by Debby Mayne
Sherry should have known. Naomi was a regular idea factory. “What’s that?”
“Instead of fretting over doing all the work on it, why don’t you give them a discount on the first few months’ rent if Jeremy is willing to do it?”
“But it needs so much work.”
“Jeremy is handy, and I bet they’d appreciate a good deal on the rent.”
Leave it to Naomi to come up with a solution. “I don’t know if they’ll want to do that, or if they’re interested in even renting the house.”
“Of course you don’t know. That’s why you have to ask them.” Naomi pointed to the couple. “Talk to them now.”
“But—” Naomi’s motherly look shushed her. “Okay.” She gently nudged Sherry toward Gina and Jeremy, who glanced up when they saw her coming.
“I’m glad the two of you could make it,” Sherry said. She saw Naomi watching from the corner of her eye.
“Me too!” Gina said. “This is so exciting. And to think we’re going to be part of it.”
“I know.” Sherry cleared her throat. “I have an idea . . . that is, Naomi had an idea . . . I mean, if you haven’t found a place to rent yet . . .” She swallowed hard and started over. “I’m planning to move into an apartment, so my house will be available to rent. And I’ll give you a discount on the rent because it’s not in perfect condition. Are you interested?”
“Are you kidding?” Gina’s face lit up as she looked at Jeremy, who nodded. She turned back to Sherry. “Your house is perfect for us. When can we move in?”
Naomi walked over. “See? I told you.”
Gina bounced in place as Jeremy laughed. “And I’d be honored to fix your house. I love working on old houses.” He glanced at his watch. “We better go get Lacy now.”
“Why don’t you all go on over to Sherry’s house after she closes the shop and discuss the details?”
“Is that okay with you?” Gina asked.
“That’s fine. I have a date with Brad, but I’m sure he’ll understand.”
“Oh, we don’t want to mess that up. Maybe we’ll just take a quick look around and let Lacy see her new home?”
Sherry nodded. “I hope Lacy approves.”
After they left, Sherry grinned at Naomi. “Thank you so much. You are such an angel.”
Naomi gave her a hug. “That’s why the Lord put me in your life. I need to run on home and finish my laundry, and you have to close this place on time so you can show off your house and go on your date with Brad.”
Sherry left at closing time. When she turned the corner to her house, she saw Gina, Jeremy, and Lacy waiting for her.
“C’mon in,” she said. “And please don’t mind the mess. I’ve got boxes everywhere.”
“We understand.” Gina beamed at her husband and daughter. “Lacy is excited about having a backyard.”
Jeremy nodded. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to put a swing set back there.”
“And I want to start a small herb and vegetable garden,” Gina added. “Oh, that reminds me. Pamela said something about joining the garden club. What all do I have to do?”
As Sherry told Gina about the garden club, Jeremy and Lacy explored. “We have yard-of-the-month awards—”
The sound of Lacy skipping around the house giggling stopped Sherry midsentence. “Daddy, I love it here.”
At that moment a sense of peace flooded Sherry. She had no doubt everything had happened according to a plan bigger than anything she, Naomi, or even the Bloomfield Garden Club could have planned. Thank You, Lord.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
You look nice.” Brad gave Sherry an appreciative once-over.
Sherry laughed. “You saw me a couple of hours ago, and nothing has changed.”
“You looked good then, too, but we had an audience, so I didn’t say anything.”
“Thank you.” Sherry didn’t know what else to say. All she knew was that being around Brad felt good.
He opened the passenger door, helped her in, and went around to the driver’s side. Sherry fiddled with a tissue she had in her pocket, wishing she knew what to say next. But she didn’t have to think too long.
As soon as Brad got into the car, he turned to her and held her gaze. “Now tell me exactly what happened at the church potluck to get you all worked up.”
Instead of doing what she always did, she figured she might as well come out with it. “I overheard something.” She glanced at him. He stared directly at her, still looking confused. “Something Theo said when I went into the church kitchen that confirmed what I’d suspected . . .” She glanced down and swallowed hard. “. . . that you feel sorry for me.”
Brad slammed his palm on the steering wheel and blew out a breath of exasperation. “Whatever Theo said was nothing but a bunch of hot air. He knows I’ve always liked you, and he’s fully aware that I wouldn’t do anything about it as long as he was in the picture. But the second he got married, all bets were off.” He shrugged. “The only problem was with you and your unwillingness to give me a chance. I tried a couple times, but you always shut me out.”
“I don’t understand why you’d want to wait around for me.”
Brad chuckled. “Because you’re a good woman, and you’re the most loyal person I’ve ever known—and I mean loyal to a fault. When people ask you for help, you’re always there.” He stroked her cheek. “And you’re very pretty, and the biggest reason of all is that—” He paused and met her gaze. “I love you.”
“You do?” Sherry hung her head to keep Brad from seeing her burning cheeks.
“Yes, I do. I love everything about you, Sherry Butler, including the way you take your time to make decisions, but most of all your love for the Lord.”
Sherry sighed. “I do love the Lord, but I’m afraid I haven’t given my life completely over to Him and trusted Him. I’m such a worrywart.”
“No one’s perfect, and He knows that.” Brad cleared his throat. “Now back to what you overheard. Why didn’t you ask me in the first place?”
Sherry slowly shook her head. “I-I don’t know. I guess I was ashamed.”
“There’s nothing for you to be ashamed of. My desire to be with you has nothing to do with pity. You are a pretty, intelligent, kind woman who would make any man a wonderful—”
Sherry’s eyes popped open wide, and she held her breath. When he didn’t finish his sentence, she thought she might explode.
He shoved the car key into the ignition and turned it. “Now that we’ve cleared the air, why don’t we go on our dinner date and see where things go from here?”
“That sounds very good.”
“But first, there is one thing I’d like to know.” He gripped the steering wheel with both hands but tilted his head to face her. “I know Theo asked you to marry him more than once. Why didn’t you accept?”
Sherry shrugged. No point in saying more than she had to or upsetting Brad about the cruel things Theo had said about her parents. “I guess I knew deep down that I didn’t love him in that way.”
“Do you think . . . I mean, if you and I . . .” He laughed. “This is really hard for me.”
Now that Sherry had regained her composure, she reached out and touched his cheek. “You and I have a completely different relationship.”
“Different in a good way?”
She smiled and nodded. “Yes, I think so . . . in a very good way, as long as we . . . I mean, I . . . don’t act so weird. I think we should stop feeling so much pressure and give ourselves some time.”
The joy on his face stretched from the breadth of his smile to the twinkle in his eyes. “I agree, but not too much time.” He paused. “Not as much time as you gave Theo.”
“Of course not.”
He chuckled. “So tell me about the apartment
you’re about to move into. I hear it has a great view.”
“It overlooks Lake Bliss, so it’s exactly what I want.” Sherry sighed. “And I wasn’t willing to settle for anything less.” She hadn’t intended the double meaning, but the instant she said those words, she hoped he caught the message.
The quick glance in her direction let her know he was definitely reading—or listening—between the lines. “Was it worth it?”
“Absolutely.” A comfortable silence fell between them until an idea popped into Sherry’s mind. “I wonder if Samantha would show us the apartment tomorrow. I think it’s vacant now.”
“I’d love to see it. Why don’t you call Samantha in the morning and ask if we can look at it?”
SHERRY CALLED SAMANTHA AS she waited for Brad to pick her up for the first playground workday, a bundle of nerves as she thought about the change in their relationship.
The knock on her door sent her senses into overdrive, making her slightly lightheaded as she went to answer it. She had to put both hands on the doorknob and tug with all her might to get the door open.
“I’ll take a look at that later.” Brad rubbed his fingers along the edge of the door. “It might just need to be planed.”
Sherry smiled as he took her hand and led her out to his car. “Samantha said we can see the apartment sometime today. She wanted me to do a walk-through before I moved in anyway.”
“Let’s take a break around lunchtime and do that.”
Conversation between them flowed naturally as they drove to the location of the new playground. When they reached the parking lot, Brad turned to her. “You do realize everyone will stare, wondering what’s going on between us.”
She nodded. “I know.”
He leaned over and gave her a feather-light kiss. “But they’ll get used to seeing us together. Oh, by the way, I have lots of plans for the future.” The hope in his eyes was evident, making her heart beat double-time. “If that’s okay with you.”
Her cheeks flamed with joy as she nodded. “That’s more than okay with me.”
“Then let’s go face the garden club.” They headed toward a small crowd that had already gathered.
Pamela and Naomi were deep in conversation that abruptly stopped when Sherry and Brad arrived hand-in-hand. “Well, I’ll be.” Pamela chuckled and shook her head. “It’s about time.”
“Oh, cut it out, Pamela.” Naomi rolled her eyes. “You knew this would happen, after all the scheming we did.”
Brad lifted an eyebrow. “So it’s all your doing, huh?”
“Not really.” Naomi laughed, and Pamela joined in. “We just showed you two what you were too blind to see for yourselves, that’s all.” She waved her hand in a shooing gesture. “Now run along, kiddos. We’ve got work to do.”
Brad led Sherry away toward the edge of the property where Jeremy had positioned himself as the foreman of the project. He handed them some string and pointed. “They’re marking off the area for the equipment over there, and they’ll need this.”
Sherry’s heart hammered with joy as they walked toward the guys with the measuring tape. “Whatcha thinking?” Brad asked.
“Lots of things.” She shrugged. “Like what will the garden club do next?”
Brad stopped, turned her around to face him, and smiled down at her. “You know that the Bloomfield Garden Club has planned the last few weddings in town, right?”
Her insides tingled as she nodded. “Yes, I know. I’m in the club, remember?”
He pulled her to his chest and held her tight. When he released her, they caught dozens of pairs of eyes all focused on them. Some folks quickly glanced away, but others unashamedly continued gawking and grinning. Brad winked. “They’re enjoying themselves.”
“We need someone who knows how to use a posthole digger for the fence posts,” Jeremy hollered out. “Anyone interested in helping out with that?”
Brad lifted a hand. “We’ll do it.”
Jeremy pointed to the tools at the edge of the property. “We wanted to use the city’s power digger, but it isn’t working, so we have to do it manually.”
“That’s fine.” Brad flexed a muscle and pointed to it. “I have all the power I need right here.”
Sherry laughed. “I’m not sure how much help I’ll be with that.”
“You can be my inspiration.”
They went over to the tools and picked out two posthole diggers with the sharpest blades. As Brad demonstrated, Sherry watched. Then he slipped behind her, wrapped his arms around her shoulders, and helped her get started. She had to force herself to concentrate on the job and not so much on the man, but that proved impossible. Every point of physical contact sizzled. She managed to do the work, even through the distraction.
After she finished digging her first hole with his help, she stepped back and studied it. “That wasn’t so bad.”
“Not bad at all.” He wiggled his eyebrows, making her laugh. “Just wait until you’ve done a whole row of them.”
As they worked side-by-side, Sherry allowed herself an occasional glance at Brad. Now she couldn’t imagine life without him by her side.
They worked hard all morning, and when lunchtime rolled around, Jeremy motioned for them to go on and see the apartment. “Take your time. We got a lot more done than I thought we would, so we’re ahead of schedule.”
All the way to the apartment complex, Sherry tingled with excitement. “The kitchen is state-of-the-art, with a refrigerator that filters water and ice, and the stove is smooth and shiny, and the microwave has all kinds of settings, and—”
Brad’s laughter interrupted her. “I love hearing you sound so happy.”
For the first time in years Sherry truly felt happy. She’d been content at various times, but now she felt a joy that made her feel as though she rode on a rainbow with Skittles and candy hearts zinging around her head.
Brad pulled into the Fontainebleau Luxury Apartments parking lot. “Here we are,” he said as he turned off the ignition. “Home.”
Sherry couldn’t help but giggle. “Let’s go see my new apartment.”
Samantha waited by the door, key in hand. “I saw you arrive. Why don’t the two of you go see the apartment without me?” She handed Sherry a clipboard with a checklist. “Just mark anything that needs to be done before you move in.”
As they walked toward the building, Sherry chattered about the beautiful grounds. “It’s hard to believe I’m going to live here soon. Look!” She pointed to a pair of birds floating in the lake, side-by-side.
“Nice neighbors.” Brad chuckled. “How far is your apartment?”
Sherry pointed to the next building. “We’re almost there.”
As they walked inside her new apartment, Brad’s eyes widened. “No wonder you like this place so much.” He headed straight toward the glass-paned back door that overlooked the lake. “Whoa. You couldn’t get a better view than this one.” He pulled her closer.
“I know.” She comfortably settled into his embrace. “This is the view I was waiting for.”
Brad smiled down at her and held her gaze. “Me too.”
Dear Reader,
Welcome to Bloomfield, a town populated by Christ-loving but quirky folks who will do anything they can for their neighbors, including meddle in each other’s lives. Their motives are always good, though, so even though folks are occasionally annoyed by the snoopiness, no one gets too upset. Matchmaking is typically the order of the day, and it can happen anywhere—from a council meeting in City Hall to the Lake Bliss Retirement Village.
I think most of us know of a town similar to Bloomfield, and when we think of it, we can’t help but smile. The characters in Waiting for a View might even remind us of someone in our lives, or a blend of people who have touched us in some way. My dad’s hometow
n, Ellisville, Mississippi, inspired some of my scenes, while another charming town where I once lived, Franklin, Tennessee, inspired others.
As a former “military brat,” I’ve lived in quite a few different places, but no matter where I’ve been, I’ve sought out a community of people who have enriched my life in many ways. I’ve had a “Naomi” in my life—a woman who didn’t mind sharing her knowledge, experience, and affection with me. I’ve known crusty men with soft hearts like Andy, and bossy but well-intentioned women like Pamela. When these people come into our lives, it’s all about relationships, regardless of the setting, but I don’t want to short-change the physical aspects of the town.
Bloomfield is a charming small town with rolling hills on one side and a serene lake on the other. Main Street is lined with mom-and-pop businesses and features a splash pool that folks use to cool off during the blistering hot summer. As with many small towns, new development is starting to change the landscape of the outskirts, and the city council is constantly trying to figure out how to incorporate growth into the community without losing its charm. The Bloomfield Garden Club plays an integral part in the goings-on of the town. They are a busy bunch of folks, and they work toward a common goal of increasing the population to 10,000. The problem is, when one person moves to Bloomfield, two more leave, making this an ongoing issue that all the Bloomfield authors won’t hesitate to use in our stories.
As you read Waiting for a View, enjoy the journey and take time to ponder and compare the characters to similar people in your life. I look forward to future books featuring some of the other folks who are itching to have their stories told.
Enjoy your many blessings!
Debby Mayne
Discussion Questions
1. Can you relate to Sherry’s resistance to change? If so, did something happen in your life that made you that way?
2. Naomi has been there for Sherry all her life, so Sherry doesn’t have the heart to ask her to stop meddling. Is there someone in your life who seems to know you better than you know yourself?