Chapter 24
Faith
Randi was dreading and looking forward to her date with Martin. The night before they’d said some serious things, and she was excited about their relationship. On the other hand, she worried that something would happen to show one of them they were not meant to be a couple.
Her parents were at church, and she’d taken the pups out for a long romp in the backyard. After playing with them and working in the flower garden, she took a shower and started getting ready for her date.
She didn’t know if it was her doubts about Celia, or the fact that Martin was a star, but every day she sat wondering what new text or call was going to break her heart. The fact that Celia was going to move into Martin’s home was going through her mind. Should she have thrown a fit? Complain that he’s making a mistake?
Maybe he could have gotten her an apartment, or just flew her home to be with her parents. Now that would make Randi happy . . . seeing Celia leave California.
The dogs startled her with their barking and she glanced at her watch. Her parents were coming in from church and a Sunday dinner out. She’d talked them into not giving up their treat of a day out once a week. They were trying to conserve but it would do them good to be out and enjoy some time together.
Her dad didn’t seem to be as worried about the job situation as her mother, but he’d always been more laid back. He did have several questions about Martin. It had been great to talk about the man she was falling in love with.
They had sat at the table until midnight talking about Martin, his life and how they’d met. She could tell her dad didn’t like the whole story, but he didn’t say anything negative, and that was a relief.
Her mother had gone to bed early and that had left the two of them alone to chat. Since her dad worked so much she’d not spent as much time with him and she’d missed that. He listened more than he talked until it came to the part about Harley’s and trucks.
She assumed most men enjoyed talking about those things and promised that the next time Martin was driving around in the old Ford, she’d have him bring it by to show him. Her dad then told her a story about an old truck he owned years ago and how much he enjoyed taking it fishing.
The talk with her dad had given her an idea and she moved from trying to figure out what to wear to sitting on the bed and sending Martin a text. “Want to go fishing for our hot date?”
Five minutes later she picked up her phone. “Perfect. Don’t worry about fishing gear. I’ll pick you up at 2. Love, M.”
She smiled. This would be something that Martin would love. He’d talked about Celia not being an outdoors person, so she wanted to prove that she was. Also, it might take some of the pressure off if they were outside fishing instead of at some romantic restaurant, dancing.
Since they weren’t doing anything fancy, she dressed in jeans, a white t-shirt and pulled her hair back in a ponytail. She put on her tennis shoes and she, and the dogs, went downstairs to wait for Martin.
Her parents were sitting on the front porch enjoying the afternoon. They both had a glass of iced tea. Her mother was reading the paper and her dad was listening to a ballgame. The yard was fenced in so the dogs came with her as she stepped up on the porch. She took one of the empty chairs near her dad and took a sip of his tea.
He took out his earpiece, grinned at Randi and said, “You can have your own glass if you’d like; there’s plenty in the kitchen. What happened to your date?”
“Thanks, and nothing. We’re going fishing. I’m not sure there’ll be easy access to a bathroom, so I better lay off Mom’s tea.”
“You have a point, and fishing? Whose idea was that?”
“Mine. He likes to fish, camp, hike, he just doesn’t get to do much of it.”
“Not much of a date,” her mother said from behind the paper. “Remember, you’re setting the tone of what you’re willing to do. Don’t forget that. Unless you want to go fishing all the time, be careful what you initiate.”
“I don’t mind fishing. I’m willing to give and take. Martin may be rich but he’s blue collar. I think I’d enjoy about anything, as long as it was with him.”
Her mother made a noise, but Randi ignored it. It was easy to see her mother was still pessimistic about her new relationship. No matter. At least she had one parent on her side. She looked at her dad and asked, “What was your first impression of Martin? We talked about him but you never really said what you thought.”
“He’s a well mannered young man. I liked him, and I think once your mother gets to meet him, her opinion will change. Not all Hollywood actors are the same. He seems well grounded. You’ll have to invite him over for dinner.”
Again her mother scoffed with the sound of her voice. “I doubt seriously that he’d consider dining in a place like this. I’ve seen pictures of that monster of a house he lives in. I could be wrong but my guess is he’ll be busy that night.”
Randi tried not to show how much her mother’s comments were hurting, instead she looked at her dad. “I guess we’ll see in time. I better go make sure the pups have water before I run off.” She didn’t say anything else as she rose and walked through the house.
It took her a moment or two to get over the anger and hurt she was feeling. She checked the water and was walking back to the door to tell her mother that Martin would be out back in a few minutes, if she would like to meet him.
She stopped when she heard they were talking about her. She didn’t normally eavesdrop, but this time she did.
“You really should ease up on her. She’s falling in love and you’re going to miss it,” her dad said, and she could hear a bit of anger in his tone.
“I don’t think he’s the right man for her, and she’ll see I’m right in time. Wait until she comes home crying with a broken heart and we’ll see who’s right.”
“Where’s all of that Christian faith, my dear? Don’t you have any faith in all of the prayers we’ve sent up that she’ll find the right man?”
“You don’t find the right man by dating someone who’s seeing someone else. I can’t believe she thinks he could ever be faithful when he cheated on a woman he was living with.”
Randi sighed. A part of her had thought the same thing many times. She turned, walked back into the kitchen and to the back door. She stood leaning with her head against the door frame, a little disheartened and wondering if she was doing the right thing by dating Martin.
Was she being naïve? As she saw the new used white truck pull up and watched the window roll down to see Martin smiling, she knew that there was only one way to find out. She stepped out the door and walked toward the man she was falling in love with. She didn’t know if he was the one or not, but she was willing to put her heart on the line to find out.