His Holiday Family (13 page)

“When the power came back on, we had several electrical-caused fires. It's bound to happen with all the damage.”

“We take for granted electricity until we lose it. So much of what we use is run by electricity and without it, we become lost.”

“One good thing was the hurricane was late in the season and the temperature wasn't as unbearable as it can get in the summer.”

“Or cold like in Denver, even in November.”

Gideon slowed down then made a right turn. Kathleen tried to figure out by the direction he drove where he was taking her, but she wasn't as familiar with Hope as she had been growing up and with the hurricane, detours were necessary in some places. Sections of the road along the coast were still closed off because of extensive damage to the pavement.

When he stopped, he opened the door and said, “Stay right there. Don't take off the blindfold. I'm coming around to lead you to my surprise.”

She was tempted to peek but then decided to give in to what Gideon was doing. He'd gone to some trouble to do this, and she didn't want to disappoint him. He'd done a lot for her family. Jared and Kip were constantly making excuses to go down and see Gideon. She'd even
found herself trying to come up with one, especially since the day at Broussard Park. Seeing Gideon playing basketball with her sons made her realize how much anger she still had toward Derek. It should have been him, but he'd chosen a destructive path. He'd wanted possessions over his family.

When Gideon opened her door, he clasped her arm and assisted her out of the Jeep. A light breeze blew, carrying the scent of the sea. Only three weeks ago that same water had raged against Hope. The shrieks of the gulls echoed through the air, and the noise of waves washing onto shore soothed her even more. She loved that sound.

As he led her toward his surprise, she asked, “Can I take off the blindfold now? I know we're on a pier.”

“But where is the pier?”

“On the Gulf. Not too far from Mom's. It didn't take us long to get here.”

“Hope isn't a huge town and traffic was light.” Finally, he came to a halt and reached behind her to untie her blindfold.

When the cloth fell away, she faced a twenty-foot sloop, bobbing on the water. “Is this yours?”

He shook his head. “It's Zane's. I learned how to sail when I came here. Zane lets me borrow it when I want to go out on the sea and be truly alone.”

“How did it survive the hurricane?”

“Zane took it out of the water.”

“Do you sail alone often?”

“I get the hankering about once a month.” He hopped down onto the sloop and held his hand out to help her. “My trip is well overdue.”

“But if I go, you won't be alone.” Stepping down
onto the craft, she came up against him as the boat rocked.

He steadied her. “I know, but I thought you could use this time away. I love getting out on the sea, listening to the waves lap against the hull, feeling the sun on my face and the salty breeze powering the sloop to parts unknown. No agenda. Just sailing.”

“You've sold me on it. Let's go.” She settled herself on the sailboat. “But I've got to warn you, although I grew up on the Gulf, I never learned to sail. I went sailing with friends, but never took lessons. Always too busy doing other things.”

“No worries. I've done this many times. This is my gift to you. Enjoy the sun and sea, and don't think about what has to be done when we get back. Okay?”

She smiled as he untied the sloop from the dock. “I like that.”

He steered the sloop away from the pier and headed out into the Gulf. “Are you still trusting me?”

“Yeah,” she replied slowly, wondering what he was up to.

“I have a destination in mind.”

“And you're going to tell me?”

“Nope. You'll figure it out soon enough.” He adjusted the mainsail. “I'm curious. What kept you so busy while you were growing up here that you couldn't learn to sail?”

“Two things—dance and cheerleading.”

“Neither of which I would have guessed.”

“What do you think I did in high school?”

“National Honor Society, Science Club.”

“Why?”

“Your mom told me you were valedictorian.”

“What else has my mother told you?” She was
going to have a word with her mom when she got back home. Every opportunity she got she invited Gideon to come eat with them. On several occasions Kathleen had caught her mother and Gideon laughing over something, but the second she came into the room they would go quiet.

“Just that.”

“I did those, too, but my passion was dance.”

“Which kind?”

“Ballet.”

“Like Swan Lake and the Nutcracker?”

She nodded. “Have you been to a ballet?”

“No, there isn't much opportunity around here.”

“True. What did you do in high school?”

“I tried to stay out of trouble.”

“No wonder you and Zane are friends. That about describes him.”

“I was an angry teen until my last foster parents dragged me to church. At first I sat in the pew determined not to hear anything the pastor was saying.” He hitched up one corner of his mouth. “That didn't last long. Once I began listening I realized all that anger at the world was only hurting me. Yeah, I got a raw deal with the death of my parents, but that didn't have to define who I was. So the spring of my junior year, I went out for football.”

“You were a jock. That doesn't surprise me.”

“Football taught me the importance of being on a team. From there when I graduated from high school, I decided to do something to help others not go through what I did as a child.”

“So you became a firefighter.”

“It was a kind of therapy for me. I faced what I had feared for years and came out on top.”

Had he really? By his own words he kept people at a distance—just like her—afraid to risk getting hurt again.

“What made you become a nurse?”

“Actually, I wanted to be a doctor, but I met Derek and not long after we got married, I became pregnant. My plans changed.”

“Why?”

“It didn't seem to fit our future. I loved being a mother and wanted more children. The cost was too much to do it all so I remained a nurse and gave up my dream of being a doctor. I didn't work much though after Jared came along. Derek wanted me to stay home. He never liked the idea of me working.” And she had agreed because she had enjoyed being a full-time mommy, but once her sons started school she'd wanted to go back to work. She and Derek had fought a lot over that. In the end it was easier to volunteer her time than disrupt her family.

“It's not too late.”

“Yes, it is. I have a debt to pay off. There's no way I could afford med school.”

“Where there is a dream, there is a way.”

“Sometimes dreams have to change. Reality has a way of doing that.” She shielded her eyes to look out over the glistening water, so tranquil now.

“True. I know that better than some. The day my parents were killed changed my dreams and my reality.”

“What was your dream?”

“At eight I wanted to be a firefighter or police officer.”

“Then you're living your dream.”

“Not exactly. I wanted to grow up to be just like my
dad. He was a great father. He wasn't a firefighter, but he was a police officer. My dad would have been so disappointed in me as a teen. I rebelled every chance I got.”

With the sails completely up and catching the wind, the boat glided over the smooth water. The shoreline faded the farther out they went. Kathleen relished the beautiful day—the peace, the sense that all was right with the world, that a hurricane hadn't plowed through her hometown.

But on the sloop emotions churned. The past lay exposed between Kathleen and Gideon. She decided to share more of hers. “The disappointment I faced was from my husband. I could never do anything right. I'd made a commitment to him and was determined to make our marriage work, but it was getting so hard. My self-confidence felt attacked from all sides. I questioned everything I did. Then he died and I learned the extent of his betrayal. He kept so many secrets, but right after his funeral they began to come out. By the time the will was read, I realized there was no money, and I most likely would lose the house that meant so much to Derek.”

“I'm sorry, Kathleen. That couldn't have been easy.”

“The day the bank foreclosed was one of the lowest in my life. I felt a complete failure. My sons were so upset. Their father's death totally changed their lives, and they were groping for stability. That's why I finally decided to come home. That's what Hope has always meant to me.” She gestured toward the distant strip of shoreline. “We're here for seven weeks and a hurricane strikes, totally disrupting Hope. Even moving here hasn't been the stability that Jared and Kip need.”

“Maybe you're looking for the wrong kind of stability.”

Squinting, she stared at Gideon. “What do you mean?”

“Objects and places don't really offer true stability. They are temporary as we in Hope have found out lately. It's something that happens inside you, a sense of yourself, a peace with yourself.” He laughed, little humor in the sound. “Of course, it took Pastor Michael to show me that true stability comes from faith.”

Instead of turning away from her faith because of her struggles, should she have turned toward the Lord? Was Gideon right? She did know firsthand how possessions were fleeting. First in Denver and now in Hope, much of what she owned had been taken from her and her sons.

“We're almost to our destination.”

Kathleen shifted forward and gazed across the calm sea to an island. She hadn't been paying attention to where they were going, only where they had come from. Much like her life of late. “Which island is this?”

“Dog Island. Zane is one of the owners, and he asked me to check out what the hurricane has done to the place. I told him I would be glad to. He has been turning this island into a refuge for certain species of animals like the different types of eagles. There's a cabin in the heart of the island. He didn't know if it made it or not. He hasn't had time to come out here.”

“It sounds like I'm not the only one working too much.”

“There is so much to be done rebuilding Hope, and that is what his company does the best. I'm glad he took on Miss Alice's house for cost of supplies. I've heard he's been doing that a lot.” Gideon guided the sailboat
toward the center of the island to what remained of a pier, a couple of pilings sticking up out of the water.

“The dock is gone.”

“Yeah, I was afraid it would be. We can bring this sloop in close. You might roll up your pants and take off your shoes. We'll wade into shore. It shouldn't be too deep.”

“Speak for yourself. You're over six feet. I'm only five-two.”

“Don't worry. I'll take care of you.”

A few minutes later, after Gideon had tied the boat up to the piling nearest shore and thrown an anchor overboard to keep the craft in place, he hopped into the water, holding their shoes and a towel in a bag. “Here, take this.” He gave her their belongings. “I'm carrying you to the beach.”

She glanced at the water lapping against the bottom of his jean shorts and thought of that foot difference in their heights. “Won't it be hard with your cast?”

“I'll manage.” His grin rivaled the sun.

She eased into his arms, conscious of his cast on the left one. He nestled her against him, with the bag clutched to her chest, then waded toward shore but didn't stop until he was up the rise of the beach where the sand was firmer. Then he set her down near a log from an uprooted tree, probably during the hurricane.

“We should wear our shoes. No telling what is hidden in the sand or ground on the island.” He sat on the log, leaving her enough room to do the same.

She did, then took her footwear from the bag and passed it to Gideon who used the towel to dry off his wet feet before putting on his deck shoes. After tying her tennis shoes, she glanced up at the area around her.
It looked a lot like the beach area in Hope. “I'm not sure this place fared very well.”

“At least the island looks like it's intact. Remember the hurricane that split Ship Island into two parts?”

She nodded. “But Fort Massachusetts remained.”

“Ready? We'll walk to the cabin before I show you the other side. The waves are a lot bigger on that side. The boys would enjoy swimming here in the summer.”

“So you've come out here before. How many times?”

“A few times a year. Sometimes by myself, sometimes there is a group of us to make improvements.” He rose, took her hand and tugged her to her feet. “We can't stay too long. I'm just checking to see what will need to be done later.”

“I didn't know you and Zane were such good friends.”

“We both want to preserve the Barrier Islands and the habitat on them. Most are a part of the park system. This is one that isn't. He didn't want to see it fall into the wrong hands so he got a group together to buy it.”

“Zane certainly has changed. Back in high school my best friend's cousin had a crush on him and he hurt her. They dated for a while then he just stopped all of a sudden. He left that summer after she graduated from high school. She didn't know where he went or why. I can still remember listening to her cry in her bedroom.”

“People change from when they were teenagers. I certainly have. If I had kept up doing the things I was doing, I would probably be dead by now. I took chances I should never have taken.”

She'd changed, too, from having a direction to not having one. From having a dream to living one day at a time with no purpose but to keep her family together, even if it meant losing herself in the process.