Texas Weddings 3 & 4 (17 page)

Or was it his direction?

eighteen

Shauna knocked on the door of the unfamiliar house. Even
from here, she could hear the sounds of voices raised in song coming from
inside.
A Christmas carol.
She strained to listen. “O
Holy Night.” Apparently, no one heard her knocking, so she rang the bell, not
just once, but twice.

Finally, Kent’s mother answered the door. Her face lit up
immediately, and she took Shauna by the hand at once.

“Shauna! How wonderful to see you again. Charity will be
tickled pink.” Mrs. Dougherty all but pulled Shauna into the living room. “Were
you waiting long? We’ve been in here, singing our hearts out, getting ready for
the Christmas program at church. Couldn’t hear a thing.”

Shauna pulled her hands from her jacket pockets and rubbed
them together. “Not very long.”

“You poor thing. I can tell you’re shivering,” Mrs.
Dougherty shook her head. “Shame on me. Well, as soon as I make introductions,
I’ll get you a cup of coffee. It’s brewing now. Sound good?”

“
Mmm
.
Yes.” Shauna looked around the beautiful living room, amazed at the family photos
on every wall.

“My mother has turned this place into a shrine.” A beautiful
young woman with auburn hair rose from the piano bench and approached her.
“We’ve asked her to stop taking pictures, but she’s addicted to the camera.”

“I love my family,” Mrs. Dougherty said with a pout.
“Nothing wrong with that.”

“Nothing a twelve-step program wouldn’t
take care of, anyway.”
The young
woman laughed, and Shauna couldn’t help but join her.

“Where are my manners?” Shauna’s grandmother exclaimed. “I
need to make introductions. Shauna, this is my daughter, Jessica Phillips.”

The lovely young woman extended her hand and Shauna shook
it. “Nice to meet you.”

“This is my husband, Colin.” With a broad smile, Jessica
gestured to the tall, dark-haired man still seated on the piano bench.

Colin stood and shook her hand, then sat in the large
wing-backed chair to her right.

Mrs. Dougherty’s face lit up as she said, “Jessica and Colin
sing with the Dallas Metropolitan Opera. You should hear them; they’re amazing.
In fact, they’re singing together in the Christmas Eve candlelight service at
church. You’re going to be there, aren’t you?”

“Well,
I.
. .I hadn’t thought about
it.”

“You should come. I’m sure you’ll love it. You just won’t
believe how wonderful they are.”

“Mom,” Jessica said
with a look of consternation. “You don’t need to give us such a glowing
introduction. I’m sure that’s not why Shauna came, to hear about us.” She
smiled broadly. “So, why did you come? To see my brother?” Jessica’s eyes
twinkled.

Shauna couldn’t help
but stammer. “Well, I—
I.
. .not exactly. I came
to see Charity.”

“Sugar and cream in your coffee?” Laura Dougherty called out
as she headed toward the kitchen.

“Yes, please.”

“
So.
. .” Jessica took her by the
hand, “you’re this teacher we’ve heard so much about. Charity talks about you
all the time. Every time my brother calls, she gets on the phone and goes on
and on about her school, her teacher, her friends.”

Shauna nodded, her embarrassment almost getting the better
of her. She had to wonder what sort of things the child might have said about
her. “I’m sure she loves the school.”

“What’s not to love?
And you—well, Kent has told me all about you.” Jessica ushered her to the
sofa and gestured for her to sit. “But he didn’t tell me how pretty you
were—just that you were awesome with kids and had a degree in early
childhood education—those sorts of things.”

“
He.
. .he told you that?”

“And more, but he’d
probably die if he found out I told you.” Jessica put her finger to her lips.
“So maybe we’d better just stop there.” She paused a moment then plunged
forward. “But between you and me, we’re all so excited to hear that he’s
actually going out there and meeting people. The fact that you two went on a
couple of
dates.
. .”

Shauna felt her cheeks
flush. Colin cleared his throat loudly from across the room, and Jessica took
the hint.

“I’m sorry.” Freckles
lit her face as she whispered. “Not another word about all that. But after all
Kent has been through, I’m just so happy to
think.
.
.” Jessica’s words faded away as Colin gave her an imploring look.

Shauna looked around
the room, curious about Charity’s whereabouts. “I was hoping to see Charity,”
she said. “How’s she feeling?”

“I think she’s a
little better this afternoon,” Jessica said. “And, if you can believe it, she’s
been napping. Don’t have a clue how she slept through all the noise, but then
again, she’s a Chapman. We’re pretty good at sleeping through anything.”

At that very moment,
Charity popped her head around the corner. “Miss Shauna!” She raced to the sofa
and jumped in Shauna’s arms.

Shauna pulled her
close and let the little girl wrap her in a warm embrace. “How are you
feeling?”

“Itchy.” Charity
pulled up the arm of her flannel pajamas and showed off her spots, which were
considerably larger and crustier than before.

Laura Dougherty
entered the room with a cup of coffee in her hand. “No scratching now.” She set
the cup on the coffee table in front of Shauna. “She’s been rubbing at those
spots all day long. I’ve covered them in calamine lotion—even gave her an
oatmeal bath just before. But nothing seems to alleviate the itching. She just
scratches like mad.”

Charity hid her face
in Shauna’s
shirt-sleeve
. “I good girl.”

“Sure you are.”
Jessica chuckled then shook her head. “She’s something else, isn’t she?”

“Yes.” Shauna ran her
fingers through Charity’s hair, and the little girl relaxed in her arms. “She’s
something else.” As she looked at the little doll in her snowman pajamas with
loops of blond curls hanging in her eyes, Shauna recognized something anew.
This is a beautiful child. In fact, she’s
absolutely gorgeous.

“Tell teacher what you
want for Christmas, honey,” Laura Dougherty said.

“I want a puppy!”

“You do?”

“It’s all she talks
about,” Jessica said. “Puppy, puppy, puppy.”

“What kind of puppy?”
Shauna asked, gazing into the youngster’s green eyes, which were lit with
excitement.

“A pink puppy!”

“Pink?”

“I think she means
red,” Laura added quickly. “She always gets red and pink mixed up. But at any
rate, she fell in love with a red dachshund we saw at the pet store last week.”

“I can’t wait to tell
Kent.” Jessica said. “Can’t you see the look on his face now?” She laughed.

Shauna tried to imagine
the look on Kent’s face. What in the world would he do with a puppy? He could
barely handle Charity. On the other hand, a puppy might be good for them both.

“I’ll tell you
what.
. .” Shauna took Charity’s hands and gave them a
little squeeze. “I have a wonderful book about puppies at my house. I’ll bring
it to you so you can read it with your grandma. How about that?”

“You will?” Charity’s
eyes seemed to dance with joy.

“I will. But you have
to promise something first.”

“I promise! I
promise!” Charity bounced up and down in her lap.

“You have to promise
not to scratch your itchy spots.” Shauna tried to muster up a serious face.

Charity sighed and
didn’t say anything for a moment. Finally, she gave a slow nod. “Okay. I no
scratch.”

“Good girl.” Shauna
held her close. “Good girl.” And for the first time ever, Shauna contemplated
the fact that Charity could very well turn out to be a good girl.

***

Kent tapped his fingertips against the steering wheel as he
sat in a sea of traffic on I-45 North. A cheerful holiday tune played on the
radio, but he snapped it off, too concerned to be jolly at the moment.

For over an hour, he
had tried to reach his mother, but had been unsuccessful. Her house phone must
be off the hook. Six times he dialed the number. Six times he had received a
busy signal. Frustrated, he had even tried his mother’s cell phone, only to get
the answering machine.

Something must have
happened to Charity. She hadn’t felt well for the past couple days since her
chicken pox diagnosis but had struggled through a particularly difficult time
of it last night. Her temperature had spiked, and she spent all night tossing
and turning.

“Mom probably took her
back to the doctor,” he reasoned aloud. Or worse.
Maybe a
trip to the emergency room.
Maybe that’s why her cell phone wasn’t
picking up. Maybe they were at the hospital now.

His mind immediately
shifted back to that night—that awful night—when Faith never made
it home.
The call to come to the emergency room.
The
rushed drive there, not knowing what would await him once he arrived.
Their last moments together as she clung to life.
The fear that gripped his heart as she slipped away.
The realization that he would be left alone to raise a daughter who
needed a mother.

The anger at a God who would allow all
of that to happen.

I can’t go
through that again. I can’t.
Though
healing had eventually come, it had come with much wrestling and agonizing. How
could he possibly make it through that sort of storm again?

Kent clutched the steering wheel a little tighter and
prayed, “Lord, please protect Charity. And heal her, Father. Please.” His heart
twisted then released as the traffic cleared a bit. He quickly exited the
freeway and scooted along the feeder road until he reached the turn-off for his
mother’s neighborhood.

He pulled up to the
front of the house and gasped as he noticed the white Saturn in the driveway.
Leaping from the car, he sprinted toward the front door. Kent stopped short
when he heard singing coming from inside.
A Christmas song.
Someone played the piano with great gusto.
Jessica.
She and Colin must be here. They’ll know where Mom is.

He opened the front
door and stepped inside, completely unprepared for the scene inside the house.
His sister sat at the piano, playing with fervor. Colin stood at her side,
singing. His voice boomed across the place as if a microphone had been turned
on. His mother sat in the recliner, merrily chiming in.

And
Charity.
. .

Charity sat on Shauna
Alexander’s lap on the sofa.

Kent didn’t know
whether to cry from sheer relief or chew them all out for not answering the
phone. The music came to a grinding halt as soon as everyone realized he had
joined
them
.

“Kent!” His sister
stood and gave him a warm embrace. “It’s good to see you again.” She then
whispered in his ear, “Why didn’t you tell us how pretty she was?”

Kent felt his cheeks
flush. “I’m so glad you made it safely.” He gave her a peck on the cheek and
whispered back, “Cut it out,” then reached to shake his brother-in-law’s hand.
“
Colin,
thanks for coming on such short notice.
Everyone at church is really looking forward to hearing you two sing this
Sunday.”

“Glad to do it.”

“Daddy!” Charity ran
to him and wrapped her tiny arms around his knees.

He scooped her into
his arms and planted kisses on both cheeks. “How are you feeling?”

“I feel good.” She
grinned. “Ms. Shauna
come
see me.”

“I see that.” He
couldn’t keep his lips from curling upwards as he looked at Shauna. His heart
soared, and he fought to keep the joy from spilling out all over the room as he
glanced at her left hand.
No ring
.

“I’ve been calling for
over an hour.” Kent looked around the room in the hopes someone would take
responsibility.

“Really?” his mother
asked. “I never heard the phone ring.”

“It must be off the
hook somewhere,” he explained. “I just got a busy signal.”

“I’ll bet you’re
right.” His mother left the room in search of the problem, only to return a few
seconds later with the portable phone in her hand. “I found it under Charity’s
bed. She must have been trying to call someone.”

“I call Daddy!”
Charity exclaimed.

“Well, Daddy’s here
now.” He stroked her cheek with the back of his hand.

“I love you, Daddy!”
Charity ran back toward the sofa, crawled back up into Shauna’s lap, and leaned
her head against her shoulder. “I love teacher, too.”

The room grew silent for a moment until Shauna gave her a
light kiss on the cheek and responded, “I love you, too, Charity.”