And the Greatest of These Is Love: A Contemporary Christian Romance Novel (22 page)

“You too,” she breathed as if it might be her last.

Pushing away, he walked slowly from her over to his car, and she opened her car door, not knowing how she’d done it and climbed inside. The car was cold, her whole body was cold, and she had the distinct impression that without him next to her, she would be cold forever. With shaking fingers, she started the car, gave a feeble wave in the direction of the red sports car, and left the parking lot.

Andrew watched her leave, and he knew without question that his life had taken yet another dramatic turn. He no longer cared about being the top reporter in the city. He no longer cared about what kind of car he owned or who saw him where. His dreams had become far simpler in the past few weeks. Far simpler, but much more complicated.

He smiled as he glanced over at the sleeping bundle next to him. He had half the dream, now all he needed was one more piece, and the puzzle would be complete. It wasn’t hard to picture driving his family home, carrying Antonio to bed, and then meeting her in their own room for a long night of dreaming in each other’s arms.

But how to make that happen? That was the big question now.

The question never left his brain for long throughout that night and the following day. He watched her all day, and it was like seeing her with new eyes. The attraction had always been there, but now it was much more than just the fact that she was beautiful. She was literally the other half of his soul. Every time she worked with a child, he saw the missing piece of his life clearer.

Life without her was not complete. At the end of the day it was like leaving a part of himself behind as he climbed into his car with Antonio to go home. And once he got there, he realized it wasn’t really home without her there either. She had never actually been to his apartment, but somehow it didn’t seem the same without her. It was empty and quiet, and he vowed to himself that somehow, he would bring the missing piece to his puzzle home.

“Happy Halloween,” he whispered, not wanting to disturb the napping children when he showed up in the afternoon after spending the morning in Jerry’s office going over the numbers.

“Happy Halloween to you, too,” she whispered back repositioning the tray of cookies on the table.

“So, what’re you doing for Halloween?” he asked as he picked up a cup and filled it with juice.

“Tonight?” she asked surprised although it was a question she had been willing him to ask her all day.

“Yeah.”

“Oh. I don’t know. Why?” she asked, pretending to be concerned with the placement of the napkins. Actually, keeping her hands busy was only a hopeless attempt at slowing her racing heart.

“Well, I’m taking Greg and Antonio out trick-or-treating, and I thought maybe you’d like to come along,” he said, setting a cup down and then resetting it.

She lifted the center of her eyebrows in concern. “Do I have to dress up?”

“Only if you want to,” he said, sounding husky and waylaid. “We can pick you up if you want.”

“Maybe I’ll just meet you somewhere,” she said quickly, wanting desperately to keep him far, far away from her ramshackle apartment.

“I’m supposed to be at Bryan’s at 7:30. How about if we just meet over there?”

Bryan’s. Great
. Just what she didn’t want, but she saw no way around it. “K. Be sure to give me directions before you leave.”

Driving, reading the map and the street signs while trying to remain calm and collected, was taxing Gabi’s already frazzled mind.

“Oh, for pity sake.” She squinted at the map in the dimness of the outside street lights. “Curtis. Right on Curtis. That’s easy for you to say. Curtis... Curtis... Myles... Franklin.... Jackson... Curtis. Thank goodness.”

However, when she turned onto the street, her heart flipped over. This neighborhood went way past nice all the way to unbelievably wealthy. Her car looked a gazillion years old compared to the BMW’s and Lexuses parked in the driveways. She was way out of her league here. In fact, her league felt like Mars was closer.

“1011.” She read the numbers on the front wall and then looked past it to the house beyond. “Wow.”

The house wrapped halfway around the cul-de-sac, and Gabi had to force herself not to simply turn around and drive away. This was not what she was expecting. She parked on the circle drive and shut off the engine. Everything around her was silent. She grabbed up the map for one last check. Somehow, she thought, there had to be some mistake. But it was no mistake. 1011 Curtis.

“Oh, boy, Gabi-girl,” she said to herself as she got out slowly. “This should be interesting. Just stay cool. You can do this.”

She walked steadily to the front door and pressed the lighted bell as sounds of children and Halloween up and down the block brushed her ears. Nothing. She reached to press the button again just as the inside door swung open, and there stood Pam. As perfect as ever.

“Gabi,” Pam said with a smile. “Come on in. It’s freezing out there.”

Gabi walked into the entrance and stopped cold. The house was huge on the outside, but inside it was enormous. A grand staircase ran from the entrance to heights unseen above her. The entryway itself was almost the size of her whole apartment, and every piece of trim and railing was pearlescent white.

“I’m so glad you could make it.” It was as if Pam didn’t notice Gabi’s reaction to the house. “Oh, please, don’t look at my house, it’s a disaster. The maid’s off on Fridays.”

Gabi couldn’t see even a single thing out of place as she followed Pam into the living room where there was more opulence and luxury than her eyes could figure out what to look at.

“Bryan, Gabi’s here,” Pam called before returning to the conversation. “Andrew called a few minutes ago. They had some trouble with a laser sword or something, so he’s going to be a little late. Have a seat, and make yourself comfortable.”

“Oh, uh, thank you.” Gabi willed her feet to carry her over the plush ivory circular rug under her feet.

“Gabi!” Bryan said as if she was the queen when he emerged from one of the back rooms. “I’m so glad you could make it. Welcome. Welcome.”

She turned in surprise. “I appreciate you having me.” She hoped that was the appropriate thing to say. Bryan extended his hand to her, and she shook it and smiled.

“Please, have a seat,” he said, sitting in one of the lounge chairs. “I never got a chance to talk with you the other day. I was really very impressed with the center. I’ve been telling Pam about it all week.”

“It’s all he’s talked about,” Pam affirmed, sitting primly on one end of the same sofa Gabi occupied.

“What you all do with those kids.” Bryan shook his head. “Well, it’s simply amazing.”

“We try,” Gabi said, her voice and mind abandoning her. What was she doing here again?

“We were a little surprised by Andrew’s announcement,” Pam said, watching her, and Gabi spun that direction.

“Yeah, I was a little surprised myself.” Gabi felt like she was under a microscope. She had to force her hands to stay quietly in her lap, and that wasn’t at all easy. They wanted to smooth, to redo, to do something, anything to make her not look so dowdy and out-of-place. But that was hopeless.

“Andrew’s really changed since he started going out there,” Bryan said, nodding seriously, and he narrowed his gaze as if in thought. “He’s grown up a lot. I think it’s been really good for him.”

Gabi smiled what she hoped was a polite smile. She wasn’t at all comfortable with this situation or this conversation.

“Gabi!” a muffled voice said behind her.

She spun and came face-to-face with a ferocious green-and-red dragon head.

“Ah!” she gasped in actual fear, and the muffled voice started laughing.

“I got you,” Greg said, still laughing as he pulled the dragon’s head off.

“Wow. You sure did,” Gabi said, recovering quickly. “That’s a great costume. Very lifelike.”

“Mom thinks it’s gross, but I think it’s
cool
.”

“Pretty cool,” Gabi agreed, smiling at him.

“When’s Uncle Drew going to be here?” Greg swung the dragon’s tail behind him all the way into the living room.

“He should be here pretty soon,” Bryan said. “And remember Greg, Uncle Andrew is bringing the little boy who’s staying with him now, and I want you to be nice to him. You hear me?”

“Yes, Sir,” Greg said with a nod.

Just then headlights flashed across the room.

“I bet that’s them,” Pam said, getting up and going to the door as Bryan collared Greg.

“I mean it, Greg. This little boy isn’t used to making new friends, so don’t scare him,” Bryan warned.

“I won’t, Dad,” Greg said with annoyance.

Gabi felt like a shelf decoration — unseen and unnoticed.

“Trick or treat!” she heard Andrew call from the door, and she smiled in spite of her nerves. He could brighten her day just by being in it. “Sorry we’re late. Wouldn’t you just know it, the batteries in our saber sword went out! I tell you what there’s nothing worse than a power outage in a saber sword.”

He walked into the living room pushing Antonio ahead of him. The second she saw Antonio’s eyes, she knew exactly how she had looked only moments before.

“Hi, Gabi,” Andrew said the second he saw her, and the smile he gave her was missed by no one.

“Hi, Andrew,” Gabi said, shyly getting up and crossing over to him. He reached out to her and put his arms around her, drawing her into a hug. Suddenly in Andrew’s world everything felt very, very right. She left him and bent down to the little masked figure. “Hi, Antonio.” Putting her hand on the silky material of the arm of his costume, she rubbed there. “You look so good. No bad guys will be getting us tonight.”

“Hey, Andrew,” Bryan said, coming over to shake his hand.

“Bryan,” Andrew said, and he knew by the look in his brother’s eyes that he approved.

“Uncle Drew.” Greg’s muffled voice broke through the introductions and greetings.

Andrew turned and started as if horrified. “Oh, man!” Andrew said in mock fear as he put his hand on his chest. “It’s the Lock Ness Monster! He’s alive!”

“It’s me, goofy.” Greg pulled the head off, and they all laughed. “Like my tail?”

“I love it.”

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Pam asked skeptically.

“Sure. It’ll be fun. Right, Gabi?” Andrew said, wrapping his arm over her shoulders again. He loved how right she felt there next to him, like the missing piece he had finally found.

“Yeah.”

“Well, we’d better get going,” Andrew said with one more squeeze. “You ready, Greg?”

“Ready,” Greg said, replacing the head on his shoulders.

“Ready, Antonio?”

Antonio nodded as if on command, and Gabi’s heart soared. More progress.

“Then let’s go get some CANDY!” Andrew clapped his hands and rubbed them together, and Gabi laughed. They herded the children out into the chilly night air. “We’ll be back in a little bit.”

“Have fun,” Bryan called.

“We will,” the dragon said happily.

“We will,” the Power Ranger said happily, and Gabi’s mouth dropped wide open. Andrew looked down at her in disbelief, and he knew she’d heard it too.  

“Am I hearing things?” he whispered almost inaudibly as he leaned down right next to her.

“I don’t think so,” she said softly, and she smiled up at him. He put and arm around her, pulled her closer, and they followed the kids out into the night.

“You wouldn’t believe all the candy we got,” Greg said, the excitement spilling over as he dumped his hoard onto the coffee table.

“Greg!” Pam exclaimed in dismay.

“It’s okay, Pam,” Bryan said, finally getting into the spirit of things. “Let’s see, Greg. Oh, wow. Cool. Snickers. I love Snickers. Antonio, how’d you do?”

The tiny Power Ranger stepped forward and placed his bag carefully on the table. Then he stepped back and put his head down.

“Oh, hey. Here, let me help you with that,” Andrew said, knowing exactly what Antonio was afraid of. But one hurdle at a time, they were making progress. Andrew sat Indian-style on the carpet and placed Antonio on his lap. Then he took the bag and turned it upside down. Candy spilled out everywhere.

Gabi saw Antonio gasp, but she couldn’t tell if it was in fear or delight.

“See, look it here,” Andrew said, picking up a candy bar without ever missing a beat. “We got some Sprees, and some Hot Tamales, and a Hershey bar.” One by one he named each piece of candy and lined them up on the table as Antonio sat mesmerized.

“So, what kind do you want first?” Andrew asked, looking down at the child. At first, nothing moved, and then slowly, Antonio pointed to one of the candy bars while simultaneously burrowing deeper into Andrew’s chest. “A Hershey bar. Great choice. Gotta love the chocolate.”

He opened it, broke off a piece and handed it to the little boy.

“Here, Antonio,” Gabi said, coming to kneel down next to them, “why don’t we take this mask off, and I’ll hold it for you?” She bent and slipped the mask off the little face, and the eyes that looked up at them held only wonder. Gone was the hatred and the fear. She smiled at him.

“Hey, Antonio,” Greg said, coming back to life as he ate his way through a Milky Way. “You want to come play with my trains?”

Andrew tilted his head to look at Antonio. “I bet he’d like that, wouldn’t you, Antonio?”

The little head bobbed slowly up and down though he was looking only at his candy and none of them.

“Awesome! Come with me.” Greg pushed to his feet and extended his hand to the little Power Ranger, and all the adults froze. They knew about Antonio’s track record with other kids. But almost without hesitation, Antonio reached up and took the offered hand.

“I’ll just go with them.” Andrew unfolded himself from the floor. “Be right back.”

And they left.

“So, Gabi,” Bryan said before she could think of a good excuse to follow the boys, “Pam, tells me your an artist.”

She wished she had thought of a way to get away. Intimidation was pretty much factored in to this situation. “Oh. Not really. I just sketch a little sometimes. It’s just a hobby really.”

He leaned back on his hands, still sitting on the floor across the coffee table, an appraised her. “You sketch, you play the piano beautifully, is there anything you can’t do?”

Gabi wasn’t sure how to reply to that question, so she just smiled and half-shrugged the compliment off.

“It’s really getting late,” she said, checking her watch. “I really better get going. I think I’ll just go say good-bye to the guys.”

Bryan stood as she did before going back over to his chair. Gabi quickly retraced Andrew’s steps over to the stairs, hoping upon hope that she wouldn’t get lost at the top of them. This whole domestic scene with everything around them in such perfection made her very uncomfortable, and all she wanted was get back to her own reality. She climbed the steps carefully and followed the sound of the children’s voices down the hall.