God's Gift

  There was a day coming soon that would be the right time. She needed to know a future did exist beyond what she presently had; she needed to know the sadness could be left behind and she could look at options beyond just her career. He had heard the weariness in her voice as she talked about how work was going, her progress in looking for a business partner.

  She wasn’t going to leave the sadness behind without someone taking the step to ask her on a date. He cared too much about her to leave for Africa without having helped her open that door.

  He would be opening the door that someone else would eventually walk through.

  He wanted her to still be single in five years, when he figured he would be coming back to the States for good. It wasn’t fair to her. She wanted children. He had only to look at her at church around the children to see the obvious. It wasn’t fair to rob her of a dream just because he would prefer to have her wait for him.

  The sixth day working on the house was a physically challenging day. It was a hot, eighty degrees by 10:00 a.m., the sun and heat and humidity making them sweat and go through gallons of ice water. James paused on the bandsaw, having cut the last lumber they would need to finish framing in the master bedroom and master bath. Wearily, he wiped the sweat from his face with the towel he had slipped in his back pocket.

  The pain was back.

  He had woke to it that morning, a burning sensation in his chest muscles that had made him groan as he moved to get out of bed. It was mild compared to what it had been like in the past, but after two weeks without feeling it, it had been a surprise.

  A hot shower had eased the pain, so that by the time he reached the site that morning he could almost believe he had imagined it. Almost.

  He was going back. He was determined to be back in Africa on schedule. The pain this morning had only strengthened his resolve.

  He didn’t have to be a hundred percent to do the job. A little stiffness in the morning was something that could be managed.

  It was coming up on four o’clock. He had worked through the day, able to do his job, and do it well. His work hadn’t suffered, and the activity had not made the ache worse. This morning was a slight glitch, but not something that was going to stop him. Still, he was grateful when Kevin suggested they call it a day. He would spend the evening resting, and tomorrow would be better.

  “James, Rae is going to be coming over for dinner tonight. She and I need to talk about the upcoming children’s musical. Are you going to be in tonight? Should I set you a place?”

  James paused as he reached for a soda can on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. Trust his mom to act before he did. He retrieved a drink and popped open the tab. “I’ll be in,” he replied, smiling; he reached around her to swipe a finger across the edge of the icing bowl.

  “You’re as bad as the children,” she scolded, smiling.

  “I like fudge icing.” She had baked a chocolate cake that afternoon.

  “You’ve got your father’s sweet tooth. Go see what kind of mail we got today,” she asked, banishing him from her domain.

  James kissed her cheek. “Sure, matchmaker.”

  He met Rae at the door two hours later. She was tired, he saw that immediately, and while she had changed into jeans and a short-sleeve top, it was clear she had come immediately from work. “Come on in, Rae, Mom’s in the kitchen. What can I get you to drink?”

  She gave a grateful smile. “Iced tea, please.”

  She followed him to the kitchen, greeted his mom and pulled out a chair at the table, sat down. James watched her try to push the fatigue back, focus on his mom and the conversation.

  He got her the drink she had requested, then pulled out the chair across from her, and settled back to watch and listen.

  It didn’t take long for her and his mom to come up with a plan for the children’s musical, agree on who each one of them would call and recruit to help.

  When dinner was served, Rae did her best to convey her appreciation to his mom, but James noticed that she barely ate. The phone rang soon after dessert was served. His mom waved him back to his seat and went to answer it.

  “What happened today, Rae? You look…shell-shocked for want of a better word.”

  “I lost two hundred fifty thousand dollars,” she replied. He heard the shock in her voice. “The last hour, the markets simply fell apart.”

  “Rae, I am sorry.” He had no way to convey how deep his empathy went for the type of day she had obviously had.

  She spun the ice in her water glass, her thoughts obviously a long way away. “We haven’t had this bad a day in three years.”

  “Are you going to be okay?”

  She gave a rough laugh. “I’m petrified of tomorrow. Hardly what my clients would want to hear me say tonight.”

  James pushed back his chair. “Come on, let’s go for a walk.”

  It was a sign of how hard the day had been that she didn’t even ask why. James interrupted his mom softly to tell her where they were going, and ask if she wouldn’t mind fixing a piece of the cake for Rae to take home with her. He was worried about how little Rae was eating, but it didn’t make sense to push it tonight.

  The sun was getting ready to set. James watched Rae tuck her hands into the pockets of her jeans. Walking beside him, a weariness made her shoulders droop. “It’s a beautiful sunset,” he remarked quietly.

  It got her to look up and notice. “Yes, it is.”

  James wanted to reach over and tuck her hand in his, tell her it would be okay. He couldn’t. He had to settle for what he could do. The first thing to do was get her back in a positive frame of mind. “Okay, what’s your game plan for tomorrow?”

  She smiled, resigned. “I don’t have one yet.”

  He slipped his hands into his own pockets and hid a wince at the way his left wrist complained in pain. “What are your options?”

  “Sell and take profits before the stocks slide further. Do nothing. Sell strategically and use the cash to buy stocks that seem to be below their worth.”

  “How are you going to decide which one to do?”

  She shrugged, then stopped walking for a moment, bit her bottom lip. “It hinges around one conclusion. I’ve got to decide if this is a short-term adjustment, or the warning shot of a long-term correction.”

  She started walking again, and he shortened his stride to hers. “Which do you think it is?”

  “I don’t know, James. I’m not current with my overall analysis, I don’t have the facts I need to support a call either way. I’m kicking myself for being so careful to do the trading correctly, that I had not left adequate time to prepare for this. James, I cut my analysis time back so I could work on my book. Finding those six hours a week to write just burned my clients.”

  She was wrong. Those six hours of time writing had kept her able to do the trading and the analysis. They had kept her from burning out.

  “What would Leo do in this situation?”

  “He would be selling and taking profits, using the cash to go back into the market, buy stocks that slipped too far in the correction.”

  “Are you comfortable doing that?”

  “Not at the speed he would do it. I don’t know when a stock that is sliding down should be bought. I end up buying too early and having to watch it slide further before it bottoms out.”

  A slight breeze rustled through the branches and leaves of the trees they were walking under. It was an older neighborhood, the sidewalks lined with fifty-year-old oaks.

  “You need to decide on a course for tomorrow, and go with it. When you have more information then you can adjust your plan,” James said.

  “Thanks.” Rae nodded and lightly touched his arm.

  They walked in silence for most of the way around the block and soon they were back to his mom’s house.

  “Would you like to go see some puppies?” James asked, wanting to distract her when he saw her frown at something she thought of.

  His suggestion accomplish
ed his goal; it broke her focus on her job. “I love puppies,” she replied, slightly wistful.

  “I know where there is a litter of four puppies, recently born. It’s a five minute drive. Would you like to go?”

  She nodded.

  Pleased, James gestured to his car. “Come on.”

  The kennel was quiet.

  James saw Rae look around with interest as they walked through the quiet hall toward the back of the building. “Never been here before?”

  “No.”

  “I’ll show you around later,” James offered.

  He opened the gate and was not able to stop a wince of pain at the action. “James, what’s wrong?” Rae had seen the pain cross his face.

  When he didn’t answer, her face grew more intent as she made her own conclusions. “Your wrist hurts, doesn’t it? Your wrist hurt when you opened the gate.” There was alarm in her voice.

  “Rae, it’s nothing. My body is stiff after a long day working on the house. That’s all.”

  “That’s not all it is. You winced, James.”

  “It’s nothing, Rae,” he insisted, stepping through the gate to the kennel runs and waiting for her to join him.

  “James…”

  He smiled. “Rae, I promise, it’s nothing. I’m fine. Come see the puppies.”

  Margo had the first kennel run, a spacious indoor and outdoor kennel she could move between at will. The dog was awake, having heard them enter the building. She was stretched out on a soft quilt, four furry bundles sprawled around and over each other asleep beside her.

  “They’re beautiful.”

  James opened the gate and felt the pain burn in his left wrist but refused to let any indication show on his face. “Hi, girl. How are you tonight?”

  Margo raised her head and her tail began to beat against the blanket. James stroked her fur, greeted her as the old friend she was.

  Rae knelt down beside him, cautiously offered her hand to Margo to inspect, had it licked in approval.

  Two of the puppies stirred and tried to get up, only to roll as they tangled each other up. James laughed and caught them.

  “This is Benjamin, and this is Justin.”

  Rae sat down on the kennel floor and Benjamin came over to climb in her lap. The puppy yawned and Rae laughed. “They are adorable, James.”

  James sat against the concrete wall and stretched his legs out, Justin in his lap. “I thought you might like them,” he replied, rubbing Margo’s coat and playing tug-of-war with the puppy over ownership of a towel.

  The stress he had seen on Rae’s face over dinner had eased. She was absorbed in the puppy she held. James smiled. He was glad she had agreed to come. Now if he could only convince her to take a puppy home…Nothing made a stressful day fade faster than an animal that wanted all your attention. He laughed as the puppy tried to figure out how to get his front paw inside her jeans pocket.

  “How are you doing this morning?” Kevin asked.

  Kevin’s question pulled James away from his thoughts. “Ready to get to work,” he replied. He was going to need the time today working on the house to sort out his confusing thoughts from last night. He had loved the couple of hours he’d spent with Rae, walking with her, playing with the puppies, watching her. It had been a night he really enjoyed, and when she had left for home about nine, he had been able to tell the break had helped her, too. She’d left in a positive frame of mind, relaxed. For a while he had regretted Africa, until perspective cut back in, late that night.

  He doubted a carpenter would be her first choice of a guy to date. With her background, her interests, a doctor or lawyer would be a better fit. He had never been one to hold a dream that did not have at least a corner of it rooted in reality. He had enjoyed the night and he hoped to enjoy another like it before he left for Africa, but that was the sum total of what he would hope for.

  Kevin smiled. “Then let’s do it.”

  James looked at the framed-in house. He was going to build this house and then he was going to go back to Africa. It mattered to him. He was going to make it happen. No matter what it took.

  His wrist twinged as he grasped the ladder rung.

  “Rae, how are you doing?”

  Dave’s call had been transferred to the war room, and his voice distracted her momentarily from the numbers she was studying.

  “Dave, it’s chaos. I’m busy and it’s going to be a long day. Say a prayer for your finances, I’m currently losing your money.” She winced as another group of numbers caved in and went red. “Anything you need?”

  “For you to relax. You’ll do fine. We’ll bring dinner by the office around six.”

  Rae smiled. “Thanks, friend.”

  She leaned back in her chair to drop the phone in its cradle.

  It was like trying to patch together a leaking dam with bandages, the cracks in the market were spreading so rapidly. She was grateful she had made the assumption she was looking at the beginning of a major market correction, at least that decision was proving to be accurate.

  “Scott, let’s start moving about forty percent of the airline stocks to cash,” she said quietly, mentally reviewing the holding lists for where her profits were the most vulnerable to the correction.

  Some positions she was selling today had been held for five years, bought during the last major correction. Sooner or later, everything changed. Today had become that day.

  She was playing it very conservative, choosing to ride it out and do nothing in most of the stocks she held, making moves only where it seemed strategically beneficial. It was going to be a long day.

  “Rae’s got a nice location,” James commented, following Dave across the atrium of a major office complex. The building interior was marble, gold, modern, with plants and a multilevel waterfall.

  “The builder of the complex was a friend of Leo’s,” Dave replied. “She’s on the fifth floor.”

  A small sign by the suite door, stenciled in gold, told him they had arrived at Rae’s office.

  The reception area was a formal living room, with comfortable couches, chairs, and a glass-topped table set discretely to the side. “Lace decorated for them,” Dave commented, smiling. He indicated the hall to the right. It opened into a large spacious room that was obviously the hub of the research area. The lady filing reports smiled when she saw them. “Hi, Dave.”

  “Hi, Janet. Have you met James, yet?”

  “Not officially, no. Hello, James.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, Janet.”

  “Where would you like the dinner we brought?” Dave asked, looking around.

  She nodded to the conference room behind him. “Over there would be wonderful. We appreciate it. We’re all behind today, there was so much happening so quickly.”

  “Where is she?”

  “The war room.”

  “Any screams during the day?”

  “She’s been so calm you would think the market was flat,” Janet replied.

  “How did she do?”

  Janet grinned. “Unbelievably well.”

  “She made money?”

  “It’s a tad insulting that you sound so surprised,” Rae commented, causing Dave to look around.

  “I brought pot stickers. Forgiven?”

  She smiled and joined them. “Depends on how many you brought. Hi, James.”

  “Hi, Rae.” She looked exhausted. It had obviously been a long stressful day, but her smile told him a lot about how she felt. She had done well today.

  “Would you like a fast tour while I find everyone?”

  “Sure.”

  “Dave, what should I bring you to drink?”

  “Something cold.”

  Rae laughed. “I think I’ve got that. Janet?”

  “A cream soda.”

  Rae pointed out doors as they walked back toward the reception area. “This is primarily the analysis wing of the suite, my office, another conference room, Janet’s office.” She took a turn just before she reached the
reception area. “This is the trading wing, Leo’s office. Scott—one of my key traders—Ann and Jeanna.” She paused by one of the doors. “This is the trading room. I’ll warn you in advance, it’s normally a little neater.”

  She pushed open the door. James stepped inside. The amount of information and how it was correlated and displayed was incredible. It was like nothing he had ever seen before. He felt slightly overwhelmed. This was her domain?

  “Rae, do you want to clear the rest of the position in five-year treasuries tomorrow? There is a working spread we could take advantage of,” a man in his early twenties asked from the far side of the room.

  “Punch it up to the monitors,” she requested. He pressed a couple keys and the data he was looking at appeared on the main screen in front of her. Rae studied the data, nodded. “Good idea. Put them on the list to move early in the day. Scott, have you met James?”

  “Spoken on the phone, but no. It’s nice to meet you, James.”

  James shook hands, liking the man on sight. Dave spoke highly of him. “Same here. This looks like an interesting place to work.”

  Scott laughed. “Challenging,” he replied.

  “Dinner is here,” Rae commented, picking up the stacks of notes she had scrawled during the day. “What can I get you to drink, Scott?”

  He gestured to the table behind him. “Got it covered, Rae. The main conference room?”

  Rae nodded.

  “Give me another couple minutes to finish the file transfers, and I’ll be there.”

  “This has been a long day for you,” James commented as they stepped into a small kitchen. It was six-thirty and Dave had mentioned Rae had called him from the office at 5:00 a.m. that morning.

  Rae opened the refrigerator to get the requested drinks. “It will take a couple hours longer to wrap up today than usual, but seven o’clock isn’t that uncommon. Did the building go okay today? I was worried about you.”

  James smiled as he took the drinks, careful in how he gripped the cans because his hands wanted to drop them. There was no way he was going to even hint how harsh the day had been. He had a weekend to relax and recuperate. The pain that had been in his ribs the day before had settled into all his joints with the viciousness of a disease that had never left.