Daddy Next Door

by Carol Voss

  “Digger needs me to feed him.”

  Ben ruffled the boy’s hair. “Hope will fill in for you. Digger loves her, too, remember?”

  “Yeah.” Joey’s lip quivered. “Digger’s gonna forget me.”

  “Never. How can he forget you? Besides, you can visit him whenever your mommy says you can.”

  Joey sighed. “Can you stay with us tonight, Ben?”

  “No, buddy, I can’t. I need to stay with Hope. You know that.”

  “Then can I sleep with you? I don’t take much room.”

  “God will keep you safe in your new house just like He did at mine.”

  “God don’t know I moved.”

  “Sure, He does. God knows everything.”

  Joey looked at Ben, eyes wide. “Do you promise you won’t go live in heaven, too?”

  She bit her lip. How was she going to get him past this?

  “I promise I’m staying right next door.” Throwing a concerned look her way, Ben climbed to his feet. “I need my flashlight, Joey. Do you know where you left it when you played with it earlier?”

  Joey frowned, obviously trying to remember what he’d done with the flashlight. Then he took off for the living room.

  “I have an idea I think could help him adjust.” Ben kept his voice low.

  “Anything.”

  “How do you feel about Digger staying the night?”

  “Oh. Joey would be thrilled. But he’ll probably expect the dog to stay every night.”

  “I’ll make it very clear we’re loaning out Digger only for Joey’s first night in his new place.”

  “It’s a good idea. He’ll be so excited about the dog staying, maybe he’ll sail right past his fears.”

  Or maybe not. But at least, it was worth a try.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Sunday morning, Coop drove a sullen, uncommunicative girl masquerading as his daughter to church. Because this wasn’t Hope’s Sunday to volunteer in the nursery, he escorted her into the pew and sat down beside Alyssa and Robbie. But being close to Alyssa only reminded him how much he missed her.

  Now, he strode down the hall headed for the fellowship room. Maybe coffee would clear his mind. Hope had scuttled off to Sunday school. And concerned about Joey depending on Coop too much, Alyssa had insisted on getting the boy from the nursery without his help. He didn’t want to make it harder for Joey. Surely, Alyssa knew that. But he loved her boys, and he enjoyed helping her with them.

  He jammed his hands into his pockets. Besides, he liked her to need him. He needed her. He needed the boys. And he needed the wonderful life he’d had a taste of while they’d lived with him.

  But he needed to put Hope first. And he did. It was just that in spite of Hope’s insecurities, he literally ached to have Alyssa and the boys in his home where he could make sure they were all right. How sane was that?

  “Morning, Coop.” Tony fell into step beside him.

  Coop glanced around for Maggie. “Where’s your better half?”

  “Choir meeting today. Alyssa and the boys getting settled into her cottage?”

  Coop nodded.

  “Enjoying your peace and quiet?”

  “I don’t know what to do with myself.”

  “Your two families seem like a good fit.” Tony gave him an encouraging look. “You thinking about pursuing that idea?”

  Coop didn’t want to get into it.

  Tony narrowed his eyes. “Touchy subject?”

  “Afraid so.”

  “How so?”

  Coop shook his head. “I need coffee.” He didn’t want to be rude, but he wanted even less to talk about the situation. Last night during supper, he’d mentioned he couldn’t get used to the quiet, and Hope had huffed off to her room where she’d holed up for the remainder of the evening. Truth was, he didn’t want to get used to the quiet. He walked over to the table, grabbed a cup and flipped the spigot on the urn to fill it.

  “Ben!” Joey came running full tilt.

  Coop set his cup down just in time to scoop the boy up, his familiar, warm-boy scent comforting. “How was nursery this morning?”

  “We played music chairs.”

  “Sounds fun.”

  Alyssa, with Robbie in her arms, glided across the room toward them looking beautiful in gray-and-pink silk.

  Coop did all he could do not to break into song. Instead, he dragged a breath and attempted to act normal. Even when just standing beside her made him feel like the most fortunate man on planet Earth. Even if she did live next door now. Even if she didn’t want to depend on him. Or want Joey depending on him either. Even when his own daughter was lost in her insecurities and struggling to make sense of them.

  None of it kept him from missing Alyssa’s companionship and the little womanly things she did to help make his house a home. Things like the herbs she’d planted in containers and arranged on a tray by the kitchen window. And the lamp she’d moved near the chair he read in. And the colorful orb she’d hung in the skylight to reflect the sun’s rays across the kitchen in the morning.

  He’d never planned on missing the sound of her voice when she sang to her baby. Or the fresh, exotic scent that followed her. Or the way she looked up when he entered a room as if sensing his presence.

  Sure, he’d fallen in love the first time he’d laid eyes on Hope. But he was thirty-four years old, and he was learning firsthand what falling in love with a woman felt like. Just having Alyssa near him was exhilarating, uplifting, life-altering, and he never wanted it to end.

  “Ben, will you help me get a choclit doughnut, please?”

  Coop did his best to come down from the clouds long enough to get Joey a doughnut, set him up at the child’s table to eat it and stand guard in case the boy needed him.

  Moving to stand beside him, Alyssa looked at Joey. Smiled. “Thanks.”

  “My pleasure.” Gazing into her deep blue eyes, he didn’t know what to say. She probably wasn’t ready to hear how he felt anyway.

  But he was definitely getting the feeling he’d found the woman he never wanted to live without.

  * * *

  Seeing nothing going on at Ben’s house, Alyssa stepped back from the cottage window and peered intently at the sunny gold curtains she’d just hung in the living room. Did one seem a tad crooked? How had that happened when she’d measured so carefully? She couldn’t even get straight seams right? Who knew simple sewing was so difficult?

  Sighing, she decided to see how much it bothered her to live with imperfect curtains. She focused on the newly shampooed floral sofa Fred’s thrift store had delivered yesterday. Sighed. Not the right vibe for cottage chic, but she’d live with it until she had time to sharpen her sewing skills. She really wanted to make her own slipcover like she’d done with Gram when she was a girl.

  She settled at the kitchen table to move her lampshade project to the next stage, then realized the glue hadn’t dried enough to work on it. So she grabbed the bottle of furniture oil Lou had recommended she use. Humming a hymn from church this morning, she settled on the floor and rubbed oil on the old trunk–turned–coffee table.

  She finished polishing the trunk, the rocking chair she’d found at Slim’s Treasures last week and every stick of furniture in the cottage. Except the boys’ room, because they were still napping.

  Wasn’t it about time for them to wake up? She checked the clock above the sink. Hmm. It wasn’t as late as she’d thought.

  It was too quiet when the boys napped. Too lonely after they went to bed in the evenings. She walked into the living room and looked out the window again. Still nothing going on over there. Were they reading or on their computers or napping? But they never napped. Maybe they’d gone someplace?

  Ben had looked so handsome sitting beside her in c
hurch this morning in a medium blue sweater and khakis. She’d struggled to keep her eyes off him. But didn’t he always look handsome?

  Hope, on the other hand, had looked awful, her face puffy as if she’d been crying quite a bit. Had she and Ben been talking, or was Hope still hiding out in her room?

  In either case, their demeanors said they weren’t happy with each other. And it was her fault, of course.

  She groaned, realizing how pathetic she was. Why couldn’t she keep busy enough to stop missing them and the active household they’d shared? Making herself leave the window, she marched into the kitchen, took out baking paraphernalia and Gram’s cookbook and whipped up a double batch of chocolate oatmeal cookies.

  “I’m not tired anymore, Mommy. Please can I visit Ben and Hope and Digger now?” Joey stood just inside the kitchen, hair sleep-tousled, eyes pleading.

  He looked so forlorn and miserable she wanted to cry. “No, honey. It’s so quiet over there, I don’t even think they’re home.” The oven timer pinged. She took the last cookie sheet from the oven. “I made chocolate oatmeal cookies. Would you like one with milk?”

  “I’m not hungry.” He turned and trudged out of the room.

  “Where are you going?”

  “To sleep with Robbie.”

  Now, she was getting worried. “How would you like to take a ride?”

  “To see Ben and Hope and Digger?” He brightened.

  “No.” She thought a moment. “Let’s go visit Mr. Krentz.”

  “The man that pulled our car out of the snow with his tractor?”

  “That’s the one. Do you want to help me pack up some cookies for him?”

  He nodded.

  Forty minutes later, Zebadiah Krentz grumpily opened his door to Alyssa’s knock. “Stuck again?”

  “I baked cookies,” Alyssa said. “So we brought you some.”

  Zebadiah didn’t lose his frown, but he did step back to allow them to come inside.

  Joey handed the plastic container to the old man.

  He grunted. “What kind?”

  “Choclit oatmeal,” Joey answered. “They taste real good.”

  “You make them?”

  Joey shook his head. “Mommy cooked ’em when Robbie and me were asleep.”

  “Go ahead, try one,” Alyssa encouraged.

  He set the container on the table, opened the lid and took out a cookie. “Want one, Joseph?”

  “My tummy’s full.”

  “These are for you,” Alyssa explained. “I hope you like them.”

  Zebadiah replaced the cover, took a bite of cookie. He looked Alyssa straight in the eye. “A pie. Now, cookies. Do I look like I need fattening up?”

  “I figured feeding your sweet tooth couldn’t hurt. When was the last time you baked for yourself?”

  He frowned. “Never. The last time I had anything home baked was probably something your gramma Emma gave me.”

  Alyssa had guessed right. “I used her recipe for these cookies.”

  “Hmm. Never would have guessed that. These are pretty good.”

  “Not as good as Gram’s, though, right?”

  He shook his head. “Emma was a good cook. But she never did get the hang of baking.”

  His words shocked her. “Are you kidding me?”

  He narrowed his eyes. “I don’t know you well enough to do that.”

  “I loved Gram’s cookies.”

  “You were a kid. You probably loved anything sweet.”

  She frowned. She thought about Joey’s indiscriminate taste for sweet things. Did Zebadiah have a point? But it didn’t really matter because she’d never believe Gram’s baking was anything but amazing. “You said you’d like to see my father again. My parents are coming to Rainbow Lake to celebrate Thanksgiving with us at the cottage. If you’ll join us, I’ll have my father pick you up.”

  He finished off his cookie and pointed at her. “Trying to lure me out into the world, I take it.”

  “Only to Gram’s little cottage. You used to go there, right?”

  “Went to see her. Doesn’t mean I need to go there anymore. Joseph can come here if he wants to see me.”

  “Then I’ll send Thanksgiving dinner over with him.”

  “You cook as well as you bake?”

  “Since I took a cooking class, I haven’t had any complaints. I’ve never roasted a turkey before, though, so I’ll depend on you to give me your honest opinion.”

  “It’s the only kind worth giving.”

  She thought about his words. She could count on Zebadiah to speak his mind, and he often had important things to say. “How did you get so wise?”

  He narrowed his eyes as if considering her question. “Wisdom comes from God. You think maybe He’s finally getting through?”

  “I think you’re onto something.”

  “You go to church?”

  “I have been lately. If you’d like to go, I’ll pick you up.”

  “What makes you think I need to go to church to find Him?”

  “I don’t think that. I haven’t gone to church much. Especially not since my husband’s funeral.”

  “Why did you go back?”

  Good question. Why had she gone back? “Ben Cooper invited me to go with his daughter and him. And I began working there. The day care for my boys is there. And there’s something inspiring about worshipping with others. Do you think that’s one reason Jesus said He’d be wherever two or more are gathered in His name?”

  “You’re asking the wrong man, missy. I prefer private talks. No distractions. No fuss. No bother. Never had much use for a lot of people. I used to go to church ’cause Viola liked to go. Then your grandmother said she liked having company when she went, so I’d go with her.”

  “You and Gram were really good friends, weren’t you?”

  “We watched out for each other.” He got a funny look on his face. “Even helped each other out a few times when we got ourselves in trouble.”

  Alyssa perked up at that. “What kind of trouble?”

  “You think I’m going to tattle on your grandmother?”

  She laughed. “I’m curious.”

  “Well, you’re just going to have to live with it.” He shuffled over to the door. “Young Cooper brought me a new generator the other day. Says the old one can’t be fixed. Think I can trust him?”

  “Absolutely. I’ve never met a more trustworthy man.”

  “I thought so. I appreciate the cookies.”

  Apparently, he was dismissing her. She sighed. She sure wasn’t looking forward to another long, lonely evening once she put the boys to bed.

  * * *

  “The turkey smells and looks absolutely delicious, dear.”

  “Thanks, Mother.” Alyssa set the roaster containing the beautifully browned turkey on the cutting board with a thud. She slipped the sheet of rolls into the oven and glanced through the window at the sparkling new landscape dusted with last night’s snow.

  Ben would be arriving soon, and she couldn’t keep her excitement at bay. She’d seen him only briefly when he’d dropped off a box of their items he’d found around his house. She assumed he would have told her if he’d had any breakthroughs with Hope, so she hadn’t asked. Would Hope come with him?

  She didn’t know what to expect where Hope was concerned. But she’d missed them both so much, even if she had been terribly busy getting settled and preparing for Thanksgiving and the fund-raiser.

  At least Ben would be here today. And he’d meet her parents who’d arrived last night. It was so good to see them. They’d been genuinely thrilled to see the boys again. They’d been trying to win Robbie over and playing nonstop with Joey ever since.

  Right now, Daddy was teaching Joey how to
play checkers in the living room while she and her mother pulled the meal together. Hopefully, Robbie would nap until they’d finished eating.

  She was mashing potatoes when a knock on the front door sent the masher flying from her hand, spraying potatoes everywhere.

  She began cleaning them off herself and the counter, wall and floor around her. Thankfully, the tablecloth and set table were far enough away to be missed. She’d wanted to greet Ben at the door and introduce him to her parents, but that was before cleaning up potatoes demanded her attention.

  “Welcome.” Her father’s voice boomed from the other room.

  Ben’s deep voice mingled with Hope’s and Joey’s excited ones. Hope had come after all. Alyssa whipped off her apron, stashed it in a nearby cupboard and smoothed her hair.

  Her mother chuckled. “I can’t wait to meet him.”

  “He’s...” She swallowed, too many superlatives crowding her mind to choose just one or two. Pressing her hands to her hot cheeks, she shook her head.

  “I’ve never seen you like this.”

  “I’ve never felt like this.”

  “Never?”

  She met her mother’s questioning gaze. “Cam and I worked together for a long time. We were a team. But this...this is magic.” She shook her head. “Not that it can go anywhere.”

  “How well can you really know him in such a short time?”

  “I know he’s a kind, caring, wonderful man,” Alyssa defended. “But I’m doing my best to—”

  “Your best smells fantastic.” Ben’s voice sent shivers through her.

  She turned to face him.

  He filled the doorway, a glass vase of pink roses in one hand, a bottle of sparkling cider in the other. He gave her the smile that made her knees go weak. “You look wonderful.”

  All she could do was answer his smile. She remembered they weren’t alone. “Mother, meet Ben Cooper,” she said proudly.

  “So nice to meet you, Ben.” Her mother took the bottle, then shook his hand.

  “A real pleasure, Mrs. Bradley.” He flashed the smile.

  Her mother responded the way any woman would.