A Wedding In the Family (8 page)

“Do you think the Lord understands how much I miss Max?” Nathan asked quietly.

Angela slipped her arm around the boy’s shoulders and kissed the crown of his head. “I’m sure He does, hon. And some day, when we own a house of our own again, you can have another pet.”

“You mean, if Max doesn’t come back?”

Angela bit her lower lip and nodded her head. There seemed to be no point in reiterating to him that Max would never come back. Or that if the dog did return, he would naturally go to their old house across town instead of coming here. Nathan had resisted that idea at every mention of it. So she relented. “Yes, if Max doesn’t come home, you could have a different pet.” That seemed to be enough to soothe Nathan for now; he once again began raking the leaves his siblings had scattered across the lawn.

Later, when they had finished their work in the yard, they went inside for the evening. Everyone was tired from the fishing trip and the two boys needed the first showers. They’d gotten much dirtier than necessary when helping Adam clean the fish at the lake and put them on ice for the trip home, and their clothing reeked with fragrant evidence of their participation.

When David come out of the shower, he rubbed his hair vigorously with a towel. “Adam said he’d
freeze those fish so we could go over there to eat them some night. Have you ever been to his place, Mom?”

“No, I haven’t,” she responded, reaching for the hair dryer on the shelf and switching it on. “But I guess we’ll
all
be going over there for a fish dinner pretty soon.”

“I hope so,” David stated. “I like Adam.”

Angela smiled as she dried his black hair, running her fingers through it a few times. “I like him, too.”

“I don’t see what’s so great about him,” Nathan grumbled as he headed toward the bathroom.

“You liked him fine when you were taking karate last summer,” David retorted. “What’s wrong with him now?” David and Angela both looked at Nathan, waiting for his answer.

“Everything,” Nathan stated before disappearing into the bathroom and slamming the door.

“Nothing!” yelled David.

“Okay, okay, you guys. Knock it off.” Angela placed the hair dryer on the stand in the hallway. “Nath, the hair dryer is out here when you need it,” she called through the closed door. “And no more door slamming, please!”

“What’s the matter with Nathan, Mom?” Heather asked when she went to Angela for a hug. Arguments and disagreements of any kind usually sent her running to the safety of her mother’s arms. “Why is he so mad?”

Angela smoothed some of Heather’s dark hair from her forehead and kissed her there. “Sometimes it’s hard to adjust to something new in your life.”

“Like having Adam around?”

“Adam is not a ‘thing,’ goofy,” David commented.

“I should have said ‘someone’ instead of ‘something.’” Angela corrected.

“Adam is a good someone to have around,” Heather said with a smile. “I like it when he’s here.”

“That’s what I like about him. He’s
here.
” David emphasized the word, and Angela watched his young eyes cloud with sadness before he turned from her and went into his bedroom, adding, “Dad hardly ever was.”

“Nathan’s mad, David’s sad and I’m glad,” Heather said suddenly. “We sound like a poem.”

“Yes, you do. Now go get your clean underwear and pajamas from your dresser. Nathan will be out of the shower in a few minutes, and you’re next.” Angela swatted her daughter lightly on the bottom as the girl followed the instructions without argument.

Angela knocked gently and stepped inside the bedroom her boys shared. “David? You okay?” Her son was looking through a red book bag with a decal of a shiny race car on the front zipper pouch. “I’m okay.” He looked up. “Why?”

“You seemed kind of upset when you came in here. I thought maybe you wanted to talk. About Adam. Or about your father.”

“Nope. Nothing to talk about. It’s just that…I like Adam. I’d like it if he hung out with us more. You know, did stuff with us, like today. That’s all.” Then David turned his dark brown eyes to the interior of his book bag. “Have you seen that white caterpillar I found at school yesterday?”

Angela shook her head. “I didn’t know you had
one,” she answered, “but if you’ve left him in that book bag all day, he’s probably no longer alive. He wasn’t one of those fuzzy ones, was he?”

“Yes. And that was his name. Fuzzy.”

“David, I asked you not to play with those things. You know the pediatrician said they can give you a bad rash. If you find him, I want him out of here. Tonight Understood?”

“Okay,” he replied reluctantly. “If you say so.”

“I say so.” Angela turned, only to come face to face with Nathan wrapped up in a towel.

“Excuuuuse me,” he said as he made his way through the doorway and into his room. “Mom, I’ve gotta get my clothes on.”

“Okay, I’m out of here.” Angela left, closing the door behind her. She wondered if the boys would discuss Adam when they were alone in there. Probably. And which one would be the influential one? Probably David. He wanted to be the attorney in the family, and his arguments at times could carry a lot of weight, even with his siblings.

“Great,” Angela muttered under her breath as she went to check on Heather. “I’m relying on a ten-year-old to sway a jury of one: Nathan. Lord, if You’re listening, I need some help on this. If You’re trying to show me Your will, I’m not getting it. Couldn’t I just have a lightning bolt, or, maybe, some handwriting in the sky?
Yes, Adam Dalton is for you,
or
Stay away from that man.
Either one I could handle. Then, at least, I’d know.” At least, she’d know.

T
iffany leaned in through the office door. She found Adam going over schedules for the winter session, quietly whistling some tune.

“So, you really like this Angela Sanders, don’t you?” she asked with a smile.

He looked up from his work. “Yes, I do. I’d like for Allen and your mother to meet her soon.”

“I don’t recall your introducing anyone to the family before. That serious, huh?”

“Could be,” he replied, then noticed his niece still standing there as if there was something she wanted. “Do you need me for something?”

“I wanted to tell you there were a couple of college guys that stopped by earlier. They’re interested in possibly teaching some classes next summer—swimming primarily. I asked them to come back this afternoon. You’ll be here, won’t you?”

Adam nodded. “Until 9:00 tonight What are you
doing in here, anyway? You’re supposed to be off today.”

“I had a few things to catch up on, and I wanted to see Cameron. We need to decide on wedding invitations.”

“Ah, yes,” Adam said with a hint of teasing in his voice. “The wedding. Are things working out as you had hoped?” He leaned back in his chair with his hands casually folded together behind his head.

“Goin’ fine. The only hang-up is my dress. I can’t seem to find exactly what I’m looking for. Everything seems so…so…”

“So…what?” Adam asked. “Expensive? Conservative? White?”

Tiffany laughed. “All of the above. But the funny thing is I kind of like that reserved look. You know what I mean? Like the way your Angela dresses. She always looks so…grown-up.”

“She is grown-up, but she’s not
my
Angela.”

“She could be,” Tiffany remarked, “if the way her face lights up when she’s around you is any indication.”

Adam barely heard the reply. He was busy thinking how pretty Angela looked every time he saw her, regardless of what she wore. Even that old sweat suit she’d been wearing the first night they met somehow had managed to look appealing on her. Soft, warm, comforting. Her nose was red and her eyes were watery, and if he hadn’t been so angry at her for leaving Heather without a ride home, he would have wanted to help her. Some way.

“Adam?”

He heard Tiffany call his name and realized he’d been ignoring her, lost in his thoughts. He returned his gaze to his niece’s serious expression. “Sorry.”

“Have you told her?”

Adam’s heart went cold. He was head-over-heels in love with a woman who didn’t know one of the most important basic facts about him. “Not yet,” he replied, sitting up straighter in his chair. When had his past become a secret? He’d always meant to tell her, he just hadn’t gotten around to it yet. He was waiting for the right time. That was all.

“You’d better fill her in before you bring her over to Mom and Allen’s. You never know how something like that’s going to go.”

Adam cleared his throat. “True,” he answered. “I’ll talk to her.”

She raised her dark eyebrows in cynical question.

“Soon,” he answered her unspoken question. “Soon.”

Tiffany turned and left him alone—with schedules, telephone messages and guilt Lots of it. Angela needed to know, but he couldn’t deliver news like this on a one-hour lunch break. They’d need an evening alone, with no time restrictions, so they could talk—
really
talk—and determine where they would go from here. He would invite her to dinner at his house. Maybe Ed and Grace could watch the kids. He’d take care of it…soon. But right now, there was something else he’d had in mind since last night.

Angela picked up the phone on her desk as soon as Gretchen mentioned the caller’s name. “Adam? Hi. What a pleasant surprise.”

“I know you said you have a luncheon to attend today, but could you get away for about ten minutes if I come over now?”

“Now?” She glanced at her wristwatch. “Sure, I guess so. Why?”

“I’ll explain when I get there.”

“I’ll watch for you to pull into the staff parking lot,” she responded.

“Thanks. See ya.” He picked up his keys. “I’ll be back in less than a half hour,” Adam told Tiffany. “If that new sports equipment comes in while I’m gone, sign for me, but make sure you look over the purchase order and see that we actually got what we ordered for a change.” Then he was out the door and on his way to school.

“Adam? What’s going on?” Angela asked when she met him in the lot.

“Get in.” He motioned for her to join him and leaned over to push open the door for her.

“I can’t leave for more than a few minutes—”

“That’s all it will take. I want to show you something at the library. It’s across the street.” He put the truck in reverse to turn it around and traveled the short distance. Within minutes, he parked in the narrow lot, and was out of the truck, opening the door for Angela.

She laughed lightly. “Adam? The library?”

“Yes. This is a very educational kind of place. You’re a principal, so you’ll fit right in here.”

“What are you talking about?” she asked, but she held tightly to the hand he’d offered and wasn’t about to let go until she figured out what this was leading up to.

They neared the front door and it opened automatically. “This great idea occurred to me last night while I was in here for a meeting.”

“A meeting? What kind of meeting?”

“That’s not important,” he said and squeezed her hand. “It’s the conference room that I want you to see.”

“Hello, Mr. Dalton,” said an older woman who occupied the checkout desk. “Mrs. Sanders, good to see you again. May I help you in some way?”

“Hello, Mrs. Perkins. Is anyone in the conference room?” Adam replied.

She shook her head. “It’s empty.”

“I just wanted Mrs. Sanders to see it,” he explained briefly. As the librarian nodded her assent, Adam was already ushering Angela down a shelflined hallway. Then, past a water fountain and elevator entrance until they reached the last door on the right. Adam pushed it open and stepped inside, tugging on Angela’s hand and pulling her easily into the place he wanted her to be—in his arms. The door quietly shut behind them.

Suddenly she realized this was Adam’s great idea. A place for them to be alone. Even if only for a moment or two. A gentle smile curved her lips as she
glanced around the dimly lit room; only slivers of light made their way through the drawn blinds. “This?” she asked, just to be sure.

“This,” he responded, his hands slipping up her arms, drawing her to him. And then he was kissing her, gently at first, almost as though she was fragile, delicate…as if she could break in his arms. But Angela’s response assured him that she was none of those things. She was real enough—a woman who missed him when he was away and who thought this brief excursion to the library was the most romantic thing he could have done. Then he was tenderly touching her hair, her face, her shoulders. “Angie, I don’t know how long you expect me to go between these kisses, but today—right now—is the limit for me.”

She sighed softly in agreement and opened her eyes to meet his gaze. “Privacy…it’s like a prized possession in my life.”

“I know,” he said quietly, his warm fingers caressing her cheek in a wistful gesture. “But I can’t kiss you at noon in a crowded restaurant. I won’t kiss you in front of the kids—not yet anyway. And I’m certainly not going to come anywhere near you when we’re at your school.” His hands edged slowly down her arms. “So I guess we need to reserve this room at the library,” he said, a mischievous smile replacing the earlier melancholy expression she’d glimpsed in him.

Angela’s laugh was soft, gentle. “Or you could invite me to dinner tomorrow night. I’ll ask Mom to
watch Heather, and maybe Dad could go to soccer practice with the boys. The kids wouldn’t even miss me for an hour or two.”

Adam leaned close, brushing her temple with a light kiss. “I’ll see if Tiffany will trade a couple of hours with me then. Now,” he added, “as much as I hate to, I need to get you back to work, don’t I?”

Angela placed a hand on his chest to feel the steady pounding of his heart. Then, reluctantly, she agreed. “I’m already a few minutes late.”

“Sorry,” he commented and reached for the door, pulling it open slightly and allowing some light to spill in.

Angela smiled. “There’s lipstick on you,” she said, with some satisfaction. She rubbed the corner of his mouth with a thumb to wipe away the evidence and, just for a moment, let her mind wander back to the fishing trip. And the soda pop. “You know, at the lake last weekend…” She paused, wondering how much of her feelings she should admit to him. It was all so new to her, so wonderful, so unexpected.

“…you wanted to kiss me,” he completed her statement with calm assurance, “and probably not half as much as I wanted to kiss you.”

She looked into his tender eyes. “But—”

“I understand about the kids. It wouldn’t be good for Nathan to see me becoming too familiar with his mother. Not yet.”

She nodded, looking down at the gray carpeting at her feet Was she moving in the right direction for
her children or was she thinking only of herself? And Adam?

“Nathan misses his father,” Adam commented, then hesitated. “Do you?”

Angela raised her eyes instantly in wide surprise at the question. “No,” she said with almost too much emphasis. “He hurt all of us and made life difficult. In a lot of different ways.” None of which she wanted to discuss now. Her life and the children’s were back in order again, mostly thanks to the absence of Dan. She’d even given up attending the weekly support group she’d belonged to for years—for spouses and family members of alcoholics. For the first time in her adult life, she didn’t qualify, and it felt wonderful.

“Actually, it’s you I miss,” she said rather boldly, and moved her hand down to his strong grasp. “I can’t take these days apart very well either, you know.”

“Maybe we won’t have to very much longer,” he offered, knowing he was saying more than he should. But she had a way of rousing thoughts of forever in him…something no one had done since his college days. Not since Patty and Brandon.

“Let’s go—” she squeezed his hand “—we have a real world to get back to, you know.”

“Unfortunately, you’re right,” he answered, pushing the door open the rest of the way and stepping out into the hallway with Angela’s hand wrapped warmly in his. He glanced down at his watch. “Sorry that I’ve caused you to be late for your luncheon,” he said, showing her the time.

“I’m not,” Angela remarked as they moved through the hallway of the library and out toward the sunshine in the parking lot. They returned to the school in a matter of minutes, and Adam opened the door of his truck to let Angela out.

“I’ll call you about dinner tomorrow.” He smiled. “Enjoy the rest of your day.”

“I’ll try,” she responded before leaving him.

She would try, but it was becoming increasingly clear to her that her days with Adam felt better than the ones without him. And her nights? She sighed. She wasn’t even going to think about those.

Angela wasn’t thinking about much of anything, later in the day, except Heather’s queasy stomach and climbing temperature. The stomach flu that so many people had suffered from recently had come on quickly. The boys were still visiting at a friend’s house when Angela’s body began aching, too. She stuck the thermometer in her own mouth as she ran tepid water over a washcloth and placed it on Heather’s scorching forehead. When it had been in for only a minute or so, she pulled it out to look at the numbers: 102 degrees. Heather’s wasn’t registering that high. “Mommy, I think I’m going to throw up again,” Heather called out on her dash to the bathroom. Angela rushed to help her. It was nearly nine o’clock and someone had to pick up the boys. So she called the first someone she could think of: Adam.