“Well,” he said, breaking eye contact with me, “I should probably clean up this mess before the boss fires me.”
I smiled. “While you’re doing that, why don’t I run out and grab some take-out Chinese food for dinner?”
“That sounds great.”
“Should I get enough for Joy? Is she coming over after work?”
“She’s actually going to Kayla’s for dinner. I’m picking her up later.”
“Okay. I’ll get our food and be back in a minute.”
Daniel reached for his wallet, but I waved him off. “It’s my treat tonight, okay?”
He hesitated a second before returning the wallet to his pocket. “Okay, but next time you’ll have to let me treat you.”
“It’s a deal.” Grabbing my purse, I headed out the door, thrilled he wanted there to be a next time, too.
*
When I returned with dinner, Daniel had cleaned up the mess, uncovered the couch, and set the coffee table with plates, napkins, silverware, and drinks.
“Daniel.” My heart turned to mush at the sight. “What a sweet thing to do.”
“I was going to light a candle, but I was afraid that might make my intentions too obvious.”
“Your intentions?”
He nodded. “I’m trying to woo you, woman. Can’t you tell?”
I laughed, feeling so happy. He took the bags of food from me, and we sat on my couch.
As we ate, we talked about Claudia. “I don’t know what I’ll do if she doesn’t change her mind about meeting me. I sent her an email, but other than a quick reply thanking me for being understanding, I haven’t heard from her. Do you think I should write to her again? I don’t want to be pushy, but it’s hard waiting around, wondering what she’s thinking.”
“I’m sure it is.”
I sighed. “There’s this website that has tons of stories about women meeting the kids they gave up for adoption. I’ve read every account, and it seems like a lot of kids weren’t ready to meet their birth parents until they had kids of their own. Maybe I just have to be satisfied knowing she turned out okay.”
“With your family’s genetics, how could you ever worry about her not turning out okay?”
I took a sip of my drink. “The thing is only half of Claudia’s genetics came from me. The other half came from her father, and he wasn’t exactly the nicest person in the world.”
Daniel stopped eating. “What do you mean?”
I shrugged, not wanting to talk about Chad tonight. Not now when Daniel and I were having such a nice dinner.
Daniel’s face grew serious. “Did he force himself on you?”
“No. Maybe he was the one who pushed, but we were both drinking. I was flattered by his attention. I thought he really liked me, so I exercised poor judgment. Actually, I didn’t exercise any judgment at all. I was just stupid.”
My stomach roiled at the memory of that night. I’d willingly walked away from the bonfire and the other kids at the beach. Willingly lain down with Chad. Willingly ignored the consequences of my actions.
“I felt so grown up and in charge of my sexuality that night,” I said. “But it was all an illusion. Having sex like that didn’t make me in charge of anything. The next day, he barely acknowledged me. And later, when I told him about the baby, he looked at me with annoyance and said, ‘Why are you telling me this? It’s probably not even mine.’”
“Oh, sweetheart.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “It was his all right. I even told him that I’d never been with anyone else, but he didn’t believe me. Anyway, that was the last time I ever saw him. I guess he’s living in New York or Boston or someplace like that.”
Daniel took my hand. “That guy was a jerk. You know that, right?”
I nodded and bit down hard, refusing to waste any more time thinking about him.
Still holding my hand, Daniel said the exact words I needed to hear. “Judging from Claudia’s letter and the video of her playing the violin, it seems like she turned out pretty good.”
“She turned out amazing. I just wish I could meet her in person. I know I need to embrace the words of the Abandonment Prayer and surrender my desire to meet her to God, but it’s hard.”
He smiled. “Yeah. Placing your life in God’s hands is one thing. Actually, following through can be a little more tricky.”
*
Every few months, my sisters and I gathered for a wild night of scrapbooking. When Anna lived on the island, we always met at her place while the cousins spent the night at the ranch with my parents. Now that Anna lived in Germany, we gathered at my apartment where we could video chat with her on my big screen TV above the fireplace.
When I mentioned all this to Daniel during one of our morning bike rides, he asked if I found it ironic that my sisters and I used technology to communicate with Anna while engaging in an old-fashioned, labor-intensive activity like scrapbooking.
“I hadn’t thought about it like that, but you’re right. It is a little ironic.” We were sitting on our bench by the golf course, watching the sunrise. “I just have this theory.”
“I’m sure you do,” he said, flashing a grin.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
He laughed. “You just have lots of theories and ideas about life.”
“Is there something wrong with that?”
“Not at all. It’s actually something I like about you.”
I refrained from asking what else he liked about me. No sense in appearing desperate for his attention.
“So, tell me your theory about scrapbooking,” he said.
“Well, I think no matter how much technology advances, women will always crave a creative outlet like scrapbooking, sewing, or knitting. There’s a woman in California who teaches classes on making beautiful handcrafted felt flowers. Even though you could probably buy something like that at a big box store for less, there’s something appealing about working with your hands or purchasing something handmade. It just seems wholesome, you know?”
Daniel pulled an orange from his jacket pocket and peeled it. “It’s the hundred-dollar tomato hypothesis.”
“The what?”
“Well, you can buy an organic tomato from the farmer’s market for a few dollars, or you can grow one yourself. You just have to buy the soil, the tools, the seeds, pay for the visit to the chiropractor, and build a higher fence to keep the deer out. In the end, the cost averages to about $100 for an incredibly delicious tomato you grew yourself.”
I laughed, thinking this was a perfect example of why I liked spending time with Daniel. Not only was he a great listener, but he always had something interesting to say.
Plus, he had the best smile in the world. And when he pulled me close to kiss me or just hold me . . . well, that was the greatest feeling of all.
*
On scrapbooking night, I relayed Daniel’s $100 tomato theory to Anna and my sisters.
“That makes sense,” Anna said, stifling a yawn as she nursed her baby.
Even though technology had bridged the distance between Germany and Rose Island, it couldn’t do anything about the time zone. Early evening in Texas was middle of the night for Anna.
“Hey, can you see my new kitchen?” I asked, jumping up to tilt the TV so she could look through the space where the wall once stood.
“You took down the wall!” she exclaimed. “I love it, and I love the painted cabinets and new countertops.”
I smiled. “I do, too. I was nervous about the project, especially taking down the wall, but Daniel promised to rebuild it if I didn’t like it. I told him he was crazy, but he said he didn’t mind.”
Vicki spoke with a teasing lilt in her voice. “What else did Daniel say?”
“What do you mean?”
Anna’s baby, Zoey, who’d been nursing this whole time, popped her head up and grinned at the computer screen. Laughing, Anna quickly covered herself. “Vicki’s right. Your voice is all Daniel this and
Daniel that.”
“No, it’s not.” I suddenly felt protective of my brand-new relationship with Daniel. I adored him, but what if things didn’t work out between us? What if he changed his mind about seeing me? I didn’t want to embarrass him or myself. Or Joy, for that matter.
“Daniel’s renovating my kitchen in exchange for my help with his daughter,” I said, returning to the scrapbook table. “We’ve spent a lot of time together because of the remodel, but as soon as he finishes, I probably won’t see him much.”
“Too bad,” Vicki said. “He’s really cute.”
I thought of Daniel’s milk chocolate eyes, beautiful smile, and broad shoulders. “He’s okay.”
My sisters and Anna laughed. “Are you kidding?” Jillian said. “Daniel is super cute, and that’s coming from a very happily married woman.”
I smiled, relieved to hear her say she was happily married. After my conversation with Keith, I’d been worried. Maybe Jillian just needed a little sister time to laugh and take a break from her family and newborn baby.
“Daniel is one of those guys who can pull off the scruffy beard look,” Vicki said. “He has the perfect amount of facial hair—just past five o’clock shadow and miles away from Duck Dynasty.”
I nodded, thinking Vicki was exactly right. Daniel could easily be a model for some facial hair product.
“I should ask him to give Keith some pointers,” Jillian said, cropping a picture. “The few times Keith has tried to grow a beard, it’s come in lopsided. He starts trimming one side only to find it uneven with the other side. Then, he trims that side. In the end, he just shaves the whole thing off.”
We all laughed, and Anna said it was probably difficult for a former military guy like Keith to handle facial hair. “I don’t think Nick could do it.”
“Couldn’t do what?” Nick asked, appearing on screen in plaid pajama bottoms and a “Beat Navy” T-shirt.
My sisters and I said hi and chatted with our brother-in-law for a few minutes. When he let out a huge yawn, I told him he should go back to bed.
“Why?” He ran a hand over his short cropped hair. “So you can talk about your love life, Bianca?”
“Oh, Nick.” My voice oozed with sarcasm and humor.
“Oh, Bianca.” He laughed, then he kissed both his wife and the baby before saying good-bye and leaving.
Anna lifted the baby and propped her on her shoulder. “I love this life Nick and I have built in Germany with our children, but I really miss being on the island with y’all.”
“We miss you, too,” my sisters and I said in unison.
“Do you think Nick will ever receive orders to come home?” Vicki asked.
Anna nodded. “I hope so.”
My sisters and I couldn’t agree more. After Anna signed off, Keith called to say he couldn’t get the baby to stop crying. Even from across the room, I could hear Linda Faith screaming through the phone. Jillian’s entire demeanor stiffened as she packed her things and left.
“So, what’s really going on with you and Daniel?” Vicki asked as we continued working on our books.
“We’re friends,” I said.
“And you like him?”
I gave her a huge smile. “Yes, I like him.”
“Do you think he might like you like that?”
I nodded. “Well, he kissed me if that’s what you mean.”
She squealed. “Oh, Bianca. That’s wonderful.”
“I know, but don’t say anything, okay? It’s only been a few days since our first kiss, and I’m not ready for everyone to know.”
“Why not?”
I covered the back of a picture with adhesive and placed it on my page. “I guess I don’t want things to be awkward if it doesn’t work out. And I especially don’t want things to be awkward with Joy.”
“She’s really special to you, isn’t she?”
I nodded. “She’s kind of like my daughter. I feel that way toward all the girls in my Bible study, but Joy definitely holds a special place in my heart.”
“I understand that.” Vicki placed a hand on my arm. “Just don’t sell yourself short when it comes to Daniel, okay? He’s a good guy, and you deserve a good guy. Plus, I know he really likes you.”
“You do?” I warned myself to stay calm as a feeling of warmth and excitement spread through me.
“I saw you riding bikes with him this morning. I was taking out the trash, and the two of you were walking your bikes toward the building, chatting away. I waved, but y’all were so wrapped up in each other that you didn’t see me.”
I giggled, thrilled to hear her say that. Still, I pretended it was no big deal. “We weren’t wrapped up in each other.”
“Whatever.” Vicki rolled her eyes. “You do know that guys don’t wake at the crack of dawn to go bike riding with someone they’re not interested in, right?”
My stomach did that jittering thing it did whenever I thought about the possibility that Daniel might actually like me as much as I liked him. “He’s an early morning riser like me.”
Vicki laughed, then her voice grew serious. “I just don’t want you being afraid that you’re not good enough, okay?”
Feeling I wasn’t good enough had ruined my chance at happiness more times than I could count. I imagined it’d be easy to let the fear of not being good enough ruin things with Daniel, too.
Instead of admitting that to Vicki, I plastered a smile on my face, sat up straight, and ran my hands down my body. “With a figure like this? Not good enough? Are you kidding?”
She gave a dismissive wave. “Joke all you want, but you and Daniel are perfect together.”
Chapter 21
Claudia
On Sunday, two weeks after Claudia received Bianca’s letter, Aunt Dede and Uncle Geoff came over to the house and announced they were pregnant. Because this would be the first baby born into their family since the arrival of Clay six years ago, everyone was super excited.
While Claudia was happy about her aunt and uncle’s news, she had a hard time enjoying the evening or her family. Everyone was getting on her nerves, something she attributed to the fact that she was about to get her period. Plus, she’d barely heard from Leland all week.
She had no idea if he was avoiding her on purpose or just occupied with his current project. When she invited him to come for dinner tonight, he said he couldn’t because he had too much work to do.
That was fine. Usually, she didn’t have time to sit around overanalyzing their relationship. This week, however, she had a lull in her schedule because the large family of homeschooled kids she taught music lessons to were out of town.
All her other friends were busy, so she’d spent her extra time catching up on homework and practicing for her upcoming recital. Despite trying to be in a good mood, she just felt annoyed.
“I think it’s snowing,” Clay said, jumping from the table and running to the window. “Yep, it’s snowing all right.”
“Can we go outside and play?” Clark asked, joining his brother.
“Clay can, but you’ve been sick,” Mom told Clark. “I want you to stay inside right now, okay?”
“Mom.”
“Too bad for you,” Clay said, grabbing his jacket and racing outside. Clark stared out the window, looking dejected. Although it’d been a cold and wet winter, there hadn’t been a lot of snow, so this was a big deal for the boys who loved playing in the snow.
Dad, who didn’t baby the boys as much as Mom did, said, “I bet Clark will be okay outside for a little bit.”
“Randy, I don’t want him getting sick again,” Mom protested.
“It’ll be okay.” Dad pushed away from the table and stood. “Who else wants to come outside and play in the snow? Aunt Dede?”
“Sure.” Aunt Dede placed one hand on her flat stomach and reached for her husband with the other hand. “Come on. Let’s go outside and take a picture to show the baby his first snow.”
Uncle Geoff smiled. “Is this how it’s g
oing to be for the next nine months? The baby’s first snow, the baby’s first trip to the movie theater?”
Aunt Dede laughed and convinced everyone else to come outside as well. Claudia didn’t really want to, but she couldn’t exactly say no.
Once the pictures were taken, Dad and the boys started throwing snowballs at each other. Mom, Aunt Dede, and Uncle Geoff joined in, but Claudia ducked inside and made herself a cup of hot tea.
Moments later, Uncle Geoff entered the house and joined her in the kitchen. “My Florida blood wasn’t made for these harsh Kansas winters,” he said. “You know what I mean?”
Claudia smiled. She liked her uncle. Sometimes he could be a little annoying, always talking about how much better Florida was than Kansas, but Aunt Dede loved him, so that was all that mattered.
“Your tea smells good,” Uncle Geoff said.
“Here. You can have it. I haven’t touched it.”
“I don’t want to steal it from you.”
“I’ll make myself another cup. It’s no problem.” Claudia placed her mug on the counter for him. Returning to the sink, she filled another mug with water and stuck it in the microwave for two minutes.
“Thank you,” Uncle Geoff said, sipping the tea. “That hits the spot.”
She nodded. “I drink a lot of tea during the winter. It’s the only thing that keeps me from freezing to death.”
He smiled. “Dede said you don’t like the cold either.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Well, given the fact that you were born in South Carolina, that makes sense.”
Plus, my birth mother is from Rose Island, Texas. The microwave dinged, and Claudia retrieved her mug. Dunking a tea bag in the hot water, she glanced out the window where her father, her aunt, and the boys were covering themselves with snow as Mom took pictures.
Her uncle followed her gaze. “I guess you and I are the only sane ones of the bunch. Then again, we’re the only two not part of that crazy gene pool.”
“What?” Although she’d heard him, she didn’t quite understand what he meant.
“We’re not biologically related to anyone in this family,” he explained. “I guess my baby will be, but I’m not. And you’re not either. So, it makes sense that we’re in here and they’re out there.”
Bianca's Joy: Rose Island Book 3 Page 13