Diamond Lake Series: Complete Series (Bks 1-7) Boxset

by T. K. Chapin

  Glancing back at Serenah, I waved as she pulled out of the parking stall.

  “You must be Angie.” The man’s voice reminded me of a rugged cowboy from an old western movie.

  Turning around, I shook hands with him. “You’re Mr. Atkins, right?”

  “You can call me Don.” He motioned with a wave for me to follow as he walked through the opening into the tree lot. “This isn’t rocket science here. People look at trees, give you some money, and you help them get it to their car.” He lifted a worn leathery glove that protected his hand and pointed toward the corner of the tree lot. “Back there is where Kim and Travis drop off new trees.”

  He stopped and turned around. Glancing at me from head to toe, he tapped his chin for a moment, almost shooting me a glare. “You strong enough to do this? Carry trees and whatnot?”

  Shrugging a shoulder, I said, “I own a soap factory back in Tampa. I’ve moved quite a few boxes and equipment back in the glory days of start up.”

  He turned his head and spit and then nodded as his eyes rounded back to me. “In that case, you should be okay. Don’t hurt yourself trying to lift something. If it’s too heavy, ask someone for help.”

  “Okay.”

  He raised a hand. “That’s not sexist. I tell everyone that. Trying to cover my bases. I don’t need no lawsuit right now with all the finances being poured into—” He paused. “Well, never mind.” Walking over to a small fold-out table, he pointed to a silver box with a lock. “That’s the cash box. I have the key, and if I’m not here, Chip will have it. He hangs out in the warm trailer right up yonder.” He jerked his head and pointed over to the trailer. Then his eyes moved past me and a smile came across his face. “Our first customers have arrived. You can shadow my star pupil, Micah, until you learn the ropes.” Letting out a holler, he called for the boy. “Micah!”

  A boy about the age of twelve came over to us. His face kept a serious look about it, and his Boy Scout hat sat squarely on his head.

  “I’m Angie. Nice to meet you.”

  “Micah.” He shook my hand and smiled, but it fell from his face almost immediately as he saw Don’s face not smiling. He looked to be attempting to imitate the older gentleman. Following the boy, we went over to the customer.

  The idea of working at the tree lot seemed like it would be fun, but once I got three hours in, I realized it wasn’t the greatest. Between sap covering my hands, having to take my gloves off for a better grip, and the runny nose that would never cease due to being outside, I was ready to go home when Don finally let me leave around noon. The best part of it was the little sips of conversation I’d find myself in with Micah through the shift when Don wasn’t around. If it weren’t for the kid and for a good cause, I would have probably quit.

  Late that afternoon, before the sun began to set back at the inn, Serenah and I went for a walk. Though I’d had a miserable time out in the brutal elements at the tree lot earlier in the day, it couldn’t keep me from wanting to get outside and enjoy the afternoon. The air was still chilly outside, even with all the layers of clothing she had lent me, but at least I wasn’t going to be hauling any trees around in it.

  Following behind Serenah as we made our way down the slippery ice rink of stairs that Charlie hadn’t de-iced yet, I clutched onto the railing for dear life. Every step felt loose and unsecured beneath my feet, but I kept going. Toward the bottom, I had become a little more relaxed with my grip on the railing, and a foot slid out from underneath me entirely. I let out a scream and tightly wrapped my arms around the railing as the other foot left the step. My back was inches from the stairs and my heart was beating so furiously, I thought I was on the verge of a heart attack. Serenah turned around and let out a laugh, covering her mouth.

  “You okay?” she asked, pulling down her pink scarf from her lips as her laughter slowed to a dull roar.

  “Yeah, right! Why are these so stinking slick?” I asked as I recomposed myself and got my footing. “Charlie should de-ice those.”

  “I’ll remind him. With fewer guests around the holidays, he forgets these back stairs,” Serenah said with a little laughter still in her tone. We continued down to the snow covered yard below with no more near-death experiences. The snow down in the yard was at least a foot deep thanks to the snow drift off the roof of the inn. My legs began to feel the burn as the muscles screamed out at me, begging for me to rest.

  Soon enough, we were out of the yard and into the woods that separated the inn from the neighbor on the side. As we entered the woods, the deep snow thankfully tapered. Instead of the forest floor, the snow stuck to tree branches overhead and caused the branches to bow. Hearing a branch snap in the distance a minute into the walk, I peered up and saw snow flurrying down through the pine trees. The overall quiet outdoors brought a relaxation over my entire body.

  Serenah looked over her shoulder. “Just a little bit further.”

  I didn’t know where we were going, but I was having a great time outside of the step incident. Our journey only lasted a minute or two longer, and then we arrived at a small tree that wasn’t more than four feet in height. Serenah walked right up to it and put a knee down. Her pink glove glided against the little branches of the tree, and a dusting of snow flaked off, tumbling delicately to the ground. Serenah peered over at me with glistening eyes. “This is my baby’s tree.”

  Like a snowball hitting me in the side of the head, I recalled the child she had lost when she first moved out west. Coming over to her side, I got down on my knees and hugged her with an arm.

  She looked at me and said, “You already know John went to prison, but I didn’t tell you what happened shortly thereafter.”

  “What happened?”

  “He was stabbed and killed.”

  My eyes widened. “Really?”

  She nodded as her eyes went back to the tree. “Apparently, they don’t like woman beaters in prison. Some guy stabbed him twelve times.”

  “I was a little worried he was going to get out and come after you again.”

  She laughed a little and nodded as she pulled off her glove to wipe her eyes of the tears. “I heard that a lot when he went away.”

  Our eyes both went back to the tree for a moment longer as a comfortable silence came between us. Serenah looked over at me. “I’m sorry if last night made you uncomfortable with everybody trying to give you dating advice. I wasn’t thinking when I mentioned it.”

  Shaking my head, I let out a breath of air. “Honestly, I think it helped me. I need to get out of my shell.” My eyes fell to the tree again as Serenah put her glove on. “We should pray.”

  “Okay.” Serenah reached over to hold my hand.

  As snow lightly began to fall between the trees above our heads, we bowed our heads and our hearts.

  Serenah led the prayer.

  “We come to You today, Father, seeking Your face. Seeking Your love. You are the Great Comforter, the One and only that can bring us joy during hardship. Please help us be still and know You are God. Though we don’t understand the bad that sometimes happens in this life, help us to lean on You in those times. We also pray for Emma as she’s preparing to come meet You. We pray these things in Your name, Amen.”

  Standing up after the prayer, Serenah shook her head as her eyes began to water and she turned to me. “I love you, Angie. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you when Ted passed.”

  “Oh, Serenah,” I replied, shaking my head as tears fell down my cheeks. “No, I’m sorry I haven’t been here for you.” My eyes gravitated toward where we had come from and then back at her. “You moved on from John, and I’m so proud of you for doing that. It’s amazing. I loved your mother dearly, but her advice about staying with that evil man was—”

  “I know. She was wrong.” Serenah nodded. “You’re going to be okay, Angie. You know that? You’ll find someone who loves you the way you need to be loved.”

  “Maybe.”Ted was gone, but I was ready to meet someone new. I knew that. My thoughts
drifted to the picture of that youth pastor that Katie showed me. I thought about how he had a cute smile. Maybe I’ll message him?

  That night, I retired to my room early and pulled out my laptop. Sitting crisscross on the bed, I logged into Facebook. Messages were sitting in my inbox from both Katie and Charlotte with links to those guys' profiles. Adjusting on my bed, I clicked into Katie’s guy first. Clicking through, I learned of his name—Peter. Scrolling down, I saw he enjoyed teaching youth group and helping the homeless. Seems too good to be true. Only one way to find out! Clicking Add, I closed the laptop and prayed for God’s guidance as even friending him felt awkward. One was enough for tonight.

  As I lifted my eyes from prayer, I saw the ornament box sitting on my nightstand. I had forgotten about that stranger on the plane and the business card he left in the box. Leaning over the bed, I pulled the box to me and searched for his card. Not finding it, I checked the sheets and covers. Still no card. Going to the floor, I searched on all fours. Where is it? Then I checked under the bed.

  There, in plain sight, it lay.

  Reaching, I grabbed it and sat back onto my knees. It had a cellphone number on it so I texted him.

  Me: Hi . . . this is airplane girl, Lol. Want to meet up?

  After I hit Send, I stared at my cellphone screen for a solid five minutes until my feet went numb because of the way I was sitting. I sat on the edge of the bed and began biting on a nail. Will he ever text back? I wondered.

  CHAPTER 5

  He never texted back that night. As I sipped on my morning coffee the next day and caught a glimpse of the morning news, my thoughts drifted back to that plane ride we had shared. We were dropping through clouds in a silver bullet, heading for certain death. Perhaps the prayer and his being there in that moment were just like the gift he had given me—a gift.

  A story came on the news that morning that strung Serenah and I along with smiles as we watched—a rare treat for any newscast. It was a story of a local woman in Spokane who had just lost her husband in Iraq. With little money and far less hope, she hadn’t a clue how she would pay for the gifts she had placed on layaway for her children earlier that year. Yesterday, when she went down to the store to take the items off layaway, she had discovered someone paid for it all. A stranger. My heart warmed, and I glanced over to see Serenah wiping a stray tear as she smiled.

  The front door opened and closed, followed by a stomping sound as Charlie kicked the snow from his boots. Walking around the fireplace, he came into the living room. “I got the tree.” He surveyed the room. “You ready for it?”

  “Yes, dear,” Serenah replied as she looked over to him.

  Charlie left back outside to go grab the tree, and my phone buzzed with a notification. Setting my cup down on the coaster at the end of the couch, I picked it up.

  Stranger: How about today? Meet at the North Town Mall at four.

  Wow. He texted me back, I thought. And he has a plan for us. My face couldn’t help but break into a wide grin as I read the text.

  “What?” Serenah asked.

  I flashed her the text and her eyes widened. Slapping my leg playfully, she said, “Look at you go, Angie!”

  Laughing, I shook my head. “Whatever . . . it’s just friends.”

  Me: That’ll work. Just as friends though.

  Stranger: Ha-ha. As you wish.

  Charlie made his way back inside, huffing and grunting as he pulled the massive tree through the foyer and into the living room. A trail of pine needles followed closely behind him. Serenah’s eyes caught the mess he was making.

  “You’d better clean those up,” Serenah warned playfully.

  “Sure.” He glanced toward the back of the tree and shook his head as sweat beaded on his forehead. Looking back to Serenah, he said, “Come help me, please.” Charlie held a huff to his tone as he was most likely exhausted by the time he got the tree into the living room.

  “Don’t you dare try to take a tone with me, Mister,” Serenah retorted, laughing as she set her cup down on a coaster. “Just had to have the ten-foot tree, didn’t you?” He smiled as his eyes narrowed on her. My eyes surveyed the massive tree as he held it, waiting for Serenah to make it over to him.

  Serenah laughed, trying to cut through the dry sarcasm. Making it over to Charlie, she rubbed his back. “Mr. Atkins said Jody always got this big of a tree. If Wayne could haul it inside every year, you can too. You work construction, Charlie.”

  He smiled. “Okay. Okay. You got me there.” His eyes ran along the tree as it lay on its side. “All we have to do is get it upright.”

  Jumping up, I set my cup down and came over. “I can help.”

  All three of us worked together to get the tree up and placed in front of the fireplace. Standing back, Serenah beamed as Charlie grimaced.

  “Guess no chestnuts are going to be roasting over an open fire this year,” Charlie said.

  Serenah playfully smacked him. “Oh, stop. We’ll move it over here.” She pointed over to the wall that ran between the kitchen and dining room. “We just need to move that table out.”

  Hurrying over, I grabbed the table and placed it out of the way near the dining room. We all three moved the tree over. Standing back, we all nodded in approval of the final result.

  “I love it.” Serenah’s eyes scanned over it and the room as she backed up more.

  “Me too,” Charlie added.

  “Me three.” Smiling over at them, I knew it would be a great Christmas.

  “Angie, come help me grab the Christmas lights and ornaments.” Following behind Serenah, we went in through the kitchen and down the hallway to her private quarters. Cutting through her living room, she went over to a closet door and opened it. Going inside the closet, she turned around. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed my hands and held them as she looked me in the eyes. “Please let us hang that gorgeous ornament.”

  Letting out a laugh, I shook my head. “I don’t know, Serenah . . .”

  “He’s just a guy. Who cares?” Grabbing the box of Christmas lights from the top shelf, she turned and handed it to me.

  I took the box and nodded. “True. We’ll hang it.”

  Serenah clapped excitedly. “You’re the best.”

  Turning around, I headed out to the living room with a smile on my face. As I walked with the box of lights, I thought about seeing him later that day. What if it’s weird? I haven’t dated in years. Wait. It’s not a date. It’s just as friends. It’ll be fine. My surety of how the time with the stranger would unfold was unclear, but I took comfort in the fact that he was a fellow believer.

  Fully dressed and ready to go by two, I had an hour before I could leave so I took the opportunity to spend additional time seeking the Lord. Taking my Bible, I headed upstairs and read on the couch since Serenah was in town at the grocery store. The quiet of the inn was sublime compared to the everlasting distractions that sounded outside my apartment back in Tampa. By the time Serenah made it back to the inn, my anxieties and cares had all been cast on the Lord and I was ready, mostly, to go see the stranger.

  I retrieved my purse from the side of the couch as Serenah came in with grocery bags in each hand. She looked at me with a smile. “You look hot.” Wearing a white pea coat, black leggings and a fun, festive red shirt, I had dressed for a date even though I was trying not to think of it as one.

  I laughed. “Am I too dressed up?”

  She passed into the kitchen, and I could hear a snicker echo through the doorway. “It’s fine.”

  “All right.” Retrieving my frankincense oil from my purse, I dabbed a couple of dots on my wrists and then my neck. The aroma permeated the area around me. My eyes fell on the tree and the ornament he had given me.

  Placing the oil back in my purse, I checked the time and saw it was time to leave. As I stood up, Serenah came out of the kitchen and handed me her car keys. Then, putting her hands on my shoulders, she looked into my eyes. “Remember, just relax and have some fun. It’s not a
date.”

  Exhaling a large breath through my nose, I said, “Thank you.”

  Snow had started to fall lightly on the way into town, but the roads were all clear. As I turned off the GPS on my phone at the sight of the North Town Mall only a block away on Division Street, I took a few deep breaths to clear my mind. It’s not a date. Pulling into the parking lot, my heart pounded as I saw multiple entryways into the parking garage. Parking at the curb along one of the entrances, I texted him asking where he had parked.

  Stranger: J7

  Seeing the entrance right in front of me, I continued driving and turned in. As I climbed up the ramps in the garage, I surveyed the rows of cars for him.

  There he was.

  In a pair of jeans and a button up long-sleeved shirt, he looked casual but classy.

  I waved. Why’d I just wave? I wondered, feeling my cheeks go flush as I pulled into the empty stall beside him. While I was getting out of my car, he came around the end to greet me. He pulled out a small bouquet of yellow roses from behind his back, bowed slightly, and handed them to me. “For you, Miss.” Flicking his eyebrows up, he said, “Yellow roses symbolize Friendship, or so I hear.”

  “Thank you.” Smelling a whiff of roses, I smiled. “They’re lovely.” Turning back to my car, I set them on the driver seat. As I shut the door and locked my car, footsteps and light conversation between a mother and child could be heard. Glancing around, we spotted a family of five walking by. A little boy with blond hair waved at me as our eyes connected. Smiling at him, I waved back.