A Chance at Love

by T. K. Chapin

  “Look, Dad. I’m trying to reason with you.”

  “Yeah, I get it. You feel bad, and you’re sorry about it if I was offended. Noted. Thanks.” He picked up his newspaper and went back to reading.

  I could hardly believe it. He didn’t make sense to me. Everything I had been learning about the Bible, the nature of God, and the way we as Christians were supposed to act, he was in complete contradiction to. Instead of getting upset and trying to convince him of any kind of truth, I simply said, “I’ll pray for you.” Then I got up from my seat and went and found my mom so she could give me a ride down to pick up my car.

  Arriving at the mechanic shop, I got out of the car and went inside to pay. As I approached the counter, I saw someone who looked like Emily out the window and across the street, coming out of Jo’s Bakery. My heart began to race and I turned to go find out if it was her.

  “Can I help you?” a man asked from behind me at the counter.

  “I’ll be right back,” I replied, pushing open the door without looking back at him. A cold breeze pushed against me as I came out to the sidewalk in front of the mechanic shop, and I pulled both sides of my coat closer against my body as I looked across the street.

  It was her.

  As I took a step toward the street, a semi-truck suddenly whooshed by, sending an icy cold gust of wind into my face. Gripping the edges of my coat tighter, I shielded myself against the blast of coldness. As the truck left my vision, Emily was again revealed. This time I saw Patricia beside her.

  Quickly turning myself back to the mechanic shop, my heart began to race. Why’d her mother have to be there? If I had only seen her a moment sooner, I might have been able to talk to her. Annoyed, I went back inside and up to the counter. I pulled out my wallet and asked, “How much is it?”

  “What’s your name?” the guy asked.

  “Last name Reynolds.”

  “Just a moment . . .” He typed for a moment on a keyboard and then said, “Rebecca or Kyle?”

  My eyes narrowed on him as my jaw clenched. “Kyle,” I replied, speaking through my teeth. Without closing my eyes, I began praying for the Lord to help me.

  After getting my car keys back after paying, I headed out to go get my car. Glancing over at where I saw Emily and her mother previously, I was surprised to see they were still there.

  Without hesitation, I decided to go try to speak with Emily. Hurrying across the street, I got up onto the sidewalk and approached them. Patricia began to look nervous as her eyes met mine.

  She whispered something to Emily, let go of her hand, and then hurried down the sidewalk, cutting me off before I could reach her.

  “I just want to talk to her,” I pleaded as I rested on my tip toes, looking past Patricia and at Emily.

  “Her father and I don’t believe it’s a good idea if you two see each other anymore. We talked about it, prayed about it, and it’s just not going to happen, Kyle.”

  I relaxed my footing and looked at her. “Really? Because of what happened that one night? It wasn’t even my fault; it was my car. I just got it out of the shop. You can even talk to the mechanic. It was out of my control.”

  “Yes, because of that one night. It might not have been your fault, but there’s a lot you don’t understand about her condition.”

  “Stop acting like I don’t understand. I get that you sacrificed a lot for her, but now you have to trust that you raised her right and strong. As for me and her, this could be her chance at love. Why would you want to prevent that?”

  Her lips were pressed firmly together as she shook her head. “She’s our daughter, and as long as she lives with us, she’s going to abide by our rules!”

  “Well, I’m going to church. You might be able to stop me from seeing your daughter out and about, but I’m going to go to church, and I’ll see her there. I’m sorry. I just can’t get over her, Mrs. Hayden. She’s important to me.”

  She shook her head and turned around. As I watched her go back over to Emily, a sudden impulse to shout over to Emily crossed my mind. I withheld. In doing that action, I knew it would only bring Emily pain. I didn’t want her to suffer more than I already knew she was.

  Later that evening, while I was on my final delivery at work, my phone buzzed. It was from an unknown number. The message was from Emily’s father, asking if I’d meet him for a late night cup of coffee at JJ’s diner over on 15th street. I thought it was a rather odd request, but I agreed to meet him. I had a bit of hope that maybe they had come to their senses about our relationship.

  Getting to the diner, I scanned the nearly empty restaurant as I undid my scarf. I spotted Steve clutching a cup of coffee as he sat in a poorly lit booth over in an obscure corner. He looked as if he rolled out of bed and sneaked out of his own house to come meet with me. He was wearing a hooded sweatshirt, and his hair was pushed up on one side of his head like he had been asleep earlier. Weaving between the tables, I came over to him. “Steve,” I said, as I slipped into the seat across from him.

  He raised his eyes up to mine. He looked tired. Exhausted, as a matter of fact. “Kyle. Thanks for meeting me.” The strained words from his lips sent my hope crashing.

  “What’s going on?” I asked.

  He rubbed the scruff on his chin, and then he pushed his glasses farther up on the bridge of his nose. “It’s about the why.”

  “The why?”

  “Yeah. The why. You see, my wife doesn’t like the details, or getting into them, but I do. I like to understand why things are the way they are. What motivates people. You understand?”

  “I get it.”

  “Good.” He set his hands out on the table and began to use them as he continued. “You see, Patricia had a blind sister.”

  “Had?” I replied.

  “Yeah. Her sister died a few years ago. You see, this is what happened. Her sister, Gail, had a boyfriend at the time, and he left her at home by herself, and she started a fire by accident in the kitchen. She didn’t know where the extinguisher was, and she . . . she didn’t make it out.”

  I relaxed into the booth. “Oh my goodness. I’m so sorry. That makes so much more sense now—why you’re so protective.”

  He sniffed a little and took off his glasses. As he cleaned one of the lenses with the corner of his sleeve, he said, “That’s why we don’t want her to see you. I know you mentioned to Patricia that this could be her chance at love earlier today, but truly, you two are most likely not going to work out. You’re young.”

  “So?” I said sharply as I sat straighter up and leaned in. “Why’s age matter?”

  “You know what? It doesn’t matter. I think you get the overall picture here. We don’t want any trouble. Please just leave us and Emily alone.”

  “I haven’t caused any trouble. I haven’t come to your house or bothered you at all.”

  “But you mentioned you were going to come to church.”

  “Yeah. Well, I am. It’s church, Steve . . .”

  “There’s plenty of churches you can attend. You don’t need to come to ours.”

  Slipping out of the booth, I stood up and looked at him. “You know, Steve, I get you wanting to protect your daughter. I even get the sad story about your sister in-law, but what I don’t get is that you, being a Christian, would push someone away from church. Pushing me away isn’t going to keep her safe forever. If it’s not for a chance at love, let it be for a chance at a life.” I shook my head. “Keeping your kids safe is important, especially with Emily’s situation . . . but someday you’ll have to let her jump from the nest.”

  “Sir, did you want something to drink?” the waitress asked me as she came over to refill Steve’s coffee.

  “No. I’m not staying.”

  Leaving Steve at the table, I left the diner and headed home. There wasn’t any part of me that felt angry this time—just sadness. I felt bad for Emily’s parents in a way. They were so protective and worked up over her safety that they were suffocating not only her, but the
mselves.

  The rest of the night, I spent my time reading the Scriptures and praying for her parents and God’s will over the situation. With my diminishing hope came a comfort that I knew was of a divine nature. Some would call what I was experiencing acceptance, but I called it trust in the Lord and His will.

  CHAPTER 17

  Sunday morning soon came, and I headed out to Chattaroy to pick my grandma up for service. When she came out of her house and down the path out to my car, I took note of how fancy she looked. She was wearing a baby-blue dress, a pair of gold hooped earrings, and a pair of white gloves that matched her oversized, oval-brimmed hat. She looked stunning.

  Leaning across the armrest and over to the door, I opened it for her to get in. “Sorry. I would have gotten out and helped you in, but I was marveling at your outfit,” I said, making eye contact with her.

  She got inside and shooed her hand, “It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.” The smell of Grandma, which was old perfume mixed with just old in general, filled the inside of my car, and I smiled. I loved that she was willing to come to church with me.

  On the drive into town, I glanced over at her and saw a smile resting on her face. I said, “You seem happier than your usual self.”

  “Today’s the anniversary of your grandfather’s death.”

  My eyebrows shot up, and I jerked my head to look at her. “Why on earth would you be happy about that?”

  “It’s been a while now, Kyle. I’m not happy he’s gone. That fact alone still makes me sad. The difference now, though, is that I know my time is coming around the corner any day, and this day serves as a reminder of when he went to be with the Lord. If you ask me, he got lucky to go first!”

  “Okay . . . maybe you are crazy!”

  She laughed and gently smacked my arm. “When you get my age and almost every person you care about is dead, and you have more pains in your body than you know what to do with, you might be a little more excited to get on to glory!”

  I laughed. “Maybe . . .”

  “You ready to talk to those parents of Emily?”

  I shook my head. “I already did . . .”

  “You didn’t go to their house, did you?”

  “No. I ran into her mom when I went to pick up my car. Then her father met me for a late cup of coffee that night.” I shook my head.

  My grandmother’s eyebrows went up. “And?”

  “They still want me to keep away from her. Her dad even tried to get me not to go to church.”

  “That’s rude. It’s not his church, it’s God’s church.”

  “Right?” I said. “I like Pastor Brown’s preaching. I don’t know why they would discourage me from going.”

  “Don’t you mind those stinkers, Kyle! You’ll always have Christians out there that are kinda wonky. You can’t let them affect you.”

  “I agree. I started praying for both of them after I met with her dad. I just . . . I felt bad for them. Not sure why.”

  “That’s God, Kyle. You have the Holy Spirit inside of you. When you’re walking with the Lord, you’ll be able to see more of the world as He does, broken, fallen, and straying from the original design.”

  “Huh . . . I didn’t know that.”

  “You’re growing rather quickly in the Lord. Keep it up. Speaking of walking with the Lord, are you going to get baptized?”

  “Funny you ask. I’m actually going to speak with the pastor about it today.”

  “Good. I’m so proud of you, Kyle.”

  As service was about to conclude, the Pastor opened up a time of invitation. Slipping out of the pew, I headed up to the front of the church and met with him.

  “How are you, Son?” he asked, resting his hand on my shoulder as he brought me in closer to him so we could chat.

  “Good. I made a commitment to Christ a couple of weeks ago, and I want to follow through with baptism.”

  “Praise the Lord,” he replied with a smile. “Welcome to the family of God!”

  We talked for a bit until the song finished. He then turned his portable microphone clip on and asked everyone to sit down. Looking into the sea of faces, my eyes fell to Emily and her parents. Steve and Patricia looked enraged, but Emily looked as beautiful as ever. I smiled as I looked at her.

  “We have Mr. Kyle Reynolds, who came here today with his grandmother. He made a commitment to Christ not too long ago, and is now coming forward to be baptized. Could we get his grandma to come forward and stand up here with him?” The pastor looked across the crowd until my grandma slipped out of the pew and headed toward the front.

  I looked over at Emily to see how she was holding up. Tears were running down her cheeks as her mother and father sat on both sides of her and whispered into her ears. My heart broke for her.

  Service wrapped up with another song, and the pastor invited the congregation to make their way up to the front and welcome me into the family of God. As the line of people grew to shake my hand, I saw Emily and her parents slip out the back door.

  Dropping my grandma off at her house after service, I headed home for a bite to eat before my shift at Pilo’s. My father was home and sitting in his recliner in the living room when I was putting together a sandwich in the kitchen.

  My mother walked in and set her hand on my back. “How was church?” she asked.

  “Good. Grandma enjoyed it too. I’m going to get baptized . . . Hey, I heard from Grandma that today was the day your dad died.”

  Pausing, she nodded. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen him. I still think about him every day,” she said with a longing sigh. Shaking it off, she smiled. “Anyway, thank you. That’s good that you’re getting baptized, and it’s really nice of you to take my mother along with you. Are you working tonight?”

  “Yeah. Until close.”

  She nodded and then glanced toward the living room and lowered her voice to a whisper. “You should try to fix things up with your father. I think he’s in a good mood today.”

  “And say what?” I asked as I took the bread and other sandwich stuff back to the fridge.

  My mother leaned in between my face and the fridge as I set the items back inside. She said, “Just get it right with him. He’s your father, Kyle.”

  “I tried, Mom. He wasn’t down.” Grabbing my plate, I went and sat at the table. “Told him I’m sorry and everything. Not much else I can do.”

  My mother sat down at the table and leaned in a little as she brought her hands together. “You probably caught him on a bad day.”

  “What’s a good day look like?” I asked. Leaning slightly in my chair so I could see into the living room, I spotted a couple of beer cans beside his recliner. “When he’s drinking?” I laughed and shook my head as I took a bite of my sandwich.

  My mother’s demeanor shifted dramatically as she sat back in her chair. “Frank!” she shouted loudly.

  I froze.

  “What, Lucy!” my father shouted from his recliner in the living room.

  “Get in here and figure this out with your son.”

  “He can come in here.”

  She looked at me and raised her eyebrows with a smile. “You left me no choice.”

  Taking my plate, I got up from the table and went and sat down on the couch in the living room. Glancing at the TV, I saw that a football game was on. I kept quiet and smiled at my mother as she crossed through the living room to go upstairs.

  The game took a break and went to commercial. My dad muted the TV. Letting out a long, drawn out sigh, he said, “We need to make this right so your mother stops bothering us. I know she’s been after you about it too.”

  I nodded.

  “Kyle.”

  I looked over at him. “Yeah?”

  “I’m sorry. I’m proud of the change you made and the decision to follow Christ. I could give you a list of reasons why I’m not in church, but really, those are just excuses. My biggest issue I have comes from within and my own selfishness.”

  I nodded but
remained quiet.

  “The truth is, Kyle, that you’re doing the right thing. I’m also quite impressed with how you’re dealing with all this stuff going on with Emily. I know I don’t talk much about it to you, but I’m very proud of you, Son.”

  “Thanks, Dad. I’ve been really—” Seeing the game come back on out of the corner of my eye, I looked over. “Go ahead.”

  He reached for the remote and turned off the TV. “No. You go ahead.” He sat the recliner up and brought his hands together. “What were you saying?”

  My heart warmed from his focus on our conversation. “I’ve been really struggling. Not just with Emily, but about us, you know? Our family. There have been a couple of times where I wondered what it would have been like if I grew up in the church. How much life could have been different if I wasn’t cruel to all those Christians early on in school.”

  He shook his head. “You can’t go there, Son. You have to look forward. Let the past be the past.”

  “Why won’t you go to church?” I asked. “What is it?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t really know outside of my excuses.”

  “Will you come to church with me? I’m getting baptized soon; I would love for you to be there.”

  He rubbed the back of his neck. “You are? That’s awesome, Son. I just don’t know if I can make myself go to church, even though I would want to be there for you. . .”

  “Why? If you believe in the Bible, why aren’t you going? Why isn’t my getting baptized enough to get you to come? And is this going to happen to me someday?” I looked over at the beer and then the TV and said, “Will my own Sundays consist of this someday?”

  “There’s nothing wrong with sports and having a beer once in a while.”

  “You know what I mean . . .”

  He nodded lightly as he thought. “I’ll think about going back to church, especially for your baptism. Just give me some space on it. Okay?”

  I smiled and set my plate to the side of me on the couch and got up to hug him. “Thank you.”