A New Leaf

by Thomas Kinkade

  “I’ll tell him myself. I’m coming to see him this afternoon. Can I bring anything?”

  Sophie patted his arm and smiled. “You’re the best tonic for Gus, Reverend.” She turned to the young woman standing beside her. “This is my granddaughter, Miranda, my son Bart’s girl. She’s an actress in New York,” Sophie confided with pride.

  Ben noticed Miranda blush. “More of a wanna-be,” Miranda amended. “I’m mainly an office temp right now.”

  “If pretty counted for anything, she’d be in Hollywood, for goodness’ sake. Why, just look at her,” her grandmother insisted.

  “Absolutely. She looks a lot like you, Sophie.”

  Now it was Sophie’s turn to blush, but Ben thought it was true. Miranda had been blessed with the same lovely round face and reddish gold hair that had now gone white on her grandmother. Yet unlike Sophie, who was short and compact in build, Miranda was close to six feet tall. And she wasn’t the wispy willowy sort that was in danger of being blown over by a stiff breeze. Miranda Potter looked strong and fit. She had the kind of looks they used to call statuesque.

  “How long will you be visiting?” Ben asked.

  “I can stay as long as I’m needed,” Miranda said carefully. “Grandpa is coming home from the hospital, and there’ll be a lot to do, a lot of visitors.”

  Miranda put her arm around Sophie’s shoulder and met Reverend Ben’s gaze. Her eyes were gentle, sea green in color. In her gesture he sensed her love and respect for her grandmother and realized that the Lord had a way of sending angels when they were most needed.

  “I’ll see you again then, Miranda.”

  “I’m sure you will.” Miranda smiled and walked on with Sophie.

  When Ben turned he was confronted by a new face, a dark-haired man with a teenage girl. Father and daughter, judging by their resemblance. He’d spotted them earlier, sitting off to the side, and wondered who they might be.

  “I’m Reverend Ben Lewis. Welcome to Bible Community Church.”

  “Hello, Reverend. I’m Matthew Harding. This is my daughter, Amanda.”

  “Nice to meet you both.” Ben shook Matthew’s hand and then Amanda’s. “Are you visiting us today?”

  “More permanent than that, I hope,” Matt said with a smile. “We’re new in town. Just moved in yesterday. I’m a doctor. I’m going to open a practice here.”

  “You must be Ezra Elliot’s friend,” Ben said. “I do hope you can stay for the coffee hour. There are a lot of people here who are looking forward to meeting you.”

  “I’d like that very much.” Matthew smiled agreeably. He seemed a modest man, Ben thought. Not like some physicians he’d met.

  “Well, here’s a good start.” Ben spotted Emily Warwick nearby. “Let me introduce you to our mayor . . . if I can catch her attention.”

  Emily stood with her mother, Lillian, whom she brought to church every Sunday. But today Emily was also accompanied by Dan Forbes, Ben noticed with surprise. He’d never seen the former newspaper owner and avowed cynic in church before. Of course, it had something to do with Emily. Everything to do with Emily from the looks of it. God moves in strange ways indeed.

  Ben finally caught Emily’s eye, and she approached with a wide, winning smile. “Good morning, Reverend. Did you want to introduce someone?” she asked, turning to Matthew and his daughter.

  Ben made the introductions. Emily and Dan, of course, welcomed Matt warmly. Lillian, however, appraised Matthew in her usual manner. “You look a bit young,” she said, fixing him with a sharp, critical gaze. “I won’t go to a doctor under forty. Not nearly enough experience. I won’t have physicians learning by trial and error on me.”

  Matthew smiled mildly. “I think that there are good and bad doctors of any age,” he said diplomatically.

  “That’s just my point. You can’t be too careful when it comes to choosing one, can you?”

  “I’m sure there’s no question about Dr. Harding’s abilities,” Emily said, casting a warning glance at her mother. Dan stepped up beside her and deftly steered the conversation on to other topics, and within minutes Matthew was soon surrounded by a circle of welcoming parishioners.

  Digger Hegman and his middle-aged daughter, Grace, stood to one side, looking on. “What’s going on here? A political rally in the church vestibule?” the elderly ex-fisherman asked Ben.

  “Hush, Dad. That’s not polite.” Grace shook her head. “It’s the new doctor, Matthew Harding. Emily’s just introducing him around.”

  “Hmmm . . . well, he looks like a decent fellow,” Digger allowed. “I don’t need to meet any more doctors, though. I think I’ll wait to introduce myself if and when the need arises.”

  “That seems reasonable to me,” Ben said, with a smile. All in all, he thought, Cape Light was going to be a good place for Matthew Harding and his daughter.

  “COME ON, GIRLS. YOUR UNCLE WILL BE HERE SOON.” MOLLY SIFTED through the open duffel bag on Lauren’s unmade bed, checking the contents. “How about those waterproof mittens? Are they in here?”

  Sam and Jessica were taking the girls ice skating and then entertaining them until the evening so Molly could catch up on her orders. She had a sudden increase in business, which was very encouraging. But now she needed to bake the entire day and into the night to make the deliveries on time.

  The doorbell rang, and she started out of the bedroom to answer it but stopped as she saw Jill standing in front of the mirror, her hairbrush hopelessly tangled in her long hair. Molly groaned at the sight. “Lauren, help Jill with her hair, will you, honey? I think there’s some detangle spray in the bathroom.”

  “Got any dynamite?” she heard Lauren mutter.

  Oh, boy. That one is starting to sound just like me, Molly thought, as she left them alone to sort it out.

  She pulled open the front door, expecting to find her brother, Sam. But instead it was her ex-husband, Phil Willoughby. Feeling shocked, her breath caught in her throat. Then she felt her anger rise.

  “Hi, Molly.” He smiled widely. Too widely, Molly thought, for a man with his track record. If he had any sense of decency, he’d be hanging his head in shame.

  “What do you want?” She stood in the doorway, blocking his view. She didn’t want the girls to catch sight of him. Then she’d really have a problem.

  “Well, it’s Sunday. I’d like to see my daughters.” His calm tone annoyed her; he sounded as if he should have been expected and she was the one acting oddly.

  There was a time, long ago, when Sunday afternoon was Phil’s regular time with the girls. But in Molly’s book, he’d long since forfeited that privilege.

  Molly glanced over her shoulder, then stepped out into the hallway with him, closing the door behind her.

  “You have some unbelievable nerve, I’ll say that for you.” Her tone was hushed but fierce.

  “Molly, come on now. I thought about calling, but I knew you were going to act this way. You would have just hung up on me.”

  “You got that right.”

  He paused and looked her over. “You look good. Did you lose some weight or something?”

  “Phil—” She shook her head, not knowing whether to laugh or scream. “You never change, do you?”

  “Wait. Just stop right there, okay?” He reached into the front pocket of his jeans and pulled out an envelope. “Here, this is for the girls. I’ve got a good job now selling cars and trucks. It’s a big dealership in Peabody. I’m living around there, too, now.”

  Molly considered this information. Peabody was about thirty miles southwest of Cape Light. The drive was mostly on the interstate, though, which was often loaded with traffic. He might get tired of that real quick, she thought.

  “I made top salesman two months in a row,” he added proudly.

  “How nice for you, Phil.” Her tone was flat and sarcastic, her expression blank. She took the envelope but didn’t open it. She could guess a check was inside. “Fine. But it’s a drop in the bucket, pal. You owe me
so much child support at this point, I can’t count that high.”

  “I’m going to make it up to you. Every cent,” he promised. “That’s just a start.”

  He’d said all this many times before, but Molly didn’t bother to remind him of the fact. “Okay, you’re going to start paying the child support again. Thanks a bunch. Do you think after all this time you’re just going to buy your way back to see the girls?”

  “Now, come on, Molly. That’s not it all. I’m just trying—” He tried to explain, but Molly cut him off.

  “What are you trying to do, Phil? Do you even know? Trying to disappoint them again? To confuse them and undermine their self-confidence, their sense of trust? You can’t just walk in and out of their lives. I won’t let you. Not for all the checks in your checkbook.”

  Phil nodded, his head bowed. “You were always like a mother lion with those girls,” he said softly. “I bet if I tried to go in there, you’d claw my eyes out.”

  “You got that right.” Molly felt like crying, but she didn’t know why. She kept her hands crossed tightly across her chest and took a deep breath. She couldn’t look up at Phil. She knew what she’d see. He wasn’t a bad guy, really. Not deep inside. He’d never meant to hurt her or his daughters. But somehow, he always did.

  “What do I have to do? Just tell me, and I’ll do it. I want to see my girls again. I know I messed up, but it’s different now.” He paused, watching for a reaction while Molly tried hard not to show one.

  “How is it different?”

  “I’ve been thinking about things. I feel . . . older or something. I don’t know.” He shrugged and stared down at her. “I can’t really explain it right now. But I promise, this time is different. It really is.”

  Molly took a breath. She hadn’t seen him in months, not since last summer. He didn’t look any different; Phil was still a big, broad-shouldered lumberjack type with blue eyes and thick blond hair. It wasn’t hard to see why she fell for him in high school. His clothes looked a little finer, she noticed, the shearling jacket, for instance. But that didn’t mean anything. Phil never minded blowing an entire paycheck on himself if some expensive piece of clothing caught his eye.

  “I can bring you back to court, Molly. I have some rights, too,” he reminded her quietly.

  Now there was a threat she hadn’t heard for a while. He really must be planning to keep up the child support, she thought, or he wouldn’t have the nerve to spring that one.

  But before Molly could decide how to reply, the door behind her swung open. She turned to see Lauren standing there with Jill still attached to a hairbrush, crying her eyes out.

  “Mom, we really need some help here,” Lauren moaned. Then Jill looked up and noticed her father.

  “Daddy!” She immediately stopped crying and jumped into Phil’s arms.

  “Hello, sugar pie.” Jill was big now, but Phil was still much bigger, Molly realized as she watched her ex-husband lift Jill off her feet in a tight hug, the brush dangling from her daughter’s hair.

  Lauren hung back, looking shy of her father, Molly noticed, or maybe just distrustful. But Phil smiled warmly at her and stretched open his free arm. “Get over here, Lauren Marie,” he coaxed her. Molly saw her waver for a moment, then move toward him. He soon stood hugging both girls, one under each arm in a giant three-way embrace. Molly stood back, feeling invisible.

  “Wow, I missed you girls so much,” he said.

  Right, so why haven’t we seen you for months? And why just a five-minute call on Christmas? Molly wanted to say. But she bit her tongue. She didn’t want to dash the happy reunion with cold water. She wasn’t that meanspirited. Part of her did believe that Phil was sincere. He was inconsistent and irresponsible, but in his own way, he still really loved them.

  “Why don’t we go inside,” he said, ushering the girls through the door. He glanced at Molly over their heads, and Molly had no choice but to let him in. She closed the door and suddenly smelled something burning.

  She raced to the oven and yanked open the door. She grabbed some pot holders and pulled out the pans of muffins.

  “Blast! Double blast!” She hated for Phil to see her out of control, but she couldn’t help her reaction. The muffins were overcooked, too brown outside for her customers. She had to start over again with this batch. It was all Phil’s fault for distracting her, of course. No doubt about it, the man was trouble.

  She turned to him, feeling angry all over again.

  “Something wrong, Molly? You look upset.”

  “No problem. Everything is under control,” she insisted. She pulled off the oven mitts and tossed them on the countertop.

  The girls were still hanging on him, and Phil looked awfully smug, his repentant attitude apparently wiped away with their greeting.

  “Why didn’t you tell us Daddy was here?” Jill’s tone held a note of reproach. “We thought it was just Uncle Sam.”

  “I wanted to surprise you,” Phil replied, and Molly didn’t bother to contradict him. “How would you like to go out for the day? Do something special with me?”

  “Yes!” Jill jumped up and clapped her hands. Lauren glanced at Molly. She could tell from her older daughter’s expression that she wasn’t totally buying this.

  “Sorry, they already have plans. Sam and his wife, Jessica, are taking them out.”

  “Sam has a wife?” Phil shook his head in amazement. “I didn’t know there was a woman alive that could hook your brother.”

  “Every man meets his match.” Molly met his gaze for a moment, then looked away. She had once thought Phil was her match, but she’d discovered her mistake the hard way.

  “Sam won’t mind if the girls go out with their father,” Phil said, gazing at Lauren and Jill again. “Just give him a call. He’ll understand.”

  Sam and Phil had been friends in high school. Sam had been angry with him on Molly’s behalf, but she knew her brother still had a soft spot for his old buddy Phil. That was just the trouble. It was hard for anyone to stay mad at Phil for very long.

  “Please, Mom?” Seated on Phil’s lap, Jill turned to Molly with a pleading expression. Lauren didn’t say anything, though, and she looked a little sullen, Molly noticed.

  “I can’t call him. They’re coming straight from church,” Molly said curtly. “And you guys aren’t even ready. Maybe you can see your father another time. You go finish up, and the adults will talk.”

  Jill got a grumpy face and didn’t move from Phil’s side. He gently patted her back. “Oh come on now, Molly. Have a heart. I’m here now. What’s the point of making a big deal out of this?”

  “The point is, you can’t just fall out of the sky and expect us to drop everything. Especially since no one’s heard from you for months. That’s just like you, Phil.” Molly heard her voice rising, but she couldn’t help herself. “You say you’ve changed. This time is different. Well, that’s no different.”

  Phil stared at her, his expression unreadable. Jill sat with a stricken look on her face. Lauren bit her nail, trying to look unfazed, but obviously disturbed as well.

  Molly felt vaulted back through time, when her arguments with Phil left the girls frightened and confused. How did she fall into that trap again so quickly? She was ashamed of herself.

  “A person has to start over somewhere, Molly. For pity’s sake. Just give me a chance.” Phil’s voice was quiet and calm, a stark contrast to her own.

  Molly looked at the girls again. She was between that old rock and hard place. If she let them go with Phil, they might end up painfully disappointed and she’d be left to soothe their hurt feelings. But if she held the line and made him go, they would be mad at her, and she’d feel guilty for depriving the girls of a rare chance to see their father.

  “Please, Molly? I’m going to toe the line this time. Honestly.”

  Jill turned to him and put her arm around his shoulders. “I believe you, Daddy.”

  “Thank you, sweetie.” Phil smiled at Jill, then lo
oked over at Molly. She knew she was beat. He always knew how to get his way, didn’t he? No wonder he’d finally found his calling as a car salesman.

  “All right. You can take them out. Just have them back by eight so they can get to bed on time.”

  “Yes!” Jill ran back into the bedroom, hairbrush flipping. Lauren turned and followed. “Should we bring that bag of stuff for ice skating?”

  “Sure, I’ll take you skating if you want. We can do lots of things.” Phil came to his feet, all smiles again. “Thanks, Molly. I appreciate this.”

  “Don’t thank me. Thank your girls. Just don’t mess up this time, I’m warning you. There are no more chances after this one, Phil. I’m not kidding.”

  “I hear you.” Phil nodded his head. “I won’t need any more chances. This is it.”

  She gave him a look but didn’t say anything. The girls rushed back into the room. Jill had managed to untangle the brush and had bunched her hair in a big clip. It looked a little funny, but Molly didn’t have the energy to make any improvements.

  The girls quickly kissed her good-bye while Phil looked on from the hallway. Lauren didn’t look nearly as elated as Jill about the unexpected outing, but she didn’t complain about it, either.

  Once they were gone, Molly went inside and shut the door. The silence in the apartment seemed oppressive. She couldn’t quite believe what had just happened, and she couldn’t quite believe Phil had gotten his way, after all. The realization made her mad at him all over again.

  She pulled Phil’s envelope from her pocket and opened it. As she’d expected, it contained a check. But the sum, several thousand dollars, was far greater than she’d ever imagined, even as a peace offering. Phil owed her much more, of course. But this was an impressive start.

  Molly sat down at the kitchen table and stared at the check. For most people she knew, this wouldn’t be a lot of money. It wasn’t exactly a lottery jackpot. But she could do a lot with this money. Buy the girls a good computer. Get some badly needed new tires for her car. Pay off the lingering bills from Christmas. Catch up at the orthodontist. Have a little money stashed in the bank for a rainy day. . . .