Seasons of the Heart

by Susette Williams

  ♥ ♥ ♥

  Marc’s chest pounded rapidly, as if keeping pace with the sirens of the fire truck. He’d tried to call Kelly to no avail when the 9-1-1 call came in about a cat on the roof of the children’s home.

  Maybe Kelly wasn’t volunteering today? The thought of her trying to climb on the roof of the two-story building to rescue that cat worried him. She’d climbed a tree. Granted, that time a child was involved. What if one of the children followed the cat out there? Had the cat climbed a tree and jumped onto the roof? His head swirled with all kinds of scenarios.

  If Kelly got hurt…

  As the fire truck pulled up, Marc leaned forward to look at the roof. He realized there was actually a third floor, or maybe it was just an attic. A child was balled up on the roof, clutching the cat, on the other side of the dormer. She must have climbed out the open window. Another little girl leaned her head out the window, motioning to the girl to stay still.

  Where was everyone else? Why weren’t any supervisors outside, or even at the window, trying to calm the child? “Who called this in?”

  Daniel was the one who’d taken the call. “Dispatch said they had a child on the line.”

  The moment the vehicle stopped, Daniel sprang into action. He was up the stairs and knocking heavily on the door before the other firefighters reached him.

  An older woman answered the door. She wiped her hands on her apron.

  “We need to get upstairs,” Daniel announced, brushing past her. “There’s a child on the roof.”

  “A what?” Her eyes widened as her gaze followed him. It took a moment before his words registered enough for her body to respond. She turned and quickly followed after them.

  Marc felt a twinge of disappointment that he didn’t see Kelly. At least she wasn’t in danger. From the woman’s response, they had no idea what was even going on.

  When they entered the attic, the girl turned and yelled his name.

  “I knew you’d come.” She ran over and hugged him. “I’ll tell Maggie that she can come in now.”

  He grabbed her arm when she started to head toward the window. “Why don’t we let Daniel help her inside?”

  She paused, obviously considering his suggestion before she nodded.

  Marc knelt down to her level. He recognized her. She was the girl in the tree the last time he came. “We’ve really got to stop meeting like this.”

  She giggled. “Miss Kelly never gave me your phone number, so I didn’t know how else to get you here.”

  Kelly had mentioned one of the girls had wanted to call him. They had chuckled about it, never dreaming how anxious she obviously was to go to such extremes to talk to him. “You do realize that making fake calls to 9-1-1 can get you in trouble?”

  “It wasn’t fake.” Her cute button nose jutted into the air. “Maggie really did get stuck out there.”

  “But you shouldn’t have encouraged her to go out there in the first place,” Marc told her. “It is dangerous. What if she fell off the roof?”

  “See, this is why I need you,” she announced. “If you and Miss Kelly got married, you could both adopt me and help teach me this stuff.”

  “What?” Marc blinked rapidly and almost shook his head to clear it. She wanted him to marry Miss Kelly? And adopt her? “What is your name, sweetheart?”

  “Annie.” She smiled. “Can I call you, Dad?”

  “Ah…” Marc coughed.

  One of the guys laughed. “You better get that straightened out real quickly.”

  Marc shot him a dirty look.

  “I’m trying.” Marc expelled a deep breath and locked gazes with Annie. “Kelly and I aren’t dating right now.”

  “That’s okay.” She took his hand and started to tug on it. “I can take you to her. Then you can ask her out again.”

  He didn’t budge from his spot. “I’m sorry, Annie. It doesn’t work that way.”

  She stopped. Her eyes squinted and her lips pursed. It was hard not to chuckle—she was cute as a button.

  A smile slowly crept across her face. “Do you know someone else we can get Kelly to go out with? Then, if she gets married, she can still adopt me.”

  The thought of seeing Kelly with someone else caused a pang in his chest.

  Chapter Nine

  It had been hard enough for Marc to focus after the last time he saw Annie. Running into her again at her school during the outside assembly on fire safety made him think of Kelly again. He’d seen Kelly when they were leaving the children’s home a few days ago and all he could think about was the way Daniel smiled at her. Once they were in the fire truck, Daniel offered to go out with Kelly—even if it meant Annie would want him to adopt her if they got married.

  “A kid like that playing matchmaker? Sign me up,” Daniel had said.

  Marc noticed Annie was a little standoffish, which didn’t seem at all like her. He walked over to talk to her. “Hey, munchkin, what’s up?”

  Annie shrugged.

  He picked her up and set her on the back of the fire truck. Marc leaned his head against hers. “What’s wrong?”

  “My friend, Abby, said her dad took her out for a daddy-daughter date for her birthday. She got to go to the movies and out to eat, and even got cake and ice cream.” Annie quickly wiped at a tear that trickled down her cheek. “I’ve never gone to a show or a fancy restaurant.”

  His chest constricted. Poor Annie.

  “Are you sure you and Miss Kelly couldn’t get married and adopt me? Then we could be a family. We’d have to leave Kee Kee behind for the other kids,” Annie said. Her eyes began to light up as she rambled on. “But we could get a dog instead—I’ve always wanted a puppy.”

  “I’m afraid it doesn’t work that way, sweetie.”

  Her shoulders slumped. “That’s okay. I’m used to no one wanting me.”

  Marc’s jaw dropped. What could he say? Tell her Jesus loved her? It wouldn’t feel like it to her when one more adult was turning her away—like her parents had.

  The scripture about looking after the widows and orphans came to mind. He’d failed to set a Christ-like example. Perhaps he could do something? Maybe adopt her like a big brother, if the children’s home would allow him to take her out on field trips.

  ♥ ♥ ♥

  God must have known Marc needed someone to talk to, because when he got home, Nick pulled into his driveway. Marc stopped and waited for him to roll down his window. Instead, Nick got out, hoisting a bag with Chinese.

  “I brought dinner.”

  Marc smiled. “My day just got better.”

  “Then I’m really glad I came by.” Nick patted Marc on the back and followed him to the door. “Sorry I didn’t bring anything to wash it down with.”

  “It’s all right.” Marc opened the screen and unlocked the front door. “I’ve got what every fireman needs.”

  “What’s that?” Nick asked as they went inside.

  “Water.” Marc laughed at his own joke.

  Nick shook his head. He set the food on the table and started pulling it out of the bag. “You really need to get out more.”

  “Then you should have asked me out instead of bringing me dinner.” Marc grabbed a couple glasses and filled them with ice and water from the dispenser on the refrigerator door.

  “Speaking of going out.” Nick opened and closed a couple drawers until he found the silverware and grabbed their utensils. “How’s it going with Kelly?”

  “I actually saw her the other day.”

  Nick’s eyebrows arched. “That’s good, right?”

  “Given that one of the kids from the children’s home talked another kid into climbing out on the roof with their cat so she could find a reason to get me to come by?” Marc chuckled. “Yeah, not sure that was totally a good thing. In fact, the first time I got called out there was because the cat was in a tree.”

  “That’s where you met Kelly, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Sounds like a sign to me.�
�� Nick took a bite of his beef and pepper steak. “God keeps putting you in a situation or place for a reason.”

  “I don’t know.” Marc’s shoulders slumped. “I thought God brought Kelly to me, but then I found out she can’t have children.”

  “You can always adopt.”

  Marc frowned. “That’s why the little girl staged the rescue. She wanted to get me and Kelly back together in the hopes that we would adopt her.”

  “See, there you go.” Nick smiled. “Even if a child isn’t your own flesh and blood, they need someone to love and care for them. There just aren’t enough foster homes to take care of them.”

  “It’s not that I’m against adopting.” He wasn’t. He’d even thought about it more since seeing the look of dejection on Annie’s face. “I’d just like to be able to have my own children as well.”

  “I can understand that.” Nick nodded. “But after Katie told me about what Kelly went through, perhaps you should look at it from her side. Should she be condemned to a life without love because she can’t have children? Or is she as disposable as these children?”

  Was that the unspoken message Marc had sent Kelly? He’d only thought about his desires and hadn’t stopped long enough to think about how not being able to have children had affected her.

  Chapter Ten

  As nervous as he was, you would have thought Marc was the one getting married. His palms were sweaty as he waited for Kelly to show at the church for Katie and Wade’s wedding rehearsal.

  Nick’s talk with him a little over a week ago had set in, and he finally started looking at things from Kelly’s side. He tried to call her once this past week, but her phone went to voicemail. He’d texted her too. She never responded. Seeing her in person was the only way he’d have a chance to apologize and beg her to give him another chance.

  With Katie’s approval, Nick agreed to trade him places, since he was originally supposed to walk Kelly down the aisle. Even though it now meant Nick would have to walk with Maggie. The two of them seemed to rub each other the wrong way. Nick’s only comment was that she was a lot like his ex-wife. Marc let the conversation drop at that.

  When Kelly walked into the church, Marc’s breath caught. He tried to swallow as his heart raced. She was beautiful, even in a pair of jeans and a tank top. If she smiled at him, his heart would stop. She glanced his way and he started to smile until he saw the pain in her eyes. Her pointed look confirmed he was the reason for her discomfort.

  Marc continued to eye Kelly, looking for a moment to talk with her alone. When the opportunity presented itself, he approached her. “Can I speak with you?”

  Kelly nodded slowly. “I’m sorry I can’t give you the one thing that you want.”

  He opened his mouth to say something, but she walked away before he could get a word out. Marc hadn’t meant to hurt her at all. He’d been taken aback by her revelation in front of his family, he hadn’t had time to let the news settle.

  The past couple of weeks had given him time to think about things, especially about how much he missed her. Kelly needed unconditional love and so did Annie. His job was to save people. Right now he was the one drowning. Did he dare risk his heart? If he didn’t, he would crush theirs.

  He still had another opportunity to talk to her. If he had to, he’d make his walk with her down the aisle drag on as long as possible so that he could say his peace. His mind rehearsed what he wanted to say while he tried to think of how to say it. He didn’t want to cause her to run down the aisle to get away from him.

  As they lined up for rehearsal, the women laced their hands in the crook of their escorts’ arms. Kelly stared at the arm Marc offered her and frowned. She reluctantly reached up and took his arm, not bothering to glance at him.

  When it was their turn to walk down the aisle, he took small steps. “I need to talk to you about Annie.”

  “I already had a talk with her.” Kelly’s tone was flat. “She won’t call you again.”

  “She wants me to adopt her.”

  Kelly’s gaze darted toward him.

  “What do you think about adopting her?” Marc tried to keep his tone level, even though his heart raced. “I realize I would need to get married first.”

  “That would be ideal,” Kelly mumbled, her face turned pale. “It would increase your chances.”

  “What about the wife part?”

  “I don’t understand?” She blinked, then stumbled.

  Marc reached out to catch her. They stopped in the middle of the aisle, both staring at the other. “Do you think it is a position you would consider filling?”

  The deer-in-the-headlight stare she gave him almost made him smile. Except he was holding his breath in anticipation, hoping she’d say yes.

  “Of course, in the interest of full disclosure, we would need to adopt a boy as well.”

  “Are… you sure?”

  Marc chuckled. “Yes. I definitely want a son.”

  “You would be okay with not being able to have any children of your own?” Her head cocked sideways slightly, as if she was seeing him for the first time, and perhaps thought he was a sideshow for the circus.

  He nodded. “The last couple of weeks has given me time to think about it more in depth and I’ve come to realize that I don’t want to lose you.”

  “I don’t want to lose you either,” she admitted, “but I also don’t want you to have regrets later.”

  “Too late for that.” Marc sighed. “I regret causing you pain.”

  “I should have told you.” A tear trickled down Kelly’s cheek.

  Reaching up, Marc wiped it with his thumb and continued to caress her face in his hand. “I understand why you didn’t.”

  He kissed her forehead.

  “Now how about helping me with that problem.” Marc leaned his forehead against hers. “Would you give me a chance to start over? A chance to prove that I’m the type of man you might want to spend the rest of your life with?”

  “That’s an awful long time,” Katie said.

  Marc lifted his head.

  “Are you sure you could handle being tied to me that long?”

  “I’m not sure an eternity would be long enough to spend with you.” His lips descended on hers. If kissing in church was wrong, he’d repent later. Although, at the moment, he felt like he’d died and went to Heaven.

  “Do you think the two of you could hurry things up?” Wade’s voice echoed in the church. “Some of us would like to get married tomorrow.”

  Laughter erupted.

  “Sorry,” Marc replied. “I’m trying to make plans to book the church for the future.”

  Heated Summer

  Seasons of the Heart novella series

  By Susette Williams

  Published by Family Friendly Fiction

  ©2016 by Susette Williams

  Cover Art ©2012 Nathaniel Williams

  Acknowledgements

  Thanks to God for giving me inspiration and the desire to write; my husband, Rob, and our six children (Delilah, Eric, Melissa, Gabrielle, Nehemiah and Nathaniel) for encouraging me and allowing me to pursue a writing career. A special thank you to all of you, the readers, who give me a reason to write and share my stories—Thank you!

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter One

  Even after a bitter divorce, Nicholas Alexander was a hopeless romantic. That’s why he’d suggested trading places with Marc, so that he could walk down the aisle with Kelly at Wade and Katie’s wedding. His chivalry left him paired with Margaret Stephens. He still laughed when he remembered the story Wade told him about their date, and her telling him to call her by her pseudonym, Diamond. It showed where her interest was—in material things. She even had the gall to ask Wa
de if he had any doctor friends he could fix her up with.

  Model, or not, she reminded him more of a Maggie, so he’d chosen to call her that from the moment they met at a Christmas party the year before. Part of him had to admit he liked the way her lips quirked whenever he called her Maggie.

  Glancing at her delicate hand holding onto his arm as they walked down the aisle toward the altar reminded him of a similar journey he’d taken several years ago—six to be exact. At least Maggie was blonde. His ex-wife, Ashley, was brunette. Come to think of it, she’d dyed her hair blonde after their divorce. He remembered their wedding day as well. What he’d thought were stars in her eyes turned out to be greedy dollar signs.

  At least when Maggie looked at him, she showed disdain. That helped him to keep his distance and not fall into her snare. She was every bit the gold-digger his ex-wife had been. To her credit, Maggie had the decency to be forthright in her intentions to find a well-to-do husband.

  Nick was dying to know why she’d chosen the name Diamond to use for modeling. Probably because she hoped she’d be cast in a commercial or magazine ad adorned with them—or thought poor unsuspecting blokes would buy them to show her how much they loved her, based on the size they could afford. He could afford a lot—but he had no intention of letting her know that.

  When they reached the front of the church, Maggie released his arm. Nick steadied her arm as she raised her dress slightly to climb the few stairs to take her place on the platform.

  “Thank you,” Maggie whispered. She turned on an angle to face the congregation and clutched the bouquet in front of her with both hands. Her smile was genuine.