Bamboo and Lace (64 page)

Gabe crawled into bed in the darkness while Lily was still over by the crib, making sure that four-month-old Jasmine was asleep. He listened in the dark as Lily came away from the crib on the other side of their bedroom and joined him in bed.

“Is she out?” he whispered.

“I think so.”

Gabe cuddled close to Lily, who returned his embrace.

“You know,” he whispered, his tone playful and dramatic, “we were having a good time with the lights
on
, and then someone decided she couldn't sleep unless it was
dark
.”

Lily laughed softly. “Maybe we could get a soft light—one that would be very dim.”

“Or maybe it's time for Miss Kapaia to move down the hall.”

“It's already January, Gabe.”

“What does that mean?”

“Ash and Deanne will be married one year in March. Won't they move back into the house?”

“Didn't anyone tell you that they asked for five more months?”

“No, they didn't. Can you do that? I mean, is the resort prepared to leave the cottage open?”

“Yes, because that takes us into our time off. But I just realized something else.”

“What's that?”

Gabe didn't immediately answer.

“I think we need to have a family meeting.”

“Okay. About all the moving around?”

“Yes. I'll talk to Evan and Ash about it tomorrow.”

“Are you going to tell me what you're thinking?” Lily shifted slightly as she said this, but Gabe's mind was made up.

“Later,” he said quietly as he brushed his lips against her cheek just a moment before finding her mouth.

“Gabe,” Lily said softly between kisses, “will I always melt at your touch?”

“I hope so,” he said with a smile in his voice, thinking the feeling was mutual. “I certainly hope so.”

Everyone but Sarah was in bed and asleep the next night when the family had their meeting. The men had discussed things that day and then talked to their wives, but everyone had a lot of questions. Bailey went first.

“Deanne, how do you feel about never living here?”

“I'm all right, Bailey. The house would be so close, and I know I'm welcome. The one who has me worried is Ash. He says it's all right, but this has been his home from birth.”

“Ash?” Evan put in, even knowing what his brother-in-law would say.

“I'm fine, and I mean that. In fact, I'm excited about the possibility: our own home, and a new one to boot. I feel guilty that we get it. I'm wondering if Gabe and Lily shouldn't be the ones.”

“Lily and I have discussed it,” Gabe said, “and her only concern is that you two would be all right.”

“Did you realize,” Evan put in, “that there's room to have a paved path all the way between both houses?”

“You've got things worked out that far?” Lily asked.

“They've been worked out for years,” Gabe explained. “That area was always allotted for another house. We just haven't been to the need stage yet.”

“What kind of time frame are we looking at?” Deanne asked next.

“To start building? Probably a month.”

“That soon?” Deanne was surprised.

“Yes, and I wish it could be sooner. You might have to bunk in here with us for a while. Your cottage is already booked for next season.”

“Would it be possible to see the plans?” Lily asked, and with that they were off. With Sarah playing in the midst of them, the six adults rolled out the original plat map that showed the grounds and room for another house.

The possibilities on the layout of the house were endless, but the placement had been settled for years.

“What do you think, Deanne?” Lily asked. “Will you like it?”

Deanne smiled. “What's not to like?”

Ashton put an arm around her. He had spoken the truth when he said he was excited. Had they come back to the big house to live, that would have been great, but this was exciting too. And in truth, the time had come. Jasmine needed Ashton's room, and since Sarah was already in with Peter and Celia, the girls would stay there and Peter would move to Lily's old room.

For the next hour they planned and talked and dreamed. Lily had made a cake that day, and they brought that out to enjoy. The plans made that evening signaled a busier time for all, but it was an evening they would long remember.

“Gabe,” Lily called to him just two weeks after the family meeting, “come and see this.”

Lily was in the hallway outside the door of Jasmine's new room. Jasmine was a baby who would cry when she had a need, but not first thing in the morning. Typically she woke up very quietly and stayed that way until someone came for her.

Right now the almost-five-month-old had spotted her mother from her crib. Her head was up as she looked through the railing, smiling in delight.

Gabe took one look and had to go get her.

“Good morning, Jasmine,” he said as he kissed her cheek.

She smiled with her whole body, so delighted was she, and for a moment both parents just stood and enjoyed her.

“Is it me, or is she cute?” Lily asked.

“She's cute.”

“Do you suppose we just think she's cute and wonderful because she's ours, but she isn't?” Lily asked out of curiosity.

“Honestly? Yes, we're biased because we think she's the cutest baby in the world, but I know from the way people respond when they see her that she's adorable to them too.”

“Did you hear that, Jazz?” Lily asked her. “We think you're adorable.”

A yawn escaped their daughter just then and caused both parents to laugh. Jasmine smiled at their smiles, and with that another day began.

“Lily, why are you so nice to me?” Ana asked Lily the first time they had lunch together in weeks. This time they were at the Little Bay.

“Why wouldn't I be nice to you, Ana?”

The younger woman looked away, tears in her eyes.

“Nick and I had a big fight this morning.” Ana looked back at Lily, her eyes showing betrayal. “We live together. We're supposed to be falling in love. Why can't he treat me with as much kindness as you do?”

“Maybe he's being as kind to you as he knows how to be.”

“What do you mean?”

“Ana, I'm not naturally a nice person. I've had to go through great changes not to be selfish.”

“How did you do that?”

Lily Kapaia was not ashamed of the gospel, but she hated clichés and religious platitudes. Nevertheless, there was only one answer she could give Ana.

“I trusted God's Son, Jesus Christ, to change me.”

Ana stared at her.

“A woman just moved in next door to us. She's so nice, and she goes to that Christian church up the road. Is that what you are? A Christian?”

“Yes, Ana. I'm a follower of Jesus Christ.”

“Why did you never tell me?”

“Because the first time we had lunch, you said you didn't believe in God. Why would I try to force Him on you?”

“But you kept being nice. You kept wanting to be my friend.”

“That's true. I still want to be your friend.”

“So you did want to tell me about it?”

Lily smiled. “More that I can say, but only because I care, Ana. I'm not convinced that you're all that happy, and I know what peace I have in Christ. I wanted to share that with you.”

“What church do you go to?”

“The one up the road.”

“Oh, man!” Ana said, her hands coming to her eyes. “I don't think I'm ready for this.”

Lily sat very quietly, and when Ana looked up, she admitted, “I hated church when I was a kid. My dad made me go.”

“Why did you hate it, Ana?”

Lily shook her head quietly when she heard the answer, but Ana caught it.

“Are you saying your church is different?”

“I do think my church is different, Ana, but that's not what I would try to introduce you to. You need to come face-to-face with the Jesus of the Bible. If you came to our church, you would have a chance to learn about Him. That might be where your journey begins—by coming to church with me—but at some point you need to face your own mortality and consider eternity.”

No one had ever talked to Ana Banks like this. She felt upset and excited all at the same time. At the moment, however, upset won out.

“I'll think about what you've said, Lily, but I'm not a bad person. Why would God—if there is a God—want to punish me?”

Lily crushed a napkin in her palm and set it between them.

“If this was a ball of clay, Ana, and you were going to make something out of it, maybe a cup or a small bowl, would you allow the clay to tell you what to do?”

Ana looked down at the balled-up napkin and then back at Lily. She didn't speak. Lily picked up the napkin and started to work it with her fingers, managing a decent impression of working with a lump of clay.

“Maybe you would start molding this clay, thinking, ‘I'll make a small sugar bowl with this clay. I'll put it on my table to hold sugar.' But while you're working and forming the bowl, the clay speaks up and tells you to cut it out. If that were to actually happen, you would be stunned.”

“And you're saying that we're all mouthy lumps of clay?”

“The Bible says we are lumps of clay, Ana, and that God created us. The Bible also says that we all sin, so don't ever plan to stand before God and say you are not a bad person. You might be able to convince yourself, but don't bother with Him.”

“So why did He make us this way, if we're so awful?”

“He made us to love and serve Him.”

“What gives Him the right?”

Lily picked up the napkin.

“The clay has no say in the matter.”

“But He could have made us perfect.”

“But He did, Ana,” Lily said gently, seeing that the other woman was truly listening. “Remember Adam and Eve and the fruit? They sinned in the garden. Man chose to go astray, but God still loved us, so He provided a way back to Him through His Son. Now we don't have to be lost. Now we don't have to remain in our sin. We can be saved in Christ Jesus.”