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.Like thewind, he dared to touch her.His fingertips feathered through her luxurious red locks. Are you going tobe all right sharing your house with a guy like me? It s going to be tough, but I think I can survive it.Just keep plying me with doughnuts. I noticed you have a lot of room in your basement.Maybe when I come back from my nextassignment, I can have Ben Cavanaugh come over and we ll put up wallboard.Would that be a help toyou? A help to me? I guess it would give us more room.My house is small, and there are going to be fourof us in this house.Eight, counting Buster and the cats. Buster s tail thumped in a happy, crazy rhythm and then he couldn t take it anymore.He leaped up tobark and jump at the hummingbirds who dared to stay out of his reach.Jared had to rewind his thoughts and concentrate on what Meg said.Or rather, what she hadn t said.Hetried again. If I m out of line, you say.It s still your house, but if you want, I d be happy to hire Bento finish your downstairs. It s your house now, Jared. Our house. His soul wrenched and he could feel the pain inside her as surely as if one of the sprinklerheads had gone wonky, changed direction and hit him square in the face.But he wouldn t know it tolook at her.Her chin hitched, and the gentle breezes stirred her hair as she managed a small smile, barely one at all.Her quiet blue eyes were dark, but that was the only physical hint that this was hurting her.And heknew it wasn t about the house, it wasn t about moving his things in and disturbing hers.It wasn tabout her having her way or anything. Okay, beautiful lady.Let s get this straight.You want a friendship.You want to work as a team.That s a marriage. She looked at the flowerpots, the patio, the hummingbird feeder, at everything but him. You want amarriage. Yeah.Friendship, teamwork, caring for one another.It s pretty much the same. She scrubbed the dog s chin, making him moan and his back leg thump against the concrete. Maybefor men. You do know I m nothing like Eddie, right? You re deeply religious, you have a hugely competitive job and you lead a Bible Study group.Hmm.Sounds the same. But she winked. There are a lot of differences.I m trusting my son s heart to you.That ought to say everything. It does, but I want to know what s hurting you, so I can make sure I don t do one thing that evermakes you think that I intend to hurt you. Kindness.It wasn t something Meg expected from a man.But from Jared& she was afraid to get usedto it.To believe in it.She wished she could lay her cheek against the strong plane of his chest and holdhim tight.Just hold on.To believe that she wasn t alone, adrift at sea.That even if she were feelingoverwhelmed, if her heart was broken beyond repair, that Jared was an un-yielding anchor.How did she trust that he would be there in the future? Was there anyone anywhere who had a marriagelike that? She d never seen one.Not her parents; a more cold distant relationship could not existanywhere.Her grandparents? They d passed on now, but she remembered their marriage had beensimilar. My experience of marriage wasn t the best.There s a reason why they say studies show that marriedmen are the most happy, and married women are the most unhappy groups of people. She hated howrough her voice sounded and raw with pain she did not want Jared to know about.But Buster whinedand licked her chin and cheek and nose. Stop, Jared ordered, reaching to pull his dog away.Buster was her dog now, too, and she wound her arms around his sturdy neck and hugged back,breathing in the wet doggy scent of him and loving the sleek sensation of his fur. Tell me, Jared said. What was so bad? How could she tell him how the misery had become so gradual? She d worked so hard trying to makeher marriage work.She d given up little pieces of herself until she was hollow.She d compromised andbent and bowed until she d snapped into pieces she d put back together again.But she wasn t the same.The doorbell pealed, reverberating through the house and out the door, which was cracked open just a bit.Buster barked, taking off like a wild thing to the door, which he nudged open with his nose.Hisdoggy feet flailed and pounded on the polished hardwood floor, his delighted barks drowning out thesound of the chime. That would be Chris and Ramon.I ll invite them in, offer them doughnuts and tea.Did you still wantto come along? You can pick through my townhouse and decide what you want to bring here and whatgoes to the neighboring church thrift store. She didn t trust herself to speak.Jared, friendly and confident and unshakable, strode away, the tone ofhis voice amused by his dog s antics.She waited until she heard the door open and men s voices beforeshe grabbed the hose and tended to the hand watering.The mist from the sprinklers felt luxurious on her face.She missed her little boy, she missed being incontrol of her own life, she missed the young woman she d used to be, that high school girl full ofinnocence and romance.Her spirit ached with a dull throbbing pain, like arthritis in an old wound.Where was God? She d stopped believing that He was in charge of her life, working to make goodthings for her future.Then, as if in answer, the sunshine danced through the tall trees shadowing the yard to gleam on theswing set sitting idle and still, glistening with the dampness from the sprinklers.Maybe it was ananswer.Maybe it was simply the result of the rotation of the earth around the sun, but for whateverreason it gave her enough strength to face the day as a wife.As the sun set on a good day of productive work, Jared couldn t get his friend s words out of his head.He and Chris had been hefting the couch down the steps to Meg s basement and they d stopped for abreather.Puffing and panting, they d taken a few moments and Chris said, You ve got yourself a finewife.It s a shame what Talbot put her through.Meg is a nice lady. What did Eddie put her through? Jared had been about to ask, but Ramon and Meg had come in to thehouse and so he held off.He hadn t gotten a chance to corner Chris and ask him what he knew.He d offered to treat his friends to dinner, but they declined, and said they d be looking forward toseeing him at Bible Study.Jared found Meg in the kitchen, reorganizing her cupboards toaccommodate the kitchen appliances of his that she didn t have.He was surprised by what she d saidhe could pack.Everything from a toaster oven to a hand mixer to the electric skillet.He stood in the archway, watching her in the kitchen, and from his vantage he could see the top shelvesof the cupboards.The cabinet doors were open and Meg rearranged and readjusted, and he wassurprised how little was actually in her cupboards.Only the bare essentials.A stack of mixing bowls.Practical dishes that, he realized, looked practically brand-new.Almost everything did.He saw it now.The kitchen table was very nice-looking, but it was new and it wasn t expensive.Thefurniture, the few pictures on the wall. How s it coming? he asked, and she startled, as if she d been lost in thought and hadn t heard him. I thought I would put the things we might use more in the lower cabinets.I put your skillet here. Shemoved over toward the stove and opened a bottom cabinet door. And this air popcorn popper mightget a lot of use, so I put it down here, too, where it s easier to reach. You like popcorn, do you? A weakness, I know.Is this all right? Funny, but that was never a question Vanessa had asked him [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.Like thewind, he dared to touch her.His fingertips feathered through her luxurious red locks. Are you going tobe all right sharing your house with a guy like me? It s going to be tough, but I think I can survive it.Just keep plying me with doughnuts. I noticed you have a lot of room in your basement.Maybe when I come back from my nextassignment, I can have Ben Cavanaugh come over and we ll put up wallboard.Would that be a help toyou? A help to me? I guess it would give us more room.My house is small, and there are going to be fourof us in this house.Eight, counting Buster and the cats. Buster s tail thumped in a happy, crazy rhythm and then he couldn t take it anymore.He leaped up tobark and jump at the hummingbirds who dared to stay out of his reach.Jared had to rewind his thoughts and concentrate on what Meg said.Or rather, what she hadn t said.Hetried again. If I m out of line, you say.It s still your house, but if you want, I d be happy to hire Bento finish your downstairs. It s your house now, Jared. Our house. His soul wrenched and he could feel the pain inside her as surely as if one of the sprinklerheads had gone wonky, changed direction and hit him square in the face.But he wouldn t know it tolook at her.Her chin hitched, and the gentle breezes stirred her hair as she managed a small smile, barely one at all.Her quiet blue eyes were dark, but that was the only physical hint that this was hurting her.And heknew it wasn t about the house, it wasn t about moving his things in and disturbing hers.It wasn tabout her having her way or anything. Okay, beautiful lady.Let s get this straight.You want a friendship.You want to work as a team.That s a marriage. She looked at the flowerpots, the patio, the hummingbird feeder, at everything but him. You want amarriage. Yeah.Friendship, teamwork, caring for one another.It s pretty much the same. She scrubbed the dog s chin, making him moan and his back leg thump against the concrete. Maybefor men. You do know I m nothing like Eddie, right? You re deeply religious, you have a hugely competitive job and you lead a Bible Study group.Hmm.Sounds the same. But she winked. There are a lot of differences.I m trusting my son s heart to you.That ought to say everything. It does, but I want to know what s hurting you, so I can make sure I don t do one thing that evermakes you think that I intend to hurt you. Kindness.It wasn t something Meg expected from a man.But from Jared& she was afraid to get usedto it.To believe in it.She wished she could lay her cheek against the strong plane of his chest and holdhim tight.Just hold on.To believe that she wasn t alone, adrift at sea.That even if she were feelingoverwhelmed, if her heart was broken beyond repair, that Jared was an un-yielding anchor.How did she trust that he would be there in the future? Was there anyone anywhere who had a marriagelike that? She d never seen one.Not her parents; a more cold distant relationship could not existanywhere.Her grandparents? They d passed on now, but she remembered their marriage had beensimilar. My experience of marriage wasn t the best.There s a reason why they say studies show that marriedmen are the most happy, and married women are the most unhappy groups of people. She hated howrough her voice sounded and raw with pain she did not want Jared to know about.But Buster whinedand licked her chin and cheek and nose. Stop, Jared ordered, reaching to pull his dog away.Buster was her dog now, too, and she wound her arms around his sturdy neck and hugged back,breathing in the wet doggy scent of him and loving the sleek sensation of his fur. Tell me, Jared said. What was so bad? How could she tell him how the misery had become so gradual? She d worked so hard trying to makeher marriage work.She d given up little pieces of herself until she was hollow.She d compromised andbent and bowed until she d snapped into pieces she d put back together again.But she wasn t the same.The doorbell pealed, reverberating through the house and out the door, which was cracked open just a bit.Buster barked, taking off like a wild thing to the door, which he nudged open with his nose.Hisdoggy feet flailed and pounded on the polished hardwood floor, his delighted barks drowning out thesound of the chime. That would be Chris and Ramon.I ll invite them in, offer them doughnuts and tea.Did you still wantto come along? You can pick through my townhouse and decide what you want to bring here and whatgoes to the neighboring church thrift store. She didn t trust herself to speak.Jared, friendly and confident and unshakable, strode away, the tone ofhis voice amused by his dog s antics.She waited until she heard the door open and men s voices beforeshe grabbed the hose and tended to the hand watering.The mist from the sprinklers felt luxurious on her face.She missed her little boy, she missed being incontrol of her own life, she missed the young woman she d used to be, that high school girl full ofinnocence and romance.Her spirit ached with a dull throbbing pain, like arthritis in an old wound.Where was God? She d stopped believing that He was in charge of her life, working to make goodthings for her future.Then, as if in answer, the sunshine danced through the tall trees shadowing the yard to gleam on theswing set sitting idle and still, glistening with the dampness from the sprinklers.Maybe it was ananswer.Maybe it was simply the result of the rotation of the earth around the sun, but for whateverreason it gave her enough strength to face the day as a wife.As the sun set on a good day of productive work, Jared couldn t get his friend s words out of his head.He and Chris had been hefting the couch down the steps to Meg s basement and they d stopped for abreather.Puffing and panting, they d taken a few moments and Chris said, You ve got yourself a finewife.It s a shame what Talbot put her through.Meg is a nice lady. What did Eddie put her through? Jared had been about to ask, but Ramon and Meg had come in to thehouse and so he held off.He hadn t gotten a chance to corner Chris and ask him what he knew.He d offered to treat his friends to dinner, but they declined, and said they d be looking forward toseeing him at Bible Study.Jared found Meg in the kitchen, reorganizing her cupboards toaccommodate the kitchen appliances of his that she didn t have.He was surprised by what she d saidhe could pack.Everything from a toaster oven to a hand mixer to the electric skillet.He stood in the archway, watching her in the kitchen, and from his vantage he could see the top shelvesof the cupboards.The cabinet doors were open and Meg rearranged and readjusted, and he wassurprised how little was actually in her cupboards.Only the bare essentials.A stack of mixing bowls.Practical dishes that, he realized, looked practically brand-new.Almost everything did.He saw it now.The kitchen table was very nice-looking, but it was new and it wasn t expensive.Thefurniture, the few pictures on the wall. How s it coming? he asked, and she startled, as if she d been lost in thought and hadn t heard him. I thought I would put the things we might use more in the lower cabinets.I put your skillet here. Shemoved over toward the stove and opened a bottom cabinet door. And this air popcorn popper mightget a lot of use, so I put it down here, too, where it s easier to reach. You like popcorn, do you? A weakness, I know.Is this all right? Funny, but that was never a question Vanessa had asked him [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]