On Hummingbird Wings
Page 29
“What about Monday?” His smile made her think of a big cat locked in on its prey.
“I have another job, and I would have to make arrangements there.”
He didn’t like being deflated. “Oh. I see. How much time would you need?”
“Probably two weeks. That would only be fair.”
He stared at the pen on his blotter, then picked it up. “While I wish you’d start Monday, two weeks it is.” He looked back at her. “Anything else?”
“So, am I to understand that the position is mine, should I decide to take it?”
He nodded.
Gillian stood. “Thank you; then I will let you know my decision on Monday.”
He stood to walk her to the door. “If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call.” He handed her a business card. “That’s my private cell number.”
“Thank you.”
Cicely wasn’t at her desk as Gillian left the reception area. When she walked out on the street, she was surprised to find that she’d been in the meeting for nearly an hour. Since the sun was still shining in spite of gray clouds looming, she decided to walk back to her condo. The breeze had a bite to it as it kicked up bits of trash and the last of the leaves, so she belted her coat and headed out. As always, she loved New York City. The people rushing, taxis honking, store windows to enjoy, the sense of energy, going places. She stopped at the Corner Deli for a sandwich and chatted with the owner, who wanted a full history of all she’d done since she left.
Back in her condo, she sat down at the table to eat. How could any place feel so empty and cold? No Winnie, no flowers, no hummingbirds. But worst of all, no Adam. Here it was noon and in California he was just getting to work. No, he’d been at the nursery for better than an hour. She reached for her cell and started to dial, then snapped it closed.
Bringing her laptop out of her briefcase, she turned it on, and while it booted up, she went into the kitchen to make a cup of tea. What would it take to pack up this condo? What would she do with her things? The microwave pinged and she dipped her tea bag in the hot water. Using boiling water was always better, but she ignored that and took her cup back to the living room.
Not a lot of messages on her e-mail. She opened the one from Allie.
Winnie is not happy. You need to come home soon. I hope your interview went well. Call me when you have time. I love you, Allie
Such a change.
Gillian hesitated before opening the one from Adam. A simple one-liner.
Just remember, there is a heart waiting for you here.
She burst into tears. So much for being a competent executive who controlled her emotions as she led her staff. She was a woman in love. She blew her nose and took that thought out to look at again, to savor, and seek out the facets. I love Adam. I do. I like Adam. I do indeed. She went to stand at the window. Do I love New York and this new job to the exclusion of my life in California? Two pigeons flew by and then returned to light on the outside ledge. They certainly weren’t hummingbirds. And there was no place for rosebushes and a birdbath.
Get real, Gillian. Look at the money you’d be making. You were very comfortable before, but with the increase and the bonuses? Your nest egg could grow exponentially. So, would Adam come to New York if she asked him? The gray clouds that had been forming opened up and dumped a deluge. Gray outside, gray buildings, no sunsets to speak of. A woman with a red umbrella hurried along, out of place with the rivers of black ones.
Can I afford to live in California without a real job? But then I haven’t looked for one, either. I like what I’m doing, working at the nursery. Back and forth her mind swung, a pendulum in motion. She clasped her elbows with her hands and headed to the bedroom for a sweater. She’d not felt this bone deep chill in months; was this a portent of the coming winter?
Gillian sat back down at the computer and read Adam’s message again. To her, the e-mail looked like an apology for his attitude when he took her to the airport. “Just remember there is a heart waiting for you here.” Call him. Don’t call him.
The call she made instead made her smile all over.
Chapter Thirty-five
Adam turned on Munson Street, the final blocks to home. What an intolerable day. He’d kept hoping that Gillian would call or at least answer his e-mail, but nada. How could a woman he’d known only a few weeks have captured his heart so completely? He stared at Dorothy’s house, which he now thought of as Gillian’s. Empty. Just like he felt.
He drove two houses farther and into the driveway. His father’s truck was parked in the regular place. How could the whole world go on as regular as the sun when he failed? He climbed out and slammed the door. A long run would do both him and Thor a lot of good.
Something smelled mighty good. “Dad, I’m home.”
When there was no answer, his heart lurched. Dad must be out with his babies. But where was Thor, who always met him at the door? He dropped his keys on the tray like always and meandered into the kitchen.
Gillian turned from the pot she was stirring. “How’s your heart?”
He crossed the kitchen in two steps and swept her into his arms. “It’s in overdrive.” The kiss they shared could have heated the frying pan. He sat down at the table and glanced out the back door to see the two dogs romping in the backyard, then pulled her onto his lap. “All right, put me out of my misery.”
“I turned the job down.”
“I’ve figured out how we can manage with you back there and me here…you turned it down?”
She nodded. “I don’t want to live in Manhattan again. I e-mailed Mark and told him I declined. It was a mighty good offer.”
“Do you want to take the job?”
“No.”
“Even if I moved to New York, too?”
She started to shake her head and stared at him. “Would you do that?”
“I thought about it—a lot. If I had to, we could make it work.”
She still shook her head. “The money was appealing, I can’t deny that. I’d be doing the same job as I had before—I liked it then. But now I’ve had a taste of a different life. And I like it.”
“Have I mentioned that I love you?”
“I think that’s what your e-mail said, but I love to hear the words.” She leaned closer and kissed him, then laid her head on his shoulder. “I wanted to surprise you.”
“You did.”
She held up her arm, showing him her wrist. “See this?”
“Yeah, so what?”
“This is not an ugly watch. They say this is better than the patch because there are no side effects. I thought we’d try it out on the boat tomorrow after church.”
“You better stir your cooking over there; I think it is starting to burn.”
Gillian leaped to her feet and whipped the pan off the burner. She stirred it with the wooden spoon. “We’re okay.”
“We most certainly are. How did you get Dad involved in this?”
“A simple phone call. He was delighted.”
“I’m sure he was. Do you have to go back?”
“I thought maybe we could take a trip there together.”
“As in a honeymoon?”
“That could be a very good idea.”
Epilogue
Sunshine drove away the fog on Thanksgiving Day. With the entire family gathered, the seams of Allie’s house stretched to fit. While some of the males stayed glued to the football games on television, the hubbub in the kitchen reached epic proportions. Dorothy and Enzio teamed up to get the hors d’oeuvres together, at the same time telling the girls about their adventures.
Adam came in from the patio to say half an hour until the turkey was done. Jefferson had the ham heating on the covered barbecue.
Adam dropped a kiss on the back of Gillian’s neck as he passed by.
“So what do you think of our idea?” Enzio asked.
“Which one, the worldwide tour or living at your house?” Gillian smacked Adam’s hand a
s he snitched a radish rose in passing.
“Both.” Dorothy turned to her daughters. “I cannot believe I really wanted to die. Think of all I’d have missed out on.” She smiled at Enzio. “He spoils me rotten.”
“’Bout time someone spoiled you.” He winked at Gillian. “But she fights spoiling tooth and nail.”
Allie raised her eyebrows at Gillian. “You really think he’s right?”
“Not a bit surprised.”
At the table, they all clasped hands for grace. Enzio cleared his throat. “I’d like to offer the grace if I may, and then I thought we could go around the table and everyone say what they are most thankful for.” He looked around to find everyone nodding. “Dear Heavenly Father, I thank You for all the blessings I see around this table, for creating us all a new family as we come together as Your children. I thank You for my new life with Dorothy and all the adventures we are having, for the love we share. For health and the true happiness we find in You. I thank You for the food so lovingly prepared and for our great country. Most of all, I thank You for loving us.”
Dorothy smiled at her new husband and then her daughters. “I am thankful that you three confronted my fear after the TIA. I was terrified I’d be helpless, like your father before he died, so I tried to die before that happened.” She raised a hand to stop their responses before they started. “Fear doesn’t make sense at times. Just thank God with me.”
Gillian nodded, sniffed, and used her napkin to dry her eyes.
As the rest of them each said something they were thankful for, Gillian tried to sort through her overflowing heart of joy. When Adam said he was most thankful for loving her, she sniffed. “I thank You, Lord, for Adam, for love, and new life.” She squeezed his hand, feeling the new ring on her left hand. The marquis-cut diamond insisted on sliding to the side.
And everyone said, “Amen.”
Reading Group Guide
An old adage says that as you age you will become more of whoever you were when younger. If you don’t like things about you now, what are you doing to change those dislikes before you get locked into bad habits?
As you watched Gillian struggle with her mother, what do you think she might have done differently?
Have you been through a similar situation, and if so, how did you handle it? Are you pleased with the outcome?
Typically when siblings come home, they step right back into the roles they played as children. How do you see that happening in your life?
Many people are being forced into starting their careers over, like Gillian was. What advice would you give someone in that situation?
Working in a garden, no matter how small, can bring healing on so many levels. What have you experienced in this area?
Heroes come in unlikely packages at times. How would you recognize one?
Gillian has found herself falling away from her childhood faith and upbringing. What experiences have you had in your life where life chips away at faith, rather than helping it grow?
What do you have to be thankful for? Make a list and share it with those you love.
About the Author
Award-winning and bestselling author LAURAINE SNELLING began living her dream to be a writer with her first published book for young adult readers, Tragedy on the Toutle, in 1982. She has since continued writing more horse books for young girls, adding historical and contemporary fiction and nonfiction for adults and young readers to her repertoire. All told, she has more than sixty-five books published.
Shown in her contemporary romances and women’s fiction, a hallmark of Lauraine’s style is writing about real issues of forgiveness, loss, domestic violence, and cancer within a compelling story. Her work has been translated into Norwegian, Danish, and German, and she has won the Silver Angel Award for An Untamed Land and a Romance Writers of America Golden Heart for Song of Laughter.
Lauraine helps others reach their writing dreams by teaching at writers’ conferences across the country. Her readers clamor for more books more often, and Lauraine would like to comply, if only her ever-growing flower gardens didn’t call quite so loudly.
Lauraine and her husband, Wayne, have two grown sons, and live in the Tehachapi Mountains with a watchdog Basset named Chewy. They love to travel, most especially in their forty-two-foot motor coach, which a friend has dubbed “The Taj,” their home away from home.
Praise forLauraine Snelling and Her Books
“Reminding us that love can spring forth from ashes, that life can emerge from death, Lauraine Snelling writes a gripping and powerful novel that will inspire and uplift you.”
—Lynne Hinton, author of The Last Odd Day
“Snelling writes about the foibles of human nature with keen insight and sweet honesty.”
—National Church Library Association
“Snelling is good at creating suspenseful twists and turns.”
—Bookbrowse.com
“Lauraine’s writing is both humorous and convicting.”
—Leslie Gould, author of Beyond the Blue
and Garden of Dreams
“Snelling’s captivating tale will immediately draw readers in. The grief process is accurately portrayed, and readers will be enthralled by the raw emotion of Jenna’s and Nora’s accounts.”
—Romantic Times Book Reviews on One Perfect Day
“Two mothers. Two children. One tragedy. One miracle. Snelling, whose novels have sold more than two million copies, is sure to grab readers from the start of this holiday melodrama.…Fans of Christian women’s fiction will enjoy this winning novel.”
—Publishers Weekly on One Perfect Day
Also by Lauraine Snelling
Breaking Free
One Perfect Day
Available from FaithWords wherever books are sold.
Contents
Title Page
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-one
Chapter Thirty-two
Chapter Thirty-three
Chapter Thirty-four
Chapter Thirty-five
Epilogue
Reading Group Guide
About the Author
Praise forLauraine Snelling and Her Books
Also by Lauraine Snelling
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2011 by Lauraine Snelling
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
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First eBook Edition: April 2011
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Words is a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
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ISBN: 978-0-446-58565-1