Right Where I Belong (30 page)
Natalia pulled out the papers. Her life planned out over the next five—no ten—years. Where she would go to college, what she would study, where she would intern. All ending with a few years working up the ladder to finally, by age twenty-eight, becoming a full partner. The number of zeros in her projected salary took her breath away.
“Papa, I—”
“No, don’t say anything right now.” His smile was broad. “I know it is overwhelming. But I believe you can do it. You are smart, hardworking, and you are a Lopez. When it comes time for me to retire, I will be content knowing the business will stay in the family.”
She couldn’t even eat the filet mignon the waiter laid in front of her. Papa talked more about the business, about his newest client, about how trends were changing in the international market, and how his company was on the cutting edge of those changes.
Natalia couldn’t even enjoy the musical they went to see.
I can’t turn him down, God. I can’t. Papa is handing me the company he built. He is trusting me with it.
As soon as the pair made their way to the hotel, Natalia
ran to her room, telling her father she was tired and needed to rest.
Rest, however, would not come. She picked up her cell phone.
“Oh, Brian.” Natalia had hoped to catch Mrs. Younger, but a just-woken Brian answered the phone. She glanced at the electric clock on the nightstand. “It’s after one o’clock. I’m so sorry. I had no idea. I’ll call back later.”
“No, it’s fine.” His tone changed. She could hear his concern, imagine him running a hand through his wavy hair. “Is everything okay?”
Natalia let out a deep breath. She wanted to hang up and deal with this by herself. What was she thinking, calling the Youngers in the middle of the night?
“Natalia.” Brian’s voice was teasing now. How she had missed that sound. “Don’t make me come over there.”
“I’m in New York City,” Natalia teased back.
“What?” His voice changed from mockery to shock. “When?”
“I left this morning.” Natalia placed a fluffy pillow on her lap. “Papa is in town and wanted to see me.”
“That was nice.”
“Not really.” She squeezed the pillow. “He wanted to tell me that he and my mother have decided I will take over the family business.”
“Wow.”
Natalia waited. ‘Wow’? That’s it? I call for words of wisdom, and I get ‘wow’?”
“Hang on. Let me go downstairs and get some Mountain Dew.” Natalia could hear Brian’s door open and his footsteps
along the wooden floor. He came back on the line. “That should help in the wisdom department.”
“You’ll never get back to sleep.”
“Natalia, this is Brian.” His laugh was deep and comforting. “I can sleep anywhere, anytime.”
“Ah yes. Well then, drink your Mountain Dew.”
Brian did just that, narrating Natalia through the routine of opening the cabinet, pulling out a glass, getting ice, and pouring his drink. “Hear it fizzing? It’s a beautiful sound.”
“And I’m sure your family will appreciate the residue on the phone tomorrow morning.”
“You mean this morning.”
“Yes, sorry.” She imagined Brian sitting at his kitchen table, drinking his soda and smiling into the phone.
“I’m ready now. Dr. Brian at your service. So your dad wants you to take over his business?”
In bantering with Brian, Natalia had almost forgotten the reason she called. “He has a whole plan mapped out and everything. He and Mamá even talked about it—and they don’t talk about anything.”
“But you don’t want to take over his business?”
“I don’t know.” Natalia lay on her stomach and turned on the speaker on her phone. “I never considered that Papa would ask me this. It is an honor. And the money . . . as a Christian businesswoman, I could help so many ministries. Maybe that’s what God wants. Maybe the desire I’ve been feeling to teach and work overseas is a desire to help, not actually go.”
“You want to teach overseas?” Brian coughed up some Mountain Dew.
“Yes. I guess we haven’t really talked since we got back from Costa Rica.” The memory of Brian standing on the bridge came back, and Natalia remembered why.
Brian must have been thinking the same thing because their easy conversation suddenly stalled. “Okay, back up some and fill me in.”
Natalia explained how her time in Costa Rica had shown her how much she loved teaching. “But not just that, teaching those kids. I understand being in a new country, adjusting. I’d love to be able to help children who are in that situation. To be a small part in helping missionaries go where they’re called. How exciting would that be?”
Brian was silent, and Natalia checked her phone, concerned that the connection had been lost. “Brian?”
“Yeah, I’m here. Sorry. So teaching in Costa Rica or running your father’s company in Spain.”
“But it’s more than that.” Natalia flipped over onto her back. “My parents want me to do this, to take over Papa’s company. And there’s nothing wrong with that. It isn’t a sin to be in business. It would be a whole mission field of its own. I could do good in either career.”
“That’s true. But this isn’t about choosing the job that is the ‘greatest good.’ You need to ask God what he wants you to do. Being a missionary teacher isn’t any better than being a Christian businesswoman. But doing what God wants you to do is better than doing what your parents want you to do.”
“But what if what my parents want is what God wants?” Natalia thought of Spencer—his dad wanted him to be a lawyer, and Spencer was happy to go into that profession.
“Only God can tell you that. I’m just a lowly pastor’s kid hopped up on Mountain Dew.”
“Brian, you are much more than that,” Natalia said softly, then she sat up in bed. “I should let you go. Papa is taking me with him on his meetings tomorrow, so I can get a feel for the business. It would probably look bad if I fell asleep during those meetings.”
“It might make him rethink his offer.” Brian laughed.
Natalia ended the call and fell back into bed, thoughts about her decision crowded out by thoughts of Brian.
Y
ou sure you’re up for this?” Brian was still shocked to have gotten a phone call from Spencer—much less a phone call telling him Spencer wanted to help renovate the ESL classroom.
“I asked my dad, and he said it was fine.” Spencer lifted an old desk and carried it out of the classroom. “He’s having new tables and chairs delivered in a couple of hours, so we need to get these out of here. I brought some paint too. These walls are looking rough.”
Brian lifted a desk and followed Spencer. “I owe you an apology, man. I know I’ve been rude to you.”
Spencer held the door for Brian. “If awards for rudeness are being handed out, I win. Hands down.”
Brian couldn’t argue with that. “So a new start, huh?”
“That would be awesome.” Spencer bit his lip. “I need another favor from you, though.”
“What’s that?” Brian hoped it wasn’t help with Natalia. He could handle being friends with Spencer. But a matchmaker? No way.
“I want to show my friends I’m different. But it’s going to be hard.” Spencer put a desk down and wiped his forehead. “I need someone to hold me accountable to the decision I made on the trip. Will you do that for me?”
Brian looked down at the former bully.
God, you really are amazing.
“You’re giving me permission to call you out?”
“Yes, I am.” Spencer grinned.
“And you won’t come back with a smart-aleck remark? Or make fun of me when I walk away?”
Spencer lowered his head. “I’ve done that, haven’t I?”
“A few times.” Brian raised an eyebrow.
“I really do want to change. Will you help me?”
Brian slapped Spencer’s back. “You bet I will.”
The boys spent the morning cleaning and painting. And talking. Brian was impressed with the questions Spencer was asking, and he did his best to answer them.
“Do you think we can have a men’s Bible study, like the girls have theirs?”
“At school?”
“We can meet on a different day than the girls.”
“I think that’s a great idea,” Brian said. “You could even invite your friends.”
“You think they’d come?”
“I think they’d lick the floor if you asked them to.”
Spencer’s phone rang, and he walked outside to greet the men bringing the new furniture. They were careful to place everything in the center of the room to avoid the wet paint.
“You guys need a couch in here so you can sit and talk
after class.” Spencer looked at the back wall. “I’ll work on that.”
Brian sat in one of the new chairs. “The gang will be so excited when they walk in here on Thursday. They may even bring some more friends just to show off.”
“Do you think I could come?” Spencer sounded almost apologetic.
“Of course. Anytime.” Brian hoped he sounded sincere. The reality was that he hated the thought of Spencer intruding on the one thing that was just his and Natalia’s.
But if this is what you want for her, God, I need to get out of the way and let it happen.
“Natalia works with you too, right?”
Brian tried not to cringe. “She translates. But I think she’d like to start a children’s class, so the ministry is expanding. We’ll definitely need extra help.”
“So you and Natalia . . . ?”
Brian heard the unspoken question. Spencer was asking permission to pursue Natalia. And given this new change in Spencer’s life, Brian guessed Spencer would back off if Brian asked him to.
She’s the girl of my dreams. You can’t have her.
That’s what he wanted to say. But she wasn’t his to claim. And if her actions were any indication, her affections were leaning toward Spencer anyway. “We’re just friends.”
“You sure?”
Brian nodded, not trusting himself to say anything.
Spencer’s phone rang again. His father needed him. Renovations on their new bayside mansion were almost finished. “We might be able to have homecoming there after all.”
“That’s great.” Brian thought of his work on that mansion, tearing everything down so it could be made into something magnificent for other people to enjoy.
Kind of like my relationship with Natalia.
N
atalia laid her head back in the rental car and closed her eyes.
Business meetings were not fun.
She and her father had spent the morning in a conference room with people from several companies and at least three countries. English was the trade language, but when people became very worked up, their native tongues were let loose. Natalia could understand Portuguese fairly well, but she had no clue what the man from Japan was saying. Her father, however, responded to everyone in English, whatever language they spoke in.
“How many languages do you know, Papa?” Natalia forced her eyes open.
“I’m not sure.” He shrugged. “I speak three—English, Spanish, and German. But I understand several. The basics, anyway.”
“When did you learn them?”
“Along the way.” Papa said this as if learning several
languages was a normal part of life. “You know I’ve spent a lot of time in different countries. I always made a point to immerse myself in their languages and cultures. It helps in business.”
That part of business life did sound exciting.
“So you just sat and talked with people?”
“And went to their theaters and concerts, their nightclubs and bars. You learn a lot by listening.”
Why had her father never applied that to his role as father? She would have loved to have him try to learn “Natalia” as she was growing up.
Papa pulled into a parking space in the airport’s parking garage. “So what do you think?”
“I think that’s amazing. You are a wonderful businessman.”
He turned to face her. “What do you think about the business? Ready to begin preparations to take over?”
Natalia had been dreading this conversation. She prayed all night that God would show her what she was supposed to do. Sitting through the meetings that day confirmed that this life was not one she was designed for. “Papa . . .”
His phone rang and he held a finger up to Natalia. For ten minutes, he spoke in German. Natalia didn’t understand most of what was being said. That language did have some similarities to English, so she caught some of the exchange.
I don’t want to spend my life in conference rooms and airplanes and traveling from one country to another. I want roots. I want a family.
Where did that thought come from? A family? She couldn’t have that. Looking at her father, Natalia wondered.
Maybe she could. Was she living in fear instead of in truth? Was God not powerful enough to allow her to succeed where her parents had failed? Marriage and family were established by God. Why should she be afraid of it?
Natalia blinked as the reality of that truth began to sink into her soul, thawing what she had kept frozen for so long. She thought of the Youngers, of Jack and Carol. Marriages could last. They could be healthy.
God gives good gifts.