Chapter 4
The night air was warm and fresh, and although the car’s digital clock read 9:22 as Hailey pulled into the driveway, she was revived by the knowledge that she had the next day off. She locked her black Blazer, then threw her keys into the bottom of her leather bag.
As she stepped into the darkened kitchen, the soft light coming from the living room warned her what she was in for. She untied her white shoes and slipped them off by the door, then padded silently into the room where Karlee was curled on the couch. Hailey tossed her suede jacket on the arm, only to watch it slide to the floor.
Meeting Karlee’s eyes with a defiant smile that dared her to ask her to pick it up, she stepped over the jacket and plopped onto the couch, clapping her hands together in a childlike gesture. “Oh, goody! By my educated estimation, this viewing of ‘Pics from Senegal’ must be about number eleven hundred and thirty-four. So are we in love today, or is this a pity party?”
Karlee faced her sister, her face expressionless. “I think a little respect is in order. You are sitting on my couch, littering up my living room, and interrupting my pity party! But for your information, these are new slides.” She pointed to the tip of a padded brown envelope that peeked out from beneath the quilt that covered her.
A picture of David in shorts and a T-shirt, standing on a ladder came on the screen. Karlee sighed longingly, and Hailey followed with a perfect imitation.
“You live to irritate me, don’t you?”
Hailey nodded. “Always have.”
“What are you doing home so early anyway?” Karlee straightened and leaned toward Hailey. “Did someone quit after being hired at the Sparrow Center this morning?”
“No. Someone had to go in early today, so I got off earlier. I guess I forgot to tell you.”
“Well. . .how did the interview go? Was Robert reduced to mush over your black eye?”
Hailey stood and took a step toward the stairs. “Are the kids asleep? I brought them something.”
“You don’t have to buy them stuff all the time! You’re making me look bad! Besides, you want them to feel deprived after we move and Aunt Hailey isn’t there to shower them with goodies?”
“You’ll only be a few miles away. Who says it has to stop?” She ducked as a pillow flew past her head. “I. . .kinda figured I owed them something after this morning.”
“They know they’re not supposed to play in your room. They needed to be scolded.”
“Not like. . .” She turned and took another step toward the stairs, pulling two rolls of candy out of her uniform pocket.
“I’ll just leave these on their dressers.” She stopped and faced Karlee, the teasing gone from her voice. “How is David? Everything going okay with the building?”
Karlee nodded. “Their part is almost done—the local people can do the finishing work. They held their first church service in the school building.” Hesitantly, she added, “Would you like to see the pictures?”
“Oh, I’d hate to make you go through them again just for me.” Karlee wrinkled her nose, and Hailey laughed. “Okay, I’ll be your excuse to look at them another time, after I get out of this uniform—if you make popcorn.”
“That sounds like blackmail.”
“It is. Extra butter, please.”
“At fourteen grams of fat per tablespoon?”
“Who cares? I’ll have a diet soda.” She took two more steps toward the stairs before Karlee’s voice stopped her.
“Hey! Did Robert give you the job or not?”
Without turning around, Hailey said, “He wasn’t there,” and walked up the stairs.
❧
Hailey entered the kitchen wrapped in Karlee’s peach robe. As she reached into the popcorn bowl, Karlee touched her bruised cheek. “You look awful.”
“Thank you. More butter.”
“You’re depressed. You eat when you’re depressed.”
“I’m hungry. I eat when I’m hungry.”
“Right. Oh, there’s a message on the answering machine for you.”
“Really? Who?”
“Such interest! Who were you expecting? It was just Paige. Something about lunch tomorrow and painting at the center.”
“Oh. I ran into her after my interview. She wants help with her murals.” The blush creeping up her cheeks startled her, and she turned away from Karlee and grabbed the saltshaker. “She asked me to help.”
“Wait a minute. You had your interview? You said Robert wasn’t there.”
Hailey grabbed the bowl and headed for the living room. “He wasn’t.”
When they were settled on the couch with the quilt over their knees and the popcorn bowl between them, Hailey tried to conjure a nonchalant attitude as she waited for the inevitable.
“Do I have to play twenty questions?” Karlee asked.
“About what?”
“Okay. I’ll play along. Just answer yes or no. Did you have an interview today?”
“Yes.”
“Did you see Dr. Worth today?”
“Yes.”
“Did you see him at the Sparrow Center?”
“Yes.”
“But you said. . . Did Robert interview you somewhere else today?”
“No.”
“So you had your interview at the Sparrow Center?”
“No.”
“Aaaaah!” Karlee threw a handful of popcorn at her sister. “You drive me crazy!”
“Mutual, I’m sure,” Hailey teased in a nasal twang, emphasized by a return barrage of popcorn.
The popcorn flew for several minutes until Karlee could stop laughing long enough to yell. “Your extra butter is going to stain my couch !”
Hailey put on a repentant face and began picking popcorn off the floor and out of her hair, then sat down again. “Okay, let’s drool over David.”
Karlee slapped her playfully on top of her head. “If I didn’t know you so well, I’d think you were trying to change the subject.”
“Who, me? Never. I really want to see these pictures.”
Karlee turned on the slide projector, then began her narrative on the progress of the school that David and a group of missionary students had designed and almost completed. Hailey grew serious, asking questions and listening intently.
“He really is wonderful, Kar.”
Karlee nodded. “I still can’t believe this incredible man has asked me to marry him. A year ago my whole world caved in, and now it’s starting over.”
“Kar, do you still miss Brad?” It had been weeks since they had had a deep discussion, and Hailey approached the subject gently.
Karlee’s smile was sweet. “Sure. I suppose I always will, but God has given me something so precious. . . .”
They were silent for several minutes, then Hailey said softly, “I memorized your verse.” She fixed her eyes on David’s broad smile. Isaiah 61:3 was the verse that had pulled him out of depression after his wife’s death in the country where he now served. David had shared it with Karlee, and now Hailey tried to draw comfort from the words.
Quietly, she quoted the verse. “‘To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.’”
Karlee put her arms around her. “Have I told you lately that I love you, little sister?”
Hailey rested her head on Karlee’s shoulder, and they turned back to the screen. After three more slides, Hailey said quietly, “I want a David.”
Karlee patted her shoulder. “You’ll get one. I’m praying for him, whoever he is.”
After several more minutes, Hailey asked casually, “Have you ever met Robert’s son, Cody?”
“No. I’ve heard about him, of course. In fact, David asked about him in his letter. Said he just got his doctorate in law and is planning on spending the summer—wait a minute! That would make him Dr. Worth, right?”
“I suppose.”
“You little. . . He interviewed you!”
“Uh-huh.”
“And obviously left a good impression.”
“Maybe. Not that it matters. I made a horrible first impression on him!” She covered her face with her hands and moaned. “Oh, Kar, I made a perfect spectacle of myself!”
“Don’t be so melodramatic. Even you couldn’t have been that bad!”
“You’re right—I was worse!” As she retold the events of the morning, Karlee convulsed in laughter. Her comforting words were anything but convincing.
“Well, if Cody is anything like Robert, I’m sure he has discernment and wisdom.”
“Then he should be wise enough not to hire me!”
“Did he hire you?”
“Yes, in a way. I mean, Robert had. . .already, sort of. I said I wanted to think about it.” Quickly she headed off more questions. “Do you know about Cody? Did you know he’s Robert’s stepson?”
“I knew that, but that’s about all.”
“Oh, Kar, it’s such a beautiful, sad story! His mother found out she had leukemia when he was only eight, and Robert married her two months before she died so that her parents couldn’t have any claim on Cody. They were close friends before that, but they really fell in love those last few weeks. And to hear him tell it. . . He was so little. . . .” Hailey sighed and sat back on the couch, closing her eyes and hugging a pillow close to her, aware that Karlee was staring at her intently. She was almost asleep when a disturbing thought pricked her consciousness.
“Hey, Kar, remember that painting at Paige’s gallery?”
“Which one?”
“Oh, never mind.” She yawned dreamily. “I just. . .liked it.”