“The opponent is spending a lot of money on flashy ads and spots on TV and radio.”
“I like your grassroots campaign. You want to personally touch as many of the townspeople as you can. That’s what we need right now. Our town needs hope.”
Ruth gave Keith a smile, her gaze linked to his. “I appreciate your help. I could use someone who has dabbled in politics to help me. Will you?”
Surprise lit Kim’s father’s face; his eyebrows hiked up as far as they could go. “I—I’ll help you anyway I can.” His usually strong voice came out in a raspy rush. He clenched his trembling hands in his lap. His surprise evolved into a blush that reddened his cheeks, especially the longer he stared at Ruth.
Her smile broadened. “That means a lot to me. You’ve been a councilman, and your expertise will be welcomed.”
“That was years ago.”
“It doesn’t matter. I don’t have an official campaign manager. Would you consider doing that?”
Her father flexed his hands then curled them again. “Me?” he choked out. “I don’t know how to be one.”
“Neither do any of us,” Kathleen said, sweeping her arm around the room to indicate the others. “None of us have even worked on a campaign. You have. We can do the work if you can give us the guidance.”
Kim moved to the side of the sofa and sat near her father. “It’s only a couple of months. It’ll be good for you.”
Everyone offered him encouragement.
Her dad’s regard swung from one person to the next. When it landed on Cody, it stayed.
“I agree with the others. It’s a way to help the town if you believe Mrs. Coleman is the right candidate for the job,” Cody said. “Tonight you were telling me how important this town is to you. How you’re worried about it recovering. Do something about it.”
The counselor threw down a challenge, and Kim barely managed to keep a grin from her expression. In a short amount of time, the man had read her father. He already knew Keith Sommerfield did not turn away from a challenge.
“I don’t know…” Her father’s words faded into silence as Ruth closed the distance between them and settled on the couch beside him.
She placed her hand on his arm. “Please, Keith. I don’t like to lose. I know you don’t, either. You’re what I need.”
Kim hadn’t thought it possible, but his blush deepened. He stared down at his clasped hands, his knuckles white. As he opened his mouth, Kim held her breath.
“I’ll try it,” he finally murmured too low for the people across the room to hear.
But Ruth did. She threw her arms around him and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you. This means a lot to me.”
After the congratulations, Miss Alice pushed herself to her feet. “I don’t know about y’all, but this is way past my bedtime.”
Ruth chuckled. “Mine, too. We’d better leave.” After she rose, she faced Kim’s father. “I’ll come by tomorrow, and we’ll talk more. Is ten o’clock okay?”
As though stunned by the events of the past few minutes, her dad nodded his head slowly.
After Gideon, Kathleen, Ruth and Miss Alice filed out of the game room, Maggie left to get ready for bed and to make sure Anna and Brady were settling down for the night.
Her dad stood, still looking shell-shocked. “I’d better get a good night’s sleep or no telling what Ruth will talk me into tomorrow.”
Cody stepped forward and shook her dad’s hand. “It was a pleasure getting to know you tonight. I hope you’ll come down and see the Christian Assistance Coalition. You might be interested in some of the things we’re doing for Hope. I can tell you really care about the town.”
“Thanks for listening to an old man talk about how Hope used to be.” He continued toward the hallway.
Kim waited until she heard his bedroom door close before saying, “I don’t think my dad would have agreed if you hadn’t given him a challenge. Thank you, Cody.”
“I hope he’ll come down and see me at the office. I’d like to talk with him in private about what’s going on.” Cody removed a card from his wallet. “My cell number is on this. Just call me.” He glanced from her to Zane. “You and I will talk more about your idea, but right now I’d better go, too.”
Kim walked Cody to the door, half expecting Zane to follow. But when he didn’t, she went back into the main part of the room, part of her glad he’d stayed, the other leery. Each day she was around him, her feelings toward him became more tangled and confused, and she certainly didn’t need to add any more bewilderment to her life.
“What did he mean about your idea?” she asked to keep the conversation centered on a neutral topic that didn’t involve feelings.
“I proposed an idea about going into areas where catastrophes have occurred and assisting the people in rebuilding their homes.”
“How?”
“By starting a foundation tied with the Christian Assistance Coalition. They already help by providing food, clothing, even some temporary shelters, as well as counseling for victims. I want to take it a step further. Cody is interested and wants me to write up a proposal to present to the organization’s board.”
“How would it work?” The Zane she’d known as a teenager wouldn’t have considered doing something like that. Or would he have? How well did she really know that Zane? There were few similarities from the boy she’d fallen in love with once and the man he’d grown up to be. At least from what she was seeing now. Could a person change that much, or had he been like that all along?
“The foundation would donate the supplies and experts to rebuild the houses and work with local contractors. They would do the work, as well as train people. It would deepen what the Christian Assistance Coalition is already doing.”
“That sounds like a big undertaking.”
“It will be, but there’s a need in so many places in the United States and worldwide.”
As Zane talked about his dream for the foundation, Kim experienced his excitement in the tone of his voice and the look on his face. Definitely this person before her was not the same boy she fell in love with years ago. The realization shook her. He had a handle on what he wanted to do whereas she was floundering, struggling to piece her life back together since Scott’s betrayal, losing the family business and the hurricane.
Zane clasped her hand and drew her closer. “I’ll see you tomorrow night, and we’ll discuss what needs to be done upstairs.”
“Come to dinner. I know you’ll be working late at the school, but we can hold dinner until you can get here.” The desire to melt against him blanketed her in needs she thought she would never experience again. She forced herself to keep several inches between them but not far enough apart, however, because her heartbeat raced and her breath shortened.
“Call me when you get home from school. By then I should know if I can and what time.”
“Great. Maggie’s cooking, so you’ll be in for a treat.”
He breached the space between them and wound his arms around her. “You aren’t as bad as you think. I loved your spaghetti. Better than anything I’d throw together. Just ask my dad.”
“How’s he doing?”
“Okay. Ian came over last night and had a long talk with him. Dad was pretty upbeat after Ian left.”
“Good,” Kim said, trying to stifle a yawn that had welled up in her. She didn’t succeed.
“I’d better leave before you fall asleep on me.”
“It’s been a long day.” Her lips tingled with the knowledge of how close he was to her. A dip of his head and their mouths could meet in a kiss. She wanted him to kiss her.
And when he bent forward slightly, he gave her a quick one on the tip of her nose. “See you tomorrow.” He released his hold on her and strode towar
d the door out onto the upstairs gallery.
Disappointment unfolded in Kim and spread through her. Friends. That was all they were and she needed to remember that. She had to put a halt on her developing feelings for Zane. He’d left her and the town once, and if his plans for the foundation worked out as he hoped, he would leave again.
Chapter Eight
“How did the campaign planning go tonight?” his father asked when Zane came into the house twenty minutes later that evening.
“You should have come.” Zane checked the mail on the counter—mostly junk, which he tossed into the trash and kept the one bill.
“No, I don’t see me doing something like that. I would like to see Ruth as our mayor, though.”
“Great. She’d love your vote. I’ve been thinking about something.”
His dad muted the TV show he was watching and focused on Zane. “So have I. I appreciate you giving me a job, but I don’t want you to feel obligated to hire your own father. If I don’t carry my own weight, I need you to tell me. I don’t want to be a charity case.”
Zane dropped into the lounge chair across from the couch, tired from the fast pace of his day. “You aren’t. I need your help. In fact, I want to see if you’ll work for Kim repairing their upstairs while I get the school finished. Then I’ll be able to put a couple of other men on it, too.” His dad’s expression remained neutral so he hurriedly added, “It would only be about two weeks. I’ll even come over in the evening and do some myself. I’m going to check tomorrow night. She said something about a wiring problem.”
“I’m not an electrician. I can do plumbing and general construction.”
“I know. I’ll work on the wiring if you can do the rest until I have more men.”
“Why does it have to be finished so quickly?”
“Because her father is having trouble dealing with the destruction to his family home. Every time I see him I sense that. I can see it in his face, like he’s lost. If I can restore his home, he may start to recover.”
“Son, you don’t owe that man anything.”
“But I do owe Kim. I left her. Not the other way around.”
“She found someone else.”
“But they’re divorced. Something went wrong because I know Kim’s feelings about marriage. She only wanted to get married one time. No divorce.” What had happened with her and Scott? The man had fit every criteria her family would have thought important.
“Sometimes what seems good on the surface isn’t.”
Zane stared at the deep lines on his father’s face, put there by many years of drinking himself into forgetfulness. There had been a time when he’d first left Hope that he’d turned to alcohol until one day he woke up and didn’t know how he’d ended up passed out on a bench in Jackson Square. He’d glanced at another man in the same condition, trying to figure out where he was. He’d remembered seeing his father like that many times. That was when he started to turn his life around. He would not become his father and let what happened to him in the past rule his life to the point of self-destruction.
“Are you talking about Mom? Why did she leave us?”
“Because I wasn’t enough for her. She wanted something…different. I can’t really blame her. If I saw her now, I would apologize to her for what happened to our marriage.”
“But she left me, too.” For years, Zane had kept that bottled up inside of him and hadn’t said anything to his dad about her walking out.
His father studied a spot on the floor between them. “We had a big fight. I told her if she couldn’t accept me for who I was then to leave. And not come back. That you and I could get along just fine without her.” He raised his head and looked Zane in the eye. “She did. For a while she called to check up on you, but I wouldn’t tell her anything. I told her if she wanted to know she would have to come home. It was all my fault.”
Zane’s throat swelled with suppressed rage. “She could have come back to see me. She decided not to.” And in that moment, he realized he hadn’t forgiven his mother. After all he’d said to Kim about forgiving her and her father, he harbored anger toward his mother. No wonder he didn’t want to get married.
“Relationships can be complicated. I’ve not been very good at them. Look at ours.”
“That’s changing, Dad.”
“Only because I’m not drinking. What if I do? I’ve come close several times these past six months.”
“I’m here for you. You aren’t alone.”
His dad grinned. “That’s what our police chief says to me.”
“Will you help me with restoring Bienville?” Then maybe he would be totally free of the past. He had wronged Kim and wanted to right that.
“Yeah, son. It’s a beautiful old home. It’ll be a challenge to put it back to its former glory, but I think that’s a challenge I can help with.”
Zane stood. “Thanks. After I meet with Kim tomorrow night, you can get started. Good night.”
Zane strolled toward his bedroom, weariness sagging his shoulders. There weren’t enough hours in the day to do all he wanted to do.
* * *
“How did it go with Cody this afternoon?” Kim asked her father on the way home from seeing the counselor on Saturday.
“I know what you’re doing.”
She stopped at a light and slanted a glance toward him. “What?”
“You had Zane bring Cody on Wednesday so he could talk to me. You figured if I got to know him that I might talk to him about what’s wrong with me. Nothing is wrong with me except I have Parkinson’s disease.”
“What did Cody tell you?”
“We just talked about what was going on with the house. Not much else. Oh, yes, he showed me some relaxation treatments. Because I’m having sleeping problems, he wanted me to contact my doctor. I’m perfectly fine, though.”
“Getting only a few hours of sleep at night, not leaving the house much or even your room and often just lying in your bed staring at the ceiling are not normal. You’ve had to deal with a lot of stress over the past years with Mom’s death, losing the business and being diagnosed with Parkinson’s.” Kim caught sight of her purse with the envelope sticking out of it. “He wants you to sign a release so he can talk to your doctor about some medication to help you.”
“I take enough pills. I don’t want any more.”
Frustrated with his stubbornness, Kim tightened her grip on the steering wheel. “If you knew what I was doing, then why did you go today?”
“I may have an illness, but I’m not losing my mind. I knew if I didn’t go today, you would nag me until I agreed to go. I went as you wanted. Now drop it.”
Kim pulled into the long driveway leading to their home. “I never said you were losing your mind, and I know Cody didn’t, either. You’re stressed, and it’s taking a toll on you physically. You need help. I can’t say it any plainer than that.”
When she stopped in front of the house, her dad hurriedly opened the door and climbed out, saying, “I am not a kid. I’m your father. I will run my own life. I leave this place when I need to. I did today.” Then he slammed the door and strode toward the house.
The sound reverberated through the car. Kim closed her eyes and tried to relax. She couldn’t. Tension cloaked her as if it were a second skin. Tension that was so much a part of her life lately.
She reached for her purse, her fingers brushing across the envelope with the release in it. The only other thing she could do was talk to her father’s physician and let him know what was going on. Dr. Blackman might have a way of persuading her dad to at least come in and see him, if not a counselor.
With her body feeling weighed down, she pried herself from the seat and headed for the house. When she entered and started for the staircase, loud voic
es penetrated her weariness and sent her hurrying up the steps to the second floor. She heard her father yelling in her old bedroom, the one Mr. Davidson was working on right now.
When she rushed into the room, she found her father in Mr. Davidson’s face, screaming for him to quit making so much noise and to get out of his house. Her dad trembled from head to toe and his face turned blood-red. Mr. Davidson sent a silent plea to her as she approached them.
She wedged herself between the pair, Mr. Davidson quickly backing away as far as he could go. “Dad!”
Fury glazed his eyes. Her father’s mouth opened and closed, but no words came out.
She clasped his arms to try and steady him. “Calm down. Take deep breaths.”
“Stop babying me.” He yanked away and stumbled back.
Kim grabbed for him to stop him from going down, but she couldn’t catch him in time. He collapsed to the floor, curling himself up into a ball.
Rocking back and forth, he murmured, “I can’t take the noise. First the roof and now this.”
Kim swept toward Mr. Davidson and whispered, “You can use our phone in the game room. Call Zane. Let him know what has happened. Then if you can find Maggie, have her come in here. I think she’s in the garden out back.”
He nodded and quietly left, pausing in the doorway and throwing a look over his shoulder. Concern etched deeper lines into Zane’s dad’s face, reflecting how she felt.
She placed her arm around her father. “The noise has stopped. Listen. It’s quiet now.” She schooled her voice into a soothing tone she prayed reached him.
“What’s wrong with me? I’m not crazy. I’m not crazy.”
Maggie flew into the room, panting when she came to a halt next to Kim. “What do you need me to do?”
She rose and leaned toward Maggie to whisper in her ear, “Call Dr. Blackman and Cody. See if they can come here.”
“Okay.”
When Maggie left, Kim knelt again by her father. “I’ll help you up, and we can go to your room. All right?”
A Love Rekindled Page 10