A Wedding In the Family (18 page)

“This is perfect, Mom.” Heather climbed up into the bleachers. “You can see me fine from here.” Angela smiled and agreed. Heather was to be on the platform tonight to receive an award for swimming class—“Most Improved”—along with her certificate of completion. She’d overcome her fears and made the mandatory dive on the last night of class. With some encouragement, of course, from someone she trusted. Angela glanced around the room, looking for that someone. She did owe him a thank-you for his help. Her six-year-old daughter had trusted him. Why couldn’t she? And were those her thoughts, or was the Lord trying to get through to her? How would she ever know?

“Mom, could we go get some snacks? Popcorn or something? I have money with me,” Nathan added. Angela followed his line of vision to a concession booth on the other side of the auditorium.

“Sure, you can go,” she replied, watching David and Heather scramble after their older brother. “Guys, keep an eye on your sister.” She glanced over the program in her hands, looking for Adam’s name. But Tiffany was the only staff member listed in charge tonight. It was then that she heard her name spoken from somewhere behind her on the bleachers.

“Adam?” She turned to see him, but he looked different from what she expected. He was casually dressed, tan corduroys and a soft camel-colored shirt
At least, she thought as she cleared her throat nervously, it
looked
soft. “How are you?”

He shrugged. “All right, I guess. How about you?”

“I’m fine,” she answered. She watched him take a seat, uninvited, right where Heather had been sitting only seconds ago. So he
was
here. She had known he would be. “No jacket? No tie?” she commented.

“Nope, it’s Tiffany’s program tonight. I’m sitting this one out.”

“She didn’t know that a couple of days ago when I went shopping with her.”

“Well, she knows now,” he answered offhandedly and nodded toward his raven-haired niece. “She looks good. Very professional. Reserved. I take it you had something to do with that.” He tilted his head to look at Angela, the straight line of his mouth and steady gaze showing no hint of the emotion that gnawed at him. He knew this would be it. They’d find some way to work through this mess. They had to. Tonight. If not, then tomorrow he started looking for another job, in another city—somewhere away from all this happiness that he couldn’t quite reach.

“She asked for my help,” Angela responded. “It seemed like something I should do.”

“And you usually do the things you should,” he added, then looked away. “So do I.”

She closed her eyes momentarily in frustration. “Adam, why are you here…with us? You didn’t even need to come to this ceremony.”

“Yes, I did,” he answered emphatically. “It’s called ‘keeping a promise.’” He looked back into her
eyes and somehow managed to remain expressionless. “I see Heather coming this way, but where are the boys?”

“They all went to get some popcorn and drinks. They’ll be back in a moment. I’m sure they’ll be surprised to see you.”

“Why?” he asked. “I told them I’d be here.”

“They’re not all that used to a man keeping his word,” she answered quietly.

“And neither are you,” he said, just as the kids approached them. He was right and they both knew it. The promise had been to Angela, too. As much as was within his power, he’d not let her sit alone through another of the children’s programs as she had done for years. But tonight she would have preferred sitting alone to being so close to the man who was breaking her heart.

“Adam!” Heather was the only one of the trio that called out his name, but it was clear to Angela, and to anyone else looking, that the expressions on all three young faces were ones of pleasant surprise.

“How have you been?” David asked, while Heather’s greeting was a king-size embrace and a giggle.

“We’ve missed you,” Nathan said. Angela was stunned. Nathan, being the eldest, usually tried to maintain an air of maturity that his siblings obviously lacked. But not tonight. At least, not for long. He watched David offer a big hug, too, and when it was Nathan’s turn, Angela saw him start to extend a hand for a handshake. But Adam smiled and shook his head
as he reached for the boy. They hugged, with Nathan holding tighter than either of the other two. Angela blinked back tears and looked away.

“I didn’t think you’d sit with us,” Nathan said in an uneven tone. He cleared his throat rather roughly. “I mean, after you and Mom…” His words died out.

Angela winced. She hadn’t meant to hurt the kids by leaving Adam. She’d been trying to protect them. But now, she wondered, from what? Kept promises? A warm embrace?

Adam glanced at Angela, who refused to look up at him. “Your mother and I may not be getting married, but we’re not enemies.” He tickled Heather in the ribs when she crowded back into his arms. “We can still all sit together without it causing a problem. Can’t we, Angie?”

She didn’t dare to speak. She couldn’t be sure what words would come out No one called her Angie except Adam—and then usually in tender moments. She nodded her head, still refusing to meet Adam’s eyes.

“Mom, you okay?” David asked, studying his mother’s downcast profile.

“Yes, hon, I’m okay,” she replied. But she wasn’t okay, and she didn’t think she ever would be again if she couldn’t share her life with this man. Why, of all things, was he an alcoholic? She could have dealt with anything else. Then she thought of Patty in the bathrobe. Well, maybe not
anything
else. Adam could have relived old times with Patty and even have created some
new
ones if he had chosen to, perhaps even with a drink or two. It would have been easy enough
for him to return to old habits, especially when “old habits” looked as good as his ex-wife. But he had chosen not to, she reminded herself. He’d chosen not to.

Adam’s voice jarred her back into the present. “Heather, there’s the rest of your swimming class.” He pointed across the room to a group of kids. “You need to join them for the awards.”

Angela looked over at Adam, watching him direct her daughter. He could be the man to help her direct all of her kids to where they needed to be in life. But not until she overcame her own fears and doubts. Adam seemed to have truly changed from the life-style his brother had described to her. But could people really change completely? Be someone different from who they’d been? Dan certainly never could.

“Have you ever thought about how your brother, Rob, has changed over the years?” Adam asked suddenly, his question seeming to come out of the blue. But it wasn’t really. He simply knew the conflict raging inside her. It was always the same where he was concerned. Could he change? Could he be trusted? Adam wanted to turn her focus back to the Lord, the source of all their strengths.

Angela looked down again. Could he somehow read her mind? The boys had taken seats on either side of Adam, which left her off to the side with Nathan seated between them. She coughed nervously. “Of course I’ve thought of that.” She had, hadn’t she? Rob had completely changed when he was away from the Lord, and then changed again upon returning
to his faith. And Micah had a lot to do with it. “The babies were born last week.”

“I know. Rob called me.”

She turned to him questioningly, but now he was watching the children line up for the presentation. “He called you? Just to tell you that?”

“That, and to give me some advice about you.”

“And that advice was…” She was hoping he’d fill in the blank.

“Personal,” he replied. “He said the babies are doing fine. Nicholas and Natalie. Good names.” He paused. “He asked when I thought we might have one.”

“You’d have to get married first,” Nathan commented from his position between them. Then he took a bite of the popcorn he and David had been sharing.

The adults glanced at him, then looked at each other, sharing a smile. “I didn’t think you were paying any attention to us,” Angela said.

“Well, you were wrong,” Nathan replied. “Kids are always listening to what grown-ups say.” He stood up. “I’m going to move down here with David so you guys can talk about stuff by yourselves.”

Angela laughed quietly as Nathan moved beside his younger brother. Suddenly there was a space between Angela and Adam that no one seemed prepared to span. “Rob’s case is different from ours.”

“You mean ‘mine.’” Adam countered. “Because he was called into the ministry, or because he’s your hero?”

Anger warmed her cheeks as she said bluntly, “He’s not my ‘hero.’”

“Yes, he is, and that’s okay. He’s your brother and you love him. But he’s just a man. If he can change, so can I. He even needed the help of Micah to push him in the direction of change. My change came years ago from the hand of the Lord as an answer to prayer. It doesn’t hinge on you, or on how well things are going with us. When you walked away from me, it didn’t drive me back to—”

“Adam, please, this isn’t exactly a private place.”

He paused. She was right This wasn’t the place to tell her how much he’d wanted a drink that night. Or how one would have been too much and, at the same time, never enough. “After Heather gets her award, we’ll go into my office.”

The ceremony began under Tiffany’s direction, and when Heather’s turn came, she walked up and accepted her certificate of completion and participation ribbon quite proudly. Tiffany commented on how Heather’s dive on her final day of class enabled her to pass to the next level. Tiffany held the microphone to Heather, allowing her to speak to the audience.

“Thank you, Adam, for helping me dive,” she said simply as she waved to Adam and Angela from the platform. The visitors burst into applause, making Heather the star of the evening.

The program was brief and well done, and Tiffany looked relieved when it concluded.

“Heather told me you walked out on the board with her. It made all the difference in the world to
her.” Angela had heard Heather’s account of last week’s dive.

Adam and the boys were laughing about something, but he leaned near Angela to respond.

“It surprised me. I thought she’d want me in the water to catch her, but she didn’t. It was the walking out on that board all alone that frightened her. The first time I held her arms and lowered her down into the water. The next time, she jumped. By herself.”

Angela shook her head in amazement. Maybe her children’s instincts were better than her own. Anything was possible.

“Let’s go,” Adam said, directing her with a firm hand pressed to her back. “To my office.”

“Nathan, we’re going to Adam’s office for a few minutes. You may visit with your friends for a while and have some of the refreshments, but keep David and Heather with you. If you need me, you know where to find me.”

Angela followed Adam through the crowd of spectators toward the hallway that led to privacy. Adam switched on the light in the darkened room and closed the door behind him as they entered. Angela’s mind returned briefly to the discussion they’d shared the day he asked her to marry him—in the middle of the afternoon at a public park. That day had been so full of happiness and promise. This conversation would be different. Painful, final.

Adam didn’t say anything as he approached his desk, taking a seat on the edge. He motioned Angela toward a nearby leather chair.

“Thank you, but I’d rather stand,” she replied. She raised her eyes to glance at the clock on the paneled wall, although she really had no concern about the time. It was just someplace to look, other than into the depth of his eyes. Her gaze fell upon a photograph lying on the cabinet not far from where she stood: a snapshot of a dog. Nathan’s dog. “Adam, where did you get that picture of Max? I don’t remember taking it.” She reached for the photo, picked it up and raised her eyes to meet Adam’s.

“You didn’t take it. I did. This morning,” he answered. “I had to be sure it was really Max before I mentioned it to Nathan.”

“But how did you find him?” she asked in bewilderment.

“I went to see the house you used to live in,” he said, and then cleared his throat. “I thought that, maybe, if I could picture what your life with Dan was like…” He paused.

Hot tears stung her eyes as she listened. “But Adam…” Her voice faltered. She didn’t want to discuss what life with Dan had been like. Not even with Adam.

He continued in a somber voice. “Anyway, I found your old address in Heather’s file here at the center, and I decided to take a look.” He nodded toward the photo. “I saw that dog running around in the backyard there. Nathan had told me about Max—that he’d run away. He believes it’s his fault for not taking good enough care of him.”

“It wasn’t his fault,” Angela said. “It was Dan’s.
I didn’t know Nathan felt responsible. He’s never mentioned that to me.” Her heart sank. She thought she’d done a good thing by not telling the boy the reason Max had run off. Now to find out that Nathan had felt guilty all this time nearly broke her heart all over again.

“From what I could recall of Nathan’s description, I thought that dog could be Max. I called out his name, and he came running.”

“What did you do? Where is he?”

“I went up to the house and talked to the couple that live there. The man said the dog comes around every now and then. He feeds it and then it’s gone again. No one seemed to claim him, so I took him with me. He’s at the vet’s clinic right now. They’re cleaning him up and giving him whatever shots he needs.”

“Oh, Adam,” she breathed, “Nathan will be so happy. Thank you.” She closed the distance between them in a quick step or two and gave him a spontaneous hug of gratitude. It was only when his strong arms moved to fully encircle her in the familiar warmth that she realized what a chance she’d taken. She hadn’t seen him, touched him in such a long time. How was she supposed to let go now?

Adam held her close, in all her softness and warmth, as he struggled with the choice he faced—now, with this woman in his arms. Fight to keep her, or let her go? “Angie, tell me what Dan did that scared Max away.”

She swallowed hard, trying to comprehend what he
was asking. And why. “He came home in the early hours of the morning and startled the dog. So naturally, Max growled and barked at him to protect me.”