Calling Love: A Contemporary Christian Romance (Modern Conveniences Book 2) (11 page)

“But you mean more to me. I know you’d do the same in opposite roles.” A short laugh bubbled from her. “Besides, if I see him anytime soon, I’m liable to poison his food.”

By the time they reached Madison’s house, he’d calmed down. Her stalwart defense and consideration left him with no reason to be worked up. He had the girl, not Sean. He could hold his head high, knowing that he treated everyone with respect. In most regards, Sean was the loser, not him.

Madison rubbed her temples, but the action did little to alleviate the pain in her head. She’d ignored Sean’s calls and texts all week, but finally answered on Thursday. Her attitude toward him was anything but gracious after he had continued to insult Archer.

“What’s the point of this call, Sean?” She heaved an exasperated sigh. “I’m not going to listen to you insult my boyfriend anymore, so get to the point.”

“Who said I’m insulting him? All I did was say you deserve better.”

She threw a hand up in the air, regardless of the fact that he couldn’t see her. “How do you not see that as an insult?”

“Because it’s nothing personal against him.” Sean’s tone sweetened. “I only want the best for you.”

“Archer is the best. I can’t imagine finding a better man than him.” She took a deep breath and counted to ten.
Didn’t work. I’m still mad. Maybe even more so. Has Sean always been like this or am I just now seeing it?

“But a mechanic, Mads? Come on.”

That’s it!
Infuriated, she hung up on him. Angry tears sprung, and she was powerless to stop them. She didn’t understand Sean’s problem. People like him were the reason Archer thought himself less of a person for his profession. She didn’t get it, saw nothing wrong with being a mechanic. Where would the world be without them? As a career, it shouldn’t hold any shame. On top of all that, he owned his own repair shop. 

She paced outside, burning off her fury. She wouldn’t tell Archer about the conversation with Sean. Why add insult to injury?

Despite her anger, another part of her filled with sadness, knowing her friendship with Sean would never be the same. Irreparable damage had been done, and she’d seen a side of him she hadn’t liked whatsoever. In time they might be able to salvage a fraction of what they’d shared—if, and only if, he changed his tune on Archer—but it would never be the same.

Her phone rang. Sean’s name flashed on the screen. She hit ignore, having no desire to speak to him, and no remorse for hanging up.

She thought about the fact that she automatically chose Archer, whom she’d known months, over her lifelong friendship with Sean. There hadn’t been a question in her mind, and while she would have preferred not to have to choose between them, Sean hadn’t left her a choice.

Her phone rang again, and she automatically hit ignore. It rang four more times after that.  Finally, she picked it up, ready to tell Sean not to bother her anymore. 

Archer’s name caught her eye. Thank goodness she’d noticed, or he’d have received an unintended mouthful.

“Hi.”

“You sound stressed. Anything wrong?” The concern in his tone was evident.

“No, just tired.”
Tired of Sean.

Archer didn’t say anything.

“Still there?” She leaned on the deck rail, propped on an elbow.

“Yes.” He cleared his throat. “We have a slight problem.”

She inwardly groaned. Didn’t she have enough of those lately? “What?”

“My parents are coming to town tomorrow and staying through Gran’s surgery. A two-week minimum.”

Her heart constricted for him. He had enough going on in his life without having to deal with his parents. “Any chance of avoiding them?”

“Not exactly.” An uncomfortable sense vibrated through the phone. “They’re staying with me.”

“Yikes.” She rummaged for encouraging words. “Maybe Gran’s health and surgery will help them realize life is fragile and see what they’ve been missing out on all these years.”

“I doubt it, but I’ve come to terms with how they are. Them being here isn’t the problem… exactly.”

“What
exactly
is the problem?”

“They know we’re married. Apparently, Tanya slipped and told them even though we asked her not to, but regardless, they would have found out once they got here.” 

Their predicament became clear to her, and she groaned. “And they’ll expect us to be living in the same house?”

“I thought of telling them you’ll be out of town, but you and Tanya already have plans for the time they’d be here.”

“Can’t they stay with Tanya or Landon?” She sank into a patio chair.

“I’m the only one with a spare room.”

“A hotel?”

“They’re my parents. They might not act like it, but I can’t just put them in a hotel when I have the space for them.” His voice came out raspy, and she knew he struggled with doing the right thing regarding his parents.

“Then what are we supposed to do?” She held her breath, already knowing the answer, reluctant to hear it.

“Move in with me. Temporarily,” he added.

“I can’t. We’re not…” She trailed off, realizing what she’d been about to say.

“We are married. I know it’s awkward, but we’ve come this far. You can have the bed, and I’ll sleep on the floor.”

The weariness and desperation in his tone won her over. That, and she wouldn’t do anything to risk hurting Gran right before a major surgery. She forced a smile into her tone. “You owe me big time.”

“Trust me, I’m well aware of that.”

“I was kidding. You’ve done a lot for me, too.” She rose to her feet. “When do I need to move in?”

“Tonight.” Uncertainty tinged his answer. “They’ll be here sometime in the morning. I already rearranged tomorrow’s workload to be here when they arrive.”

Her head spun, and she sat right back down in the chair. She mentally reviewed tomorrow’s schedule. “I can take a personal day. For once, there’s nothing pressing that can’t wait until Monday.”

“I didn’t tell you so that you’d take off as well. You’re already taking off the week of Gran’s surgery.”

“It’s fine. If anything pressing comes up, Tony will let me know, but the other reps should be able to take care of it.” The truth was, she wanted to be Archer’s moral support. He’d picked her up and encouraged her often about her parents, and it was her turn to be there for him.

“If you’re sure it’s not a problem, I’d love to have you here when they arrive.”

“Great. I’ll pack a bag and head over.” In her head, she listed all the items other than clothes that she would need.

“Have you eaten yet?”

Her stomach’s growl answered for her, but she doubted he’d heard it through the connection. “No.”

“I’ll grill shrimp for us and make a salad.”

“My mouth is watering already.”

“Call when you’re on your way and I’ll put them on.”

After the call ended, she worked her way slowly to her feet, still woozy from the latest turn of events. Just when she thought they’d settled in to a comfortable path with no more twists, bam.

She packed a week’s worth of outfits and threw in a few extra for good measure in case his parents went snooping in the closet. Fortunately, since Tanya had decorated it for him, there were already more feminine touches than most bachelor houses had. However, his house needed a few more touches to make it believable that she lived there.

Touring her house, she grabbed a few of her favorite candles and framed pictures. For good measure, she printed out a picture of their wedding, which Tanya had taken, and one of her and Archer at her grandparents’ anniversary party two weekends ago.

An hour after she started packing, she stood at her door, staring back into her house. She’d have to stop by every day to water her plants—the web of lies made it nearly impossible to ask anyone to take care of them for her. What else would happen before it was all over? She couldn’t think about it without a sinking feeling in her stomach.

Maybe there didn’t have to be an end.

Sometime later, well after the sun had set, she nibbled at a shrimp, feeling guilty that she couldn’t enjoy the perfectly seasoned crustacean. Her stomach knotted, knowing she’d be spending the night here at Archer’s house. Skimming her gaze over his plate, she saw he hadn’t eaten much either.

Archer covered a yawn with his hand, mumbling a muffled “Excuse me.”

Her mouth stretched with a yawn. “Why are they contagious?”

“No idea.”

The conversation fell flat as it had for much of their dinner. They’d lost the comfortable ease between them, and although clearly they were both exhausted, neither suggested retiring for the night.

She’d never slept in the same room with a male, not even a brother or a cousin, as the former didn’t exist and she only had female cousins. As a teen, she’d not been allowed to attend boy/girl sleepovers when all her other friends had, and as she matured into an adult, moral convictions dictated she save herself until marriage. A large part of that was resisting temptation by fleeing circumstances that flirted with opportunity.

Even though she didn’t believe it wrong to sleep in the room with Archer—after all, they were married—the placement of their sleeping arrangements was entirely too intimate, no matter that he’d be on the floor while she took the bed. They would find out the ugly in each other as no one was their best first thing in the morning. Bedhead, wrinkled pajamas, snoring.

What if she snored? She didn’t think she did, except when she had a cold or suffered from allergies. But what if she did? How embarrassing. Did Archer snore? She’d find out soon, but she wouldn’t care if he did. It wouldn’t change how she felt about him, but she might invest a good set of earplugs.

Archer sprang to his feet as though eager to put some distance between them. “I was thinking, since my parents won’t be here until tomorrow morning, I’ll sleep on the sofa tonight.”

“Okay,” she squeaked out through her relief.

That arrangement met with her liking much better, and would give her a night to ease in to sleeping in a strange bed with someone else in the room.

As she lay in between Egyptian cotton sheets—Archer had great taste in comfort—she stared at the ceiling, counting the rotations of the ceiling fan moving on low.

“What have I gotten myself into?” She whispered the question she’d asked more since meeting Archer than she had previously in her whole life.

On Sunday morning, the alarm woke Archer from a dream of lying on the ground, staring at the vivid cerulean blue sky with puffy white clouds. As his eyes focused, he realized the field of grass from his dream was his carpet and the sky was his textured ceiling.

He sat up with the blanket still around him, and pulled his shirt down to cover his waist. Sometime during the night it had bunched up near his chest. Darting a glance toward the bed, he saw that Madison had already left the room for the day. He hadn’t heard her wake up, but preferred it that way.

For the last two nights, they’d found every excuse not to go to bed until late, and when they had, didn’t say a word except “Goodnight.” He was curious if Madison woke up this early every day, or if it was due to the new environment. They were both early risers, but from all accounts, she was up before the sun.

He hurried to get dressed and brush his teeth. Who knew what could happen if she had to deal with his parents alone for too long, or rather, what lines they would feed her to justify their absence from their children’s lives.

To her credit, Madison handled his parents with a skilled finesse. No wonder she was so successful in her career. On several occasions, they’d made comments alluding to their irresponsibility—but not claiming it—and Madison had responded with a savviness in which his parents were chastised without realizing it. She’d been nothing but respectful and a perfect hostess, but never condoned their vagrant lifestyle at the expense of their children.

He followed voices to the kitchen. 

Madison stood at the stove, flipping a fried egg. She had her hair tamed in a ponytail and was already dressed for church.
Brave woman, cooking in nice clothes before church
. Then again, he was an untidy cook and inevitably made a mess. The work space on the stove and counters surrounding Madison was neat and orderly. 

His eyes shifted to his parents. They sat at the table, vibrant and alert. Both appeared a solid decade younger than their actual ages.
Must be nice to shirk all responsibilities and remain youthful.
The old resentment surfaced. 

Shoving it aside, he went to his wife and dusted a kiss on her cheek. “Good morning.” 

A bashful smile appeared. Thankfully, he blocked his parents’ view so her shyness over a kiss wouldn’t raise their curiosity. Or maybe they’d think it was because she wasn’t comfortable with displays of affection in front of them.
Stop thinking so much into it.

Madison returned a kiss and then gave a pointed stare toward his parents.

He looked their way and his gaze landed on their suitcases. Narrowing his eyes, he pointed to them. “Why are those out here?”

“There’s an art show in Philadelphia this week.” His dad appeared ignorant of Archer’s dismay. “Since Mom’s surgery isn’t until next week and she’s doing fine now, Violet and I decided to attend.”

Archer rubbed his eyelid, taking deep breaths to control his anger. “Is spending time with your family that difficult?”

“Of course not, but we’ve spent several days here, and everything is under control.” Dad flashed a patronizing smile. “We’ll return in time for the surgery.”

He glared at his mom. “You promised Elise a trip to the park tomorrow.”

“There will be time for that when we come back.” Mom reached out to pat his arm. “She’s just a kid. She’ll understand.”

“No, she won’t. Because she is a child.” He practically spit the words. “How is she supposed to understand that her grandparents, whom she never sees, would rather gallivant off to some art show than spend time with her?”

“Don’t speak to your mother like that.” Sparks ignited in his father’s eyes.

Biting his tongue, he resisted the urge to tell them they didn’t deserve the role of parent. He couldn’t say anything. What was it that Gran used to say when he and his siblings had an argument?
If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all
.

Madison came to his side, put a calming hand on his shoulder. “Breakfast is ready.”

The meal was a tense affair. He glared at his parents. Their behavior shouldn’t have surprised him, but it did. The hope he’d carried since he was a young boy that his parents might one day step up, never faded but always got crushed.

Mom and Dad ate quickly, eager to be on their way. Whether to see the art show or escape his wrath, he didn’t know.

Madison tried to start a conversation several times but the effort fell to mute ears.

Breakfast ended after fifteen minutes of strain. His mom carried her plate and Dad’s to the sink. “We’ll be on our way.”

The rest of them stood from the table and walked to the front door. Dad carried both the suitcases.

“I’ll call you later.” His mom gave him an uneasy hug. 

He’d received more affection from the elderly ladies at church. “Drive safely.”

Once they left, he leaned against the door and let out a heavy sigh.

Without a word, Madison enveloped him in a warm embrace.

He allowed himself her comfort, reminded himself he’d turned out all right, regardless of his parents’ abandonment. God had blessed him with Gran and Granddad to play dual roles in life as parents and grandparents. Now he had Madison. His parents’ treatment stung, but he couldn’t let the bitterness rule. He had too much for which to be thankful.  

Drinking in a final breath of Madison’s honeysuckle-scented hair, he pulled away. “I’m sorry for all that.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about.” She kept a hand on his forearm. “Are you okay?”

“I will be.”

***

The church was packed. Archer scanned the sanctuary for a place where he and Madison could sit. A new family occupied his usual spot. He loved to see the church growing. After the disastrous morning at home, he was grateful for another reason to smile. His parents were only a small facet of his life, and he wouldn’t permit them to interfere with the life he’d eked out.

Madison tapped his shoulder and pointed to the middle of the sanctuary. “I see an empty space up there.”

They claimed the spots before anyone else could.

Once settled in to the pew, Madison flipped through the bulletin. Summer approached and there was more information than normal, due to the multiple summer camps and fundraisers. “I like your church. It’s bigger than mine, but it hasn’t lost that personal touch.”

“I love it here.” He slid an arm around her shoulder. “Thanks for coming with me and trying it out the last few weeks.”

“I’ve enjoyed it. Everyone’s so welcoming, and Pastor Dean’s sermons always speak to me.”

The service began with a congregational singing and then announcements. Two more songs before the kids were dismissed for children’s church. 

After Bess Flowers sang a song, Pastor Dean took the pulpit. “Today we’re going to talk about marriage and its sanctity.”

Archer’s muscles tensed, and he exchanged a glance with Madison. Of all days to sit through such a sermon. He opened his Bible to Genesis at the pastor’s instruction. He listened for a few minutes about God’s plan for marriage, and that God created Eve to be a helpmeet for Adam.

This isn’t so bad so far.

Then Pastor Dean moved on to a new point—marriage is to be honored and respected.

Every word, every scripture quoted, pierced Archer. He removed his arm from Madison, sat with his hands tightly clenched. The sermon seemed to never end, but a glance at his watch told him they were only fifteen minutes into the message. 

This much conviction in that short of a time? How am I going to make it through the entire sermon?
He squirmed in his seat. Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore. He’d never left mid-service, but he sprang to his feet and fled the sanctuary. “Forgive me, Lord, for not trusting you and not honoring marriage in the way you intended.”

Within seconds, Madison joined him. “Are you okay?”

“No.”

“The sermon?”

He nodded. “This is wrong, Madison.”

A mom came through the doors, bouncing a crying infant on her shoulder.

Archer pulled Madison into a nearby room and shut the door for privacy. “I never should have asked you to marry me. Not like I did anyway.”

“I’m not clear of the blame.” She lowered herself onto a padded metal chair. “Marriage should be forever, and we made light of it by agreeing to marry with an end date in mind.”

He moved a chair beside her and sat. “That sermon was brutal, but I needed to hear it.”

“How do we make it right?”

“Not end the marriage.” His blood pulsed through him, his heart drummed against his chest.

“But—”

“Hear me out. Please.” He put a finger to her lips with a feather light touch. “Most people date and fall in love before getting married, but our relationship has been different. However, the end result’s the same. I love you. I want to spend my life with you and have a real marriage.”

“You’re not just saying that because God wants us to stay married?”

Not the response he’d hoped for, but it wasn’t a denial of love. “I meant every word I said. With every fiber of my being, I know you are the woman I want to spend my life with. Will you stay married to me and forget about an annulment?”

Moisture puddled in her eyes, and she gave him a shaky smile. “I love you, too. Yes, I’ll stay married to you.”

Wrapping her in a loving embrace, he knew God had brought Madison into his life, even if they’d jumped the gun on his plan.

“Let’s repeat our vows, here and now.” Madison looked at him with joyful eyes. “The start of our new life.”

He folded her hands in his, locked gazes with her. “I, Archer Reeves, take you, Madison Nichols, to be my wedded wife. To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish 'till death do us part. And hereto I pledge you my faithfulness.”

Madison blinked back tears and repeated the vows. “I, Madison Nichols, take you, Archer Reeves, to be my wedded husband. To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish 'till death do us part. And hereto I pledge you my faithfulness.”