Bogota Blessings (11 page)

“No, I couldn’t. My heart wouldn’t allow me to do that.” He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and trailed his finger along her jaw. “You are a special woman, Kayla.”

Her heart did a little tap dance under the warmth of his gaze. If only he knew how badly she wanted to stay here with him instead of going home to a lonely house with a pair of goldfish for company. But did he want her to stay? Yes, he had admitted to caring about her and claimed he would miss her when she left, but he hadn’t asked her to consider moving to Colombia so she could be close to him. Perhaps if she admitted to wanting to be with him, wherever God told them to live, he would ask her to stay.

Claudia ran up with a big grin, a feather clutched in each hand. “Kayla, look!”

“Wow! Those are beautiful feathers.” Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Mateo watching with a sad smile. Did he, too, worry about how Claudia would fare after she returned home?

“Me.” The little girl held out the black feather. Then she held out the white one in her other hand. “You. Both pretty. Not the same.”

Kayla’s heart melted. The girl had come up with a wonderful comparison. Where Kayla was light, Claudia was dark, yet they were equally pretty. She reached out, encouraged Claudia to sit in her lap, and then gave the girl a big hug. “Yes, we’re both pretty just like the feathers. And just like the feathers, we don’t look the same, do we?”

The girl glanced at Mateo, and he gave a quick translation. Claudia’s dark brown, almost black eyes lit up, and she twisted to wrap her arms around Kayla’s neck. Kayla held her close, wishing more than ever that she could become the girl’s mother, but taking her out of Colombia didn’t feel right. Neither did becoming a single mom.

Claudia talked about the feathers a bit more, as well as the other things she had seen at the park. Kayla was surprised by how much she understood of the child’s descriptions, but she still relied on Mateo’s translation skills. Although she’d been joking about hiring someone to teach her Spanish, she might go ahead and do it after she got settled at home. Thinking about how surprised Claudia and Mateo would be if she spoke Spanish the next time she saw them brought a smile to her lips. It quickly faded, however, with the thought that she might not see them again.

The chaperones rounded up the kids, and Kayla walked between Claudia and Mateo back to the bus. The ride back to the children’s home was much quieter than the trip to the park. Some of the children fell asleep, and the rest seemed content to look out the windows. Claudia remained sound asleep, curled against Kayla’s side, all the way back to the mission.

That evening, as Kayla sat on her bed with her laptop and composed an email to her father detailing the soccer game with the orphans and the meaning Claudia had given the feathers she’d found, a knock sounded on the door. She looked up from the screen as Angie opened the door and stepped inside.

“How was the park?” Angie asked as she shut the door with a quiet click.

“Fun. Beautiful. Relaxing.” Kayla saved the message and closed her computer. “How was La Candelaria?”

“Amazing. I think Paul may be considering learning how to do more than slap paint on walls and put in plumbing.” Angie laughed as she plopped onto the foot of the bed. “You should have seen the way he studied the façade of each building like it was a precious jewel.”

“I’m glad you guys had a good time. By the way, you’ll be on your own again tomorrow.”

“Oh?”

“Mateo and I are going to see the church on top of Monserrate. Going by what he said, it could easily become an all-day trip.”

“Carlos and Maria pointed the mountain out to us. You’re really going up there alone with Mateo?”

“Yeah. We were talking at the park and decided to spend the day together.” Kayla sighed, trying hard not to give into the urge to cry. “I’m going to miss him so much when we leave.”

“You’ve really fallen for this guy, haven’t you?” Angie said in a thoughtful tone.

Kayla nodded.

“Have you told him?”

“Not exactly, but he knows I care about him and that I’m going to miss him.”

“Has he asked you to stay here or come back?”

“Not yet, but I wish he would. It might help me figure out what direction my life is going. I have a feeling the comfortable, familiar life I led before coming here won’t be nearly as good when I get back to it. It feels like God’s stirring up my life in preparation for sending me down a different path, but I don’t know where it leads yet. Maybe it’s a career change or a move somewhere. I keep hoping it’s going to lead to a life with Mateo and maybe Claudia, but that’s not looking likely.”

Angie’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped. “What are you talking about? You and Mateo spend every second together that you can! As for Claudia, isn’t this the same girl who has stuck to you like glue since her brother was killed?”

“Yes, but I’m leaving her here. She’s got abandonment issues out the wazoo. To the point that she thought we might leave her at the park if she didn’t stick by my side. Mateo finally convinced her that we’d still bring her back with us if she went and played with the other children.” Moisture blurred Kayla’s vision. “It was heartbreaking, Angie, to see a little girl that terrified of being abandoned. What’s it going to do to her when I get on that plane and don’t come back for months?”

“She’ll be OK.” Angie scooted over and gave her a hug. “Kids are resilient, and Claudia has Mateo, Carlos, and Maria to take of her and love her.”

“But what about Mateo? He was a street kid, and I’m sure lingering somewhere inside is the fear of people leaving him and never coming back.” Kayla squeezed her eyes shut against the pain in her heart. “How can a relationship between us survive when several thousand miles are between us? I want it work, more than anything, but I don’t know if he’s willing to make it work. Sometimes it seems like he cares about me as much as I care about him, but other times he seems resigned to our relationship ending the minute I’m on the plane. If he’s not willing to fight to make it work between us...I can’t hold the relationship together on my own.”

“He cares about you, Kayla. I might even go so far as to say he loves you. It’s written all over him whenever he sees you.” Angie leaned back and met Kayla’s gaze. “Knowing you’re leaving is sure to be hard on him, too. Unless something drastic happens, I’d give him the benefit of the doubt and do what you can to figure out how to make a relationship with him work in the long-term.”

Kayla studied her friend. “I thought you didn’t like him. That you were scared of him.”

“That was true for a while,” Angie said, her cheeks coloring, “but I’d have to be blind and stupid not to see that he’s actually a nice guy with a strong faith. It just took me longer to look past the scary exterior than it did you.”

“He’s had a hard life,” Kayla said, thinking about the photo he’d shown her and what little he’d told her about his past. “I don’t want to become another bad memory for him.”

“So make sure that doesn’t happen. You may rack up a lot of frequent flyer miles and get to know everyone in customs by name, but leaving here Monday doesn’t have to mean you never see him again.”

Would repeated trips to Bogotá be enough to keep a relationship going? And if God intended it to be a permanent relationship, at some point, she or Mateo would have to move, but maybe visiting as often as possible would work for now. She was sure her father could find some excuse for her to come down here on business every few months so her job wouldn’t have to suffer too much. Working for her dad had its advantages, including his willingness to help her with her pursuits, such as coming here in the first place.

Angie patted Kayla’s knee and stood. “You think about it and pray even more. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Kayla stared at her closed computer as Angie left. Her friend was right. She had a lot of praying to do before she saw Mateo in the morning.

8

People clogged the sidewalk. Kayla stuck close to Mateo, holding his hand to keep from getting separated as they went with the crowd toward a gate.

“Is it always this crowded?” she asked, glancing at him.

“Sometimes. Other times, not so much.” He smiled and gave her hand a reassuring pat. “Don’t worry. I will make sure you don’t get lost.”

“I’m going to hold you to that.” She drew in a deep breath and scanned the mass of people, feeling for the first time that she was in a large city with more than eight million citizens. Until now, she’d seen a few streets congested with traffic, but the sidewalks, though bustling with activity, hadn’t been anywhere near this packed.

They turned onto the wide walkway leading through the gate, and Kayla looked up the mountainside, taking in the stone-paved path with shallow steps that would eventually bring them to the top of Monserrate. Suddenly, she doubted the wisdom of walking up the mountain rather than taking the cable car or funicular. Mateo wouldn’t be thrilled, but she had to give him a chance to take the easy way to the top. She’d hate to have him limping in pain for the rest of the day just because he thought she’d enjoy the scenery.

She tugged him to the side of the walkway, out of the way of the stream of people. “Mateo, are you sure you want to hike to the top?”

“I have done it before and will probably do it again.” He stroked her cheek, a knowing smile on his face. “You are worrying about my leg again, aren’t you?”

“A little. I don’t want you to spend the day hurting because of me. We don’t have to walk to the top.” She caught sight of a pair of men in dark green uniforms and safety yellow vests watching from a position nearby.

“Kayla,” Mateo said, bringing her gaze back to him, “I will be fine. If it hurts by the time we reach the top, I will have a limp. But like I have said before, limping is nothing to worry about. It is part of my life, just as having to rely on a prosthetic leg to walk is a part of my life.”

“OK.” She smiled and turned toward the gate once more. “Let’s go, then. I can’t wait to see what there is to see.”

Mateo led her back into the flow of humanity, and they began the hike to the mountaintop church. The people around them seemed more focused on the trek than on the plant life to either side of the trail. Kayla and Mateo kept close to the edge so they didn’t impede anyone’s movements as they walked up the path, discussing the view as they went farther up the mountain.

“Thanks for talking me into walking to the top,” Kayla said when they paused for a moment about halfway up. She looked across the city below to the mountains in the hazy distance. “The view is amazing.”

“Just wait until we get to the top. This is nothing compared to that.” Mateo shifted his weight to his right leg. “You were right about my leg hurting from the climb, but it is worth showing you the beauty of Monserrate.”

Although concerned, she smiled and laid a hand on his arm. “I’ll tell you now that we’re taking the easy way down. I’ll let you choose the method, but walking is out.”

“You have a deal.” He laughed and took her hand as they continued up the path.

By the time Kayla saw the church and the plaza in front of it ahead, Mateo had slowed them to a leisurely pace. As soon as they stepped onto the plaza, he limped over to the stone wall edging it and sat facing the church steps. Kayla ignored the view behind him and sat next to him, allowing her concern to show.

“You OK?”

“Bruised, but I will be all right.” He put his arm around her and hugged her. “Perhaps walking up here was not my best decision, but I would do it again just so you could experience it.”

“As much as I appreciate it, I don’t want you to suffer for me.” She leaned against him, wishing she could stay there forever.

“This is your last day here. A little suffering is worth the sacrifice to make it as perfect as possible for you.” He gave her a gentle kiss. “I want you to have good memories to take home, and walking along
el camino peatonal
is something everyone should have opportunity to do.”

“It was a beautiful walk.” Kayla glanced over her shoulder and gasped. “Wow.”

“I told you there is no other view like this in Bogotá,” Mateo said with a chuckle as she turned to get a better look.

The city spread out below them, stretching into the distance. Even from the top of Monserrate, she couldn’t see the entire city. From this height, however, Bogotá looked so peaceful, with no obvious rich or poor. No violence or abject poverty. It was just a sea of buildings stretching to the hazy horizon. The vastness of God’s creation sank in at that moment. Instead of seeing one small piece at a time as she usually did, she was seeing a huge swath that didn’t even reveal the entirety of a city of eight million.

The realization was overwhelming.

She turned toward the church again, taking in the plain façade and the people going inside. So many things seemed to be like that in Bogotá. They appeared plain and ordinary, but if one looked a little further, something wonderful would be found. The street children, the people at the mission, even the house she had helped renovate, all of them held hidden depths that she had only glimpsed. And each little peek past the obvious made her long to see more.

She’d seen more and more of Mateo since the day he picked them up from the airport, but she couldn’t seem to get enough. There was so much depth to the man that she had barely plumbed, and what she’d discovered about him so far only made her want to know more. Unfortunately, time was running out and she had no idea if she would ever see him again after she boarded the plane for the U.S. tomorrow.

****

Mateo tried to focus on Kayla’s wonder as she gazed at the vaulted ceiling and polished wood inside the church, but it was a difficult goal. He still struggled with entering a Catholic church, thanks to four nightmarish years under the command of a marginal Catholic who believed dragging his men to the nearest village priest every now and then would save them from eternal damnation for the violence and kidnappings they perpetrated the rest of the time. The man had even had the audacity to administer last rites to Mateo before abandoning him to die in the jungle.