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

by Angela Benson

  The extra weight bothered some women, but not his Shay. She had loved the idea of waddling around with their child inside her, and so had he. They'd both reveled in the changes in her body and what those changes meant for their lives together. They'd been so hopeful then, so full of expectation at what God would do with their lives and their family.

  Marvin opened his eyes and pushed the memories aside, thankful he'd been able to enjoy that brief visit with them, but knowing he couldn't handle any more. He tightened the arms he had wrapped around his wife. He knew she struggled with the memories as well, though they didn't talk much about them. Their grief over Marvin Jr. was not a shared grief. It was something they each had worked out separately. By the time he had returned home to her, they had found individual ways to cope and had made their individual peace with God. Sometimes he felt she wanted to open the now closed wounds of grief and share them with him, but he suspected she sensed they were wounds he did not want to revisit, and so she left them alone.

  He wanted to be able to respond to his wife's need to discuss the past, but he feared facing his loss again. He wasn't sure the grief still didn't have the power to consume him, and if it did consume him, he wasn't sure he'd be able to recover a second time. Now his wife wanted a baby, and with that desire the past was reinserting itself into their lives.

  The shrill ring of the telephone stopped his wandering thoughts, and he tried to reach the phone before the sound woke Shay. No such luck. His wife reached out and threw her right hand over the receiver. She picked up the phone without even opening her eyes. Marvin wondered who was calling at this early hour, but he wasn't alarmed. Early morning calls had been pretty common around their house when they were directors of Genesis House in Atlanta, and he knew things would be no different here.

  "Hello," Shay said, her voice as clear as if she'd been awake for hours, though her eyes were still closed. Always concerned with making others feel at ease, both of them had perfected the technique of erasing every bit of sleep from their voice so early-morning and late-night callers wouldn't feel as though they'd awakened them. As he watched his wife now, her eyes shot open. "Daniel," she said, her sleep totally gone now, "he's right here." She turned in her husband's embrace and handed him the phone. Then she pressed a light kiss against his jaw, eased out of the bed, and padded to the bathroom.

  * * *

  Marvin hung up the phone as Shay walked out of the bathroom. She looked adorable in one of his old college T-shirts, her feet bare and her soft curls in mass disarray on her head.

  "What was that all about?" she asked as she climbed back into bed next to him.

  He slid down beside her and pulled her into his arms. "Nothing. Daniel's going to be out of town all day, and he wanted to make sure we had everything we needed from him."

  "Today's the day, huh?" She snuggled closer to him. "The first day of the rest of our lives."

  Marvin heard the awe in her voice, and he knew she was marveling again at the idea of God restoring their dream to them. He kissed the flat curls on top of her head. "More than we can ask or think," he murmured. "More than we can ask or think."

  Shay leaned away from him and looked into his eyes. The sparkle he saw reflected in hers let him know she was up to something. "What?" he asked.

  Shaking her head, she pushed away from him and leaned over to open the top drawer of the nightstand on her side of the bed. When she turned back to him, she had a worn five-by-seven-inch spiral notebook in her hand and a glint in her eyes.

  "What's that?" he asked.

  "You'll never guess. Not in a million years."

  He eyed her skeptically. "I know I won't, so tell me."

  She flipped the notebook open, searched through a few pages and, seeming to find what she wanted, handed him the pad.

  Tears and laughter fought for dominance as he read the top line on the page: New Millennium List for Genesis House. "Where'd you find this?" He scanned the list of a dozen or so items they'd created during their early years as directors of Genesis House in Atlanta. That seemed a lifetime ago now.

  With a lazy up-and-down motion of her shoulders, Shay took up her place at his side again. "I ran across it when Vickie and I were unpacking the boxes on Saturday. I meant to tell you that night, but your Mr. Macho act distracted me."

  He glanced down at her. "Macho act? Me?"

  She rapped his chest with her knuckles. "Yes, you."

  He took her hand in his, brought it to his lips, and pressed a kiss to each knuckle, one by one. "I still remember the day we started making this list," he said, allowing thoughts of that time to roam free in his mind. They'd started the list a few months after Marvin Jr. was born, when they realized that being ministry leaders was not 100 percent compatible with raising a family. So they'd started a list of ways they'd like to evolve the Genesis House work so it would be more compatible with their lifestyle as parents. Over time, the list had become a more general list of lessons learned, or things they would do differently if they were involved in another ministry start-up.

  "I remember the day we started the list, too." Shay smoothed her hand across his chest in a gesture of comfort that he was sure wasn't a conscious action on her part. "We've come a long way, honey."

  Marvin held her closer, letting her words and her touch soothe him. Things had been so good for them back when they'd started the list. They'd been looking forward to a long, happy life of loving and serving together, but life hadn't played out exactly the way they'd planned. All that said, Marvin was happy with the life he had now. An orphan shuffled from foster home to foster home, never having the sense of permanency and safety that a stable family provided, he held in his arms more than he ever thought he'd have, and he was content. He wouldn't look for more than his share. The more a man had, the more he had to lose. Life had taught him that lesson. Marvin didn't need more. He was perfectly content. All he had to do was make sure Shay felt the same way.

  * * *

  Marvin eyed his opponent, feinted left, and then went in for the layup. Lord, just let these legs hold out until I'm off the court.

  "Not bad for an old man," Bo said. Marvin had run into the nineteen-year-old quite by accident while out on his trek through the neighborhoods surrounding the church. To his mind, an outreach ministry began with the people, and he wanted to get to know them. So after the morning breakfast and prayer time with Shay that was a standard part of their day, he had headed out on foot to survey the land, so to speak. He'd wanted Shay to come with him, but she'd had plans for lunch with Vickie. Divine providence, he guessed, because now he found himself in a pickup game of basketball with the elusive Bo.

  Marvin shot the kid a menacing glance before giving in to his need to relax his back muscles. He leaned forward and rested his hands on his knees. "I may be old, but I'm good enough to beat you," Marvin shot back. So what if I have to spend the next week in bed?

  The boy-man laughed, the rich, full laughter of youth. He propped his hands on his bony hips. "You were trying so hard, man, I had to give you a break."

  Rested now, Marvin stood to his full height, which unfortunately was no taller than the young man next to him. So much for the height intimidation factor. "And I believe that because you look like a Good Samaritan," he told the boy.

  "You don't believe me?" the boy said, obviously affronted.

  "I didn't say that," Marvin replied, knowing the boy would know that's exactly what he meant.

  Bo studied him for a long minute. "Okay, you talk a good game for an old dude. You can sink a few baskets, but can you last an entire game?"

  Marvin tried not to take exception to the "old dude" comment, though it did sting a bit. When did thirty-five become an old dude? "I can back up my words. The question is, can you?"

  Bo propped his hands back on those bony hips. "You got a lady?" he asked.

  Marvin squinted his eyes at the change in conversation topic. "I have a wife."

  "She fine?"

  Marvin mocked the boy'
s position and propped his hands on his own hips. "What do you think?"

  Bo laughed. "I think she's fine," he said. Then he inclined his head toward the fence behind Marvin. "And I think she likes to keep track of her man."

  Marvin turned his head toward the chain-link fence that separated the concrete court from the rest of the small neighborhood park and saw Shay. He felt proud that she waited for him, all fresh and clean in her blue walking shorts and blue-and-white Spelman blouse.

  "You'd better get over there, man," Bo said. "You don't want to keep a pretty lady waiting."

  Marvin waved to his wife, and she waved back. Turning back to Bo, he asked, "You want to meet her?"

  The boy's widened eyes showed his surprise at the question. Marvin understood the low self-esteem he saw reflected there. "Come on," he said, clapping the boy on the back. "She'd love to meet you. Besides, I want to tell her how I beat you on the court, and she'll have a hard time believing me if you're not there to confirm my story."

  Bo shook his head and began to back away. "Nah, man, you go on with your lady. I gotta roll."

  "Don't go," Marvin said, waving Shay forward. He felt a connection with the teen that went beyond his desire to keep his promise to Daniel. "I know she wants to meet you. Besides, I can't have you dissin' my lady."

  "It ain't like that, man," Bo said, but he stopped backing away.

  When Shay reached them, Marvin pulled her close and pressed a soft kiss against her lips.

  "Hi, babe," he said. "How'd you know where to find me?"

  Shay wiped her lipstick from his face and grinned at him.

  "Who said I was looking for you? I can do much better than a sweaty, middle-aged jock."

  Marvin laughed, wrapping an arm around her waist. "Correction: a sweaty, middle-aged jock who just beat a youngster in a tough game of basketball."

  "Braggart," she said, leaning closer to him. That his wife didn't seem to mind that he was sweaty and badly in need of a shower made Marvin smile.

  "Meet Bo," he said, bringing the young man into the conversation. "Bo, this is my wife, Shay."

  Bo clutched the ball in his hands and nodded. "Nice to meet you," he said, his words stiff.

  "Bo?" Shay asked, giving the youngster her best smile. "You aren't by any chance our Bo, are you?"

  Bo looked askance at Marvin. "Your Bo?"

  Marvin grinned at the boy; then he turned to Shay. "He's our Bo, all right."

  Bo looked from husband to wife, his entire face a question. "What are you two talking about?" Marvin noticed that Bo's grammar and enunciation improved considerably with that question.

  "You didn't tell him?" Shay asked her husband.

  Marvin shook his head. "I was going to."

  "You should have told him."

  "Told me what?" Bo wanted to know.

  "We moved into Pastor Dan's place," Marvin explained to the teen.

  The visible tension in Bo's shoulders eased and a slow smile made its way across his face. "Oh, so you're the new preacher."

  Marvin shook his head. "I'm not a preacher."

  "But you work for the church, right?"

  "Right, but I'm not a preacher."

  "If you say so. Anyway," Bo said to Shay, "I'm sorry about the picnic tables. I sorta got caught up in something and couldn't get free."

  "Don't worry about it." Shay dismissed the incident with a wave of her hand. "It all worked out. I wish you had made it to the cookout, though. We had lots of food."

  "Speaking of food," Marvin said, rubbing his stomach, "I'm hungry. Why don't we get something to eat?" He turned to Bo. "My treat, but you'll have to tell us where to go. We've only eaten out once and that was at the restaurant behind the Wal-Mart."

  Bo chuckled. "That's about the best you're going to do unless you want to drive for about an hour."

  "I guess that's where we'll go then," Marvin said. "You coming with us?"

  Bo started backing up again. "Nah, man. I have to see somebody 'bout somethin', you know?"

  Marvin chuckled. "Sure, I know." He extended his hand to the boy. "Good game."

  "See ya 'round."

  "When?" Marvin asked as Bo turned away.

  Bo turned back. "Huh?"

  "You owe me," Marvin told the boy. "Twice now."

  "What you talkin' 'bout, man?" the boy asked, shoulders tight with tension again.

  Marvin kept his stance and voice relaxed. He didn't want to scare the boy away. "You owe me for unloading those tables for you; then you owe me because I beat you today, and according to Daniel you're supposed to take care of some chores around the house."

  Bo's lips curled. "I shoulda known a preacher would try to jack me up."

  Marvin brushed off the insult without comment. "I'm only trying to help you keep your word. What's a man, if his word is no good?"

  "All right. No sermons today. How many times do I have to go to church before my debt is paid?"

  "What?"

  "Look," Bo said, dropping the basketball to the ground and propping his foot on top of it. "I've been around preachers enough to know that all they want is to get you in church so they can preach at you. So how many times do you want me to come?"

  "I'm not that easy." Marvin wondered about Bo's past experiences with preachers but saw no value in following up on the boy's comment at this point in their relationship. Remembering what Daniel had said about Bo working the midnight shift, he said, "How about you meet me at my house tomorrow at three, and we'll figure something out?"

  "For what?"

  "Come by tomorrow and see. Can I count on you to be there? Nothing's gonna come up, is it?"

  "Hey, I'll be there," Bo said, picking up his ball. "Bet on it."

  Marvin extended his hand again. Instead of shaking it, Bo folded his own hand into a fist and clapped it down on top of Marvin's outstretched palm. Then he nodded to Shay and backed his way off the court.

  After Bo was out of sight, Marvin turned to Shay. "Where's your car?" he asked, looking around for the vehicle. He grudgingly admitted he was eager to rest his tired bones.

  "I left it at the church. We're going to have to walk back, Mr. Macho." She peered up at him. "You can lean on me if you're too tired to make it on your own."

  Marvin frowned down at her. "Remind me to make you pay for that remark, Mrs. Taylor."

  Shay giggled and then relaxed against his side. They walked a few blocks through the eclectic neighborhood in silence. Houses that looked as if they'd been boarded up for months sat among well-maintained homes and dilapidated houses that many would call shacks. The neighborhood reminded Marvin of the places he'd wandered as a forgotten child trying to outwit the foster care system. He guessed every city and every town had one like it. On his initial trek through the neighborhood he'd noticed the boarded-up houses, eyesores serving no purpose, and an idea began to form in his mind.

  "What if we locate our Genesis House office down here?" he suggested to Shay.

  She stopped walking and made a quick three-sixty of the area. "Down here where? There's no office space."

  "See that?" Marvin pointed to a boarded-up house. Two stories. Pretty run-down, but he thought it had potential. "There are five or six of them around here. I was thinking we could buy one and convert it to what we needed."

  "I see," Shay began with a nod. "Hey, it could work." Her eyes brightened with the possibilities. "If we're going to convert a house to office space, couldn't we just as easily have living space and office space in the same building?"

  Marvin grinned. He already knew where his wife's thoughts were headed. Colocating their personal living space and Genesis House office space had been on their New Millennium List for Genesis House. "Why would we want to do that?" he asked with an exaggerated scratch of his chin.

  Laughing, Shay rocked her hips against his and pushed. "So we could live in the space with the office." She made another three-sixty spin. "You know, this is a great idea. If we moved in, we could give Daniel back his house. I never really f
elt right about his moving anyway."

  Marvin nodded. "I'm with you, babe."

  "So how do we get started?"

  Marvin took her hand and urged her back into a walking pace. "A few calls to a realtor should get things moving. I'll get started on it before the end of the week."

  "I can't wait."

  He couldn't, either. "Now that you have a smile on your face," Marvin said, "why don't you tell me why you came looking for me?"

  Shay batted her eyelashes in an overly flirtatious manner. "Because I wanted to see you. Isn't that obvious?"

  He squeezed her closer and laughed. "I'm flattered, but I thought you were lunching with Vickie."

  "She had to work through lunch," Shay confessed. "They had a problem with some big project or something."

  "So, I'm your second choice, huh?"

  "Never," she said with such honesty and commitment in her voice that his heart tightened. He stopped and kissed her right there on the sidewalk.

  After the kiss, they quietly resumed walking, hand in hand. Thank you, Lord, for this woman, Marvin's heart sang.

  A while later, Shay said, "I like Bo. Do you think he'll show tomorrow?"

  "Bet," Marvin answered, and both of them chuckled.

  "Hey, I just thought of something," Shay said when they reached the car.

  Marvin held her door open for her. "What?"

  "Make sure you find a house with room for a nursery." When Marvin didn't respond, Shay looked up at him, a bright smile on her face. "Don't look so scared. I'm not pregnant. Yet."

  Talk to her, the small voice that Marvin recognized as his conscience said. Make her understand how you feel. Closing his wife's door, he shook off the advice of his conscience and headed to the driver's side to join her in the car.

  Chapter 5

  "Where's your shadow?" Daniel stretched up on his toes to look over Marvin's shoulder as Marvin entered the grand two-story foyer of the house Daniel shared with Marcus.

  Marvin walked in past his friend, tossing his red baseball cap on the worn, vinyl couch before sitting down and stretching out his long, bare legs. "What are you talking about, man?"