Love one Another

скачать книгу бесплатно


If she had it to do over again, however, Tina knew she’d find some other way to help him. And she’d never tell a lie. Not one. Not even if her honesty meant her unmanageable sibling might have to suffer.

Justin ran out of steam right after they ate. Five minutes of whining were followed by blissful silence, when he curled up in the big wicker chair and dozed off.

“I’ve always preferred dogs, myself,” Zac said, “but I think I may need to borrow your crazy cat from time to time. My son hasn’t gone to sleep that easily for longer than I can remember.”

“You could always get him a puppy, you know. Your new yard is already fenced to keep it home.” Tina scanned the yard and porch. “Poor Zorro. I’ll bet he’s crawled off for a catnap. Chances are, he’s exhausted, too.”

“It wore me out just watching them play.”

“I know what you mean. Me, too.” She stood and began to gather up the dishes, surprised when Zac picked up his plate and rose to help her. She waved him off. “I can do this. Sit down. You’re my guest.”

“I’d rather help.”

He sounded so sincere, she gave in. “Okay. Make a stack on the end of the kitchen counter, just inside the door. That way you’ll be in sight if Justin stirs.”

Complying, Zac watched her carry the uneaten food past him and put it in the refrigerator. He sighed and spoke softly. “I’m at my wits’ end with that kid. I’d hoped that a change of scenery would stop his panic attacks.”

“Instead of a dog, maybe he needs more family in his life so he doesn’t concentrate solely on you. Aren’t there any female relatives you could ask for help?”

“Oh, sure,” he said cynically. “Kim—my wife—came from a big family. All three of her sisters dote on Justin.”

“Well, then…?”

“No way.” Zac was shaking his head. “They hate me. If I give them the chance to fill Justin’s head with their unfair opinions, he might wind up hating me, too. At the very least, he’d be more confused than he already is.”

Tina couldn’t imagine anyone disliking a man like Zac. Even though he was clumsy at expressing affection, he clearly loved his son. Pensive, she led the way back outside and started to fold up the plastic tablecloth. “You really believe they’d do that?”

“In a heartbeat.” His voice deepened. “They blame me for Kim’s death.”

Hoping he’d explain further, Tina hugged the folded cloth to her chest and waited quietly. She knew better than to question him on such a touchy subject, even though her curiosity was aroused. Once they officially became neighbors, perhaps he’d volunteer more information. If not, she’d just have to respect his privacy.

Finally, she broke down and asked, “What about your side of the family? Brothers? Sisters?”

Zac snorted with derision. “I was an only child. My parents live in a retirement community down in Florida. Justin and I detoured to visit them on our way here. Talk about a disaster. All my mother did when he got upset was wring her hands and cry right along with him.” A wry smile lifted one corner of Zac’s mouth. “It was quite a chorus. You should have seen the look on my dad’s face.”

“I’ll bet.”

Stuffing his hands into his pockets he began, “I’ve been thinking. Maybe…”

Tina intuitively finished his sentence. “You thought maybe I’d volunteer?”

“I suppose that’s too much to ask.”

“No. Not at all.”

Tina had to struggle to keep from laughing at the smooth way the Lord had handled a potentially awkward situation. While she’d been needlessly fretting about how she was going to worm her way into the little boy’s life without having her innocent motives misunderstood, God was setting the whole thing up. What a kick. Everything was turning out exactly as she’d planned, yet Zac Frazier thought the whole idea was his!

Chapter Four

Zac had offered to paint the interior of the house as soon as it was vacant because he wanted to expedite his tenancy. However, he’d had no idea how hard the job would be, especially with Justin underfoot every second.

By the time he’d finished putting one coat of paint on the master bedroom, there were already tiny sneaker prints of the same pale beige color up and down the hall.

Tina found the little boy sitting on the steps of his new front porch, barefoot. She joined him. “Hi, honey.”

Justin cast her a forlorn look.

“Uh-oh,” she said, smiling tenderly. “What’s wrong?”

“Daddy’s mad at me.”

Tina drew up her knees and hugged them. “Are you sure?”

“Uh-huh. He hollered at me.”

“My, that sounds serious. Why do you suppose he got so upset?”

“’Cause of that dumb old paint.”

“What did the paint do?”

“It stuck to my shoes and got itself all over the rug.”

“That was bad,” she said, working hard to sound serious when what she wanted to do was laugh out loud at his childish logic. “Is that why you’re sitting on the porch?”

The boy nodded. “Daddy took my shoes off and told me to stay right here.” His voice quieted. “Dumb old paint.”

“I’m pretty good with a brush. Do you suppose your daddy would like me to help him?” she asked, getting to her feet and smoothing her shorts as she spoke. “Maybe I should go see.”

“Okay,” Justin said with a sage expression, “’cept he might yell at you, too.”

Tina slipped off her sandals by the front door. “I hope not, but just in case, I’ll leave my shoes out here. That way I’ll feel it if I accidentally step in any spilled paint, and I won’t track it all over the place.”

Leaving the unhappy child to mull over her common sense approach, she let herself in and called, “Yoo-hoo. Anybody home?”

“In here. Down the hall,” he answered gruffly. “Watch your step. The carpet’s wet.”

She edged past the obviously damp portions and paused at the bedroom door. Zac had carefully covered the carpeting in that room with plastic sheeting, taped down at the edges. It was easy to see that Justin had tracked through every drop of paint he could find on the plastic, then headed for the hallway. His footprints stopped where the wet carpeting began.

Tina giggled. “I see your son was helping you paint this morning.”

“Helping me lose my mind, you mean.” He made a sour face. “It’s not funny.”

“Oh, I don’t know. It proves what I’ve always heard. You catch insanity from your children.” Taking in the room and its occupant, she shook her head and grinned. Zac had paint smeared on his shorts and tank top, plus splatters on nearly every inch of exposed skin. “Are you trying to paint the walls or decorate yourself?”

He was obviously in no mood for her sarcasm. One eyebrow arched as he stared back at her. “What does it look like?”

“Truthfully? It looks like you aren’t sure. You’ve got paint in your hair and beige freckles all over your face and arms, among other things.”

“That’s probably gray you see in my hair, thanks to Justin,” Zac countered. “So far, I’ve spent more time cleaning up after that kid than I have slinging paint at these four walls.”

“So that’s your problem,” Tina gibed. “Well, no wonder. You’re supposed to roll it on, not sling it.”

“I’m glad somebody is amused.”

“I certainly am.” Laughing lightly, she waited for his expression to soften. It finally did. “That’s better. Now, tell me. Would you rather I took Justin home with me to get him out of your rapidly graying hair, or pitched in and helped you paint this place?”

“I don’t suppose there’s any way you can do both, is there?”

“I’m good, but I’m not that good. Tell you what. I’ll go change into some old clothes and bring Zorro back with me when I come. That way you’ll have a painting partner and Justin will have something to occupy him while we finish up in here. How’s that sound?”

“Like heaven,” Zac said with a sigh. “I’m not real good at painting houses.”

“Noooo,” she mocked. “Do tell.”

One corner of his mouth twitched in a wry smile, and he hefted the paint roller by its handle, as if testing it for weight and balance. “You’re lucky you already volunteered to help me, Miss Tina. If you hadn’t, I might be tempted to do something rash.”

She quickly ducked around the doorjamb and peeked out from behind it, eyes sparkling with mischief. “You do, and I’ll turn you purple the way you threatened to do to poor, innocent little Tommy.”

“I’d like to see you try,” Zac shot back.

Tina laughed and shook her head. “Oh, no, you wouldn’t. Trust me. You’d lose.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah. But right now, I think we’d better concentrate on getting your house painted. Are you planning on doing the other bedrooms, too?”

“That’s what the landlord said he wants, and he bought the paint, so I guess the answer is yes. Since I was stupid enough to offer in the first place, I’m stuck doing things his way.”

“Okay. Go tape the plastic down in the other rooms and get them ready. I’ll be back in a jiffy.”

Zac snorted derisively. “Do you always jump in with both feet and start giving orders?”

“Only when it’s obvious I’m dealing with somebody whose expertise is sorely lacking in an area where I shine. You have a choice. You can either listen to my good advice or struggle through this project the hard way. Alone.”

“Is that a threat or a promise?” he asked.

“Both.” Wheeling, she flounced off down the hall.

Zac watched his charming neighbor go, then stood motionless for a few moments more after she was out of sight. He didn’t realize how much her presence had distracted him until he looked down at the roller in his hand. Paint had pooled in the lowest point of the cylinder and was falling in a thin stream, making squiggle lines all over the tops of his running shoes.

Tina wasted no time returning, as promised. She found Zac crawling around on his hands and knees, securing the protective plastic sheet in the smaller bedroom.

“You don’t need to mask those baseboards,” she told him, pausing in the doorway. “I have a very steady hand.”

“I’m glad one of us does.” He looked up. “Did you check on Justin when you went outside?”

Tina nodded. “He’s fine. He and Zorro are playing cat-and-mouse. Justin’s the mouse.”

“That’s typecasting, for sure. The kid loves cheese.”

“And Zorro’s already a cat, so he’s a natural, too,” Tina added, playing along. “Did you finish the master bedroom, or do I need to go back and touch it up for you?”

“It’s done. At least, I think it is. I had to stop to scrub footprints off the carpeting in the hall, and by the time I got back the fresh paint was so dry it was hard to tell where I’d left off. You might want to see if I missed any spots.”

“Okay. Back in a flash.”

Zac straightened and rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. That woman was a wonder. Nothing seemed to faze her. Didn’t she ever get grumpy? One thing was for sure, she always managed to look good, no matter how she was dressed. When she’d first come over she’d been wearing a turquoise shirt and shorts that had set off the greenish tint of her eyes. This time, although she’d donned tattered denim shorts and tied the tails of an old blouse at her waist, she still looked appealing.

Face it, Frazier, he told himself. Like it or not, you have a pretty neighbor.

Which makes no difference to me at all, he added quickly, defensively. The only thing I care about is raising my son the way Kim would have wanted.

Guilt instantly filled his heart. If he intended to instill the right values and set the right kind of example, he’d better start taking Justin to Sunday School again. That kind of thing had mattered to Kim. It mattered to him, too. Once, he and his late wife had led a youth ministry that had been a miraculous success, due in part to his contacts with teens through his counseling job. He could do that again. He should do it again.

Tina appeared in the doorway with the roller, pan and one of the partially used gallons of paint, bringing an end to his solitary contemplation.

“I found a couple of streaks in the other room and painted over them,” she said. “Otherwise, you did a fine job.”

“Thanks.” Zac got to his feet. “Okay. You’re the boss. Tell me what to do now. I’m all yours.” The rosy blush rising to her cheeks made him add, “Figuratively speaking, of course.”

“Of course.” Embarrassed, she averted her gaze and busied herself with the painting supplies as she spoke. “I noticed that all the paint was the same color. That’s good. It means we won’t have to wash the brushes and roller between rooms. And I brought some plastic wrap from my kitchen, in case you don’t have any, so we can cover the tray whenever we take a break. That way, the extra paint won’t dry in the pan or on the roller and be wasted.”

“Sounds like you have it all figured out.”

She chanced a peek up at him. “All but the ladder part. As you may have noticed, I’m a little short on one end. And I get dizzy on ladders, so I’d prefer you take charge of the ceilings and the tops of the walls.”