“Oh, Morgan.” A sweet feeling welled up in her.
“Really, Miss C. You were the one who convinced me to tell my parents. It was hard at first, but you were right. They did support me.”
“They’re good parents. You’re very blessed.” She thought of Linn’s dad and wished she had been so blessed. Her dad was in no condition to support Linn or her baby.
But you can.
Natalie looked down again at little Mattie and touched her hand with a finger. The baby grasped on to her pinky, holding it like a lifeline.
She could be a lifeline to Linn’s baby. A lifeline to Linn in her time of need. Her breath caught in her chest. Maybe she could do it. Maybe she could love that baby as her own. Maybe God could use this situation to win Linn. She had an openness toward godly things.
“Well, I just stopped by real quick on my way to her doctor’s appointment.”
Natalie handed the baby back to Morgan. “Thanks so much for bringing her by. Don’t be a stranger around here, OK?”
“I won’t.” Morgan stood, the jumbo diaper bag swinging from her shoulder.
Natalie walked her to the front door, where they said good-bye. As the door swung closed, Natalie watched mother and child go down the sidewalk, her heart full of the things God had done through the center.
“Amazing, isn’t it?”
She didn’t know Cheryl had walked up beside her until she’d spoken. Natalie drew in a deep breath and let it out. She didn’t have to ask what Cheryl was talking about. They were all here for the same reason. “It sure is.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Natalie snagged the pillows off the floor and tossed them onto the couch. “Pick up your Legos, Alex.”
“When will Daddy come?” Taylor asked, his three-year-old eyes turning up to her. He’d sat on the couch wearing his Bob the Builder backpack for the past half hour.
“Any minute, sweetie.”
She took a dirty glass to the kitchen and came back, surveying the carpet with a sigh. She thought there was more mulch in the house than in the landscaping outside. Oh, well. Too late to do anything about it now.
Why are you cleaning up for Keith anyway?
She shrugged away the thought. She would tidy up for anyone who was stopping by, she told herself.
“Good job, Alex.” He carried the tattered Lego box to his bedroom.
A car door slammed, and Natalie made her way to the front door. Taylor raced around her and threw open the door. He ran down the concrete path and grabbed his dad’s legs in a tight embrace. “Daddy!”
An ache started in her stomach and winged its way outward. Would she ever get used to seeing her kids leave with Keith? Though she no longer loved him, it pained her that the boys didn’t have a dad who lived with them.
“Hey, buddy.” Keith embraced Taylor. “Got your stuff?”
“Uh-huh. Are we going fishing?”
“You bet. Where’s your brother?”
“Here I am!” Just in time, Alex slid through the door and went to hug his dad.
“Hi, squirt.” His gaze met Natalie’s over his head for just a moment. “Hey, you two, go get in the car. I need to talk to your mom a minute.”
“Awww … I wanna go now.” Alex slumped toward the car.
“There’s a bag of Fritos in there you guys can split.”
“All right,” Alex said and headed for the car.
“Share,” Natalie said, as if that one motherly comment would do any good. She eyed Keith, who approached.
He stepped up on the porch, sliding his hands into the pockets of his khakis. She could see him with objective eyes now. He looked older than he had when they were married, and his hairline had receded a bit more. She wondered what he wanted to talk about.
“Hows your work at the center going?” he asked.
“Fine.” The last thing she wanted right now was small talk. “How’s the Wort?” If his brother hadn’t given him a management position in the historic hotel, he would have had trouble finding anything to support himself. After serving jail time for his part in the bank scheme that almost closed Hanna’s lodge, who else would have hired him? She was thankful, since she needed the child support to help with Alex and Taylor.
“Good.” He looked back at the car. “Listen, I wanted to let you know the boys’ll be meeting a friend of mine this weekend. My girlfriend.”
Her heart sunk like stone in her chest. Hearing him talk about another woman brought back all the pain. From the moment of finding the condom in his pants to the moment of realization that he was having an affair with some other woman. Natalie didn’t want the boys to meet her. She was the one who’d caused this whole mess in the first place.
“It’s been two years, Natalie.”
“As if time can really fix things.” Why was her heart pounding as if she’d just run a marathon? Two years was a long time, and she no longer had any feelings for Keith. She’d been surprised he hadn’t brought Lindsey around the boys before now. She’d wondered why, and now that he was going to do it, she questioned that, too.
He sighed. “Look, I just wanted to let you know.”
“I wish you’d told me earlier so I could’ve prepared the boys. They don’t really know about—about Lindsey.” She tried really hard to say the name without coating it in bitterness.
His eyes widened marginally. “Actually, it’s not her. Things have been over with her for a while. This is someone else.”
She felt a momentary pang of satisfaction. So, it hadn’t worked out with him and Lindsey. Served them right. Maybe Lindsey was feeling the same pain she’d caused Natalie. She closed her eyes, batting away the ugly thoughts. Why was it so hard to be Christlike when it came to Keith?
“Her name is Alisha, and she’s really good with kids, so it’ll be fine. I just wanted to prepare you.”
Somehow, knowing it wasn’t Lindsey made it better. “All right.” She gritted her teeth and forced out the next words. “Thanks for telling me.”
“Taylor isn’t sharing!” Alex’s voice called through the open window of Keith’s car.
“I guess I’d better go,” Keith said, backing away.
She nodded. “Bye, boys. Be good,” she called, waving toward the car.
They barely gave a distracted wave in their fight over the Frito bag. Oh, well, it was Keith’s problem now. She closed the door and went back inside.
The house was so quiet she could hear the mantel clock ticking. The house was clean, except for the carpet, and she had two days and two nights to herself. She spied the book she’d picked up at the library. It was a book on adoption, and it was rated high on Amazon.com.
She picked it up and flipped through the pages. Was she really considering going through with this? What would it be like with a baby in the house again? She’d be doing it all by herself this time.
A wry grin formed. Of course, she’d practically done it by herself with Alex and Taylor, too. The difference this time would be that she had to work outside the home. Would her mother be willing to care for the baby while she worked? It was one of the many things she had to think about if she was going to consider adopting Linn’s baby.
She began reading the book, and before she knew it, she was on chapter five, and darkness had fallen behind the curtained windows. She was learning a lot. The adoption process was long and complicated, but reading about it had done something inside her. A tender fire was blazing in her heart toward this baby, and she wondered if it was God’s way of preparing her for this job.
A glance at her watch told her she’d missed dinner. She wasn’t hungry, though. She had too much nervous energy to eat. What she really wanted was to talk to someone.
She picked up the cordless and punched in the number for Higher Grounds. Gram answered the phone.
“Hi, Gram, it’s Natalie.”
“Well, hi, honey, how are you?”
“I’m just fine.” She asked about the business and about Gram’s friend Gerdy, and when their con
versation began to wind down, she asked if Hanna was there.
“No, honey, she and Micah took a group up Mt. Moran this morning. It’s just me and Mrs. Eddlestein.”
Natalie was glad they’d had the foresight to leave their housekeeper with Gram. Ever since the onset of Alzheimer’s, they’d realized it wasn’t safe to leave her alone. But since Hanna would be gone overnight, Natalie had no one to talk to. Her spirits sank.
She talked to Gram about the boys for a few minutes, then hung up and walked to the fridge. She opened the freezer and saw the Rocky Road container on the top shelf, where it stayed the perfect temperature. She sighed and turned away. What was she thinking? She hadn’t even had dinner yet.
She wandered back to the couch and sat down. She thought of Linn and wondered if she should call and invite her over. She’d talked to her quite a few times over the past couple weeks. Linn had gone to Burger King with Natalie and the boys, they’d gone to the park, and Linn had come over for dinner twice.
But what Natalie felt a need for right now was advice. And her Dear Abby was gone. She considered calling her mom but tossed the idea aside. Although she was a great listener, she rarely gave advice. Sometimes Natalie wondered why such a wise woman kept all that wisdom to herself, but she knew her mom was just trying to be careful not to guide her in the wrong direction.
Paula was undoubtedly home alone on a Friday night, but her sister’s advice wasn’t the kind she wanted. Maybe she was being too picky.
She thought of Kyle for a moment, then let the thought slide by. She’d already bothered him once before. He wasn’t family, and he certainly wasn’t interested in her, so it would be selfish of her to call and pick his brain again.
Wouldn’t it?
She let the idea linger a moment. What could really be the harm in calling? If he was busy, he was busy. And she could make it clear he was under no obligation. She was pretty good at reading people, and he hadn’t seemed at all bothered when they met for coffee before.
She eyed the phone on the end table. Had she kept his number somewhere? She got up and rooted through the junk drawer. Under the phone book and two coloring books was the scrap of paper with his number.
She grabbed the phone and dialed it, waiting for it to ring. A thought occurred to her. It was Friday night, and he was a handsome, single man. He was probably out with a woman or … what if he had a woman at his place? What if she was interrupting something? She should hang up. She pulled the phone from her ear.
“Hello?” Kyle’s voice sounded faintly.
She pulled the phone back to her ear, wondering what she’d been thinking. She cleared her throat. “Um, hi, is this Kyle?”
“Yes.”
“This is Natalie. Natalie Coombs … we met for coffee a couple weeks ago.” She closed her eyes, suddenly feeling very stupid. Why was she insinuating herself upon this man she barely knew? He was going to think she was completely self-absorbed.
“Sure. Hi, Natalie.”
Well, that didn’t sound so bad. Now if she could only figure out what to say. “I really appreciate the help you gave me before. I … I guess I’m still struggling with this decision and wondered if—look, maybe I shouldn’t have called. You hardly know me from Adam, and this certainly isn’t your responsibility, and you’re probably busy right now anyway.”
“No, it’s all right. Really. What do you need?”
Her eyes stung at his offer, and she chided herself for being so ridiculous. She felt the sigh that seemed to well up from her stomach. “I guess I need some answers about the adoption process.” It occurred to her he did this daily in his job. For money. “I’d be glad to pay you for your time,” she added.
“No, you’re all right. Go ahead, ask away.”
She sank onto the couch and opened the book she’d been reading. For the next forty-five minutes, she barraged him with one question after another about the adoption process. He was patient and thorough in his answers. The book was a great overview, but Kyle provided the nitty-gritty details as well as the relationship problems that sometimes surfaced in what he called the adoption triad—the adoptive couple, the birth parents, and the child.
“What about the baby’s father?” Kyle asked. “If your client has the baby, is he willing to sign away his rights?”
“I don’t know. The client says he wants nothing to do with her or the baby. But I don’t know if she’s asked him that question point-blank.”
“Hmm.”
Silence hummed across the lines a moment, and Natalie shifted to lie down on the couch. “I guess I should ask that, shouldn’t I?”
“It sounds as if you’re really serious about going ahead with it.”
She drew a breath and let it out. “I am. And that’s really amazing, because I was so dead-set against it at first. Do you think I’m crazy?”
She heard him breathe a laugh. “No, I don’t think that at all.”
There was a silence, but after all their time on the phone, it wasn’t the awkward kind. More like the kind of quiet that passed comfortably between friends.
“Do you have anything else you’ve been wondering about?” Kyle asked.
“Shoot, I have so many questions, I could keep you up all night with them.” She wondered if he wanted to get off the phone. “But you’ve been really kind to answer my questions, and I’ve taken enough of your time.”
“I don’t mind.”
A silence, this time awkward.
“Listen, I was wondering … ,” he said. “I know it’s late, but have you had dinner yet?”
Was he asking her to dinner? Warmth kindled inside her. How long had it been since she’d been to dinner with a man? Of course, this wasn’t a date or anything. Her stomach gave a hefty growl as if in encouragement.
“Oh, your kids are probably in bed,” he said.
“No, their father has them for the weekend. And I missed dinner.” Why was her heart wobbling all over the place?
“Would you like to, then? Meet me someplace?”
He was only being nice, trying to answer her questions. “Sure, name the place.”
“How about the Shady Nook?”
They set a time and got off the phone. Natalie looked down at the knit short set she’d put on and ran up the stairs to find something more appropriate. It was a casual restaurant, but she didn’t want to walk in looking this ratty.
Why hadn’t she done her laundry this week? She was down to almost nothing. And why did she care so much anyway? She pulled a black blouse from the closet and looked for something to go with it. Nothing. She put the blouse back and picked up a lavender short-sleeved sweater. Jeans. All she had in the pants department were jeans. She slid the sweater back on the shelf.
This was ridiculous. She had twenty minutes to get there, and she hadn’t even assessed her hair and makeup.
She slid into a nice pair of trendy jeans, added a black belt and a black T-shirt, then went to look at her reflection in the mirror. Fortunately, she’d touched up her makeup before Keith had come. But her hair was matted and messy from lying on the couch, so she twisted it up and secured it with a clip. She arranged the pieces as best she could in the few minutes she had, then grabbed her purse and keys and was out the door with five minutes to spare.
Kyle stopped in front of the Shady Nook to pet Daisy, the owner’s dog. The collie wagged her tail, then watched him as he entered the restaurant. The place wasn’t very crowded, since it was late for dinner, but it was still a little on the noisy side. He snagged a booth in the corner and opened his menu, keeping an eye on the front door. He’d been chastising himself ever since the invitation had slipped out of his mouth. What had he been thinking? Meeting her for coffee had been one thing. She’d been desperate for answers that night. He’d only been trying to be kind. But tonight he could’ve answered all her questions on the phone. There was no need to meet face-to-face.
You were hungry.
He recognized it for the excuse it was. He could’ve fixed
himself a turkey sandwich and ate while they’d talked. But he’d wanted to meet with her, and that was why he’d been calling himself every kind of fool for inviting her here.
He hadn’t been out with a woman since Jilly. Just the thought of his wife was like a punch in the gut. He didn’t want to think about her tonight. Not the accident or the baby or the affair.
The waitress came, and he ordered himself a Coke. As she walked away, he saw Natalie approaching the table. He took in her cute figure in the jeans and top and felt his mouth go dry. When was the last time he’d looked at a woman that way? Feeling disloyal to Jilly, he glanced down at his water glass.
“Hi.” She slid into the booth.
“I didn’t know what you’d want to drink.” He gestured to the water the waitress had set there.
“No, that’s fine. Water’s all I want anyway.”
He handed her the menu, and she smiled her thanks. She wore her dark, wavy hair up in a way that looked messy and mesmerizing all at the same time. A few pieces looked as if they’d escaped and grazed the sides of her face.
After they’d placed their orders, he leaned back against the booth and told his heart to settle down.
“I haven’t been here in a while,” she said.
“I imagine with kids, you don’t eat out much.”
“Sure I do. Ronald McDonald and I are on a first name basis.” Her lips curved up, and her dark eyes sparkled in the dim light.
“So what do you do for fun when your kids are gone for the weekend?”
Her eyes simmered with the lazy seductive look of Catherine Zeta-Jones. “Laundry … weeding … mopping … I could go on and on.”
He leaned forward. “You lead a very exciting life,” he deadpanned.
She smiled then in a way that reminded him of a little girl. It touched a place in him that he’d thought was dead.
The waitress came to refill their drinks, and he found himself eager to resume their conversation. When the waitress left, he took a sip of his Coke.
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