by Karen Malley
He especially enjoyed when Anne brought the kids to visit. When Ben came into the room, Adam was seated in a chair next to the bed, and Ben had a blast raising and lowering the hospital bed. Ohh, the simple pleasures of childhood. His room was decorated with pictures the four-year-olds drew for him. The crude crayon drawings did more to brighten his spirits than any expensive art ever did.
He wasn’t surprised when a visitor stopped in his room one evening, but he was surprised when he saw who it was.
“Mac! How are you doing, man?”
Mac gave him a sheepish grin, his body filling the doorframe. “Sorry it took so long to come. I hate hospitals. How’d things turn out with your leg?”
Adam chuckled. “Not so good. Apparently having your leg crushed for a couple hours with no blood flow isn’t healthy. They removed it.”
Mac’s eyebrows raised. He coughed and his face turned red. “Really?”
This time Adam’s eyebrows were the ones to raise. “Cleaning up the language, are we? That’s a first for you.”
Mac studied the floor. “Well, maybe I’m trying to make some changes. I know you said all I had to do was pray that prayer, and we did, but I kinda feel like I need to do more. I’ve been reading the Bible, like you said to do, and there’s a lot in there I don’t understand. I thought maybe you could help me out.”
Adam smiled broadly. “Of course, I can. Now come in here. I promise, it’s not contagious.”
Mac made his way over to the chair at the side of Adam’s bed.
“I’m happy to answer your questions. Plus, I can do one better. I’m getting out of this place in a couple of days. Why don’t you come to church with me on Sunday?”
Mac’s face paled. “Church is all right for guys like you, but I wouldn’t fit in there.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Adam said. “Church is for anyone who wants to go. They’re welcoming there. I mean, come on, they’ll even let a guy in with only one leg!”
Mac’s brows furrowed. “Are you sure? I don’t want people looking at me funny.” His eyes narrowed. “You wouldn’t say anything to the guys about me going to church, would you?”
Adam laughed. “Mac, that’s up to you. I’m finished with that job. I called the foreman last week and explained the situation. I’m not up for climbing around on scaffolding at this point, and it’s time for me to move on. Besides, the goody-two-shoes job is in your hands now.”
Mac let out a deep belly laugh. The large man’s whole body rocked. “Who’d a thunk it? I’m not sure I’m ready to go to church, but a bunch of those guys could use a good talking to. Maybe some of them need to pray to God too.”
Adam smiled. “I’m sure of it.”
A female voice caught his attention. Susan stood at the door, her eyes on Mac. “Hi, Adam. I didn’t know you already had company. I can come back another time.”
Mac was on his feet instantly. “No, no. Come in. I don’t want to be responsible for sending away such a pretty woman.”
Susan blushed. “I was coming to check on Adam. We’re in Bible study together. I’m not, uh…”
“Sorry, Susan,” Adam interrupted. “I guess this guy wasn’t on your official visiting schedule. Why don’t you pull up a chair?”
Mac was quick to agree. “Yes, come on in.” He pulled a chair over next to his.
Adam glanced between the two, of them, amused.
Mac stretched out his hand. “Christopher MacAllister. Pleased to meet you.”
“Christopher? Seriously?” Adam laughed.
Mac’s eyes narrowed. “Yes, Christopher. Do you have a problem with that?”
Adam did his best to regain his composure. “No, no, of course not. Christopher, meet Susan Montgomery.”
Susan took Mac’s hand, her eyes darting between the two of them. “Did I miss something?”
“Sorry, Susan. I’ve known Mac, er, Christopher, for almost a year now, and I never heard him called anything but Mac. Please forgive me.”
Mac glared at Adam, and turned to Susan. “So, you go to Bible study together? Does that mean you go to the same church as Adam?”
Susan smiled at Mac. “Yes, Faith Community. Pastor Mark is terrific. Where do you go to church?”
Mac returned her smile. “Adam was telling me about your church. I was thinking of going there this Sunday.”
Adam, who was taking a drink, almost spit out his water.
Mac glared at him.
“Umm, yes. We were talking about Mac coming to our church on Sunday. I should be getting out of here in a couple of days, and I thought I’d show him around the place.”
Susan turned back to Mac. “Well, if Adam should be delayed in getting out, I wouldn’t mind showing you around the church.”
Adam shook his head. Never in a million years could he imagine the scene unfolding before him. Mac and Susan? Mac, the cursing, partying, womanizer, and sweet, caring Susan? Suddenly warning bells went off in his head. He needed to talk to Mac alone.
Before long, Susan’s cell phone went off. She checked the screen and excused herself to the hallway.
Adam spoke to Mac in hushed tones. “Listen Mac, Susan is not like the women you go out with. She’s sweet, and wholesome, and…”
“Relax, Adam. I get that. There’s nothing wrong with me appreciating a pretty face, is there? I’m tired of the life I’ve been leading. Ever since the accident, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. Not only about God, but also about the mess I’ve made in my life. I almost died that day. I need to make changes in my life. I’m not sure how exactly to do all that, but you’re right. Church is a good place to start.” He turned around and faced Adam. “And if there happens to be a cute red-head at church, what’s the harm?” He grinned.
Adam shook his head.
Susan returned to the room. “Sorry...” She glanced back and forth between the two men again. “I walked into something again. I’ll let you two go. Adam, it’ll be a blessing when you get out of here. I’ll look forward to you hobbling down the aisle on Sunday.”
Mac walked over to the door. “I’ll walk you out. You can tell me more about that church of yours.” He glanced back at Adam and winked. “See you Sunday!”
37
Kathryn slowly adjusted to the new job. She’d spent the first weekend driving around looking at potential apartments, but anything in her price range either was ridiculously small, wouldn’t allow dogs, or had a commute of over an hour. By the end of the weekend, she was back in the extended stay, staring at the walls. Other than getting more familiar with the lay of the land, the second week was no better. By the end of the second week, Kathryn couldn’t stand it any longer. She needed to get back to PA. She sat in traffic, anxious to put work behind her. Exhausted, she finally pulled into her driveway close to midnight.
“Bandit, I’m not sure how many times I’ll be able to make this drive. We need to get this house cleaned up and sold fast.”
Bandit growled.
Startled, Kathryn unlocked the front door. “You don’t like it there either, do you?”
Bandit pawed at the door.
As soon as Kathryn opened it, he ran in, pounced on the couch, turned in circles and promptly fell asleep. Shivering, Kathryn turned up the thermostat, climbed the stairs, and fell into her own bed.
She spent the next day sorting through the house. After several grueling hours, she headed over to the Campbells’ for dinner. She inhaled deeply as Anne threw open the front door. “Anne, you should bottle that smell. How do you always manage to make your house smell like chocolate chip cookies?”
Anne grinned. “By baking them whenever I know you’re coming. Now get in here and close the door behind you. We don’t want to let the smell out, or all the neighbors will be coming over.”
The two women settled onto the living room sofa. Kathryn drank it all in as if it would be the last time she’d be there. “Your house feels more like home than mine does, and not just because mine is full of boxes.”
Anne smiled. “I’m glad you’re comfortable here. How were the first two weeks of work?”
Kathryn sobered. “Awful. I hate where I’m living, I hate commuting into the city, it’s freezing cold, my boss is a chauvinist pig, and I’m not even working on the project I took the job to work on. Oh, and Bandit is miserable too. I think that covers it.”
Anne’s stare bored into Kathryn.
“I know. You told me not to go.”
“I didn’t tell you not to go, I told you to make sure it was what God wanted you to do.”
“OK, fine. Can we talk about something else? How’s Adam recovering?”
“You haven’t talked to him?” Anne asked, surprised. At Kathryn’s shake of the head, she continued. “He’s doing well, considering. He’s got a long road ahead of him, but he went home yesterday. He’ll be getting a prosthetic leg eventually, but his leg needs to heal first. He’s getting around on crutches. Fortunately, his apartment building has an elevator. We went to visit him yesterday afternoon and stocked his fridge.”
“I’m glad he’s doing well. Has Gina been taking care of him?”
“You’ll have to ask him yourself.” Mark said, entering the room. “Why don’t you give him a call?”
“N-n, no, I’m not sure that’s such a great idea.”
“Suit yourself. Now, come on. My wife has prepared an amazing meal. Let’s eat!”
~*~
Kathryn had just gone upstairs when Bandit’s barking caught her attention. A noise came from her bedroom. She crept into the room and listened. There—another whack at the window. Without turning on the lights, she crossed the room and peered out.
A man was throwing rocks at her window.
Startled, she started to dial 911, when she recognized Adam, precariously balanced on crutches, standing next to the rock thrower. Her heart leapt at the sight of him. She opened the window. “What on earth are you doing? Why didn’t you ring the doorbell?”
The rock-throwing man disappeared into the shadows.
Adam grinned back. “This is much more romantic. I always wanted to do this. Come on down!”
Kathryn took the stairs two at a time and threw the door wide open, much to Bandit’s delight. He reached Adam first.
Adam scooped him up and was rewarded with a shower of kisses.
Kathryn reached the happy pair a moment later and almost knocked Adam off balance as she tried to save him from Bandit’s slobber.
Laughing at the two, Kathryn thought back to the last time Adam was at her house. Things were so much simpler between them. If only they could go back to the way things were. She sobered and studied his face. “What are you even doing here? Are you supposed to be up and around? Who was throwing rocks at my window?”
“Whoa. That’s a lot of questions. First question—I wanted to see you. Second question—what better time to learn how to get around on one leg? Third, it’s my friend Derek, who is currently acting as my chauffeur.”
Kathryn narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re not supposed to be out and about, but you’re here anyway?”
“I needed to see you. I couldn’t get all the way to Boston, but when Mark told me you were back in town, I figured I could handle the trip here.”
Kathryn’s heart and head were doing battle. Oh, how she missed him, but being this close to him and not being able to be with him was painful. Still, he made the effort… She shivered as a gust of wind blew her hair across her face. “Do you want to come inside?”
“No, I have a better idea.”
Kathryn raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”
“Have you ever been on a midnight picnic?”
Kathryn’s heart won the battle, and she grinned as gleeful as a little girl. “I’ll get my coat.” Back outside, she followed Adam to the unfamiliar car in the driveway.
The man sitting in the drivers’ seat got out of the car.
Adam clapped him on the shoulder. “Kathryn, meet Derek. My chauffeur.”
Derek laughed. “Hey now, this sympathy thing only goes so far. Just because you lost a leg, don’t expect me to be your servant. This is a one-time deal.” He held out his hand to Kathryn. “Pleased to meet you, my lady.”
Kathryn laughed and shook his hand. “You, too. Is he treating you OK?”
Derek winked at her. “For now. We’ll see how the rest of the night goes. I hear we’re going on a picnic.”
“If you don’t mind having the night off, I could give him a ride from here,” Kathryn said.
Derek narrowed his eyes at her. “I’m not sure I should leave you two without a chaperone.”
The heat rose in her cheeks. “A chaperone won’t be necessary.”
“All right, if you’re sure.” Derek grabbed a large picnic basket from the back seat of the car and handed it to Kathryn. He whispered something in Adam’s ear and climbed back in his car.
Kathryn took the basket and stowed it in her trunk.
“When I pictured this in my head, I was taking you on the picnic, not the other way around,” Adam said.
“That’s nice, but let’s keep the disobeying of the doctor’s orders to a minimum. I don’t even know how you would manage to get into that big truck of yours. It’s a good thing Derek gave you a ride.”
Adam’s eyes sparkled. “I would’ve found a way to get to you.”
“What’s gotten into you? You haven’t acted like this since the night you sprang Bandit on me.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “What do you have up your sleeve?”
Adam grinned. “Wait and see, my dear.”
“I guess we better go. Where are we going, anyway?”
“Well, since you’re driving, I suppose I can’t surprise you. We’re going to the lake.”
“But the park is closed after dark.”
“Not if you know the back way in.”
Kathryn shook her head and turned on the car.
Twenty minutes later, after maneuvering Adam to the lake’s edge, Kathryn brought the basket to him. She laid the blanket on the ground and peered into the basket.
“Chocolate-covered strawberries, cookies, grapes, Is this thermos full of coffee? How did you pull all this off?”
“Derek got it all together for me. Come. Sit. Eat a strawberry.”
“Maybe some coffee first. Whose bright idea was it to go on a picnic when it’s forty degrees out?” She poured them each a cup and sat next to him on the blanket.
Adam gazed into her eyes. “I’ve missed you.”
Something melted inside Kathryn at those words. “Adam, you can’t keep talking to me like that.”
“Why not? I have missed you. I want to start where we left off before Christmas.”
“What about Gina?”
Adam took her hand in his. “Kathryn, I am not now, nor will I ever, be getting back together with Gina. She came here to try and win me back, but I wasn’t interested. I’m in Pine Springs to stay.”
Hope flickered in Kathryn’s chest, and died. “I’m not.”
Adam cocked his head at her. “Is that really what you want?”
“No, of course not, but I don’t have any other choice.”
“There’s always a choice. I’m sorry about your job, but I heard you had a good talk with God.”
“Yes. I still have a lot to figure out, but at least I’m finally on the right track.”
His eyes locked on hers. “Let’s figure it out together.”
Goosebumps formed all over Kathryn’s body at the sound of his husky voice. She pulled her hand from his. “Adam, even if I could figure out a way to stay here, I’m not right for you. I don’t expect you to understand…”
“I wasn’t asleep.”
“What?”
“In the hospital, when you came to visit, I wasn’t asleep.”
Kathryn studied him for a moment, confused. Suddenly her stomach clenched. He knows. She stood up and walked away from the blanket. How could she face him?
“Kathryn, please come back. Don’t make me chase after you
on crutches. Don’t think I won’t do it.”
Kathryn sighed and returned to the blanket. “You know why I can’t be with you. I’m a horrible person. Every time I there’s something on the news about some kid who overdosed, I can’t help but think they might have gotten it from what I made. You’re so kind, so sweet, so good. You can’t spend your life with someone like me.” She paused. “I found out this week that Charlie is in jail. That’s where I deserve to be. You deserve so much better.”
Adam lifted her chin with a finger until her eyes, glistening with tears, met his.
“You’re too quick to judge yourself. You’re an amazing woman who made a mistake. Don’t tell me that I am too good for you. You’re talking to a man who wasted years of his life ignoring God’s warnings, chasing money, prestige, and the wrong woman. I ran away to Africa, for crying out loud, because I couldn’t deal with the mess I was in.”
“But that mess wasn’t your fault.”
“You’re right about the firm, but everything else was. I stepped on people to move up at work. I ignored my family while I poured everything into my career. I was drunk more times than I care to admit. I started dating Gina because she was the senior partner’s daughter, and I thought it would help me get ahead. Without God directing my life, I was a mess. You happened to meet me in the time of my life when I started listening to Him. There’s a world of difference in me, but I can’t take credit for that. It’s all Him.” He turned toward her, eyes dark with emotion. “Do you trust me?”
“What do you mean?” Kathryn asked.
“Do you trust me?”He repeated.
Gazing into those deep brown eyes, she knew the answer without a doubt. “Yes.”
“Then I need you to listen. I’ve spent a lot of time the past two weeks working on your situation.”
Kathryn opened her mouth to protest, but Adam stilled her by brushing her cheek with his hand. She leaned into the safety of his touch.
“You said you found out Charlie is in jail. That’s true—that’s what I learned too, so you can be comfortable knowing he won’t be giving you any more trouble.”