Double Blessing

by Debby Mayne

  “Yes, Jill?”

  “Thanks.” She sniffled. “I’m sorry I went all nutso over the stuff that fell, but with all the stress. . .” She gestured around the room. “You know.”

  “Yes, I do know.”

  “And I know this isn’t your fault. You had no way of knowing I had all this breakable stuff up here. I should have told you.”

  “I should have asked.”

  Ed’s chest tightened as they stood there in silence. Years of being in control of every aspect of his own life and guarding his heart hadn’t prepared him for this.

  One thing he knew for certain: He couldn’t continue walking on eggshells around her just to keep her from skittering away from him. He needed to be bolder and stand up for what he believed. Why should he back off just because he was dealing with a flustered woman? In fact, that was all the more reason he should be more aggressive.

  Ed decided to take care of the problem at hand and figure out a way to witness to this broken woman. “Now, if you have a broom I’ll clean this up.”

  “No, that’s okay. I’ll take care of it.”

  “I want—”

  She gave him a dismissive wave of the hand. “No, that’s okay, but thanks.”

  He had to force himself not to smile. With each word from her mouth came strength. Atta girl.

  As Ed went back to work, he thought about what made Jill tick. Was she lonely? Or had something awful happened that made her so skittish? She’d told him a little about her dad, so perhaps there was more to it than what she’d said. Everyone needed someone, so he suspected she needed friends. He had his church friends, and he wanted to share them with her.

  After Marcy’s death he’d been lonely, too. And angry. Her gestational diabetes was supposed to go away after the babies were born. The unfairness of it all had nearly toppled his world. But his twin babies needed him, so he’d pushed his anger aside until eventually it just faded with time. And fortunately the church had been there for him when he needed them most—the very thing that solidified his faith that had been shaken to the core when Marcy died.

  He’d actually stopped going to church for a while. But one of his subcontractors had persisted, and one of the elderly women from church came over to help care for the girls. With all that Christian love, he’d finally realized his faith was the most important aspect of his life.

  He nearly slammed his hand with the hammer as he heard footsteps behind him. “Must be some good thoughts goin’ on over there,” Matt said.

  “Hey, man, what’s up? You finished with the wiring?”

  “Not hardly.” Matt hooked his fingers in his belt loops. “We’ve got a couple of issues here, and I need to talk to you for a minute.”

  “Shoot.” Ed laid his hammer on the workbench. “What do you need?”

  Matt gestured toward the back door. “Step outside?”

  Dread washed over Ed. Taking it outside could only mean more bad news.

  They’d barely stepped outside when Matt hit him with the news. “This place needs to be fumigated.”

  “Bugs?” Ed said with a nod. “Yeah, I did see a few.”

  “Yeah, there are bugs. Termites.”

  Ed groaned. “I saw ’em, too. Think it’s bad enough to need tenting?”

  “Positive. One of the walls is practically gone. Want me to talk to her?”

  “No,” Ed said. “Better not. Let’s just handle it. I broke a few things, and that set her on edge, so I don’t think she’d deal well with news of termites.”

  Matt nodded. “Okay, if you’re sure. My wife comes home in a few days, so I need to get through this as quickly as I can and go back to my commercial job.”

  “Thanks, Matt.”

  Ed lingered in the backyard while Matt ambled back inside. Termite infestation. No doubt that would put Jill over the edge.

  The door hadn’t closed all the way when Ed saw Jill pushing on it. She was by his side in seconds.

  “Taking a break?” she asked.

  “Yeah, sort of.”

  He turned away, unable to face her. He wasn’t going to lie to her, but he planned to wait until he figured out what to do before saying anything about the termites.

  Clouds overhead floated between the earth and the sun, shading them for a few seconds. When the sun came back out, he noticed how it glistened on her hair, bringing out the copper highlights. She turned and smiled up at him.

  “You’re pretty when you smile,” he said.

  “Thank you.” Her words were so soft they were barely a whisper.

  ❧

  Jill had never wanted to kiss a man as much as she wanted to kiss Ed Mathis right this minute. His kindness radiated from his every pore. Just looking at him gave her a sense of security she hadn’t had since her mother was alive.

  She swallowed hard to try to get her voice back. “I really am sorry for overreacting about the broken glass. I guess I just don’t deal with bad surprises very well.”

  “No one does, but unfortunately life has plenty of bad surprises.”

  “I’ve just had so many lately.”

  He smiled at her. “That’s why I start and end my day with prayer.”

  Jill nodded and glanced away. She prayed, too, but she didn’t like to discuss it. Her relationship with Jesus was very personal. When she’d talked to her father about it, he’d made her feel that her simple faith wasn’t good enough, so she’d decided to keep some things to herself.

  “I really appreciate all you’re doing for me,” she said, when she couldn’t think of anything else to talk about.

  “I think we’ve already established that. And I know you know I’m glad to do it.”

  She nodded. “Well, I guess I’d better get back inside, just in case I have another customer.”

  “Yeah, I guess you’d better.”

  She’d walked inside and barely rounded the corner when Matt greeted her. “Wiring will be done soon. I have to finish connecting the upstairs; then I’ll disconnect the old wires. You should be in good shape—at least, electrically speaking.”

  Jill chuckled at his choice of words. “Thanks, Matt.”

  Grinning, he slapped his tool belt. “Glad to be able to help. Gotta get back to work.” Then he disappeared, leaving her alone.

  Jill had barely turned toward the register area when she heard Ed hollering from the backyard. She turned to the lone customer, said, “Be right back,” and ran out to see what all the fuss was about.

  “I see you’ve met Tiger.” Jill looked down at the small yellow kitten standing at Ed’s feet, her back arched and her fangs showing as she hissed up at him. She was so cute!

  “He looks hungry,” Ed said.

  “She. And you’re right. She’s always hungry.” She moved toward Ed, bent over, and scooped up the kitten before backing away from him.

  “I didn’t know you had a cat.”

  “I don’t. She’s a stray.”

  Ed frowned. “If you feed a stray cat, it becomes yours.”

  Jill shrugged. “How would I know? I never had a pet before. My dad wouldn’t let me.”

  Ed’s sympathetic expression unnerved her. She nuzzled the kitten to her cheek and rubbed her as she purred.

  “I guess I’d better get back to finishing that wall,” Ed said. “I’ll leave you and your. . .Tiger to sort things out.”

  Once Ed had gone back inside, Jill carefully placed Tiger on the ground in front of her food bowl. Tiger glanced toward the door Ed had slammed behind him before turning her attention to the tuna morsels. “Looks like you and I are stuck with each other,” Jill said softly to the kitten.

  When Jill got back inside, Ed was working steadily on the wall. Without so much as turning around, he reached out. “I took care of your customer. She bought some little glass bowls, and I stuck the money in the envelope under the cash register. Mind handing me that spackling gun?”

  “Uh, sure,” she said as she glanced around and tried to figure out what he wanted. “As soon as you t
ell me what it is.”

  Ed chuckled as he pointed. “That big silver tube-shaped thing.”

  “Oh, that.”

  She stood and watched as he slowly and carefully finished off that section of wall, then cleaned up what little mess he’d made.

  “Why are you so persnickety?” she asked.

  “I like to do things right.”

  “Yes,” she agreed, “but there are extremes.”

  He glared at her, so she quickly backed off. She was relieved to hear the bells jingle on the front door. “Want me to take care of this customer?” Ed joked.

  She shot him a look as she ran to offer assistance. “Thanks a lot, but I’ll get this one.”

  The woman who’d walked into the Junktique Shoppe had only stopped to ask directions.

  “You should have seized the opportunity and sold her something,” Ed chided.

  She shrugged but didn’t bother defending herself. What was the point? He had already obviously formed an opinion of how she conducted business, and it clearly wasn’t a good one.

  At the end of the day Jill headed home. She’d forgotten to open the blinds that morning, so the living room was dark. She found her way to the back of the long, narrow house. Everything was where she’d left it. As they did every day about this time, her father’s words haunted her. Until she’d read the Bible on her own, her father had her convinced cleanliness was next to godliness. Now she knew he’d twisted scripture and used her ignorance against her. She was thankful for learning the gospel in college, or she wouldn’t have understood the truth during this difficult time.

  After a quick microwaved meal, Jill grabbed her collectibles book and headed for bed. She shut her eyes and asked God for His help getting through the next few months—or years—and eventually finding her way in the world. She had a hard time with prayer. She was never sure how to put her thoughts into a message Jesus would actually want to hear.

  Thumbing through her collectibles book, Jill couldn’t keep her mind on what she needed to do, so she shut her eyes to try to redirect her thoughts. She fell asleep with the book facedown over her chest and awoke to incessant chirping from a bird in the tree outside her bedroom window.

  After cereal and coffee, she showered and dressed. She was about to leave for the day when she caught her reflection in the hall mirror. “Ugh.” She did an about-face and headed back to her bathroom to put on some lipstick and a little mascara.

  When Jill arrived in front of the shop, a half-dozen work vans and trucks were parked along the curb, barely leaving enough space for her car. They were mostly parked on one side of the street that was on a steep incline.

  “Good morning, sunshine,” Ed said when he saw her.

  She swallowed hard and looked at him, then reached up to tuck a loose curl behind her ear.

  “Don’t,” he said as he touched her hand. “I like the way the curl falls.”

  “I don’t.”

  “Sorry.” He turned to face a couple of his buddies who’d come out to ask him a question. “We only have a few more minutes before opening time. Almost done?”

  They both nodded, then took their turns asking him about construction issues. Jill took advantage of his diverted attention and darted past them to go inside.

  ❧

  Ed thought Jill was gorgeous before, but today she nearly left him speechless. One look at her, and he felt as if the wind had been knocked out of him. And her obvious vulnerability left him unable to run as far from her as he could and as fast as he knew he should. No way could he take off when someone obviously needed something from him.

  He watched her for a little while before turning to his own work. He had to field a couple of questions, but he managed to finish a wall.

  “Hey, Ed,” she said as she approached him from behind. “Who’s that man crawling around under the house?”

  He spun around to face her. He had to spoon-feed her in bits and pieces, or she’d freak out. “Are you talking about the exterminator?”

  She frowned. “Don’t tell me I have bugs, too.”

  “Yeah, you do have some bugs.”

  Tilting her head to one side, she narrowed her gaze. “What’s the big deal about bugs?”

  “This house needs to be treated for pests,” he said, trying hard to hold back anything that might trigger an alarm in her.

  “Yeah, I guess you probably don’t want bugs in your food when I start cooking dinner for you and your crew.” She placed her fist on her hip and studied the floor for a moment before asking, “When do you want me to start?”

  “Next week okay?” Ed asked. “I’ll bring the food if you’ll make a few extra servings for my girls.”

  Her face grew red. “I don’t know anything about cooking kid food.”

  “My girls will eat anything you cook. In fact, we’re going out to dinner tonight. Want to join us?”

  She quickly shook her head. “No, thanks. I have. . .plans.”

  “Maybe some other time?”

  “Uh, sure.” He watched her process her thoughts before she said, “I’ll start cooking on Monday if that’s okay. I can cook at home and bring it in. I’ll even make enough for Matt’s wife and your children. I’d cook here, but I don’t have a stove or a refrigerator in the kitchen yet.”

  “Oh, I almost forgot,” he said. “Take a look at your kitchen.”

  “Wha—?” she said as she backed toward the kitchen, then turned and ran. A second later he heard her squeal. “Who brought the refrigerator? And why? There’s no way I can pay for this.”

  “It’s for the guys. You don’t expect everyone to do all this work and not have a place to keep their soft drinks, do you?”

  “But I don’t—”

  He held up his hands to quiet her. “Stop it right now, Jill. It’s a little gift from all of us to the new shop owner in town. It’s free.”

  Her eyes misted over, and he had to look away.

  “I’m in the building business, Jill. We get special deals on appliances all the time. Really, it’s no big deal.”

  “Nothing’s free,” she said hoarsely.

  He wanted to remind her of the fact that salvation through Christ was free, but he didn’t. He nodded and said, “It’ll give us a place to keep the food you’re cooking for us until we can get it home.”

  Jill looked around, desperation shrouding her features, until her eyes lit up. “Then how about letting me send you home with something from my shop? I know it isn’t much, but there’s bound to be something you might like.”

  Such pride. “Okay, how about something for my girls? Their room isn’t exactly a designer’s paradise.”

  Jill nodded. “Do they like bright colors?”

  “Oh, yeah. The brighter the better. Blinding, in fact.”

  “I just picked up a box of stuff from an estate sale,” she said as she sidestepped toward the storage area. She sounded excited. “The elderly woman must have had granddaughters because she had all kinds of kid things.”

  He glanced down at the box she was opening. It was full of. . .junk. “Would you mind picking out a few things a couple of little girls might like?”

  Finally she smiled, showing off a glowing face and beautiful, soft, kissable lips he noticed were painted a pretty shade of peach. “Don’t worry. I’ll fix them right up.”

  “Remember—just a couple of things for each of them.”

  She grinned but didn’t say a word as she rummaged through the box.

  At the end of the day Jill had a couple of boxes crammed full of picture frames, toys, character clocks, and wall hangings. With a sly grin she shrugged. “Girls need their stuff.”

  He reluctantly carried one box to the truck while she followed behind with the other. “Thanks in advance from the girls.”

  All the way home he thought about how surprised the girls would be. They greeted him at the door as they always did. He crooked his finger and motioned for them to come out and help him carry in some stuff. As soon as they saw what wa
s in the boxes, their eyes lit up.

  “Oh, Daddy, this is so cool!”

  They squealed with delight as they dug in, pulling things out of the boxes, tossing items to the side as they dug some more. He noticed how spartan the living room had been before and how these boxes of junk had livened up things so quickly. Maybe Jill had a point.

  “Look!” Tracy said as she held up some bright red square thing he couldn’t identify.

  “What is it?” Stacy asked.

  Tracy shrugged. “I don’t know, but it’s pretty.”

  Ed had to hide his laughter. Jill was right.

  When they reached the bottom of the boxes, Stacy turned to him. “Tell that lady. . .Jill. . .we like it.”

  “Hey, how about some food?” he asked.

  The girls ignored him. They were back into the pile of things and were staking their claim on what they wanted. In fact, they’d both decided they wanted something he couldn’t identify, other than calling it “that round thing.” He had to break up their argument by saying they could take turns picking what they wanted until everything was claimed.

  “Just remember you have to put all this junk away when you’re finished with it,” he reminded them.

  “It’s not junk, Daddy,” Stacy said. “It’s cool stuff.” She turned to her sister. “C’mon, Tracy—let’s go eat and get it over with. Daddy won’t let us play with this until we get back.”

  Throughout dinner the girls grilled him with questions about Jill and her shop. He answered their questions as they came at him rapid-fire.

  Tracy suddenly grew quiet as she rested her chin on her fist and stared out the window of the restaurant. Stacy was still chatty as ever, so Ed had to interrupt.

  “Whatcha thinking, Tracy?” he asked.

  Tracy crinkled her forehead as she leaned forward. “Can Jill be our mommy?”

  Five

  Okay, so maybe introducing his girls to Jill wouldn’t be such a good idea. If something as simple as giving them a box of toys could get Tracy thinking like this, what would happen if they met?

  “Tracy, honey. . .” He kicked his brain into high gear, trying his best to say the right thing. “Jill is just a friend. Why don’t you simply enjoy her gift and leave it at that?”