Rachel smiled. “The village water department had to shut off the water.”
“Yeah. They had Ryan Warsaw with them. Remember him? He looked like he had the brain of a peapod, but that kid was a genius. I’m sure he’s the one who figured out how to do it; the rest just egged him on, Jay at the front of the line, I’m sure.”
They talked and joked for a couple more minutes, reminiscing about old times and dragging up a few more stories. Finally, she turned to him and said, “Well, thank you very much, Larry. I appreciated the ride, but I’d better go inside. I need to give my son his medication.”
She reached for her car handle, but he stopped her. “It won’t unlock on its own.” He grinned and raised his eyebrows. “You’re trapped.”
“Oh.”
“Don’t look so worried, Rachel. I’m only kidding.” He bit down on his lower lip, his face mere inches away, his breath skimming her cheeks. “Before you go in, I was just…uh, wondering…if you’d like to go out with me sometime—when the weather clears, of course.”
Shock seemed to siphon the blood from her head, and Rachel felt almost dizzy. “I…uh….”
Larry’s eyes widened with a startled look. “It wouldn’t have to be a date. If you didn’t want it to be, I mean. I was just thinking…you know…we could maybe meet for coffee or something. Nothing serious.”
Her hand went to her throat. A date? Since John’s death, no man—with the exception of Jason—had approached her in any way but casually, and she knew exactly why. She had closed herself off from men, and with good reason. The very notion of dating again provoked a wave of angst within her.
“I—well, thank you for asking, but—”
“No, that’s fine. It’s too early; I should have been more sensitive. Here, let me help you to the house.”
He went for his door, but she stopped him with a hand on his arm. He paused and turned. “I’d love to,” she heard herself say. “Have coffee with you, that is.”
Chapter 16
Phone’s for you,” Diane announced from her cubicle in Evans Construction Company. “Says his name is Larry Rossini.”
“Larry Rossini,” Jason muttered under his breath as he tried to clear the cobwebs in his head and place the name. “Larry Rossini?” he repeated aloud. If it was the same Larry Rossini he’d grown up with, he hadn’t seen him since John’s funeral, and even then, their interaction had been limited to a brief hello.
“That’s what he says.”
He dug for his phone under a mountain of paperwork, finally laying a hand on it and bringing it to his ear.
“Jay Evans, here. Is this who I think it is?” Larry had been one of those rare finds who had enough in common with the two brothers to be fast friends with both. They’d pretty much lost contact after high school, as he and John had gone their ways and Larry had enrolled at the police academy.
A familiar deep chuckle came from the other end. “Hey, Jay! Larry Rossini. How you been?”
“Luigi!” Jason bellowed into the receiver, knowing full well his friend had never liked his given name. “Not bad. You sound pretty decent.”
“I can’t complain, all things considered.”
They exchanged a few laughs, along with some personal details; Jason got him caught up on his mundane life, and Larry spoke briefly about his divorce and the ensuing custody battle over a boy he’d discovered all too late wasn’t even his own. Jason felt bad for the guy and told him so. From there, they discussed Larry’s job as a state trooper, his parents and his family, and even the weather, which had been a hot topic ever since the last whopping storm had dumped sixteen inches of snow on northern Michigan in less than forty-eight hours. Shoot, they were still digging out from it.
It was nice to hear Larry’s voice, but after several minutes of hearing him ramble on, Jason needed to get to the bottom of what had prompted his call. “Hey, what can I do for you, man? And don’t tell me you want me to build you a house. I’m what you’d call buried up to my eyebrows in contractual agreements right now.” He tapped his pencil on his desk calendar. How is it December 11 already? he wondered. He hadn’t bought a single Christmas present, and the mere thought of fighting the crowds to do it made him cranky. Last year, he’d let Candace do the bulk of his Christmas shopping. Oh, the convenience of a girlfriend!
“Nope. Don’t need a house. Actually, I’ve just been thinking about you lately and finally decided to give you a buzz. I heard through the grapevine you’ve been running a successful business and keeping out of trouble. I just had to see if it was really true.”
“Ha! It’s true, all right,” Jason said, laughing. “The ‘keeping out of trouble’ part, anyway. Truth be told, I got my life squared away with God just after my brother’s accident.”
“Oh! Well, wow!”
He noticed that Larry’s expression of surprise did not give way to a word of commendation or congratulations, not that he would have expected it to. He’d long thought of Larry Rossini as a die-hard partier. Shoot, he’d been one, himself. There was nothing wrong with it, he supposed, it was just no longer the life he chose. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t welcome the opportunity to catch up with the guy over lunch, for old times’ sake.
“So, what grapevine do you follow these days, anyway?”
“Ha! I ran into your sister-in-law the other night, and she got me caught up.”
“My sis—oh!” His heart spun a little cartwheel. “That so? Where’d you happen to see her?”
“Poor thing had a little fender bender. I took care of—”
“What? No one called me.” Jason tossed his pencil down and dropped his feet to the floor as he sat up straight. “Is she all right? Were the kids with her? Is everyone okay?”
“Whoa, take it easy, man! Everyone’s fine. She was alone and on her way back from the pharmacy on the worst night of that storm. Her kids were at the neighbor’s.”
Jason took a few deep breaths and commanded himself to stay calm. “What happened, anyway?”
“Oh, some guy hit her from behind and pushed her into a snowbank. I got called to the scene, so I took good care of her, wound up driving her home afterward. Man, it was good seeing her again—brought back a lot of memories. You got a cute niece and nephew there.”
He’d driven her home? He’d met her kids? Across the room, Diane peeked out from her cubicle, then ducked back inside.
He lowered his voice and rubbed his forehead. “Well, I—I’m glad you responded to the call. Thanks for taking care of things.”
“Hey, it was my pleasure. Like I told Rachel, if ever I get the chance to assist a beautiful damsel in distress, it makes my job worthwhile. We had a great talk. In fact, I’m taking her out for coffee tomorrow night.”
“You—really? Tomorrow night, huh?” A prickly sensation of heat had him pulling at his collar.
“Yeah. I was thinking, you know, that it might be too soon to ask her, but I took the plunge and went for it.”
“And she accepted.”
“Yep.” A silent pause filled the next five seconds. “Well, anyway, like I said, I’ve been thinking about you since I saw Rachel, so I thought I’d check up on you. Didn’t I hear something a while back about you being engaged or something?”
“You may have, but that particular grapevine failed you. I guess Rachel didn’t mention that I’d broken up with Candace?”
“Nope, ’fraid not. I got the feeling she doesn’t see you very often. You, John, and I used to have some good times back in the day, ’member that? Rachel and I were talking about some of the wild stuff you used to do.”
Jason forced a chuckle. “I sewed a few wild oats. I hope she mentioned how I’ve mellowed.”
They talked for a few more minutes, Jason doing his best to remain calm and cordial. When the conversation finally winded down, they made an empty promise to meet up sometime and then said their farewells. If the Lord had been looking for an example of brotherly love in that moment, He surely would not have cited Jason Ev
ans.
As soon as Jason hung up the phone, he pushed back in his chair, the legs scraping against the floor, stood up, and grabbed his coat.
“Where’re you going?” Diane asked.
“Out for a bit.”
“Is everything all right?”
“Yeah, all’s ducky,” he answered, throwing the door open wide and stepping out into the frigid air.
***
“What were you thinking, Rachel?”
“Johnny needed his medicine, Jason.”
“And you couldn’t have waited?”
“Would you rather I had waited and he’d ended up in the emergency room with an asthma attack?”
“You should have picked up his prescription before the storm.”
“I didn’t know a storm was coming.”
“You must have been the only one in Michigan, then. It’s winter, Rachel. You have to be prepared at all times.”
“I’m not a Boy Scout,” she said, trying to make light of the moment. She remembered the motto from when John and Jason had been Scouts.
“Be serious, Rachel. What if something had happened to you?”
She could admit it—she’d been secretly elated to see Jason’s number show up on the caller ID. But his berating her decision to go out on the worst night possible put a damper on her joy. If anything, it irritated her to the heavens. He was not her guardian, and she was not his charge. She thought she’d made that clear on Thanksgiving night. Thanksgiving night. The night he’d kissed her. Passionately. And the night she’d told him they must never pursue a deeper relationship, lest they dishonor John’s memory.
“Well, nothing happened to me. I’m fine; my van is fine, now that it’s had a few minor repairs; and the kids are great. Everything’s great,” she said in spurts. Yes, she’d used sarcasm to get her point across, but at the moment, he deserved it.
“And what is this about you going on a date with Larry Rossini?”
Now she was put out—not only with him, but also with Larry. What had possessed him to call Jason, anyway? Had there been some hidden agenda on his mind, a need to check out how things stood between Jason and her? All she’d done was agree to have coffee with the man. “Gracious, news does travel fast, doesn’t it?”
“It’s that old grapevine, you know.”
“Why are you so ticked?”
“I’m not,” he blurted out, almost cutting her off. “But you could have called and told me about the accident. Why’d I have to hear it from someone outside the family? And another thing—isn’t it a little early for you to be seeing other men?”
Ah, there it was. “That’s a personal decision, different for every individual.”
“Ah, so it’s all right to see other men, just not your brother-in-law. Have you forgotten about our kiss?”
The mere mention of that event sent a shiver down her back. She took a calming breath and swallowed, measuring her next words with care. “And have you forgotten why we won’t be doing that again?” When he didn’t answer, she wondered for a moment if they’d lost their connection, but then she heard him quietly clear his throat. “All right, I’m sorry you had to hear about the accident from an ‘outside source.’ I’ll be sure to inform you right away the next time someone rear-ends me—or I land in the hospital. I’m just kidding,” she added with a giggle. She couldn’t help it; Jason made her feel strange things, things better pushed to a back burner and stuffed under a lid or even laughed off with a pathetic joke.
“Where’re you two meeting for coffee, anyway?” he asked, disregarding her silly remark.
“He’s picking me up.”
“Ah, so it is a date, then.”
“No, it’s coffee. There’s a difference.”
“Larry Rossini is not your type. Never has been.”
“Well, thank you for that.”
“In junior high, he got into a fistfight that earned him a weeklong suspension.”
“Is that so? Did you spend the week in suspension with him?”
“Very funny.”
“Well, regardless of what happened in his past, he’s a state trooper now.”
“A divorced one. Did he tell you that?”
“Of course.”
“Oh.”
“Jason, go back to work, would you? I’ll see you on Christmas Day.”
“No, you’ll see me on December eighteenth—Johnny’s party, remember? You can’t uninvite me,” he quickly put in.
She sighed and bit back a nagging smile. “All right, then, next week.”
“If not before.”
“Next week will suffice, Jay.”
A noise like the low growl of a dog came across the line. “Don’t go having too much fun tomorrow night. Luigi Rossini is Mexican-Italian.”
She pinched the bridge of her nose and looked at her bare feet. The low-lying winter sun shone through the front window, casting a beam of light across her wood floor and revealing a layer of disregarded dust. One corner of the living room had been cleared more than a week ago to make space for a Christmas tree, but she’d dragged her feet in putting one up. It just sounded like too much work. “Huh? What is that supposed to mean, Mexican-Italian?”
“I have no idea. I’m just sayin’.”
She couldn’t help her sudden spill of laughter. “Oh, Jay, you are such a goof. Good-bye.”
Still giggling to herself, she hung up the phone quietly and walked upstairs to check on Johnny.
On Friday night, she had a very pleasant evening with Larry Rossini. They shared lighthearted laughs at a cozy little corner booth in Rex’s Diner while they chomped on juicy hamburgers and fries and sipped cola. Okay, so it ended up being a little more than “just coffee,” but it was fun and relaxing. One thing was certain, though—after Larry walked her to the door and they said good night, Rachel realized she had no interest whatsoever in taking her relationship with Larry Rossini one step beyond friendship. He was nice enough, no longer the junior-high thug Jay made him out to be, but he’d been right. It was too soon for her to date again.
Or maybe it was just that Larry Rossini didn’t turn her crank in quite the way Jay Evans did.
Allie Ferguson called the next morning and insisted on taking her to lunch, and Rachel regretfully turned her down. “I just left the kids with a sitter last night,” she explained. “I can’t desert them again today.”
“What about dropping them off at your parents’ or in-laws’?” Allie suggested. “Going to Grandma’s house is never considered desertion.”
“My mom has another commitment today, and Donna had them Wednesday night, when I went to grief group at church. I can’t keep taking advantage of them.”
“Well, shoot, something has to give. We need to get in some Christmas shopping together.”
Ah, Christmas shopping. Last year, she’d failed to finish it after John’s accident, and this year hadn’t been much better—what a difference from her holiday shopping habits of earlier years. With Johnny’s first birthday party only five days away, Rachel had no idea how or when she’d find the time to buy Christmas gifts for the kids, plus her parents, in-laws, and Tanna, not to mention Jay. They’d always exchanged gifts with him, with the exception of last year, and she supposed she would continue the tradition.
And then, there was the matter of that empty space in the corner, and their Christmas tree still sitting in some lot, waiting to be picked. There was simply too much to think about!
No sooner had she hung up the phone than it rang again. Thinking Allie had come up with another suggestion as to where to send the kids while they had lunch and shopped, she failed to check the caller ID before answering.
“Did Luigi behave himself last night?” said the familiar mellow voice. In an instant, her senses came alive, and she had to sit down to collect herself.
“He was very much a gentleman.”
“So, where did you grab this cup of coffee?”
“Rex’s Diner.”
“That’s not a coff
ee spot.”
She couldn’t get the smile off her face. “Was there something you needed, Jay?”
“I’m at my parents’ house, and I was wondering if I could pop over to see my kids.”
His kids? The presumptuous remark, which might have been met with indignation, instead gave her a brilliant idea. “You can babysit them, if you want. My friend Allie just called to invite me out for lunch and shopping, and I had to decline for lack of a sitter.”
“Is that so? Well, you have one now.”
***
Jason arrived fifteen minutes ahead of Allie, the infamous teacher with all the funny stories. He liked her on the spot for her quick wit, her pleasant smile, her obvious affection for Rachel, and her contagious enthusiasm. As soon as she walked through the door, Meagan leaped off his lap and ran to greet her, squealing with delight and engaging her in a chase throughout the first floor.
He’d be crazy to say he hadn’t given Rachel a quick once-over when he’d come inside. Her blonde hair hung loosely, framing her beautiful face, with a bounce that indicated a fresh cut. She wore slim jeans and a pale-yellow fitted turtleneck sweater, its cling accentuating her soft curves, and she looked the picture of perfection, right down to her tan high-heeled boots. It’d taken every morsel of strength not to draw her into his arms, especially with those freshly glossed lips looking hungry for a kiss. But it was her hesitant smile and careful demeanor that kept him from it.
Lately, he’d been learning to surrender his irrefutable love for Rachel to God and asking Him to fill his heart with the love of Christ, instead. Yet, every time he prayed “Lord, I don’t want to love her against Your wishes, so please take away these feelings if they’re not from You,” it seemed he loved her more, and so his garden of tender passions continued to grow, nurtured by the sense of peace the Lord returned to him.
Chapter 17
Where’s your Christmas tree?” Jason asked Meagan as soon as the door closed behind Rachel and Allie. He’d noticed a box of ornaments and a tree stand in the corner between the fireplace and the front window but no sign of a tree.
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