Authors: Debra Clopton
Phillip reached across the table and covered Carissa's hand with his. “What do you say, partner? Ready to take on a couple of investors and grab the future by the horns?”
Several seconds passed before reality set in. They weren't offering to buy her out. They were offering to pour money into Chopper Apps, enough so that she wouldn't have to sell computer services over the telephone if she didn't want to! She wasn't sure what to say or do, especially about giving up her job. That seemed like an awfully big step to take, but with the Chatams behind this new project, her hopes soared.
Without realizing that she'd turned her palm up to meet Phillip's, she closed her eyes and said a quick prayer of thanks before nodding her head.
“Sounds great. It sounds just great.”
Phillip's fingers threaded through hers and squeezed. She couldn't stop her huge smile or the fluttering of her heart.
* * *
It didn't seem possible. Phillip could barely grasp the concept. Not only did his parents approve of the business venture, they hadn't said one word, negative or otherwise, about a romantic involvement between him and Carissa. In fact, they gave it their tacit approval in a very shocking way. After dinner on Sunday, they spent the remainder of the day with Asher, Ellie and Marie Ella. As requested, Phillip and Dallas put in an appearance at the evening meal, during which Maryanne casually suggested that she and Murdock take Carissa's children on an outing the next day, Monday, so he and Carissa could concentrate on business. Dumbfounded, Phillip must have stared at her for fifteen full seconds, after which she put down her fork and calmly reminded him that she was a pediatrician who had raised four children of her own.
“I think I'm fully capable of handling three precocious youngsters.”
Dallas promptly volunteered to go along.
Phillip managed to stammer, “I'll r-run the idea by Carissa t-tonight and get back to you.”
Carissa, of course, could not realize how unlike his parents the idea was. She assumed they were so anxious to see a return on their investment that they'd even babysit her children so she could work on the project. “I guess I could skip making calls tomorrow, and the kids would certainly enjoy the outing.”
Phillip let her think what she liked, but even the aunties stood at the door of Chatam House with their jaws ajar as Grace, Tucker and a very disgruntled Nathan trailed out between Murdock and Maryanne the next morning, a worried-looking Dallas bringing up the rear. Their destination was the Dallas aquarium. Personally, Phillip thought they'd get halfway through the place, lose Tucker, spend the rest of the afternoon searching for him and return home in a sullen huff. He stopped worrying about his parents and the children when, after hours of feverish work and several disappointments, the initial phase of the app finally performed like a charm.
Phillip had done nothing more than what he'd been told. Carissa was the boss in the lab, and he couldn't have been more proud. Elated, he scooped Carissa up out of her chair and swung her around the room.
“I knew it! I knew it. You're a genius.”
He plopped her down again, aiming an impulsive kiss at her cheek. Laughing, she unexpectedly turned her head just enough to bring her lips into contact with his.
They both froze as electricity zapped through the air. Then Phillip slowly straightened. Carissa turned back to the computer terminal, her fingers flying across the keyboard. He let his hand lightly caress the back of her head.
“Call Seattle,” she said, her voice sounding strangled. “Have them turn on the camera. We're ready for transmission.”
Phillip fought with himself, torn between hauling her up out of that chair to kiss her and doing as she asked. In the end, he put the business ahead of his personal needs. This was the ticket to financial independence for her and the children, their chance at the kind of life they needed and deserved. He called Seattle.
Nearly two hours of frustration later, they finally got a clear picture transmitting through Phillip's smartphone. By the time they were done, Carissa had worked all the bugs out and secured the uplink. Before they broke the connection, Phillip learned that one of the guides was taking up a party of six in two days. They expected at least three to reach the summit and one or more to cross the crater at the top of Mount Rainier and sign the book kept in the metal box there. It would be a climb worth transmitting and filming.
“Our first live transmission, and the first for our archive,” Carissa stated.
The climb could be viewed in real time, or the film could be watched later. They posted the app to go live thirty minutes after the start of the climb. In two days, they would be in business. While the transmission would run, uninterrupted on their live feed, they agreed not to track how many people were downloading the app until after church on Wednesday night.
His parents returned the children that evening with barely a word about how the day had gone. Nathan seemed more subdued than usual, but then, all of the children were obviously tired. Grace babbled about the penguins, Tucker mentioned the eels, and all three clutched pricey gifts that Phillip's parents had bought them. For Nathan, it was a large, glossy book about the oceans. Tucker got a model of a shark with a working jaw, and Grace carried a stuffed walrus almost as big as her. Phillip looked at Dallas, trying to ratchet his jaw back into place, but she just shrugged and offered him a limp smile.
Were these the same people who had considered Ellie too young and eccentric for Asher and had urged Petra to focus on career rather than marriage, until a mere carpenter had come calling? Nevertheless, Phillip couldn't imagine that becoming grandparents had softened his parents so much that they were not just willing but eager to accept a penniless widow and three less-than-perfect children into the family. Perhaps they thought that once Carissa was financially sound and independent, she would have no more use for their vagabond younger son.
When Carissa started to protest that his parents shouldn't have spent so much money, Phillip interrupted to announce that the app would go live on Wednesday morning. Murdock and Maryanne greeted this news enthusiastically. Then Murdock confirmed Phillip's worst suspicions by clapping a hand onto Dallas's shoulder and saying, “Call that Realtor friend of yours, honey. I think Chopper Apps needs a new home!”
Carissa said that she needed to work, but Maryanne waved that away, saying that Carissa shouldn't let Phillip and his father make all the decisions.
“You'll wind up working in luxury offices and living in Chatam House from now on, if you do. Of course, if you want to stay on in Chatam House...”
“No,” Carissa hastily retorted. “No, we've imposed long enough.”
“It's no imposition,” Phillip assured her firmly.
“Dallas, you'll stay with the children, won't you?” Maryanne asked smoothly.
Dallas shuttled a glance helplessly back and forth between Phillip and their mother. “Of course, if that's what everyone wants.”
“Well, it's settled, then,” Murdock decreed heartily. “We'll go right after breakfast tomorrow.”
Phillip glanced at Carissa, ready to argue the matter if she balked, but she nodded. His parents took their leave of the children with handshakes and shoulder pats, but at the very end, Phillip caught a wink that his father sent Nathan. The boy's conspiratorial smile turned the butterflies in Phillip's stomach to lead weights.
Something was afoot. Phillip just knew it, and he meant to find out what it was.
Chapter Fifteen
A
fter his parents and Dallas left, Phillip hung around the suite while Carissa spoke to the children about their day. Dr. Maryanne, as they'd been told to call Phillip's mother, had apparently anticipated Tucker's every move and kept him smoothly in check, leaving Grace to her “bffn” Dallas and Doc to shepherd Nathan. He could just imagine his father pumping Nathan for information about his mother's relationship with Phillip.
Because the children were tired, Phillip stuck around to help tuck them into bed. He was shocked when Nathan sat up in the lower bunk and said, “Doc doesn't treat me like a stupid little kid.”
Phillip glanced into the hallway, saw Carissa pass into the sitting room and backed up, carefully closing the door behind him. He crouched down beside the bed. “That's because you're not a stupid little kid.”
Nathan flopped down onto the pillow and folded his arms atop the covers. “Doc says the Chatams don't have stupid kids.”
“He's right about that.”
“But I'm not a Chatam.”
Phillip wanted to say that he could be. Instead, he said, “So, what else did you two talk about?”
Nathan removed his glasses and set them on the bedside table before softly answering, “Forgiveness.”
Jolted, Phillip sat cross-legged on the floor. “What about forgiveness?”
Nathan drew his brows together. “Doc says I'm mad at God for letting my dad die.”
Phillip caught his breath, but he managed to keep his cool.
Nathan continued. “Doc said I could just ask God to forgive me, and He would, because of everything Jesus did on the cross.”
“That's right,” Phillip managed.
Nathan went on in a thick voice. “Doc said I could say it anywhere, anytime, that I didn't have to wait for church or anything. So I prayed with him.”
Phillip reached out and clasped the boy's hand. “You know something, Nathan? I need to ask for forgiveness, too. I haven't always given my dad the respect and honor he's due. Maybe...maybe you could help me pray now.”
Nathan rolled onto his side, facing Phillip, and closed his eyes. “Sure,” he said, his hand still in Phillip's. “Just say, âGod, I'm sorry' and stuff.”
Smiling, Phillip began to pray, words pouring out of him without thought. “Lord, thank You for my father, and thank You for Nathan's father. I don't know why Nathan didn't get to keep his, but I'm glad I got to keep mine, and I'm glad I get to know Nathan. Forgive me for not always appreciating my dad and how much he cares for me. Forgive me for not always appreciating You and how much You care for me and all of Your children. Help me make my dad proud. And Nathan, too. And You especially. In Jesus's name. Amen.”
“Amen,” Nathan said.
“Amen” came from the top bunk.
Nathan rolled his eyes. Phillip bit his lip and winked. Nathan rolled onto his back and showed every sign of falling asleep. Phillip resisted the urge to ruffle his hair and instead rose to swiftly cross the room and slip out.
He took a moment to compose himself before sauntering into the sitting room. Carissa looked up from the sofa. “Everything okay?”
“Sure. Nathan just wanted to talk for a minute.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, he likes my dad,” Phillip said lightly. “Go figure.”
Her brow furrowed as if she wasn't quite sure what to make of that, but then she smiled. “Sounds like they had quite a day.”
“Mmm-hmm.”
“Well,” she said, abruptly getting to her feet, “we have a busy day scheduled tomorrow. Best call it a night.”
He let her see him out, knowing that he had some thinking and prayingâand maybe some growing upâto do. He'd jumped from experience to experience, relishing the new and the unusual, responsible for no one and nothing but himself. He'd felt himself beneath the attention of God, and that had been fine with himâuntil he'd met Carissa and her children. Now he knew how wrong he'd been. God had been trying to get his attention for a very long time, and he had ignored Him, just as he'd ignored his parents.
Phillip had never worried about finding or keeping a job, always knowing that he could find work somehow doing something, but now he was afraid to fail and afraid to succeed. If he failed, Carissa and her children would continue to suffer, and if he succeeded... The idea that Carissa and the kids might not need him anymore was almost more than he could bear. He loved them. He loved her. He loved everything about her: her never-say-die determination, her work ethic, her pragmatism, the dreaminess in her deep blue eyes that she tried so hard to hide, her laughter and her tears, her breathtaking beauty and the way she fit into his arms. He even loved the way she accepted each of her children for the individuals they were and how she revered her late husband's memory, though he had left her in a heap of trouble.
For the first time in his life, Phillip Chatam had found something that he truly wanted, and he had no idea how to get it. All he could do was ask God to make him worthy of Carissa and her children. He wished fervently that he'd listened to his parents when they'd counseled him to build for the futureâand prayed that it wasn't too late.
* * *
Nathan's cheerfulness worried Carissa. She feared that he knew Phillip's parents intended to torpedo his relationship with her, with Nathan's help, no doubt. Still, it was all in God's hands. She couldn't make Phillip want herâthemâand she couldn't make his parents approve. All she could do was trust God to do what was best for her and the kids. So she rose Tuesday morning and prepared herself to spend the day viewing office space with Phillip and his parents. When she called her employer to say that she would be taking off another day, she was warned that her job was in jeopardy. She had done well the previous week, but if she failed to meet her monthly quota, she would be fired. So be it.
Immediately after breakfast, they set out, with Phillip driving his father's car and Murdock sitting beside him, leaving Carissa in the backseat with Maryanne. They looked at a number of properties: one particularly attractive office building just off the downtown square, several unique structures with many commercial possibilities and what amounted to an estate with a large house and a barn converted to a small leather-goods factory that had outgrown its space. The final stop was a spacious but affordable home in a well-established neighborhood a couple of blocks off Main Street. Zoned as mixed use, the house occupied a large lot with deep driveways on both sides. One led to a three-car garage, the other to an attached office of a similar size. It was the house itself that captivated Carissa, however.
Built of creamy brick and native rock with a tan roof, it might have appeared rather vanilla in appearance if not for the graceful crepe myrtles, sheltering oak trees, neat shrubbery and clinging ivy that surrounded the building. She knew that the children would flip over the pool in the backyard, a smaller version of the one at Chatam House, but Carissa stared in delight at the pale tile floors that flowed through the light, airy great room and the large, open kitchen, separated only by a freestanding fireplace with a deep hearth all the way around. Four bedrooms and a den completed the first floor with a game room above. This was the kind of home where children could run and play as they grew, where a couple could entertain friends poolside on a summer day or fireside during the winter.
“This would be perfect for you and the children,” Phillip said, “and the office space seems adequate.”
“But what about you?” Carissa asked.
“Oh, he can stay on at Chatam House,” Maryanne put in nonchalantly.
“For now,” Murdock added.
Ignoring his parents, Phillip took her hand in his. “You really like this place, don't you?”
She chose not to answer that. It would be unfair for her to wind up with this beautiful home while all Phillip got out of it was a place to work. “I think we need to pray about it.”
Maryanne looked around with dismay on her face. “Oh, but it's such a perfectâ”
Her husband cleared his throat, his hands alighting upon her shoulders. “Carissa has a point. It never hurts to say an extra prayer on a matter.”
“You're right, Dad,” Phillip said.
Murdock harrumphed, cleared his throat again and gave his wife a nudge, saying, “Let's give these two a moment to talk, shall we?” Maryanne nodded, and they went out.
“We'll pray on it,” Phillip said, watching his parents through the window as they got into the car, Maryanne in the front passenger seat this time, “but something tells me this is the place.”
The place for her and her children, Carissa thought. Then he would be free to carry on with his adventures. Without them. She looked around at this beautiful house and her eyes swelled with tears.
* * *
After checking to make sure that the app had gone live as planned, Carissa insisted on working at her regular job on Wednesday. Phillip insisted on taking care of the children so she could make phone calls. His parents insisted on staying in town one more day.
“You agreed not to track participation until this evening after church,” Murdock said at breakfast. “So, we'll get the first reading on the success of this thing, then we'll be on our way in the morning.”
Phillip seemed not to mind, and Carissa couldn't see what difference it made. Phillip would do what Phillip would do, no matter what his parents wanted. He always had. He interrupted her just after lunch to say that the head of advertising of a climbing-gear manufacturer had called him to inquire about buying ad space with Chopper Apps. Phillip had promised to put the company's name on a list and get back to them.
“That's a good sign, don't you think?”
“A very good sign.”
Nevertheless, by the time they left for the midweek service, Carissa felt that her insides were tied into knots. She prayed fervently for the success of the business, the well-being of each of her children and for Phillip. She prayed for herself, too.
Phillip drove her old van as they returned home after church. As they crested the slight rise in the long, circular drive, a trio of vehicles came into view: the aunties' town car, his parents' sedan and one other. Carissa groaned.
At the same time, Grace cried, “Lexi!”
“Oh, no,” Phillip and Nathan said in unison.
“Just what we need,” Carissa muttered.
“It'll be okay,” Phillip promised, but the idea of his parents and her mother in the same room was enough to make Carissa physically ill.
They found them sizing up one another in the front parlor. The aunties had already made the introductions and ordered a tea tray. Alexandra seemed to be trying to decide how to enlist these newest Chatams to her cause.
“Both doctors,” she purred from the settee next to Magnolia. “Impressive. Then again, the Chatams have so many more resources than most folks. I guess that's why my daughter has taken such shameful advantage of your sisters, Dr. Chatam, sir.” Behind her, Leander shifted uncertainly.
“No one takes advantage of my sisters, madam,” Murdock said, taking a stern tone. “It is impossible to take advantage of those as generous as my older sisters.”
“At any rate,” Maryanne put in from a striped wing chair, “Carissa is almost family.”
“Oh, my, yes,” Hypatia agreed smoothly from her usual seat. “Why, she is the dearest niece of our own Chester.”
“And our son's business partner,” Murdock added, moving to stand behind Maryanne's chair, Dallas perching daintily upon the chair's arm.
Kent occupied another side chair. Odelia sat upon its twin next to him, her vibrant red-and-yellow-striped suit in stark contrast to the tasteful gold damask upholstery. Phillip, Carissa and the children clustered together in front of the fireplace, until Alexandra enticed Grace to come to her as Chester carried in the tea tray.
“Don't you want to sit in Lexi's lap, darling? I'll share my sweets with you.”
Grace looked to her mother for permission and, at Carissa's nod, slipped across the room. The aunties passed around cups of tea and plates of goodies. Chester hovered near the door, shadowed by Hilda.
“Now, what is this about a business?” Alexandra asked offhandedly as Grace nibbled cookies.
“Carissa has developed a smartphone app,” Phillip explained succinctly.
Alexandra chuckled dismissively. “More of her computer nonsense. It never comes to anything.”
“It will this time,” Carissa said softly. “It was Phillip's idea, you see, and the Chatams have invested in it.”
“You'll run it into the ground, Carissa,” Alexandra predicted, “just as you did the last time.”
“This is different,” Carissa asserted.
“For one thing,” Phillip said, “this is a viable thing. For another, she's not alone anymore.”
“For how long?” Alexandra scoffed. “Until you run off to your next little adventure? I know all about you, Phillip Chatam. Before long, you'll be off flying helicopters or hang gliding or something else equally foolish.”
“I won't,” Phillip insisted, looking down at Carissa. His hand found hers and pressed it. “I promise you. We'll do this together.”
“They're already doing it together,” Maryanne observed, “and very well, it seems to me.”
“Carissa is no more equipped than you to run a business,” Alexandra said to Phillip, ignoring Maryanne. “She has three children, and because she refuses to let anyone help her, it'll be years before she's free to concentrate on anything else.”
“You won't help me by splitting my family,” Carissa said flatly.
“There. You see? She won't take help even when it's best for her little ones,” Alexandra accused, wrapping her arms around Grace.
“You are
not
splitting up this family,” Phillip declared with some heat. Carissa noticed that Nathan slid back a step and pressed close to Phillip's side. Tucker, who stood in front of his mother, tilted his head back to gaze up at Phillip.