Keys To Redemption

by Erica Gilbreath

Chapter 11

  Evie pulled her Honda into the restaurant parking lot. Stacy called her last night and suggested they lunch at Gladstones Restaurant in Malibu. But as she pulled her car into the parking lot and got out to hand her keys to the valet she suddenly got cold feet, and the valet had to practically pry the car keys from her hand. As she watched the man speed away way in her car she said a quick prayer to herself. Lord I have no idea what is going to come of this. Please be with me. She took a deep breath and began making her way to the restaurant. The cold, salty air assaulted her lungs as she made the trek. All the while she could hear the waves crashing against the shore less than fifty feet away from her. Despite her temporary discomfort, she found relief in the restaurant he had chosen—Evie loved the beach.

  Still, as soon as she reached the outside lobby of the restaurant, she felt the overwhelming urge to turn around and bolt. Just in that moment, however, she spotted him and every bit of anxiety fled.

  The man was good looking. His hair was a bit more artfully disarrayed this time around and he wore a black polo shirt with a pair of dark blue jeans and Converse sneakers.

  The moment Stacy saw her, he broke out a timid smile. Evie, who was trying to calm her racing heart, smiled back.

  “You can do this girl,” she tried to tell herself. “You can go on a friendly luncheon with a man. It doesn’t have to be more than that.”

  As she repeated these words to herself and slowly made her way to him, her heart rate slowed down slightly.

  “I think this is the first time I’ve seen you without scrubs on,” Stacy said with a grin. “You look beautiful.”

  She bit the inside of her cheek. I will not let this man get to me, she told herself.

  “Thank you. You clean up well too,” she replied.

  “They have a table ready for us. Would you like to eat inside or outside?”

  “Outside is good. It’s a nice day.”

  “Then outside it is.”

  Once they were seated at their table, a blanket of awkward silence fell over them. It wasn’t until they ordered their drinks that Stacy finally said something to break it.

  “I know this is going to sound corny, but why don’t you tell me about yourself?”

  The question caught Evie by surprise. She had no idea what to say.

  I’m an overworked ER nurse with a three-year-old son that I can barely handle, let alone raise without my mother, and you are the first man I have dated since my husband was gunned down in the streets by cops three years ago.

  Yeah, that probably wasn’t an appropriate answer, especially their first time out together. So, she opted to give him the nice, abridged version instead.

  “I’m a registered nurse, as you already know. I have a three-year-old son. Those two things, besides God and my mother, pretty much take up all of my time.”

  Stacy stared at her intently, his blue eyes combing over her. His scrutiny of her was so intense and telling that it made her blush.

  “And yet you’re here on a date with me,” he said softly. So softly, in fact, his words drifted like feathers in the wind. Though they felt as if they delicately grazed her cheeks, she quickly corrected him.

  “This is a luncheon.”

  His eyes swelled with laughter; he could tell she was just trying her best to be cagey.

  “So you have a little boy? I can imagine he keeps you very busy.”

  The waiter brought them tall glasses of ice water and Evie immediately took a sip of hers then blurted out, “You have no idea. He looks just like his dad, but does not have his temperament at all.”

  Oh no, why did she say that? The last thing she wanted to do was talk about James with this man.

  “You said you were widowed, right?”

  Evie inhaled deeply. She might as well get it over with now. Usually when people found out she was widowed they always wanted to know how. Even though it was too soon to divulge such information to this man, she figured it was best to put it all out in the open, so if he wanted to he’d have the opportunity to leave before they ordered their food.

  “My husband was killed almost three years ago.” She shut her mouth and waited for the inevitable question that always followed, but to her surprise it didn’t.

  “My mother died a little over a month ago to lung cancer,” he offered.

  “Oh my, I’m so sorry,” Evie said sadly.

  Before Stacy could elaborate, the waiter came to take their food orders. Once their orders were given, he continued on.

  “She was sick for a long time. I moved her in with me and started taking care of her when it became terminal. She didn’t want to stay in the hospital or anywhere else. I had a long time to get used to the idea, so it wasn’t too shocking when she finally passed.”

  Evie nodded her head as a sign that she understood his loss. It would have been nice however if she had time to get used to the idea of James dying before it occurred.

  As she gazed at Stacy, she realized that she had divulged things about herself, but not as much as he had just done. So far what she knew about this man was that he was police officer who ate at a restaurant for two weeks straight just for the chance to run into her again, that he rescued her when her car broke down and had moved his dying mother in with him to take care of her. From the sound of it, he was too good to be true.

  It was right then and there she decided to tell him the complete truth, to see what he was really made of. Since he was a police officer, the odds were he had heard about the incident surrounding her husband. Maybe he even knew the officer that killed him. That would certainly be unfortunate if he did.

  “My husband was shot and killed by the police three years ago,” she blurted out. She waited for the gasp and look of astonishment, but once again there was none. Oddly enough she felt relieved.

  “What happened?” Stacy asked slowly, his facial expression never changing.

  Evie’s eyes fluttered shut and opened quickly before she began. “He was on his way to work when he was pulled over. Apparently he looked like a suspect or something. From what I know, the officer started giving my husband a hard time. To make a long story short, when James finally went to hand the officer his wallet he shot him.”

  Evie cautiously opted not to mention the mysterious second officer, or the letter.

  “The case gained some publicity but not a whole lot,” she added. “You’ve never heard of James Tyrell or Officer Timothy Walker?”

  For a minute it looked as if Stacy was going to say one thing, then it seemed as though he changed his mind.

  “That happened a few years ago. I did hear about it. That was your husband?”

  Evie nodded, expecting him to jump up and bolt at any minute. Her heart nearly leapt out of her chest when Stacy reached across the table and grabbed her hand.

  “I’m sorry, Evie. I’m sorry that this terrible thing happened to your husband and he was taken away from you and your son. You didn’t deserve that, and I’m sure he didn’t deserve that either.”

  Evie sat back. She was stunned by his sincerity. He acted as if he had been the one who committed the crime.

  “You don’t have to be sorry,” she said barely above a whisper.

  “Yes, I do. I don’t even know why you’re sitting here with me right now after all of that.”

  “I don’t judge all men for the acts of a few.”

  “And because of that, you are a better person then I could ever be.”

  His hand felt warm and slightly calloused over hers. It felt good.

  “I don’t want to be consumed with hate anymore. It took me a long time to forgive the officer who shot James.”

  Evie fell silent, her mind thinking back to the anonymous letter. As much as she held on to that letter and read it, she never wanted to know the identity of the other officer.

  “Evie,” Stacy said, pulling her away from her thoughts.

  She looked at him expectantly.

  “I know t
his is our first date, I mean luncheon, but if you give me a chance I promise I will try my best to show you that all cops are not like the one who killed your husband.”

  “I know they’re not, and you don’t have to do that.”

  “But I want to.”

  “Stacy you don’t even know me. I come with a lot of baggage and it’s not your job to make up for what another man did to me and my family.”

  “No, it isn’t my job, but I want to do it. I’m volunteering. I don’t know you but I want to. And who doesn’t like a little baggage? It keeps things interesting.”

  “Baggage makes for drama,” Evie said with a smirk.

  “It doesn’t have to. Besides, everybody has baggage.”

  “And what’s yours?” she suddenly asked. “You take care of sick family members, save women who are stranded on the side of the road and want to make up for another man’s mistakes. Do you have any baggage or do you just have a cape?”

  “I do not have a cape.”

  “You aren’t hiding a wife and children are you?”

  She’d just automatically assumed he wasn’t married or involved with anyone since he asked her out. But now, she felt as though she should ask.

  He shook his head and chuckled. “I would have never asked you out if I had a wife. And no, I don’t have any kids. And I’m not really involved with anyone.”

  It was then that the waiter brought their meals and Stacy let go of her hand. It immediately felt cold and she found herself wishing he would reach for it again. Still, she tried to push down that feeling as she picked up her fork and closed her eyes to bless her food. When she looked up she found Stacy staring at her curiously.

  “What was that?” he asked.

  “I was praying over my food.”

  “My mom used to do that all that time. She would force me to do it as a kid. I was about two years old when taught me that rhyme, ‘God is great, God is good. Let us thank him for this food. In Jesus name, Amen.’ ”

  Evie couldn’t help but burst out laughing at the childish prayer Stacy offered up.

  “I teach that prayer to my three-year-old son. Was you mother very religious?”

  “Yes, she was Christian, or I think it was Baptist. I don’t remember. She was one of the good ones though.”

  “What’s a good one?” Evie asked as she cut up her salmon into bite-size pieces. Ironically, Stacy was doing the same to his steak.

  “You know, one that actually lives the life instead of just talking about it.”

  “Are you a Christian?”

  Stacy shook his head, making a negative affirmation. Evie’s heart plummeted just a bit.

  “Do you believe in God?”

  At this he paused. “Not really. What about you?”

  “I’m Christian. I don’t know if I’m one of the good ones though.”

  “You are,” he said quickly and with such assurance that Evie felt her cheeks redden.

  The rest of their lunch passed by quickly with much lighter conversation. After their meal was complete and paid for, Evie found herself being walked out to the parking lot by Stacy. All in all, despite its heavy beginning, the luncheon turned out pretty well in her opinion.

  “I had a good time, Evie,” Stacy remarked as the valet handed her the car keys.

  Here it comes, Evie thought. She figured he’d start off with something like “This was nice but let’s not do it again.” Or say, “I’ll call you at some point,” and then he never would.

  Instead he said, “So when can I see you again?”

  Evie looked at him as if he’d grown two heads.

  “Are you serious? After all of that?”

  “Did you think I was joking in there?” he asked, motioning to the restaurant.

  “No, but that was a pretty intense lunch. And like I said, I come with a lot of baggage and I-,”

  “Don’t care,” Stacy interrupted. “Now please, don’t make me stake out Gabriel’s again just to see you.”

  Evie smiled. “I’m not sure what my schedule looks like at the hospital next week, but you can call me.” She almost laughed at the school boy grin he gave her.

  “Will do,” he said. They both stared at each other uneasily for a moment, neither knowing what to do next, until Stacy brought her in for a quick hug. The gesture surprised her.

  “Thank you,” he whispered in her ear, before setting her down.

  Confused and feeling slightly giddy, she climbed into her car having no idea why he was thanking her.