Coming Home: (Contemporary Christian Romance Boxed Set): Three Stories of Love, Faith, Struggle & Hope

by Debra Ullrick

  When the phone rang Thursday night, Keith had the feeling of falling into a black hole of self-flagellation. This would be a lesson in humility he could do without. “Hello?”

  “Hey, how’d the interview go?” Dallas asked, sounding far too enthusiastic about it for Keith’s taste.

  “Fine.”

  “You got it, right? I mean he offered you the job, right?”

  “I don’t know. He said he’d get back to me.”

  That stopped her. “Oh. Well, it’s just a matter of time. Have you called on the house yet?”

  The house. Why was that so hard to remember? “I was going to, but I couldn’t find the number.”

  “I left it on your desk with all the other information.” She didn’t sound pleased. “Come on, Keith. You’ve got to get on this. That house is going to sell, and then we’ll have to start all over.”

  “Look, I’ve been a little busy here. We’re trying to get Dragnet ready. Ike and Tanner are heading out again with Transistor.”

  “Oh, good grief. Enough about the stupid horses already. This is our future we’re talking about here. Can’t you get anything right?”

  The shot found its mark. He shifted on the couch to keep from screaming. “Listen, Dallas. I’m not yelling at you about whether or not you’ve got every little picky detail done. I do have a life, you know?”

  “Playing horses is not a life. It’s a hobby, if that. You need a real job, Keith. Now don’t screw this up for me. I do not want to come home to an unemployed husband who doesn’t have a house for me to live in.”

  The conflagration was flaring into dangerous territory. “Fine. I’ll get it done. Is there anything else you need?” He stopped only one syllable short from calling her “Your Highness.”

  “Yes, you need to stop by the caterers and give them the final menu and head count. I’ll email that to you. The invitations are all out, so that’s taken care of…”

  Down the list they went, and for everything in him Keith wanted nothing more than to hang up on her. After five minutes of lists and tasks, she finally took a breath.

  “It would really be nice if we could get into the house by the end of May. That way we could get it set up with our gifts, and when we get home from Hawaii, it’ll all be ready for us.”

  “Yeah, okay.” Keith just wanted to get off the phone. Hawaii had never sounded so much like hell. “Listen, I’ve got to go, and I’m sure you’ve got studying to do.”

  “Yeah, some.” She sighed. “Man, I wish I was there with you.”

  He couldn’t even say it. “Yeah. Well, good luck with everything. I’ll talk to you soon.”

  In all their talks, Maggie had never thought to ask Greg for his number. The number of Parkers in the Houston phone book was staggering, and she wasn’t about to call every Greg, Gregory, and G plus varied initials listed. So, Thursday night with a sigh, she resorted to corralling Inez long enough to plead for Keith’s number. She wouldn’t have done it, but she saw no good way around it. Worse, she felt like a heel for not having called him sooner. It was just that her previous attempts hadn’t panned out.

  Even though the Ayers had left that morning for several large Washington fundraisers over the weekend, Maggie knew that taking a day off at this point could be a deal breaker. Besides there was no way she was going to put the children in jeopardy over a company picnic. So, Thursday night she waited until the mansion was quiet and the kitchen quieter. Then she snuck downstairs to the phone. Even two long exhales weren’t enough to settle her nerves. Her heart pounded in her ears as she dialed the number. “Please be home. Please be home.”

  “Hello?” Man, she loved that voice.

  Her smile came without her willing it to. “Hey. How’s it going?”

  There was the longest pause of her life on the other end. “Maggie?”

  “Yeah, it’s me.” She sat down in a heap on the chair. She raked her fingers through her hair, jerking once to get her fingers all the way through it. “Listen, I won’t keep you, but I wanted to say I’m sorry about the other day. I should’ve told them where I was going.”

  He sighed. “Yeah, well. They probably wouldn’t have let you come if they had known.”

  There were so many questions surrounding that answer that Maggie could scarcely count them all. “Well, for the record, I am glad we went even if I got into trouble over it.”

  “So, they didn’t fire you then?”

  “No.” She sighed. “Not this time anyway.” The words were there, but she had to force herself to say them. “Listen, the real reason I was calling was to find out if you know Greg’s number.”

  “Greg’s…? Why?”

  “Oh. Brilliant me. I kind of said I’d go with him to his company picnic, and now, it looks like it’s just not going to work.”

  “Oh? Why not?”

  She sighed again, her spirit dragging down with the weight. “Well, the Ayers left this morning for Washington, and I never got the guts to ask for Saturday off. Now that they’re gone, I really can’t just ask off.”

  “Have you had a day off since you started?”

  “One. The night of your party. But I just can’t take off this weekend. It’s just not going to work.”

  As thrilled as Keith should have been about that, nothing in him was. She deserved to be happy, and if Greg made her happy, then Keith would do everything he could to see that she got that chance. “Why don’t you just ask Patty Ann to get a babysitter?”

  Maggie hesitated.

  He waited, but she said nothing. “Would that really be so bad?”

  “I just… I just wouldn’t feel right leaving them here with someone they don’t know. Especially when their parents are gone.”

  “You could leave them with Patty Ann.” He laughed at his own joke.

  “Yeah, and Attila the Hun might be available too.” She didn’t sound like she was laughing. In fact, she sounded downright despondent. “Besides, Patty Ann went with them, so…”

  He hated himself for what he was about to say. If there was a way around it, he would’ve pounced on it, but there wasn’t. “So, do you want to go to this deal with Greg?”

  “Well… yeah. I mean he’s a nice guy. We have fun together and everything. Plus, I’d hate to back out now.”

  Keith exhaled. How he would ever get the words out of his mouth, he had no idea. They stung just thinking them. “Maybe I could babysit.”

  Maggie didn’t say anything.

  “Maggie? Where’d you go?”

  “I… I’m here.”

  “Well, what do you think? I could come to the mansion whatever time you need me on Saturday. I’d love to spend some time with Pete and Izzy. Only Inez would know, and if I know Inez, she wouldn’t say anything to Patty Ann.”

  “But… I’d hate to ask you to do that. You’ve got work, and…”

  “Not on a Saturday night I don’t.” Keith laughed. “It would beat cleaning my house.”

  Again her side went silent.

  “What?” he finally asked.

  “Do you think they would mind? I mean if they found out?”

  He didn’t know how much she knew, but she obviously knew enough. “It’s one afternoon and evening. Inez will be there. We’ll tell them it was a last minute thing.”

  Still, she didn’t say anything.

  “Maggie?”

  “Why would you do that? You could get in trouble covering for me… again.”

  “Maybe I like to walk on the wild side.”

  As planned, Keith showed up right at two o’clock on Saturday. He went in the backdoor, having left his pickup at the guesthouse. This way if something bad went down, Inez could take over, and he could slip out the back.

  “Good afternoon,” he said to Inez who stood at the sink peeling carrots.

  She shook her head, and when she smiled, the dimples on her cheeks stood out. “You are a piece of work, you know that?”

  He walked over to the carrots and popped one in his mouth. “How
’s that?”

  “You just keep showing up like they actually want you here.”

  He put a hurt look on his face. “You don’t want me here?”

  She put a hand on her hip and shook her head. “I shouldn’t. If they find out about this, you’re toast.”

  “That’s why they are not going to find out about this.” He lowered his gaze at her. “Right? This is between us.”

  Inez glanced back at the stairs. “Babysitting? You’ve never offered to baby sit before.”

  “Not true. I did a lot when Pete was first born. They just wouldn’t let me.”

  She still didn’t look convinced. “You seem to be sticking your neck out a lot recently. Do you have a death wish or what?”

  Keith grabbed another carrot and popped it in his mouth. “I’m getting married, aren’t I?”

  The doorbell rang, and Inez reached down to wipe her hands. However, Keith held up his. “Don’t move. I’ll get that.” He strode through the mansion to the front door. One peek through the sidelight told him this was in fact happening. Wrenching the doorknob, he swung the door open. “Well. Well. Look who found their way back.”

  “Keith.” Greg looked positively stunned. “I didn’t know they would let you within 30 yards of this place.”

  “Ha. Ha.” Keith stepped back, and Greg walked in. Careful not to let his emotions slam the door, Keith closed it. “You here for Maggie?”

  Greg readjusted the light green cotton shirt. “Umm, yeah. Is she ready?”

  “I don’t know. Just a second. I’ll go check.” Keith was determined to remain light and cheerful as if this wasn’t killing him. That worked all the way up until he met her coming quietly out of her room. The turquoise and white striped shirt always did funny things to his stomach. “Greg’s here.”

  Maggie spun like she’d been caught stealing the Hope Diamond. “Oh, man. Do you have to sneak up on people like that?”

  He smiled. “Only the ones I like.”

  She looked at him then with a face full of hope and fear. “Are you sure this is okay? I don’t want you to miss work for me.”

  “It’s fine. I’m fine. The kids will be fine.” At least he could say the words like he meant them. “Go. Have fun. Don’t worry about us.”

  Still, she didn’t look convinced. Her gaze traveled down to her shirt and white skirt. “Is this okay?” She smoothed down the shirt. “I don’t want to look overdressed.”

  The words drifted through him, touching with an ache every soft spot. “You look amazing.”

  With Keith right behind her, Maggie made her way down the stairs, hoping she wouldn’t fall and wondering how she was ever going to make it out that door with both Greg and Keith in the room. Midway down, she caught Greg gazing up at her, and she smiled and pushed a stray strand of hair over her ear.

  “Wow. You’re going to put all the other ladies there to shame,” Greg said. When she stepped off the bottom stair, he stepped over to her and put his arm around her. “You look beautiful.”

  Nerves overtook her then. It was bad enough for him to say it. It was worse for Keith to be standing right there to hear it.

  “Well, Keith, we’ll see you.” Greg extended his other hand to his friend although he never removed his other arm from her. Somehow it was weird to watch Keith shake Greg’s hand from this vantage point.

  “Have fun,” Keith said, looking at her in the way that made her knees feel like jelly.

  “We will,” Greg said, and he turned them both and started out.

  Keith had never been in such a battle in his life. Not one part of him wanted to let them walk out that door and down that walk. But he knew it could be no different, and thinking that it could would only cause everyone heartache that they didn’t deserve. Softly he closed the door, but he couldn’t just leave. So he stepped to the sidelight and pulled the little sheer curtain there back ever-so-slightly.

  They looked good together in a way that ripped his heart out. They would be good together—good for each other. Greg needed someone patient and kind and strong. And Maggie deserved to be treated well by a genuinely nice guy. It was just that watching it happen knifed through him with an intensity he hadn’t counted on.

  The little sports car drove away smoothly, and somehow every moment of watching her slip farther away made it hurt all the more.

  “Are they gone?” Inez asked from her leaning post on the breezeway to the kitchen.

  Keith glanced at her, knowing he was busted. “Yeah.”

  She gazed at him for a long moment. “Do you want to talk about it?”

  There were certain people in the world that Keith knew, or thought he knew, he could trust. Ike had been on that list until recently. Inez had been on it until he left for college. “You still make those chocolate shakes like you used to?”

  She smiled. “I think I might remember.”

  The drive to the park had to be one for the memory books. Spring had definitely arrived. Bluebonnets and orange paintbrushes washed everything that wasn’t green in breathtaking color. The day would have been absolutely perfect, save for the fact of who she was here with.

  “So, are you planning on working for the Ayers forever?” Greg asked, glancing over at her. His strong hands with long fingers rested easily on the steering wheel.

  “I’m surprised I’m still there.” Her fingers played with her skirt.

  “Oh? Why’s that?”

  Maggie shrugged although her gaze was down. “I’m not exactly cut out for living like the rich and famous. Give me a little house in a little town with a little grass and a few kids, and I’ll be more than happy.”

  He glanced at her. “No big, fancy parties?”

  She shook her head. “Just someone who loves me and enough money to live.” She hadn’t seen it coming, and if she had, she didn’t know if she would’ve had time to react. But suddenly his hand was over hers. His fingers fell in the space between her thumb and her palm. Her heart leaped into gear as her gaze jumped to his.

  His look was laced with a smile. “Maybe that dream isn’t as far away as you think.”

  “Okay, Keith, what gives? You haven’t been around this place this much in five years, and now every time I turn around, there you are again.” Inez set the frothy drink in front of him, seemingly as a bribe to get him to open up.

  However, he didn’t want to go there. “Do you remember when we used to drink these when I was little?”

  “Do I? What I remember is you coming home from football practice wanting a bag of French fries and three of these.”

  Inez laughed. “I thought I would never get you full.”

  Keith took a sip. “Those were good times.”

  “Yes and no,” she said, tilting her head to look at him.

  His heart clogged his chest. “I really made a mess of things, huh?”

  “How so?”

  “High school. College. He hates me now, even more than before.”

  Inez shook her head slowly. “He doesn’t hate you. He loves you. He just can’t figure out how to show that.”

  “Yeah, and that’s why I’ve been banished. He treats me like I’m somebody he could fire tomorrow if I take a step out of square.”

  “So you dance outside the square to prove to him that he can’t.”

  He couldn’t argue with that, so he didn’t. “It would’ve all been so different if she had lived.”

  There was a long, slow exhale from the housekeeper. “He’s hurting too. You’ve got to know that.”

  Keith shook his head. “What does he have to be hurting about? He’s the king of this place. To him, we’re all expendable.” He stirred the drink very slowly. “It must be nice to know you’re not.”

  “Well, in a month you’ll be in your own house with your own wife leading your own life.”

  That didn’t help although he knew she meant it to. “The Hendersons are just like him. I won’t be their son-in-law. I’ll be their slave.”

  “Is that how you feel here
? Like a slave?”

  He couldn’t say it, so he just nodded.

  “Have you told your dad that’s how you feel?”

  “Yeah, right. There’s a plan that would get me shipped off to Siberia.”

  Inez continued to look at him. “You know, your mom would never have wanted this. She loved you so much. She would’ve never wanted you to have gotten run over like you have.”

  Keith snorted. “I think God took the wrong one.”

  “As bad as that sounds, I’ve thought that too on occasion. But what is it they say, ‘Only the good die young.’”

  “Boy, truer words were never spoken.” He spun the glass slowly. “We’ve been going to the church again. The one she used to take me to.”

  That stopped Inez. “We?”

  He glanced up. “Me and Maggie.”

  She lifted her chin, but said nothing.

  “It’s nice. You know? I didn’t realize how much I missed it.” Tears sprang to his heart. “It’s hard because I remember so much sometimes—the way she was always at my games, the way she would hold those signs up that said, ‘Yeah, Keith!’ At the time I thought I was embarrassed by them. Now I wish I could go back just for a day and feel her arms around me, telling me it will be okay.”

  “You know, she may not be right here telling you that, but I’ll bet she is up there in Heaven, holding those signs up and cheering you on.”

  The tears made it all the way to his eyes. “You think?”

  Inez smiled. “I know so.”

  “How about here?” Greg asked, indicating a semi-vacant table under a tree.

  “Looks good.” Maggie followed him and set her plate and cup down on the picnic table. The happy sounds in the park enveloped them. On one side company team members played tag football. On the other a myriad of people filled their plates.

  “Must be some company,” Maggie said, picking up her fork.