“Me?” Zeke raised his brows in surprise.
“People think there’s something going on between us.” She blushed as she said it, clearly appalled at the idea.
“I enjoy your company. You make me think.”
“What about your reputation? You being a pastor and all.”
“We ain’t misbehavin’, Susan.”
“This isn’t a joke, Zeke.”
He saw her eyes awash with tears and knew he couldn’t take this lightly. “Don’t worry about it.”
“You can’t have people thinking you’re interested in someone like me.”
“Someone like you?” It saddened him to hear her say it. “Why shouldn’t I be interested?” More than interested, for that matter?
She shook her head. “You know what I mean.”
“I know exactly what you mean, and it grieves me that you think so little of yourself when I think very highly of you.”
She studied his face for a moment. “That’s not the point, and you know it.” She started to stand.
He put his hand over hers so she wouldn’t leave. “It is precisely the point. Listen to me, Susan.” His hand tightened as he leaned toward her. “You and I are good friends. I am who I am. People know me or they don’t. And they know you, too.”
She sighed. “How can you be that naive?”
“We can live to please people, or we can live to please God.” He gave her a reproving smile. “Bessie wouldn’t be too happy if she knew you were out here trying to talk me out of coming in so often. I’m one of her best customers.”
She gave a soft laugh. “She’d skin me alive, but not for the reasons you think. She’d be convinced I was breaking your heart.”
Zeke squeezed her hand lightly and lifted his away.
Her expression softened. “You’re the only real friend I’ve ever had, Zeke.”
Zeke thought of Marianne and wondered what she would make of this relationship. “You say that like you’re saying good-bye.”
“I’ve been thinking about moving on.”
Zeke felt a pang of disappointment. “Any place in particular?”
“I’ve been here longer than anywhere else.” Susan gave a halfhearted shrug.
She looked away, but not before he saw the glimmering moisture in her green eyes. Zeke didn’t want her sacrificing God’s blessings because of him. “I think you’d better stay. If you leave town, people will start speculating about me and Mitzi.”
She frowned. “Mitzi?”
“Well, yes. I spend a lot of time with her, too. She even gave me a car. Now why would she do that unless there was something a little unsavory going on? And where do we go on those long drives?”
Susan laughed. “Don’t be ridiculous!”
He realized he’d never heard her laugh before. He wanted to hear it again. “Oh, I don’t know. Even Hodge might start worrying. A younger man after his mother.” Zeke put his arm on the back of the bench and grew serious. “Don’t use me as an excuse to leave Haven. You can run, Susan, but you can’t hide from God.”
She looked startled, then pensive. “I came to Haven to find peace, Zeke.” She shook her head. “Considering everything I’ve done, I don’t think that’s possible.”
He knew what she really meant. She wasn’t yet able to receive God’s grace. She still felt like she had to earn it. “Give God time to work, Susan. His love never fails.”
She let out a shuddering sigh. She stood. “I’d better get back to work.” She gave a bleak laugh and glanced around uneasily. Others had come into the square while they’d been talking. Neither of them had noticed. “I came out here to warn you about what people think is happening between us, and I’ve probably given people more cause to gossip.”
Susan took a few steps away and then turned. “Oh.” She gave him a sad smile, her expression full of realization. “Joshua has gone to find Abra, hasn’t he?”
“If God allows, he’ll bring her home.”
Joshua found his way to Harold Cushing’s house on Mulholland Drive and arrived a few minutes early. The mansion sat perched on thick concrete pylons suspended over the hillside with panoramic views of the San Fernando Valley. If the day had been clear, Joshua knew he would have been able to see all the way to the Pacific coast.
A maid in uniform ushered him into the living room while she went to tell Mr. Cushing he’d arrived. He used the time to make note of furnishings, mementos, style, and color, as well as the spectacular view. He had a feel for Harold Cushing long before the man finally entered the room, and it didn’t agree with Dave’s evaluation.
“Freeman?” Cushing’s voice was low and deep, like a radio announcer’s. He did not apologize for the wait. Had he hoped Joshua would grow impatient and walk out the door? He made a brief self-introduction, shook Joshua’s hand, and said, “This way,” before leading Joshua down a wide hall, talking as he walked, listing what he wanted: lateral files, a wall of bookcases, a desk with a credenza, storage and display cabinets. “I want organization and easy access.” His tone was clipped, no time to waste.
Joshua glanced left and right, taking in as much as he could. He’d admired the oil paintings of windjammers, brigs, and schooners in the living room. He’d noticed Captain Caution by Kenneth Roberts, open facedown, on a side table. “Do you sail, Mr. Cushing?”
He gave a short laugh. “Used to dream about it. Never had time. Had I been born a few centuries ago, maybe. We live in an age of airplanes.”
For some. Most people rode the bus.
Cushing opened a door at the west end of the house. “This is it. Take a look around. I’ll give you until the end of the week to come up with plans. I have another contractor in mind, but Dave thinks you might be the right man for the job.” He didn’t bother to hide his opinion. “You’re going to have to convince me.”
Joshua liked his frankness. “I appreciate the opportunity.”
Cushing stepped out into the hall again. “Take whatever time you need. Maria will show you out. Friday morning, ten o’clock.” He left.
Joshua looked around, took measurements, and smiled. He stopped at an art store on the way back to Dave and Kathy’s. He had to ring the doorbell.
Kathy answered, wearing a sarong over her bathing suit. “I forgot to give you a key, didn’t I?” She closed the door behind him. “David just got home. Put on a suit and join us at the pool.”
Joshua came out with a beach towel over his shoulder. “How was the meeting?”
“Went better than I expected.” Dave sat on a chaise lounge, a drink in his hand. “How’d it go with Kathy’s father?”
“I’ll know a few minutes after ten on Friday.” Joshua tossed the towel on a vacant chaise lounge and dove into the pool. The cool water gave a refreshing shock after the long, hot drive back. DJ wanted to play ball. Joshua made it a threesome with Cassie. He taught them how to play Marco Polo and was “it” for the first round. Once they understood the game, Joshua returned to the chaise lounge and the lemonade Kathy had set out for him. He drank half of it while rubbing his chest dry. “Wow, does that taste good.”
Dave launched into business politics, deals, and personalities. DJ kept peering up at him from the pool, wanting Daddy to come play. Preoccupied, Dave barely noticed him. Joshua finished the lemonade and got up. “How about a game of keep-away? You team up with DJ. Cassie! You’re on my team.” He didn’t listen to hear Dave’s excuses, just tossed a sneering laugh over his shoulder. “Chicken!” He dove into the pool, knowing Dave wouldn’t let that insult pass. It had worked a hundred times when they were boys.
It took less than ten seconds for Dave to join them. He and DJ won the first match; Joshua and Cassie, the second. Joshua suggested a change of partners. The children were all smiles and whoops of delight. Kathy sat up on her chaise lounge and watched for a while, and then went into the house to fix dinner.
They ate outside again. Dave looked tired; Kathy, relaxed, happy. The children ate quickly and wanted to swim some mo
re.
“How did you two meet?” Joshua asked.
“In college,” Kathy answered, casting Dave a smiling look. “I was on the cheerleading squad. We were practicing a pyramid formation and I lost my footing and came crashing down, taking half the team with me. Knocked the wind right out of me. Dave got to me first. He knelt down and asked if I was okay. I’d had a crush on him all season, and there I lay, gasping like a fish out of water, unable to breathe, let alone say anything witty.” She laughed. “And that’s the moment he decided to ask me for a date.”
“The words just sort of jumped out. I felt like a total idiot.”
“I managed to gasp a yes before he changed his mind.” She smiled at Dave. “I’d say two broken ribs were worth it.”
“The ambulance arrived. I figured she’d been in shock and would forget all about it.”
“When he didn’t call me, I hobbled back to the next practice and sat on the bench. I stared at him all through his workout on the field.”
“Coach wanted to know why I couldn’t throw a decent pass. He told me to take a walk.”
Kathy smiled smugly. “So he came over and sat on the bench with me. He took off his helmet and just sat there, turning it in his hands. I had to ask him if it was his habit to ask a girl out and then leave her hanging.”
Dave grinned. “She can be forward.”
Kathy was unrepentant. “I was tired of waiting, and I knew what I wanted.”
“A football player.” He said it with disdain.
That made her angry. “You are such an idiot sometimes.”
“I’m no Rhodes Scholar.”
“I didn’t want a Rhodes Scholar. I wanted one particular guy who happened to play football.” When he didn’t say anything, she shoved her patio chair back and got up. Grabbing his empty dinner plate, she stacked it on her own and reached for Joshua’s. “You know something, David? Maybe you do have more brawn than brains!” She headed for the house.
Dave watched her go. Joshua waited a few seconds. “Are you just going to sit there?”
Dave did exactly that. A few minutes later, he suggested they lob a football back and forth on the lawn. Joshua noticed DJ watching, and made a gentle toss. DJ fumbled it, but managed to hold on. Dave looked surprised and told DJ to throw it to him. The ball came end over end rather than in a spiral. Joshua held up his hands. “Play with DJ. Looks to me like you have another football player in the family.”
Joshua took a walk that evening. He prayed as he followed the uphill climb of Amanda Drive and around Laurelcrest and back. The porch light was on and he let himself in with the key Kathy had given him.
When he came upstairs the next morning, he was surprised to find Kathy already in the kitchen, dressed for the day and making coffee. “Wow. You’re up early.”
“I’m always up before five,” she told him. “It’s the only time David and I have alone.”
Things must not have gone well this morning. “Mind if I ask you a few questions about your father?”
“What do you want to know?” She poured him a cup of coffee.
“You said he’s been going through a hard time. Do you mind talking about that?”
They sat at the kitchen nook table overlooking the backyard while she told him about her mother’s diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. It had moved like a wildfire through her body, leaving both Kathy and her father in shock when she died. “I’m coming to terms with it, but he just works harder and harder. I wouldn’t be surprised to get a call that my father’s died of a heart attack. He’s loved my mother all his life. They grew up together. They were high school sweethearts.”
Sounded like Dad and Mom. Joshua remembered the long months when neither he nor Dad slept. Losing Mom had been bad enough, but Dad had made the most difficult decision of his life at the same time. He’d let go of Abra. Joshua wondered what would have happened if he hadn’t.
“Mom helped put Dad through college.” Kathy went on, her hands wrapped around her coffee mug. “They lost their first child, my older brother. He died of a heart defect at eighteen months. I never met him. I came seven years later. Dad was in real estate. We lived in the Valley until I was in my teens. When they bought the place up on Mulholland, I was already in a private school, so it didn’t matter. Mom wanted it, so he bought it.”
“It’s a big house.”
“Small when compared to most up there, but Mom had fun turning it into Daddy’s castle on the hill. I started college and they went to Europe. She came back with all kinds of ideas. You saw the results. She finished every room in the house but the one on the west corner. That was going to be Daddy’s office. It’s a good sign he’s finally doing something with it. Mom would have had something creative in mind, something that would suit him. She knew him so well.” She looked wistful. “Now, he’s all about time management. I’m sure he said he wants something ‘simple and functional.’”
“You said real estate. How did he get into the movie business?”
“Mom and Dad loved movies. We went all the time. Working for a studio, he knows a lot of people and sometimes invests in productions. He told me the other day he’s putting some money into a production based on a Tennessee Williams play, if they can get all the details pulled together and the star they want.” Dave came into the kitchen. She rose and poured coffee for him.
Joshua spent the day doing sketches. When he had what he wanted, he spent the next two days on scale drawings. He also started looking through the newspapers for an apartment to rent. Dave noticed him circling addresses. “Don’t get in a rush. Get to know the area before you start looking at apartments. Location is everything.”
Friday morning, he put his preliminary drawings into a folder and drove up Mulholland Drive. He arrived early, but another truck was already parked in front of the house—a white Ford fully equipped and with a logo reading Matthias Construction. Maria led Joshua down the hall. Cushing seemed surprised to see him. “I didn’t think you’d be back. You didn’t have much to say for yourself when we met.”
“I was listening.” He looked at his watch. “It’s 9:50.” He extended a hand to Cushing’s guest, who grinned at him and introduced himself as Charlie Jessup. He had a firm handshake and looked Joshua in the eye with an air of warmth and confidence. Joshua stepped back. “I’ll wait my turn.”
Cushing looked embarrassed and annoyed because of it. “Charlie’s done work for me before.”
Jessup laughed. “I’m not afraid of competition, Harold. Let the man show his plan before you throw him out.”
Joshua gestured toward Jessup’s sketches. “Mind if I take a look?” Jessup handed them over. The drawings were excellent; the plan, functional and organized, exactly what Harold Cushing had said he wanted. “Nice work.”
“Thanks. Now, let’s see yours.”
“Fine!” Looking annoyed, Cushing intercepted the file before Jessup got his hand on it. “I’ll take a look.” His tone implied that whatever Joshua might have come up with would be inferior to Charlie Jessup’s proposal. His expression changed when he saw the drawings. “You didn’t listen.” He sounded uncertain.
“Change the windows, cut out those shrubs, put in lawn, and you’ll have the view to go with the design.”
Charlie Jessup stepped alongside Cushing, tilting his head to get a look. “A sea captain’s cabin!” He laughed. “Wow! Let me see these!”
Cushing thrust the drawings into Jessup’s hands and glared at Joshua. “Not what I asked for.”
“No. I acted on a hunch.”
Cushing might not be interested, but Jessup took the file and looked over the drawings. “Can you do this?”
“If I had six months.”
Jessup cocked his head and studied Harold Cushing. “You’re kind of quiet.”
Cushing looked unsettled. “That’s the sort of madness Cassandra wanted.”
“You bragged about her ideas.”
Cushing ignored him and glared at Joshua. “I gave you clear instruct
ions. Why did you come up with that design? Did Kathy put you up to it?”
Kathy? “No. Actually, your ship paintings and the Kenneth Roberts book in the living room gave me the idea. And the room faces the ocean and the setting sun.”
Charlie Jessup looked enamored. “What’s your estimate?” He seemed interested even if Harold Cushing wasn’t.
“I don’t have one.”
“Well, there you go.” Cushing gave a dismissive laugh.
Jessup handed the drawings back to Joshua. “It’s a better idea than mine.” When Cushing glanced at him, he grinned. “And you like it.”
“I’m not made out of money.”
“What’re you saving it for? The man’s an artist, and he needs a job.” He looked at Joshua. “Make a guess.”
“Depends on materials, deadline, cost of other men coming in to do electrical work.” He named a sum. “Could be less.”
“Or more,” Cushing said.
“I could run some numbers.” Joshua shrugged and looked at Charlie Jessup. “A contractor would know better than a carpenter about all those kinds of details.”
Jessup grinned broadly. “Yes, he would.”
Cushing looked between them. “And if you worked together, how soon could you finish?”
Joshua was more surprised than he expected to get the job. With two men on board, he and Charlie figured it would take eight to ten weeks. It seemed like a major miracle that a man who didn’t know Joshua from Adam had just made him a partner on a significant job.
Jessup offered to draw up a contract for Joshua, but Joshua followed his instincts. “No need. I trust you.”
Cushing watched, scowling. “You’re not a businessman, are you? Never do anything without getting it on paper first.”
“A man is only as good as his word, Mr. Cushing.”
“Not in my book.”
“In mine, a man’s yes means yes, and no means no.” Joshua had noticed the simple gold cross Jessup wore around his neck. He wondered about the name Matthias. A relative? Or did it have to do with the lottery after Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection? They’d needed a man to replace Judas as the twelfth disciple. God chose Matthias.