Second Chance Father

by Renee Andrews

  “He will be,” Jack interjected.

  She smiled, grateful for his faith that Cody would succeed and also grateful that he’d purchased the spark—in the form of a vintage automobile—that Cody needed to finally break out of his shell.

  “I believe he will too. But even if a family is told how great he’s doing, they will also have to be told that he is autistic. And without seeing him, they won’t realize what that means. They could never fully understand how wonderful he is.” She moistened her lips. “You could do that for him, Jack. You could let people see him the way we do. And who knows? You might also help more of these kids get adopted, if you were willing to use the talent God gave you. You have to believe that’s what He wants for you.”

  Jack slammed the lid of the toolbox, clenched his jaw and turned to glare angrily at Elise. “God took my family. I’m not concerned with what He wants.”

  Elise had suspected how he felt, but she’d never heard him blatantly place the blame of losing his family on God. She was thankful the kids were too absorbed in Cody’s dynamic description of the car to hear Jack’s proclamation. She didn’t want to remind him that he needed to watch what he said in front of the eleven-and twelve-year-old boys from Cody’s cabin. She’d been surprised he’d even agreed to let Cody bring Mark, his counselor, and his cabinmates. But she’d learned something else about Jack Simon over the past week.

  He wouldn’t let Cody down.

  Which was why she asked again.

  “Okay. So don’t do it because of God. Do it because of Cody! You know he needs a family. He deserves one. And a video could make all the difference, Jack, especially if it were produced by you.”

  Cody laughed at something Mark said and then shoved the counselor with his shoulder. He was so happy now, and Elise wanted the world, particularly parents who might adopt the boy, to see it.

  “Do it for Cody, Jack.”

  He’d also homed in on the scene before them, and how ecstatic the lad looked talking with his friends and chattering about the many plans they had for the car. “It’d make an emotional video.”

  His words were barely audible, but Elise heard. And inwardly celebrated. No, he hadn’t come around to making movies for God again, but this was definitely a step in the right direction. And, even though she’d promised herself she wouldn’t fall into the same old trap, she knew she couldn’t return to Birmingham without knowing that she’d helped Cody as much as she could. And without knowing she’d helped Jack as much as she could too. “You’re going to do it, aren’t you?” she asked softly.

  He frowned. “I guess I am.”

  Elise didn’t stop the impulse. She wrapped both arms around him in a hug. “Thank you, Jack.”

  He stiffened in her embrace, then stepped away from her completely. “I’m doing it for Cody. He deserves the best chance at a family, and I want to give him that.”

  He could’ve punched her in the stomach, and it’d have hurt less. “Right. Well, I’m glad. I want him to have the best chance too.”

  * * *

  Jack couldn’t have planned two more perfect days for filming. Though it was already the second week of November, the temperature had hovered between sixty-eight and seventy-one while he’d been filming the kids.

  It’d felt odd at first, visiting the children’s home and having so many people surrounding him, when all he’d wanted was to get away from folks completely. But this would help Cody have a better chance at adoption, so Jack suffered through the process.

  Not that he actually suffered. The children were adorable. And the bond they shared with each other over their similar circumstances was profound and easily captured on film. He couldn’t wait to get back to the cabin and start going over the footage. Jack had no doubt that if a couple were even remotely interested in the potential of fostering or adopting, they would be smitten by these kids.

  They sure grabbed Jack’s heart, especially Cody, who proudly introduced each and every kid at Willow’s Haven to “Amazing Mr. Jack.” The first time he’d said it, Jack had felt uncomfortable. He didn’t deserve such adoration from a child who wasn’t his. But by the last time Cody said it, he’d decided he liked hearing it, and he sure enjoyed watching Cody when he said it, always hugging Jack at the mere mention of his name.

  Elise had accompanied him for each shot, and Jack had fought the impulse to stare as she interacted with the children, bringing out their best qualities, whether that be the way they laughed, or the way they talked, or the way they loved. She had a natural rapport with children, and with adults, if Jack considered the fact that she kept penetrating his own boundaries for getting close. Even when he attempted to push her away, she still managed to infiltrate his emotions, cause him to want to do more, be more. And unfortunately, she made him want to do that...with her.

  Tomorrow. Tomorrow, she and the IEP team would meet and discuss Cody, and then they would interview the boy, and they’d see how he deserved every school benefit that could be afforded to him. He’d be placed in a classroom with his peers, probably many of the boys he’d proclaimed as “his very best friends” over the past week, and then, once churches viewed the video and saw how amazing he was, he’d be adopted.

  Cody would have a loving family, Elise would return to Birmingham...and Jack would be alone.

  His throat pinched, but he swallowed past it. Tomorrow couldn’t get here quick enough. He needed Elise and Cody to be out of his life, so he could keep from feeling so much.

  A little girl, probably around four years old, ran after Elise as they made their way toward the trail to leave Willow’s Haven.

  “Miss Elise! You forgot my hug!” She smiled broadly as she puffed out small breaths at the end of her endearing gallop from her cabin.

  Elise crouched down to catch her. “How could I forget your hug?” She smiled, hugged the child with one of those cheek-rubbing actions that prominently displayed the immense affection she had for the little girl.

  Jack was glad he still had his camera in hand, because he caught the tender moment on film. Elise would make an incredible mother. And an incredible wife.

  He blinked past the thought and squinted to continue viewing the exquisite scene before him.

  “I love you big as the sky, Miss Elise,” the tiny child said, “to the moon and back.”

  “I love you too, Naomi.” Elise kissed her cheek and touched one of her pigtails. “I’ll see you when I get back from my walk with Cody and his friends, okay?”

  The little girl frowned. “Can’t I go with you for the walk? Please?”

  Savvy had started toward them, presumably to steer Naomi back toward her cabin. Elise looked to her and asked, “Can Naomi join us?”

  Naomi put her palms together beneath her chin, the symbol of prayer—or in this case, begging—and Savvy laughed. “Yes, that’s fine.”

  Then the little girl turned and squeezed Elise while Jack caught the interaction on film.

  “Perfect.” He nodded, satisfied that he’d obtained plenty of footage to work with, except for what would probably be his favorite thing to film. “So, have you got some friends that want to go see the car, Cody?”

  Cody pointed to the crew of boys surrounding him. “I have five. Alanus, Jeremiah, Ryan, Brooks and Konrad.” He pointed to each youngster as he said the name. “They’ve seen it before, but they want to see it again for the camera.”

  “Sounds great. Let’s go.”

  The boys led the way, with Cody excitedly telling them all about his trip through the woods the first day and how he found Amazing Mr. Jack working on furniture.

  “And I didn’t even know he knew anything about cars. Because he never told me when we were working on the furniture,” Cody said, his group well ahead of Jack, Elise and Naomi. “But he’s pretty good with cars. He doesn’t know everything, but when we don’t know
something, we can find it in one of my books. Or sometimes on the internet. And there’s always the YouTube videos.”

  This introduced a discussion of their favorite things to watch on YouTube.

  Elise laughed faintly.

  “What is it?” Jack had done his best not to get close to her since he’d learned she had invaded his privacy by poking into his past. And since she’d shown him how much he had missed with that kiss. But most likely, she’d be leaving tomorrow. So he didn’t think it’d hurt to ask her what he wanted to know.

  “All of those days I’ve walked through the woods either on my own or with Cody, it seemed a lonely place. Beautiful, but still lonely.”

  “Can I pick up some of these to show Miss Savvy?” Naomi asked, pointing to the gold and red leaves that lined the path.

  “Sure.” Elise patted Naomi’s back before she skipped toward a multicolored red, gold and green leaf.

  Jack wanted to hear what else Elise had planned to say. “It seemed lonely?”

  She smiled as Naomi held up the leaf and then raced ahead to some bright orange ones in the distance. “Yeah. I mean, I always felt God here. I still do...” She paused, but Jack wasn’t going to head into another God discussion; it only ended with her being disappointed and him getting angry. So she continued, “But today, watching Cody lead his friends down the path and now talking with Naomi about leaves and...” She nodded as the little girl showed her more of her finds, and didn’t finish her sentence.

  “And what, Elise?”

  She shoved her hands in her jeans pockets, looked away from him and said softly, “And spending time with you, Jack. This isn’t lonely. This is making a memory. And I’m going to treasure it forever.”

  There was something about this woman. No matter what he did to try to keep her from reaching his heart, touching his soul, she managed to find a way. He wanted to tell her he’d treasure the memory too. But that would open doors that needed to remain closed. She couldn’t know that he thought about her even when they weren’t together, that he dreamed about her and wondered what life could be like...if he could trust God not to take everything he loved away again.

  Everything he loved. Why had Cody and Elise, and even Willow’s Haven, filled his thoughts when he said those words?

  “Mr. Amazing Jack!” Cody called. “Someone is here!”

  “Let’s see who it is!” Naomi clapped as she dropped her leaves and ran the short distance to the end of the trail.

  Laughing, Elise picked up the discarded leaves. “She’ll want these later, I’m sure.” Then she glanced at Jack, and it was all he could do to keep walking toward the end of the trail, instead of stopping, hauling her into his arms and begging her not to leave tomorrow.

  And then he’d—

  “Mr. Amazing Jack! It’s your friend!”

  “My friend?” Jack’s thoughts of Elise were cut short because he was certain none of his “friends” knew where he lived now.

  “Were you expecting someone?” Elise increased her pace to match Jack’s as he strode through the remainder of the woods to see who he’d find waiting at the end of the trail.

  “I want to meet Mr. Jack’s friend.” Naomi ran toward Cody and the boys, all standing near a black car parked beside Jack’s house.

  Jack didn’t recognize the car, but he easily recognized the man standing next to it and talking to Cody.

  “I completely agree,” Vincent said to Cody, “there isn’t anything much more special than a 1964 1⁄2 Mustang.”

  “I can show it to you. Do you want to see it? I can tell you what all me and Mr. Amazing Jack have done so far, but we have a lot more to do. But I can tell you about that too.” Cody smiled when he saw Jack. “Look, your friend is here!”

  “I see that.” He looked at the man who truly had been one of his closest friends for over a decade. “How are you, Vincent?”

  “Actually, I was going to ask you that, since how I am, and how a lot of other people are, basically depends on you.” Vincent wore a black cable-knit sweater with jeans, quite a contrast from the suits he typically preferred, but he still sported his herringbone newsboy cap that he’d always claimed made him look like a successful Hollywood agent...even before he actually was a successful Hollywood agent.

  “Cody, why don’t you take the guys into the garage and show them the badges and wheels that came in this morning?”

  Elise and Naomi stood a few feet away, so Jack added, “Elise, would you mind taking Naomi into the garage too, so I can talk to Vincent? It won’t take long.”

  “O-kay.” Clearly confused, she scooped up Naomi and carried her toward the garage.

  As soon as they were out of earshot, Jack turned toward his agent. “How did you find me?”

  “Now, you know your mom has always had a soft spot for me. I told her I needed to see you, and not only did she give me the address, but she also promised to send me one of those coconut pies she makes that I love so much.”

  “I thought she understood I didn’t want company.” He’d been very clear about that.

  “Yeah, she mentioned it, but she also said that she was worried about you and thought you could use a visit from a friend.” He grinned. “So I offered to make the trip, in case things weren’t going so great in the woods.”

  “Mighty thoughtful of you.”

  Vincent grinned. “Though it doesn’t seem as rough as I’d anticipated. Very pretty out here. Reminds me of what an amazing job God did with Creation, don’t you think?”

  Jack frowned. “Vincent, tell me. Why are you here? And don’t say it’s because my mother asked you to come.”

  “Well, for one, to make sure my friend is okay. And I’m glad to see you aren’t holed up like Tom Hanks in Cast Away, living in a cave and talking to a volleyball named Wilson.”

  Vincent had always been able to make him smile; now was no exception.

  “If you had shown up a month ago, that’d have been closer to the picture.” Jack recalled the way he looked the first day when Cody and Elise had shown up at his cabin, not all that different from Tom Hanks in the notable movie.

  “I figured. I’m glad I waited to come, then. It’s good to see you around people. Around kids again. And, I might add, a very pretty lady.”

  Jack didn’t want to discuss the woman who would most likely be leaving tomorrow. “What is it, Vincent? Why are you really here?”

  “I’m here to tell you that Roland wasn’t blowing smoke. The breach of contract suit is in the attorney’s hands, and if you don’t show up for all scheduled appearances in the press junket, beginning with the screening the day after Thanksgiving, it’ll be in the hands of the court.”

  Jack ran his hand through his hair, thought about the press junkets of the past and how he’d gone to every event, no matter how big or how small, to benefit the studio. He’d given them great pictures and his total support, right up until that plane went down. “They have a solid film, Vincent. It’ll stand on its own, and you and I both know word of mouth is the best advertising there is. They don’t need me.”

  “See now, that’s where we’re gonna have to agree to disagree, because I know if the public doesn’t see you at this film, hear you talk about the movie, why you made it and what it means to you, then they are going to think you don’t care. And trust me, Jack, then they won’t care.”

  Even though Jack feared he was right, it didn’t change his stance. “You want me to tell people why I made the film? You want me to get up in front of a crowd, or sit in front of a camera crew at a talk show, and explain that the idea for Finding Home came about when we finally found JJ, after he’d gotten lost when we were filming in Prague? You expect me to talk about the first time I lost my son, when I know it will only lead to the inevitable questions about how I lost him—and Laney, and AmyJo, and Sadie—on the day of my
last movie’s premiere? Because you know they will ask, Vincent. And you know what I’ll say.”

  “That God turned His back on you.” Vincent released a deep breath. “Listen, Jack, I know you were hurting—that you’re still hurting—but I still believe God is in control. Life isn’t always about happy endings, except the final ending, the one that matters. You’ll be with your family again, Jack, and—” He swallowed, shook his head. “I know this isn’t what you want to hear, but I have to admit that when I got here and saw all those kids coming to the cabin, and then the little girl and the lady, I said a prayer of thanks.”

  “A prayer of thanks?”

  “That God was obviously blessing you again and that you were finally starting to live again. I’ve missed you, Jack. Lots of people have. We care about you. And Damascus Entertainment does need you to promote this picture. It is a solid film, like you said, and therefore it needs your backing. It needs to be seen by Christians and non-Christians worldwide. It’s another chance for you to make a difference in a very big way.”

  “I can’t do it, Vincent. This—” he waved his hand toward the garage and the crowd of people in it “—this isn’t God blessing me. It’s me, helping a little boy get adopted. And as soon as that’s done, I will be on my own here. Just like you expected. Tom Hanks, but with no volleyball.” He expected Vincent to smile at that, or crack another joke.

  Instead, he looked like he was going to get sick. “You could ruin all of us, Jack,” he said softly. “Are you willing to do that? Because that’s not the Jack Simon I know.”

  Jack started to tell him that the Jack Simon he knew died the day that plane went down. But before he could get started, Elise called to him from the garage.

  “Jack, they’re getting a little restless. Could you come film them before they tear the garage apart? They’re pretty fascinated with your tools.”