An Accidental Family (18 page)

She’d given this moment a lot of thought, a lot of planning, and a whole lot of prayer. Fingers trembling, Nadine slid a dented and tarnished ring from her shirt pocket. “What. Is.
That?
” he asked, laughing softly.

“It’s Amy’s. She saved it from Lily’s wedding reception. It was wrapped around the little parchment announcement beside each guest’s plate, remember?”

He nodded.

“Yes.”

“I was hoping you’d say that.”

His gaze slid from the ring to Nadine’s face. “Say what?”

“Yes.”

Lamont chuckled. “
That’s
your question?”

“No.”

He slapped a hand over his eyes. “Lord, shower me with patience.” When he came out from hiding, he said, “Okay. I give up. What in the world are you talking about, pretty lady?”

“Remember that night in the kitchen, when you showed me that beautiful ring? The one your grandfather gave to your grandfather?”

“Yeah…”

“Well, I was insane to turn down your proposal.” She held up the tin band. “I’m hoping you won’t be as crazy.”

“Are you asking me to—”

“I thought at the time that saying no was in your best interest, because why would a handsome, successful rancher like you want to be saddled with a doddering old widow with more bills than brain cells, who was under suspicion of burning down her house, whose son and—”

“Nadine, neither of us is getting any younger.”

“Y’know, when you’re right, you’re right.” She dropped the cheap metal band into the palm of his left hand. “No way it’ll fit on your big work-hardened ring finger, but remember, it’s the thought that counts.” Closing his fingers around it, Nadine whispered, “If you’ll still have me, I’d love nothing more than to become your wife and spend the rest of my life with you.”

For the next few seconds, the only sound in the room was the tick of a tiny pendulum, swinging to and fro inside the clock on his desk. Lamont’s gaze flickered from her eyes to her lips and back again. “That was
not
a question.”

“You’re not going to make this easy on me, are you?”

Grinning mischievously, he shook his head. “Isn’t every day an old cowpoke gets proposed to by a beautiful woman.”

“Lamont London, will you marry me?”

“Darlin’,” he said, holding her tight, “I thought you’d never ask.”

Five years later

L
amont leaned back, one hand resting on the back of the porch swing, the other jingling ice cubes in a tall tumbler of lemonade.

Beyond the circular drive, a split-rail fence held a herd of fat, healthy heifers, the product of Nadine’s massive Brahman bull. She’d given it to him the day after Julie had been released from the hospital, when he’d turned his living room into a hospital room, right down to the Y-bar attached to the beamed ceiling. “You can’t expect me to just stand around with my hand out, 24/7,” she’d said, “taking, taking, taking and never giving anything back!”

Little did she realize that, just by being part of his life, she’d given him more than he ever thought any man could hope for. Especially at his age!

And in the yard, Lily and Max with their four-year-old twins, Steven and Samantha, and Nate—who’d grown nearly as tall as his dad, playing horseshoes with Big Jim, almost as much a part of the family as the rest
of them. Rosie—the little con artist—had talked the twins into playing a lopsided game of London Bridge. His own twins, Vi and Ivy, had flown in from Baltimore, each hoping time in their childhood home would help them heal from their respective heartbreaks. In the pool, Cammi and Reid played Marco Polo, rousing giggles from their baby boy, who bobbed beside them in a floating chair.

Sand buckets and soccer balls and badminton rackets littered the grass, while Obnoxious snored on a beach towel. Peeper snoozed on his lap, and beside him, looking more beautiful than she had on their wedding day, sat his wife.

“What are you grinning about, cowboy?”

“Just counting my blessings.”

“I love having all the kids here, too. And with the family growing like it is, we have plenty of excuses to have them over to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries.”

Today, it was Amy’s turn to blow out the candles on a fanciful, thick-frostinged cake. “Hard to believe she’s ten already,” Lamont said. “Seems like only yesterday she was no bigger than a minute.”

Nadine rested her head on his shoulder. “I know. Time sure flies when you’re having fun.”

He wondered how many clichés she’d quoted over the years. Thousands? Hundreds of thousands? Chuckling, he kissed her temple. “Happy?”

“Very.”

“Even though we canceled our trip to the islands?”

She looked into his face. “To tell you the truth, Caribbean cruises are great, but…” She waved at Rosie, who now had her twin cousins rolling down the slope that led to the gazebo. “I’d much rather celebrate our
fifth anniversary—
all
our anniversaries—right here on River Valley soil. Besides, you couldn’t
drag
me that far from home with another grandbaby on the way.”

“I feel the same way.”

She cuddled closer and kissed his cheek. “Y’big softie…”

Odd, how things turned out, he thought, nodding to himself. About the time everything that was upside down turned right-side up, the insurance check arrived, and Nadine used it to build a two-story cottage on the foundation of her old house. As the contractor was nailing the final shingles to the roof, she’d asked Lamont what he’d say if she decided to rent the place.

“I’d say you’re nuts,” he’d said. “Do you really want to be a landlady, getting calls in the middle of the night because the toilet’s stopped up or the furnace isn’t working?”

That’s when she’d showed him the gigantic greeting card she and Amy had made to welcome Adam and Julie home from their second honeymoon, in which she’d tucked the deed to the cottage.

It was a great idea, he’d said. His girls were settled in homes of their own, and he and Nadine were happy here at River Valley. Julie’s recovery had been nothing short of miraculous, and it would be good having the kids close, so they could help Adam make sure she stayed that way.

“Gra-a-n-da-a-ad,” Amy sing-songed, “you pro-o-mi-i-issed…”

Nadine laughed. “Better grab your towel, mister, ’cause I don’t think you’re gonna wriggle out of doing the belly flop this time.”

“I suppose you’re right,” he said. “But if I’m not back in fifteen minutes, send in the SWAT team.”

“How ’bout if I just call you all in for dinner, instead?” She wrinkled her nose. “That’d be a lot less fuss and bother, don’t you think?”

Laughing, Lamont said, “Yeah, I guess we’ve had more than our share of visits from the Amarillo emergency crews.”

Standing, he leaned forward to leave the swing, and she grabbed his hand. “What about you, Lamont? Are you happy?”

“Happier than I’ve ever been.” And to prove it, he punctuated the statement with a long, loving kiss.

“I have something for you,” she said softly, “an anniversary present. But you can’t open it until later, after all the kids have gone home.”

“I don’t need a gift,” he said, kissing her again. “Everything I need is right here.”

“But Lamont, I—”

He gestured toward the yard, where their kids and grandkids frolicked. “You gave me
that.
” Then he gently chucked her chin. “And you gave me
this.
I doubt I could handle any more joy.”

Bracketing his face with both hands, she touched the tip of her nose to his. “I suppose you’re right. We did sort of—”

“Oh, Granddad,” Amy called again. She stood on the diving board, wagging her forefinger. “It isn’t nice to break promises to birthday girls…”

“All right,” he said, putting Peeper on the ground. “But stand back, because you’re about to see the biggest belly flop in the history of the River Valley swimming pool.”

The feline aimed a flat-eyed glare at him, then walked away, tail flicking.

“It appears that she resents having her cozy lap
taken away so abruptly,” Julie said, picking up the cat. “And don’t pay a bit of attention to that silly daughter of mine.” She patted her round belly. “It’s high time she got used to sharing her grandfather—and everything else.”

Lamont winked. “She’s gonna be an A-1 big sister. Just you wait and see.”

Laughing, his daughter-in-law put the cat inside, and slid the screen door closed behind her. “You’d think after all these years, I wouldn’t still be miffed at you for stealing my little Peeper.”

“Hey, I tried to give her back. Couple hundred times.”

She kissed the top of his head. “Well, you have no one but yourself to blame.”

“Hey, wait just a cotton pickin’ minute, here…” Lamont said.

“That’s what having a heart as big as Texas will get you.”

“What?”

“You saved my life. Twice, by my count.”

“Jules,” he began, “you’re—”

“I don’t think I need to remind you what you said that night, when I was so willing to let go. If you hadn’t stood there, nagging and hammering at me.”

Lamont looked at Nadine. “You think she knows how good she is at deflating a bloated ego?”

The threesome laughed. Then Julie pointed into the yard, where bright helium-filled balloons and colorful streamers danced on a sultry Texas breeze, and a spritely tune thumped from a boom box.

“What you get when your heart is as big as Texas is grandkids and daughters-in-law who think you hung the
moon, and pets that adopt
you
…” Julie said, as Peeper meowed on cue.

“…and you wind up the head of a big, happy, accidental family.”

Nadine smiled. “…and you end up as the head of a big, happy, accidental family.”

Dear Reader,

Genesis is chock-full of “family stories,” including the legendary account of Cain and Abel. No doubt Adam and Eve were heartbroken by the tragic rift between their boys. But can you imagine how much more horrible they would have felt if siblings and in-laws gathered ’round to share “I told you so’s”!

Families give us much to celebrate—births and birthdays, weddings and anniversaries, graduations, job promotions and retirement. And they give us cause to mourn, too, when a loved one is diagnosed with cancer, a marriage dies, or a child bends to the temptation of drugs. Grandkids break bones. Husbands have heart attacks. Parents slip into the fog of Alzheimer’s.

We can count on our families for little joys, such as the greeting cards that arrive like clockwork from a sister who lives in distant state, or the brief “I was thinking about you!” email from the brother who hates gabbing on the phone. And for balance, there’s the brother-in-law who routinely arrives late for Thanksgiving dinner, and the nephew who delights in making the toilet overflow every single time he visits!

For people like Nadine Greene and Lamont London—each with their own up-down, happy-sad, good-bad “relative moments”—blending
two
families is a challenge, to say the least. But to find their second chance at love amid all the chaos? Good thing they had the promise of their Heavenly Father to see them through to their happy ending, wasn’t it!

I pray that in your own family, joy will far outweigh heartache, and that when hard times befall you or your loved ones, you’ll always find comfort in the promise of
the Father: “…and then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” (2 Corinthians 6:18)

Now that you’ve finished reading
An Accidental Family,
I hope you’ll tell me all about your favorite part of the story. You can write me at [email protected] or c/o Love Inspired Books, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279. (I love hearing from readers, and try to answer every letter, personally!)

Blessings to you and yours,

1. What expectations did you have for Lamont and Nadine’s relationship when they first met?
   
2. List three of Nadine’s “issues” with Lamont.
   
3. And what are his “issues” with her?
   
4. What were Lamont’s most admirable character strengths?
   
5. His weaknesses?
   
6. What did you like best about Nadine?
   
7. What do you consider her major flaw?
   
8. Why did Nadine have such a hard time admitting her “relationship fears”?
   
9. Do you feel that Lamont behaved appropriately toward Julie and Adam?
   
10. Which of the two main characters did
    you
    most closely identify with? Why?
    
11. Who’s your favorite secondary character? Why?
    
12. If you had to select one “faith theme” from this novel, what would it be?