Chapter 19
“Lauren, that was the most delicious birthday dinner I’ve ever had.” Danny leaned back, folding his hands over his stomach.
“I told you,” Tyler said. “Her salmon is the best.”
“Sorry it was so late.” Lauren placed David back in his highchair before gathering plates.
“That’s one of the hazards of having a birthday between Thanksgiving and Christmas.” Danny shrugged. “I’m used to it. Shel did a good job spoiling me the first week of December. Now I’m getting it from my family and you.”
“Well, cake is next.”
“Let me help.” Shelly stood.
“No. You’re fine.” Lauren motioned for her to sit. “I’ll be right back.”
Shelly’s eyes followed Lauren from the room then narrowed at Tyler. “We need to talk.”
“What’d I do?” Tyler glanced to Danny, who shrugged.
She leaned forward, hands on the table. “I had a dream last night—”
“Shel,” Danny placed a hand on her back, “you can’t be mad at him because of a dream.”
“Um, yes, I can. It was bad. You up and left. Disappeared.” She pointed toward the kitchen. “She wasn’t mad like when you went to Africa, but devastated. Out of control, weeping hysterically, devastated.” Shelly sat back down. “When I woke, I realized I’ve been defending you for almost a year. Telling her how much you’ve changed, how different you are. And you seem to be—”
“Shel, this isn’t fair,” Danny said. “It was a dream.”
“It’s okay,” Tyler held up his hand to Danny. “So?”
“You aren’t leaving again, are you? I mean, I know you care about her, but if you’re tired of waiting, I need to know to prepare myself for the fallout.” She frowned at David. “I wasn’t ready for all the trouble she had with little guy and I was a wreck. I have to be strong for her if you leave. I know how stubborn she can be, so if you need to move on, I understand.”
The corners of Tyler’s mouth slowly turned up. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Shelly searched his face. “What if she keeps dragging her feet?”
“I’ve waited almost seven years. What’s another seven?”
David pounded on his highchair tray before shoving his fist in his mouth, drool streaming out.
“Hey, little man. Those teeth are finally breaking through, aren’t they?” Tyler substituted David’s fist with his knuckle. He began chewing wildly on it. “Oh yeah, I feel them.” Tyler tilted his head back. “Hey, Lauren, will you bring David a teething ring?”
“Sure,” she called. “I’ll be right there.”
Shelly glanced from David to Tyler. “You’re really sold on her, aren’t you?”
“On both of them, actually.” Leaning over, he kissed David on top of the head. “I’m not going anywhere unless it’s with you, huh, buddy?”
“Okay.” Lauren entered carrying a double layer cake with birthday candles covering the top and a teething ring dangling from her finger. “One chipotle-chocolate birthday cake and one teething ring.”
“Chipotle chocolate?” Danny slid his arm around Shelly. “That sounds fabulous.”
“It is. Not quite as good as the salmon, but up there.” Tyler switched out his knuckle for the ring. “I’ll grab the ice cream and a torch to light up those candles.”
“I’m taking Lauren out New Year’s,” Tyler told Danny when the girls left to put David to bed.
“Oh yeah?” Danny leaned back into the couch. “Where are you guys going?”
“The theater and dinner at the Grand.” Tyler paused. “I think it’s a date.”
“Oh.” Danny raised an eyebrow. “What makes you think that?”
“When we were saying good-bye on Christmas, she said Richard offered to watch David and she thought it would be fun to go to dinner and a show.”
“Well.” Danny stretched his feet out on the coffee table. “You guys have been hanging out together. I mean, it’s obvious you’re best friends.”
“Maybe it was the way she hugged me.” Tyler bit his bottom lip. “Or how she took my hand.”
“Ahhh. You went back to limited physical contact since she got out of the hospital?”
“Yeah.” Tyler ran his hands through his hair. “Man, I gotta tell you, I’m a mess. I don’t know what to think. A month ago she was trying to set me up and was going out to lunch with the youth pastor. Now,” he sighed, “it could be happening. For real. I want to do the right thing.”
Danny nodded. “Have you prayed about it?”
“Every day.”
“And?”
“It keeps coming to mind that I should wait until the year anniversary of Adam’s death to say anything.”
“I think that’s reasonable.”
“So, what do I do?”
Danny scratched his head. “Are you going formal?”
“Yes.”
“Take her flowers because that’s the right thing to do. Beyond that, open doors, offer her your arm, but keep your hands off. In fact, make sure you drive and don’t take a limo. That way you’ll be occupied in the car.”
“Good idea.” Tyler nodded. “Can you pray for me? I need to make sure I’m following God’s plan and not my own.”
Danny leaned forward. “Absolutely, bro.”
“Are you going out with Shelly?”
“Yeah. You could pray for me, too.”
“Still haven’t kissed her?”
Danny shook his head. “No. I figure first I need to work up the courage to tell her I love her.”
“I thought you were telling her at Christmas?”
“All my sisters were there.” Danny laughed. “They’re great, but they add an element of drama to everything. Especially Lydia. I knew if I told Shelly, Lydia would have me out shopping for rings the next day.”
“And why is that so bad?”
“It’s not. I mean, I do love her.”
“Is it Kat?”
Nodding, Danny stared at the carpet. “I know what happened was God’s will to bring me home, but it hurt.” He raised his eyes. “It still hurts sometimes and it was fifteen years ago. I get why Lauren is dragging her feet with you. Once you’ve lost someone you love, it’s hard to go there again. Shelly is so great. Encouraging, funny, loves God. We’ve only been dating four months, but I can’t imagine life without her.”
“No fear, man.” Tyler placed his hand on Danny’s shoulder. “God made you for each other. You don’t need to fear losing her.”
“So, you guys going out New Year’s?” Shelly asked as Lauren changed David.
“Yes,” Lauren said. “Dinner and a show.”
“Like a date?” Shelly’s eyes widened.
“Like I haven’t been away from my son for more than a few hours since we got home from the hospital.” Lauren tickled David’s belly, making him giggle. “I think I’m ready. Dad’s excited to babysit.” She sighed. “It’ll be fun.”
Shelly chuckled. “Sounds like you’re trying to convince yourself.”
“You know the media.” Lauren pushed David’s feet into his jammies and zipped him up. “It’ll probably be blown out of proportion. We’re only friends.”
“Well,” Shelly beamed, “we’re going to San Diego on New Year’s to meet with his family. Dinner, maybe dancing.”
“You staying down there?” Lauren lifted David to her shoulder.
“I’m staying with his sisters, Anna and Mary, at Lydia’s house. He’ll stay at the hotel with his parents. His family is so wonderful. Generous and loving.” Shelly bit her lip. “He’s everything I ever wanted and more. You know, he hasn’t kissed me yet.”
“I’m not surprised.”
“He almost told me he loved me.”
“He did?”
“Yeah, on Christmas. He said ‘I love’ and then paused. He ended up saying ‘I love spending time with you.’”
Lauren smiled. “Be patient. I don’t think he’s ever really had a girlfriend. I think he was more focused on the Lord and his writing.”
“There was Kat, remember? From the streets?”
“Oh, right.” Lauren recalled hearing him talk about the girl he had met on the streets. The only girl he had ever loved. “Does he talk about her much?”
“He brought her up once and started crying.” Shelly sighed. “Seriously, Lauren, he’s so amazing. Sometimes I lie awake at night wondering why God has blessed me with such a great guy.”
“I told you it would be worth the wait.” Lauren kissed David’s cheek before laying him in his crib. “God’s timing is perfect, amen?”
David kicked his feet at amen.
“Yeah, it is,” Shelly agreed.
The competition was fierce. Tyler knew Lauren had a competitive streak but had never seen it to such a degree. It was obvious Shelly brought it out in her.
Mini whiteboard in hand, Shelly faced Danny after reading the word to herself. “Are you ready?”
Danny leaned forward, clapping his hands. “Yes, we got this.”
“Ready.” Kneeling beside the coffee table, Lauren lifted the timer. “Go!”
Shelly drew an oval on the whiteboard.
“It’s an oval,” Danny said calmly.
Shelly added lines inside the oval.
“It’s a potato!” Danny shouted.
Shelly shook her head and held up two fingers.
“Two words,” Danny said. “Red potato! Russet potato! Golden potato!”
“Mashed potato!” Tyler added.
Lauren smacked his leg. “Don’t help!”
Shelly shook her head vigorously, adding scribbles down the top of the oval.
“Hairy potato!” Danny shouted.
Shelly grunted in frustration.
“It’s a sock! A crew sock!”
When she drew lines at the bottom, Lauren leapt up and sat in Tyler’s lap. His pulse immediately increased.
“I think it’s a shoe,” Lauren whispered in his ear. “A tennis shoe.”
“Nah,” Tyler whispered in her ear. “Lima bean.”
Lauren laughed. “No.”
Shelly continued drawing, Danny screamed random guesses, and Lauren stayed seated on his knees. Though her being so close was driving him crazy, he didn’t want her to move.
“Time!” Lauren faced Tyler, eyes wide. “I say it’s the old lady who lived in the shoe with so many children she didn’t know what to do.”
“Of course, because you’re a teacher and a mother.” Tyler laughed, studying the picture of the oval with hair and stick figures inside and all around it. “Swimming pool.”
“Aaarggg!” Shelly dropped the whiteboard and threw the capped pen at Danny. “How did you not get that? I made a waterfall, ladder, and all the people.”
“I guess I was stuck on potatoes,” he said.
Lauren wrapped her arms around Tyler’s neck. “Yay! We make quite a team.”
“Yes, we do.” He closed his eyes, inhaling her perfume.
Tyler cranked the volume when his favorite song came on the radio. It took him back to the concert he attended with Lauren and Danny on his birthday. He had so much fun, but tonight topped it. To see her full of energy and laughing exhilarated him. And she wasn’t even manic. No caffeine in a week, she boasted. The signs pointed to her thinking of him as more than a friend. Inviting him out on New Year’s, sitting on his lap tonight, even the look in her eyes when she talked to him.
He drummed his thumbs to the beat. Life was good. A new year was coming and he was starting it off by going out with her. He hadn’t been so excited for a new year since, well, since they were dating.
God, bless this new year. Make it the best, for both of us.
The truck to his right slightly swerved into the fast lane, causing Tyler to tap his brakes. Suddenly it crashed into his Corvette, pushing him hard and fast. There was the scraping of metal, shattering of glass, crunching of the body of his car. Black spots faded his vision as silence came over him. Complete silence.