by Krista McGee
“It is kind of fun.” Brian pulled the rest of the drywall down and threw it to the middle of the room. “Helps me get out my aggressions.”
“Like Spencer Adams?”
“How’d you guess?” Brian began working on another section of the wall.
“I knew guys like that when I was in high school.” James grunted. “I know guys like that in college.”
“You don’t know Spencer.” Brian looked at James. Brown hair, a tan, and muscles. Wasn’t that what all the girls wanted?
“My dad knows his dad.”
Brian mimicked Mr. Adams’s commercial. “‘Car accident? Hurt on the job? Call the law firm of Adams and Finley. We’re here to help.’”
“Adams supported my dad in the last election.”
“You don’t sound happy about that.”
James grimaced. “His support came with a whole lot of strings attached.”
“Really?”
“He and my dad ended up having a huge fight.”
“Why?”
“Dad wouldn’t give him what he wanted.”
“Mr. Adams didn’t like that, huh?”
“Not at all.” James grunted again.
“Explains why Spencer always expects to get his way.”
“He learns from the best.”
Brian took a sip of water. “Thing is, Spencer pretty much does always get his way.” Brian thought of Natalia. Spencer also had his eye on the beautiful new student.
James looked at Brian. “With a dad like that, though, his life can’t be easy.”
“Mine should be so tough.” Brian strained to pull out an eighty-year-old nail.
“Come on, man, you’ve told me how great your dad is. Would you really want to trade him for Mr. Adams?”
“No way.”
“I’ve heard the way he yells at his employees, and at my dad. Imagine how Spencer gets treated.”
“Don’t go making me feel sorry for him, James.” Brian finally got the nail out.
He laughed. “I’m just saying, sometimes perfect lives aren’t as perfect as they seem.”
Footsteps approached the dining room where he and James were working.
“Finally coming in to help us, Mr. King?” Brian called out.
“Mr. King isn’t helping?” Mr. Adams walked in, his expensive business suit a stark contrast to the piles of rubble he stepped over.
James’s eyes widened. “He just stepped out, Mr. Adams. He’ll be right back.”
“My multimillion dollar home is left to the two of you?”
Mr. Adams glared at them. “I figured out who you are, by the way.” He leveled his gaze at James. “You’re lucky I didn’t have you fired.”
“For what?” James laid his crowbar down.
“For being related to Senator Perkins,” he spat. “Do you know how much money I donated to that campaign?”
“No, but I bet you do,” James muttered under his breath.
Brian bit back a laugh.
“Excuse me?” Mr. Adams’s face was inches from Brian’s. “I’ve given plenty to your dad too.”
Brian knew he was referring to his donations to the school. Amazing how people think the pastor personally benefits from gifts given to the church or school. But it would not be wise to contradict him.
“I was just telling my son this morning how much of a responsibility it is to be an Adams, how lucky he is, how grateful he should be.”
James met Mr. Adams’s gaze. “How fortunate for him he has a father who won’t let him forget that.”
The businessman’s face turned red. “There are other demolition companies out there. I can ruin this one. Believe me. So you better watch yourself and treat your betters with respect.”
Brian waited until the man was out of earshot before saying, “As soon as we see one of our betters, we will.”
Chapter 20
Another great night.” Brian cleaned up the trash left on the tables after the last of the ESL group members left.
Natalia tried to convince herself that she was not attracted to him. So why does my heart act like it’s going to jump out of my chest every time he looks at me?
“So I heard you telling Victor that your mom is a broadcast journalist in Madrid.”
Natalia nodded. Brian had been trying to get her to open up more about her personal life, but she was afraid. She needed to keep their relationship as distant as possible.
“So have you gotten to meet any celebrities?”
Natalia grabbed another chair and spoke while walking to the corner. “A few.”
“Antonio Banderas?” Brian stood beside her. “I loved him in Puss in Boots.”
Natalia rolled her eyes as Brian tried to dance the tango by himself. “No. I’ve never met him. Most of the celebrities I’ve met are only famous in Spain. It’s no big deal, really.”
“Sure it is.” Brian kept stacking chairs. “So what does your dad do?”
“It’s complicated.”
“A secret agent? Like Antonio Banderas in Spy Kids?” Brian’s eyes widened, as did his smirk. “You can’t say or he might get kidnapped, and then you’d have to go to a private island and fight crazy bad guys to free him—I’ll take your silence as confirmation.”
“What is it with you and Antonio Banderas?”
“I just love Spanish people.” He shrugged. Then his face turned that adorable shade of pink. “I mean . . . it seems like a cool country . . . bullfighting and all that manly stuff.”
Natalia found his awkwardness endearing. Too endearing. “I’d really better go.”
“Wait.” Brian grabbed her arm. She turned to face him. His nearness, combined with the close contact, was almost more than she could handle. Almost.
“No, really.” Natalia pulled away, practically sprinting toward the door.
“But I’m taking you home,” Brian called out as she pushed the door open. “I called Maureen earlier. There’s something I wanted to talk to you about, and I knew we wouldn’t have time in here.”
Natalia prayed he wasn’t about to ask her out. And if he is, how could Maureen, of all people, even agree to it? She hates men.
She remained silent as Brian poked his head in Pastor Mike’s office to say he was leaving.
Brian started his old pickup truck and put it in gear. Pulling out of the church parking lot, he finally broke the silence. “So you’re probably wondering what I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Look, I don’t—”
“Let me say it, then you can argue with me, okay?” Brian smiled, but Natalia wondered if that’s what she was like—always arguing with him whenever he spoke. She hoped not. “I want you to go on the mission trip to Costa Rica with the youth group.”
Natalia released a loud exhale. “A mission trip?”
“Yes.” Brian spoke quickly, obviously excited about this endeavor. “We went last year, and it was amazing. We spend our mornings working on a church. The churches there need lots of work, and most of the people can’t pay for it. So we paint and make repairs for them. Then, at night, we run a Vacation Bible School for missionary kids at a language school.”
“Language school?”
“It’s called the Spanish Language Institute, right in San José.” Brian almost missed the turn into Natalia’s neighborhood. “Missionaries go there to learn Spanish. Some stay a whole year, some just stay a few months. But when they’re done, they go off to serve in a Spanish-speaking country.”
“I never thought about what missionaries had to do before going overseas.”
“Me neither. That’s one of the great things about this trip. You get to talk with missionaries and hear their stories. They’re just regular people.”
“As opposed to . . . ?”
“I don’t know.” Brian pulled in front of Natalia’s town house and put the car into Park. “Growing up in church, we had dozens of missionaries come through, and they all seemed kind of weird.”
“Weird?”
“
You know, all those stories about living in the jungle and eating fried bugs or running from armed warriors.”
Natalia couldn’t tell Brian she hadn’t ever even seen a missionary. Her church supported some, but she’d never actually met any.
“Anyway, lots of the missionaries that go there have kids. There’s a Christian school for them, and they also learn Spanish.”
“It must be hard for them to leave home.”
“And grandparents and Twizzlers and PlayStations.” Brian nodded. “Tell me about it. And all for their parents’ call.”
“Call?”
“You know, people in ministry say God calls them there.”
“Oh, right. Call. Go ahead—the children.”
“Right.” Brian unbuckled so he could face Natalia. “We run a Vacation Bible School for them. And they love it. We want them to know how special they are, and how they are honoring God with their lives, just like their parents are. We bring candy and treats from the States. They get very excited about that. And we just love on them.”
Brian’s eyes lit up when he talked about the children. He’s going to be a great father someday. Natalia pushed the thought away as soon as it entered her mind.
“And you want me to come on this trip? Why? I haven’t been a Christian very long, and I don’t know anything about repairing churches or teaching children.”
“You can learn all that.” Brian dismissed Natalia’s concern with a wave of his hand. “Plus, it’s an amazing experience. And we could really use another translator.” Brian grinned. “My buddy Anthony came last year, but he’s at college now and can’t get away.”
“When is the trip?”
“September.”
“When would I need to decide?”
“Pretty soon,” Brian said.
“You don’t give a girl much time to make decisions, do you?”
Brian laughed, and Natalia found she loved the sound of it. “Sorry. But it’ll be worth it. I promise. I think Addy is going this year too. She chickened out last year, but a lot has changed for her since then.”
“So I hear.”
Natalia’s front door opened and her stepmother’s face appeared through the crack in the door. If you don’t want me sitting in a parked car with a boy, Maureen, you shouldn’t give him permission to take me home.
“I’ll pray about it, okay?”
“So will I,” Brian said. “But I already know the answer.”
Natalia opened the truck door. “And what if you’re wrong?”
“Then I’ll owe you a trip to Dixie’s Diner. How about that?”
A vision of the carbohydrate-filled lunch popped into Natalia’s mind and she grimaced.
Brian threw his hands up. “Sorry. I was just kidding.”
He thought she was disgusted at the idea of going out with him. Natalia considered correcting that assumption. No, better to let him think that. The less I encourage him, the better. She didn’t know why he would be interested in her, but she knew why he shouldn’t—her family was far too messed up to drag anyone else anywhere near it.
“Thanks for the ride, Brian.” Natalia shut the truck door. “I’m sure Maureen will be able to take me home from now on.”
Chapter 21
Brian watched until Natalia was inside her house. Then he hit his steering wheel as hard as he could.
“Ouch.” Not the best idea.
He pulled out his phone and punched in Addy’s number. The two of them had gone to school together since kindergarten. He wouldn’t classify them as best friends, but until her stint on the TV show, both were among the class “outcasts.”
“Hey, Addy. Is this a bad time?”
“Brian?” She sounded tired.
He looked at the clock. It was after nine o’clock. “Were you asleep? I’m sorry.”
“No.” Addy cleared her throat. “I was just reading. Is everything okay?”
He sighed. “I need some help.”
“With what?” She sounded alarmed.
“Natalia.” Brian pulled out of Natalia’s neighborhood and drove home.
Addy laughed. “Oh, that kind of help.”
“No, not that. I mean, not that I wouldn’t mind it being that. I want to be friends with her, but I keep getting mixed signals. She’s amazing with the ESL group. She has connected with them so quickly. And when we’re in class, she’s happy and talkative. But when it’s just the two of us, she clams up.”
“She is an amazing person.”
“I know,” Brian said louder than he intended.
“And she needs friends. Things are tough at home right now.”
“I know that too. And I want to be her friend.” I’d like to be more than that, but no use pushing it. “But it’s like she won’t let me.”
“I think it’s really hard for her to open up.”
“But I just want to help.” Brian turned onto his street.
“Then keep doing what you’re doing. Just be yourself. She needs to laugh.”
“And I’m the class clown.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“Sometimes I’d like to be the class hunk. Or the class brain. Or the class jock. Being the class clown gets a little old.”
“Oh, Brian, you’re growing up.” Addy had a smile in her voice.
“All right, Grandma.” Brian laughed. “Now that you’ve got a boyfriend, you think you’re all mature?”’
“We are talking about Natalia, not me.”
Brian threw his car into Park. “Does Natalia have a boyfriend? Back in Spain?”
“Oh no. She doesn’t seem to think she’ll ever date.”
“Ever?”
“Her family’s so messed up, I think she’s afraid she’d be messed up too.”
“I’ll let you go.” Brian locked his truck and walked up the sidewalk to his house. “Thanks. I feel a little better.”
Brian ended the call and thought of Natalia. Something he had been doing a lot lately. She needs to spend some time with a healthy family. He opened the door to his house. I think I know just the one.
Chapter 22
Are you ready?” Addy stood at Natalia’s doorstep in her school uniform.
“I just feel so underdressed.” Natalia smoothed her skirt. Again. “You’re sure none of the others will be wearing a blazer?”
“It’s going to be ninety-four today.” Addy grabbed Natalia’s backpack as they walked to her car.
Natalia buckled up and took a deep breath. She didn’t even remember going to a new school ever. She was so used to knowing everyone and everyone knowing her. What was I thinking, switching schools—and continents—my final year of high school?
“Relax.” Addy looked over at Natalia. “It’ll be fine. We’re in almost all the same classes.”
“That’s nice.”
“And the school is small, so you definitely won’t get lost.”
Natalia nodded. “Right.”
Addy stopped at the end of Natalia’s street and glanced in her rearview mirror. “You know what? Let’s pray.”
“What?”
“We’re fine, no cars are coming. Come on.” Addy closed her eyes and Natalia, with a glance at the side mirror, did the same. “Jesus, help Natalia. I can’t imagine being at a brand-new school for my senior year. Help her feel comfortable and make friends. Give her a great year this year, God. Bless her for her obedience. Amen.”
Natalia sighed. “I should have done that three hours ago.” She felt like a weight had been lifted. “Thanks.”
“You were up at four thirty in the morning?”
“I couldn’t sleep.” Natalia picked a piece of lint off her navy polo shirt. “I get a little nervous sometimes.”
“I understand that. But you’re going to be exhausted by the end of the day.”
“I know.”
“But you still have to come to the Dream Cone with us.”
“Oh, I forgot about that.” Addy had told Natalia that she and her be
st friend, Lexi, always went to an ice-cream parlor after their first day of school. “What was the dessert you said you always get?”
“A Chocolate Avalanche. It’s amazing. Chocolate ice cream on a chocolate brownie with chocolate syrup on top.”
“I don’t know how you can eat like that and stay thin.” Natalia laughed.
“My friend Kara swears I’m going to weigh five hundred pounds someday.” Addy pulled into the school parking lot. Natalia found it difficult to take a deep breath. “We have homeroom together. All the seniors are together for homeroom.”
Natalia didn’t have time to respond because a very tall, muscular young woman ran up to Addy and lifted her off the ground. “My best friend.”
“Can’t breathe,” Addy panted.
“Oh, sorry.” The girl dropped Addy and struck a pose. “Notice anything different?”
“Are you kidding?” Addy walked around the girl. “You look amazing. You must have lost, what, twenty pounds?”
“Twenty-two.” The girl grinned. “Forget Weight Watchers. I got the Gram and Gramps Summer Vacation Program. They put me to work on their farm, fed me salads and grilled chicken. I lost fat, gained more muscle, and look out. I am going to kill on the volleyball team this year. And basketball . . . oh boy. Calvary Christian better just get ready. They are going down this year.”
Addy stopped her friend with a hand on her shoulder. “Hang on, Lexi. I want to introduce you to Natalia. She’s the one I told you about who moved here from Spain.”
“Natalia!” Lexi hugged Natalia, and Natalia quickly understood how Addy felt a few minutes before. “Estoy muy alegre que estés aquí, amiga.”
“Muy bien español.” Natalia smiled.
“The Gram and Gramps Summer Spanish Program?” Addy asked.
“Sí.” Lexi laughed and turned to Natalia. “They’re originally from Puerto Rico. Mom and Dad both grew up speaking Spanish, but neither have passed it down to us kids. So my grandparents believe it’s their responsibility to keep us from being too Americano.”
“Where do they live now?”
“They own a cattle ranch in Texas.” Lexi motioned toward the school, and the girls began walking across the parking lot to the senior high building.