Out of the corner of her eye, Celeste saw Jan Fincher heading toward them. Cassidy’s friend Bella’s mom. And from the woeful look on Jan’s face, Celeste knew what she was about to say. Ouray was a small town and news traveled fast, so even if she didn’t know that it was Gage who was missing, she knew about the accident.
“I’m so sorry to hear—”
Taking a step back from the girls so they wouldn’t see her, Celeste subtly shook her head and mouthed the word No, her gaze falling to the girls. She was relieved when Bella’s mother acknowledged her efforts with a nod.
Celeste resumed her position between the girls, suddenly glad that tomorrow was Saturday and there would be no school. “Yes, Gage has to spend some extra time up at the mine, so the girls are coming home with me.”
Jan forced a smile as she addressed the girls. “Oh, I'm sure you’ll have lots of fun with Celeste.”
“Uh-huh.” Emma nodded emphatically.
“We always have fun with Celeste.” The smile Cassidy sent Celeste kept her warm all the way down Eighth Avenue and back to her condo.
“How come we didn’t go to Granny’s Kitchen?” Cassidy dropped her backpack at the top of the stairs.
Good question. When Gage was still working on the suites, he’d pick them up then leave them with her in the restaurant. Of course, today she had one very good reason for not wanting them there. Not that she could share it with them.
“I thought it would be more fun to hang out here.” Celeste grabbed a saucepan from the cupboard, then retrieved the milk from the refrigerator. “Anyone up for some hot chocolate?”
“Me!” they said in unison.
“Do you have any cookies?” Emma peered hopefully up at her.
“Sorry, sweetie.” Before Emma could frown, Celeste added, “But we can make some.”
That earned another round of cheers.
Two hours later, the girls were coloring at the table while Celeste worked on dinner. Keeping the girls had not only been the right thing to do, but a good thing. Kept her from dwelling on Gage and what was happening at the mine.
She had just put a pan of oven-baked chicken into the oven when she heard her cell ring.
Glancing at the screen, she saw Taryn’s name and froze. Sure, she could be calling about the girls, but what if there was news on Gage? Bad news? Either way, she’d never know until she answered.
“Hi, Taryn.”
The girls’ heads popped up briefly.
“Hey, Celeste.” Taryn sounded weary. That mix of worry and uncertainty no doubt dragging her down.
She turned her back to the girls and cupped her hand around the phone. “Any word?”
“No. Sorry. I do need to ask a favor, though.”
“Sure.” Celeste double-checked the oven temp and eyed the girls.
“Do you suppose you could keep Cassidy and Emma tonight? Dad wants to try to get Mom home for a few hours of rest later, but she’s going to want someone from the family to be at the mine in case anything happens. My brother, Randy, and I are going to take turns.”
Celeste knew exactly how Bonnie felt. She hadn’t wanted to leave either. However, she no longer had a right to be there. Besides, it was better this way. The girls needed someone to take care of them and she was honored to do it.
“No need to explain, Taryn. I’d love to keep the girls.”
“You have been such a blessing to them, Celeste. To all of us.”
Celeste blinked away the unbidden tears and glanced at the sweet faces around her table. “Trust me, I’m getting my fair share of blessings, too.”
“I’ll be by in a little bit to drop off some of their things.”
“Sounds great. We’ll see you then.”
“Do we have to go to Aunt Tawyn’s?” Emma said as Celeste put down the phone.
“Sorry, girls. It looks like you’re going to have to stay with me tonight.”
The two looked at each other, their surprise morphing into delighted smiles.
“All right!” They high-fived each other.
Gage might not be happy when he found out she had kept his girls, but tonight that didn’t matter. They needed her as much as she needed them. Together, they would weather this storm.
* * *
Gage wondered what his girls were doing. Where they were? Whom were they with? Were they wondering where he was?
He’d always known the dangers of working in a mine. That every time he went inside he was putting his life at risk. Yet, somehow, that knowledge had never really sunk in. Until now.
He was grateful to be alive. But he was also hungry, thirsty and tired, despite drifting in and out of sleep for the past who knew how many hours. A bed of rock wasn’t the most comfortable resting spot.
Using the wall as his guide, he pushed to his feet and stretched.
All of this uncertainty was about to drive him crazy. They’d heard faint noises from the other side, but nothing they could pinpoint. He wished they’d work faster. Then again, there was no telling how far up the drift the cave-in had gone. Could be ten feet, could be a hundred.
He only knew that he needed to get out of here so he could make things right with Celeste. Ted was right. Her past needed to remain where it was—in the past. Right along with Gage’s and all the foolish mistakes he’d made.
She’d learned to stand up to her mother by not only moving to Ouray, but in her refusal to leave. And it would be impossible for him to ignore the caring, nurturing manner in which she interacted with his daughters. Instinctively doing those motherly things he so desperately wanted for Cassidy and Emma. Like slaying the tickle monster.
That, along with so many memories, made him smile. Like when he’d kissed her inside the Bachelor-Syracuse. It was then that he’d asked if she trusted him. She had. And she’d trusted him enough to share something that was obviously very personal and painful for her.
What did he do?
He reacted. Reacted without talking to God. Reacted without taking Celeste’s feelings into consideration. Instead, he turned his back on her. Just as Tracy had done to him and Celeste’s father had done to her.
He acted like a grade-A, first-class jerk. One who seriously needed to apologize. Needed her to know that he still loved her and that her past didn’t matter.
He slumped against the wall. Who was he kidding? As if that was going to fix everything. Just because he said he was sorry didn’t mean she’d be ready to forgive and pick up where they left off. Celeste was a strong woman. One who was comfortable in her own skin and content to be single. She might just tell him to take his stupid apology and go pound sand.
After the blow he dealt her, he couldn’t say he’d blame her.
Ignoring the darkness, he closed his eyes and bowed his head.
Lord, I need Your help in so many ways. Thank You for protecting Ted and me from the collapse. Please watch over Cassidy and Emma and guide the rescuers as they work to get to us. Be with my family and Ted’s. Give them peace and, somehow, let them know that we’re okay.
He drew in a breath. About Celeste, Lord...Your ways are higher than my ways. I never planned to fall in love again, yet it happened anyway. Now I’ve messed it up. Is Celeste a part of Your plan for my life? I pray so. But even if it’s not, I ask that You would allow me to make things right with her. That we could at least be friends and she’d still be a part of my daughters’ lives.
“Gage?” Ted sounded as weary as he was.
“Yeah?”
“Do you hear that?”
Gage listened. For the first time since the cave-in, he actually heard something. “Sounds mechanical.”
“Yeah, like a mucking machine.” Ted turned on his flashlight and smiled in Gage’s direction. “You know what that means? They’re comin’ after us.”
Chapter Seventeen
Saturday morning presented Celeste with a new set of challenges. Since Karla had a prior commitment and Celeste had already promised two other members of her waitstaff they could have the day off, it appeared that she’d have to bring Cassidy and Emma with her to Granny’s Kitchen.
The girls wouldn’t mind. They loved it there. But Celeste still worried that they might overhear something about the accident at the mine. And protecting them was her number-one priority. On that point, she and Gage would agree.
So with a prayer on her lips and little more than three hours of sleep, Celeste had gone to the restaurant early to get the cinnamon rolls ready. Cassidy and Emma had crawled into bed and were asleep before nine last night, but slumber had eluded Celeste. Images of Gage, both good and bad, plagued her with every toss and turn. So she prayed there would be some word on him today.
With the cinnamon rolls rising and icing waiting in the fridge, she returned to her condo in the predawn darkness to trade places with her mother. Hillary had once again surprised her by offering to open the restaurant while Celeste waited for the girls to wake up. Celeste was even starting to get the feeling that her mother actually enjoyed helping out at Granny’s Kitchen.
God had been working a lot of miracles where her mother was concerned. Now she prayed He would work one for Gage and Ted.
Emma was the first to awake. Coffee cup in hand, Celeste looked up from her Bible as Emma padded down the stairs in her Hello Kitty pajamas, dragging her unicorn blanket. She smiled when she saw Celeste and quickened her pace.
“Good morning, sweet girl.” She set her mug on the side table and welcomed the child into her lap.
“Good morning.” She snuggled against Celeste, laying her head against her shoulder.
Celeste covered her with the blanket. “Are you warm enough?”
Emma nodded.
They sat quietly. Something Celeste knew would change once Emma was fully awake. So she rested her cheek against Emma’s head and watched out the window as the sun backlit the peaks of the Amphitheater, savoring these few precious moments. How she would love to start every day this way.
She closed her eyes, trying to banish the thought. Gage had made it clear that whatever was between them was over. Hard to believe that the love he proclaimed to have for her could die in an instant. Perhaps it wasn’t love after all.
Her hold tightened on Emma. What would happen to these precious girls if Gage didn’t make it out?
His family would likely take them. Maybe Taryn or her other brother would raise them. But the thought of Cassidy and Emma growing up without their father or their mother broke Celeste’s heart. They’d already suffered such loss.
God, please bring Gage back to them.
A few minutes later, Cassidy awoke and when the girls found out they’d be spending the day at Granny’s Kitchen, they couldn’t get ready fast enough. By eight forty-five, they were settled at the restaurant’s counter, devouring scrambled eggs and sausage like they hadn’t eaten in a week.
“Would you two sugar muffins like to split a cinnamon roll?”
Celeste turned from the coffeemaker, pot in hand, and stared at her mother. Sugar muffins? Where had that come from?
As lunchtime approached, the number of guests swelled as television crews poured into town to cover the mine accident. Between kitchen duty and waiting tables, Celeste and her mother were busier than a one-legged grasshopper in a jumping contest. Fortunately, Cassidy and Emma were quite content with the salt dough Celeste had made for them. They sat at the counter, armed with cookie cutters and rolling pins, letting their imaginations run wild.
Celeste set a double-deluxe burger and fries in front of a man not much older than her.
He looked up at her, his expression intense. “Miss, do you know either of the men who are missing?”
Surprised by his question, she pulled from her corporate past for a response. “Ouray is a small town. Everyone is familiar.”
“Do you believe they’ll find Mr. Purcell and Mr. Beatty alive?” If his first question surprised her, this one infuriated her.
She squared her shoulders. “Faith is all we have, sir. Without it, we’re lost.”
Turning on her heel, she headed across the dining room and through the kitchen and fell against the wall in her office as grief finally got the best of her. Sobs racked her body and she had to clasp a hand over her mouth to prevent them from escaping.
God, please, please, please let Gage be alive. Take me in his place if You have to. Just bring Gage back for his daughters.
“Celeste?”
She opened her eyes to find her mother standing before her.
“I was wondering when this was going to catch up with you.” Mom smoothed a hand across Celeste’s hair. “You love him, don’t you?”
Lowering her hand, she nodded.
“Then you should be up at the mine. I can take care of the girls.”
“If only it were that simple.” She snagged a tissue from the box on her desk. “I can’t go into it now, but Gage broke things off the other night.” She could see the questions in her mother’s eyes. “The best thing I can do now is take care of his girls.”
“Celeste?” The child’s voice trembled.
“Cassidy?” She looked down to see both girls standing in the doorway of her office, their big blue eyes swimming with unshed tears. “What is it, sweetheart?” She knelt, laying a hand on each of their arms.
“What happened to Daddy?” Cassidy’s bottom lip quivered.
Celeste glanced at her mother, then back to the girls. Dear, God. Help me.
“What do you mean, sugar?” Her mother managed the words first.
“We heard some man talking on the phone.” A tear slipped onto Cassidy’s cheek. “He said there were two men missing and then I heard my daddy’s name.” The child fell into Celeste’s embrace, weeping.
Celeste cringed. This was her fault for leaving them alone.
She held out her other arm to Emma, who was also crying, then set her bottom on the tile floor and held them in her lap. She stroked their hair as her mother had done with her just moments before. Now it was time for her to take on that role. If only for this moment.
She looked up at her mother. “We’ll be okay.”
With a parting kiss atop Celeste’s head, her mother left them.
Celeste gathered her flailing emotions as an inexplicable peace fell over her.
“It’s true. There was an accident at the mine and your daddy is missing.” She felt their bodies tense, heard their gentle cries. She pulled them closer. “So we have to pray very hard, and believe, that your daddy will be okay.”
“But what if he isn’t?” Cassidy sniffed. “What if he goes away like our mommy did?”
Celeste’s heart wrenched. God, I can’t do this. You have to help me. Give me Your words.
“Well, I don’t know. But I do know that God will never leave us. We simply have to trust Him to make everything okay.” She rubbed their arms, understanding all too well the turmoil going on inside them.
God can use those bad things in our lives to help somebody else. She could hear her grandmother’s words as though she were sitting right beside her. And if there was even a morsel of her story that could help Cassidy and Emma...
“You know, girls, my daddy went away when I was a little girl.”
Surprise lit their sad faces.
“What did you do?” asked Cassidy.
“At first, I was very sad.”
“For how long?” asked Emma.
“For a long time. Even though I still had my mom and my granny, I missed my daddy something fierce.”
“Do you still miss him?” Cassidy relaxed against her.
“Sometimes. But i
t doesn’t hurt anymore.”
“Why not?”
“Well, one day my heart was hurting so bad I thought it might explode. So I talked to God—matter of fact, I think I might have even yelled—and told Him exactly how I felt. I wasn’t just sad, I was mad.”
Cassidy gasped. “Did you tell Him that, too?”
“I did.” Her gaze darted between the two. “I told Him that I didn’t want my heart to hurt anymore and that He was the only one who could fix it.”
“What happened?” Curiosity had replaced some of Cassidy’s tears.
“He fixed it. Not right away, but over time the hurt went away.”
They continued to watch her.
“The Bible tells us that we do not have because we do not ask God.”
Emma popped her head up. “Does that mean I can ask Him for a pony?”
Celeste breathed out a chuckle. “No.”
“Then what does it mean?” asked Cassidy.
“It means that when we’re hurting or when we’re in need—” she glanced at Emma “—which is different than a want—” she turned back to Cassidy “—all we have to do is ask God to help us.”
She hugged them once again. “I love you girls so much.”
“We love you, too,” said Cassidy.
“Will you be our mommy?” Emma’s expression had never been more serious.
Celeste blinked, barely able to speak around the lump in her throat. “Sweetheart, I would love to be your mommy. But, right now, we need to concentrate on your daddy and ask God to bring him back to us.”
“Will you pray, too?” asked Cassidy.
If she never held these precious girls again and Gage was nothing more than her friend, they would always be in her prayers. “You can count on it.”
* * *
Fifty hours after their ordeal began, Gage and Ted emerged from the mine to the cheers of rescue workers, townspeople, family and friends.
Gage squinted against the gray skies and breathed in the pristine snowy air, his heart filled with gratitude and anticipation.
“Daddy!”
The sight of his girls running toward him, ponytails flying and smiles as big as he’d ever seen, lodged a mountain of a boulder in his throat. He knelt to greet them, and the force of their little bodies slamming into his nearly toppled him. He didn’t care, though. They were here. Together. A family once again.
A Father's Second Chance (Contemporay Christian Romance) Page 17