Taxi Delivery (10 page)

            “What are you saying?” she spoke loudly so he could hear her over Ellison, who was starting to work up a cry.

            “I’m saying I love you, Sadie.  I think I have since I first saw you.  I just didn’t know it because I’ve never felt it before.  Every day that I spend with you is a day well spent.  I can’t imagine anything better.”

            Sadie looked into his eyes.  He was serious.  She bounced her daughter in her arms.  This was a serious conversation and she needed to be able to concentrate.  She couldn’t do that when her baby was crying.

            “Here, I’ll take her,” Jed said, and Sadie handed her over.  Ellison quieted right down, as usual.

            “Jed,” Sadie said softly, “it’s not just me.  I have Ellison.”

            Jed looked at her, almost hurt.  “Of course.  I know that.  I love her just as much,” he said, gazing down at the little bundle in her arms.  “I have since I first laid eyes on her in the back of that cab.”

            Jed could no longer wait for Sadie’s answer.  He thought she was trying to tell him the same thing and he wanted to prove to her that he was in love and wanted no one else.  He leaned over with the quiet Ellison in his arms and kissed her.

            Her soft lips met his and Jed’s heart drummed in his chest.  He had never felt a sensation like it.  He felt complete and as if he had never done anything right before in his life.  The second Sadie pulled back, however, Jed felt as if something were terribly wrong.  Sadie reached out her arms for her daughter, took her, and quickly left the room without another word.

            Jed agonized over what had gone wrong with Sadie.  He had told her he loved her.  He had expressed his love for her daughter.  He wanted them to be a family.  He didn’t know what she was thinking.  He thought she was indicating that she had feelings for him too, but something had obviously gone very wrong.  He wasn’t sure what he could do to fix it and he didn’t know how to act around her.  He avoided going back to Brenda’s completely the following day, but the day after that, he could no longer stay away.  Something in his heart simply ached when he didn’t have Ellison nearby.  He imagined it was what a father felt like when separated from his daughter.  He knew Ellison wasn’t his biological child, but he couldn’t have cared less.  He wanted her in his life and that was all there was to it.  If only he could convince Sadie of that fact.

            When he arrived at Brenda’s house late in the afternoon, Sadie wasn’t there.  “She got the job on the TV show,” Brenda said excitedly.  “She’s thrilled to be working as a producer and she started today.”

            “What about Ellison?” Jed asked.

            Brenda shrugged.  “I offered to watch her for a while until she gets things figured out but she took her along.”

            Jed felt ice run through his veins.  “Did she take the stroller?” he asked.

            Brenda nodded.  “And the car seat.  She didn’t know what the best way to transport herself to and from work would be so she took both.”

            Jed turned away from Brenda and rushed up to the room that had housed Sadie and Ellison for the past week.  He didn’t see any evidence that they had ever been there.  There were no little onesies and none of Sadie’s clothing either.  She was gone.

            Jed didn’t tell Brenda what he thought or that there were no items in the bedroom any longer.  He didn’t want to concern her and it was still possible that Sadie would return that evening after work.  He felt certain that Brenda’s friend would have contacted her had Sadie not shown up for her first day on the job.  But none of that settled his heart.  He felt as if it were breaking in two.  He was certain he couldn’t lose them.

           
Lord,
he prayed,
you brought Sadie and I together for a reason.  I feel like you want us to be together for good.  Please help me to do your will and follow your path.  If a relationship with Sadie isn’t what you want for me, take that desire from my heart.

           
Jed left Brenda’s house for a shift with the cab company, his heart heavy with worry and his mind full of possibilities.  Sadie could be anywhere.  She might be at work.  Or she might be on a train hurtling as far away from the city as possible, much as she had when things got hairy in LA between her and Elias.

            Jed felt guilty that she might have felt the need to run from him.  He was certainly no Elias.  He hadn’t told her to get rid of Ellison.  In fact, quite the contrary.  He told her he wanted them both in his life and that he loved them more than he thought possible.  Maybe that was what scared her.  They knew the truth about Elias now, but they still hadn’t learned anything about Sadie’s family.  Maybe there was more damage in her past that he didn’t yet know about.

            Jed drove around the city, picking up fares here and there where he could.  Every time, he looked in the rearview mirror and pictured Sadie’s eyes looking back at him.  His hands held the steering wheel, but his arms felt empty without Ellison.

            Towards the end of his shift, he stopped near a bus stop and waited for passengers to need a cab to get to their exact destination.  It was one of his favorite places to pick up fares.  People didn’t usually need to go far and they were generally grateful for the ride.

            Jed was lost in his own thoughts when he heard the back door of the cab open and close.  “Where to?” he asked, staring straight ahead, unable to look behind him and feel the pain of not seeing Sadie in the mirror again.

            “I love you too,” the voice replied and Jed spun around in his seat with surprise.

            “Sadie?” he said, as if he didn’t really believe what he was seeing, much less what he had just heard.

            “I’m sorry,” she said, tears brimming in her eyes.  “When you poured your heart out to me, I didn’t know what to say.  It took me a little time to understand it all and feel like I deserved someone like you.”

            “You deserve nothing but the best in life, Sadie,” Jed said, turning farther around in the seat so he could grasp her hand in his own.

            “I made some serious mistakes,” she said.  “But I had a long talk about it with God on the way in to work this morning.  You know what I realized?  God loves me.  Just the way I am.  Mistakes and all.  If God will accept me, it makes sense that you can too.  Because if there’s one thing I know about you, Jed Leida, it’s that you have God on  your side.”

            “Is there any chance you got into my cab by mistake this time?” Jed asked with a smile.

            “No, I kind of tracked you down,” Sadie said, returning his smile.  “And I don’t think it was a mistake last time either.”  She opened the back door and climbed out, nodding her head at him to do the same.  Jed climbed out onto the sidewalk and took her in his arms.  This time, she stood on her toes and kissed him first.  She melted into his arms, feeling as if she belonged exactly where she was.

            “Wait,” Jed said as he pulled back with alarm.  “Where’s Ellison?”  Though he knew Sadie was the one for him, his arms didn’t feel complete without her in them.

            “The station has a daycare center.  I asked if they could watch her for a little while longer today while I ran an errand.”

            “I was your errand?”

            “An important one.  The second most important cab ride I’ve ever taken.”

            Since Jed wanted to be an adoption lawyer, he had no problems finding a lawyer to help him with his own adoption…of Sadie’s daughter Ellison.  Sadie and Jed decided to write an official, private letter to Elias, giving him a chance to claim paternity.  When he did not answer, they took it to mean that he really wanted no part in his daughter’s life.  Since he was not listed on the birth certificate, he didn’t have to give up his rights in the court of law.  There would be no hub bub surrounding Elias’ daughter and all involved were glad for that.

            When they got married just six short months later, they drove away from the church in a cab with Jed behind the wheel and Sadie in the back alongside Ellison.  It was how their relationship had started and it was something they never wanted to forget.  Jed was no longer a cab driver by trade, but he knew his time in the profession would be one for which he would be forever grateful.  It was the job that God had used to lead him to his family…Sadie and Ellison.

            Jed passed the bar on his first try and began a small law practice specializing in adoption law, wills, and a few other areas.  Sadie enjoyed her job at the TV show as a producer and went on to win awards for the shows she organized.  As Jed’s law practice took off, she worked on a more part time level so she could spend as much time as possible with Ellison and their new baby, a son they named Brendel after Jed’s cousin who had played such an important part in the beginning of their life together.

            Sadie and Jed shared a bond beyond words.  Not only did they have a joined life and plenty of wild experiences in their past, but they also placed God at the center of their marriage and their life together, a piece both agreed was the most important part of their success.

            It is hard to say what will happen to the people that pass in and out of life.  A simple cab driver can be just a driver, or he can be the love of one’s life.  A woman on the street waiting for a ride could become a passenger, or something much deeper.  In the end, you never know who you will meet or where.