Love From the Ashes (12 page)

“It was worth seeing their faces as they played with that dollhouse day in and day out.
  “After the fire, when we moved, Kari told Jasmine she could keep the dollhouse.  She wanted her to have something to remember her by.”

He saw a tear in Rebecca’s eye.  “That’s sweet to have a friendship like that.”

He nodded.  It still tore him up that he had to take them away from the friends they had grown so close to.  “I was thinking of telling Kari and Bethany that they could each bring a friend when we go camping.  What do you think?”

“Well, I’m thinking that you’re a brave
soul Thomas.”

“Maybe, but they have been so cooperative about this move.  I thought it would be a little award.  Frankie, Joey, and Judy are so close to in age that they could easily have fun together.  I think that it would reiterate the fact that I appreciate how much the older two have done to help.”

“I still say you’re a brave soul;” she laughed.  “To watch 7 kids, alone…” she paused for a moment and shrugged.  “If anyone could do it, it would be you.”

“They would be excited.”  He had contemplated asking her along, but he was afraid that would be too friendly.  He didn’t want to scare her off; especially when they had just formed this bond.  It would be best to just plan on going crazy with 6 girls and 1 boy, lost in the woods.  It was either going to be really fun; or really chaotic.  Either way it was going to be
one story to tell.

Thomas glanced at his watch; he hadn’t expected to stay at her house so late.  He was glad that Cassie and Seth had agreed to watch the kids at their place.  When he opened the door he noticed how quiet the house was; it didn’t surprise him, since it was going on 11:00.  He had figured that his children were already asleep.  Seth looked up when Thomas walked into his living room.  “Did you have a fun night?”

Thomas nodded and fell into the chair.  “I’m beat.  Where’s Cassie?”

“Since we had two cars here she took Savannah and went home.”

“What time did the party wind down?”  Thomas asked with a yawn.

“Well everyone, except for Bethany, fell asleep by 8:30.  Bethany watched a movie in her room and I just checked on her; she’s sound asleep.  I don’t think it’s been for long.”

“I appreciate you watching the kids tonight.”

He hadn’t told Seth or Cassie why he needed to talk to Rebecca and they didn’t ask.  He suspected that Seth thought something was going on between them, but he didn’t say anything if he did.  “It’s no problem.  How’s Rebecca doing?”

Thomas looked at Seth and smiled.  “She’s doing well; I reckon, but I can’t read her mind.”

Seth laughed at that response.  “I never could either.”

Thomas had a lot of things he wanted to ask Seth about Rebecca, but he was always worried that it would be crossing the line.  At that late hour, Thomas didn’t worry about any of that.  He just put his foot on the gas pedal and went.  “Would you like some coffee?”

Seth laughed.  “Why?  Are you going to keep me here all night?”

Thomas sighed and stood up to go to the kitchen.  “Possibly; so, what do you say?”

“Sure; I could use a cup.”  He followed Thomas into the kitchen and Thomas busied himself to making the coffee.  “What’s on your mind?”

“I don’t know; to tell you the truth.  Tonight I told Rebecca that I feel like a friendship is forming between us, but…”

“But…”

“It could be more.”  When he spoke the words, he couldn’t turn to look at Seth.  He was worried about what he was thinking; after all Seth dated Rebecca for awhile and it was kind of like his territory.

Thomas turned to Seth and shrugged.  “I don’t know.  I’m conflicted, because she’s a great girl; I will admit to that.  I just don’t want to see her get hurt.”

“Who do you think is going to get hurt; you or her?”

“What do you mean?”

“Are you afraid that you’ll let your guard down and she won’t reciprocate any feelings that you have?”

He thought about that for a moment and while it was possible; he didn’t think that was his problem.  “I don’t know; you tell me.  Do you think she could ever fall for a guy like me?  You probably know her better than anyone.  What do you think?”

“I think that it’s a possibility, but there’s just one thing.”  Thomas raised his eyebrows to show that he was interested in him going on.  “Are you falling for her?”

Thomas snickered.  “There were moments when I thought I might, but then I look back and realize that what I had with Scarlett was too precious to forget.  I then kick myself for even thinking about her as more than a friend.”

“You can’t put off moving on, because of the past.  Scarlett wouldn’t want you miserable and I have told you that many times.”

“Yeah; so has Cassie.”

“Then what’s the problem? Maybe you need to explore the feelings that you think you might have.”

“Or…maybe I should just forget it and realize that it’s a crazy notion that I have.”

‘Why would you want to do that?”

“I don’t want anyone hurt and I feel that if I press forward and it doesn’t work out someone is going to pay the price.  Not to mention, that someone could be my children.  She is too much of an integral part of their lives now.  Let’s say that we started to date and found out that we make much better friends than a couple.  What would happen then?  She could decide that she wanted nothing to do with me or my kids and they would be the ones to ultimately pay the price.  I can’t take that chance.”  He poured Seth a cup of coffee and
put it on the table.  “Besides…” he turned to him and cocked his head in wonderment.  “Why would you be pushing for me to get involved with your ex?”

Seth’s eyes got big and Thomas feared that he had gone one step too far.  “Wow; I didn’t see that coming.”  The sarcasm was evident
in his voice as Thomas turned away from him.  He could feel his heart beating fast and his palms were so sweaty that if he would have attempted to grab a coffee mug it would have fallen to the ground.  “Despite what you may think; we broke up on good terms.  I thought you knew that.”

“I did.”  Thomas kept his back to Seth as he waited for him to continue.

“I want her happy, because of what I have seen happen to her in her life.  I didn’t intentionally want to hurt her, yet that’s exactly what happened.  She broke up with me, but only because she knew I couldn’t get past losing Cassie.  She broke up with me because she has a big heart and she knew that I was in a relationship that I wanted out of.  I loved Rebecca, but the love we shared was different from anything I have had with Cassie.  She knew that and I knew that.  She was trying to be fair.  It’s because of that, that I want to see her finally get her happy ending.  Can you at least understand that?”

Thomas looked at him and nodded.  Everyone deserved to be happy at some point in their lives, but he knew he already had that.  “I’ve married the love of my life; now that she’s gone I think that it would be disrespectful to her to move on.”

“I suppose that’s something that you’ll have to find out on your own.  Again, I stand by the fact that, she wouldn’t want you to spend the rest of your life sad and alone.”

Thomas, in his heart, knew that Seth was right.  Scarlett would understand if he found someone else, but even 2 years couldn’t erase the pain that he felt when she di
ed.  He could live the rest of his life with only his children by his side.  “Let’s talk about something else.”  Thomas quietly poured himself a cup of coffee and sat across from Seth.  “Did you guys have fun tonight?”

Seth smiled; by the look in his eyes Thomas could tell he was still unsure about what they had just discussed.  “We did;” his face fell and when he looked at Thomas; he saw concern across his eyes.  “I think they’re missing you.  It’s no fault of yours, but you don’t get to spend very much time with them.”

Thomas felt bad to hear Seth say that.  It made him come to the realization that Seth was absolutely right.  “I should have stayed home tonight; this is another reason why I don’t have time to get into a relationship.  My kids have to come first and all of the extras need to be put on the back burner.”

“That’s not what I’m saying.  You have to have a life, but when I talk to the kids I just sense they wish you could spend more time with them.  They were glad you went to Rebecca’s tonight.”

“They were?”

Seth laughed.  “In the words of Bethany, and I quote, I like Rebecca; she’s good for dad.”

“Seth, is this another ploy to get me to…”

“Thomas, I am only speaking the truth.  They all adore Rebecca, but they all want some time with you.  They think that you work too hard.”

“Well, actually…I am taking next Friday off.  I have decided to go camping with the kids.  I need to some quality time with them too.  I am going to even invite a friend for Bethany and Kari.”

“Wait a minute; you’re saying that you are going to go camping with 7 kids?”

Thomas nodded.  “Why are you and Rebecca so shocked?”

Seth laughed; “Um, because it’s 1 adult and 7 kids.  Don’t you think that’s a bit too…too…”

“Nuts?”  Thomas finished with a smirk.

“I guess you could say that.  I just…more power to you.”

“Thank you!  I think that the kids will enjoy themselves.  They’ve never been camping.”

“Camping?”

He looked up as Bethany entered the kitchen.  “Were you eavesdropping?  I thought you were asleep.”

She shook her head.  “I thought I heard you were home.  I wasn’t eavesdropping; I just couldn’t help but hear.  When are we going to go camping?”

“We are going to go next weekend.  I thought you could invite a friend.”

“Can I invite Rebecca?”

He laughed and caught the look on Seth’s face.  “I was thinking of a friend more your age.”

Her smile turned to a frown.  “I like Rebecca.  Why can’t she come?”

When Thomas glanced at Seth he could see that he was trying not to laugh.  “It’s late we’ll talk about this tomorrow.”  She looked like she was going to object, but he placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her from saying anything.  “We’ll discuss it tomorrow.”

“Fine;” she leaned up and kissed him on the cheek.  “Goodnight dad; night Uncle Seth.”

“Goodnight Bethany!”  Seth replied with a chuckle.

“Goodnight sweetie.”  She smiled and then left the kitchen.  “Don’t even think about it.”  Thomas warned as he glared at Seth.

“I wouldn’t say a word.”  Seth replied, but then he started to laugh.  “I was just thinking that you could invite a friend too.”  Thomas threw a towel at him and he snickered.  “I was just saying.”

Thomas shook his head; somehow he needed to convince Bethany that it would be best to forget about inviting Rebecca.  It wasn’t going to be easy, but it was the only way.

____________________

Thomas sat watching his kids as they each were happily chatting away about the forthcoming camping trip.  He had waited to share the news with the rest of them after church was over and they were all expressing their excitement in their own way.  Even Judy and Joey were eagerly displaying how happy they were.  “I’m going to call Lily right away.”  Kari stated as she rushed to her feet.

“If her parents need to speak with me, let me know.”  She nodded as she ran to the phone.

He was relieved that Frankie didn’t seem to mind that she wasn’t going to take a guest.  “So…dad?”

He cringed when Bethany spoke.  “Yes Bethany.”  He tried to act like he didn’t know what was about to come, but he was failing miserably.

“Why can’t Rebecca come?”

“You don’t understand Bethany.  When you get older, it will all make sense.”

“I know that you like her.  I know that we all like her.  What more could I possibly need to know?”

“She’s a grown woman.  You can’t invite her on an overnight camping trip with a man and his 5 children, plus the 2 tag-a-longs.  It’s unheard of.”

“I said she could be my guest.”  He laughed; she
didn’t comprehend the point.

“I know you did, but you should invite someone like Heather; I thought she was your new best friend.”

“She is, but I want Rebecca to come.”

“Ugh…” he groaned.  “Why are you pushing this issue?”

She shrugged.  “Why are you not even considering it?”

He glowered at her and then started to laugh.  He had thought about it, he was up half the night thinking about it.  It was just that every time he made a pro about inviting her, he came up with 3 cons.  The most important one being that it was too romantic in his book; even if there would be 7 kids to cause the romance to die.  “She wouldn’t even want to come.”

“You don’t know that; she told us she liked to camp.”  A smile slowly crossed her lips.  “If she says she wants to come…could we invite her?”

He was worn out from arguing with her so he nodded.  “I suppose that would be fine, but I have to be the one to ask her.”

“Okay; call her now.”

“I’m not going to interrupt her Sunday afternoon.  She might not even be home from church.  I’ll talk to her tomorrow about it.”  He held up his hand.  “That’s the final decision; take it or leave it.”

She pretended to zip her lips and he smiled.  He looked up and saw Kari running into the living room.  “It’s all settled; Lily can come.  Her dad’s not home, but can you call her mom in a couple of days to make arrangements.”

“Sure;” it wasn’t going to be easy to get Lily from Avery, but they would figure out a way.  “Okay; we have a lot to do before…” he didn’t get the thought out of his mind
when he heard the doorbell.  He headed to the door and when he opened it, he saw Rebecca standing on his doorstep.  “Rebecca?”  He glanced up at the sky and shook his head.  Someone kept pushing them to be together, but this was just bizarre.  “We were just talking about you.  Come in.”

____________________

Rebecca entered the house and looked around.  She hadn’t been inside their house yet and it was nice.  “This is a beautiful home.”

“Thank you!  The kids are in the living room.”

“I’ll go see them, but honestly I came to talk to you.”

“Oh;” he looked interested.

“I wanted to apologize for last night.”  Her eyes fell to the ground.  “I wasn’t in a very good mood, so I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize Rebecca; you had good reason.”

She smiled at him.  “I appreciate that; I am sorry nonetheless.”

He nodded.  “Apology accepted.”

She let out a slow breath and looked towards the living room.  “Now, I can see the kids.”  They looked up as she entered and she smiled. “Rebecca, I didn’t know you were coming over today.”  Bethany replied as she stood up from the couch.