Authors: Debra Clopton
“Uh, no,” Carissa told her. “He and the aunties go to a different church.”
“Oh.” Grace imbued that one word with a wealth of disappointment and sadness.
Carissa said nothing more, just fastened her seat belt and faced forward.
Chester drove them across town to the small, unprepossessing church where he and Hilda had worshipped for decades.
Buffalo Creek Christian Church was as plain inside as out, but the small congregation could not have been more welcoming or warm. A simple piano and a single guitar provided the music. A mixed quartet took the place of a big, robed choir. There were no media productions, but the worship was sincere and deep, and the pastor's message hit Carissa squarely in the chest.
The theme of the sermon, taken from the fourth chapter of Philippians, was that God supplied all our needs “according to the riches of His glory.” Carissa had to admit that her needs had been met, albeit in ways she had not foreseen. She trusted that would continue, somehow.
When they arrived back at Chatam House, Carissa was surprised to see Phillip and Kent carrying in large quantities of fried chicken and all the fixings. Chester chuckled when Kent called out that there was plenty for him and Hilda, too. Chester and Hilda always had Sundays off, and the household fended for themselves. The Chatam sisters had repeatedly invited Carissa and the children to join them for Sunday meals, while reiterating that they “ate simple,” out of deference for the Lord's Day, but Carissa had always taken the children out for fast food or managed a simple meal on her own. Today, however, Phillip made it clear that they were expected to join everyone else at the table.
“After the Independence Day celebration, the aunties feel that everyone deserves a break from meal preparation, so today we ordered in.” He lifted the bags, wafting the aroma of fried chicken on the July air. “Now, who wants a chicken leg?”
Grace immediately started hopping up and down. “I do! I do!”
Carissa sighed, knowing she couldn't refuse without risking a rebellion. Even Nathan was licking his chops. “All three of you had better be on your best behavior at the table.”
Tucker and Nathan both ran for the front door. Phillip grinned and winked at Carissa. “We ordered a chicken with six legs.”
She laughed. “That's a critter I'd like to see around the barnyard.”
“I prefer 'em all crispy and brown, dressing the dinner table,” Phillip joked, falling into step beside her as she followed the children.
She laughed again, relieved that no one seemed to be avoiding anyone anymore. Maybe he'd just been too busy to stop by on Saturday. No doubt he'd been obligated to spend time with his parents. Besides, it was just business, nothing personal. That was what she had to remember.
They went into the house. Phillip carried the food to the kitchen, while Carissa hurried the children into the dining room. Odelia and Kent were putting plates on the table, and they immediately deputized the children to lay out silverware and napkins, sending Carissa after drinking glasses. Meanwhile, Hypatia, Magnolia and Phillip transferred the food to serving dishes.
Chester and Hilda elected to take their meal to the carriage house, but everyone else gathered around the dark antique table in the old-fashioned formal dining room. High spirits prevailed. The Independence Day celebration coupled with Kaylie and Stephen's happy announcement had created a gay atmosphere among the Chatam sisters. Odelia had even dressed for the occasion in shades of pastel pink and blue, going so far as to wear one pink rosebud earring and one bluebell earring. Grace thought the earrings were adorable and kept checking out Odelia's earlobes, vacillating between favorites. She finally decided on the pink rosebud because, in her words, “Blue is for stinky boys.”
“Hey!” Phillip teased. “I'll have you know that I had a shower before church this morning.”
Grace erupted in giggles. “You're not a boy! You're a daddy.”
Phillip almost dropped his fork. Carissa felt her face heat, and throats cleared all around the table, while Nathan rolled his eyes before saying, “He's not a daddy. He's just a man.”
Phillip nodded stiffly and dropped his gaze to his plate. “That's right,” he said. “I'm just a man.”
Carissa rushed to fill the awkward silence with chatter. “Not all adult men are fathers, Grace. In fact, many are not, just as many adult women are not mothers.”
“None of us are mothers,” Hypatia pointed out, indicating herself and her sisters.
“We've always been content as sisters and aunties,” Magnolia said matter-of-factly.
“Except for me,” Odelia put in, squeezing Kent's hand. “I'm also a wife.”
“But not a mother,” Grace mused, sounding puzzled.
“Not a mother,” Odelia said a tad wistfully. “I'm a step-grandmother, though, and great-aunt.”
Grace just blinked and shook her head at that. Amused at herself, she began making goofy sounds. Tucker joined in, rolling his eyes and wagging his tongue. Carissa attempted to control them, but Grace's giggles proved infectious, and soon everyone was laughingâeveryone, Carissa noticed, except Phillip. He managed a smile, but his heart didn't seem in it. She wanted to squeeze his hand, as Odelia had squeezed Kent's earlier, but she didn't dare. Not when her heart reached out for his every time he was near.
* * *
He's just a man. Just a man.
Phillip had never felt so inconsequential, so pointless. Living in the same house with Carissa and her children was becoming more and more difficult. He felt constantly torn between seeking her out and avoiding her, between drawing her closer and keeping her at a distance. He felt drawn to her in a way that he'd never felt drawn to another woman, but he was painfully aware that he had nothing to offer her, not even a steady income. All his experience amounted to a lot of memories, some of them great fun and some of them not so pleasant, and yet he didn't know how to remake himself.
Oh, his parents had ideas about that. They'd made those notions plain when he'd seen them at Asher's on Friday and again when they'd taken him to dinner on Saturday. His dad had urged him to study for his CPA license, but Phillip didn't have the constitution to become a Certified Public Accountant. He would hate a job that made him sit in an office day in and day out, doing the same routine tasks. It just wasn't for him. His mother thought he should try for a teaching certificate, of all things, but Phillip could not imagine himself with a classroom full of Nathans or, worse yet, Tuckers. The idea of willingly walking into a classroom full of kids every day gave him the willies. He felt a new respect for his baby sister just thinking about it.
His mother had baldly accused Carissa of pegging him as her next husband, saying that it was understandable why a penniless widow with three children to raise would target a single man from a good family. Phillip had laughed at the idea. Maybe Carissa didn't hate him, maybe she even liked him, as Nathan assumed, but she certainly hadn't
targeted
him. If she had, Phillip didn't want to think how susceptible he might actually be to any lures that Carissa should cast his way, though what she'd want with him was a mystery. She needed a husband who could help her provide for her children, not an overgrown playmate for them.
If only they could make something of the smartphone app, he might cast some lures of his own. She could do worse than a Chatam, after all, even an irresponsible, self-indulgent one, for once she was part of the family, she would have all the support and help anyone could ever need.
The problem with the app came down to public interest, though. He didn't doubt that Carissa had the know-how to make the thing work, and he had all the contacts. His former employer and coworkers were all surprisingly enthusiastic about the possibilities. In fact, his previous boss had gone so far as to predict that streaming a climb live or on video would increase business by double digits, induce their clients to be better behaved and foster a greater sense of caution in everyone involved. The guy was so enthusiastic that he was talking it up to his suppliers and offering to underwrite a portion of the project. No, the one real unknown was whether the general public would show any interest in watching a climb in real time or on video. Only God knew the answer to that. As Phillip pondered the possibilities, he remembered a couple of points from that morning's sermon at Downtown Bible Church.
“Every experience is part of God's divine plan for you,” the pastor had said. “Maybe you've made mistakes, but mistakes are proof that you're trying, and God's plan is bigger than your mistakes, so wherever you are now, that's where God wants you at this moment.”
And where he was, at the moment, Phillip mused, was living in the same house with a woman who could very well make the smartphone app a reality, a woman who made him want to be more than he ever had been. If they could pull this off together, maybe they had a chance for something more. Maybe Carissa would begin to look at him as more than a friend to whom she owed her gratitude.
Even if that never happened, however, the successful development of the app could benefit her and the kids financially, and they needed it. Maybe he could give them that, at least. Phillip closed his eyes and sent up a silent prayer for Carissa and the kids. They had to come first. His wants hardly mattered next to their needs.
Maybe he was just a man, but it was time that he became the best man he could be, time that he thought of someone besides himself, so he swallowed the truth of the matter, put on a smile and made himself enjoy the remainder of the meal.
He found much to enjoy. The food wasn't as good as Hilda's, but the company couldn't be faulted. His aunties practically glowed, they were so thrilled for his cousin Kaylie and her husband, Stephen. Phillip had never thought much about babies before, but his little niece had gotten him to thinking. Ash and Ellie were so proud of her, so enchanted by her.
Phillip couldn't help comparing Marie Ella to Grace, wondering if she would one day be as charming and sweet. It didn't seem possible. Already their personalities seemed so different. He wondered how different Tucker and Nathan might have been as babies. Had Nathan been solemn and knowing even as an infant? Did Tucker always have that sparkle in his eyes? These questions seemed so important, but they frightened him, too. What if he never knew? What if Carissa resented him even asking? He knew he had no right to ask.
He focused on Odelia and Kent. Their love for each other made him smile. His parents seemed to find them ridiculous. He found them wonderful. As a boy, he'd always thought Odelia was a little odd, but he realized now that eccentricity was not the same as insufficiency. She was, perhaps, the wisest of them all. She certainly enjoyed life the most! He decided, secretly, that she was his favorite auntie. Not that he didn't love and value the others.
A feeling of such blessing swept over him that he almost laughed aloud. Fortunately, Tucker said something that made everyone chuckle, so no one noticed that Phillip might be unduly amused or pleased. It wouldn't have mattered if they had. He was too grateful to care at the moment, too determined, for he suddenly knew what he had to do, what he was supposed to do.
He'd never tried his hand at being a businessman; he'd never even thought of it until now, but somehow he knew that he had to at least make the attempt. A part of him acknowledged a certain fear or at least that he ought to be afraid of failure, but a larger part of him knew instinctively that this was what he'd been waiting all these weeks for, that this was the next big thing.
Oh, it wasn't like all the other times. The element of physical danger was missing, but nothing he had ever done had ever truly been important. This had meaning. So much meaning that he dared not even stop to think too much about it. But everything he'd done to this point just might have prepared him for this moment. He hoped and prayed that it was so, because he was about to take the biggest leap of faith of his life.
Chapter Thirteen
A
fter the meal, Phillip pitched in to straighten up the dining room and stow the few leftovers. Carissa sent the kids upstairs with instructions to change their clothes then quickly helped clean up before setting out after them. Phillip ran to catch up with her, ignoring the knowing looks that passed between Odelia and Kent.
“Carissa.”
She stopped and half turned to face him. “Yes?”
“Do you think you might have some time for me a little later today? I mean, if you don't have plans.”
“I don't have plans. Just give me time to change and get the kids settled.”
He decided that if he was going to do this thing, he ought to do it right. His mind awhirl with plans, he asked, “Will a couple hours be okay with you?”
“Uh, sure.”
A to-do list had been taking shape in his mind throughout the meal. It was a lot to get done in a short amount of time, but he thought he could pull it together if he had help. “I have to speak to my aunts. I'll see you later.”
“Okay.”
He didn't have time to explain more fully. Besides, it would be better to show her what he had in mind. Thankfully, his aunts were only too happy to help with his project. They understood that he and Carissa would need space to work that was close to the children, and Odelia had the perfect solution; the large storage room under the attic stairs beside Phillip's room would make a suitable office. It was on the same end of the house as the master suite and would be large enough for a desk, whiteboard and a couple of chairs. In addition, the attic contained enough space to set up a computer lab, as well as a play space for the children, if needed. Odelia asked Kent to help Phillip with the heavy work. She and Hypatia would figure out where to put everything unnecessary. Meanwhile, Magnolia volunteered to cull the attic for appropriate furnishings. While he changed his clothes, Phillip spared a few minutes to make a couple of phone calls. The first went to his brother. Then he got to work.
By the time he tapped on the door to the master suite, things were in place as much as possible. Carissa greeted him with a smile. Grace abandoned her TV show to try to climb Phillip, while Tucker rolled across the floor pretending to be a wrecking ball, and Nathan ignored him to read a book about boy archaeologists. Carissa invited Phillip to take a seat, but he'd barely sat down before Odelia and Kent arrived.
“I have something to show you,” he explained to Carissa, passing Grace to Odelia. Nathan glared at him over the top of his book from the easy chair. “It won't take long,” Phillip promised.
“Go see. Go see,” Kent directed, waving them toward the door. “The missus and I will stay here with the children until you return.”
Eager to show her, Phillip caught Carissa's hand and hauled her out of the suite.
“It's just an overlarge closet,” he warned, dragging her along. “It doesn't even have a window, but there's room enough for a desk, a whiteboard and your laptop. Most importantly, it's private and quiet.”
When he reached the former storage chamber, he threw open the door and stepped to one side. She put her head in and looked around.
“An office?”
“You can work here in peace,” he told her. “The cordless phone reception is just fine. We've already checked. I'll watch the kids.” She opened her mouth to speak, but he held up a hand. “Hear me out. I'm hoping that way you'll have time to work on the app. Now, come see this.” He grabbed her hand again and hauled her to the foot of the attic stairs, then he went ahead of her, explaining. “I've spoken to my brother, and he's agreed to draw up formal partnership papers.”
“Partnership, as in a business partnership.”
“Exactly.”
She seemed uncertain, so Phillip said, “I told him the split should be fifty-fifty, but if the terms aren't satisfactory, I'm open to negotiation. I know I can't do this without you, no matter how many contacts I have in the industry.”
“No, that's fine,” she said quickly, but then she fell silent as Phillip opened the attic door. “The kids will love it up here, but we're going to need equipment.”
“Just give me a list,” Phillip told her. “We have some underwriting, and I still have a few thousand in cash. Plus, my brother's offered to invest, too.”
She gave him a surprised smile. “All right, but I can't promise how many hours I'll be able to dedicate to this project. I'll have to make a minimum number of sales every day before I can leave my regular job and go to work on the app. Agreed?”
“Absolutely. Do you think you could give me a few minutes now to estimate the cost of development? And I'll be wanting that equipment list as soon as possible, too. I've promised a business prospectus to a couple of people.”
She raised her eyebrows at that but got down to business without delay. Phillip's excitement grew exponentially.
“Business partners,” she said wryly. “Who'd have thought it?”
He clasped his hands behind him to keep from reaching out for her. This was business. For now. “Stranger things have happened, I suppose.”
“Not that I can think of.”
“Well, you know what they say about God working in mysterious ways.”
“I think this definitely falls into that category,” she agreed. “Now, I think it's time we rescue your aunt and uncle.”
He chuckled at that. “You're probably right.”
They returned to the master suite to find Nathan reading aloud to everyone. He was very good, his voice full of drama as he finished the tale of the boy archaeologist and a fearsome mummy.
Everyone applauded, including Phillip. Nathan couldn't hide a grin, even while he tried to give Phillip a dirty look. Perhaps that was why Phillip invited Carissa and her children out to dinner; he didn't feel like eating aloneâor he didn't feel like letting Carissa out of his sight just yet. Strangest of all, he found that he wanted to spend some time with the children, too. Now, if he could just get through dinner without doing or saying something that would ruin the progress he'd made...
But everything seemed designed to try his patience. Grace almost spilled his iced tea. He had to track down Tucker and haul him back to the table three separate times, and Nathan vacillated between moody silence and downright rudeness. Despite all that, they managed to demolish two pizzas and make numerous trips to the salad bar in just over two hours. Through it all Carissa kept her cool, and so did Phillip. What was the point in losing his temper? Kids would be kids.
“You'll think twice before inviting us out again, I bet,” Carissa said at the end of the meal, after she'd prevented Grace from attempting to bus their table.
“Maybe next time it could be just two of us,” Phillip quipped, thinking that he'd like to take her for a nice, quiet, childless dinner.
Nathan snorted at that, challenging, “Like you'd take
me
anywhere.”
Phillip felt as if he'd been smacked in the back of the head with a hammer. Of course. Of all the children, Nathan would long for one-on-one time of any sort with anyone. How he must miss it, and Phillip suddenly wanted to give it to him.
“Well, now, Nathan. Where would you like to go, just you and me?”
Nathan looked away, but Grace immediately started jumping up and down.
“Me first! Me first!”
“You?” Phillip laughed. “And just where would you like to go, Miss Grace?”
“Tea party,” she announced, folding her arms.
“I beg your pardon?”
“Tea party,” she insisted, poking him in the thigh. “Just you and me.”
That was how he came to be sitting at a table in the sunroom the next day wearing a big straw hat and a string of beads when his brother came to deliver the partnership papers. Asher put his hand over his mouth, but the snickers escaped just the same.
Phillip glowered and sank down a little farther in his chair. “Laugh now. You'll be doing the same in a few years. Just wait until Marie Ella plans a tea party for you.”
“You're right,” Asher admitted, grinning, “but I never expected to see
you
at it.”
“That makes two of us,” Phillip grumbled, tossing the hat to the table and yanking the beads off.
“Lunch is over,” Grace announced with a sigh.
“It certainly is,” Phillip said, getting to his feet. He said to Grace, “I have work to do now.” Then he kissed her on the forehead. Hilda came into the room, wiping her hands on a towel. “Grace promised to help you clean up after our tea party. Call upstairs when you're done. I'll send Nathan down for her.”
“Chester can walk her back upstairs,” Hilda said.
“Good idea. Otherwise, I'll have to dig her out of Odelia's closet again.”
With that, Phillip and Asher headed up to the master suite to discuss the partnership terms with Carissa. As they climbed the stairs, Asher asked, “So, are you going to marry her?”
Phillip didn't pretend to misunderstand, but it took him a while to come up with an answer. “I seem to be headed in that direction.”
Asher laughed, but to Phillip it was not a laughing matter. In fact, it was terrifying, and it got scarier almost by the hour.
After Carissa had looked over the partnership agreement and signed it, Asher went on his way. Phillip presented her with sales projection numbers.
“They aren't very thorough because I don't know how much to sell advertising for.”
“Couldn't that wait until after the initial offering?” Carissa asked. “Once we have a better idea how many people might be interested in downloading the app, we'd have a better idea about advertising rates, wouldn't we?”
Phillip rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “That's not a bad business model. We might want to do that with the other apps we develop.”
“Are we going to develop other apps?” she asked in surprise.
“If this works out, why not? Asher has some ideas about legal applications, and we did tell Garrett we'd look into his idea about identifying plants.”
“You mean it? But...I failed at business before.”
“Doesn't mean you'll fail again,” he pointed out.
She stared at him for a long moment before dropping onto the couch. “You sound like Tom.”
Phillip felt a chill seeping into his veins. He carefully took a seat on the edge of the cushion next to her.
“You're like him in many ways, frankly. It's that rugged, he-man exterior, that try-anything-once attitude.” She threw out a hand. “Oh, you're more handsome, more polished, but then, you're a Chatam. No doubt, you're a jack-of-all-trades, just as he was.”
“Jack-of-all-trades, master of none,” Phillip muttered. “I've roughed it in the Canadian Northwest for months. I'm a skydiver of expert status, which means I'm suitable for instructing tourists. I've surfed every great beach in the world. I've worked as a commercial fisherman. And let's not forget the mountain climbing. Along the way, I've earned three degrees, none of which I've ever really used. Currently I live with my three elderly aunts. Yeah, I'm a real prize.”
“Commercial fishing,” she exclaimed, sitting up straight. “Surfing. Skydiving. Zoos. The Canadian Northwest! Phillip, we're talking about reality apps here. Why wouldn't it work for those things, as well as mountain climbing?”
He shot to his feet. “That's brilliant. And your father said you didn't have a head for business.”
“I don't.” She snatched up the folder and shook it at him. “But you do. All I do is write code and maybe do some computer design.”
“Then together we ought to be able to make this work,” he told her, pulling her to her feet.
She grinned. “I think so, too.”
Could they make
more than
business work between them? Phillip wondered, looking down into her face. Oh, how he hoped so! His gaze dropped to her lips just as something hit him in the back of the legs, knocking him against her.
“It's my turn!”
He looked down to find Tucker stepping up onto the coffee table. Phillip plucked him off it. “Your turn?”
“To go to dinner alone with you. Where are we going?”
Phillip looked at Carissa, who did her best not to smile, and mentally sighed. He should've known. If he did it for one, of course he'd have to do it for all. “What's your favorite food?”
“Tacos!”
“Mexican it is.”
“When?”
“It'll be a surprise.”
“Soon!” Tucker demanded.
“We'll see,” Carissa told him, indicating that Phillip should put him down. Phillip set Tucker on his feet, and Carissa pointed him toward his bedroom. “Out.”
He ran, because Tucker never walked, shouting, “Oh, boy! Phillip's taking me to a Mexican restaurant!”
Carissa folded her arms. “I'm afraid you won't have a moment's peace until you do it.”
Phillip gave her a sheepish look. “Might as well be tomorrow. Wednesday is church, and Thursday is grief support group.”
She nodded. “Tomorrow.”
He grinned. “Does that mean you'll ride to support group with me on Thursday?”
She chuckled. “Why not?”
“And church Wednesday night?” She hesitated, so he pressed. “They have lots of activities for the kids on Wednesdays.”
“That might be good for them. But you'd better ride with us. And it's only if I make my quota early enough.”
“You'll make your quota,” he told her, pleased. “I just know it. How can you not, with me hanging out with the rug rats?”
Smiling, she nodded. He stood there searching for something else to say for several seconds before dropping the folder onto the table and turning for the door. She followed him and then, at the last moment, laid a hand on his shoulder. He spun to face her.
“Phillip, are we crazy to think this might actually work?”