Love From the Ashes (11 page)

Thomas waited on her doorstep; he started to fidget waiting for her to answer the door.  When she did his face fell.  “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong; I just don’t think I would be great company tonight.”  She walked away from the door and he cautiously entered.  “I’m thinking we should reschedule.”

She was in lounge pants and a tank top; so he obviously knew she wasn’t ready to go out, he just didn’t know why.  “Was it something I did?  Was it because I was late last night?”

She laughed and shook her head.  “Uh…no; that wasn’t it at all.”  She sat down on the couch and he looked around before taking a seat next to her.  She looked over at him and he smiled.  “I mean it; maybe I’ll feel better tomorrow.”

“Are you sick?”

“Not sick; I just have a lot on my mind.”

He knew how that went; so did he.  “I have an idea; let’s order in pizza.”

She stared at him and chuckled.  “You can’t take a hint; can you?”

“Nope, and I won’t take no for an answer.  Where’s your phone book?”

Rebecca stood up and headed to the kitchen, when she returned she was really looking confused.  “Are you sure about this?”

He pretended like he was thinking.  “Are you kicking me out?”

She laughed.  “No.”

“Then, I’m sure about it.  What kind of pizza do you want?”

“It doesn’t matter to me; I like my meat.”

He smiled.  “Something we have in common.”

“At least there’s one thing.”  He laughed when he saw her grin.

“I venture to say there’s more.”  He dialed in the phone number and waited for them to answer.  “Hello, I would like to order a large meat lovers pizza, with extra meat.  Also, throw in an order of breadsticks.”

“What’s the name sir?”

“It is for Thomas Campbell.”  He gave her address and then disconnected the call.  “It will be about 25 minutes.  He sat down next to her and leaned back against the armrest.  “That will give you plenty of time to tell me what has gotten you into this foul mood.”  She looked at him like she was about to object; then she closed her mouth.  He laughed.  “Yeah; that’s what I thought.  So, how was your date last night?  Let’s start there.”

____________________

Rebecca was surprised that she didn’t feel the least bit awkward sitting next to him
in the clothes she would be wearing to bed.  She really expected him to leave once she told him that she didn’t feel like getting together.  However, she was happy that he didn’t take her up on it.  “First of all, how many times do I have to tell you and your children that last night was not a date?”

Thomas laughed.  “Whatever!  So, is that what has you in this mood?  You wanted it to be a date, but you found out it wasn’t.”  She stared at him.  He slowly st
arted to laugh so she grabbed a pillow and threw it at him.  “Okay; I deserved that.”

“Last night I was lured to his parent’s house
thinking I was going for something totally different.  He lied to me.  Maybe I am in a foul mood because of last night.  Can you blame me?”

“I wouldn’t even dream of it.”  He raised his eyebrows.  “May I ask you just one question?”

“Yes!”

“What are we talking about?”

“Aren’t you listening to me?  I am trying to explain.”

“Forgive me Rebecca, but you’re not making any sense.  So, Mr. Gregory asked you to his parent’s house?  I’m assuming he thought it was a date?”

“He knew it wasn’t a date, but that didn’t stop him from telling his family we’re a couple.”

“So, you went with him thinking you were going as friends, when in actuality…””

“It was all a ploy.  You guessed it right; I was played.”

“I’m sorry Rebecca.”

“Yeah; it shouldn’t have bothered me, but it did.  Now, I have ruined this evening.”

Thomas laughed.  “You haven’t ruined anything.  This might work out even better.”
  He seemed genuine about it, but she was finding her trust in men was wavering.  At that moment she heard her doorbell ring.  “I’ll get it.”  He jumped up and went to the door.  She could hear him pay for the pizza and then she met him in the foyer.

“We can put it in the kitchen.”
  She grabbed some plates and they dished out their pizza.

“I don’t know; it seems like he is trying awfully hard to get your attention.  Maybe you should start dating him.”  Rebecca opened her mouth, but quickly snapped it shut.  “Give the guy a chance.”

“What?  I can’t believe you.  If I don’t like him; why should I give him a chance?”

Thomas looked down and shrugged.  “It seems like you’re not giving him the benefit of the doubt.”

She scrunched up her nose and he laughed.  “You better be kidding.”  She flung a piece of pepperoni at him and he smiled and nodded.  “You had me totally convinced;” she laughed. 

“Some guys just can’t get the message.”  She laughed, but then the room grew still.  “Um…” when her eyes met his he started to chuckle.  “I’m sorry. 
How was the rest of the evening?”

By the way he was awkwardly playing with his pizza; Rebecca could tell that that wasn’t really where he wanted the conversation to go.  “You mean after I faked being sick?”  She smirked.  “Let’s just say it wasn’t one of my finest nights.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

She smiled; he was being more real in that moment than any other guy she had talked to in such a long time.  “Thank you!”

“This is good pizza;” he mumbled.  Obviously, he wanted to change the topic.”

“Yeah; Antonio’s
Pizzeria is the only place I go.  Do you want something to drink?  I have soft drinks, water, or I can make coffee.”

“Anything would be fine.”  His voice remained quiet and he appeared to be avoiding eye contact.

She grabbed a couple of drinks out of the refrigerator and gave him some ice.  “Okay; we can beat around the bush as much as we want to; the point is you wanted to get together for a reason.  It wasn’t to talk about my evening last night, or to discuss the pizza.  What did you want to say?”  He smiled at her and she saw a light shade of red pass over his cheeks.  There was definitely something on his mind, and she was ready to hear him tell her what it was.

____________________

After sitting there and talking to Rebecca, he suddenly forgot why he wanted to talk to her.  Well, he didn’t really forget; he just was beginning to rethink it.  He had a foolish notion that he needed to apologize for calling her beautiful, but it didn’t even seem to affect her as much as he thought it did.  He had come to the conclusion that he was making it a much bigger problem than it needed to be.  Who cares if he gave her a compliment; it wasn’t going to change their relationship.  They were fast becoming friends and he needed that.  He liked being around Rebecca and it would have caused more pain than anything else; had he told her that he was sorry for saying she was beautiful.  He was crazy to think that would have been a good idea.  Yet, here he was with her staring at him and he had nothing profound to say.  “I…” he turned away.  He was at a loss for words, for the first time in his life.  She started to laugh and he faced her.  “What’s so funny?”

“You look like you have just eaten the last piece of chocolate and you’re about to be in trouble.”

He smiled.  “I look that bad?”

“Well, your fac
e is a little green; you kind of look like you’re about to be sick.  You know I am here if you need to talk and by the look on your face…you need to talk.”

He sat back and his eyes slowly went to her lingering gaze. 
“Have you ever had a friendship that came by such a surprise that you didn’t know how to handle it?”

Rebecca nodded.  “I suppose I have.”

He had something to say; he just needed to come out with it.  “Promise me you won’t think I’m losing my mind?”

She smiled.  “I promise.”

“In these past few weeks, I have shared more with you than any other person; outside of my wife and kids.  I feel like we have known each other for years, and I don’t know how to feel about that.”

“I know what you mean.”  The words were a whisper, but he heard them clearly.

“So, you feel it too?”

She slowly nodded and he smiled.  “Thomas, it would be pretty hard not to; I watch your kids and I h
ave gotten to know all of you.”

“I enjoy spending time with you Rebecca; I can’t deny that, but things aren’t easy in my life.  I have a lot of stuff to figure out; although, I don’t want to lose this.”

“Everyone needs someone they can talk to.  I am willing to be that someone for you.”

“You mean we can be friends; without everything getting complicated?”

“I’m not here because I expect anything in return; I don’t.  I’m here because I think that we do have the potential to be great friends.”  Thomas smiled.  Then a thought came to him and he covered his face.  “What?”

“Are you saying that I’ll be put in the same classification as Mr. Gregory?”

Her eyes got big and she started to laugh.  “I like Adam, but things get really awkward when we’re together.  With you, it’s different.”

It made Thomas feel good to hear her say that.  Besides, with him he’ll always be pushing for us to have something more.  You won’t do that; I feel safe with you.”

“I’m glad to hear that Rebecca.  I feel blessed that we have gotten to know each other.  My kids love you; you really make them feel special.”

She looked down and he saw the crimson color on her
cheeks.  He hid his smile, but he liked that about her; she was so sweet.  “They are special.”  She wouldn’t make eye contact with him, but he heard the tenderness behind those words.

“Well, thank you!  Speaking of my children,” he laughed.  “I have decided to take off a week from today and we’re going to go camping.  I think they’ll enjoy it and if we don’t go soon we might as well kiss this year goodbye.  I thought we could leave right after they get off school; so, I won’t
need you on that evening.”

“How fun; you guys will have a blast.”

“So, you have been camping before?”

She nodded.  “When I was younger, my parent’s always took my brother’s and
me to a state park about an hour from our house.  It was a lot of fun.  Where are you guys going?”

“I’m not sure; I really just made the decision today
.  I haven’t even told the kids yet.”

“They will love that; those tents will come in handy.”

Thomas laughed.  “I know; it was my best purchase.”

Her eyes gleamed as they continue
d to talk about the days she went camping with her family.  “There was a rope that would hang from this one tree.  We would swing from it and see who could get the farthest in the lake.  Well, Robbie had just started to swing back and forth when the rope broke away from the tree.  He didn’t make it to the water.”  Her eyes glazed over and he worried that she would start to cry.

“Was he hurt?”

She shook her head.  “Just bruised and his ego was probably hurt the worst.”  She laughed.  “Our mom was so furious.  She told just that she knew something like that would happen.  We weren’t allowed to ever climb on the rope again; even when it was fixed.  Dad tried to tell her that we were kids; it was bound to happen.  However, she wouldn’t hear anything to change her mind.  It was okay, because there were lots of fun things we could do; especially in the woods.”

“How old were you when that happened?”

“Probably about 8 years old.”  She smiled.  “Robbie could also tell the best ghost stories.  I was never good at those.”

“It sounds like you have a lot of good memories growing up.”  Thomas could see the pain as she talked about Robbie; it made him wish that much more that he could do something to help her get closure.

“I do, but speaking of stories.  I seem to remember you saying that you will share some stories about your kids.”  She crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows.  “I would love to hear them.”

He started to laugh.  She had a good memory.  It was a tricky one; there were so many stories to share.  “Let’s see…” he thought about it and then started to snicker.  “There was this one time that Kari and her friend
Jasmine decided they wanted to get rich quick and they decided to set up a lemonade stand outside of our house.  They were about 6 years old.  Now, as you know, Avery is a very small town.  Our house wasn’t on a very busy street and the chances of having a lot of sales…well; let’s just say we had a better chance of seeing snow in July.”  He laughed.  “I think I drank about 30 glasses before they realized that they made enough money.”

Rebecca giggled.  “What did they want to buy?”

“They wanted to buy a dollhouse.  They lived just down the street from each other; they decided that they could share it.”

“They bought a dollhouse after selling a 30 glasses of lemonade?”

“You know prices, they’re always going up.”

She laughed.  “You have a point there. 
What’s funny is you basically just bought them the dollhouse.”