One Thursday Morning: Inspirational Christian Romance (Diamond Lake Series Book 1) (6 page)

The flame of the candle in the center of the table flickered as a warm evening breeze blew through the patio of the restaurant in downtown Spokane. Raising my hand to catch my hair in the breeze, I pushed strands behind my ear and smiled at Charlie as he sat across from me. His smile glowed in the light of the candle. He had a nice suit and tie on, and his scent was especially intoxicating tonight. Though we didn’t talk about whatever was weighing him down yesterday at the diner, we did learn a lot about each other’s quirky histories and he kept me laughing through most the night.

“I can’t believe you’ve
never
have had a s’more before,” he said with a laugh before proceeding to finish his last bite of chocolate cake. “You were
such
a sheltered child!”

Shooing a playful hand gesture out in front of me, I let out a laugh. “Oh, come on! I haven’t been
that
sheltered. I sneaked out when I was sixteen once.”

“Yeah . . . What’d you do?” He crossed his arms as his eyebrows went up and he leaned back in his seat.

“My friend, Chelsea, and I slept in her car.”

He folded over as he let out a laugh. “Slept in the car? Ooh. Risky.” Composing himself after another few moments of laughing, he settled down. He took a deep breath before smiling and looking me in the eyes. “You’re too cute, Amy. You know that?”

Calling me by my fake name brought reality crashing back into my world in an instant. I was so caught up in the evening and enjoying our time together that all the realities of my deception were suspended, and we were just two souls enjoying the evening together.
I wish he knew my real name.
Forcing a smile, I said, “Yeah? Cute?”

“Yeah,” he replied. Pausing for a moment, he gripped the arms of the chair suddenly and leaned in over the table. “You want to get out of here? Go for a walk in Riverfront Park?” He glanced over his shoulder at the moon and said, “Moonlight walk down by the falls?”

Without speaking a word, I looked into his eyes and saw the depths of his soul. He was happy—at least, in this moment, he was. Being the one responsible for bringing that warmth to his eyes filled me with joy. Though I wasn’t telling Charlie everything, I knew what was developing was real. And while I did love John once before, I never felt like just being with me was ever good enough for him. There always had to be something more going on—a movie, dancing, gambling, whatever. There was no such thing as ‘going for a walk’ with my John. Even those trips to the city were riddled with activities to stay busy.

My heart was moving fast with Charlie, but I couldn’t stop it. Every passing moment surpassed the moment before.

As we walked one of the bridges in Riverfront Park holding hands, he stopped and turned to me. “That boat is the only thing left of my dad.”

Bouncing between his eyes, I saw how much it meant to him. Worry and hurt hid behind his green eyes. “I’m sorry. There isn’t anything you can do?”

He shook his head and his chin dipped to his chest. “She said she’s going to sell it because she’s tired of paying the $250 a month to dry dock it and making sure its upkeep is all good. She’s just done. I can’t afford that kind of money right now, so she wants to sell it. I mean . . . I get it. It’s a lot of money to shell out for a boat, but it was
my
dad’s boat. Jody met my father ten years ago, and they were deeply in love when he passed in a tragic car accident a couple of years back. I guess between her marrying Wayne and now wanting to get rid of the boat . . . I feel like maybe she never really loved my dad.” He bit his lip and turned away as his eyes began to glisten by the obviously painful words he spoke. Walking over to the cement railing of the bridge, he stretched his arms out and grasped onto the edge with both hands. That invisible weight that I had seen yesterday at the diner appeared to be back on his shoulders.

Walking up to his side, I placed a hand on his back, and he looked into my eyes.

“It’s the last thing I have of
his
in this world, Amy.” His eyes turned away and to the rushing falls beyond the railing. The sound of the crashing water took over the silence in the air between us. Not sure what to do or say, I just stood by his side, keeping my hand on his back. After a few minutes, he said, “I don’t really share this kind of thing with many people. I’m sorry if I came across all . . . I don’t know. All emotional or something.”

I grabbed his hand and looked at him. “I love getting to know more about you. You can share anything with me.”

“Same goes for you,” he replied.

A smile grew from the corner of his lips as he threaded his fingers into mine and we continued our walk. We continued talking and enjoying the quiet summer evening as we walked around Riverfront Park. When we crossed the street back over to the car after our walk, I noticed another black Lexus RC parked a few parking spaces from Charlie’s car.
Is that the same one from the inn?
Unable to see the plates in the dark, I got in and soon forgot about it as Charlie’s gaze in my direction stole my attention.

“Hi,” I said, smiling as I looked into his eyes.

“Hi.”

Seeing him steal a glance at my lips, I said, “Could we avoid the weird porch thing where I pretend to fumble around for my keys and just get our first kiss out of the way right now?”

He laughed. “Way to kill the romantic suspense of the evening, Amy.” He adjusted in his seat so he was partially over the armrest, leaning toward me. “You really do know what you want.”

“Well, I’m just—”

He interrupted me by coming the rest of the way over the armrest and pulling my head toward him for a kiss. When his lips pressed against mine, it was as if a release valve blew and pressure began releasing. A deep warmth ran from my head, reaching down all the way into my toes and bathing my body in a bath of warming passion. Pressing against his direction as we kissed, the warmth pulsed within my chest. I could feel my heart beat harder and harder as the warmth grew inside me. I grabbed onto his jacket and slid it off his shoulders. His muscular shoulders and arms revealed themselves in the low lighting that shone in from the street lamp outside. All boundaries fell away in my mind as I looked him in the eyes. Dipping my head, I kissed him deeper as I began climbing over to his seat.

He grabbed onto my arms and gently pushed me back, making me want him even more. A serious look flashed across his face, and he said, “
Amy . . .
”

I bit my lip and dove back toward him across the armrest, but he resisted. Pushing me back again, he let out a laugh and then a groan.

“Calm down, babe. We can’t let this get carried away.”

I reluctantly relaxed back into my seat and looked over at him as my emotions began to calm back down. I was frustrated but thankful for his ability to control himself. He was sweet, far sweeter than any of the men I’d ever dealt with in my life. “Thank you,” I said softly before directing my eyes forward through the windshield. Sliding his jacket back on, he reached over and grabbed my hand, threading his fingers between mine.

“I care about you too much to mess up what we have,” he said. “That probably doesn’t sound right.”

I smiled. “It does.” The temptation was there for both of us, but we knew it wasn’t right.

Putting the car into drive, Charlie drove us back toward Newport. On the drive back, I started wondering why he would resist me.
It has to be his faith or moral compass of some sort.
Finally getting up the nerve, I asked, “Are you a Christian?”

“Yes. I’m a Biblical born-again Christian. You?” he asked, looking over at me.

My heart clung to that sweet response. “Yes. Where do you go to church?”

“Pines Baptist in the Valley. You?”

“Foursquare on the South Hill. You been going all your life?”

He nodded. The street lights on the freeway glinted through the car’s windows as we drove, allowing me to catch small images of his gorgeous face. Charlie made me not only feel safe, but cared for and adored like a precious gem. I could spend hours with him and love every moment of it. Unable to wipe the smile from my face, I felt happy, relaxed and at peace the whole ride back to town despite the slight rejection I felt.

After rounding the evening off with a few more kisses on my porch and almost breaking the railing a second time, Charlie headed home. Going inside, I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. It continued through the living room as I told Milo, “You should be worried. It might not just be me and you forever.” My grin didn’t even stop as I went down the hallway and into my bedroom to change out of my clothing and into pajamas. As I put lotion on my arms in front of my vanity mirror, I saw the glow Frank had mentioned. My heart was happy, and joy warmed throughout my body.
He’s seriously amazing . . . Thank you, God.

A hard knock came from the front door. Smiling, I thought,
he must have decided he needed another kiss.
As I made my way out to the living room, the knock came again. “Hold on, I’m coming . . .”

Not bothering to check the peephole, I opened the door, and it was if somebody threw a sack of bricks at my face. I slammed it as quickly as possible upon seeing that it was John. I pressed my back against the door as I began to hyperventilate. Turning around, I quickly locked the door and began to think of what to do as I scanned my living room.
Stay calm! Stay calm!

“C’mon,
Serenah.
It’s me, John. I’m not drinking anymore.”

Seeing the pepper spray on the entryway table beside me, I grabbed it and put my finger on the trigger. Still with the door locked, I stalled. “Since when?”

“I’m a year sober.”

“Cute. You waited for me to leave to sober up? How
sweet
.”

“Can you open the door so we can chat?”

Grasping the pepper spray, I shook my head as I shouted through the locked door. “No. I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

No reply.

Suddenly, a sound came from another part of the house. Realizing I had left my bedroom window open earlier to air out the house, I sprinted through the living room and down the hallway. Holding out my can of pepper spray, I went into the bedroom. Seeing his torso halfway through the window, I said, “Stop! I’ll . . . I’ll spray you!”

He looked up at me and pushed back his hair as it fell partially into his eyes. Smiling, he said, “Honey, put that down.” He came the rest of the way through the window and fell onto the hardwood floor.

“John, just get out of here! I’m going to call the cops.”

He stood up, raising his hands. “Don’t spray me with that,
and please, don’t call the cops. I just want to talk. I want to get back together.”

“Breaking into my house after I said ‘no’ to
chat
with you isn’t a good way of convincing me.”

He laughed and scanned the room. “So what? You move across the country and find a beater little project house to work on while you try to forget me?” His eyes fell back onto mine. Flashes of our life together came boiling to the surface, the good mixed in with the bad. “I found the pregnancy test,
Serenah
.” He glanced past me and said, “Where’s my child?”