Hearts Crossing (Woodland) (12 page)

Daveny’s thoughts crashed on a wave of guilt. Now it seemed sneaky to Net search a woman who, it seemed, carried ties to Collin’s family. Still, her gaze strayed to the flat screen; she itched to explore the items on display.

Soon Kiara leaned forward, waving a hand in front of Daveny's eyes.

“You still with me?”

“Sorry. Lost in thought.”

“Obviously. Humm. Happened the minute I mentioned Collin. You guys getting together again any time soon?”

Daveny cleared her throat and shrugged. “I don’t know. He didn’t have much to say the other day.”

“What would you think of me joining your church, Dav? I know it may sound corny and all, but it feels like family. I want to start going to church again.”

Daveny gave her an emphatic nod and relaxed against her chair. “Seriously? I think that'd be great. Come to services on Sunday. They're at ten o'clock. We can sit together if you want.”

“That'd be perfect.” Kiara lifted out of the chair. “For now, I'm headed back to the grindstone.”

When she left, Daveny turned back to her computer, greedily clicking through the search results.

****

Neighbors In The News

Terrance and Claire Pierson of Shelby Township are pleased to announce the engagement of their daughter, Sandy Pierson, to Collin Edwards, son of Benjamin and Elise Edwards of Saint Clair Shores.

Pierson and Edwards, soon to graduate from Oakland University, intend a wedding ceremony late next year at Woodland Church of Christ.

The Internet tidbit, gleaned from an archive of news stories at the Saint Clair Shores Observer, was the fourth item down on the list. Accompanying the blurb? A beautiful picture of a smiling couple—Collin and Sandy—with the entire future ahead.

Daveny stared ahead blindly, drumming her fingertips along the edge of the desk, trying hard to remain neutral. Reasonable.

The effort was in vain. Why did it wrinkle a piece of Daveny's heart to confront the fact that Collin had been engaged before? That the engagement had ended?

Though stunned, her heart ached for him—losing a brother, ending a seriously committed relationship.

Daveny read the news release about Sandy's new position at WWJ then clicked off the Internet.

A chime sounded when the main door to the office opened and someone walked in.

A few seconds later, Kiara ducked her head in the doorway, her eyes sparkling like sunshine on water.

“You have a guest, Dav.”

Puzzling, Daveny stared after Kiara who simply turned away in a smooth maneuver and left.

In the lobby stood Collin Edwards, and the sight of him made Daveny's heart leap.

“Hi there!”

“Hi,” he replied, welcoming her with a smile that warmed her blood. She stepped into his open arms for a hug and pecked his cheek in a lingering way. Breathing in the scent of him was like capturing a beautiful memory and holding it close to heart. When Daveny began to pull back, his mouth found hers and closed in with smooth, warm finesse.

“Sorry for just dropping in.” He seemed uncertain.

Once she caught her breath, Daveny went about reassuring him. “Don't apologize. I'm glad to see you.”

“Do you have a few minutes? Maybe time for a quick walk?”

She checked her watch. It was just after four o'clock and a break sounded great—especially one spent in the company of Collin Edwards. “Absolutely.”

Collin thrust his hands into the pockets of his jeans, looking around. Kiara could be seen just inside her office, diagramming on an easel. Her office, which was right next to Daveny's, along with an open, comfortably appointed seating area for clients, comprised the domicile of Montgomery Landscaping.

“You're sure you don't mind me just showing up?”

To answer, Daveny simply looked into his eyes, took his arm and led the way outside.

Her firm was housed in a single story strip of stylishly turned out brick buildings that framed the east and west sides of Old Woodward in downtown Birmingham. Central to all of Detroit's most robust suburbs, Birmingham featured a bevy of shops to explore, restaurants to sample, and any variety of high-end establishments all within walking distance, places that were perfect to explore during moments like this.

So they strolled along the picturesque street in a companionable silence. Since this visit was Collin's idea, she let him take the lead and didn't push. It turned out she didn’t need to.

“There’s something I wanted to talk to you about, to tell you.”

“OK.”

“The trouble is—it's something I can’t easily bring myself to face off against and confront.”

“Until now?”

“Now I can’t seem to avoid it. I just…I hope…”

It was time to stop talking in circles. Daveny ventured, “Collin, it’s fine to hope, but hope can always use vindication, right? Open up to me. Trust me.”

She placed slight emphasis on the last two words though she had no idea what the trouble might be. In the end, she simply wanted him to grasp the fact that problems or not, she wanted to be present to him. A source of help, and beneath that wish, perhaps even more.

They walked past clusters of people who milled about and window-shopped the boutiques. Collin picked up the pace a bit. It seemed as if he quite literally longed to outrun something. So Daveny touched his arm and stood still. “Let’s sit. And talk.” She lifted her face to the warmth of sunlight and still summer air, sidling him a glance. “I hear an orange smoothie calling.”

Soon they were seated at a white metal bistro table, beneath a green and white striped restaurant awning. They nursed their drinks companionably, but Collin's disquiet seemed to rise.

“I wonder where I can even start.”

The murmured question was a rhetorical, not meant to be answered. Daveny waited, leaning back against the wrought iron chair, letting the day's warmth touch a piece of her body gone chilly with trepidation.

At last he sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Oh, who am I kidding? I know right where to start. The beginning.”

Again, Daveny simply waited and watched.

“Five years ago I was exactly where I wanted to be. I was happy. I was a semester away from graduating college with my teaching degree. I was engaged.” There he paused and looked at her. She didn’t flinch, and the tension in his shoulders and the lines of doubt on his face eased. But Daveny knew what would help even more. She had to tell him.

“Collin, will it make this easier if I tell you I know about the engagement?”

He looked at her for the longest time—studious at first, then with a smile that dawned slowly but with breathtaking impact. The moment stretched. Daveny blushed furiously beneath his intense regard and finally shrugged. “The Internet. God’s little miracle. I wondered about her. About her affect on you, and her reaction to your family.”

The admission came freely once she found her equilibrium.

Collin's smile warmed again, turning into an invitation that slid against her heart, and turned her logic into nothing more than dizzy, sweet longing.

Collin leaned across the small table and Daveny found out that, oh yes, this moment, this vibration and pull, was
well
worth fighting for. His lips touched hers; then he moved in possessively, claiming her mouth with firm, but tender purpose. Perfectly attuned to the give and take of hers, his kiss, poured heat through Daveny—bone melting, pure and lush. Intoxicating in the very best sense of the word.

Extraction required a mutual and supreme act of will, but Collin slowed the exchange and moved carefully away. The troubled expression on his face shook Daveny back to reality. She didn’t understand that reaction at all.

“Daveny, I wish an engagement were the only issue.”

“Then what is? Please trust me, and have faith enough to…”

He cut her off sharply. “That’s the issue. Faith. Hope. Goodness. God and mercy and all the platitudes you hear preached from the pulpit every Sunday.”

“Collin, what
ended
it for you? What
happened
? Tell me.”

“Death happened. Aggravated Manslaughter, or so it’s called in a court of law. Scales of justice. What a joke. What a sick, pathetic joke.”

Collin seemed far removed from her now, lost in a world only he truly saw and felt. All Daveny saw was that whatever circumstance he visited tore him apart.

He told her the story of Lance’s last moments, relived the funeral, tasted the bitterness of anger he turned upon a God he no longer understood nor tolerated. She could feel the dam breaking free around his heart but at the same time witnessed his controlled fury and his pain.

“So you’ve taken the blame and believe that because of your intervention God didn’t protect Lance from what happened—
well-intended as it was
? You’ve decided to simply get out of God’s way and leave Him alone?”

“That sums it up. Yes.”

“Then it seems to me you’re expecting life to be perfect for believers in God. You’re trying to reconcile pure goodness into a world that contains the knowledge of good and evil, Collin. It’s never going to happen.
Faith
has to enter into the equation somewhere along the line.”

Daveny had his attention so she didn’t relent. This was far too important—for both their sakes. “It may seem trite and simplistic to cling to the truth that God is there anyway—that God will never, ever leave us, and in fact will heal us of the pain we feel. If we let Him. It’s about free will, Collin. We have to choose Him. He can’t exist where He isn’t allowed or invited. Let yourself believe again, and miracles happen. I promise you that. It’s guaranteed in God’s word. You may have left Him alone, but He’s never left you alone. If you need intrinsic proof, look at what you’ve done for Woodland. And look at what you’ve done for me.”

“What have I truly done in either instance?”

“Oh, I was hoping you’d ask.” She paused, snaring his full attention. “You’ve helped give new life to a parish in need of tender loving care. You did it by lending time and talent to the renovation project. What you’ve done for me is help recharge my faith. The project invigorated my faith, but you helped me rediscover all over again how unexpected and how absolutely beautiful God’s grace is. Especially when it’s revealed through love.”

In his eyes, Daveny caught a glimpse of his hope and a contradictory fear.

“I can’t even find words to describe the feeling I have when I’m around you, Daveny. I’ve been without it for so long.”

The words, the feeling behind them, were all she had ever dreamed of, but she wasn’t satisfied. Not quite. Daveny knew he was at a crossroads and needed to make his own choices about where to go next.

“I appreciate that more than you’ll ever know, Collin, but you need to come to terms. Your soul needs peace, and I can’t give you that. Only God can. I should get back to work, but take this thought with you: God is
good
.
Always
. Only those who know they have been loved beyond all deserving can begin to understand the possibility of loving others in the same generous way. I want that kind of love, Collin. With a man of exceptional heart and faith. Is that you?”