Genesis House Inspirational Romance and Family Drama Boxed Set: 3-in-1

by Angela Benson

  He certainly could believe it, but CeCe's tone told him she probably wouldn't appreciate his sharing that opinion.

  "Where were they when David was born?" she asked. He knew she didn't expect an answer. No, she was getting rid of the pain. It was so intense he could feel it. Any other time he would have reached out to comfort her, but tonight his arms stayed at his side. "Your parents were more accepting of David than they've ever been. Can you believe that?"

  Obviously, she couldn't believe it. She turned back to him. "You aren't saying anything," she observed. "What are you thinking?"

  Her question sounded like an accusation, and Nate wasn't sure how to respond. "Why don't you want them to see David?" he asked.

  Her eyes widened as if she thought the answer should be obvious to him. "Because it's too late. Because David wouldn't understand."

  Her argument was weak, and Nate knew she knew it was weak, but her tone dared him to challenge her. Since he loved her, he had no choice. "Are you sure this isn't more about you than it's about David?"

  "What do you mean by that?" she asked, her tone again daring him to disagree with her.

  He didn't want to hurt her, but he wanted to understand and he wanted to help. "I can see how upset you are, CeCe, but to be honest, I can understand their wanting to see their grandson."

  "He's not their grandson," she said, her voice tight with anger and pain. "They didn't want him when he was born. How dare they think they can be part of his life now! How would I explain to David that he has grandparents but he doesn't have a father?"

  Nate didn't know what to say. CeCe was clearly distraught, and he didn't think she was ready to listen to reason right now. "Look, we don't have to solve this tonight," he said. "You're tired. I'm tired. The problem will still be here tomorrow. Let's talk about it then."

  "I don't know what else we have to talk about." She lifted her chin in defiance and finality. "I've said all I have to say."

  "I know," he said, pulling her into his arms. "Now walk me to the door. Tomorrow is going to be a long day. You're still going to church with us, aren't you?"

  CeCe raised surprised eyes to his. "Of course. Why would you think I wasn't?"

  Nate didn't answer her. He kissed her briefly, and then he was gone. As he walked to his car, he prayed, Lord, please help her to forgive them. And help me to help her.

  When he got into his car, he wasn't smiling. The joy of the day had been tarnished. If there was one thing he knew two people absolutely must possess in order to build a life together, it was the ability to forgive. He knew CeCe had the capacity in her to do it. He just prayed that she knew it too.

  Chapter 12

  "Don't look so sad, CeCe," Mr. Richardson whispered in her ear as he hugged her good-bye. She and Nate had driven them to the airport and waited with them for their plane to board. Now that their seats had been called, it was time for them to part. CeCe felt both sad and relieved. Sad, because she'd enjoyed the older couple so very much. And relieved, because the happy facade she'd been wearing since her discussion with Nate last night had not been very effective.

  "All couples disagree," Mr. Richardson was saying. "Like I told Nate, it's good the two of you have to work through this problem now. In working it through, you'll find out whether you're willing to do what it takes to make a marriage work." He pulled back from her and chucked her under her chin with a loose fist. "Now give me a smile. I don't want tears to be the thing I remember about you when I get home. It'll be all right, I promise you. You love Nate, and he loves you. Most important, I think you're a fighter. To be married, you have to be a fighter, because you have to fight for your love against the obstacles that will surely come against you."

  "Dad, it's time," Nate called from near the boarding gate, where he stood with his mother.

  "That's my girl," Mr. Richardson said when CeCe smiled. "Fighters do what has to be done. They don't give up, even when the going gets tough. That's the kind of woman my boy needs, CeCe, and the kind of man you need, too. Now enough of that. I'm tired of hearing myself talk, so I know you're tired of it, but thanks for listening to an old man."

  CeCe leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Thank you," she said, taking his arm and following him to Nate and Mrs. Richardson.

  "What are you trying to do, Dad?" Nate asked, moving from his mother's side to CeCe's. "Take my girl?"

  The older man laughed and shook his head. "She's mighty tempting, Son, but I think your mother is about all the woman I can handle."

  Nate and CeCe grinned at the glare Mrs. Richardson gave her husband. "Just come on," the older woman said. "We're going to be the last ones on the plane as it is."

  Mr. Richardson winked at Nate and CeCe. "She nags me to death, but I still love her."

  Mrs. Richardson took her husband's arm and began to lead him to the jet way. "He doesn't know what he'd do without me," she said. She, too, winked, then added, "I hope he never has to find out. You children take care. CeCe, I'll be calling you about your visit to Chicago." When she and her husband reached the boarding gate, she turned back to them. "You two need to hurry up and make up. You both look terrible." With that and a smile, she turned, and she and her husband made their way down the jetway.

  CeCe felt Nate looking at her, so she wasn't surprised when he spoke. "They're right," he said. "You look about as bad as I do." He gave a weak smile. "I'm going to take that as a good sign. I hope it means that you don't like the tension between us any more than I do. Am I right?"

  She nodded her head twice in answer. "I couldn't sleep after you left last night. I wanted to call you, but I didn't know what to say. I wasn't sure what you'd say."

  "I love you," Nate said in a strong, clear voice. He took her hand in his. "Let's get out of here and find a better place to talk."

  CeCe leaned close to him as they walked down the crowded concourse to the escalators. During the brief train ride to the ground transportation area where they had parked, she took strength from the love that flowed between them. They would work out their differences. She'd make him understand about Eric's parents. She had to.

  * * *

  Nate drove with one hand because he didn't want to lose contact with CeCe. Last night had been awful for him. He'd been scared, so very scared. Last night had been the first time since he'd started seeing CeCe that he wondered if they might not end up together. He'd tried to shake the thought, but he hadn't been successful. Instead, he'd tossed and turned all night long. Even while they'd been in church this morning, his thoughts had been on CeCe and Eric's parents. After the service, he'd been more convinced than ever that the real issue here was whether CeCe would forgive Eric's parents. After she did that, she'd know how to deal with their request to be part of David's life.

  He drove her to his favorite spot at Stone Mountain Park, a shaded spot with a clear view of the huge granite rock, but off the beaten path so they'd have some privacy. He sat and pulled her down next to him.

  She spread out the skirt of her denim jumper to cover her legs. "I'm glad you thought to come here, but what made you think of this place?" she asked, as if needing to say something.

  "I used to come out here sometimes when I needed some peace and quiet to think, to pray." He'd found the spot quite by accident during one of the early morning runs he'd taken around the mountain when he lived in an apartment complex nearby.

  "I'm glad you're sharing it with me."

  He turned to her, the seriousness of the moment weighing heavily on him. He knew, he just knew, that what they said here now would greatly affect the course of their relationship. "This isn't all I want to share with you, CeCe. I want to share your life. I want to build a life with you. That means that your burdens become my burdens. That's the love I feel for you."

  CeCe launched herself against him, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding on as if their life together depended on it. He knew then that she felt the gravity of the moment just as he did. "That's what I want, too, Nate. Really I do. I love you so m
uch it hurts. Sometimes I think something will happen and you'll realize that I'm not good enough for you."

  He pulled her away from him so he could look into the eyes that so enchanted him. "You—not good enough for me?" He gave a dry, empty laugh. "If anybody's not good enough, it's me." He paused and cleared his throat. "You have no idea how special you are to me. I thought you did, but you don't. Don't you know that you are God's gift to me? To me." He thumped his chest. "I love everything you are and everything the Lord is making you to be. I want to be there during your times of trials and failures as well as during your successes. There is no part of you that I don't love—and that includes the parts that I don't know."

  "How can you say that, Nate?" CeCe asked, her eyes shadowed with pain. "I still remember the way you looked at me last night when we were talking about the letter from Eric's parents. I felt your disappointment with me and your withdrawal. I thought I was losing your love."

  "Never that," he said, and he meant it. He knew he'd always love her. If he didn't spend the rest of his life with CeCe, he knew he would spend it alone, for he didn't believe there could be anyone else for him. "What you saw last night was concern, very deep concern."

  "You think I should let Eric's parents back into our lives, don't you?"

  "No—"

  "Don't lie to me, Nate."

  He caught her by the shoulders. "I would never lie to you. Never. You should know that. What I was going to say was that it's your decision what you do about Eric's parents. My only concern was the anger you displayed. That anger comes from hurt, CeCe."

  CeCe looked away from him and toward the mountain. "Of course I'm hurt. They hurt me. They rejected me. They left me to go through everything by myself. While they planned one of the biggest weddings people in our town had ever seen, I was suffering through a pregnancy all by myself. Where were they then?"

  Nate felt her anger and her hurt, and he hurt for her, but he knew she had to let it go. "They were wrong, CeCe. But the letters seem to indicate that they want to right their wrong. Have you ever opened one of them?"

  She nodded slowly—begrudgingly, he thought. "When they first started coming almost a year ago, I opened them. I wrote back and told them I didn't think the time was right, but they keep writing as though I'd never answered the first letter. You'd think they'd get it by now. I wonder why this sudden interest in David, anyway. What have they been doing for the past four years?"

  Nate took a deep breath. Lord, please give me the right words to comfort the woman I love. "I don't know. What were you doing for those years?"

  She jerked her head in his direction. "What kind of question is that? I was raising David. Alone."

  He shook his head. "I don't mean that. I mean what were you doing here." He placed his hand across her heart. "What was going on here during those years?"

  "I told you," she said, a bit more relaxed now. "I rededicated my life to Christ and began living my life to please him."

  "So you think your response to Eric's parents is pleasing to God?"

  She didn't speak immediately, and he thought that was a good sign. When she did speak, she said, "They—Eric and his parents—hurt me so much. I'd known them all my life, Nate, but after they found out I was pregnant, it was as though I was a monster from an alien planet. They acted as though I'd seduced their son, or worse yet, that I was making the whole thing up."

  "Is it possible that Eric told them that you did?" he asked, trying to reach beyond her emotions to someplace where she could reason.

  "It doesn't matter what Eric told his parents," she answered. "They knew me. They should have known I wouldn't lie about a baby. They should have known."

  Nate clasped her hand in his. "Eric is their son, and they wanted to believe him, to believe in him. How do you think they'd have felt if Eric had told them the truth?"

  Nate wasn't surprised when she didn't answer. She was so wrapped up in her own pain that she couldn't see—didn't want to see—the pain of others. He bowed his head and began to pray. "Lord, we need your strength today. You told us to forgive, and you showed us how. You continue to show us. Help us to show your love the same way. Help us to forgive the people who hurt us. I love CeCe so much that the people who hurt her also hurt me, so help me to forgive Eric and his parents for their mistreatment of her. Help me to pray earnestly for their souls. I thank you again for bringing CeCe into my life. Build us together as one in you. Teach us to serve you and to serve each other. Let us spur each other to growth in you. Let us be better servants together than we would have been apart. We love you, and we thank you for loving us. In Jesus' name. Amen."

  * * *

  Nate wasn't surprised to see Stuart's Expedition and Marvin's Altima parked in his driveway when he arrived home later that evening, but he couldn't decide whether he was glad they were here. Of course, Marvin was here because it seemed that he now lived here, but Nate's instincts told him that Stuart was here to find out how CeCe had gotten along with his parents. He suspected Marvin had mentioned something to their mutual friend about his demeanor last night. Nate hadn't been able to hide his feelings from Marvin, though he hadn't discussed them with his friend, either.

  Nate took a deep breath before entering his home, or maybe he should call it a shelter, since Marvin had sought and found refuge here. He heard sounds from the family room and considered bypassing his friends for some quiet time in his bedroom, but he knew he'd only be putting off the inevitable. He decided to brave the tigers head-on.

  He entered the room and found his two friends, each stretched out on one of the matching leather sofas, engrossed in some interview on ESPN. "What's up?" he called to them as he came forward. Stuart sat up and made room for him, while Marvin merely threw up a hand in greeting.

  "We should be asking you that, my man," Stuart said. Nate sat down on the couch with him and helped himself to a handful of what he suspected were his own peanuts. "Your family loved CeCe, right?" Stuart asked without preamble.

  Nate threw back a few of the nuts. "Of course they did. Why wouldn't they?"

  Nate didn't miss the glance Stuart sent Marvin. "Is something wrong between you and CeCe, Nate?"

  Nate shook his head. "Nothing we can't handle." He wasn't being flippant, he told himself. He was being confident.

  "You're sure?"

  "I'm sure."

  Marvin leaned over and reached his hand into the bowl of peanuts. He popped a few into his mouth. "Spoken like a true optimist, if you ask me."

  "I guess it's good we didn't ask you then, huh, Marvin?" Nate said, letting loose on his friend. He'd been waiting for an opportunity to discuss how Marvin was handling his situation with Shay, and tonight, with Stuart present, seemed the right time. "Besides, you don't seem to be doing so well with your own woman. When are you going home?"

  "Tired of me already?" Marvin quipped.

  "As a matter of fact, I am," Nate said.

  Stuart lifted his right hand like a child wanting to ask a question in a classroom. "I'd like to jump in and say that I'm tired of you, too, Marvin, and you aren't even living with me."

  Marvin and Nate looked at Stuart and then at each other before breaking up into laughter. Stuart could always be counted on to use his dry wit to lower the temperature on any situation. When their laughter subsided, the men were quiet, each lost in his own thoughts. Nate thought how fortunate he was to be able to count Marvin and Stuart as his friends and brothers. Time had proven that theirs was a relationship that would endure—through law school, marriage, death, divorce, joy, and sorrow. Yes, he was blessed to have these two men in his life.

  "I'm serious though, Marvin," Nate spoke up after a few moments. "I still don't see how your being here is helping you to work out anything with Shay. In fact, it seems the distance you've put between the two of you is making things worse, not better."

  Marvin tossed a few more peanuts into his mouth. "You don't understand, man. Things couldn't get any worse between Shay and me. We don't even share t
he same bed anymore."

  Stuart and Nate shared a disconcerted glance. "Are you saying Shay put you out of your bed?" Nate asked slowly. "Somehow I can't believe that, Marvin, unless you did—"

  Marvin shook his head, his eyes directed on the television. "Shay didn't put me out," he clarified. "I moved out on my own accord."

  Stuart jumped up, surprising both Marvin and Nate. "How could you be so cruel, Marvin? Shay loves you, always has, though God knows, I'm beginning to wonder at her wisdom in doing so. Just how much do you think she can take? She lost a son, too, remember, and now she's losing her husband."

  The tension in the room became so thick that you could have reached out and touched it. Stuart had broken the two unspoken rules that had reigned between them since Marvin Jr.'s death: Don't question Marvin's grieving process, and don't bring up Marvin Jr. Well, Stuart had broken the rules, and Nate was glad he had. They had been too easy on Marvin. They'd tried patient love; now they were going to try tough love.

  "Don't talk about my boy," Marvin said, his mouth tight, his words clipped. "You just don't talk about my boy. When you lose a son, you can talk about it, but right now, you don't talk about my boy."

  Nate sighed. Lord, help us. "Marvin, somebody has to talk about him. Look at what's happening to you and Shay. Is this what you want? Are you intentionally hurting her? Do you want to lose her?" When he didn't respond, Nate added, "Say something, man."

  "You know I love her," Marvin said, his words broken. "You know I do, but like I told you before, it's just too hard being with her. She'll be better off without me. I'm no more than a millstone around her neck. I'll suck all the joy out of her life." He sat up then, placing his feet on the floor. "Do you know how many times a day I drive by my house, hoping to get a glimpse of her? Do you know whose face I see before I go to sleep every night? Shay and Marvin Jr. were the first family I'd ever had. I swore before God to love and protect them." He snorted his disgust. "I did a good job of that, didn't I?"

  "Don't do this to yourself, Marvin," Nate pleaded, feeling his friend's pain. He didn't want to think how he'd feel if something happened to CeCe or David or one of the other children he prayed they would have. But he hoped that if he lost one of them, he'd find a way to go on—if only for love of the ones left. "All this self-pity is only making your situation worse. You're in a hole, and you need to reach for help. You haven't forgotten how to do that, have you?"