Adam moved to the closet at the end of the hall and pulled out a soft quilt. Made with flannel on one side and a cotton print on the other, comfortable was the only way to describe it. He smiled as he carried the colorful wedding ring quilt back to the living room.
Jenny stuck her head out of her door. She whispered, “Is Colleen spending the night?”
Adam walked back to her. “How are you feeling?”
“Much better.”
“Good. I’m sorry I took so long. Cassie needed me to do something for her tonight, and it took longer than we’d planned.” He glanced over his shoulder and down the hall. “Do you think I should wake Colleen or let her stay the rest of the night?”
He felt his little sister studying his profile. Adam turned his attention back to Jenny. The tilt of her head and the glow in her eyes made him realize he’d never asked her advice before. Why hadn’t he? She was old enough to make some decisions. He decided he must be more tired than he’d first thought.
“Let her stay.” Jenny smiled and turned back into her bedroom. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Adam stuck his head in the door. “Jenny, I have to go to work early tomorrow. I’ll probably be gone before you or Colleen wake up.”
She yawned. “I’ll set my alarm for six. That should give us both time to get up and get going, don’t ya think?” Jenny reached for the clock beside her bed.
That should be plenty of time. Night.”
He went to Colleen. She lay in the same position she’s been in earlier. Adam spread the quilt over her and returned to his bedroom.
Adam set the alarm clock for four-thirty. He’d only get an hour of sleep, but by leaving early, he’d avoid being seen in the early morning hours with Colleen. He lay down across his bed, and right before he went to sleep, he heard the door open and close.
Adam pulled himself up and went to the living room. Colleen was gone. The quilt lay neatly folded on the couch. The sound of her car starting filled the night air. Adam looked out the window and watched her drive away. He returned to his bedroom. Just as sleep overtook him, Adam decided he could see himself married to Colleen. She would be a good wife, and he knew she loved God.
When had thoughts of marriage entered his mind? Was this something God was bringing to his attention?
Chapter 9
Two weeks later, Colleen marveled at the difference in her baking skills. Thanks to Jenny’s lessons, Colleen could now make several different types of pastries. She and Jenny had fallen into the habit of making dinner for all three of them. While the meal cooked, they worked on their scrapbooks, adding this item and taking away that one. Adam usually arrived in time to eat with them.
Colleen suspected he had decided to spend this time restoring the bond between himself and Jenny. She could see the two of them growing closer every day. After dinner, Adam and Jenny looked over photos and reminisced about their childhoods.
Inevitably, Colleen sank deeper into loneliness. Her own pictures brought back memories as well. She missed her mother and Grammy Leah. At times, she longed to see them, talk to them, pour out her heart, then cry on their shoulders offered with sympathy and caring.
Another problem that snipped away at her conscience was the fact that Adam was seeing Cassie. Colleen had seen them several times from a distance. She thought about that for a moment. They really hadn’t acted like a couple, but then maybe she was just fooling herself.
Colleen pulled her coat on and prepared to go to the grocery store. Her thoughts returned immediately to Adam and the last few days together. He had a sweet tooth, and his favorite way of appeasing it was to go out for ice cream. He’d invited her out twice, and even though the evenings were getting much cooler and ice cream wouldn’t have been her first choice for a dessert, Colleen hadn’t turned him down.
She closed the door and headed down the quant dirt street toward the only grocery store in town. Colleen ducked her head against the sharp wind and made a mental note to get more hot chocolate. Once more Adam invaded her thoughts. He’d invited her to dinner the night before. She wished she’d taken him up on the date.
“It wasn’t a real date,” Colleen whispered to herself. It was an invitation, not a date. Adam only appreciated the change in Jenny. His request was because of gratitude, not romantic interest, Colleen told herself as she pushed the door open and entered the citrus-scented store. She picked up a small red basket and made her way to the produce section.
Just when she had convinced herself Adam wasn’t really interested, a small voice nagged at her. If he’s not interested in you, then why did he start attending your church and sitting by you during service?
She felt the gentle pull of a smile as it touched her lips. He had started attending First Community Church And he did sit by her.
“Hello, Colleen, Isn’t the weather turning nasty?”
Colleen looked into the soft brown eyes of Cassie Masters. She held the smile in place. “Hi Cassie. It is getting cold out there.”
“Daddy says it’s going to be a harsh winter. I hope he’s wrong.” She rested a protective hand on her stomach. “It wouldn’t do for me to catch a cold in my condition.” Cassie’s voice held a far-off dreamy texture to it.
She knew she was being nosey, but Colleen couldn’t stop the words from popping from her lips. “Are you ill?”
Cassie looked up at her as if she’d forgotten she’d been talking to her. Colleen watched a soft smile form at the woman’s lips.
“Oh, I just have to tell someone besides Adam.” Cassie looked around and leaned toward Colleen. “Please don’t tell anyone, but…” She paused, looked around again and whispered, “I’m pregnant.”
The way her brown eyes sparkled told Colleen that Cassie was a little more than thrilled about the prospect. “Please don’t tell anyone. Daddy would have a fit. So far the only one who knows is Adam. He took the news in stride and has been helping me keep it a secret.”
Colleen didn’t know what to say. She wondered if her face showed the amount of shock she felt at the news. They weren’t even married, and Cassie was acting as if having a baby out of wedlock was the best thing in the world. “I won’t say anything to anyone. Adam knows?” She asked the last to make sure she’d heard Cassie right.
Cassie picked up a tomato and gave it a little squeeze. “Oh, yes. He’s been real good about helping me with…” She looked around again and then continued, “The doctor’s appointments and stuff.”
Colleen chose two tomatoes and put them into a plastic bag. She felt as if someone had kicked her in the stomach.
She silently prayed in anguish. Why, God? Why can’t I find someone to love me?
“No, I don’t want to go out with you, Adam Walker.”
Adam stared into Colleen’s flashing green eyes. Her face radiated pure anger. Now what had he done? He did a mental inventory. Nothing came to mind except asking her to dinner at the Handlebar Restaurant. What was wrong with her?
“I can’t believe you would even ask.” She marched back into the bakery kitchen.
He followed. The smell of warm cinnamon rolls welcomed him. “Why wouldn’t I ask you out?” Adam watched her grab an apron and tie it around her slender waist.
Colleen pulled the buns from the oven and slammed the pan on top of the stove. She turned and glared at him. “For starters, there’s Cassie Masters.”
She was jealous! So Colleen did have feelings for him.
He smiled. Now that Richard was coming home to collect his wife, Adam could tell Colleen the truth about his and Cassie’s relationship.
But first he’d tease her a little. “What does she have to do with me taking you out>: He wiggled his eyebrows and leaned over the bar that separated them.
She met him at the counter. Her words came out slow and chopped. “Let’s see…” She drummed her fingernails, then continued. “She might not want the father of her baby out dating other women.” Colleen pushed herself away from him.
Adam tried to absorb he
r words. They echoed in his ears. Why would Colleen think such a think? He and Cassie had never even held hands.
Colleen continued. “How could you do such a think? I thought you were a man of God. I thought you were better than everyone else. I thought…” The rest of her sentence hung in the air.
Adam watched the anger seep from her eyes. Tears filled them-and loathing. He had questions of his own. How could she think such a thing of him? Why hadn’t she asked him about it instead of questioning him like a common criminal?
“I know what you thought and what you’re thinking now.” He swallowed as sorrow threatened to choke him.
The phone rang. He watched as Colleen turned to answer it. He thought he was in love with her before, but now he knew it. This kind of pain could only be inflicted by those you love.
But how could he love a woman who didn’t believe in him? A woman who would judge him before hearing all the details?
He couldn’t.
His gaze moved to the table where he’d spent many evenings falling in love. The scrapbook projects were almost complete. After tonight, he wouldn’t be coming back to the warmth of Colleen’s home. He had to put some distance between them. She’s not the woman I thought she was, he decided.
Colleen covered the mouthpiece to the phone and whispered, “Adam, this call is going to take awhile. It’s my dad from Africa. Can we talk about this some other time?”
He studied her face. She was serious. “Sure, but I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t say anything to Jenny about this.”
“I won’t,” She mouthed, then returned to her phone call.
“I’m sorry…”
Just like that, Colleen dismissed me, Adam thought bitterly as he let himself out. His feet carried him to the little cemetery on the hill. It was the only place in town where he felt it would be safe for him to voice his hurts. He stopped beside the graves of his parents, Mary and Robert Walker.
Chapter 10
Fluffy white snowflakes drifted to the cold ground. How fitting that the first snow came on such a sad day in her life, Colleen observed. All her dreams and hopes of finding love lay buried like the ground beneath the glistening white covering. She shivered. Adam hadn’t even bothered to deny his actions.
“Colleen, what do you think of this?” Jenny asked.
She turned back to the teenager and looked at the page Jenny had been working on for the past hour. Adam’s smiling face stared up at them from the page. It was his senior picture with both his parents. “It looks good.”
“I’m going to put the words, ‘We’re very proud of you’ at the top. Do you think he’ll like that?” Jenny didn’t look up as she wrote the date on the bottom of the paper.
“I’m sure he’ll love it.” Colleen wondered how Jenny would take the news that she would soon be an aunt.
Adam and Jenny’s relationship had blossomed. Colleen hoped Jenny wouldn’t be too disappointed in her older brother. Then the question hit her. What would Jenny think of a Christian man behaving as Adam had?
A knock sounded at the front door.
“That’s Adam. Don’t let him in until I can hide this page. I want it to be special when he sees it. Jenny hid the paper in the back of her scrapbook. She opened the book to a new page and pulled out a fresh paper. “Okay, I’m ready now.”
With a heavy heart, Colleen went to answer the “shave and a haircut, two bits” musical being tapped out on her door. She opened the door and hurried away without making eye contact with Adam.
He shut out the chill that whipped in about her ankles. The sound reminded Colleen of her heart’s door now closed tight against any emotion that threatened to escape or enter. The sting of tears prickled her eyes.
She wandered back to the window but listened to the conversation taking place behind her.
“Hi, Jen. How was your day at school?”
The sound of a chair scraping across the hardwood floors and the creak of the table as he sat down familiarized Colleen with his location. She assumed he’d taken his regular sear and knew his back would be to her if she chose to turn back around and face the room. Why was she having so much trouble facing him? He was the one with the explaining to do, not her.
Still, something nagged at her. Colleen pushed all thoughts of his innocence to the back of her mind. She turned and found herself staring into stormy blue eyes.
“What’s up between you two?” Jenny asked. She looked at Adam, then Colleen, and back to Adam for an answer.
“You didn’t say anything?” Adam asked. His voice sounded scratchy.
Colleen folded her arms over her chest. “Of course not. I said I wouldn’t.” She didn’t like him questioning her word. Unlike him, she knew right from wrong.
Jenny laid down the pen she’d been journaling with. “Adam? What’s wrong?”
Adam turned his attention to Jenny. “Nothing’s wrong, but I do need to tell you something. Cassie Masters is pregnant.”
Colleen felt sick to her stomach as she watched Jenny’s eyes get wide.
“No way!”
Adam smiled. “The doctor says she’s about three months along.”
“Who’s the dad?” Jenny asked as she picked her journaling pen back up.
“Richard.” His gaze met Colleen’s again.
Jenny looked down at her paper. “I bet her dad is furious.”
Shock and confusion rushed through Colleen’s system. Her knees went weak.
“He will be for a while, but Cassie decided to tell him the whole story tonight.” Adam focused back on Jenny.
Jenny’s blue gaze met his. “Adam, I didn’t think Cassie was that kind of girl.” The words came out a whisper.
“She isn’t Jenny. Cassie and Richard were secretly married last summer right before he went to boot camp. They were husband and wife when the baby was conceived.” Adam smiled at his sister.
Jenny returned the smile. “I’m glad, but why did they sneak off? Why not just tell her dad they were married? She’s old enough to get married.” The last sentence came out sounding as though she were thoroughly disgusted at the adult population.
Adam laughed. “Yes, she was old enough, but her dad didn’t want her to marry a military man like himself. He wanted his little girl to have a stable home and not have to move around.”
“So when is she going to tell him?”
“Tonight. Are you ready to go?” Adam stood.
“I’m glad she’s going to tell him. I don’t think she should have lied in the first place. Do you?” Jenny closed her scrapbook and began gathering her things.
“No, I think she should have told her parents, but we don’t always do what we should.” Adam’s gaze met Colleen’s.
Colleen turned back to the window.
She’d been wrong.
The realization that she’d judged and convicted Adam without knowing all the facts took her by surprise. What could she say?
Jesus’ words from Matthew 7 floated through her mind. “Judge not, that ye not be judged.”
“Bye, Colleen,” Jenny called.
Colleen turned to call out to Adam that she was sorry. The door closed before she could get the words out. She ran to the door, then stopped.
Tears slid down her face as she realized no matter what she said, the damage had already been done.
---
“Why don’t we ask Colleen if she’d like to ride up to Grand Junction with us?” Jenny folded another pair of jeans and put them into the suitcase.
Adam leaned against the doorframe of his sister’s bedroom. He’d had the same thought but knew if they did, Colleen would just bury herself deeper into his heart. He couldn’t allow that to happen. She hadn’t believed him. “I don’t think so, Jenny.”
“Why not? She’d enjoy the trip, and Sarah said Grand Junction has a great big scrapbook store. Plus, she could do her Christmas shopping.” Jenny sat on the lid of her suitcase.
Adam smiled as Jenny struggled to fasten the latches. As usual, his
little sister had packed too much. He moved to her side to help her. Placing his hands on the suitcase top to add his weight for closing it, he voiced his thoughts. “I don’t plan on seeing Colleen anymore, Jenny.”
The catch snapped into place. Adam smiled and turned to Jenny. The look on her face erased his grin.
“Why? What has Colleen done?” Jenny dropped down on the side of her bed.
Adam scooted the suitcase back and joined her. “Colleen thought Cassie’s baby was mine. She believed I would have a baby out of wedlock, Jenny.”
“Why would she think that? She knows you and I go to church. Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.” Adam studied his hands. He didn’t know why she would believe him capable of such a sin, but she did.
“So, just like that, you aren’t even going to talk to her about it. You’re just dropping her like yesterday’s old mail,” Jenny accused and stood up. “Aren’t you the one who says that if we have a problem with someone, we should talk to them about it?” She picked up her compact CD player and stuffed it into the book bag.
Adam stood up, too. “This is different, Jenny. Colleen and I aren’t like your friends.” He turned to walk out the door.
“No, you love each other.”
Adam chose to ignore her. What did a kid like Jen know about love? “Let’s go, Jen. Cassie’s waiting.”
They drove the short distance to Cassie’s house. She stood on the front porch with her parents when they pulled into the driveway. Adam hopped out of the Blazer and picked up her suitcases while she hugged her parents good-bye. “You call as soon as you get there,” Her father ordered from the porch.
Adam helped Cassie in. As soon as he closed her door, she rolled down the window and answered, “I will, Daddy. I love you both.”
Adam clicked shut the clasp of his seat belt and turned to the tearful Cassie. “Ready?”
She nodded and waved good-bye to her parents.
Scraps of Love Page 5
