Her Perfect Man (13 page)

He chuckled. “Or?”

“Or I could say you’re the new chauffeur I hired to drive me around.”

“That’s the one I would go with.” He winked at her and leaned across her to open her door. “It would be great if you would wait for me to come help you down.”

“I can do that on my own.”

“I know,” he shot over his shoulder as he closed the door. He kept an eye on her through the windshield as he circled the truck.

“Hello there, young man!” Gran called out from the top step. “It’s so good to finally meet you.”

“I’m glad to be here, ma’am.”

Rebecca watched, jaw dropping, as Chad held out his hand and helped her frail grandmother down the steps like a gentleman of old.

“What a nice young man you have here, Rebecca.” Gran beamed as she walked with her hand on Chad’s arm, carefully stepping in the loose gravel. “I approve of this one.”

“Good to know, Gran. Thanks.” She bit her lip, watching the blush steal across Chad’s face—and the joy, too. There was an unmistakable joy. “This is one boyfriend I just might keep.”

“Boyfriend?” Chad held out his hand, palm up, to help her down from his truck. “I like the sound of that.”

“So do I.” The hope rising within her seemed to take wing. Her feet hit solid ground but her heart and her soul felt light as the fluffy white clouds sailing high overhead.

She accepted Chad’s other arm and the three of them retreated to the shade of the porch. The hot breeze blew the sweet scent of blooming roses from the flower beds and ripening fruit from the nearby orchard. It felt wonderful to be at his side.

“I hope you kids haven’t eaten yet,” Gran was saying as she led the way around the corner to the kitchen door. “I have chicken marinating for the barbecue. Chad, you look like a capable young man. How good of a barbecuer are you?”

“I can get the job done.” He held the door for Rebecca, too. Their gazes met. They both bit their lips to keep from laughing.

“Perfect.”

“Gran? Now that you’ve got Chad on barbecue duty, what do you need me to do?”

“I need you in a supervisory capacity, dear. Someone has to keep an eye on this young man.”

“I do need supervision,” he agreed, laughing. He couldn’t help it. He hadn’t been this happy in a long time.

“You’re right, Gran.” Rebecca gave him a merry look as she passed by. “I’ll keep him in line. Do you want us to go fetch some fresh veggies before we put him to work?”

“That would be a help.” The fragile, stylish older lady pushed a lock of silver hair behind her ear and headed for the refrigerator. “Chad, I hope you like chocolate pie. I picked up one at Ava’s shop this morning. My, but her place has gotten busy.”

“How is Ava? I haven’t returned her call from last night,” Rebecca said as she handed him a cloth basket, which he gladly took. Since she was heading toward the kitchen door, he opened that for her and earned her smile.

“She wasn’t at the bakery when I was there. It’s not like her to miss a day of work. I called and left a message on her voice mail.”

“You know how she is. She forgets to return messages.” Rebecca slipped past him with a smile and a crook of her finger. “Gran, Chad and I won’t be long.”

He closed the screen door behind them and followed Rebecca down the side steps. It was like stepping into paradise. Vines of roses climbed a pristine white fence and archways. Mature trees swayed solemnly in the breeze. He took in the enormous garden in neat rows, lush and plentiful. Horses, grazing in the far field, lifted their heads from the grass in curiosity. One horse gave a neigh and stomped its foot.

“Hi, Tasha!” Rebecca called out. “I promise I’ll save the corn husks for you.”

The horse nodded her head in a regal manner, as if that was the least Rebecca could do, and went back to her grazing.

He followed her into the rows of tall stalks where tasseled ears of corn were plump and fragrant. “You spent your summers here, didn’t you?”

“The better part of every summer. Mom worked in the store when she and Dad were running things, so Gran kept an eye on us younger kids during the workday.” She stopped to study several ears on a stalk. She gently peeled back a few of the yellow silks to study the kernels. “We always had so much fun we wound up staying overnight. There was always something to do. Trees to climb. Horses to ride. Adventures to go on.”

“I can picture it.” He held out the basket for her when she picked an ear. “That must have been an idyllic way to grow up.”

“I think so.”

He could see his future. As Rebecca picked corn ears, his heart dreamed of summers tending a garden of their own. Of horses in a field for their kids to ride. He saw a happy marriage and a good life to come with the woman who emerged from the cornstalks with the wind in her hair and similar dreams in her eyes.

C
had had the best evening with Rebecca. Gran, as he had been invited to call her, was a sweetheart of a lady who had kept them all laughing with one story after another of Rebecca as a little girl. She had even dug out the photo albums and he hadn’t been surprised to see the little girl Rebecca had been with the pixie’s face and brown ringlet curls. Lauren, who lived down the road, had come home around dessert time and had joined in.

Even the ride back to town was fun. He and Rebecca talked about everything and at the same time nothing at all. He had never laughed so much. His face hurt from smiling. With every passing minute he spent with her, he grew more in love with her.

“Oh, I’ve got a text message.” She pulled her phone out of her purse and studied it. “It’s from Danielle. I’m babysitting, per usual, on Friday night, and she said you would be welcome to come, too. I can’t imagine that would be your idea of a fun time, so I won’t hold you to it.”

“As a matter of fact I can’t think of a better way to spend a Friday night.” He slowed the truck and flicked on the turn signal. “I’d like to meet more of your family. Your niece and nephew sound great.”

“I adore ’em.” With her head bent and her hair falling softly to hide her face, she started typing a reply. “I’ll let Danielle know it’s a possibility.”

There was a break in traffic and he turned into the complex. He had decided during supper tonight that he had to tell Rebecca the truth. He owed her that much. No, he owed her more than that. But how did he bring up such a painful subject?

Worse, how did he bring up something he knew might make her reject him? If she did that, then she would break more than his heart. He was all in; he had never felt tenderness so profound as the love he had for her.

“You do know what this means, don’t you?” She looked up from her phone. “You and I have plans every night this week, including a family thing on Sunday.”

“We’re going to have to face what this is, you know.” He risked a glance at her. “Apparently my no-dating policy and your friends-only policy did not stand up to the test.”

“Are you kidding? They were worthless. Good ideas that didn’t work for us.”

“No, they didn’t.” He chuckled. How he had gotten lucky enough for God to bless him like this, he didn’t know, but he never intended to take her for granted. “I hate to break this to you but it looks like we’re dating.”

“It doesn’t just look that way. I think we are.”

“Me, too.” He pulled into his driveway and cut the engine. “Is that okay with you?”

“A tad. A smidgen. A pinch.” She smiled, and without words he knew she meant it was more than okay.

He was attuned to her. He could feel the depth of her happiness. His answered prayer. “You’re sending another text to your sister?”

“We’re speculating why Ava was sick from work today,” she told him as she went to open her door.

“Let me get that for you.” He earned her smile as he circled around the truck, opened the door and took her hand.

This is what he wanted to spend the rest of his life doing. Holding her doors and making her life a little easier. Call him old-fashioned, but he felt that commitment down to his soul.

So, how did he tell her? Ephraim was home, so he couldn’t ask her in. They would need some privacy to talk. Rebecca hopped lightly to the ground and he kept her hand as he closed the door.

How did he tell her? Did he start with the shocker: I spent eighteen months in juvie and a boot camp? Or did he start with a more subtle statement: after I got arrested for grand theft auto…It was hard to know. Either way, thinking of those days brought down a burden of shame—a shame he had to face. He had to risk losing her respect and her love. He had to believe her heart was big enough to understand.

“My grandmother is in love with you,” Rebecca said as they crossed the road toward the mailboxes. “She gave me her approval.”

“You know I sure liked her, too. I’m looking forward to meeting everyone in your family. I hope they have the same opinion about me because I care for you very much.”

“I care for you, too.” She blushed and looked down. She was shy.

“We are going to need a new policy.”

“What kind of policy? After our failed attempts with the last ones, I’m a little leery of any others.” Not that she wasn’t happy with the outcome, but still.

“I understand, but hear me out. I would like us to be exclusive.” He stuck by her side as they strolled up to the mailboxes. “Why don’t we agree to a dating policy, just the two of us?”

“I’ll agree with that.” Bliss, that’s what this joyful sunny feeling was. She was blissfully happy. What could be better than this man? He loved and respected her. He loved and respected her family. It had taken the right man to show her how wrong the wrong man had been for her.

“Good. Then it looks as if we have a deal, Rebecca.” While his tone was light, his face was serious. “Would you mind if I came over? I have something I want to say to you alone.”

“No one’s around.” She couldn’t help joking a little. She tugged her mailbox open. “But come over. I was going to tackle some of my Bible study work tonight. Did you want to join me?”

“Absolutely.”

She couldn’t take her eyes off him. She flipped through the envelopes. Credit card bill. Her cell phone bill. An unmarked envelope. She froze. What if it was from Chris? She checked the front and there was no stamp. There was no way to return it.

That’s it. She tore open the flap, certain now. She had given Chris every opportunity to let go and move on, but she was done. She was going to give Caleb a call and find out about a restraining order.

There was one piece of paper inside. She unfolded it. It was a computer printout of a Web page. Of a Portland newspaper, she realized. There was a grainy black-and-white photograph of a much younger Chad standing in front of a courthouse with his lawyer and an older man, probably his grandfather. The bold letters above the picture and an article read, Plea Bargain Agreement Reached.

No, this couldn’t be right. Her hands trembled. This had to be a mistake. A practical joke. Suddenly it came clear. This was Chris’s idea of a cruel prank. Yes, that’s what this was.

“You look upset, Rebecca. What’s that you have there?”

She gazed up into his honest face. He looked like a man who could never do anything wrong. Her heart swelled two sizes with love for him. She went to fold up the paper, but her hands were shaking too hard.

“Let me see.” His gentle baritone rumbled with reassurance, as if he could make anything right. He came up behind her and his hand steadied the top of the page.

“I can’t believe he would make something up like this.” The words felt torn from her throat. She had never felt so raw. Maybe because Chad wasn’t saying anything. He wasn’t denying it. He wasn’t angry.

Sadness dug into his handsome face. “He didn’t make this up, Rebecca.”

“Wh-what?” Her ears had to be deceiving her.

“This is me. I did this. I stole a car and caused a wreck while I was joyriding.”

Static buzzed in her head. His words sounded distant, as if he were on the other side of the complex instead of so close she could feel his cotton shirt against her elbow. No. This couldn’t be true.

“I was lucky the folks I hit turned out to be all right.” He took the paper and folded it back into thirds. “I, on the other hand, served an eighteen-month sentence and another year doing community service.”

“Y-you were in jail?”

“Yes. I went through a boot camp program and juvie.” He slipped the paper back inside the envelope she was still holding.

Chad was in jail. That thought rolled around inside her mind. Her blood went cold. She shivered in spite of the blazing sun harsh on her back. Chad had moved away and was watching her with sorrow on his face.

“This isn’t how I wanted you to find out.” His throat worked and he looked as if he were searching for words. “I was going to tell you.”

“This was the complication you mentioned. The whopper of a mistake. This was what happened?” Why couldn’t she still believe it? How foolish was she going to be? She could not deny this. She looked at Chad through new eyes. He was the seemingly perfect Prince Charming kind of guy, just like Chris. No, he was worse than Chris because Chris had never gone to jail.

To jail. Everything she knew about Chad fell like glass to the ground and shattered. The good and faithful man, the friend, the wholesome lifestyle and a forever kind of guy were gone. Tears burned behind her eyes. She took one long look at this stranger—at the man who had pretended to be something he wasn’t. Her heart cracked and shattered, just like her illusions of him. She took a step away from him. It wasn’t far enough.

“Rebecca, say something.”

How could he stand there acting the same way? His eyes were dark with sorrow. His face beaming with sincerity. His shoulders were set straight and strong, as if he were stalwart enough to handle this, too.

“I don’t know what to say.” Her mind began to spin. Her throat stung. The pieces of her heart ached as if they were whole. “I thought—I don’t know what I thought. Only that you were someone I could trust.”

“I am that someone.” He stepped toward her and held out his hand. He was reaching out for her.

“No.” She shook her head. She crossed her arms over her heart. She backed away from him. It took all her courage to face him—to face the truth. “This was my mistake. I’m sorry, but we’re done. Stay away from me, Chad.”

“Rebecca, listen to me, please. I know we can work this out—”

She spun on her heel and fled. With every pound of her sneakers against the blacktop, she saw the last look on his face. He appeared as shattered as she felt.

The tears waited until she had closed and locked her front door. Her knees gave out. She slid to the ground and buried her face in her hands. Nothing had ever hurt this much.

It’s not because I love him, she argued with herself. It’s because she trusted what he told her about his life. She had been duped. That was why she was in agony. Deception hurt.

Down deep, she knew it was more than that. She had loved him—honest and truly. She had thought he was someone else—someone who was a kindred spirit, a soul mate, her missing half.

What was wrong with her that she had fallen for another man capable of deceit? Why had she given her heart to another man with a reckless, self-destructive streak? And what was wrong with her that she was still in love with the person she’d wanted him to be?

Her phone chimed. It was a text message. Chad had sent just two words.

Forgive me.

If a little voice in her heart asked her to find forgiveness, she couldn’t do it. She wouldn’t. She wasn’t going to repeat this unacceptable pattern in her life. She was not going to allow herself to be doomed to a series of bad relationships with men who were not what she deserved. She deserved honesty. She deserved respect. She deserved a man who loved her more than his own life.

Chad wasn’t that man. That was her mistake, but it was one she wasn’t going to make again. If the right man wasn’t out there, then she was still going to be fine. She trusted where the Lord was leading her. She switched off her phone, swiped the damp from her eyes and bowed her head to pray.

“She’s not answering me.” This was killing him. Chad buried his face in his hands. He couldn’t forget the sight of her running way from him—running, because walking away wouldn’t be fast enough. She despised him. He had blown it big-time. She was never going to forgive him.

He wanted to blame her ex, who had probably looked up his name on Google and found the newspaper article. It was a simple thing to do. But the truth was, it was his own fault. He shouldn’t have procrastinated. He should have told her sooner. Then maybe the outcome could have been different. But with the way she had found out, blunt like that and without a lick of explanation, she wasn’t going to forgive him.

He didn’t need an answer to his text message to know that. He swiped his face, stood up and went to look out the sliding door. It wasn’t the two plastic chairs and the plastic footstool he was seeing, but Rebecca’s tiny and comfortable patio. How idyllic it had been sitting there barbecuing dinner and talking.

Looking back, he admitted the evening had been a dream because he had spent it with her.

No, he realized. It was something right out of his heart. It was a dream he hadn’t even realized he wanted. It was as if God had looked into him, saw what he truly wanted and then set him on this path with Rebecca.

And I blew it. He leaned his forehead against the glass. He had lost her. Just like that. Everything had been going fine and then bam! It was all over.

“She needs time,” Ephraim said from the couch where he was poking at the keyboard of his laptop computer. “She’s a nice girl. You should have been the one to tell her. That’s the real problem.”

“That’s part of it.” But not all. His chest felt heavy, as if not a single molecule of air could fit in his lungs. He couldn’t seem to breathe. He didn’t want to. What he wanted was to go next door and talk until he made Rebecca understand.

“You’ve got to give her space, dude.” Ephraim sounded extremely confident. “Trust me.”