Authors: CJ Simpson
Daniel quickly jogged back toward where
Kat was waiting in the garage. He carefully removed Tyler from his shoulders
and set him down.
“Whew!” Daniel wiped his eyes with his
shirt, which was soaked and clung to his lean torso.
“Mommy, that was fun!” Tyler piped.
Looking at Daniel, he said, “Let’s do that again!”
Daniel squatted next to Tyler. “You see
that, big guy?” he pointed to the dark clouds. A lightning bolt appeared out of
the sky in the form of a zigzag pattern. It flashed a couple of times before
disappearing again.
“Whoa!”
A few seconds later, Daniel tickled
Tyler at the same time the thunder bellowed.
Tyler screamed and laughed at Daniel.
His face held a look of adoration as he smiled at the man next to him.
When Daniel stood up, he accepted the
glass of lemonade from Kat and drank it within a matter of seconds.
“Would you like a refill?” Kat laughed.
“Whew, I didn’t realize how thirsty I
was.” Daniel smiled. “Thanks, but no thanks.”
“Would you like to come in the house and
dry off?” Kat offered, stroking Tyler’s hair.
“I wish I could, but maybe some other
time.” Daniel replied. “It’s been a long day and I need to clean up.” His eyes
met Kat and she blushed.
“Okay. Well, thank you again for the
help.”
“It was my pleasure.” Daniel said earnestly.
“I really do enjoy helping others.”
Tyler was hopping from one foot to
another, waiting for his chance to speak. “Do you have to go?” he whined.
“Sure do, big man.” Daniel held out a
hand so Tyler could once again high-five it. He ducked out from the garage and
ran to his truck that was parked at the end of the driveway. Once inside, he
rolled down the window and waved to Kat and Tyler.
“Be careful driving home, okay?” Kat
shouted over the loudness of the pouring rain.
Daniel held up a hand and winked at her.
Then in a flash, he was gone.
A small feeling of disappointment
instantly washed over Kat. She had had a good day and didn’t want it to end. It
was funny how an odd circumstance such as a flooded church closet could draw
two people together.
Later that evening after she put Tyler
to bed, Kat went downstairs to take a shower. For the first time in a long
time, Kat didn’t work in her office that night to check her email, nor did she
say goodnight to Michael.
As she lay in bed that night, all Kat
could think about was Daniel. She didn’t want to admit it, but she was
attracted to him. She liked the way he carried himself around her and the
goofy, easygoing manner he used around Tyler. She realized that she didn’t want
him to leave earlier. She wanted him to stay. In fact, she wanted the evening
to go on forever.
Maybe he’s the shy one
, Kat mused.
Or
maybe he’s just not interested
. Sighing, she snuggled deeper under the
covers and closed her eyes.
He hated her now
more than ever. It was her fault that his life was falling apart. She was
responsible for everything that had happened to him so far. She was the reason
he was expelled from school. Because of her, he didn’t have the degree he
needed to advance in his company. As a result, he was ineligible for a
promotion.
Darryl Baker
angrily threw his empty beer bottle across the living room. When it made
contact with the wall, the bottle shattered into several large pieces. He was
seated on the couch, leaning back as he studied the mess he had made with the
place. Empty beer bottles and cans littered the living room and kitchen
counters. A pizza box lay on the kitchen table, its cover open, exposing a lone
slice of dried up sausage and pepperoni pizza.
He swore as he
raised himself up from the couch. He was hungry for something to eat but every
time he moved, his head pounded. He had such a bad hangover that even his eyes
hurt.
Staggering into
the kitchen, Darryl yanked open the door of the refrigerator and cursed when he
saw there wasn’t anything in it except for some condiments, a small loaf of
bread, and a case of beer on the shelf.
He walked over
to the kitchen table, picked up the slice, and bit into it. Gagging over the
foul taste of the food, Darryl spit it out of his mouth, not caring where it
landed.
Muttering under
his breath, Darryl walked back over to the refrigerator where he found a loaf
of bread hiding in a corner behind the beer. He grabbed it and set it on the
counter. Opening the package, he removed two slices and set them apart on a
plate. He took out the ketchup and mustard and smeared their contents onto the
bread. Darryl made a mental note to stop at the grocery store in a little
while.
He had had a bad
day yesterday at work. His boss wanted to talk to him about his schooling and
when Darryl had once again failed to provide documentation showing he had
completed his current course, he was forced to tell Matthew that he was no
longer enrolled in school.
When Matthew
told him he couldn’t give him a financial aid check and that he would no longer
be a candidate for Vivian’s position, Darryl broke down. He lied to his boss
and said that he was under a lot of pressure from his wife. He told him that
his wife resented the amount of time he spent on his computer, and that it was
taking away the time he needed to spend with their son.
He had made a
big production out of it, telling his boss that his wife and son meant more to
him than anything in the world. He was just under so much pressure. Couldn’t he
understand that?
Unfortunately for
Darryl, the company gave Darryl a choice to re-enroll or repay the financial
aid checks to the company. Darryl had until the end of the month to make his
decision. He had one week left and was running out of time.
As he ate his
mustard and ketchup sandwich, he thought about his plan for revenge against
Katherine Richards. He was going to hunt her down and make her pay for all of
his problems. He no longer had access to his classroom in which to download
materials from, but he recalled that her biography stated she lived on the east
coast. He remembered performing a search on Google and saw that she was one of
several faculty members who had been recognized for her outstanding
contributions to the curriculum development team. There had been several articles
about her work and one of them had a link to an interview.
Darryl became
excited. He had tossed his copy of Student Matters, but if he could somehow find
those articles again, especially the one with the link to the interview, he
might be able to see what she looked like. Perhaps he would even find a clue as
to where she actually lived.
Pleased with
himself for finally making some headway with his plan for retribution, he knew
he had to act quickly. Time was running out. He was going to find her, confront
her, and make her pay. He was going to ruin her life the way she ruined his.
Grabbing another beer from the fridge,
Darryl strode purposefully into his bedroom and turned on his computer. He had
a lot of work to do this weekend.
The doorbell rang and Kat hurried to
answer it. It had rained all week and she had a feeling that Rhonda didn’t
bother to use an umbrella on her way over to pick up Eli.
“When are you ever going to learn?” Kat
scolded her friend, stepping aside so Rhonda could enter the house. She was
drenched.
“Mommy!” Eli shrieked when he saw her.
He ran up to her and hugged her despite the fact his mother’s clothes were
dripping with water.
As she returned Eli’s hugs, she looked
at Kat sheepishly. “I didn’t think I was going to get this wet!”
“You never do, silly woman.” Kat
laughed, stepping into the half bathroom where she grabbed a hand towel.
As Rhonda patted her face dry, Eli
chimed, “Mommy, I don’t want to go home yet. I’m still watching a movie.”
“What are you watching?”
“Spiderman!” Before Rhonda had a chance
to say anything, Eli rejoined Tyler on the couch.
Kat smiled mischievously at her friend.
“Do you have a few minutes? I’ve got news.”
“Sure, I could always use some good
news.” Rhonda removed her shoes and wiped her feet on the welcome mat.
“First, let’s get you dry. Come with
me.” Kat ordered.
A few minutes later, Rhonda came out of
the bathroom wearing Kat’s robe. Kat had put her wet clothes in the dryer. By
the time the movie was over, Rhonda’s clothes would be dry.
Kat was in the kitchen peeling potatoes
when Rhonda joined her.
“All right, so what’s the big secret?”
Kat looked at her friend. “Remember how
I stayed at the church earlier this week to help with the clean up?”
Rhonda nodded. “Yes, I heard. That was
very generous of you to offer your shed for storing those things.”
“Oh, I was happy to do it. But that’s
not the good news I was referring to.” Kat began slicing the potatoes.
“Well?” Rhonda stood there, a hand on
her hip. “Spit it out, already.”
Kat laughed. “Well, after we finished
cleaning up, Daniel followed me back here to help me unload the stuff. After we
were done, I asked him to come inside the house.”
At first Rhonda didn’t understand, but a
moment later the significance of Kat’s statement became clear to her. Her eyes
grew wide.
“You did what?”
Kat nodded her head and smiled. “Sure
did. And you know what? It was so easy. I felt so comfortable asking him.”
“And did he come inside?”
“No.” Kat begin chopping the potatoes
into small cubes. “He said he needed to get back home. He and Tyler got caught
in the rain and he was soaked like you were when you first arrived.”
“Where were you?”
“I was in the garage. I went to get
lemonade and when I returned, I saw both of them sitting out on the pier.”
“And?”
“And nothing, really. When it started
pouring, Daniel carried Tyler on his shoulders back to the garage.” Kat opened
a cupboard and retrieved a colander. She scooped the cubed potatoes into the
colander then set them in the sink. She ran cold water over them. “He’s so good
with kids, Rhonda.”
Rhonda stared at Kat and noticed her
friend was blushing. “Yes, he is. Everyone at vacation bible school liked him.”
“Anyway, I was surprised at myself
because I felt so comfortable around him.”
“Kat, that’s terrific!”
“I can thank my doctor for that.” Kat
revealed.
“Your doctor?”
“Yes, remember? That’s why you watched
Tyler that morning?”
“Oh, yes! I had forgotten all about
that. How did that go?” Rhonda asked, watching Kat intently.
“Amazingly, it went very well. Pastor Cullen
recommended her—Doctor Sullivan—that day I went to see him.” Kat set a deep
sauce pan on the counter and dumped the potatoes in.
“Do you like her?”
“I do. She sat there and listened to me.
I mean, really listened to me. I don’t know if it’s because she’s a woman that
made it easier for me or what, but I told her everything.” Kat stopped what she
was doing and looked at Rhonda.
“Wow, and what did she say?”
“She started with the obligatory
it’s-not-your-fault-what-happened-to-you speech followed by asking me a bunch
of questions.”
Rhonda nodded, waiting for Kat to
continue.
“It was weird at first because I
expected her to do most of the talking, but it ended up being the other way
around.” Kat filled the sauce pan with water and set it on the stove. After she
added a pinch of salt and turned on the burner, she wiped her hands on the
kitchen towel.
“She asked me to describe myself and
where I saw myself five years from now.”
“That almost sounds like a job interview
question.” Rhonda mused.
“It did at first, but I think she wanted
me to see the person I’ve become, not the person I used to be before.”
“What about Tyler? Did you tell the
doctor about your conversation with him?”
“Yes. I told her that any discomfort I
feel in my life as I know it today is the fact that I haven’t been honest with
Tyler about his birth father.”
“What did she say?”
“Pretty much the same thing Pastor Cullen
said. That Tyler is too young to understand. By the way, Doctor Sullivan
specializes in multiple trauma cases.”
Rhonda nodded her approval. She was glad
her friend went to see someone who would be sensitive to Kat’s background. She
and Robert had gone to see a counselor who specialized in open adoptions so she
knew firsthand how important it was to find the right doctor.