The Winding Road Home (26 page)

“About what?”

“Come on, Graham. Don't pretend like I'm not.”

“All right. You are so naïve it's frightening. I'm surprised some scuzzy creep hasn't waltzed right into your life and stolen you blind.”

“I don't have that much to steal.”

“It's figurative. I meant your emotional well-being.”

“Oh.” She stared out at the river. “Don't you think I could smell a scuzzy creep?”

“No, I don't. What amazes me is your ability to trust after the way your family treated you.”

“Ancient history. God has been taking care of me since Chelsea was born. Without a husband or a scuzzy creep around, I had to learn to depend directly on Him.”

“What happens when you cry like you did the other night?”

When she didn't reply, he gently pressed her hand and waited. She met the piercing blue gaze. “Why do you ask that?”

“I was wondering. It particularly concerned me for some reason.”

“I imagine Jesus holding me.” She blinked.

“And that works?”

“It did…until that day Chelsea skipped school. I couldn't quite get a handle on my emotions.” It was the first time Graham held her. And then she got a handle on them.

He smiled briefly as if he too remembered. “I cannot imagine dealing with kids.”

“Did you ever want them?”

“No.” A brusque tone underscored the lightning-quick response. He cleared his throat. “How about you? Did you ever want another?”

“Sure. Giving birth, holding that newborn, watching her grow year after year. There is no word to describe it. The benefits obliterate the struggles. But…” She shrugged. “Not by myself again.”

“Maybe if you had others, letting Chelsea go wouldn't be as tough.”

“Oh, it probably wouldn't make a difference. For the first time I'm getting a glimpse of what I put my mother through. I've been so determined that Chels and I would have a different relationship, I didn't think I'd notice this part. We do have a different relationship, but I'm sitting here concerned she's going to grow up today while I'm not at home. I have this irrational fear she'll run away and get pregnant like I did. Which was why I was so crazy the day she skipped school.”

“Then, dear, you definitely need something else to think about. Don't go away. I'll be right back.” He sprang from the picnic table and loped off toward the parking lot.

Adele noted what she had seen before. He moved with the agility of an athlete. There was a subtle physical strength about him that greatly enhanced the sense of safety she always felt emanating from him. She had no doubt that if she were threatened by someone with a weapon, Graham would know just what to do.

Just like he knew what to do when they were worried about Tanner.

Just like he knew what to do about Greg Findley.

Adele hesitated as she connected the pieces of the Graham Logan puzzle. Another naïve reaction? Or self-preservation? If she saw him clearly, would he resemble the man she loved?

Of course he would. A leopard couldn't change his spots. Graham would still be kind and gentle, attuned to her. And the best-looking guy she had ever seen.

Still, the missing pieces begged for attention.

Rand Jennings was more than likely from Baltimore, her
hometown,
not Chicago.

Graham never talked about his work, but he talked of a wide variety of other personal experiences. He had obviously lived in more places than Chicago.

He had sources high in government.

He was overly alert, though he downplayed his physical and mental prowess. The details he noticed, the way his eyes took in the surroundings, his instant memorization of Kate's number, his intimate knowledge of Rockville…

“Adele.” He was standing in front of her, smiling. “You're not looking at the river. Lost in thought again?”

“Mm-hmm. But not about Chelsea.”

He cocked his head to one side, studying her. “Do I want to know about what?”

“Oh, just you. What are you holding behind your back?”

“What about me?” he teased.

“You don't want to know!”

“Was it good stuff?”

“Well,” she drawled out the syllable, “some of it was.”

“Not most of it?”

“No.”

He heaved an exaggerated sigh. “I'll have to try harder.”

“Yes, you will.”

“I have something here that might help.”

She caught a glimpse over his shoulder of a long rolled sheet of paper. “What is it?”

“Let me preface it by saying I found an investor for you.”

Stunned at this statement, she felt her smile fade.

He swung a leg over the bench seat and straddled it, watching her intently. “Your dream has merit, Adele. I knew someone who would agree.” He unrolled the large tube of papers. “He's a seasoned businessman, wealthy, not accustomed to waiting. These are—”

She gasped, struck with the realization that she was looking at blueprints.

“Plans for your complex. If they're not what you have in mind—”

“Graham!” she whispered, quickly deciphering floor plans of an apartment building. “How…? What…? This is incomprehensible!”

“I'm sorry. Let me explain—”

“Not the diagrams! Oh my goodness! There's the coffee shop! And an enclosed walkway connecting it to the theater!”

“Here, underneath.” He rearranged the papers. “This shows the individual units.”

“Oh my!”

“And here.” More shuffling. “That acreage south of town. See the entrance is here, and another here.”

She gasped again.

“Did you picture it this way? It can be changed.”

“Oh, Graham!” She put a hand to her mouth. “Who…?”

“Anonymous.”

She needed to stop gasping. Lowering her hand, she took a deep breath and tried to think rationally. “You said
an
investor. One
person?”

He nodded. “As I said, he's seasoned, he's familiar with such investments. And, he's wealthy.”

“How…how does something like this work?”

“Simple contract. Your attorney is drawing up the papers now. We have an appointment with her on Tuesday. She'll come out to Fox Meadow so you won't have to—”

“You know who my attorney is?”

“I figured someone at the nursing home would know. I asked Gracie.”

A faint warning bell dinged in the back of her mind. He knew more about her than the name of her lawyer. She ignored the thought. “Good heavens! I feel like I just won the lottery. It's unbelievable. Is it unbelievable? I mean, is it too good to be true?”

“No. It's a straight business transaction.”

“I'm not familiar with business transactions.”

“Do you trust your attorney?”

“Yes.” Laura was a friend of Naomi's. Adele had known her for years.

“She'll explain everything to you. I don't have to be present. I won't interfere with your meeting. Bottom line, you make all the decisions. If the investment falls flat, it's not your fault. You don't have to repay a dime.”

“How can Mr. Anonymous sign a contract with me?”

Graham blinked as if surprised at her question. “I have power of attorney. I can sign his name to legal documents.”

“You can sign his checks?”

He smiled. “Naturally. You'll have to receive one, won't you?”

Rand Jennings. “Will he identify himself someday?”

“He may.”

Why? Why would a complete stranger on his deathbed put up—“How much are we talking?” Goodness, the man had already paid for these plans before her.

“Four point two million.”

Her eyes grew wide.
Incomprehensible!

“That includes the land. There's more if it's needed, but we anticipate residents prebuying units, which will offset expenses. See here.” He pulled out one of the bottom sheets. “The first ten could be ready for occupancy by fall. People could move into them while the rest are under construction.”

“Can you tell me…” Concern tightened her throat. “Can you tell me
why?”

“Dear Adele.” He rolled up the blueprints, set them aside, and hopped back onto the tabletop beside her. “Think of it as a gift, like grace from your heavenly Father. Did you understand that in the beginning?”

She shook her head. “It was incomprehensible. Like this.”

“Will you just think about it?”

It began to sink in then, the whole wildly outrageous joy of her dream taking shape. She smiled. That stretched to a grin. She giggled. “Oh, Graham!” She slid her arms around his neck and laughed loudly. “What's to think about?”

“Was that the coolest thing you've ever seen or what?” Kate grasped the hands of Jenna and Jake and whirled the three of them around the airplane in a silly dance, each trying to out-“yahoo!” the others.

Off to one side, Tanner laughed, relishing in a deep sense of satisfaction. The kids were delighted with the plane ride. Though he recognized that, as usual, his first reason for doing something was to please his dad, he also got a kick out of putting those smiles on the little Marnie faces.

And Kate had come. She had risen to the occasion as he suspected she would, embracing the moment with all of her energy. She would give Jesus the credit, of course, but she had been willing in the first place to step out into unknown territory. He admired her for that. Even if the landing terrified her.

“Oh, Tanner!” she cried now. They danced over to him, and, letting go of hands, she and Jenna grabbed his.

He joined their circle and hopped around, wondering at the picture. Wouldn't his dad think them ridiculous? Thirty-year-olds prancing like preschoolers? His dad was probably still shaking his head over Kate, assuming she was his latest girlfriend. Her shiny copper hair would be described as
red
in a derogatory tone; her clogs, baggy pants, and billowing coat as urchinlike.

Tanner let go of hands, grabbed Kate around the waist, and twirled her. She was none of those things his father, so consumed with appearances, might think.

She squealed till he set her down. “Thank you!” She kissed him on the cheek.

He slipped his arms around her back and held her a moment longer than their brief friendly hugs usually lasted, his face against her neck. She smelled clean…fresh…of soap…of innocence.

She pulled back. “Hey! It's time for ice cream, big brother! You promised!”

He wanted to kiss her. Instead he tweaked her nose and went off to finish his postflight duties. It took twice as long as it should have. His mind kept wandering, imagining what it would be like to kiss those shapely lips. In so intimate a touch, would her energy feel like an electric shock?

Eventually he joined the others at his car. They were taking the kids home, right after a stop at the mall for ice cream. He hadn't spent much time with Jake and Jenna. They were likable kids and well behaved.

Although dinnertime wasn't far off, Kate ordered a cone. No surprise. They found a table in the open food court and sat, while the kids carried their cones over to the stage where a magician was performing.

He couldn't help but smile at the sight of Kate's vanilla ice cream mustache.

She caught his eyes on her. “What?”

“Is this the same woman who wrote that scathing editorial?”

She laughed. “I think so. Oh, Tanner!”

He had lost count how many times she had said that since they landed. “You don't have to thank me again.”

“But I do! That was the most magnificent thing. All the fields and trees and sky and the river and creeks. Can we do it again when things are in bloom?”

He didn't remind her that by then she would be gone. “Anytime.”

“Is it horribly expensive?”

“No. I get a significant discount, and we don't have to pay a pilot.”

“But ‘expensive' is a relative term.”

“True. Don't worry about it.”

“What you did today was magnificent too.”

“What'd I do?”

“You forgave your dad.”

He frowned. “How's that?”

“He didn't show up yesterday, inflicting even more emotional damage on you.”

He flinched. “Do you ever consider mincing your words?”

She lowered the cone. “I'm sorry.”

“I'm only kidding.”

She didn't look convinced.

“Partly.”

“Anyway, in spite of that, you did something for him that cost you a lot of time and energy. You had to swallow your pride to do what you did today.”

He shrugged. “I love flying.”

“That's beside the point. Don't shrug it off, Tanner. What you did was an act of forgiveness.” Her green eyes filled. “It was a really big deal.”

He glanced away before his own eyes resembled hers. “Not as big a deal as what you did.”

“Oh, Tanner!” There it was again, that ecstatic, bubbling tone.

He looked at the face lit up like a Christmas tree. “Don't thank me again. All I did was invite you. You came, you got on board, you opened your eyes.”

“None of it possible without your encouragement. God is so amazing. You knew He wouldn't let me down, but I didn't want to take Him at His word. Not when it came to flying in small planes!”

“Kate, what you did spoke volumes to me about God. More than anything I've heard in church so far.”

She lowered the ice cream cone again. The white mustache was still there.

He picked up the napkin lying on the table in front of her and dabbed away the ice cream. If faith were contagious like a cold, he would have kissed away the creamy line right there in front of everyone. Maybe with her it was contagious. Maybe that electrical shock of energy would be infused with the spirituality she wore so eloquently.

“Tanner.” She pushed aside his hand. “If that spoke volumes, then you'll keep up your end of the bargain?”

“I don't know. It would appear that I simply cannot take you out in public. However, if you promise not to spill, I'll take you to Antonio's.”

“Dinner is not what I meant.”

He knew what she meant and dropped his joking tone. “A deal is a deal. But let's do dinner first. For some reason I don't want to get down on my knees in the middle of the mall.”

Her eyes bore into his as if she wanted to read his mind.

“I promise, Kate. I promise I will.”

Kate fidgeted in Tanner's car. And it wasn't only because she couldn't stop thinking about Tanner's hands on her waist, effortlessly lifting her off the ground and twirling her around. Or about her impulsive kiss on his scratchy, solid cheek. Or about his face pressed against her neck. Or about his hand patting a napkin at her mouth.

Dusk was falling, and they sat in a driveway in an old established neighborhood of Rockville. Large lawns and hedges separated homes. She had seen the hidden backyards from River Parkway below. They melded into the edges of bluffs, no doubt providing spectacular views of the river.

The house before them was a white, three-story colonial. Enormous oak trees rose around it like an elegant canopy even in their early spring barrenness.

Tanner turned to her. “So this is where I grew up. Would you like to see the inside? No one's home. Mom's still in Arizona.”

“Uh, no thanks. Some other time.”

They had just completed a tour of Sidney and Marnie's house, a newer sprawling brick affair with an indoor swimming pool. The plan to simply drop the kids at the door was foiled by Marnie's friendly invitation to a cup of tea. It would have felt rude to turn her down.

Kate thought her imagination was pretty good, but the two homes owned by Tanner's father went far beyond anything she had anticipated. They solidified her notion that Tanner's background would be impossible to relate to hers.

He spoke again. “He makes an obscene amount of money.”

Obviously.
“Hey, do you mind if we stop at my parents' house before dinner?”

“Not at all. I'd love to.” He sounded relieved and quickly shifted into reverse.

They rode in companionable silence to yet another section of town. Kate felt quieted after the wild exuberance of the afternoon flight. It wasn't only the fact that she had actually flown in the small plane that fueled her sense of silent awe. It was most of all that Tanner had chosen an act of forgiveness toward his dad…that he saw God's faithfulness in her climbing into the plane…that he promised to get down on his knees.
Hallelujah.

He interrupted her thoughts. “I made reservations for seven.”

“Great. That gives me plenty of time.”

“For what?”

“Changing clothes.”

He glanced over at her. “Why would you do that?”

Because her mother would have a fit if she knew she wore baggy khaki slacks and an oversized sweater to Antonio's. “Antonio's is…” She shrugged. “Upscale.”

“Since when would anything affect what you wear?”

“Since I saw the two houses that belong to your family.”

“I'm wearing blue jeans.”

And a soft black sweater over a white collared shirt, a combination that emphasized his dark good looks. “Tanner, you look presentable in anything.”

“So do you.”

She bit her lip, wishing he hadn't said that. “I don't need to hear empty flattery. I'm sure you know that by now.”

“It wasn't and I do know that. You have a rare, colorful, individualistic look about you. It doesn't matter what you wear.”

“You're pretty good at dishing out compliments.”

“Kate, give me a break. Why won't you accept what I say at face value? Is it because my dad has money?”

She squirmed, uncomfortable as much with her tone as with his probing. “Partly.”

“Partly. What's the other part?”

“Well, good grief, Carlucci, women refer to you as Adonis.”

He burst out laughing. “What do my looks and my dad's money—two things I can hardly take any credit for—what do they have to do with you not accepting what I say? What? They're proof I'm shallow and insincere and a prig?”

Put that way… “No. I just don't want to embarrass you at Antonio's. Even Beth makes me change clothes sometimes before she'll go out with me.”

He laughed again. “Trust me. You don't have to on my account.”

“But if you don't mind waiting, I think I'll change. My brother says I clean up pretty good.”

He smiled at her. “I'm sure you do, Kate Kilpatrick. I'm sure you do.”

Tanner watched Kate walk down the staircase, well aware of her dad standing nearby. He made an effort not to gawk as her legs came into view.

Kate had legs. Slender calves in black hose, small feet in black flats.

She had a feminine shape, evident now in a knee-length black knit dress.

She had normal hair… No, not normal. It was a rich, beautiful, unusual color and hung in soft waves just above her shoulders.

Eyeshadow enhanced her pretty eyes and a glossy hint of color emphasized those lips—

“Tanner! We're running late!” She jumped down the last two steps. “Sara insisted on trying to curl my hair. Ready?”

Good. She hadn't lost her energetic quirkiness. He nodded.

Her mother trailed behind her, carrying a plastic grocery bag. “Katelyn, wear my black coat. Dan, get it out of the closet.”

“Mom,” she protested.

“You'll ruin the effect wearing your dad's old raincoat.”

Dan held a long wool coat open for his daughter. “Thanks, Dad. Let me have my clothes.” She took the bag from her mom and they exchanged a hug. “Bye. Bye, Dad. Tanner, will you bring along my favorite raincoat there?” She pointed to the coat draped over a chair. “Thanks.”

Tanner waved his goodbyes to her parents and followed Kate out to his car…still speechless.

The inner beauty of Kate Kilpatrick had just leaped into a different realm, fanning the flame that already burned steadily within him. It didn't need any fanning. What was she trying to do? Break his heart?

He reached around her before she had a chance to open the car door herself.

“Tanner, we don't have time for Galahad!”

He took the plastic bag from her and put a hand under her elbow as she stepped up onto the running board. “On the contrary, Guinevere, we have all the time in the world.”

She sat down, complaining, “But I've never eaten at Antonio's! What if they give our table away?”

“They won't.” He shut her door, opened the back one, and laid her bag and coat on the seat.

“How do you know they won't?”