Kitabı oku: «Changing Her Heart», sayfa 2

Chapter Two

“I’ll be back in two hours, Kate,” Lacey called as she stepped into the mall.

As she began walking toward the mall center, Lacey glanced into the computer store on her way past, but she didn’t see Randy at work.

Randy.

Being out with him had almost felt like a date, except it wasn’t. He was only helping her select the right computer for Bryce. Yet, after going out with him only once, she couldn’t help but like him. In fact, he was almost too good to be real.

Lacey had learned the hard way that when something seemed too good to be true, it usually was.

She pushed thoughts of the charming salesman out of her head as she continued walking toward the mall’s feature display of the week. The police department had set up a display to raise public awareness of the dangers of drinking and driving and Lacey had volunteered to help give out information at the booth.

Drunk driving had ruined her family and she didn’t want to see it happen to anyone else.

Lacey didn’t remember her father being a heavy drinker, but at the time, her perspective had been that of a child. Most of his drinking would have been at night, after she had been put to bed. Most of her memories of her father were good, doing typical family things together. Usually their family was happy, but she did remember her parents arguing after her father had been out with his friends. She remembered him acting rather strangely when he came home, but she hadn’t known why. The only thing she knew then about her father’s drinking was that he “went out for a drink” with his friends after work on paydays. On paydays, he always came home acting more strangely than other days.

It was on one payday that her father never came home again.

Because he died in an accident that he’d caused, and because he’d been drunk, no insurance would pay on the policy—not the auto insurance, nor the life insurance, and there was no life insurance on the mortgage. Slowly and painfully, over the next year, their home was foreclosed on, their savings were eroded and their extended family was torn apart. As she grew up, Lacey’s most vivid memories were of her mother, crying, all alone, after she thought that Lacey and her brother and sister were sleeping.

Lacey didn’t want the same thing to happen to anyone else, yet she saw it happening to Susan, her sister. No matter what Lacey said or did, she couldn’t get Susan’s husband, Eric, to see the risk he was creating for his family, and that if he died, the same thing would happen. Eric also wasn’t taking into account the strangers who would be innocent victims if he continued on his path to self-destruction.

Eric insisted that he wasn’t a serious drinker because he didn’t drink every day. He often accused Lacey of trying to cause trouble between himself and Susan. Eric didn’t know about the countless times Susan had called her in the middle of the night, worried because Eric still hadn’t come home when she knew he was out drinking with his friends. On other days, Susan said she shouldn’t have let the moment get to her, that Eric’s drinking wasn’t that bad.

Since those whom she loved wouldn’t listen, the only thing Lacey could do was to try to help strangers.

As Lacey approached the display, a police officer was talking to the volunteer who would be working with her, as well as a woman who was packing up a few things, ready to leave.

Lacey’s breath caught when she saw who she was to be her partner for the next hour.

“Randy. Hello.”

The officer smiled at her. “I see you two already know each other. That’s great. I’ll leave Randy to show you what to do, and I’ll get back to my area.” He returned to the Breathalyzer and other equipment that was only for police use, leaving her alone with Randy.

Randy smiled as he wrote up a name tag for her. “We’re supposed to split our time between pointing out different focus areas for people who try out and keeping the tables tidy, putting new brochures into the displays as people take them and just smiling and looking friendly.”

Lacey nodded. “I can certainly do that. It’s nice to see you volunteering your time.”

“It’s not really such a sacrifice. I have personal reasons for being here. A good friend was killed in a drinking-and-driving accident a few years back, and I want to do what I can to raise awareness. I know a lot of people, so maybe someone will recognize me and come and ask questions.”

“Oh.” Lacey’s throat constricted. The only person killed in her father’s accident had been her father, but she often lay awake at night, wondering if he’d ever caused an accident he either didn’t know about, or wouldn’t admit to, when someone swerved to avoid him. She didn’t want to think that there could be, but she had to accept that it might have happened. It was too long ago to have been a connection between the death of her father and the death of Randy’s friend, but that didn’t mean it hadn’t happened to someone else.

The possibility made her even more angry at how some people could be so irresponsible, both with their own lives, and of the lives of others around them.

She rested one finger on the schedule. “There are still a few slots not filled. I want to put my name down for another shift. What about you?”

He nodded. “I’m on the list for Saturday because that’s the mall’s busiest day.”

“But you’re off on Saturday, aren’t you?”

“Yeah. That way I can be here for more than just the length of my lunch break.”

Guilt raced through Lacey. She should have been giving up more of her time, too, but she had set Saturday aside to prepare for Bryce’s party. Now, thinking that all she was doing was getting ready to do something fun, she felt selfish.

As she had been instructed, she began to tidy the piles of brochures, when a young couple entered the area. The woman approached her and asked for help to find a brochure that contained recipes for nonalcoholic punch. Lacey pointed to the Alternatives section and stepped aside.

While she waited, the young man approached Randy.

“Can you tell her that coffee is good enough, that she doesn’t have to make something without alcohol for people?”

Randy’s hands froze above the display he was rearranging. “That’s a very common myth, but it’s not true. Coffee doesn’t make a person sober up, neither does food. If you have something in your stomach you don’t get drunk so fast, but you still get just as drunk. The only thing that sobers a person up is time.”

The young man blinked. “That’s not true. Coffee works.”

Randy shook his head. “No. Coffee won’t sober you up. It just makes you a wide-awake drunk. Caffeine is a stimulant. It’s the stimulant that makes you think you’re more sober than you actually are.”

“That’s not true, man. I know it works.”

Lacey glanced toward the young woman to make sure she didn’t need any more help, then stepped closer to the two men. She, too, had always believed that drinking coffee would help a person to sober up. She’d been with Susan often, helping to make coffee so it would be ready for when Eric got home after an evening of being out with his friends.

The only thing wrong with that scenario was that Eric had already driven home by the time he started drinking the coffee.

Randy pulled out one of the brochures and handed it to the young man. “Sorry, but the only thing about coffee that sobers you up is the time it takes to drink it. Water does the same, except it doesn’t make you need to go to the bathroom as much, and it doesn’t leave you hyper.”

The young man slapped the brochure onto the table without opening it. “I don’t need this propaganda.”

Randy picked up a pen, scribbled something on the brochure, then handed it back. “Then check out this coffee manufacturer’s Web site or check out a few search engines. Everything will tell you the same thing. If your guests drink, have a designated driver, or be a responsible host and budget money for cab fare. In some states, the host may be held legally responsible if their guests drive home drunk and have an accident.”

The young man froze. “What?”

Randy crossed his arms over his chest. “Think about it.”

The young man stepped back, and stomped to the lady he’d arrived with. She quickly picked out one of every brochure in the row, and the two of them hurried away.

Lacey stared at Randy. “How do you know all that stuff?”

“I just do.”

She waited for him to say more, but he didn’t.

“Randy, I was wondering—”

Behind her, a middle-aged man entered the display area, cutting off her question.

“Excuse me. I was wondering if you could tell me some information about roadside suspensions.”

Randy pointed to the police officer who was on the other side of the display area. “He’s the man to ask about legal matters.”

The man backed up a step. “No way. I’m not asking the police. I’m only asking about it for a friend.”

From the looks of the man’s bloodshot eyes, Lacey found that highly unlikely.

“I really can’t comment,” Randy said, “but if you want to know at what point blood alcohol levels result in a roadside suspension, you can read these brochures.”

Randy picked brochures off a number of piles, gathered them together, then offered the man one specifically on suspensions.

Lacey’s throat tightened. Roadside suspensions were much more common today than when she was a child. If her father’s license had been suspended, he might still be alive, and her life would have been very different.

The man reached out and accepted all of the pamphlets.

Randy stepped back and tapped a picture of a man in a jail cell, presumably the drunk tank. “But before you think of the legal ramifications, you should think about what it would be like to be without your car. After court, a twenty-four-hour suspension could go further, resulting in a driving prohibition, plus a fine, depending on the severity of the offence and prior records. If that happened, how would you get to work? What would you say to people who asked why you always needed a ride wherever you went? You’d have to worry about increased insurance premiums once you get your license back, on top of all that. Ask yourself if it’s worth it to have a few drinks before getting into the car.”

The man’s face paled and he dropped all the brochures but one. “I’ll tell my friend that,” he muttered, turned and walked away.

“Wow,” Lacey exclaimed. “You’re good here. No wonder you’re doing this. You know so much.”

“Yeah,” Randy said quickly, then spun around and began to straighten out the brochures the man with the bloodshot eyes had dropped.

Lacey stepped closer. “All I was going to do was smile and hand out brochures. You’re really getting up close and personal. You’re having quite an effect on people.”

“It’s a gift,” Randy mumbled, not looking up at her.

She stared at him as he continued to tidy up piles she thought were quite straight enough.

She knew Randy was very inconvenienced being unable to take his car to work due to the increased parking security, and it impressed her that he was using that knowledge and experience in a constructive way.

Unless he knew so much about having a driver’s license suspended from more personal experience….

Lacey shook her head at the wayward direction of her thoughts. The concept that Randy could ever have had his license suspended because of drinking was preposterous. They had been out together for supper at a restaurant where alcoholic drinks were readily available, and the issue hadn’t even come up. Randy was also a committed Christian, active in his church. The only reason he didn’t have his car was because of the new parking regulations.

Which reminded her that Randy currently needed transportation.

Lacey spoke quickly, before someone else came to browse at the display. “Would you like a ride home again tonight?”

He smiled hesitantly.

Lacey’s foolish heart fluttered.

“Yeah, I’d like that. Thanks.”

“Maybe we can do dinner again and talk more about Bryce’s computer? I don’t want to wait until the last minute and run out of time.”

“Sure. We can do that.”

“Then I’ll see you at five.”

The new volunteer arrived at the booth, right on time, ending their conversation. Randy waved to the police officer at the other end to signal his pending departure, and turned back to Lacey.

“See you later,” he said, and walked away.

Adrian Braithwaite unplugged the cord from between his guitar and the amp, wound it, fastened the Velcro strap and tossed it into the bin.

“You were late today,” he said as he watched Randy unplug another cord and do the same. “I thought you were going to be early. I even bought extra doughnuts.”

“I can’t take my car to work anymore.”

“That didn’t really answer my question.”

“You didn’t ask a question.”

Adrian waited for Randy to say more, but Randy didn’t elaborate. Not only did he not elaborate, Randy didn’t come up with a hundred and one farfetched excuses, nor did he respond with a lame joke. He was also very busy cleaning up instead of hiding in the kitchen eating the extra half a box of doughnuts while everyone else put everything away.

Something wasn’t right. And Adrian was going to find out what it was.

“Then how did you get to work?”

“I’ve been using my inline skates.”

Adrian frowned. “Really? Why didn’t you just take the bus? Oh, wait.” Adrian paused, remembering incidents from their younger days when he, Bob, Randy and their other friend Paul had taken the bus on many of their excursions. He couldn’t count the times they all had to disembark in a hurry because Randy had to go throw up, even when they sat in the front while they traveled to their chosen destination of the day. Randy’s parents laughed it off, but Bob’s mother always came to give them a ride whenever Randy couldn’t get back on the bus after being so violently sick.

“You don’t still get motion sickness, do you? I can see using the skates to get to the mall, but it’s quite an uphill journey back. How do you get home? Do you walk?” Walking home from work would explain why Randy was late, but not why Randy was being so evasive about it. He looked out the window to Randy’s car parked on the street. “You’ve got your car now.”

“I got a ride home, and I took my own car from there.”

“Now we’re getting somewhere. But if you got a ride, how in the world could you have been late?”

Randy’s movements quickened as he turned the levels on the sound board down to zero, and began unplugging the unit. “Because we went out for dinner before she took me home,” Randy told him, barely audible.

Adrian nearly dropped the microphone in his hand. “She? You mean, like a woman?”

Randy tossed another neatly wrapped cord into the bin with far more force than was necessary. “No. A dog drove me home. What do you think?”

“You don’t have to get so sarcastic. I was only asking.” He moved in closer to Randy. “What’s she like?”

Randy dragged one hand down his face. “She’s different than any woman I’ve ever met before. Funny, but not by telling jokes…she’s witty. Smart. Unbelievably organized. Modest, if people use words like that anymore. I haven’t known her for more than a few days, but I feel good being with her. I know it’s wrong, but I can’t help it. I keep thinking about her. I don’t know what it is. For the past couple of days, we’ve started out talking about computers, but then we end up talking about something else, and we have a lot of fun. So much fun that it will almost be worth it when her boyfriend shows up and punches my lights out.”

Adrian blinked. “Boyfriend? If she’s got a boyfriend, what are you doing going out with her?”

Using his toes, Randy pushed at a guitar pick lying on the carpet. “I’m not really going out with her. She’s buying him a computer for his birthday, and she has a lot of questions, so we’ve been going out for dinner, just to talk. I also don’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth when she offers me a ride, because then I don’t have to kill myself skating home.”

“If she’s got a boyfriend, regardless of the reason you’re getting together, it must be pretty awkward.”

Randy turned toward Adrian. “You want to hear awkward? She’s invited me to his birthday party.”

“Are you going?”

“Yeah. She asked me to put the computer together for him. It’s a surprise.”

Adrian winced. “And you’re okay with that?”

“No, but I don’t have any choice. She said she’ll give me a ride home every day this week, and I have to return the favor.”

Memories flooded Adrian of his initial contacts with his wife, Celeste. In hindsight, he could now see how much she’d affected him, and it had all happened so quickly. Adrian wanted to caution Randy about the same thing, because he knew how Randy felt about relationships, especially with his background. But before he could figure out how to put the words together, Randy stood up.

“Adrian, I feel really tired all of a sudden. I think whatever is happening with this woman is getting to me, and I can’t let that happen. I’m going to go home and read my Bible for a little while, and then I should see if anyone from my chat group is online. I need to talk to someone.”

Before Adrian had a chance to volunteer to talk to Randy in person instead of having Randy go to his online support group, Randy turned around and left.

Without first stopping in the kitchen and raiding the doughnuts.

“Uh-oh…” Adrian said as he heard Randy’s car squeal off in the distance.

“I can’t talk now, Mom. I’m at work. But I have a price for the computer.”

Lacey nodded at another customer who entered the store, made a few quick calculations, then whispered the figures to her mother.

“Will you be going out with that young man after work again?”

Lacey’s fingers froze over the calculator. “Probably.”

“How well do you know him? I mean, really know him?”

“Uh…not a lot….”

“You’ve already bought the computer so you don’t need to see him again. Just be careful.”

Lacey gulped. She knew what her mother meant. Her family had a history of making bad choices when it came to men, from her father to her brother-in-law. Lacey was very likely to follow her mother’s and her sister’s patterns—it was obviously in her genes. And that was why Lacey had decided that she would never get married.

“I will.” Lacey hung up the phone, but instead of returning to her work, her hand stayed on the phone as she stared at the wall. The wall between her store and the computer store. Randy was on the other side of that wall.

She knew she didn’t have to see him again, but she would anyway. She really hadn’t needed to invite him to Bryce’s party to set up the computer, either.

The only reason she was continuing to see him was because he needed a ride.

If there was anything she’d learned from all her hardships growing up, it was the pain of what it was like to do without. When she started going to church and the people there discovered the financial plight of her family, many stepped in to help. Their out-pouring of kindness, help and financial assistance was the first thing that opened her heart, as well as the hearts of her family, to God’s love. At times it was humiliating to take charity. But it was also a lesson in how to accept graciously, as well as how to give sacrificially.

That was why she wanted to give Randy a ride home every day. Simply because he needed it. There was no other reason. Really.

She jerked her hand away from the phone and continued with her task of checking inventory for the sidewalk sale, but she was soon interrupted by a customer.

The woman closed her eyes briefly and inhaled deeply as she slid a pair of earrings toward the cash register. “It’s really hot out there. It must be so nice to work in here, where it’s air-conditioned.”

Lacey sighed. “Maybe, but I’m missing out on one of the last really hot days of the summer. It’s different when you don’t have a choice.”

The woman shrugged her shoulders. “Suit yourself.”

After the woman left, the comment about the hot weather outside stuck on Lacey like a burr. When the rush died down, she retrieved her lunch from the fridge and called out to Kate, “I’m going to take my break outside. I’ll see you in half an hour.”

Lacey smiled at the blast of heat as she stepped outside and headed straight for the small park next door. A gazebo sheltered people from the hot sun, and beside the gazebo, a patch of trees provided shade, where a number of people were sitting or lying on blankets. Blankets weren’t her thing, but half an hour of sunshine sure was.

On the other side of the park a few benches lined the sidewalk, which was beside a small bed of flowers. Unlike the gazebo and the area under the trees, the benches were vacant because they were in the full sun.

Lacey headed for the benches.

Everything was fairly quiet, until the sound of a soft, clattery rumble began. She turned her head to see a lone man on inline skates approaching from the other side of the park.

She recognized the man, even from the distance.

Since he was coming quite fast, Lacey moved to the side of the path so he could pass without difficulty.

“Hi, Randy,” she said as he whizzed past.

The noise of the skates on the cement sidewalk stopped instantly. Lacy spun around, expecting to see Randy lying on the ground. Her heart pounded as she watched him, running on the grass, slowing his speed until he came to a stop. He turned around, stepped back onto the sidewalk and skated back to her.

“Lacey? What are you doing out here?” He switched the box he was carrying to his other hand and checked his watch.

She held up her lunch bag. “I’m taking a late break. What are you doing out here at this hour?”

He held out the box and grinned. “I missed my doughnuts last night, so I went to the doughnut shop on my coffee break.”

“You couldn’t get a doughnut in the mall?”

He shook his head. “These are special. You can’t get these in the mall.” He opened the box, displaying a half-dozen specialty Boston Cremes. “Want one? They’re my favorite.”

She reached forward, then froze before she actually touched one. “I shouldn’t. I haven’t had my lunch yet.”

“It’s okay. I promise not to tell your mother that you had your dessert before the main course.”

Lacey’s stomach churned. She still wasn’t sure that she wanted to introduce him to her mother, but by inviting him to Bryce’s party, she’d opened herself up to her mother’s justifiable curiosity.

Grinning, Randy held the box out, and winked. Lacey’s fingers trembled as she reached into the box. “Speaking of my mother and the party, I still haven’t figured out how to get you into the house early enough to set everything up before everyone else gets there.”

“I don’t know, either,” Randy mumbled as he bit into one of the doughnuts. “All I do know is that I won’t be available until after eleven-thirty, because that’s when my church’s service ends.”

“Really? My church ends the service at noon.” Lacey’s mind raced and she stiffened, steeling her courage in order to ask her question. “How about if I go to church with you? Then we could be back at Mom’s house half an hour earlier than everyone else. Would that be enough time to set up the computer for Bryce? That’s about the amount of time I’ll need to do the food.”

“Yeah. It would,” Randy said around the doughnut sticking out his mouth, keeping it clenched between his teeth as he closed the lid of the box and tried to press the tape back down. Unable to make the tape stick, he grasped the doughnut again and took it out of his mouth so he could speak. “I’ve been thinking. What is Bryce going to say when he sees me with you at his birthday party? Do you think he’ll be okay with that?”

Lacey nodded and hurried to swallow her bite of the pastry. “Of course he’ll be fine with it. In fact, I’m almost sure that the two of you will spend quite a bit of time together with the computer, after all the excitement dies down a bit.”

Randy’s eyes widened, and he continued to pick at the tape. “Oh,” he muttered.

Lacey waited for him to say more, but he remained silent.

“If you’re worried that you won’t know anyone there, it’s okay. Everyone is all friends and family. Besides, I’m sure once Bryce discovers what you do for a living, he’ll hog you to himself all day. Please don’t be shy.”

For an almost indiscernible second, Randy stiffened. Lacey almost wanted to smile, except she was still too nervous. Despite her words, even though she hadn’t known him that long, she suspected the last thing anyone could ever accuse Randy of was being shy.

“I guess,” he mumbled. “I really should go. It was faster going on the skates than walking, but I think I’ve used up my fifteen minutes, and I don’t want to be late getting back to work. I guess I’ll see you Sunday.”

“Sure. What time should I pick you up?”

Randy had begun to push off, but he stopped and spun around. “If you’re going to my church, then I think good manners dictate that I should pick you up. After all, you’re going to be my guest. It’s just that I have to be there an hour early in order to set up the sound system for the worship team.”

“That’s fine. I don’t mind. Would you like a ride home again tonight? You’re pretty good on those skates, but it is a long way uphill. I can give my address and directions after work. Maybe over dinner?”

“I…” Randy’s voice trailed off, and eventually, he nodded. “Sure. That would be great.”

“Good. I’ll see you at five o’clock.” Because he’d sounded hesitant, Lacey turned and started walking toward the bench, not waiting for his reply.

She didn’t want to admit it to herself, but she wouldn’t have been able to bear it if he had said no.