Coming Home: (Contemporary Christian Romance Boxed Set): Three Stories of Love, Faith, Struggle & Hope

by Debra Ullrick

  “Yeah. There’s something like a thousand employees at all the regional firms. A lot of them show up for this.” He stabbed into the potato salad. “It’s good to get in some face time, network. That kind of thing.”

  “So what do you do exactly?”

  He swallowed that bite and took a drink. “I work in accounting. I like it pretty well. Better than being in the computer wing.”

  “You don’t like computers?”

  “When they work, yes. Hit the button, down comes your answer. I like that, but to try to fix one or program one? No way. Not my forte.”

  “So you like living in Houston then?”

  “Greg,” a middle aged lady said, walking up with a man behind her. They both sat down. “This is my husband, John.”

  Greg wiped his hands on the napkin and then extended it to the older man. He sat for only a second longer. “Oh, and this is Maggie Montgomery. Maggie, this is Virginia. She works with me.”

  “We’re cubicle buddies.”

  “Oh,” Maggie said.

  “So you’re Maggie,” Virginia said, gazing at her with a smile Maggie wasn’t wholly sure she liked. “Greg’s been telling me about you. You’re the one who works for the Ayers.”

  She ducked her head. “Yeah.”

  “Must be quite the ticket up there. Do you get your own butler and maid?”

  The pleasant day evaporated from sight. “Oh, no. Not really.”

  “Maggie baby sits the kids,” Greg offered.

  Virginia lifted her chin in understanding and then nodded. “I bet they’re a couple of little brats.”

  This was a true and genuine ambush, and if Maggie’d had a little better handle on what she could say and what she couldn’t say as a representative of the Ayers, she would’ve told this woman off. However, the fact that Greg had to work with her, coupled with the fact that she didn’t want to embarrass the Ayers made her hold that thought from finding the air. “They’re really good kids.”

  “Yeah. I bet. Do they pay you to say that?” And Virginia let out a whoop the size of the rest of her.

  “And the I-Express flies through the air to the landing pad. Ka-boom!” Keith let Isabella dropped about four inches onto the changing table after the flight up the kitchen stairs. “Okay, you. Let’s see how much damage you did.”

  He pulled the pink bloomers down and detached the Velcro. “Ugh! What have they been feeding you?”

  Isbella laughed.

  “Yeah, you think it’s funny, huh?” His hands worked as he continued to talk to her. “Keith’s gotta change this nuclear waste diaper. Real funny.”

  “Keef!” she squealed, throwing her arms out to the sides.

  He leaned down and kissed her. How could you not just fall in love with that face? “You are too cute.”

  “Do you dance?” Greg asked as the band started off to the side. Thankfully Virginia had gone home, and the evening had cooled off. Both welcome turn of events.

  “A little.” Maggie was doing her best to keep tired from her, but it wasn’t easy. She wondered about the kids and about Keith. They were probably in bed by now, and she wished with everything in her that she was there with them.

  “That makes two of us. Maybe your little and my little will keep us from being helplessly bad.” Greg held his hand out to her, and she put hers in his and stood. He led her to the dance floor, and after only a few sways, she gave up and let the gentle pressure of his hand pull her to him.

  He was quite a bit taller than her, and only a step up from being truly awkward about holding her. It seemed disingenuous to let him hold her so close, but she was tired and his presence was the only thing keeping her from falling to the ground and sleeping there until morning.

  “Thanks for coming with me,” he whispered into her hair.

  She pulled back to look at him. “You’re welcome.”

  And then, even as they swayed, he lowered his lips to hers. It was a brush and barely that, but it set Maggie’s alerts on full-force. Before she had the chance to react, he pulled her back to him, and she was caught there with no way of extricating herself without breaking his heart.

  “Now I’m not very good at this,” Keith told Peter as he knelt by the bed. “I don’t know all the words like Maggie does.”

  “That’s okay,” Peter said, rubbing his eyes. “She taught me how to say it.”

  Keith’s smile danced across his heart. “Okay. Then let’s hear it.”

  “Dear Jesus, we love you.” The little voice yanked tears to Keith’s eyes. “Please be with us tonight. Watch over us and help us have a good sleep. Please keep all the boys and girls in the world safe tonight, and let them know that You love them as much as You love us. Amen.”

  He could barely get the word out. “Amen.”

  Peter was looking at him when he stood.

  “You get some sleep so we can go to church tomorrow.”

  And with that, Peter closed his little eyes. Keith let himself out of the room and checked his watch. Somehow he’d thought they would be back by now. How long could a picnic last? Unless they had decided to do dinner afterward or worse, back to Greg’s apartment. It was amazing how bad one thought could hurt.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Thanks for coming with me,” Greg said, and he slid his hand through her hair at her neck.

  “You’re welcome.” Maggie’s gaze wouldn’t fall from his. She knew he was going to kiss her, and for the first time, she wasn’t running.

  When his lips found hers, it wasn’t melting she felt so much as just gratefulness for him being there. After a lingering moment, he pulled back and looked at her. “Can I call you?”

  She smiled. “You better.”

  Keith had told himself over and over again that he should go. Sitting here, by her door was beyond pathetic. However, when he heard the noise first at the front door and then at the stairs, his head came up and he watched for her to appear. It was nearly midnight, and it didn’t take a doctorate to know what that meant.

  “Keith,” she said in surprise when she noticed him as she traced down the hallway. “What’re you doing here?”

  He looked up at her as his heart broke for how beautiful she was. “Waiting for you.”

  She glanced worriedly at the doors. “Are they asleep?”

  He nodded.

  “You didn’t have to wait. Inez could’ve kept an eye on them.”

  “It’s okay.” He didn’t get up. In fact, he didn’t move. “Did you have fun?”

  She stopped, and after a moment she let herself to the floor against the opposite wall. “Yeah. Did you?”

  He tried to smile. “Izzy’s sweet. Peter said his prayers.”

  She nodded, but her gaze didn’t leave his face.

  Finally he looked at her. “So are you going to see Greg again?” He tried not to let her hear the shattering of his heart.

  Her gaze fell from him to her skirt. “He said he’d call me, but you never know what that means. You know how guys are.”

  Yes, he did. He knew exactly how guys were. Keith looked at her, and for all the screaming in his head, he couldn’t foist his disaster of a life onto her. “He’ll call. Greg’s a smart guy.” He sighed. “So are we going to church tomorrow?”

  She smiled slightly. “If you’re up for it.”

  It sounded like Heaven. “I wouldn’t miss it.”

  Keith was back at the mansion the next morning before they had even finished breakfast. “Good morning.” Bright and cheery, he sounded so different than the night before.

  “Good morning to you,” Maggie said. “You get any sleep?”

  “Keef!” Isabella squealed, throwing her hands out to the sides.

  “Izzy!” Keith said, mimicking her. He walked over and gave her a big hug.

  Maggie eyed him, worried for reasons she knew and some she couldn’t quite figure out. “You’re early.”

  “I couldn’t stay away.”

  Church was wonderful as usual. To Keith the only
bad thing was when the service was over. His talk with Inez had brought more memories of his mother back. In a strange way he had purposely forgotten even those things that he loved about her. He wondered about that as they drove home.

  “What do you remember about your parents?” he asked, not to make her feel uncomfortable but because he needed to talk to someone who understood.

  Maggie narrowed her eyes as if she was watching the memories on a fuzzy screen. “Weird things mostly. Like how my dad liked to smoke a pipe, but my mom wouldn’t let him. How my mom put her hair up in a ponytail when she cooked. And my dad always slammed the backdoor so we knew he was home. It’s strange what you remember.”

  “Yeah.” He let himself get lost in memories of his own, most so obscure he could hardly catch hold of them.

  She looked at him across the Dodge seat. “Why do you ask?”

  His gaze stayed on the road because he couldn’t bear to look at her just at that moment.

  “Keith?” She sounded so worried, all he wanted to do was to put her at ease; however, he couldn’t get any words out to do that.

  He ran his knuckle under his nose to keep the emotions from coming to the surface. He shook his head one way and leaned his head to the side. “Does it ever go away?”

  Maggie’s heart was ripping in two from the anguish on his face. He was trying so hard to hide it, and yet it was right there. “What?”

  “Missing them.” He let his wrist down onto the steering wheel hard. “Crud. I’m sorry. I wasn’t going to drag you into this.”

  Her gaze never left him. “Well, I’m in this, so you might as well tell me.”

  The fact that he never looked at her told her more than she could ever have seen in his eyes. He shook his head again but only barely.

  “My mom died when I was 12.”

  “Twe…?” Her breath slid away from her. “Oh, Keith. I’m so sorry.”

  The smile wasn’t really a smile, and his gaze never left the road. “It’s not your fault.”

  Maggie was so focused on him, it was like the rest of the world had dropped away. “What happened?”

  It took him more than a second to get the words out. “Car wreck.”

  She moaned as her ache mixed with his.

  “They went on a trip one weekend, and she never came back. It was like the only thing I had left was the memories.”

  “The funeral?”

  “I don’t remember much about any of it. I think I only went to the funeral. Besides that I stayed with Inez.”

  That surprised her. “Inez? Our Inez?”

  “Yeah. That was back before Dad knew about the wonderful world of nannies. In fact, I don’t know that he really cared too much what happened to me or who was taking care of me.” He sniffed, and Maggie could tell he was embarrassed by it. “They’re what got me through it. The staff. But mostly Inez and Ike.”

  It was like taking a whack with a hard tree branch, but Maggie absorbed the pain and kept her focus on Keith. There was so much pain there. So much he wasn’t saying, so much she wondered if he had ever said. It occurred to her that the roles from the week before had been reversed—except for the part about holding him while he let it out. Knowing she wanted him to feel as safe as she had felt, she reached across the seat and ran her hand down his soft gray cotton shirt. His arm solid underneath. He always looked so stylish when he wasn’t work-dirty. It was a dichotomy she was only now beginning to understand.

  “I don’t know how much choice they really had in the matter,” Keith said, continuing as though if he stopped, he might break down. “I was a pretty attention-hungry kid. Inez would get me ready for school, and the second I got off the bus and changed, I was down at the stables with Ike.”

  For all the animosity Maggie had toward Ike to that moment, she knew then that she would never be able to hate him in the same way again. “What about your dad?”

  Keith snorted. “What about him? He was never here, and when he was, all he did was tell me everything I was doing wrong, and believe me, that list got longer every time he got the chance to use it.” Vehemence seeped into his tone. “I hated him. He hated me. So we just stayed out of one another’s way as much as possible.”

  With apprehension telling her she must be out of her mind, Maggie’s gaze fell and then slipped back up to him. “Is that why he was so mad last week?”

  For the first time, Keith’s gaze came over to her. “Oh, you noticed that too, huh?”

  “It was kind of hard not to.”

  For a single second his face let that go through it. Then he tossed it off as if it meant nothing to him. “I’m just sorry you got in the middle of it.”

  Maggie smiled. “It was worth it.”

  Surprise jumped to his face.

  Her glance slipped into the backseat. “The kids had a great time at your place.” She considered the foolishness of telling him, but she’d come this far, and she wasn’t about to step on him like his father had. She let her gaze trail to his face. “And I did too.”

  That brought an actual smile to his face, but it was melancholy and poignant. As they turned into the gate, he nodded. “I’m glad.”

  Although Keith wanted to stay with her all day, he knew that wasn’t possible. The jockey was coming at 2 to take Dragnet through a simulated 2 o’clock start. They didn’t have much time to get him ready. One month. So Keith left Maggie with the kids and the car seats in the front door of the mansion. He heard Inez come in from the kitchen just as he escaped out the front door, and he was glad for the timing.

  It wasn’t a stretch to think the maid had her theories about him and Maggie, and he didn’t want to hear the innuendos and implied understanding. Inez didn’t understand, and the less chance he gave her to act like she did, the better it would be for his heart. Nonetheless, a piece of him stayed right there at that door, with the kids and with her. And something told him, it always would.

  “I called the realtor,” Dallas said on Monday night, and Keith braced for the coming storm. Her voice was cutting and sarcastic. “Thanks to you, that house sold. I cannot believe you let that perfect house slip through our fingers because you’re busy.”

  Anger bit into him. “I am busy, Dallas. I know that surprises you, but it’s the truth.”

  “Well, I’m not swimming in extra time here either, Keith, but I’ve gotten everything I’m supposed to do done. Why do I feel like you don’t even care about us anymore?”

  He was spinning through the accusations. “There are other houses. Maybe there’s something better.”

  “Better? That’s not the point! The point is this one was perfect and because you were too lazy to make a phone call, now it’s gone.”

  “You know, you could have made that phone call as easily as I could have.”

  “Do you know how much I have to do? I’ve got graduation in three weeks. Finals. I’m studying for the boards. I’m trying to plan a wedding from 3,000 miles away, and you’re not helping my stress level.”

  The anger dissipated, mostly because he knew she was right. “Look, I’m sorry, Dallas. Really I am.” He hadn’t been concentrating on the wedding or Dallas or anything else in the real world. True, thinking of the wedding brought a tightness to his chest that he couldn’t adequately explain, but still, he was the groom-to-be, he’d better start acting like it. “Listen, I’ll make up for it. I’ll find another house. Even better than that one.”

  “And where are you going to find this better-than-perfect house?”

  “I’ll make some calls. Surely that wasn’t the only wonderful house in Houston.”

  “Well, don’t make it too close to Houston. I don’t want to live in the city-city.”

  “Not too close.”

  “And I want a pool, and at least three bedrooms and an office.”

  The list was pushing him deeper into the cushions.

  “And the kitchen needs to be state-of-the-art. I’d like two sinks if possible, and granite cabinets. Oh, and state-of-the-art applian
ces. And no fake wood floors either, if you get wood floors, I want them real wood.”

  At least she wasn’t picky.

  “I’ll make some calls tomorrow.”

  Keith wasn’t sure where his week had gone by the next Sunday. Basically, it had disappeared into a dark well of looking at houses and trying to get some work done. The work wasn’t so bad. The houses were another story. Bedrooms, bathrooms, backyards, floor plans, financing. It was enough to give a monk a migraine. During the day he burned up the phone lines. At night he burned up the modem. He had looked through so many virtual tours, his head felt like it was still spinning. On Sunday he’d had enough looking. He needed some peace.

  Showing up on a cold call to the mansion wasn’t the best idea in the world, but he didn’t have much of a choice. Besides even if his parents nixed the idea, at least they would know the church thing was his idea and not Maggie’s. He rang the doorbell, knowing that just walking in would be a mistake.

  Inez opened the door.

  Keith’s nerves jumped to the surface. “Hi. Is Maggie here?”

  Slowly Inez surveyed him head-to-toe, and her getting Maggie was less than certain.

  “Who is it, Inez?” his father’s voice boomed through the entryway.

  The maid turned. “It’s Keith, Sir.”

  Uh-oh. Not good. Not good. Not good. Keith wanted to disappear. If the earth opened up and swallowed him, that would’ve been kind.

  His father appeared at the door, and his eyes hardened as he gazed at his son. “I didn’t know we had a meeting today.”

  The breath Keith tried to take in didn’t get his lungs. Instead it lodged at the top of them, making it impossible to talk. “I… Umm… I was wondering if Maggie and the kids wanted to go with me to church.”

  The middle of his father’s eyebrows narrowed. “Church? Why?”

  “Be…Because I was going anyway, and…” He glanced out to his pickup and wished he had never thought of something so absurd as to come get her. “But that’s okay. I can go alone. I’m sorry. It was just a thought.” He started to turn, hoping he could get out of here without a yelling match.