All She Ever Wanted (51 page)

“Oh, no,” he groaned. “You’re not going to mention the stolen Christmas tree, are you? I was hoping you’d forgotten that.”

“How could I forget?” she laughed. “I was your accomplice!”

“Well, what I remember,” Uncle Leonard said, “was how those men from Kathleen’s church came to the door with all the presents… and me in my underwear, gaping at them like they’d just landed from Mars. One was the bank president, and the other was one of the Brinkleys, from the drugstore. I couldn’t imagine why two capitalists would bring presents like that. What was in it for them? But back to your lawsuit, Donald—”

“No, no, no,” he said, holding up his hands. “We won’t talk about lawsuits today. Do what you want another day, Len, but today we’re going to sit down and feast and enjoy this day and each other. Let the past stay in the past. It doesn’t do any good to rake it up. The truth is, we each have a chance to start all over again, every day of our lives, if we know the Lord.”

“Is this the start of another sermon?” Uncle Leonard asked. “Because if it is…” He tried to act grumpy, but Kathleen saw him smile.

“Yes—but I’ll make it brief. If you pack up and run away from your problems, they tend to come with you. I think some of you know what I mean. The only way we can really start all over is to do what I did: become a new man in Christ. The Bible says old things are passed away then, and all things are new. You still have to deal with the past and ask for forgiveness, of course. Repentance is part of becoming a new man in Christ. But only He can make all things new.”

“You mean to tell me,” Leonard said, “that you can just forget all about being in jail for a crime you didn’t commit?”

He thought about it before answering, and Kathleen saw his eyes fill with tears. “There’s a prayer I learned to pray in Attica—I think it’s part of a longer prayer. But the part I like says, ‘Let what we suffer teach us to be merciful—let our sins teach us to forgive.’”

Kathleen reached to squeeze his hand and said, “Amen, Daddy. Amen.”

Chapter
35

B
ETHESDA
, M
ARYLAND

T
hey were almost home, and they were stuck in a traffic jam. Kathleen drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, trying not to grow impatient. She glanced over at Joelle, who had headphones on and was nodding in time to one of her CDs. She was in her own world, yet Kathleen felt so much closer to her than she had when they’d left home just a few days ago. She had reluctantly agreed to this journey, hoping it would bring them together—and she had gotten so much more than she had ever wanted.

Joelle turned to her suddenly and pulled off the headphones. “Are you going to look for another job when we get home?” she asked.

“I thought I would wait until the fall. Why?”

“We should go to Mexico, Mom.”

Kathleen laughed. “You mean now? Just keep driving until we get to Mexico like Thelma and Louise or something?”

“No, not like that.” She made a face. “I was thinking, you know, they need chaperones for the youth group trip to Mexico, remember?”

Kathleen stared at her. “Do you really want to go? The living conditions will be pretty primitive, you know.”

“I know.” She smiled and held out her hand, admiring the sapphire ring on her finger. “I really like Uncle Leonard. He’s awesome!”

Kathleen laughed out loud.

The traffic started moving again, and twenty minutes later they were off the interstate and nearly home. The sight of all the opulent homes made Kathleen feel a little guilty—but also very grateful. She thought of her father’s prayer and recited it to herself again:
Let what we suffer teach us to be merciful—let our sins teach us to forgive
.

“Joelle…? ” she said suddenly.

“Yeah, Mom?” She pulled off the headphones.

“On the way there I asked you what you wanted to do with your life, and you said you wanted to do something that mattered, remember?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ve been thinking about Grandma Fiona and my mother, and my own life, too—the dreams we had, the choices we made. Something was missing. When we were figuring out what we wanted out of life, we forgot to ask God what He wanted. That’s what I hope you’ll ask. A clue to His answer is usually in the gifts He gave us—for me it was something to do with my abilities with numbers. But my father was right when he said that our only purpose in life is to bring God glory. I should have used my gifts for that, not to get a fancy house and cars and things like that. Maybe it’s good that I lost my job. I can start all over and do it right this time. You’re just at the beginning of adulthood. I hope you’ll give your life to Him and seek His dreams for you. I’m sure they’re more wonderful than anything we can dream of.”

“I know, Mom,” she said quietly. Kathleen glanced at Joelle and saw her wipe away a tear.

“Mom?” she said a few minutes later. “The men in Grandma Fiona’s and Grandma Eleanor’s lives weren’t very nice, were they—Rory Quinn, Arthur Bartlett, Rick Trent. Even Grandpa wasn’t always very nice.”

“No, they weren’t. I imagine that Fiona and Eleanor just wanted to be loved, and instead they allowed men to use them. I remember how lonely I was when I was a teenager. I was pretty vulnerable back then, too. All that most people want is to be loved. But don’t start hating men, Joelle.

There are a lot of good ones out there. I recommend you start by making sure he’s a man of faith.”

“You made a good choice, Mom. Dad is really great, isn’t he?”

“Yeah, he really is.”

They pulled into the driveway, and Kathleen felt choked up when she saw all that God had given her.

“Dad’s home!” Joelle said.

They saw his car parked in the garage as the automatic door went up. He was sitting at the kitchen table, eating Thai takeout and reading the
Wall Street Journal
when they walked in the door. He had his sleeves rolled up and his tie loosened; Kathleen thought he’d never looked more handsome to her. Joelle threw her arms around him first.

“I missed you, Dad!”

“Me too,” Kathleen said. He looked from one to the other, as if unable to comprehend why they were both in tears as they greeted him.

“What’s going on with you two? I mean, I’m flattered, but…”

Kathleen who was always so controlled, always afraid to say how she felt, always so afraid of rejection, vowed that things would be different from now on. She wrapped her arms around his neck and looked into his eyes.

“I love you, Mike.”