Facing Redemption (26 page)

Instantly in his heart he felt a tug and reconsidered. 
God, you’re the reason I’ve come so far.  You’ve just used Andie … and Leo to open my heart.
  He felt a certain peace move into his heart.  Grateful to what had transpired in his private thoughts; he slipped off the bed and went to his knees. 

It was as if all of heaven was singing in his heart tonight.  He finally had some release from what had been haunting him every night.   He had a good Christian woman for his wife, who was a stellar example of God’s love.  And he had a baby on the way.  Maybe, just maybe, it would work out with Chastity too.

Chapter 36

For months Chastity’s wedding had been planned.  Cheryl and Lauri were invaluable resources and between the two, they helped her book everything from the wedding planner, who reminded Chastity a bit of Franc from the last Steve Martin movie she watched, to the church and everything in between.  She had two close friends, standing up for her as bridesmaids.  She knew Anne and Terri were going to look stunning in the eggplant color she’d picked out.  And the short hemline would show off their legs.

The only thing missing was finding her perfect wedding dress.  She’d been putting it off for the duration of the wedding planning.  Buying a wedding dress without her mom was too much for Chastity to endure at the moment.  Although she was elated to be marrying the man of her dreams, it was hard without her momma smack dab in the middle of it.

Timothy had secured a new job with her uncle and part of his zoning team.  He wasn’t practicing law, but he studied the zoning laws to the point where he was Jesse’s advisor on any property or projects that encompassed the downtown area.  He was making a name for himself, and was good at his job. 

The Banks family still had in-home health care but it was no longer a round the clock necessity.  Mr. Banks had been making large strides, in part to be ready to walk down the aisle at his son’s wedding without a walker.  Mrs. Banks made a countdown pad with how many days till Timothy and Chastity’s wedding that she placed next to his bed.  It was his motivation for each day…to get stronger and walk without support.  It was working quite successfully.

Both Chastity and Timothy still had separate houses, but no longer had a long distance relationship.  Living within miles of one another had taken their relationship to a whole new level that gave them a clear vision of what it was like to live in one place.  Timothy stayed at his parent’s home for a while until either his father got better, or he couldn’t stand it any longer, and two months later, he moved into a rental home in Chastity’s neighborhood.

Chastity’s spacious home had three bedrooms, three baths, and a loft.  As soon as she moved in, she promptly converted her loft into an art studio to keep her paintings and easels.  On this particular day she sat in her loft, in her overstuffed papa-san looking through the Cosmopolitan Bride. Frustrated, she quickly tossed the magazine aside.  Inside were plenty of dresses that anyone would be lucky to wear.  The problem wasn’t the magazine.  The problem was that Chastity wasn’t just anyone.  Even some of the unique Victorian dresses she saw weren’t doing it for her.
I bet I’d rock any of those dresses.  But I don’t love any of them…and what good is dress shopping without you, mom?

It dawned on Chastity that it wasn’t just her mom.  There were two people amiss in her wedding planning … her mom and Anne.  Her heart tugged for both of them.  Chastity sighed and blew some of her bangs out of her eyes and leaned back into her chair.  Everything else was going according to plan.  She had the guy, who had the job.  She knew her guy’s family was making progress and doing better.  She was getting closer to her uncle and his family.  She felt like a normal person with roots for the first time in her life … but she missed her bestie.

As if Anne was reading her mind, her phone started ringing.  Chastity jumped and ran for her cell when she recognized Anne’s ring tone.  She answered with a smile.

“Was your mind burning?” Chastity giggled.

“What?”  Anne exclaimed.  “What does that mean?”

“You know when someone’s talking about you – your ears are supposed to burn.  When someone is thinking about you … oh never mind.”  Chastity laughed.  “It’s good to hear your voice.  I miss you.”

“Well if you would visit more than one time in two months.”

“I know.  I’m long overdue!”
             
“Yeah, you drop the bomb on me that you’re moving to Oklahoma only a week after flaunt your ring.”  Anne teased.
             
“I wasn’t …” Chastity stopped when she realized Anne was kidding.  “I’m sorry.”

“Look, we’ve gone over this a million times.  I’m happy for you.  The timing sucked for me, but it’s not about me.  This is all you baby, but now that we’re back to talking about me,” Anne hinted.

“What?  You’ve met someone?”  Chastity guessed.

“No, you forget.  I’ve sworn off the male species.”

             
“And I bet they’re crawling out of the woodwork to you, aren’t they?”
             
“I wouldn’t know.”

             
Chastity wondered if her friend would notice.  It happened to Chastity not too long ago.  If history were to repeat itself for her friend, than she would meet someone without even expecting it.

             
“Yeah ... yeah.  Okay so back to the ‘you’ part.  What’s up?”

             
“Well,” Anne paused.  “I just bought a ticket to Oklahoma City.”

             
Chastity screamed into the phone.  “I’m so excited!  When are you coming?”

             
“Today.  Is that too soon?”

             
“Don’t be ridiculous!  You don’t need an invitation.  I am lost without you so much that I can’t even pick out a stupid dress for my own wedding.  Get here!  What time will you arrive?”

             
“I arrive at four p.m. on Southwest.”

             
“I’m so excited.”  Chastity repeated herself.  “How long are you here for?  Can you stay long enough to help me out with this dress situation?”

             
“Well, I can definitely do that.”  Anne said in a cryptic tone.

             
“Okay?  So a week? Longer?”  Chastity asked.

             
“Well I just bought a one way ticket.”

             
“What?  What does that mean?  Are you moving here?  What about your restaurant?”

             
“I’ll tell you everything when I get there.  I need to go.  They just called me for boarding.  See you soon.”  Anne giggled.

             
“Alrighty then!  I’ll be down at the baggage claim to pick you up later today.  I can’t wait to hear all about it.”

             
“See you soon Chaz.”  Anne smiled when she hung up.  She picked up her carry on and handed her ticket to the flight attendant.  She was on her way to wherever the wind took her and for now that was Oklahoma.

Chapter 37

It was a normal Wednesday night.  After the last person had said their goodbyes to the pastor, Jim started shutting the lights off and locking up.  His heart was full tonight.  He had a baby on the way, and although he couldn’t imagine being a father, he already loved his child so much.

If I love my child this much already, I can’t imagine how much more you love me Father. 
He silently prayed.  Becoming a father gave him a whole new insight to God’s love and how deep it ran.  Smiling, he locked the door and looked for his wife.  Hope was already waiting for him in their car.  He could see her singing to herself inside, and knew she was singing some of her favorite songs to their unborn child. 

He slid inside next to her and smiled.  Jim knew he had to be the luckiest man alive.  Even though times were tight, and a baby wouldn’t help out financially, he knew God always provided exactly what they needed.  No matter what his bank statement read every month, Jim felt he was the richest man with all he could ever desire.  All he had to do was look in the seat next to him to realize that.

Jim laid his hand on her belly and leaned over to kiss Hope.  She wasn’t due with their child for another four months, but she was showing like she was due any day.

             
“Are you sure this is your first?”  He teased and rubbed her belly.

             
“It will be your last if you don’t watch your mouth!”  Hope smirked.  She knew he was teasing - but who wants to be reminded of how big they are?

             
“You know you’re the most beautiful mom in the world.”  Jim reassured.  Within seconds Hope’s face was glowing again. It didn’t take much to make her happy.

             
Jim started the engine and took the short drive home.  His engine rumbled more than purred.  “Maybe one day we can afford a new ride, but for now old Bessie gets the job done.”  He patted the dash of his ’64 Oldsmobile, as it strained to reach its destination.

             
“I’m surprised it still turns over.”  Hope laughed. 

             
“If it ain’t broke…” Jim’s recanted the start of his favorite saying.  “Speaking of – I think Anne’s on the mend.”

             
“Good.”  Hope sighed.  “I know it’s never easy being single in today’s world.  Lord knows I couldn’t handle it.”

             
“She’s a good girl, but she’s had a rough time of it.  She knows we’ve been praying for her though.”

             
“We should have invited her to church tonight.”
             
Jim smiled at his wife’s eager heart to take anyone in that needs care.  “Honey we’ve invited her in the past plenty of times.  You can’t force someone until they’re ready.  All we can do is offer or suggest, and then pray that God does the work.”

             
Jim and Hope pulled into the quiet parking lot of Anne’s café, where they lived in the apartment upstairs. 

             
“Lord knows we’ve been blessed by her many times over.”  Jim reflected on their history with Anne.  “First with my job, and then with this place for our family.  The fact that Anne allows us to pay next to nothing for this upstairs apartment is unreal.  I feel like we owe her so much.”

             
“Mmm-hmmm.”  Hope agreed.  Jim rounded the car to help her from the passenger seat.  They walked around the back of the café to the walkway that led up to the door of their apartment.  Slowly they made their way up the stairs to unlock their back door.  Hope barely made it to the top without catching her breath.  It had been a long night, and both were ready to call it a night.

             
“This baby is wearing me out.”  She puffed.

             
Once inside, Hope made her way to the bathroom to get ready to go to bed and to go pee for the sixth time that evening.  She smiled at Jim before making her way through the door. 

             
“Love you.”   She whispered and patted him on his backside.

             
Jim laughed in response.  “That will only get you in trouble.”

“You know better than that.  I have to go pee every five minutes lately.  It wouldn’t be worth your time.”

Jim just shook his head and walked toward the kitchen.  Everyone warned him his sex life with his wife would drastically change once kids entered the picture.  He didn’t think they meant while his wife was pregnant though.  He smiled as he opened the milk container.  He would be okay with whatever changes took place in his marriage, because they were about to bring a precious child into the mix.  God had blessed them so immensely that he’d never complain about a temporary setback in any other department of his life. 

After drinking down a glass, Jim placed the glass in the sink and turned back to their bedroom.  As he turned out the kitchen light, something caught his eye.  A white envelope sat glowing, illuminated by the moonlight shining through the kitchen window.  It was just a few inches from the front door of their apartment.  Someone must have slipped it inside the apartment from inside the café.

             
“Hey honey!  Did you see this?”  Jim promptly picked it up and scanned the front.  Anne’s large looped handwriting was scrawled across it.

             
To Jim and Hope – with all my love

             
A wide smile spread across his face.  To them, she was family and it was nice to know she felt the same.