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“Got a hot date tonight?” Jeannie asked.
Jeannie wasn’t usually someone who teased like that. “Uh…no, ma’am.”
“That’s okay. Give it some time.”
The two laughed as they walked on past.
Strange.
He finished his rounds and headed home. When he walked in the kitchen, Chelsea was setting the table for dinner. Faith was washing pots and pans. Seeing her with her hands in the dish bubbles at his sink brought him up short as a jolt of longing shot through him. A good, I-like-this-scenario jolt.
For a split second, his life felt normal. A brief respite in a rocky five years.
He shook it off and focused on his daughter. The huge grin Chelsea gave him made him want to look over his shoulder to see if the comical Kendra and Jeannie were outside making faces.
“What’s up?” he asked them.
“We started dinner,” Faith said with her back to him, wiping a dish towel over the outside of a frying pan.
“You have a phone message. I left it on your desk,” Chelsea said, and the grin somehow managed to broaden.
He narrowed his eyes. “You sure are cheerful.”
“Oh, I’m just excited about the party this Friday.”
“Party?”
“Daaaad. You know this info. Faith said she told you.”
“Oh, that party. Well, you aren’t going to any parties with boys.”
“I think you’ll change your mind.” She gave him the happiest, most hopeful grin and batted huge, puppy-dog eyes. Must be some new manipulative tool she’d picked up.
“Chels—”
“Pleeeease…You have to let me. I’ll be on my best behavior. I promise. I just have to go or I’ll be a total outcast.”
Talk about exaggeration. “You’re impossible.” He glanced at Faith, who seemed awfully busy drying the already-dry skillet. “Faith, you sure are giving that pan a work over.”
“What? Oh.” She looked a million miles away. She pulled her gaze away and placed the skillet in the cabinet. “Time to go home.”
He’d thought maybe she felt guilty about encouraging Chelsea over the party. But now he realized she hadn’t even been listening to them. She seemed distracted.
After Faith told Chelsea good-night, she headed out the back door to make the short walk next door.
He followed her to the porch and leaned against the railing. “Hey, what’s wrong?”
She finally looked directly at him. The glow from the setting sun made her eyes look bluer than usual. Such a pretty color.
She puffed out air that blew her bangs off her face. Then she messed with her ponytail. “I’m just out of sorts. Don’t know why.”
“I guess Chelsea and I have put an extra burden on you the last few days. I’m sorry.”
Her brows drew downward. “No, it’s not that at all.”
“Then tell me.” He motioned for her to sit on the steps beside him.
She started to join him, but then she popped back up. “No, really. It’s nothing. I’ve got to go. And you need to go return Hannah’s call.” She gave him a crooked smile, then walked away. “Good night.”
Hannah? Now why would she be calling?
Must be something to do with security at the bank.
He walked inside to his desk, picked up the sticky note with Chelsea’s loopy handwriting, then dialed the phone number she’d carefully written with a huge smiley face beside it.
“Hi, Hannah. Chelsea said you called.”
“Oh, hi, Gabe. Thanks for calling back. I, uh…well, this is awkward…but I was…uh…wondering, well…”
“Is something wrong?”
“Would you like to go to dinner this Saturday night?”
Dinner? “Is there something going on at the bank?” He hadn’t heard of anything. But he couldn’t keep up with every business in town.
A high, bubbly laugh burst out of her. “Oh, I’ve messed up this whole thing.” She laughed again. “I’m trying to ask you out.”
Ask him out? “For a bank business dinner?”
“For a date!” she practically hollered, as if trying to get it through his thick skull. He felt thick-skulled at the moment. “A date. You’re asking me to dinner as a date? Not something bank-sponsored?”
She chuckled. “I never once mentioned work or the bank. You just assumed.”
Surely he’d been tossed into some parallel universe. He didn’t go out on dates. And women never asked him out. What was going on?
Chelsea’s big grin, her smiley-faced sticky note, Faith’s awkwardness…
“Hannah, did someone put you up to this?”
“No. It may have been suggested, but I—”
“My daughter.” He would ground her for a month. For a year. And she could forget ever having a cell phone. “I’m sorry, Hannah. I hate that she put you in this position.”
“Oh, don’t apologize. It seems like a good idea. I just never thought you would consider it.”
“You’re right. I’m nowhere near ready to date. I’m sorry Chelsea put us in this awkward position.”
“Maybe it is time, Gabe,” she said softly. “For both of us.”
Faith’s face flashed into his mind, almost as if she’d spoken the words. He shook his head to clear the thought. “I appreciate the offer, Hannah. Maybe another time.”
As soon as they hung up, he stomped to Chelsea’s room and banged on the door, making the hand-painted name plate bounce and rattle.
“Come in,” she said as sweet as sugar.
He marched inside and found her sitting on her bed reading a teen celebrity magazine. “Don’t try to get me dates.”
“Who, me?” Her face radiated pure innocence from the frilly pink pillow shams.
It was enough to defuse his anger. But embarrassment still made the skin on his face feel a size too small. “Don’t be playing matchmaker.”
Chelsea scuttled over to the edge of the bed and looked up at him with an innocent expression. Her hair was shiny and her cheeks rosy. “Hannah sure is pretty. And not dating anyone.”
“Doesn’t matter. Now, behave. Dinner’s in ten minutes.”
She reached out with her small, soft hand and touched his arm. “Just think about it. You never know what God may have planned for you.”
Chelsea’s faith—and her ability to talk about it openly—always threw him off balance. But God? What did God have to do with this lark?
He left Chelsea to her magazine and strode to the phone in the kitchen. He hesitated for a second, hand on the receiver, but knew he had to act now. When Faith answered, he said, “You were in on this, too, weren’t you?”
“On what?” she asked, almost as innocently as his daughter. “Oh. Hannah’s call. Sorry about that.”
“I’m not ready for this. And I can’t replace Tina, anyway.”
Silence. But then Faith sighed. “I know.”
For some reason, white-hot anger smoldered beneath the frustration. How could anyone dare to try to fix him up with a woman? “Tina was everything to me. The best wife, best mother. Anyone else would pale in comparison.”
Faith was silent. But he could hear her breathing, so he knew she was still there.
“Oh, I’m sure,” she finally said with an edge of irritation, almost as if he’d hurt her feelings.
“So please discourage Chels from fixing me up, okay?”
“I’ll certainly try. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She hung up without saying goodbye.
Could he have really hurt her feelings? Had she been as excited to fix him up as Chelsea had been?
Well, it didn’t matter. She’d get over it. Besides, there were more important things to deal with than his love life. He had a possible prowler roaming the streets. And it looked as if Chelsea was going to keep badgering him about the party, forcing him to play the mean dad.
He couldn’t think about women when he had a town and a daughter to protect.
Chapter Four
Gabe was more than ready to go to work the next morning after listening to Chelsea whine from the moment she woke about having to spend the day with Kristy, her babysitter. Apparently, since beginning summer school, Kristy spent more time studying than entertaining Chelsea.
Now Chelsea had decided Faith was more fun. Well, maybe so, but he couldn’t keep imposing on his neighbor.
So he’d settled on giving Kristy money to take Chelsea to Faith’s café that day. He felt sure Kristy would do what he asked, but he began to wonder if he’d done the right thing by hiring her that summer, knowing she was enrolled in college courses.
Poor Chels. No wonder she was going stir-crazy.
Gabe tried not to stress about it as he headed to the station. But finding the pastor waiting in his office didn’t help. “What can I do for you, Phil?” He gestured for the man to be seated and went around to sit behind his desk.
Phil, who always seemed to be in motion with more on his to-do list than he could possibly fit in a day, sank into the chair and looked at Gabe with tired eyes. “Gabe, I need your help. The kids of the church need your help.”
Somehow Gabe didn’t like the sound of that. “You know I’m grateful to you and the church for your support. But I don’t see how I can help.”
“Audra and Gary are moving, and I need new youth counselors. It would give you extra time with Chelsea, too.”
He sensed there was more to it than a need for counselors. “So what’s the bottom line?”
“I plan to find several workers to share the load. If you could just help me with Sunday-night programs, I’d be grateful.”
“And that’s it?”
Phil’s expression grew serious. “Actually, no. You used to work your schedule so you had Sunday mornings off. I’ve noticed you work almost every Sunday nowadays. I hope for Chelsea’s sake you’ll try to go back to the way it was before Tina died.”
Of all the topics Gabe had hoped to avoid. His collar suddenly felt too tight. He stretched his burning neck but didn’t get any relief. “Well, going to church was difficult after she died.”
“I know. It always is in the aftermath. But I think it’s time now. I know Tina would want you to bring her daughter to church.”
It was a punch in the gut. And he wanted to defend himself, saying he’d been making sure Chelsea attended. But he knew that wasn’t the same. Hadn’t he felt guilty every time he dropped her off? Lord, are You working here—hitting me with this conviction?
Saying the prayer felt like pushing open a rusty, unused door. But it was good. And a bit of a relief.
A huge sigh escaped.
Phil laughed. “Hard to refuse, huh?”
“You know it is.”
“Then do it. Take Sundays off. Attend worship. Work with the youth. I promise the kids will bless you so it won’t feel like a chore.” He leaned forward and held Gabe’s gaze. “You’ll be a fantastic role model. Those two Pruitt boys who ride with Chelsea are from a bad home situation. They need a good man to look up to.”
Parker, who’d had his arm around Chelsea yet acted polite.
“Nice, Phil. Pull the role-model card, why don’t you?”
He shrugged. “Hey, it’s just the truth.”
And the truth will get you every time. “Okay. I’ll try to schedule time off. At least on Sunday evenings for the kids.”
Phil stood and slapped Gabe on the back. “Thank you. I knew I could count on you. And hey, if you can work it out, try to come to the youth fundraising dinner next week.”
After writing down the details, Gabe said he’d try, then he walked Phil outside.
“I’m sorry if I’m pushing or butting in where I’m not wanted,” Phil said. “But I’ve felt God leading me to talk with you about this.”
