Authors: Lisa Heaton
After he watched her walk in, he sat for a minute more, looking at the empty doorway. She was irritated, and rightly so.
Finally, he reached for the envelope and tore it open. At the time, he assumed it was some complicated prenup and never had any desire to read what it said, but when he pulled the few pages out and they fell open, he saw instead that it was a letter, a handwritten one – from John.
Tuck’s heart sank. Immediately, he had a sense it wasn’t some letter he should have ignored. It was the final words of a dying man, and Tuck should have honored him more than he had. Once again, because of his pride, he had assumed John’s motives of the day were less than admirable, which was ridiculous considering he had seen nothing from John other than integrity. He ended his relationship with Chelsea for her own good, yet he came for her when he learned she was grieving without him. In all his dealings with Lucy, John had been loving and kind. Especially with the custody issue, John did what had to be done to protect Lucy. Finally, his visit to him that day to ask him to wait for Chelsea showed a level of selflessness that most men could never carry off. John was a good man, one worthy of Chelsea’s love.
All along, he had known those things about John, and truthfully, deep down admired him and even liked him quite a bit, but after his death, he allowed his jealousy of John to cloud his memory of what was true. Taking a deep breath, he began to read.
Tuck,
If you are reading this letter, then I guess congratulations are in order. This is your wedding day, the day you’ll finally marry your only love. I’ve never known a man with tenacity such as yours, and you’ve never ceased to amaze me with it. Because Chelsea is such a treasure, I can honestly say, you deserve the prize.
From the very beginning, I’ve known that I stepped into the middle of your story, yours and hers. It was what was always supposed to be. What was another delay for you was a gift for me, one I have cherished. I thank God for every moment with her, and I thank you for coming to get me so that this life has been possible. In all likelihood, I would never have come if not for your visit. Ironically, and maybe even a little uncomfortably, I thought of you on the day we married. I kept reminding myself that I owe you everything – absolutely everything. That’s true. No matter how much I have, even if it were multiplied over and over, it could never settle the debt of gratitude that I have toward you. You allowed me three years with Chelsea that I certainly never deserved. Because you stepped back and allowed your love for her to guide you, I lived my final days with the only woman I’ve ever loved. And because of you, I have the child I had given up on. Thank you for allowing me into your supposed to be for even a brief time.
What I give you today doesn’t even come close to paying the debt in full, so I’ll have to come up with something additional once you join me in heaven. I’ll get to work on that straight away. Until then, I ask that you consider this a down payment.
Bob told me you once felt called to the mission field. Maybe with this you can not only continue to feed your sheep, but you can feed His as well. It is my honor to give to your ministry, as well as allow you to help Chelsea to continue to change the world.
Enclosed you will find a rather crude outline of your payment. Irene can provide you with a broader scope of your current holdings. She works for you now and can always be trusted. She is invaluable for advice and direction. For as long as she’s willing to work, I ask that you keep her employed. She’s been like family to me, and I know you will feel the same someday.
I suppose this is it now. It is my prayer for you that you continually love God, love Chelsea, and love our girls. Beyond those three things, I’ve learned, nothing else matters. Much of that I learned from watching you.
Sincerely,
John Keller
Tuck sat staring at the letter, too shocked to turn to the next page. He considered the things John said, especially about having stepped into his and Chelsea’s supposed to be. What Chelsea told him earlier about John’s jealousy of him came to mind. How difficult it must have been to know you were giving your wife and child over to the one man you were most jealous of. If Tuck hadn’t admired John before, he did now.
Turning to the second page, Tuck merely shook his head at the figures on the page, more zeroes than he had ever seen. At the top of the page, John outlined how he had sold some real estate properties and given the money to Chelsea. Some he gave to the Keller foundation. His holdings at KI were set aside in a trust for Lucy and Sara Beth. Astonishingly, he had given half to a child not his own. His generosity was staggering and his love for another man’s daughter unbelievable. Tuck smiled at the word
unbelievable
. To him, a man who loved another man’s daughter just as completely, it wasn’t quite so unbelievable after all.
He could only scan the rest of the pages. What John was worth, what he felt was less than enough to settle his debt, was astronomical. Still, it had yet to sink in. All that time, in the eight months since they had been married, he had been crazy, stinkin’ rich and had never known it. He struggled and scraped to get by. Their house sat unfinished when he had enough to build a thousand mansions. All it took was opening the envelope. Obviously, Chelsea knew but had allowed him time. Irene knew, even said outright that she worked for him, but she never forced herself on him. He had everything yet lived as if he had nothing.
Tuck stepped quietly into the bedroom and moved to the bed. He wasn’t sure if Chelsea was sleeping yet. When he slid into bed, still fully dressed, he moved over close to her and wrapped his arm around her. “Are you awake?”
Chelsea had nearly dreaded him coming into the room. Her fear was that he would be angry that John had left him everything. As far as she had known since John’s death, everything but what was in their personal accounts there locally and what he put into the Keller Foundation account was placed in a trust. She was never really told what the trust was for and she hadn’t cared enough to ask. She supposed she would have access to it once the foundation funds ran out. Other than that, she never thought she would have need of it. It wasn’t until their wedding day when Mark arrived that she found out the truth.
Chelsea rolled over to face him. “Are you upset?”
“A little.” He moved closer and rested his head on her pillow. “I’m thinking now that maybe you just married me for my money. I’m loaded, you know?”
Grinning, she said, “Yeah, I guess you are.”
“So now I know, you like ‘em rich.”
Relieved that he was taking the news so well, she asked, “Why settle?”
“Good point.”
Tuck already felt himself slipping away. Month after month he lay awake, wondering how he might keep afloat. Now, suddenly, he was no longer sinking. Less than an hour before, he had cried out to the Lord, assuring Him if He didn’t show up he would go under. Well now, that was some entrance.
“I would sure like to make love to you,” he mumbled.
Seeing that he was close to falling asleep, she assured him, “I’ll be right here in the morning. Sleep now.” Gently she rubbed the side of his head, which usually helped him to fall asleep quickly.
Chapter 20
J
ust before five a.m., Tuck sent an email to Irene asking that she call him when she got into the office. First thing, he wanted to pay off the equity line. Currently, he was two months behind on his payment. The bank had been calling, and he had felt like a real deadbeat in avoiding them. Finally, he would have that weight off his shoulders. Soon enough, he would have crews back at the new house, and since he was loaded, he planned to have people there around the clock to get his wife’s dream house finished.
When he woke that morning, it took a few minutes for the reminder to settle in, but when it did, he threw the covers back and jumped from bed. Still dressed from the day before, he quickly showered, dressed, and headed down to meet with the Lord. He had never been so thankful in his life. At one point, he slunk out of his chair and found himself on his face on the floor. It was more than the money, it was the verse that came to mind about God opposing the proud.
Since marrying Chelsea, he had tried to do things on his own. Sure, he prayed and asked for help all along the way, but the way in which the Lord planned to provide was through John. Even the night before, Tuck could have allowed pride to cause him to refuse the money. Instead, when he realized that he was standing in direct opposition to God that truly humbled him. The final part of the verse was, “but gives grace to the humble.” Hundreds of millions of dollars was more grace than Tuck knew existed.
There, still face down on the floor, he considered the true extent of God’s grace as he thought of feeding His sheep. It was at that thought that his phone rang.
Reaching for it quickly before it woke his sleeping girls, he said, “Hello.”
“Good morning. It’s Irene.”
Tuck looked at the clock. It wasn’t even five thirty. “It’s three thirty there. Are you in the office already?”
Propping a pillow behind her and reaching for her note pad, she smiled. “No, not even close, but I got your email. I’m at your disposal twenty-four hours a day. Trust me, you pay me for it.”
He smiled at her small bit of humor but made a mental note to not contact her so early again.
“It looks like I need some money after all.”
Since she knew how difficult his and Chelsea’s last months had been, Irene had truly been rooting for them. As much as she wanted to contact Tuck and tell him about the money, Chelsea had urged her not to. So she remained silent and waited for him to call.
“It’s about time.”
“I have a loan to pay off and a house to finish building.”
“If memory serves me correctly, there should be enough for that.”
He liked her more than he thought he did. Since she had been coming to town to work with Chelsea, and as much as Chelsea sang her praises, he found himself hard pressed to like her much. Finding she had this dry wit about her, though, was surprising and a pretty big relief. If she worked for him, which still cracked him up, then it was nice to like the person you work with.
Quickly enough he gave her the routing numbers for his bank account, and she assured him the money would be wired as soon as the bank in L.A. opened.
Before hanging up, Irene said, “As your new right hand, may I give you piece of advice?”
“I would be disappointed if you didn’t.”
“Enjoy this a little. Take your sweet wife somewhere.”
Nodding, Tuck said, “I just might do that.”
After the call ended, Tuck allowed his mind to wander again, running over all the new opportunities he had before him. Without question, as much as he had neglected his family emotionally and sometimes even physically as he worked eighteen hour days, he was taking some time off. There were plenty of hands around town that he could bring in, and since there was much to catch up on, he would hire as many as it took to get the job done, but he had no intention of doing anything more than overseeing. He wanted to be home with Chelsea and the girls more. Maybe even more so, he wanted to supervise the construction of the new house. Soon enough, they would have their new home, a place for their family, one with no ex-wife lurking in the shadows. He couldn’t leave the farmhouse soon enough.
Tuck was making breakfast when Chelsea walked into the kitchen. At his most handsome, in his Wranglers and bare chest, he seemed as relaxed as she had seen him since the morning after they married. He had this same look then, peaceful and content.
“I hope you’re making pancakes. I know it’s not Saturday, but you’ve missed a few here lately.”
When she came to stand beside him, he reached over and kissed her. At first, the kiss was soft and casual, but quickly, he moved his hand to her face and held her to him firmly. Moving back only an inch, he whispered, “Wasn’t there some promise about this morning?”
As much as he had wanted to love her the night before, he drifted off before he could even finish the thought.
“There sure was.”
Though willing, Chelsea knew better. On her way down the steps, she had heard Sara Beth rolling around. “You have kids on the way down, though.”
“Later?”
“You better believe it.”
“Arrre you making pancakes? It’s not Saturrrday.” Sara Beth was learning to say her words slowly so that she wouldn’t talk like a baby anymore.
“I sure am, and I’m taking the day off today to spend time with you, Lucy, and Mama.”
“LLLucy willll be at schoollll.” She smiled at her “L’s”.
“Nope, not today.”
Tuck sat the first round of pancakes on the table just as Lucy reached the bottom step.
Lucy smiled broadly, “I’m staying home today?”
“Yes, and every day.”
In the early hours of the morning, he had really come to regret how he hesitated on the idea of homeschool. God had clearly led him in that direction, and though it seemed to make perfect sense to wait for the new school year, he pondered something for the first time. How many times had God given him direction but then said, “But you can obey later”? As far as he could remember, never. Even at Christmas it had crossed Tuck’s mind that they could begin the second semester fresh, but what stopped him in his tracks was not being able to afford the curriculum she would need. Easily, he could have let Chelsea pay for it since she was richer than he at the time – he grinned at the thought that he was richer than Chelsea now. Once again, though, he had been too proud.
When every face at the table sat looking at him stunned, he broke the news to them that homeschool would begin the next day. But that day, they were all taking a day off.
Sara Beth cheered at the thought of Lucy being home, but mostly she cheered because her daddy was taking a day off. He hadn’t been home so much and didn’t seem to have time to take her with him to the barn as often.
Lucy wasn’t sure what to think. Part of her liked the idea of schooling at home, but the other part was afraid she would be bored. She would give it a try if it was what her dad wanted. Whatever had happened, which clearly something had, her dad seemed happier that day than he had in a very long time. If homeschool made him happy, then it made her happy.
Chelsea swallowed hard, terrified to begin so soon, but she agreed with his decision and had for almost the entire time. Already her brain was churning. The following day, she would go to Lucy’s school and find out how to disenroll her. She was pondering such things when she realized what Tuck was saying. He was going to the bank after lunch to pay off the equity line.
“Great. I’ll come with you.”
“No need. I won’t be gone long. Irene is transferring funds this morning. Once that’s settled, I’ll swing by and pick you up. We can spend the afternoon at the new house.” He smiled broadly, adding, “I plan on full speed ahead from here on out.”
As exciting as that news was, Chelsea hardly felt excited. “I would like to ride into town with you. The girls can hang out here.”
“Doesn’t Sara Beth have speech therapy?”
“Yes, but we can work around that.”
Tuck finished off his milk and stood. “We’ll divide and conquer.”
Chelsea sat looking at the empty doorframe, knowing he left quickly to shut down the conversation. It was more than obvious, and it bothered her. He didn’t want her to go with him to the bank. Hailey was at that bank. That bothered her even more.
Chelsea left before Tuck and drove Sara B. to her therapy session. Making the excuse that she needed to run an errand, which she did, she left Sara Beth and drove over to the bank. When she arrived, Tuck’s truck wasn’t yet in the parking lot. She sighed. As silly as she was feeling about the whole thing, she couldn’t get past the nagging sense that Tuck wanted to see Hailey without her along. Why would he want to do that if she was no big deal to him? What if he wished he had made a different choice? At that thought, she watched him pull in.
Meeting him in front of his pickup, she said, “I thought it would be nice to see the payoff with you. I know you’ve been carrying this load for some time and…”
Interrupting her, he said, “I thought we agreed this wasn’t necessary.”
“No, we didn’t agree. You just said it.”
“There’s no need for us both to do this. It’s a simple matter of paying off the loan. Ten minutes, tops.”
“I’ve got ten minutes. Sara Beth won’t be done for twenty.”
Tuck leaned against the truck and sighed. “Why is this such a big deal to you?”
She took a step closer to him, and with her voice a bit louder than normal asked, “Why is this such a big deal to you? Why don’t you want me to go? Anyone in particular preventing that?”
Tuck noticed a woman going into the bank who nearly walked into the door as she stared at them. As Chelsea’s voice escalated, he could hardly blame the woman. Chelsea wasn’t acting like herself.
Hoping to diffuse what seemed to be an argument beginning, he softly asked, “Are you talking about Hailey?”
Rolling her eyes, she said, “Of course I’m talking about Hailey. Why don’t you want me to go in with you?”
He reached for her hand. “I just don’t want to rub you in her face. That’s all. She’s a nice lady.”
“Oh.” Chelsea suddenly felt really stupid and looked back toward her car, wishing she hadn’t come.
“Why do you feel this urgent need to go in with me?” Surely she wasn’t jealous, but that’s exactly what it seemed.
Tears sprang to her eyes. “I’m afraid you’ll see her and regret choosing me.”
Still leaning against his truck, he pulled her into his arms and buried his face in her hair. “There was never a choice. It was already you. It was always you.”
She wrapped her arms around him and held on tightly. “Nothing has been right, and since
then
, we seem broken. I need to know you still love me like you used to. I need you back. I’m terrified you regret marrying me and even more terrified of losing you. As much as I deserve it, please don’t leave me.”
Grasping her by the shoulders, he moved her back. “You’ll never, ever lose me, not like that, anyway. I could never leave you.”
He sighed, guilt creeping in over the fact that he had done most everything wrong over the past months. “Forgive me for being an idiot. If I made you think that was ever a possibility, then I’m the biggest idiot in the world. Chelsea, sweetheart, you’re it for me. You always were. If you don’t know that by now, then I’m not doing something right
.”
She sighed softly and said, “I’m going to say this for the last time. What you heard that day is not what I felt then or now. It was a moment of something…I don’t know what, a moment of being lost or of falling. Whatever it was, it wasn’t true. It wasn’t an accurate portrayal of my heart. I am so… full of love for you that my heart may burst. I literally ache inside.” She stepped back into his arms and whispered, “If you can’t believe that, if we can’t get past what you heard, then I’m afraid for us.”
It was only a second’s hesitation, but it may as well have been a day. In her attempt to tell him she was so in love with him, she couldn’t bring herself to. No matter what it took, he was determined to hear those words someday.
Gripping her so tightly that she sighed, he promised, “Never be afraid for us. I’ll fight to my last breath for you.” He kissed her cheek and added, “I never, ever doubt your love for me. We
are
past this. Believe me and never be afraid for us again.”
Nodding, she began to cry. “This has been an awful eight months, and I know it was all my fault. From now on, I want you to be happy. I don’t want you to regret loving me and waiting for me.”
“Nothing has ever made me any happier than you being my wife. And this past eight months has been far from your fault.”
After a minute more, grinning rather sheepishly at her ridiculous display of jealousy, she headed back to her car. As Tuck walked toward the bank, she moved her first two fingers to her eyes then pointed them at him and back again, warning, “I’ve got my eyes on you.”
Tuck chuckled at her. Never had he seen her any cuter than she was that day. Jealous, who would have thought it?
Leaving the bank with the loan paid in full felt like the weight of a truck lifted from his shoulders. The amount he borrowed had slowly grown over the past couple of years. At first, he only borrowed to pay for extra help. Then, once he had turned any profit, he paid it down. Eventually, though, it began snowballing out of control. When he started pulling out money for the new house, it was only a matter of time before the credit line was at its limit and there wasn’t enough income to pay it down. Thankfully, he would never have to worry about that again. Actually, as far as money went, he would never have to worry about anything again. The extent of his worry would now be what to do with such a ridiculous amount of it. His first priority was Chelsea and the girls, then Chelsea’s family. He had some ideas.
When he slid into the driver’s seat of his truck and reached for his phone, he saw that Chelsea had already texted him. It said,
No regrets, right?
He sighed heavily. Lord only knew how much he loved that woman. Texting back, he assured her,
Never any regrets. Just that it took so long to finally claim you.