Pushing aside his anxiety, he’d placed a rather nerve-wracking phone call to Steve and Emily after running an idea by Bennett. It seemed that they were more than happy to help him out with his goal of making a memorable evening for Makayla. Everyone seemed to be on board with his plans and his intentions. But who knew how Makayla would feel about it. Hopefully, if she wasn’t interested, she’d let him down gently so they could still be friends.
“She still here?” Ethan asked Grace as he approached her desk.
Grace nodded and smiled. “You made it with a few minutes to spare. Another ten and you might’ve missed her.”
Ethan took a deep breath and smoothed his tie. He glanced at the bouquet in his hand, hoping that she’d like it. He’d thought about getting a big bouquet of roses, but when he’d looked at the other bouquets available, he’d settled on one that contained several different types of beautifully colored flowers. It hadn’t been as expensive as the roses, but something told him that she would like these better.
With one last look at Grace’s smiling face, Ethan headed down the hallway to Makayla’s office. She had her back to him as she stared at her monitor. He stood for a moment watching her, struck again, as he had been on that very first day, by her beauty. But he knew now that the outward packaging was nothing compared to the inner beauty she carried, even if she might feel differently. He knew she struggled with certain things, but he’d also seen her loving, gentle, caring side. And he knew that that couldn’t be faked.
He lowered the bouquet then rapped on the door frame.
“Hi, Ethan. Come in,” Makayla said with a quick look in his direction. “I just need to finish this.”
Ethan stood quietly, waiting for her to finish what she was doing and turn in his direction. Nerves fluttered in his stomach, but he didn’t let them overtake him. He focused on the positive, the support he’d received from everyone in planning this evening.
“Hey,” Makayla said as she swung around in her chair. Her eyes widened as her gaze landed on the flowers in his hand. She slowly lifted her gaze to meet his. “What can I do for you?”
“I was wondering if you might be available for dinner and a movie this evening?” Ethan asked as he laid the bouquet of flowers on her desk.
Makayla reached out and touched the cellophane covering the flowers. “These are beautiful, Ethan.”
Ethan couldn’t ignore the fact that she hadn’t answered his question, and he began to doubt that his plans might be well received. “So is that a these are beautiful, Ethan, but I’m not available tonight?”
“No.” Makayla looked at him, her blue eyes soft with emotion. “I can’t imagine anywhere I’d rather be tonight than having dinner and watching a movie with you.”
Ethan smiled, the nerves in his stomach finally settling. “It’s going to be a bit of a late dinner, if that’s okay. I’ll pick you up around eight.”
“That would be perfect,” Makayla said. “I’ll be waiting.”
*
Makayla was a mess of nerves by the time eight o’clock finally rolled around. She’d had a hard time deciding what to wear without knowing where they were going. But as Tami had pointed out, Ethan wasn’t one to spend any more time than needed in a suit, so something a little more casual would probably be okay. Makayla wondered if Tami knew the details about the evening but decided not to ask her since there was a part of her that really wanted to be surprised by what Ethan had planned.
Where would he take her to eat? What movie would they see?
When the knock finally came at eight o’clock, Makayla was relieved to finally get the evening underway. She’d chosen to wear a pair of black capris and a light blue blouse that she was told complemented her eyes. It wasn’t anything fancy, but when she opened the door to find Ethan in a pair of dark blue jeans and a white polo shirt, she knew she’d made the right choice.
“Ready to go?” Ethan asked with a smile.
As she watched him rub his palm against the outside of his leg, Makayla realized that Ethan was nervous about the evening. Somehow that helped to ease the nerves that she, too, was feeling. Reaching out, she took the arm he offered her and walked at his side down the stairs to the main floor.
After helping her into the passenger side of his truck, Ethan walked around and slid behind the wheel.
“So where we going?” Makayla asked. Not that she really expected him to tell her, but she wasn’t sure what else to say right then.
Ethan shot her a look as he guided his truck out of the parking lot and down the back lane to the street. “That will have to stay a surprise for just a little while longer.”
Makayla relaxed back in her seat and grinned. “You can’t blame a girl for trying.”
Ethan smiled back at her. “I think I would almost have been disappointed if you hadn’t.”
She was a bit surprised when Ethan passed all the restaurants in the area closest to the apartment. And when he headed north on the highway to the perimeter and then turned west, she was even more confused. As they headed in the direction of her parents’ house, Makayla began to wonder if perhaps she had misunderstood his plans for the evening. Or maybe the restaurant he’d chosen was just out that way. But as he passed exit after exit and drew closer to the house, Makayla became more certain of their destination.
“Are we going to my parents’ house for supper?”
Ethan glanced over at her. “Sort of.”
Makayla decided to just let go of all her expectations for the evening. Clearly, Ethan had planned something with her family, and while that wouldn’t have been her first choice for how the evening would go, she would accept it for what it was.
33
A fter Ethan had parked the truck in her parents’ driveway, he came around to open her door and help her out. But instead of going into the house, he led her around to the back. A large gazebo had been set up in the yard a little ways from the house. As they walked toward it, she realized that it had canvas sides that had been lowered into place. She also noticed that there were extension cords running underneath the edge of the canvas.
More curious than ever, Makayla followed Ethan as he rounded the gazebo to the side facing away from the house. That side was fully open, and she got her first glimpse of the interior. Tiny white lights hung from the ceiling over a small table set for two. Once they were inside the gazebo, Ethan took her to one of the chairs at the table and held it for her.
“This is so beautiful, Ethan,” Makayla said as she sat down and continued to look around the small intimate space.
“I’d like to take credit for it, but I did have a little help. Sierra and Danica were more than happy to give me a hand with the decorating.” He turned to another small table and fiddled with something and soon soft music filled the air. “I also can’t take credit for the music, that’s courtesy of the music master himself. Dalton.”
Makayla felt her heart swell with emotion at the thought of the people who had helped Ethan make this evening special for her. “It’s absolutely perfect.”
“Well, don’t pass your judgment too soon. The parts I’m totally responsible for are still to come. They might change your mind a bit.”
Makayla doubted that that would be the case. Even if this was all the evening was—a meal in the gazebo decorated with twinkle lights and soft music playing—it would still be perfect.
Ethan walked over to a nearby table and lifted a large metal lid. As he came to set a plate in front of her, he said, “And I’m afraid I can’t take credit for this either, but your mother told me that this was your favorite meal.”
When Makayla looked down at her plate to see a piece of lasagna along with French bread, she smiled. “Yes, my mom’s lasagna is definitely my favorite meal. I could eat it every day.”
Ethan returned with a plate for himself and sat across from her. She looked at the table’s delicate floral centerpiece with candles twinkling in the bits of the blossoms and smiled at him.
He paused for a moment then laid his
hand on the table, palm up. “Shall we pray?”
As Makayla slid her hand into his, she knew that if this man asked her right then to spend the rest of her life with him, she would say yes without hesitation. She’d always scoffed at the stories of love at first sight and had only been marginally more accepting of the ones who’d claimed to know by the end of their first date that they were meant to be together. She hadn’t fallen in love with Ethan at first sight, but it hadn’t taken much longer than that for her to begin to recognize that the qualities he embodied were things that were important to her. And when she’d shared more with him than she ever had with anyone else, she’d known that this was the man her heart wanted.
She’d been praying about it ever since she’d realized that, hoping it was more than just a passing fancy. And now, sitting across from him as he prayed for their food, Makayla felt like she had the answer to her prayers.
Once they got over the awkward first few minutes of their dinner, conversation flowed easily from subject to subject. And nothing was off-limits. They didn’t steer away from the ugliness of the situation that had unfolded with Sierra. They didn’t avoid spending a few minutes talking about work. It all just seemed to flow, and Makayla appreciated that. She wanted to get to know even more about this man, and she knew she’d be able to do that talking about the things that were important in their lives. Things like Sierra and their jobs.
After they had finished eating, Ethan got up and cleared away the dishes. He asked her help to move the table outside the gazebo and then he disappeared around the other side, returning with a couple of beanbag chairs. He set them near the entrance to the gazebo and then moved a small table that looked like it had a projector on it into position behind them.
“When I first came up with this idea, I wasn’t sure what to do for a movie,” Ethan said as he moved to the gazebo wall facing the chairs and reached to let down a white sheet. “But then I remembered a conversation we had and a recommendation you made. I hope you don’t mind watching it again.”
“Are we watching Anne of Green Gables?” Makayla asked, her heart filling with emotion that he’d remembered.
Ethan nodded. “You seemed excited about it, so I hoped it would be a good choice.”
“It was the best choice. I absolutely love that movie.”
Ethan helped her into one of the beanbag chairs then went to the table and brought back a container with a lid, a large bowl, a small bag, and a couple of bottles of water. He set them on the ground in front of them then settled into the chair next to her.
“It wouldn’t be a movie without the snacks, so we have popcorn, some candy—chocolate kisses, of course—and some brownies.” He pulled a remote from the pocket of his shirt and pressed a button.
As the opening credits of the movie began to play on the white sheet against the gazebo wall, Makayla settled back into her seat. Once Ethan had gotten comfortable as well, she reached for the bowl of popcorn. She rested it between them, and as the movie played, they shared the popcorn, their hands bumping at times as they reached into the bowl at the same time. And as the evening progressed, Makayla found herself wishing that it would never end.
“Well, this has certainly been fun,” Makayla said as the movie came to an end. The popcorn was all gone and most the brownies as well.
“I actually didn’t realize how long the movie was,” Ethan said as he stretched. “For some reason, I thought it would be one and a half to two hours long.”
Makayla laughed. “Yeah, I guess it was a bit misleading on my part to call it a movie. I think that back when it first aired on television it was more of a miniseries.”
“I guess maybe I should’ve waited for the weekend,” Ethan said and made a move to get to his feet.
“No,” Makayla said as she gripped his arm. He settled back into the beanbag chair and looked over at her. “I don’t care how late it is. This has been one of the best evenings ever.”
Ethan glanced down as a small smile curved the corners of his mouth. “Well, in case you haven’t figured it out, I had a lot of help with everything. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have been able to pull off anything of this nature by myself.”
Makayla had been aware of that almost from the moment she stepped into the gazebo, even before he’d started telling her who had done what. But that didn’t matter to her, because what it said was that a man who was used to doing everything by himself had been willing to ask others for help when it came to putting together an evening he hoped would make her happy.
“Well, you have set the bar pretty high,” Makayla said, waiting until he looked at her before smiling.
Ethan covered her hand with his where it still rested on his arm. “So…you think you might be interested in going out uh…again? It probably wouldn’t be anything like this, though.”
Makayla leaned over to press her cheek against his shoulder then pulled back to look at him. “Do you really think there’s any chance that I’d say no?”
Ethan shrugged as his gaze lowered to where their hands rested. “I’ve never really been the best at reading women unless they were so blatant they were practically hitting me over the head with plans for our first date.”
“You know, you probably could’ve asked anybody close to me, and they would’ve been able to tell you that I was a sure thing for this date.”
“That’s just the thing, though, I did ask.” Ethan tilted his head and frowned. “No one would give me a definite answer.”
“Well, at the very least, you should’ve talked to Tami. She knew how I felt.”
Ethan looked up at her, his brows drawn together. “I did talk to Tami.”
“What did she say?”
“Tami told me that sometimes the start of a relationship isn’t about a sure thing. She said I had to decide for myself if you were worth taking the risk of being rejected. And Bennett said kind of the same thing.” Ethan glanced away, staring at the credits that were still scrolling on the sheet in front of them. Then he looked back at her and said, “I decided that you were.”
Makayla felt emotion clog her throat as she listened to this kind, gentle, usually reserved man tell her that she meant something to him. And knowing—from the things he mentioned about his life up to that point—that he wasn’t one to take many risks, made it all the more meaningful to her.
“I’m glad you did, Ethan,” Makayla said, her voice just barely above a whisper. “Because I’ve never felt for anyone else what I feel for you.”
Ethan blinked and then a smile slowly spread across his face. “I’ve never felt this way before either. It seems too soon, and yet it feels like I’ve waited forever.”
Makayla lifted her hand to touch his cheek, feeling the stubble beneath her fingers. “In the beginning I didn’t want you around, but I’m so glad that my dad felt that this was where you needed to be. People might say it’s too soon, but there are things in my heart that give me confidence to know it’s the perfect time. I’ve prayed about this for a few weeks now, and I wasn’t sure at first if it might take a little longer to know for certain if this was God’s will, but here with you tonight, all I feel is peace and contentment.” She smiled up at him. “And love.”
Ethan stared at her for the longest time, and Makayla might’ve been thrown off by his lack of immediate response if she hadn’t been able to see the emotion on his face.
“Are you sure? I’m sort of a package deal with Sierra. There will be times I’ll need to put her needs ahead of yours.”
Makayla nodded. “I know that, Ethan. One of the things that makes you so attractive to me is how caring you are for your sister. I know that she’ll need you, and I hope that sometimes you’ll allow me to help you with her or maybe even help her on my own. She is a teenage girl after all, and I was one of those once upon a time.”
“She loves you,” Ethan said, his voice suddenly rough. “And she’s definitely not the only Collins who does.”
Makayla smiled as she leaned towards Ethan.
“Well, I daresay I’m not the only Callaghan-McFadden who loves you too.”
“You have to be patient with me,” Ethan said, a serious look on his face, “and if there’s something on your mind, you need to share it. I think I have less experience than most men when it comes to reading the minds of women.”
“As long as you promise to do the same with me. I know I have brothers, but you seem to be able to hide what you’re thinking better than they’ve ever been able to. And yes, patience, you’ll need that with me too.”
“You’re in luck then.” Ethan smiled. “I’ve been told I have a lot of patience. Although I do find that I’m having significantly less patience with one thing.”
Makayla tilted her head. “And what would that be?”
“Waiting to kiss you for the first time.” Ethan shifted closer to her. “May I kiss you, Makayla McFadden?”
“Why, yes, Ethan Collins, yes, you may.”
As their lips pressed together for the first time and Makayla felt Ethan’s hand brush her cheek, she realized that maybe Tristan had been right. Maybe God had brought Ethan to their family because he needed them, but maybe more than the rest of them, she had been the one who needed Ethan.
When the kiss ended, Makayla rested her forehead against Ethan’s and laughed softly. “I wonder if when my parents prayed for God to change my heart with regards to you—and I’m positive they did—they realized that this would be the end result.”
“You know, when it comes to your parents, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if they did,” Ethan said with a smile before drawing her close and touching his lips to hers again. “All I know is that I’m very grateful for your change of heart.”
EPILOGUE
M akayla stared out at the choppy water, lifting a hand to brush back strands of hair when they blew across her face. She drew the edges of her shawl closer as the wind gusted off the lake. It was the May long weekend so the weather should have been nice, but winter had been reluctant to release the province from its icy grip. They’d been free of snow for a couple of weeks, but the temperature still hadn’t risen into the comfortably warm range yet.
A Change of Heart: A Christian Romance (The Callaghans & McFaddens Book 1) Page 24