Claire's Hope: A Contemporary Christian Romance (Love's Enduring Promise Book 3)

by T. K. Chapin

  She looked up from the counter and came around to where I was sitting. Glancing down, she said, “No… you can just leave it blank if you don’t want to answer the questionnaire, but the first part is required.”

  I decided to go ahead and try my best. The question that took the longest was how I arrived to where I am at. It forced me to relive the events of the last few months, which was difficult. My parents, Matt, the pregnancy all brought me to this point, homelessness. It was like a slow moving train wreck and I had no way of stopping it.

  After finishing up the paperwork, I got the key to my room and parked the truck over near my door. The door looked like something out of a horror movie. It was a sun-bleached red color with dents and dings all over it. As I opened the door, a lady next door stepped out and lit a cigarette.

  She watched as I moved the duffle bags into the room. Glancing towards the window from inside, I saw her peeking in my window and when our eyes met, she pulled away quickly. Why is she creeping? I wondered, opening the front door. Approaching her, I decided to strike up a conversation with her, “Hi, I’m Claire.”

  She looked quickly over at me and then directed her sights forward. “Hi.”

  She seemed uninterested in telling me her name, so I began to walk away.

  “I’m Sophia,” she blurted out.

  I smiled as I turned back to her. “Hi Sophia… it’s nice to meet you.”

  She nodded. “Matt’s right over there.”

  What? How’d she know Matt? My heart began to panic. Glancing over to where she was pointing, I spotted a laundry mat. She didn’t mean Matt, I sighed with relief. “Thanks…”

  “You’re kind of a weirdo,” Sophia laughed.

  “Thanks?” Looking again over at the mat, I couldn’t believe I thought she knew Matt. How paranoid was I? Going back inside my room, I did the deadbolt on the door.

  Heading over to the kitchen area, I opened the fridge to find it bare. My tummy began growling with hunger as I began wondering what I’d do for food tonight.

  A knock came from the front door. Walking over to it, I undid the deadbolt and was pleasantly surprised to see the woman from the office with a few grocery bags in her arms. She stepped into my room and headed over to the kitchen area to begin unloading the groceries.

  “Thank you so much.”

  “You’re welcome. I didn’t see you loading any food in from your truck, so I figured you might be a little hungry. It’s not much, but there should be a few meals worth.”

  “Thank you again.” I gave her a hug before she left. Shutting the door behind her, I watched through the window as she backed out and pulled her car back up near the office. The stranger, whom I didn’t even know for more than an hour, felt like the kindest person I had ever met. If it wasn’t for the distinct old person smell that she had coming off her, I’d swear she was an angel. That stranger gave me the hope of a better tomorrow and I clung onto it. The word ‘hope’ kept coming to my mind over and over the next few hours and I then decided my baby girl’s name would be Hope.

  A little while later, my stomach began rumbling again, reminding me to get busy eating. Looking down, I asked “Are you hungry Hope?” The name was perfect. I wanted something easy to eat, so I grabbed a couple microwavable sandwiches from the freezer and tossed them in the microwave.

  As I waited for my food to cook, I looked around the little hotel room and couldn’t picture Hope living there. Where would I put her crib? It doesn’t matter; I’m cashing that check and getting out of here pronto. Walking over to the window, I drew the curtain and glanced outside to see a man and woman talking outside one of the rooms. They looked to be arguing about something judging by the arms waving and screaming. Why’s life got to be such a struggle? Letting the curtain fall back into place, the microwave buzzed letting me know my food was ready.

  Taking a seat on the edge of my bed, I paused for a moment. I was so used to praying at the Vander’s that I felt like I needed to say something before I ate. So I bowed my head and thanked God for the food, just like I did at the Vander’s house.

  While I was upset beyond belief with Joshua, I wasn’t upset with Dale and Jennie; I kind of felt a little bad for ditching out on them. I just felt scared and didn’t want to face them out of embarrassment. Pregnant at eighteen? Jeez… The thought alone even made me think poorly of myself.

  A commercial came on about a frozen dinner meal and in it had a father making dinner for the children. “Thanks Dad!” The young boy at the dinner table in the commercial said. Then I thought about Hope’s Dad… Matt. I have to tell him about Hope.

  CHAPTER 21

  Waking up early the next morning, I made a call to Matt’s prosecutor and let him know I’d like the no contact order changed in case I wanted to visit him. He said he’d work on it. I then made my way down to the bank to cash the check my parents had left to me. Ten thousand dollars was a lot of money to be walking around with, so I was going straight over to my bank to deposit it once I had it cashed.

  Walking up to the counter at the bank, a nice young woman greeted me. “How are you doing today?”

  “Pretty good,” I replied as I fished for the check and my ID from my purse.

  “Do you have an account with us?” she asked as I handed her my ID and check.

  “I don’t…”

  “Okay, so you just want to cash it? I can give you a cashier’s check.”

  “I’m actually going to use some of it before I deposit it into my bank. I saw a cute car up the road.”

  “Okay,” she replied, smiling.

  As she typed away on the keyboard, I looked around to spot a cute guy a few lines down. He caught me looking at him and smiled. I blushed as I turned away. Oh jeez… I thought to myself. Why am I letting my mind wander? I don’t need a guy right now! They’re nothing but trouble!

  After a quick phone call, my teller counted out the money in front of me before placing it in an envelope and handing it over. “Is there anything else I can do for you?”

  “That’s it,” I replied.

  “Great. Have a nice day.”

  I put the envelope in my front pocket so I wouldn’t accidentally misplace it. It felt safer right there than inside of my purse. Exiting the bank, I was greeted by the cute guy I saw from inside. He walked with me down the steps of the bank.

  “Hey,” he said. “I saw you in the bank…”

  “Yep…” I said, continuing my pace out to the truck.

  “You’re cute… we should grab a bite to eat or something.”

  “No thanks,” I replied with a smile. Shutting my truck door, I put on my seatbelt and took a deep breath.

  “Maybe next time?” He laughed, on the outside of my truck.

  “Maybe,” I replied. The guy was cute but he felt kind of aggressive. Did he see me in the bank with the cash? I hope he’s not trying to rob me! He left me with a strange and uncomfortable feeling.

  I drove down the street to the car lot I spotted earlier with the car I wanted, a green slug bug. It was one of those newer ones and it was lime green, my favorite color. As I got out of my truck in the car lot, a short haired bigger guy came rushing out to me.

  “Welcome to Full Serv Auto, my name’s Eric.” His hand was extended out to shake mine.

  “I’m Claire…” I replied, shaking his hand.

  “You out looking for a car or a giraffe?”

  “A car…” I replied. Then I laughed after I realized what he said. Smiling, I asked, “You always ask that?”

  “Yeah… gets a laugh about fifty percent of the time.” He laughed.

  “That’s pretty cool.”

  We began walking alongside the rows of cars and he turned to me. “Did you have something in particular you were looking for? Or did you spot one you like?”

  “The lime green slug bug over there is cute.” I pointed to it over in the corner, where it was lined up along with a few other cars.

  “Let’s take it for a drive, and see how you like
it.”

  “Okay!”

  After taking it for a test drive around the block, I pulled it back into the car lot. It drove amazingly… well to me it did. I had a pretty limited knowledge of cars while my dad on the other hand knew a lot about them. He had promised Todd and I that he’d be by our side when the time came to where we were about to buy a car. It made me a little sad that he couldn’t be there with me right now. I had to just hope that the car salesman would be fair with me and not sell me a lemon.

  “How’d you like it?” He asked, taking off his seat belt.

  “I loved it…” I said, running my fingers along the steering wheel. “But I don’t know much about cars… and I’m worried.”

  “Don’t be worried. I opened this car lot to help people, not screw them over.”

  “How do I know you’re telling the truth?” I asked, turning my body more towards him.

  “Well, you don’t… that’s why I give a three month guarantee on all my cars.” He beamed with a grin.

  “How much does it cost?”

  “Nothing. It’s just something I do with all my sales… so it gives people like you a bit more peace of mind.”

  “Wow… that’s amazing. Doesn’t that end up costing you money?”

  “If something is wrong with a car it can get expensive,” He laughed. “But really, it’s worth it to do well to others. It’s my way of letting Jesus shine through my business.”

  “That’s neat,” I replied. “Let’s do the paperwork!”

  While I wasn’t car savvy, I was pretty good with getting a bargain. I was able to talk him down quite a bit after I told him my story. He let me walk away with a steal of a deal. He said he would keep it in the garage in the back until I could get a ride over to pick it up.

  As I got back into my truck to leave, I checked my phone to see if I needed to head into work soon. Bank and then work, I thought to myself pulling out of the car lot. Stopping at a gas station that was a few blocks up to get a soda, I parked along the side of the building.

  “Hey,” a man said from behind me as I was walking alongside the gas station. Turning around, I saw it was the guy from the bank.

  “Hey…” I said, tilting my head. “Funny running into you again, huh?” I smiled forcefully.

  “How about that date?” He asked, approaching me quickly. I felt uncomfortable all of a sudden.

  “No… I don’t think so,” I replied, turning to get around the corner. Grabbing my arm, he pulled me back around to the side of the building.

  Pushing something against my stomach through his shirt, he said, “Give me that money I saw at the bank.” My heart was racing as I feared for my life. I was pretty confident it was a gun under his shirt and he had it pointed right where Hope was. Fear struck me as I fumbled to get into my front pocket and retrieve the envelope that had the rest of the money in it.

  “Hey! What are you doing?” He shouted at me.

  “It’s in my pocket!” I shouted back at him as I pulled the envelope out. Glancing around, nobody was nearby and the cars passing by weren’t able to see my distress as he had me pressed up against the wall. I think people thought we were just an intimate couple the way he had me positioned against the wall.

  Handing him the envelope, he turned and darted away back behind the building. Collapsing to the ground, I began crying hysterically. Someone pulled into the parking lot and parked quickly, rushing up to me.

  “You okay?” The man asked from above me.

  Pushing back my hair, I wiped the tears away. “Someone robbed me! He went running back behind the gas station!”

  The man pulled out his cell phone as he darted towards the back of the gas station. “Yeah, I need to report a mugging,” he said into his phone as he turned back around and walked back towards me shaking his head.

  A woman came up to me and began to comfort me and asking what had happened. She insisted the cops would find the guy and justice would be served. My crying subsided as the cops showed up about five minutes later and took a police report. Once the shock wore off, I still felt scared.

  On the drive to work, I was still pretty shaken up by the whole thing. How could someone just do that? I wondered. Glancing down at my tummy, I began crying again. He could have killed her. My lip began to quiver.

  Pulling into the parking lot at work, I saw Joshua’s car parked a few cars down. Glancing in the rearview mirror of the truck, I wiped my eyes of the tears and tried to fix my make-up.

  Dropping my hands into my lap, I gave up. “I can’t go into work.”

  Calling Mikey, I began bawling hysterically on the phone. Once I calmed down, I apologized for not calling sooner and I explained the whole situation.

  “You’re okay?”

  “I’m pretty shaken up…”

  “Well, Claire… you already went home sick last week. You sure you want to call in? You basically no called no showed on me today.” He sighed.

  “I’m sorry… I’ve just been having a lot go on dude!”

  His lack of response followed by another heavy sigh worried me. Was he going to fire me? I’m sure he knows I’m pregnant since Joshua seems to be telling everyone. He wouldn’t fire a pregnant lady… would he? I thought to myself.

  “See you tomorrow I guess,” he said.

  Click.

  “Crap!” I shouted. He was mad and disappointed. There was no way I could handle losing my job, I needed it. Looking down at my belly, I told myself, we need it. After today, I’m going to make sure I’m not missing work outside of my doctor visits I told myself. Backing up out of the stall, I saw Joshua coming out from the call center.

  Oh great, I thought to myself. He was quickening his steps and blocked my path. Rolling down my window, I shouted, “Get out of my way!”

  He had his hands up and came around to my window. “Claire! What is going on?”

  “Don’t be dumb… You told people about me being pregnant.”

  “No, I didn’t. Nobody knows.”

  “Whatever… Just leave me alone, please!”

  Putting my truck in reverse, I backed up and went around him. This time he didn’t try to stop me. Looking in the rearview mirror, I saw him standing in the parking lot shaking his head.

  “Get over it dude…” I said.

  Even if it was true, I had already burnt the bridge with my aunt and uncle, there wasn’t any going back now.

  Later in the day, I called Nick to see if he could help me go get my new car from the dealership. I might have lost my ability to get a place right away, but I still had the car and I tried to keep my mind on that piece of good news.

  “Claire?” He answered.

  “Yep… I don’t want to really talk at the moment, I just need a favor.”

  “Rude. But okay, what is it?”

  “I need you to drop me off at a car lot. I got a car but I still have your Dad’s truck.”

  “Yeah I know you do… I’ve been stranded.”

  “Whatever, Joshua gives you rides all the time.”

  “Yeah…” He paused for a moment. “I’m going into history class right now… but it’s my last class for the day. If you want, you can pick me up and we’ll just head straight there.”

  “Sounds great, when do you get out?”

  “Be here in about fifty minutes.”

  “Okay, I can do that.”

  On the way to get Nick, I sent Jennie a quick text letting her know I was picking up Nick so he could bring the truck back, she responded with a simple okay.

  Picking him up from outside his high school that day, I saw all the children leaving as the bell rang dismissing school. I couldn’t help but be taken back to less than a year ago when I was in school. I remember walking out of school at three o’clock and looking forward to the afternoon. Hanging out with friends, being with Matt… whatever I wanted to do, such freedom. Then a few days a week, I’d work at Slippery Treats. I can’t believe I thought my life was difficult back then.

  Spotting Nick
coming out of the school, I noticed his head was hanging a little low and nobody was walking beside him. As he got into the truck, he slammed the door shut.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked, putting the truck into drive.

  “Sally just dumped me.”

  “Why?”

  “Forget about it.”

  “Why did you mention it?” I snapped back at him.

  “Well… you asked what was wrong, but I just didn’t want to go into detail. It’s too personal.”

  “Sex?”

  “What? How’d you know?”

  “What else is too personal?”

  “True… She didn’t like me wanting to wait until marriage.”

  “Oh, wow…” I replied. Waiting until marriage? How could people wait that long?

  “Don’t tell my Mom and Dad though, please?”

  “I don’t talk to them, so no worries… why wouldn’t you want your parents to know that though? They’d be proud.”

  “They’d talk to Sally’s parents since they go to Chattaroy Baptist.”

  “Ah…” Feeling an inkling for chocolate, I pulled out a candy bar. Popping it into my mouth, it relieved the craving I had for the moment. Mmm… It was perfect.

  “Yeah…” He looked at me strangely.

  One candy bar didn’t seem to do the trick; I was still craving more chocolate. So I reached for the dark chocolate I had stashed behind my wallet in my purse. Opening it, I took a bite.

  “Uh… What’s that about?” Nick asked.

  “What?” I replied with a mouth full of chocolate.

  “You just ate an entire candy bar and now you are eating another one… Just seems… odd.”

  “Yeah… so? I’m hungry.”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know how to ask this… but are you like coping with your parents dying and everything through eating?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Your stomach, it’s getting bigger… You’re gaining weight because you’re sad or something, right?”