Just a Little Hope (11 page)

“Hey, guys? How was your day?”

Carter stirred awake from where he had fallen asleep in the recliner not too long after he and Tori had returned to the condo. Seeing Seb and Pax, he clamped down on the first thought of congratulations entering into his mind, remembering he wasn't supposed to know about their engagement.

“It was nice. I took Tori to Rodeo Drive and didn't let her shop. I consider it a victory.”

“I heard that.” Tori, who had been sleeping on the couch next to the recliner, pushed herself up to a seated position. “Not funny, Carter.” Tori rubbed her eyes as she stood. “Move over so they can have the couch.”

Carter shifted in the recliner to make room for Tori's petite frame and slid his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close.

Tori snuggled against him and nodded in Pax's direction. “So how did your day go?”

Pax smiled and looked at Seb before slowly making her way to the couch.

“Well, I'll tell you, but where are Margaret and Alex?”

Tori pointed upstairs. “Reading, I think; we've all been lazy bums today.”

Seb started for the stairs “I'll get them. Be right back.”

Tori stared at Pax but slyly poked Carter in his side where Pax couldn't see her. “What's going on Pax… you're acting a bit strange?”

Carter hid the smile that wanted to cross his face.

“Me strange? Oh, I'm fine.” Pax waved her left hand out in front of her.

“Excuse me?
What is that?
” Tori bounded off the recliner and knelt in the floor in front of Pax. She grabbed Pax's hands, and her mouth dropped open as she ogled the three stone diamond ring on her hand. “You've got some ‘splainin' to do!”

Pax laughed. “Wait for Seb's parents, okay?”

“They better get moving.”

“Tori…”

She turned to Carter and pointed at the ring. “Carter, did you see the size of this thing? I gotta give it to Seb. He's no dummy when it comes to what looks beautiful on your hand.”

Pax lifted her hand to where she could look at the ring. “It is beautiful. I still can't believe I'm wearing something this grand.”

“Only the best for you, sweetheart.” Seb padded down the stairs. He leaned over the couch and kissed her on the forehead.

Margaret and Alex entered the room behind Seb. Alex sat on the arm of the couch as Margaret came around and sat down beside Pax. “Well, I see you said ‘yes', although I didn't have any doubt you would. We're thrilled to have you as part of the family, Pax.” She kissed Pax on the cheek and then picked up her hand to view the ring. After a few seconds, Margaret looked at Seb. “It's beautiful, son.”

Pax looked at her future mother-in-law and smiled. “I wondered if you knew about this.”

Margaret glanced at Seb before answering. “There might have been a few phone calls exchanged over the past month or so.”

Seb sat down beside Pax. He reached over to give her leg a quick squeeze. “I couldn't do it all on my own, you know. I'm hopeless when it comes to this kind of stuff.”

Tori knocked his knee with her fist. “Well, I give you major props, bud. This thing is gorgeous!”

Tori climbed up off the floor and went back to the recliner. This time Carter was ready for her and pulled her down to sit in his lap.

“So Seb, you better tell us all about it, or Tori will bug you the rest of the day. I only have,” he checked his watch, “a few hours before I have to get to the stadium.”

“Yes! Tell us every detail.”

“Well,” Pax leaned back against the couch and sank into Seb's arms. “You may remember Seb and I went to the beach the last time we were here. I won't go into everything that happened there, but it was a turning point in our relationship, you might say.”

Seb's eyes shined as he nodded in agreement. “Yeah. For me, it was when I knew I was falling in love with her. Even though I had been through something horrible in losing my girls, that day at the beach, I knew this was the woman I was meant to be with.”

Carter couldn't help but notice how Seb wouldn't take his eyes off Pax.
What an amazing feeling to know you had found exactly who you were looking for.

Pax wiped at the tears that ran down her cheeks. “Anyway, he asked me this morning if I would like to go to the beach today. Of course, I said yes! And off we went.”

Seb caressed her arm as he continued. “When we got there, we sat on the blanket and talked and reminisced over the past several months. It was nice to just hang out on our own for a little while.”

Pax's ring-bound hand squeezed Seb's thigh. “And then all of a sudden, he jumped up and got down on one knee. I didn't know what to think. But in my mind I was thinking, ‘Is this what I think it is?'”

Seb brought his arm down and pulled her right hand into both of his. “If you could've seen her face! Pax looked like she was happy and scared all at the same time.”

Pax laughed. “If you could've seen his face! He just looked scared!” Seb's mouth dropped open.

“I kid, Seb. Your face was as handsome as ever.”

“That's more like it!”

“Anyway, well. He started talking. Actually, Seb, you'll have to tell them what you said. My mind is still spinning.”

Seb smiled. “Well, I told her from the day I met her, my life had never been the same. She didn't back down when I went through the dark days of losing my girls and when I thought my career was over. She challenged me to think about things I'd never considered. Encouraged me to be a better person and motivated me to be a man she and God could be proud of. Without her, I would be floundering in life still trying to fill a hole I discovered only Christ could. I said if she'd be willing to do so, I'd spend the rest of my life trying to make her as happy as she had made me.”

Carter could see Tori wiping tears from her eyes. He too seemed to have some surprising emotion rising to the surface as well. As he glanced around the room, he noticed they weren't the only ones. Margaret and Alex were both brushing back signs of tears from their faces.

Seb continued. “And then I just showed her the ring and asked her to marry me.”

“It was the most beautiful moment. I actually remember that part. I think I said ‘yes' one million times.”

Tori wiped her eyes again. “You guys! You're killing me. Seb, you are so romantic. What a beautiful proposal.”

Carter realized if he ever proposed to Tori, he'd have to come up with something amazing to top Seb's simple gesture. Tori practically swooned at their friends' story.

They sat in silence until Alex pulled Seb into a hug. That led to more hugs and exclamations of “Congratulations!” The mood in the room couldn't have been more joyous.

Through the din of the celebration, Carter heard the faint sounds of a cell phone ringing. He dug through his pockets, only to discover it wasn't the one ringing.

Carter traced the sound to the recliner behind him and found Tori's phone had slipped between the cushions. He walked it over toward her. Tapping Tori on the shoulder, he showed her the phone.

Laughing, she took it from him and put it to her ear. “Hey, Mom! I know it's a little hard to hear. We're celebrating Seb and Pax's engagement. Isn't it great?”

Suddenly, Tori's laughter stopped. Her face darkened. Carter stepped up to her and put his hand on her shoulder.

“What are you telling me, Mom? What are you telling me? You're making this up, right? Don't tell me this is true!”

Carter's heart sank. Something was wrong.

“Okay. I'll get on the next flight out, and I'll be there as soon as I can… No, Mom, I'm coming right now.”

Carter noticed everyone in the room had grown quiet.

“But what if it is something? I need to be there with you. Please, I will just be in agony otherwise.”

Seb walked over to both of them and put his arm around Tori.

“Promise me you will call as soon as you know anything for sure. You have to promise me, Mom… Okay. I'll wait to hear from you before I do anything then. I love you. And tell Dad I love him too.”

Tori hung up the phone and turned to Carter. “Oh, Carter! This can't be happening. They think my dad has a brain tumor.”

As the last word escaped her lips, she collapsed.

Carter caught her before she hit the floor.

Sobbing, Tori curled into his embrace. “It can't be. It can't be. My dad can't be sick. He can't be! Tell me I'm having a nightmare. Please just tell me this is a terrible dream.”

Carter rocked her, silently praying God would give him the right words to say to make this better, but somehow he knew things weren't going to get better.

Tori woke to a darkened room. Looking around she realized she was in the bedroom she shared with Pax. Although the lights were off, daylight peered through slits the curtains didn't quite cover.

Adjusting to the dim light, she saw someone beside her bed. Rubbing her eyes, she realized Carter was asleep in a chair pulled up next to her bed.

“Carter?”

When he didn't stir, she sat up. She was in her street clothes still. Then it hit her. Her dad. Her dad was very sick. Tears rolled down her face. She covered her face with her hands and shook uncontrollably as the remembrance of her mom's phone call hit her full force.

“Tori. Tori, baby.”

Carter's soft voice should have been comforting. But it did little good. The tears continued to rain down.

The mattress sank as he crawled up beside her and pulled her into his arms. The warmth of his embrace soothed her, and she felt safe in his arms. If only she could stay there forever, safely locked away from the horribleness of the outside world.

After several minutes, her tears lessened. She sat up and leaned against the headboard. Carter kept his arms around her.

She brushed her hair out of her face and swallowed back a sob. “I must look a mess.”

He squeezed her tighter. “You look beautiful.”

“Don't placate me. I know my face must be fire engine red. And my hair probably resembles something Medusa would consider stylish.”

Carter chuckled and smoothed her flyaway curls with his hands. “What can I do for you? Anything?”

Tori rested her head on his shoulder. “Can you tell me my mom didn't call and tell me my dad might have a brain tumor?”

“I'm sorry, sweetie, no.”

“Well, then just keep doing what you're doing because that's the only thing keeping me from going crazy right about now.”

Carter kept his arm around her but straightened his legs out on the bed. “Can you tell me exactly what your mom said on the phone?”

Tori wiped her eyes and released a deep breath.

“She said they went to see their general practitioner yesterday, Dr. Henry. Daddy had been complaining of headaches for a while. Mom told me, before I flew out here, she was going to make him an appointment at the doctor. She knew Daddy would never do it himself. Well, after Daddy described what was going on, Dr. Henry sent him over to get an MRI.” Tori stopped talking as she felt another round of tears starting.

“You don't have to tell me any more. Don't upset yourself again.”

“No, it's okay.” She wiped her eyes again and took a deep breath. “So Daddy got the MRI, and on his way home the nurse called his cell phone and told him he needed to see a neurosurgeon tomorrow because there was something on his MRI that appeared suspicious. I told Mom I would fly home today, but she told me not to. She said there was no need to ruin my trip if it turned out it was a shadow on the MRI. We know some people who've had that happen. They get all worked up over a bad MRI, and it turns out its nothing.”

“Well, she does have a point there. It could be nothing.”

The slight caress of his hand on her arm began to relax her tension-filled body. “I know, Carter, but what if it is something?”

“I don't know. I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get there. I know it's not much help.”

She pressed his hand to her chest. “You just being here helps. Will you pray for my dad? Pray it's just a shadowy MRI and he'll be back to his normal silly self after some medication.”

“Of course, I'll pray right now.”

Carter took both of her hands in his and leaned his head against hers.

“Dear Lord, we're crying out to You for healing right now. We plead with You for Tori's dad's MRI to be a mistake, and any subsequent tests will show he has a clear scan with no problem areas. We know You have the power to make it happen, and we beg it be that way, if it's Your will. Give them all the strength to endure the next few hours of waiting. Help us, as their friends, to be an encouragement to them. We love You, and we know Your will is what's best for all of us. We ask all of this in Jesus' precious name. Amen.”

A tear escaped and rolled down her cheek, and Tori felt Carter's thumb wipe it away. “Thank you, Carter. For everything.”