“It’s okay,” he said softly. “Go on.”
Jaden looked up at her mother, hesitating.
“Fine.” The word was short and filled with irritation. “Whatever. We need to get going.”
With her daughter trailing her, Dani headed for the door but stopped when she got there. “Clear your calendar for Friday. We are going to Ridgemount.”
And with that, the two of them left.
Eric didn’t like the bubbling aggravation in his gut. He stood and took first his dishes and then Jaden’s to the sink. As he rinsed and then put them into the dishwasher, he heard the car back out of the garage. Another day, another dollar. He wondered if Dani would even notice if he left or if she would only miss the paycheck and what it could buy her.
Standing at the sink, he put his hands on it and bowed his head over his shoulders. “God, something’s got to change here. I can’t take this much longer.”
Chapter 20
Caleb & Rachel
They took Derek’s crew cab rental, figuring that would give the three of them plenty of room. Caleb still thought this was a bad idea, seeing how much they had to get ready on Ms. Murphy’s house for his family who would be landing in North Carolina in just over 24 hours, but so far, he hadn’t been able to talk either of them out of this excursion. So finally, he decided it was better to go along with things and get it over with.
“I thought while we’re in Raleigh, we could swing by Beacon and see about some furniture,” Derek said from his position in the driver’s seat.
“Beacon?” Caleb asked, knowing all the nuances of what that meant. “I thought we were just going to go with the pastor’s stuff and whatever Rachel had.”
“They’re having a New Year’s Eve blow-out through the weekend, and Jaycee and I talked about it. We could get a few things now, basic stuff. A couple beds and some living room stuff. Maybe even a table and chairs.”
Worry smacked into Caleb. “But you don’t even own the place yet. What if you decide not to buy it?”
“If she’s selling, we’re buying. That’s not even an issue anymore.” He glanced in the rearview mirror as in the passenger’s seat Luke looked over at him. “Saying that, have you guys talked to Rachel’s mom yet?”
Caleb sighed. “Rach was going over there this morning. I think they were going to talk about it.”
“Awesome.”
“Well,” Rachel said when her mother finally opened the door to find the three of them bundled on her porch, “I wasn’t expecting you to answer.”
Her mother laughed. “Who’d you think it would be, the Easter Bunny? Oh, get in here, it’s freezing out there.”
“Go.” Rachel pushed Rhett a couple of steps. “Get on in.” Carrying Natalie herself, she came in and proceeded to take hoods off of heads.
“I sure wish the weather would cooperate for this weekend,” her mother said, going back over to her chair. “It would be nice not to be in the deep freeze.”
“I hear you there.” Rachel pulled off the two little coats and smoothed down the hair now fried by static electricity. “Where’s Genevieve?”
“She went out for groceries. She should be back in half an hour or so.”
Finally finished, Rachel still stood at the front door with the kids.
“Come. Come in. You don’t have to just stand there.” Her mother waved her to the couch. “I’m glad you came by. I know how much you have going this week.”
With a hard sigh, Rachel sat down on the couch. “It’s just been crazy. The guys are going to Raleigh today.”
“Raleigh?” her mother asked in surprise. “All-day bachelor party?”
Rachel laughed softly. “I wish.” She smoothed her own hair down. “Actually, they’re going to get tuxes, I think.”
“Tuxes? Wow. I didn’t realize this was a formal affair.” However, a light had gone on in her mother’s eyes at the thought.
“Well, it wasn’t until Sage got ahold of us. She’s doing some flowers, and I think I’m going to wear a dress she had.”
The smile in her mother’s eyes slid to her face. “I know you are going to be absolutely beautiful.”
However, Rachel’s sigh spoke of how difficult that would be to pull off in the midst of the swirl of life they were now living.
“And the house?” her mother asked. “Aren’t his parents coming in tomorrow?”
Rachel nodded. “They should be here around three o’clock, I think. Then his sister will be here tomorrow evening sometime.” Her heart hitched at the thought of all that could change between now and then. “Actually, that’s what I came by to talk with you about.”
“Oh?”
What were the right words for this? Rachel truly had no idea, and how had she suddenly become an adult? She had no real accounting for it. “Well, actually, Derek and Jaycee have kind of a proposition for you.”
“For me?” Her mother’s voice dropped into worry and confusion.
Natalie came over to be picked up, and she burrowed into Rachel’s chest. Looking down, Rachel slid her hand across her daughter before looking back up at her mother. “They came the other day, and apparently they’d like to buy the place, your place, out at the farm.”
Deeper concerned confusion dropped into her mother’s eyes. “The home place? What would they want that for?”
“Well…” The story fell down three more flights of emotional stairs. “They’ve offered Caleb a job.”
That did nothing to resolve the worry in her mother’s eyes. “A job…? With the…?”
Rachel nodded, fighting not to let her own trepidation surface though she couldn’t deny it was there. “Derek is producing a show for H&H, and he wants Caleb to be in it.”
“But I thought Caleb turned that down.”
“He did, but now they’re saying they want to do something locally, here, with houses around this area.”
“So he wouldn’t travel then?”
“No,” Rachel said, praying that would, in fact, be the case. “The show would come here, and so would Derek and Jaycee. At least for a while until it gets going.”
“But why would they buy a house? Wouldn’t it make more sense to rent one?”
This part was harder for Rachel. “Honestly? I think they want to help us out. Then again, there aren’t that many houses around here for rent, and the way they do things, they could well fix the place up and sell it when they get ready to move on.”
The seriousness never left her mother’s face. “How soon would they be willing to buy it?”
“As soon as the papers can be signed from the way they talk.”
A text beeped into Caleb’s phone as he stood with a gray tuxedo jacket on surrounded by five mirrors. Did they really need that many? “Hang on,” he said, going over to the little pile of his things. He grabbed it up and swiped it on.
If D&J want the farm, it’s theirs. Mom says she’s ready when they are.
Caleb raked in a long breath, ratcheted his shoulders around in the jacket as he read through the text once more before dropping the phone back to the little padded bench. His gaze went up as the other two came out of their respective dressing rooms. “Looks like we’ll be taking a side trip to Beacon today after all.”
Chapter 21
Derek & Jaycee
Although they had worked together for three years, Derek was not wholly prepared for the difficulty-level of shopping with Caleb. The tux decision, which had been relatively easy when they had gone for his wedding, was anything but with his friend. The first issue was the price, the second was that he couldn’t get Rachel’s opinion on anything.
“I don’t know,” he said about the fifth one he’d tried on. “White? I don’t think I’m really a white kind of guy. Besides, is her dress white or is it like champagne or something? I don’t want to clash.”
“Tell you what,” Luke finally said in exasperation, “let me call Sage. I’m sure she’ll have an opinion.”
Caleb continued to stand in the five
-way mirror, turning this way and that before shaking his head each time.
“Yeah, hey, darlin’…” And Luke stepped off to the side.
“I don’t know,” Caleb said for the millionth time that morning. “I’ve got that black jacket. I could just…”
Derek took a long, slow breath to calm his agitated patience. “Okay, what am I missing here? When we did this for mine, you were not half this high maintenance.”
A second and Caleb deflated. “I just want it to be right, for Rachel. What she wants, but this? It feels… over the top.”
“You’re not at peace with it?”
“No.”
With a nod, Derek glanced around. “Okay. What was the best one so far?”
“The black wasn’t bad. At least I didn’t stick out like a sore thumb in it.”
“Okay.” Turning to the salesman, Derek said, “Could we get the black one again? Yeah, the first one.” He looked back at Caleb. “Vest?”
The decision was the longest of Derek’s life, but he and Jaycee had worked with the preacher for their wedding, and he was learning how to just back-off and give life a chance to sort things out.
“I think I liked the silver one the best, but I don’t know if…”
“Okay,” Luke said, coming back from his conversation with his wife, “Sage says black, probably bow-tie or Euro if you like that better.”
“Bow tie,” Caleb said, sounding far more solid.
“Black or silver?” Derek asked as the salesman brought the first one back over.
Caleb shook his head as if he didn’t know, so Derek grabbed up the ties they had tried so far.
“This one?” Derek held up the jet-black tie.
“Maybe.”
He put it in the maybe stack he’d just created. “This one?”
One look and Derek knew that one was out, so without waiting for his friend, he said, “No” and put it to the other side. He held the next one up. “This one?”
“That’s not bad.”
“No.” Derek put it in the no pile. “This one.” He held up the three-toned silver with black diamonds one.
Caleb stopped, stood, and tipped his head. “I actually kind of like that one, but isn’t it…?”
“Great,” Derek said. He picked up the silver vest from earlier and put them into Caleb’s hands. “Go put it on.”
“Shouldn’t we see…?”
“Just put them on,” Luke said from the other side of him, and when Caleb finally took the clothes and left, Derek and Luke widened their eyes at each other in barely withheld frustration. Luke leaned in closer. “When he comes out, Sage says if it’s close to take a picture and send it to her.”
“Well, that’s the first good idea I’ve heard all morning.” Derek shook his head and crossed his arms. “Give me a wall to knock down any day.”
“Who knew he was going to end up being so picky?”
“I should have.” Putting his hand to the back of his neck, Derek inhaled hard. “Perfectionists are great until they have to make a decision they don’t want to make.”
About that time, Caleb stepped out, and with one look Derek knew they had a winner. Coming over, Caleb stood into the circle of great reflection and took a long slow breath. Derek waited a full 30 seconds before he asked the question.
“So?”
Caleb put his head one way and then the other. “It’s not bad. I just don’t know…”
“What Rachel will think,” the other two said at the same time.
“Well, I don’t want her to take one look at me and run screaming from the exits.”
Luke laughed. “I don’t think we’re in danger of that happening, but Sage said we could take a pic and send it to her. That way she can see if it works with the dress.”
Finally Caleb took a real breath and nodded.
“That work?” Luke asked.
A quick nod from Caleb, and Derek had to hide the smile. Love. It would do crazy things to your head and your heart.
“Great,” Luke said when he got the picture. “Don’t worry. Sage is great with these things.”
Since the guys had gone shopping, Jaycee and the women knew there wasn’t a moment to lose on the house that would have guests very soon. So they met at Ms. Murphy’s old place at ten about the time the guys got to Raleigh. So, they were knee-deep in painting the second bedroom when Sage went into the kitchen to take a phone call.
Keeping Rachel occupied as she had learned to do with homeowners, Jaycee kept one ear on the conversation in the kitchen as well. When Sage returned, she silently told Jaycee with one breath that she was frustrated. Whatever it was, Jaycee was smart enough to keep it from Rachel until she went out to the garage for more paint.
“What was that about?” Jaycee asked, being very careful to keep her voice low.
“The guys. Caleb’s freaking out about the tux,” Sage said as her phone beeped again. She drew it out and swiped it on. Tipping her head, she considered and then showed Jaycee the picture. “I kind of like that one. Don’t know that I would’ve gone with the silver, but…”
Jaycee nodded. “I like it too. It looks good on him.”
With one more nod, Sage ducked to her phone and typed furiously just as Rachel came back in.
“Are you thinking about using this for the master?” Rachel asked, picking up another gallon of the paint.
“Oh. I don’t know,” Jaycee said, getting slung the other direction so suddenly she almost didn’t hold on.
Rachel shook her head as she poured more paint into the pan. “I thought we had another can, but I think this is it. We could probably get a different color for the bedroom if you’d rather have something else.”
It was strange decorating someone else’s house that would be hers very shortly. “I don’t know. I guess I need to ask Derek.”
“Well, we’ve got to get this done today. Maybe they can pick some up on their way back. The hallway could use a coat too, and I don’t know what you’re wanting to do with the mudroom.”
Suddenly the decisions started piling atop Jaycee. “I guess I could call Derek and see.”
The call from his wife came in about the time the salesman brought out the tuxes for the two groomsmen.
“Hello?” he asked as Luke went into the dressing room to try his on.
“Hey,” she said, and with that one syllable, he knew they were working.
“What’s up?”
“Uh, what were you thinking about the paint for the master? We ran out of this for the second bedroom.”
“Ran out?”
“Well, we’ll have enough to finish this up, barely, but we’re going to need more for the master if we’re doing it in this color. And I didn’t know what you were thinking for bedding. Are we just going to make-do for this weekend and then try to get something or what?”
Luke came out, and Derek was thankful to see the outfit wasn’t a total disaster.
“Listen,” he said, realizing they were waiting on him now, “can I call you back? We’re about to get a decision made on these things, and then maybe we can swing by a paint place and a furniture store.”
“Furniture? You’re going to get something today?”
Derek exhaled and put his hand to his head. “That’d be easier, don’t you think? Just get a few pieces? Unless you want to be here when we do.”
Her reply didn’t come immediately. “No. You’re right. But send me pictures.”
He smiled. “You don’t trust me?”
“Send me pictures.”
For as easy as decorating a house had always been, Derek was completely unprepared for how difficult this idea might turn out to be for their own house. Sure, he had been to furniture stores a myriad of times with homeowners. This, however, was in a completely different realm of difficulty altogether.
“I think we need to start with tables,” Derek said when they got to the showroom, faced with so many options of so many different kinds of furniture, he wasn’t at all sure just w
here to start.
“Price range?” Luke asked, looking at one living room combination and arching an eyebrow. “Wow. Who shops here, the Queen?”
“Uh, something reasonable,” Derek said, glancing at a few prices as well as the three of them walked deeper into the showroom.
“Can I help you, gentlemen?” a salesman asked as he came over to them.
Derek took a breath. “We’re looking for some pieces for a home. Living room, dining, couple bedrooms.”
The youngish salesmen’s gaze slip-slid among the three of them. “An entire home?” Dollar signs flipped through the young man’s eyes. “Okay. Any particular style you’re going for? Vintage? Modern? Wood? Metal?”
Somehow in all the excitement, Derek hadn’t really thought to discuss these types of details with Jaycee. Knowing he should, he put up his hand and dug out his phone. “Can you give me a sec?”
“Oh. Sure thing.”
Jaycee’s cell phone rang about the time they finished painting the second bedroom. Rachel’s room was next and with the dark wall paint, it was clear with one look they were going to need three buckets of Killz too. “Hey,” she said, answering because she knew it was him. “Can you add Killz to the list? We’re going to need it for this next bedroom.”
“Uh, yeah. Sure. Listen, we just got to the furniture store, and…”
She heard the hesitation and it both puzzled and worried her. “And?”
“Well, I don’t know. I guess I’ve never really done this before.”
With a laugh, she rolled her eyes. “Never done it before? Derek, you’re an expert at this. Everybody in America wants you to do this for them.”
“Yeah, but they aren’t you.”
Softness for him settled gently on her heart. “I’m sure I’ll love whatever you get.”
“It’s not that.”
It was then that she heard the undertones of his concern. Taking the phone out to the living room, she sat down against one wall. “What’s going on?”
A Moment Like This: A Contemporary Christian Romance Prequel Novella (The Grace Series Book 4) Page 11