One Thursday Morning: Inspirational Christian Romance (Diamond Lake Series Book 1) (5 page)

“Living and whatnot . . . huh.” He raised an eyebrow and touched his forehead where the Band-Aid was now securely fastened. I could tell in his tone and his eyes that he knew there was something more to my story, but he didn’t push it. “Thanks for this.”

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

“No, really. Thank you. It’s not every day that I have a pretty woman taking care of me.”

I beamed. His words were like sweet honey to my ears if they had taste buds—delicious. Feeling drawn to him, I wanted to know more about his life. “What about that boat of your dad’s? Why is
that
the beef between you and your mom?”

“She’s not my mother, for one.” He stood up, making eye contact with me with those fierce green eyes. I took in a whiff of his scent as he continued, “And for two—I don’t want to talk about it. I get the feeling you with your ‘living and whatnot’ in New York don’t mind not discussing certain things.”

“I’d love that,” I said with a bit more enthusiasm than I should have had.

He flashed me a pearly white smile, heading for the front door.

“See you Thursday?” I blurted out.

He looked back at me and said, “See you Thursday.”

As the door shut, I caught myself smiling, and it worried me.
Am I really ready to pursue a relationship with someone?
The idea of dating again was laughable. Awkward long pauses at the front door, wondering if he’d kiss me.
Ugh.
When I had laid out my plan for my new life, I never dreamed of adding a new relationship to the mix. My assumption was that I’d never love again, but that was a bit dramatic. I knew I wanted kids and a family
someday
, just not sure when. John was a jerk. It’d be easy for me to fall in love, and I was scared of that. My eyes drifted to Milo as he leaped onto the entertainment stand and made himself comfortable in front of the TV. Pulling back the curtain that draped over the living room window, I watched as Charlie got into his car.

The walls I had built up around me over the last year weren’t coming down, but they were definitely feeling a bit weaker in spots.

Arriving at Dixie’s the following Monday, I checked my phone after feeling it buzz in my pocket on the drive in. Checking to see who it was, I was pleasantly surprised to see it was Joe. He had received the shingles a day early and had time to start work on the roof that afternoon.

Me: Great! If you need to go inside at all, just let yourself in with the key that’s under the clay tortoise on the porch.

Joe: Ha-ha. Why even lock your door if you just leave a key hidden in a place that obvious?

Me: Never thought of it that way. Heading into work now. See you around three when I’m off work.

With a spring in my step, I went inside and clocked in for my shift. The restaurant was beginning to get busy as the usual morning patrons began showing up. Refilling coffees, delivering plates of food, and talking about the latest bear attack with the locals filled most the early parts of my shift. To my surprise, Frank and Sue came in around eleven thirty.

“Pretty early for you two,” I said, greeting them as I approached their table. “Going to have some breakfast?”

“No,” Sue replied. “We’re just having an early lunch. The usual will be fine. You sure do look lovely today, Amy. Did you get a haircut?”

Raising an eyebrow, I replied, “Nope. Just in a good mood.”

“You do have a certain glow to you,” Frank added.

“I did find out I’m getting my roof repaired today,” I replied, jotting down their usual order of meatloaf and potatoes on my order pad. “Things are just going
really
good right now.”

“Good,” Frank said.

Walking back through the restaurant, I dwelled on the term Frank used—glow. I touched my cheek as I walked up to the server window, and Diego asked, “What’s going on with your cheek?”

Peering over my shoulder in the direction of Frank and Sue, I said, “Frank told me I have a glow.”

“You do seem happy today,” Diego replied, snatching an order slip from a clip. His eyes ran over the piece of paper for a moment, and then he set it aside and turned around to the flat top.
What does a glow even mean, really?
My mind wandered to the last time I saw Charlie sitting at my table. I smiled. He was getting to me more than I was letting myself realize.

“Amy,” Wendy said with a stern voice from the corner that wrapped down a hallway to the back. Raising my eyebrows, I jerked my head to her, giving my full attention. “Did you serve a woman a ginger ale the other day when she asked for an iced tea?”

Fumbling through my mind and tables, I didn’t recall the incident. “No.”

She squinted with suspicious eyes as she looked me over. “Okay . . .” Glancing to the front door, she continued, “Let Miley know to come see me when she gets in.”

After work, I arrived home not only to Joe’s truck, but Charlie’s car in my driveway. Then, in front of my house, stood the two fully-grown men arguing and shouting at one another. Seeing the situation escalate between them, I parked quickly and rushed across the gravel over to the two of them.

“What on earth is going on?” I asked, seeing Joe with a trickle of blood dripping from his nose.

Joe shot a nod in Charlie’s direction and said, “Why don’t you ask lover boy here?” Walking past me, he headed to his truck and said, “Let me know when he’s not here, and I’ll finish the job.” The slam of his driver’s side door made me cringe.

I raised my eyebrows as I saw Charlie with a grimace. Staring at Joe, I asked, “What happened?”

Joe’s truck started, and he peeled out of the driveway in reverse, kicking rocks up in a fury as he tore out of the driveway.
I’m probably going to get stuck with full-price now.

“A disagreement. That’s all.” Charlie turned and went over to the porch, where I saw a few freshly installed two-by-fours already secured in place while a pile of others sat on the ground in front of the flower bed.

“I’ll ask again—what happened?” I asked, following behind him.

Charlie turned around and looked me in the eyes. He looked not only upset, but reluctant. Letting out a sigh, he cleared his throat and said smoothly, “Joe Dilasky and I went to high school together . . . and well, we just have an old beef.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “And what? You tried to settle it with him in front of my house?”

“
No.
I didn’t even bring anything up. It was so long ago. I just went about what I was doing, but he brought it up and started going off about it.” Charlie picked up a two-by-four and his hammer and walked over to the porch.

“So you hit him because he was talking to you?” I asked. Though the details might have not been important to most people, they were to me. Violence was a touchy subject due to my history with John, and if I was taking an interest in the same type of man, I needed to know.

“No. When I didn’t respond to him, he began pushing me and even shoved me over. I snapped and knocked him in the face with a good punch.”

“You solved the problem with violence—cool.” My eyes rolled, and my interest began dwindling with that one choice he made.

“Look—I didn’t start it. He’s a jerk, and I don’t like him. I defended myself.”

Nodding, I said, “Whatever. I need to go inside and change.”

Walking past him, I went up the porch steps and stopped before I went inside. I looked back at him. His eyes met mine, and I saw him in a different light in that moment. He reminded me too much of someone I ran away from, someone I wanted nothing to do with anymore. I turned and went inside. There was no way I was going to put up with behaviors like that from another guy. It reminded me too much of John, and I wasn’t interested in becoming another punching bag for someone who used violence to work through their problems in life. Dropping my keys on the entryway table, I headed through the living room toward the hallway. Letting my palm run along Milo’s back, I whispered, “At least I have
you
.”

The sound of Charlie’s hammer clanged in my ears for the next hour. I didn’t go back out to see him. I went about my usual afternoon activities. I put in a load of wash, washed the few dishes in the sink from that morning, and talked to my cat as I caught up on my reading. For a moment, I thought he’d left as the hammer sounds stopped. Standing up from the couch, I went over and peeked out the curtain to see if he did. Unfortunately for me, he was not only there but caught my glance. When he waved me to come outside, I was reluctant to do so but decided to be nice.

“Yeah?” I asked as I stepped out onto the porch, Milo following me. Milo stretched out as he pawed at the porch’s wood planks. Catching Charlie smile as he looked at Milo, I felt annoyed. Wrestling against my own lingering feelings of interest for Charlie, I adjusted my footing and crossed my arms, trying to hide it.

“I’m really sorry about Joe. That’s not like me.” He shrugged and glanced back toward the driveway and then back at me. “I don’t know what came over me.” He let out a sigh.

“What is it Joe did?”

“If you must know, it’s not what he did . . .”

I raised an eyebrow as I looked at him. “Go on.”

He let out a soft laugh and rubbed his jaw, then said, “Well, it’s simple . . . just a little silly. I stole his prom date for our senior prom.”

“Wow . . . and he’s
still
mad about that?”

He laughed. “I guess. Honestly, I was just defending myself, Amy.”

I dropped my arms to my sides as I struggled to realize that Charlie was defending himself, something I always longed to be able to do. I needed to give him the benefit of the doubt and pray about it.
I can’t just write someone off immediately because of the slightest reminder of John.
Smiling, I shook my head and looked at him. “To be honest with you, Charlie, between smashing up my porch and beating up my roofer, I’m starting to—”

“Not like me?” he replied with a laugh. “I get it. Just keep diggin’ that hole for myself.”

I laughed. “You really are digging quite the hole.”

His eyes fell to the almost completed railing, and he glanced over at me. “Give me another shot?”

Raising an eyebrow, I asked, “What do you have in mind?”

“Dinner. Movie.” He held his eyebrows up and focused on me, waiting for a reply. The silent and mysterious guy was opening up a bit more than I ever expected. He went from the coffee and two pieces of toast guy to Charlie Dillard, the kind-hearted entrepreneur and master hole-digger.

“All right, but no movie. I hate how people think movies are great. They don’t give you any time to talk. Dinner and a walk would be nice, though.”

“Little bossy, aren’t ya?” Charlie asked.

“I know what I want—that’s all.”

“I like that. I’ll pick you up, and we’ll go into Spokane. When is a good time for you?”

Thinking about it for a moment, I tapped my lips as I thought and answered, “Friday evening would be good. How’s eight?”

He smiled and said, “It’s a date.” Going over to the wood, he picked up another two-by-four and continued working on the porch railing.

Pressing on my mind out of nowhere came a question. “Where do you live?” I blurted out.

He stopped and looked over at me. “Down the road from the inn. Why?”

“Why doesn’t anyone ever see you in town?”

He laughed. “I don’t know. I buy most my stuff in Spokane, and I prefer to be at home. You okay?”

Smiling at him, I nodded. “I’ll see you for our date.” I turned and went inside. Peering through my living room window again, I watched him go back to work on the railing. As I looked out, I prayed that God would give me the wisdom to know if this one was bad news. There was no way I could put up with another John in my lifetime.

Three days passed, and Thursday morning, I found myself awake before the sun was up. Slumber wouldn’t come to me during the night as I wrestled with my emotions over the impending date with Charlie tomorrow.
Was it okay to go on a date when I haven’t even been officially divorced from John?
Leaving my struggle beneath my comforter on my bed, I decided to get ready and go over to the
Inn at the Lake
. My hopes were to catch the sunrise and get a couple of hours of work in before heading into Dixie’s Diner.

As I walked down the path to the water at the inn, the sun was already beginning to come up over the treetops. Vibrant pinks, purples and reds lit the morning sky, reminding me how beautiful God’s paint strokes truly were.
He’s always near.

Stepping off the path, I walked through the grass and over to the dock. The waters were still and undisturbed. Silence wrapped itself around me and brought a calmness to my soul as I took in not only the sunrise, but God’s nature all around. Walking the length of the dock, I came to the end and stood. Pine trees filled most of the scenery around the lake, with the only exception being houses, but there weren’t many of those either.

“Tranquil, isn’t it?” Emma said from behind me, causing me to jump a little.

Turning around, I said, “Sorry. You scared me. I didn’t know anyone was down here or awake this time of day.”

She smiled warmly as she walked down the dock to me. A robe wrapped around her thin frame and her messy hair gave the indication she’d stayed the night at the inn.

“Did you stay here last night?” I asked.

“I did.” She let out a wistful sigh before continuing. “Jody’s husband, Wayne, isn’t doing well, and I stayed over to discuss the future. Just family stuff. What are you doing out here so early in the morning?”

“I couldn’t sleep.” Hesitation stopped me from explaining, but she seemed to already know.

“Charlie?” she said.

“Yes,” I replied. “How did you . . . ?”

“Things have a way of getting around.”

Nodding, my eyes turned back to the water. Seeing a fish jump, my eyes traced the ripples.

Touching her lips with a couple of fingers, Emma looked out at the water and pointed. “My husband, when he was still with us,
used to fish this lake with our boy, Lenny. They’d sit out in that boat for hours. I caught Lenny, on more than one occasion, praying at the kitchen table for God to let him catch a bigger fish than his dad.” A deep smile set into Emma’s face as she looked over at me with tear-filled eyes. Grasping onto my arm, she said, “Don’t ever give up on hope for the future, for love, for healing and for life. For
hope
is what connects us to God. Lenny hoped to catch a bigger fish than his father, but you hoped to have a new life when you moved here, Serenah. You just have to choose to live with hope and not be crippled by the fear of the past.”

I smiled as Emma’s words touched the depths of my soul. She was right. I needed to stop letting the fear of John rule my life. It was over a year ago, and I needed to press on and enjoy the new life I had created in Newport. Charlie wasn’t John. My worry over the date tomorrow evening with Charlie soon dwindled.

“I have a gift for you,” Emma said. “Come with me.”

She led me off the dock, across the grass by the shore, and over to the thicket of trees that lined the property. We weaved through a few trees until an opening where a patch of dirt lay with a baby pine tree. “What is this?” I asked as I approached the small tree and crouched, letting my fingertips fall across the pine needles that adorned the branches.

“It’s your tree. It’s for the memory of your baby girl.”

Tears instantly welled in my eyes. I had expressed my grievance to her over the fact I had no burial plot or memorial for Hope. Smiling, I stood up and wrapped my arms around her neck. “Thank you so much.”

“I knew the anniversary of her loss was coming up, and—”

“You’re truly the sweetest person I’ve ever met,” I said as tears trickled down my cheeks. It warmed my heart that she cared so much about me. Turning toward the lake that was visible through the trees, I said, “It’s a beautiful view of the lake for Hope.”

“It is. She deserves to have a memorial, Serenah. She changed your life for the better.”

I smiled and wiped the tears from my eyes as I nodded. “I can’t thank you enough.” We continued to visit for a while longer before I headed back over to start in on more yard work.

As I weeded near one of the tall standing pine trees in the front yard near the driveway, a black Lexus RC pulled into the driveway of the inn.
That looks just like John’s,
I thought to myself.
My heart began pounding, and I moved to the shrubs out of view. Watching as it pulled up, I hid further into the shrubs, pushing against sharp twigs and branches. The car pulled further ahead, and my sights fell onto Washington state plates, settling my nerves.
When am I ever going to shake this fear?
The car rolled to a stop, and a woman got out. Turning, I went back to weeding near the pine trees in the front.

Biting on her nails, Miley looked a bit nervous when I showed up at the diner at nine. She didn’t take her eyes off the front door the entire time I clocked in. “You’re acting strange,” I commented as I wrapped my apron around my waist.

Dropping her hand from her mouth, she turned to me. Lowering her voice as she leaned in, she said, “Wendy drilled into me the other day about some stupid customer who got a lemonade instead of an iced tea.”

“Ginger ale.”

Miley paused and pulled her head back. “Wait. You knew?”

“Knew what? I knew there was a problem with someone’s order.”

“And you threw me under the bus?” Miley retorted.

“Um . . . No. She asked if it was me, and I said
no
.” Placing a pencil behind my ear, I said, “Why does she act like she’s just waiting to fire us all?”

“Right?” Miley replied, shaking her head. “Why does Emma let her treat us like that?”

I shrugged. “I’m sure it has to do with the fact that Emma co-owns the diner with Debbie, and Debbie’s her aunt.”

“Ahh . . . yeah. Nepotism at its finest.”

“Order up,” Diego said from the server window a few steps away.

Miley flashed Diego a nod and headed that way, but not without saying on the way, “Lover boy should be here soon.”

My heart dipped at Charlie’s mention. Glancing at the computer screen, I saw he was due to come in any moment. Pushing a loose strand of hair behind my ear, I smiled and took a deep breath.

The door chimed, and in walked Charlie. Turning around, our eyes connected, and though we both smiled, I felt something in the air that he brought in with him. It wasn’t good. The feeling reminded me of the mysterious no-named man I had seen come in on Thursdays for months—but different. He looked grieved, and his shoulders sagged as he went to a table and sat down. Walking across the diner, I decided to play it easy, see if he’d divulge what was going on.

“Hey, Charlie.”

He looked up from his paper and tipped his chin, forced half-smile and all. “Amy.”

“Usual?” I asked, wanting to know more about this little thing he did. Today wasn’t the day to push it, though. I could tell that much.

He let out a sigh and said, “Yes. The usual.” As I wrote it down and turned to walk away, he called my name.

“Amy.”

Turning around, I looked at him.

He hesitated for a moment and shook his head. “Never mind.”

Not able to stand it another moment, I shoved the order pad in my apron and went over to him. Resting my hands on the table, I asked, “What’s going on in that head of yours, Charlie?”

He appeared to mull something over in his mind, and then he looked at me in a way that cut through all my layers and walls and into my soul. He asked, “You ever just have some days that are just a little bit harder than the rest?”

I nodded, thinking about the anniversary of my baby’s death being just two days away—Saturday. “Absolutely.”

“Yeah. It’s just one of
those
days.”

Bringing a hand up to his shoulder, I touched him and smoothed my thumb gently, giving him comfort. With a soft voice, I said, “I understand. I’ll get your order in.” As I cut through the restaurant, I thought more about my baby girl that never lived outside my womb. Often, I wondered if I would have been a good mom. Part of me used to feel God had made me miscarry because He didn’t think I’d be a good one. Luckily, though, my time at counseling taught me otherwise. Peering back at Charlie as he was weighed down with whatever was bothering him, I felt myself slip a bit further into having deeper feelings for him.

Those walls didn’t stand a chance.