Love From the Ashes (10 page)

He turned to her after he put the last car seat in the van.  “You’re really good to them Rebecca.”

“I don’t do anything that anyone else wouldn’t do.”

“I don’t know about that.  You provide a stable place for them to go, you entertain them, make sure they’re comfortable, and most importantly…provide peace of mind to me.”

She giggled.  “So, I pass the test?”

“I would say that you do.”

“Well, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…you have a great group of kids.  It was only obvious that I would fall in love with them.”  There was no point in denying how she felt about his kids.  Now, when it came to him…that was a different story.

“You are an exceptional woman Rebecca.  You will be a great mother.”

She stared at him; she was sure he had no idea the effects his words had on her.  “Thank you.  Um…we should go get the children.”

“Yeah; of course.”  She led the way
.  In the living room, the credits were starting to roll and Kari turned to Thomas.  He smiled.  “Are you guys ready to go?  The morning will be here before you know it.”

“Thanks Rebecca.”  Bethany replied as she gave her a hug; Kari was soon to follow.

“You’re welcome.  I hope you guys had fun.”

“We did.”  Frankie replied sleepily.

“I’ll be back.”  Thomas grabbed Judy and carried her to the van.

“I’ll see you guys tomorrow
.”  Kari, Bethany, and Frankie left the house as Thomas entered the house to get Joey.

“Thanks again Rebecca.”  He grabbed Joey and she walked him to the door.  Before leaving he glanced at her and she saw that it appeared like he wanted to say something.  Instead he just smiled.  “I’ll see you tomorrow; goodbye.”

“Goodbye Thomas.”  He left her there wondering what it was he had to say.  She shrugged; it obviously wasn’t important.  Yet, it didn’t keep her from thinking that something was going on; she just didn’t know what that something was.

____________________

Thomas peered in on the kids before going to his room.  The furniture had all arrived and he needed to remember to tell Seth thank you for spending the day at his place.  He was thankful for the friends he had in his life.  At that thought his mind drifted to Rebecca.  He couldn’t believe he had said she was beautiful.  While it was true, he didn’t want to let his guard down.  He saw that effect it had on her and he could have kicked himself.  He didn’t want her hurt, but it happened; he couldn’t take that word back.  He groaned as he laid his head back against the pillow.  He was so close to apologizing, but that just seemed wrong.  He couldn’t apologize that he complimented her; it would look like he didn’t mean it, but he did.  It was an awkward situation that he wanted to somehow rectify.  He just didn’t know how.  He felt like she probably thought he was crazy, or strange, but definitely not sane. 

He closed his eyes and t
ried to get some sleep.  He tossed and turned until he was positive that it was no use.  He grabbed his phone and dialed Rebecca’s number.  When it went to voicemail, he disconnected the call.  He would talk to her the next night and explain why he was acting so different.  In the meanwhile, he had to get some sleep.  When he closed his eyes, he heard his phone ringing.  Rebecca’s number was on the caller id.  He quickly answered the call.  “Hello?”

“Hi, I’m sorry I missed your call.  I…”

“I shouldn’t have called; it’s late.  I’m sorry about that.  Did I wake you?”

“No
; I couldn’t sleep.”

“It must be going around.”  He laughed.

“Yeah; I guess so.”  Her voice was quiet and he almost hung up without talking to her, but he knew that wouldn’t solve anything.  “Um, Thomas?  Are you okay?”

“Why would you ask that?”

“Well; today, I got the distinct impression that you wanted to say something to me.  I don’t know; I’m sure I am just being paranoid.”

“Yeah, you are.”

He started to laugh and was relieved when she did too.  “Gee, thanks a lot.”

“I’m only kidding. 
The fact is I do need to talk to you.  However, I don’t want to do it on the phone.”

“What do you suggest?”

“What if we meet up Saturday night?  I’ll get someone to stay with the kids and we go out.  What do you say?”

“Okay!”

He didn’t know why that one word made him smile.  The conversation they were going to have, wasn’t going to be easy.  “Goodnight Rebecca.”

“Goodnight Thomas.”

He put the phone on his nightstand and he came to grasp the fact that she was either going to understand why he felt the need to meet with her, or think he was totally nuts; either way, she had to hear what he had to say.

On Friday afternoon, Rebecca was nervously watching her watch.  It was going on 6:00 and she hadn’t heard a word from Thomas.  Her biggest fear was that he would walk in at the exact time that Adam would show up.  She didn’t want another awkward encounter between them.  “Bethany, will you watch
the kids?  I have to go get changed; your dad should be here soon.  She nodded as Rebecca hurried up the stairs to put on her dress.  She knew that he said she could wear jeans, but it wouldn’t have felt right.  She had picked out a sleeveless sundress and she was going to accommodate it with a shawl.  As she was slipping her shoes on she heard her phone.  “Hello?”  She was out of breath, because she was trying to hurry.

“Rebecca, I am sorry I am running late.  I will be there in about 15 minutes.”  She looked at her
watch, which was just about the time Adam would be picking her up.  “Please don’t put my kids out by the curb; I will hurry.”

She laughed.  “Okay; just be careful.”  She disconnected the call and slipped her other foot into the shoe.  She then pulled her hair up and clipped it away from her face.  Giving herself one last look she went downstairs.

Kari’s eyes got big when Rebecca entered the kitchen.  “You look pretty Ms. Parker.”

Rebecca laughed.  “I told
you; outside of school you can call me Rebecca.”

“Oh yeah;” she giggled.  “Rebecca, you look really nice.”

She wasn’t going for looking nice, but it still was good to hear those words.  “Do…you have a date?”  Bethany asked cautiously.

Rebecca quickly shook her head.  “No; I’m actually going to a party.  You know how you guys dressed up so nicely?  Well, I attempted to do the same.  Mr. Gregory and I have a…” she hesitated.  “We have a function that we have to attend.”  That was true, maybe not exactly the entire truth.  It would work.  She looked up when she heard a vehicle pull into the driveway.  She crossed her fingers that it was Thomas.  However, one glance out the door made her see that
her fears were realized.  She cautiously opened the door.  “Hello.”  She backed up so that he could enter.

“You look great.”

“Thank you.”  She looked over to where the children were looking at them.  “We can’t leave quite yet.”

“Where…I thought…”

“He got delayed.  He’s on his way.”

“He better be;” he whispered.  “I don’t want to be late.”

She rolled her eyes.  “He’ll be here.”

“Hello Mr. Gregory!”  Bethany called from the kitchen.  He smiled; it was cordial, but he looked irritated.

“Hello; how are you guys doing?”

She turned back to the door and sighed with relief when she saw Thomas’ van pulling in front of the house.  He nearly sprinted to the front door.  She smiled as she opened the door.  “You didn’t have to run.”

He smiled.  “I’m so sorry I was late.  I hope that I didn’t…” his eyes briefly went past her and she had to look away.  “I’m sorry if I made you late.  You look…”

When Adam walked out of the kitchen Thomas’ eyes left her and went straight to him.  “Hello Thomas.  We don’t mean to hurry things along, but we have a schedule to keep.”

“Of course;” Rebecca almost felt like she was cheating on Thomas.  It was ridiculous in itself, but she could feel the tension.

“I’ll help you with the car seats;” she mumbled as his kids went to him and gave him a hug.

He nodded, but the awkward silence grew as they went to his vehicle.  “I really am sorry Rebecca.  I was out on a robbery case and…”

“You don’t have to explain Thomas.  I’m not mad.”  She looked up to where Adam was standing.  His body language made her feel even worse.

“Yeah; you’re date doesn’t seem too pleased.”

She swallowed hard.  It would be difficult to make him think it wasn’t a date, when clearly she was in a dress and being picked up by a man.  Plus, it wasn’t the first time he saw
them together; so, why would he think otherwise?  “He’ll get over it.”  It was the best reply she could come up with.

He smiled.  “Well, you have a nice time.”

“Thank you!”

He climbed into the car and then turned back around to look at her.  “I’ll pick you up tomorrow about 7:00; is that okay?”

“That would be fine; see you then.”  She waved to the kids and then headed back to where Adam was standing.  “Okay; we can go.”

She locked the front door, but when she headed to the car he stopped her.  “What was that all about?  What did he mean about he’ll pick you up tomorrow?”

Rebecca stared at him; she thought he was joking, but there was no sign of him laughing.  “We’re friends Adam; just like you and I are.  I have a right to go out with him.  It doesn’t mean anything.”  She walked to his car and got in the passenger seat.  Adam lagged behind, but finally joined her.

“Well, it seems like there’s more to your relationship.”

She sighed.  “It doesn’t matter Adam; I’m with you right now, let’s just leave it at that.”

“You don’t have to get hostile; it was just an observation.”  He backed out of the driveway and she looked out the window.  The evening was starting off great; she couldn’t wait for it to be over.

____________________

“Would you like any more coffee dear?”  She smiled at Adam’s mother.

“No; thank you.”

She really wanted to escape out the back door.  However, she was trying to enjoy herself.  When they arrived to his parent’s house, she was surprised to see that there
were only a couple of cars in the driveway.  She had expected a livelier party, but was mistaken.  The party consisted of his parents, his sister and her fiancée, his brother and his wife, and his grandma that had been sleeping most of the evening away.  They had a roast for the meal, with potatoes and steamed vegetables.  As they were sitting there talking about memories and families, she had never been more uncomfortable in her life.  “Where’s your family Rebecca?”  The question came from his sister and she tried to force a smile.

“Well, my parents recently moved to
Pennsylvania.  I have a brother, he lives in Avery.  He’s expecting a child soon; that’s about the extent of my family.”  She didn’t feel there was any reason to elaborate.

“How long have you been teaching?”

Rebecca turned to his mom.  “I’ve been teaching for 7 years now.  I really love it.”

“Have you always been in the same grade?”  She felt like it was a tennis match to see who would serve up the next question.  She smiled at his sister Jess.

“No; until recently I worked in the 5
th
grade.  However, this year this grade opened up and I decided I wanted to be with the younger kids.  It was a good decision.”

“She is an excellent teacher.”  Adam quickly spoke up.  Rebecca turned to him and she began to
tense up.

“Thank you Adam.”  She raised her eyebrows
; she didn’t expect him to feel the need to compliment her.

Jess started to laugh and Rebecca turned to look at her.  “I’m sorry Rebecca; it’s just that I have never seen my brother look this way before.”

She shot a glance at Adam and he was wearing a sheepish grin.  “I have to agree;” his mother was saying.  “You make a cute couple.”

Rebecca could feel her palms sweating and if she would have been alone with Adam, she definitely would have smacked him.  “Thanks mom!”  He quickly replied.

She felt like she was going to be sick; that’s when she had the biggest blow.  “I think that it was a great idea to have Rebecca come over to meet the family.”  She looked at Adam and then his mom and then back to Adam.  “After all, you never know when there will be wedding bells.”

Rebecca started to cough on the coffee that she had just taken a sip of.  “Are you okay?”  Adam’s brother spoke up this time and she
tried to smile, but she could feel her stomach turning.  “I’m sorry; I’m starting to not feel very well.”

“Would you like to lie down?”

“No thank you Mrs. Gregory.  I think that we better leave.  I’m sorry to ruin the party.”  She stood up and turned to Adam.  “Do you mind?”  She tried to make her voice sound stern, so that he would realize she meant business.  He held a concerned look on his face as he stood up.  “Thank you.”

The family walked them to the door and she turned to face them.  “Thank you for this evening.  I’m sorry that we had to leave so abruptly.”

“Don’t worry about it.”  His mother hugged her.  “Just feel better.”

She smiled at the rest of the family.  “We’ll see you around.”  Jess replied with a tender smile.

Rebecca wanted to say that was never going to happen, but she had gone along with it.  She mentally counted silently to herself as they walked out to his car.  She didn’t want to blow up too badly at him; they still had to work together.  As they pulled away from the curb, she let out a slow breath.  She wanted to make sure it was exactly the right time to say how she was feeling.  “Do you think it was something you ate?”

She again counted silently; until she couldn’t take it any longer.  “Are you kidding me?”

“What?  I don’t understand.”

“I feel fine; except for this sick feeling in my stomach that I was just set up.”

He groaned.  “I get it; you’re upset that I told them we were dating.”

“That doesn’t even begin to describe how I’m feeling.  I’m mad that you didn’t tell me that you told them we were dating, I’m angry that you allowed me to go in there thinking that this was just some family reunion you guys have all the time, and I’m hurt that you didn’t feel it was necessary to keep me in the loop.  I looked like an idiot in there and you didn’t seem to care.”

“That’s not true; I didn’t think you would have come if you knew the truth.”

“Adam, there was no reason to even have that party.  You orchestrated the whole thing.  At least admit to that.”

“I did, because I thought it would be the only way to get you to go out with me again.”

“Adam, we’re not teenagers.  That was an immature thing to do and I don’t appreciate being used as a pawn.”

“I’m sorry.”  They pulled into her driveway and she turned to him.  “I didn’t mean for you to get so upset.”

She laughed.  “You have no idea.  I was humiliated and it didn’t need to go down like that.”  She got out of his car and ran to her door.  She slammed the door shut.  She was so angry she would have said a lot worse if she would have stayed in his car.  When she heard him knock on her door she shook her head.  “Go away Adam; I’ll talk to you Monday.”

“Rebecca, please open up the door.”

“I don’t want to see you; I am tired of being the laughing stock of a person’s life.”

“You are not; it pains me that I have mistreated our friendship.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Please; let me show you that I’m not the insensitive jerk you now think I am.”

She reluctantly turned to the door and opened it.  “What?”

“Tomorrow I will call my parents, sister, and brother, and I will tell them that I made everything up.  I will tell them that there won’t be any wedding bells in our future, because despite the fact that I care for you…you want nothing to do with me.”

“Adam, I didn’t say that.  I want to be your friend, but you make it awfully hard to do that.”

“May I ask you something?”

She nodded.  “Sure; why not?”

“If Thomas wouldn’t have come into the picture would you have ever given me the chance?”

She stared at him and laughed.  “Adam, this has nothing to do with Thomas.  I don’t feel like that with him, or any other guy.  This is just me being honest with you.  I can’t lie and say that I have feelings, when I don’t.  I’m sorry; it doesn’t work that way.  You will one day fall in love and it will be special because she feels the same way.  Don’t settle with someone that doesn’t have those feelings.  You deserve so much more than that.”

“I didn’t screw up our working relationship; did I?”

Rebecca shook her head.  “Everything is fine; as long as you stop lying to me.  I would have much rather had the truth.”

“You’re right; from here on out, I will speak only the truth.”

“Thank you!”  She gave him a hug, but was sure not to let it linger.  “You go home and I will see you Monday.”

He held his head down as he left the house.  She closed the door and locked it behind him.  “She would never be able to forget what he did, but she had to forgive him.  It was the only way they could have a relaxed and working relationship.  However, she was still fuming at their encounter and it was going to be a while before she could move past that.