A Valentine's Wish (13 page)

A
ndy set the remaining two-liter drinks in the fridge and shut the door. Finally, the gym was cleaned up from the church’s biannual potluck dinner. The youth group had volunteered—or, rather, Andy had volunteered the youth group—for cleanup duty this year instead of contributing food. A choice that, after tasting Jeremy and Haley’s attempted cake last week, was probably wise.

Haley tossed the dishrag she’d been using to wipe the counters in the sink and brushed her hands on her jeans. “I’m beat.”

“You?” Jeremy set his full bowl of leftover apple cobbler on the counter and flexed his bicep. “I’m the one who had to lug all those tables into the storage closet.”

“Yeah, on a cart with
wheels
.” Haley rolled her eyes.

“Don’t start, you two,” Andy warned. “I’m too tired to play referee.” It’d be a long day of services, and thanks to the fresh onslaught of matchmaking attempts from the church’s elder population and another not-so-subtle “get married” reminder from Pastor Mike, Andy hadn’t been able to escape and go home until well after church ended. He’d grabbed lunch and had only been at his apartment for less than two hours before
it was time to hurry back and lasso his youth group together for the evening service.

The fact that he hadn’t heard from or seen Lori since their phone conversation at the movie theater yesterday didn’t help. She hadn’t shown up for church today or for the potluck. Andy kept shoveling green beans and ham casserole in his mouth, waiting for her to rush in with apologies for being late, but she never showed.

He couldn’t think about how that might be because she was with Jason, or that casserole would make a not-so-grand reappearance.

“Don’t worry, this isn’t fighting. We’re leaving, anyway.” Haley tugged on Jeremy’s sleeve. “Let’s go. I’ve got homework tonight.”

“See you Wednesday night, Pastor.” Jeremy shrugged into his varsity football jacket, picked up his remaining dessert and then opened the gymnasium door for Haley. They waved and disappeared into the dark parking lot.

Andy made sure all the doors were locked, flipped off the overhead lights and dug his keys from his pants pocket. Finally, he could go home and crash—though dreams of Lori were sure to interrupt his sleep at this point. Maybe he’d watch a movie first and make some popcorn to settle that casserole roiling in his stomach. Deep down he knew it wasn’t Widow Spencer’s fault, though she might have overdone it with the peppers this time. It was his stress and paranoia over what Lori could be doing right now—and who she could be with.

He trudged toward his car, surprised to see Jeremy’s truck still parked under the streetlight. Jeremy climbed out of the cab.

“My truck won’t start.” The teen shook his head. “It did this to me last week. I think it’s the battery. Do you have any jumper cables?”

Andy winced. “Not anymore. Carter borrowed them before his wedding and I haven’t gotten them back yet.”

“Bummer.” Jeremy spooned another bite of cobbler into his mouth. “Now what?”

Haley hopped out of the passenger side. “Room for two more, Pastor?”

“If you promise not to fight anymore.” Andy gestured toward his car. “Let’s go.”

A few minutes later they were cruising down I-90 to Haley’s house. Jeremy had kindly allowed Haley to have the front.

“So where was Lori tonight?” Haley’s blond hair glowed in the light of the highway lamps as they flashed by.

Andy’s hands tightened on the wheel. “I’m not sure.”

“You never did say much about the blind date. Other than you didn’t want to talk about it.”

Jeremy shoved the back of the passenger seat with his knees. “Take the hint, Haley.”

“It’s okay, Jeremy.” Andy drew a deep breath. “Haley, it wasn’t a good idea to play that kind of trick on us. Adult relationships are complicated, and that didn’t help.”

Haley crossed her arms, clearly not buying it. “I think you’re both being stubborn.”

“Haley!” The passenger seat rocked again.

“I’m serious. They’re perfect for each other, but they won’t do anything about it.” She shook her head, and her braids whipped around her shoulders. “It’s ridiculous.”

“I’m sorry, Pastor.” Jeremy’s deep voice resonated through the sudden silence in the car. “I’ve told her to try thinking
before
talking sometimes.”

“Haley, it’s like this.” Andy flipped on his blinker as he took the highway exit. “You know I care for Lori. But I’m not so sure she feels the same way about me.”

“Baloney.”

Andy checked over his shoulder before changing lanes. “I’m serious.”

“I heard her ex showed up this weekend.”

Andy met Jeremy’s gaze in the rearview mirror as the teen spooned another bite of apple cobbler into his mouth. “How’d you hear that?”

“Small church. Word travels.”

He was right—and usually, it traveled even faster than that German chocolate cake had disappeared at the potluck. Andy braked at a red light and rubbed his temples with his fingers. He couldn’t believe he was sitting in a car discussing his love life—rather lack of—with two of his youth-group members. Friends or not, mature or not, it was pathetic. Andy’s head throbbed, and he rubbed harder.

“I didn’t mean to upset you,” Haley said. “I’m sorry. I have a really big mouth.”

“It’s okay, Haley,” Andy answered wearily. “I just need you to lay off the matchmaking. I’m getting enough of that from the deacons’ wives and the church widows.”

A slight thud sounded in the backseat. “Whoops, dropped my bowl.”

“Napkins are in the cubbyhole. You better not leave sticky cobbler on my floor mats,” Andy warned.

“No problem, Pastor. I’ve got it.” Jeremy’s head disappeared behind the seat as he leaned over to clean the mess.

“Speaking of deacons, isn’t that Mr. Sinclair?” Haley tapped the passenger window with her finger, then waved.

The older man in the car next to them stared.

Andy leaned over in a wave, but still no response.

“He must not recognize us.” Haley waved harder.

The light turned green. Andy tried another wave without acknowledgment as he accelerated through the intersection. “Oh, well. How’s that cobbler coming, Jeremy?” He darted another glance in his rearview.

Jeremy’s head popped up. “I think it’s okay, but it’s too dark to tell for sure. I’ll get some carpet cleaner at Haley’s house.”

“I’d appreciate it.”

“Turn here.” Haley gestured at the next block. “Second house on the right.”

Andy made the turn and pulled into Haley’s long driveway. The teens climbed out and hurried inside to find the cleaner, leaving Andy alone to wait as the scent of apples wafted through the car.

Too bad Lori had never showed. She could have taken Haley home, and he could have driven Jeremy, and this horrible, embarrassing talk about his relationship status would have never happened. No, scratch that. If Haley and Lori had ended up alone to talk…Andy shuddered. That would have been worse. He supposed all things happened for a reason, after all.

He rested his head against the back of the seat and sighed. Every now and then, he just wished something
good
would happen for him, too.

The glass doors of the bank closed behind Lori with a whoosh of wind, effectively shutting out her dreams. That was the third bank she’d visited during her extended lunch hour Monday, and they all presented the same horrible equation. Not enough credit plus no cosigner equaled no loan, no way—even if she was a “nice girl” with “good intentions.” The proposal she drew up hadn’t helped a bit.

A harsh winter breeze blew through her hair, and Lori shoved the dark strands behind her ears as she headed for her car. Looked as if she had no backup plan once Bella returned, after all. In a few days, she’d be right back where she’d started from.

Lori yanked open the door and collapsed behind the steering wheel, unable to muster the energy or motivation to crank the engine. It didn’t help her mood any that she hadn’t talked to Andy since that disastrous phone call Saturday before her dinner with Jason.

No, she definitely wasn’t doing so hot in the man department. She’d chickened out of going to church yesterday, afraid
of her feelings and afraid of what seeing Andy might do to her bruised heart. So she’d stayed in bed with her Bible and notepad, reading through the book of Psalms and trying to keep her mind off the men in her life and how the only one she really wanted to care about her suddenly didn’t seem to mind that her ex had reappeared in her life. She shouldn’t wish jealousy on someone, especially not a friend, but the fact that Andy was
just
her friend was the whole problem in the first place. What made her not good enough to be more than a friend? Why hadn’t he even considered it before? She’d hoped Jason’s reappearance in her life would finally open Andy’s eyes.

But by the way he’d stood by and let Jason railroad her at Café Du Monde, it wasn’t likely.

Lori rested her forehead against the wheel and tried to calm the anxious beating of her heart. No love life. No loan. No dreams.

No paycheck.

She groaned. Maybe since she’d spent so many years at the Aquarium of the Americas, they could fit her in somewhere. Her old job managing the gift shop had been filled, but at this point, cleaning floors and fish tanks would be better than staying unemployed and furthering her credit-card debt. At least she’d be able to work with Gracie again.

Lori turned the key in the ignition and waited while her car puttered to life. Was that all she had to look forward to? Making a barely tolerable salary doing a job she hated while hoping to catch glimpses of her friend in an upper-management state?

She sat back in the seat and cranked on the heater. Whom was she kidding? Everything would be different now that Gracie and Carter were married. It was just a matter of time until she’d have no job, no money and no best friend. She closed her eyes. Add no boyfriend or future husband to that growing list.

Her cell phone jangled from the cup holder, and she considered not answering. But even a telemarketer’s company beat
wallowing in this deep-sucking bog of self-pity. She shook off the claws of depression before they could sink in further and flipped open her cell. “Hello?”

“Lori, it’s Jason.”

Just when she thought her day couldn’t get any worse. She turned the heater down to better hear him through the sketchy reception. “What do you want?”

“That glad to hear from me, huh?”

“Get to the point, Jason.” Lori sniffed, then pressed her fingers against her lips. She would
not
cry on the phone with her ex.

Jason cleared his throat. “Listen, I just wanted to apologize for offending you Saturday night. That was never my intention. And, also, I’m calling to tell you I have a proposition.”

Lori’s eyes popped open. What kind of—

“A business offer.” Jason’s voice softened. “I really think you’ll want to hear it.”

At this point, she was desperate enough to do just that. At least if it was business, it wasn’t personal. Lori’s fingers clenched around her phone. “All right, I’ll hear you out. But no guarantees.”

“No problem. Where should I meet you?”

“Why not just tell me now?”

Jason hesitated. “I think it’d be better in person.”

“Fine.” Lori jerked the gear into reverse and began backing out of the parking space, narrowly missing an SUV. “I’ll be back at the Chocolate Gator in just a little bit. Meet me there.”

Jason’s relieved sigh sounded through the line. “Great, I know you won’t regret—”

“You’ll have ten minutes.” She closed her phone and tossed it on the passenger seat as she merged into traffic.

She wouldn’t let him have the upper hand with her again.

Andy knocked on the door of the head pastor’s office, heart pounding an erratic rhythm that matched the anxious tapping of his hand. He hadn’t been summoned to Pastor
Mike’s office since that time two years ago when the youth group nearly destroyed the gymnasium after a rained-out football game gone bad.

He shifted his weight and knocked a second time. Maybe it wasn’t bad news. Maybe the budget committee had formulated raises for the staff, or maybe Pastor Mike just wanted to check on the status of the Spring Retreat. But if that was the case, why wouldn’t he pop into Andy’s office the way he usually did? Even when Pastor Mike spoke with him about the staff wanting Andy married off, he came to Andy and tried to make the visit casual.

Andy swallowed hard. No, this couldn’t be good at all.

“Come in.” The senior pastor finally answered Andy’s knock, and his solemn tone didn’t bode well for Andy’s nerves. He slowly stepped into the room. The late-afternoon sunbeams streaming through the slanted blinds provided the room with a false sense of gaiety.

“Close the door behind you.” Pastor Mike swiveled in his black leather office chair, a grave expression on his face. “Please have a seat.”

Both requests sounded more like demands, and Andy’s pulse raced as he quickly obeyed. He knotted his fingers together in his lap and waited, not sure what to say or what might make things worse. The ticking of the engraved clock on the desk sounded like a time bomb waiting to explode.

“We have a situation on our hands.” Pastor Mike leaned forward, bracing his arms across the cherrywood desk. “One I hoped to never have to address in this church.”

Andy’s nerves tingled. Apparently when he messed up, he messed
up
. The question was, what had he done? He shuffled his feet against the plush carpet, afraid to speak lest his voice sound like he’d just sucked in a balloon full of helium.

“Frankly, I’m more than a little surprised.” Pastor Mike steepled his fingers and stared at Andy with an unblinking
gaze. “I thought you knew better than this, especially considering the recent hoopla in the news.”

Andy blinked twice, unable to get past the fact that his pastor had actually just said the word
hoopla
, and even more confused as to what he was talking about. “Sir, I’m sorry. I don’t understand.”

“You know it’s against church policy to ride alone in a car with a female member of the youth group.”