.”

  It had been an awful year. Molly had given up cheerleading and the many friends she’d had when she moved in with her grandparents, which might have been difficult for any other teenager, but at that point, nothing much mattered to her anymore. She’d been too numb to care.

  “So you had to deal with it on your own?”

  “Yes, and to make it worse, a couple of days later I was almost in another accident.”

  “What happened?”

  “After the funerals, my grandparents took me home to San Antonio to live, and we had to drive. The trip was two hours away, and I followed behind them in the family pickup. But I was on edge the entire time.”

  “I can understand that,” he said.

  She was glad that he could, so she continued. “About halfway home, a deer ran across the highway, and my grandfather had to swerve to avoid it. My heart jumped into my throat, and the adrenaline nearly froze in my veins. I hit my brakes, spun out and narrowly missed running off the road. So that experience made things worse.”

  She didn’t tell him that, for a while, she’d had panic attacks each time she’d climbed into a car. It had been years since the last one, though, so she seemed to have overcome them on her own.

  “Accidents happen,” Chase said. “But I want you to know that I never take risks just for the hell of it. My reactions are keen and quick. I’m always ready for the unexpected—I have to be.”

  “I’m sure you are. But this isn’t about you. It’s about me.”

  He reached over and placed a hand on her knee, warming her from the inside out. “Molly, you’re a lot safer riding on city streets with me behind the wheel.”

  She suspected he might be right, but that didn’t make the uneasiness disappear.

  But enough of that, she told herself. She had to stop stressing and get control of herself. And one way to do that was to think—and talk—about something else.

  She’d decided to attend the Mayfields’ party so she could get to know Chase and his family better.

  “Tell me about your parents, about your brothers. I’d like to know who I’ll be meeting this afternoon.”

  “There’s not much to tell. My dad’s name is Phil, and he’s retired. He’s had some health problems recently and is on dialysis.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  “It’s been tough. My brothers and I have all offered to donate a kidney, but my mom insisted that she be the one. That is, if the doctors decide that he’s a good candidate for a transplant. We’re just waiting to hear.”

  “It sounds as though your parents have a good relationship,” she said.

  “As far as I’m concerned, theirs is one of the best. They’ve always been a team when it comes to parenting us boys, and they made sure to maintain date nights while we were growing up. In fact, they still do.”

  “Do your brothers have good marriages, too?” she asked.

  “Yep. Phillip is an electrical engineer married to Callie, who’s a schoolteacher. They have two little girls, which pleases my mom to no end. She never did get to buy dolls or make dresses and frilly things, so now she’s in her element.”

  “Who’s next?” Molly asked, realizing that the trees and fence posts were zipping past her window, that her grip on the door handle had loosened, that her ploy was working.

  “Bobby is almost two years younger than Phillip. He works on an oil rig outside of Dallas. His wife, Jana, was a beautician, but she’s a stay-at-home mom these days. She and Bobby have twin boys, so their lives are involved with Little League and scouting—that sort of thing.” Chase turned on his blinker and moments later made a left turn onto a county road. “Last but not least is Danny, who came along two years later. He’s in the air force. He and his wife, Susan, just got home from China, where they adopted a little girl.”

  Wouldn’t the “last but not least” refer to Chase? she wondered.

  “Are you the baby of the family?” she asked.

  “Yeah.” His smile seemed to fade, although she suspected it was because he was watching the road, looking for a turnoff. “I came along five years after Danny was born, when my mom and dad thought their family was complete.”

  Molly placed her hand on her tummy, thinking that surprise babies might be the biggest blessings of all.

  “Four boys,” she said. “I’ll bet your mother deserved a medal.”

  “I’m sure she’d agree with you. I certainly didn’t make things easy for her.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Because my brothers were pretty active, and I was determined to not only keep up with them, but to surpass them. As a result, I got more than my share of bruises, stitches and broken bones while I was growing up.”

  “Your poor mother.”

  “You’ve got that right.” He chuckled. “And to make matters worse, I considered each one of my injuries a badge of honor.”

  Molly couldn’t imagine what it was like growing up in a family of boys. In fact, at times, she even forgot what her own childhood had been like before the accident, before her parents and brother had died.

  Shutting out the memories, the good along with the bad, had helped her deal with her loss over the years. And so had focusing on her work, on her nursing career.

  But now that she was pregnant, she realized it might be in the baby’s best interest if she tried a little
harder to remember the good times.

  She glanced across the console at the father of her unborn child and tried to imagine him as a little boy, doing his best to keep up with his older brothers. But she also wondered what kind of father he’d make.

  And how he would react when she told him she was having his baby.

  Phil and Sandy Mayfield lived on a quiet, tree-lined street in Garnerville, a small suburb north of Houston. As Chase drove through the shady, family-oriented neighborhood, Molly couldn’t help thinking it would be a great place in which to raise kids.

  Two little girls Rollerbladed down the sidewalk, and several houses down, a boy played with a German shepherd puppy on the lawn.

  Chase pulled along the curb and parked in front of a white, single-story home that had a basketball hoop over the garage door and a small wrought-iron table and chair on the porch.

  As Molly climbed from the passenger seat, she was glad to be able to keep her legs steady, that she hadn’t suffered any ill effects from the stressful drive out here.

  “Have your parents lived here long?” she asked.

  “We moved here right before I started kindergarten.” Chase clicked on the remote lock, then placed a hand on her lower back as he guided her to the walkway that led to the stoop, where a woven, heart-shaped mat welcomed visitors.

  Chase had no more than turned the knob when the door swung open. They were met by a middle-aged redhead wearing a pair of black jeans and a pale yellow sweatshirt with a mama duck and a couple of ducklings on the front.

  She greeted Chase with a dimpled smile and a hug before turning to Molly and extending a hand. “I’m Sandy Mayfield. You must be Molly. I’m so glad you could make it.”

  Molly smiled, greeting the woman warmly. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “Where’s the birthday boy?” Chase asked, scanning the living room, apparently looking for his father.

  “He’s with Phillip and Callie. We’re trying to surprise him, so they took him to that new Home Depot down on Main and Third Street. They’re going to keep him out of the house until four.”

  “Who else is here?” Chase asked.

  “Danny and Susan, but they took the baby for a walk. They’ll be back shortly.” Sandy reached for a gold-framed picture on the table in the entry. “Here’s a photograph of Amy. We took it right after she arrived. Isn’t she the cutest thing? She reminds me of a little doll.”

  “She’s beautiful,” Molly said, looking at the photo of a baby girl who appeared to be about nine to twelve months old.

  “Jana went to pick up the cake for me,” Sandy said, as she replaced the photograph. “She left Bobby and the boys here. They’re in the backyard.”

  “What are they doing?” Chase asked.

  “Playing football, I think. And your grandmother is watching them.” Sandy nodded over her shoulder. “Why don’t you take Molly out and introduce her?”

  “All right, I will.” Chase led Molly through the kitchen and out a sliding glass door.

  The football game stalled when a man bearing a slight resemblance to Garth Brooks noticed Chase and made a time-out motion with his hands.

  The men greeted each other with a hug, and Chase introduced Molly to his older brother. After they’d made the customary small talk, Bobby called over his boys, Brandon and Todd, to meet her.

  Chase certainly had a large family, and half of them had yet to arrive. Molly wondered if she’d ever be able to keep the names straight.

  “Don’t forget about me,” a silver-haired woman called out.

  “No way, Grandma. I’d never do that.” Chase took Molly to meet Ellen Mayfield, an attractive woman in her late seventies, who sat in one of several lawn chairs that had been set up for guests.

  The game resumed, and moments later the football spiraled toward the women. Chase snatched it in the air, then joined his brother and the boys on the lawn.

  “Have a seat,” Ellen said, indicating a chair next to her, and Molly complied.

  “So you’re Chase’s girl,” the older woman said.

  “Actually, we’re really just friends.” The words, while still hanging in the air, sounded phony, even to Molly, since their friendship seemed to be evolving into something more by the minute.

  “Well, it’s always nice when one of the boys brings home a friend,” the older woman said. “Have you known Chase very long?”

  Not long enough, Molly thought, as she considered the baby she was carrying. “A month or two.”

  “I suppose you’re a racing fan.”

  “Not really.”

  Ellen smiled and patted Molly’s knee. “I’m sure that’ll change.”

  “I doubt it. I prefer a quiet life.”

  “Well, don’t let Chase and his hell-bent-for-leather attitude fool you. He’s really a family man at heart.”

  Molly watched him wrestle one of his nephews to the ground. “I can see that.”

  “Oh, you mean the rough-and-tumble stuff?” Ellen chuckled and crossed her liver-spotted hands in her lap. “The Mayfield boys are competitive, and Chase is more so than the rest. But one of these days, the right woman will come along, and Chase will settle down and become the man he was always meant to be.”

  It was clear the older woman was trying to encourage a match between Molly and Chase, but there was too much against them already—more than she could imagine.

  “You know,” Ellen added, “I truly believe that there’s a master plan, and some things are set in stone.”

  Molly hoped she wasn’t going to suggest that Chase and Molly were made for each other, that they were meant to be a couple. Sure, they might be sexually compatible. And there was a definite attraction, which was important. But that wasn’t enough.

  “Take Chase, for example.” The woman lifted one of her hands and placed it over her brow, blocking out the glare from the afternoon sun as she watched the game playing out on the lawn. “My son and daughter-in-law thought their family was complete, but God had other plans.”

  Chase had mentioned that he’d been a surprise baby.

  “And ever since one of his older brothers referred to him as a family accident, he’s been trying to prove otherwise.” Ellen sighed. “It was heartbreaking. You should have heard the emotion in his little voice when he came to me with tears welling in his eyes and asked if it was true.”

  “They were teasing him about it?” Molly asked.

  “Yes, and rather unmercifully, if you ask me. But you know how children can be.”

  Yes, Molly thought. She did know. “What did you say to him?”

  “I told him that some of the best gifts were surprises, but I’m not sure if that made him feel better about it. I’d seen the pain flicker in his eyes, the anger.”

  It made sense to Molly, and her heart swelled at the thought of the little boy trying his darnedest to prove that he was just as good if not better than anyone else in the family.

  As time went on that day, Danny and Susan returned from their walk with little Amy. The newly adopted baby was a beautiful child, with pudgy cheeks, dark tufts of hair and bright little eyes, and Molly couldn’t help sharing the couple’s obvious joy.

  She wondered how her child would fit into this family, and if the two little ones would be close.

  Susan pulled up a chair and sat, holding Amy on her lap, while Danny joined the other Mayfield males on the lawn.

  The teams were uneven, Molly noted, but it didn’t seem to matter.

  As she sat on the sidelines, watching the fun-filled one-upmanship between Chase and his siblings, she easily saw where he’d gotten such a competitive nature.

  During a halftime lull, Chase ambled toward the women and stooped beside Molly, putting his shoulder next to hers.

  “So what do you think so far?” he asked, his breath coming out in short gasps following the effort he’d expended in the football game.

  “I think you boys must have driven your poor mother to distraction.”

  He laughed. �
��We gave it our best shot.”

  But it was Molly who was driven to distraction, as she found herself drawn closer and closer to the father of her baby. But before she could give it much thought, before she was tempted to reach out and cup his face, Sandy opened the sliding door and announced, “He’s here! Get ready, everyone!”

  A hush fell over the patio, as everyone gathered together and waited for Chase’s father to arrive. And when he stepped through the doorway, followed by Phillip, Callie and their girls, everyone yelled, “Surprise!”

  Phil Mayfield, a tall, lanky man who was balding, broke into a grin. “Well, would you look at this!”

  He was a bit on the pale side, Molly noted, realizing his absence of color probably had something to do with his health issues. But he was a friendly man, and his wife, sons and grandchildren clearly adored him.

  She stole a glance at Chase, who stood next to her, surrounded by his family. She supposed she’d have to tell him about her pregnancy one of these days soon.

  She just wasn’t sure when.

  Or how.

  Chapter Ten

  While Jana and Callie helped their mother-in-law lay out a spread of food on several card tables that had been set up on the patio, Susan and Molly chatted with Chase’s grandmother.

  It was nice to see Molly fitting in, although Chase had known she would. Pamela had tried, but she’d been a little too stiff, a little too prim and proper.

  As Molly smiled and reached for Amy’s little hand, she cooed at the new baby. Chase’s heart warmed to see her maternal side, a side Pamela had rarely displayed with his nieces and nephews, even though she’d often worked with charitable organizations that targeted underprivileged children in third-world countries. He’d never been able to figure that out.

  His cell phone, which hung at his belt, rang, and he glanced at the lighted display, noting Gerald Barden’s number.

  Molly, who’d heard the call come in, looked his way and caught his gaze.

  Using hand motions while mouthing the words, he said, “I need to take this. Will you excuse me?”

  She nodded.