Route 66 Reunions (21 page)

“Great.” Blake wrote the address down and headed back downstairs. He felt as if he’d just walked through a door into an unfamiliar room. He didn’t know what he faced, but he was ready to make the decision that had been beckoning him from the first moment he recognized Tessa in Oklahoma City.

As promised, at nine thirty, he knocked on Pastor Lieber’s door and was ushered inside.

“Blake, I’m glad you stopped by.” The older man motioned toward a chair in his office as he sat in the one beside it. “I’ve enjoyed seeing your face in our services. Hopefully you’ve received a blessing there. Now, what can I do for you?”

“My mother recently became a Christian,” Blake began as the pastor waited, giving his entire attention to his visitor. “She’s been talking to me, and then there’s Tessa Stevens. I knew her a long time ago.”

As Blake explained the turmoil in his heart, the pastor nodded encouragement. Several minutes later Blake said, “I feel my mother and Tessa have something I’m missing. I know I haven’t lived the best life. I mean, I’ve done wrong. Everyone does, don’t they?”

The pastor nodded. “Oh yes. ‘We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way.’ But God’s Word also tells us that ‘the wages of sin is death.’

“You see, Blake, when Christ died on the cross, He provided forgiveness for your sins and mine. But only when we come to Him and confess our sins and ask for His forgiveness are our sins covered by His blood.” He paused before asking, “Do you believe you have sin—past or present—in your life for which you have not accepted Jesus Christ’s forgiveness?”

Blake bowed his head and nodded. “Please, Pastor, I need to pray.”

When he knelt with Pastor Lieber, confessing his sins and accepting God’s forgiveness, he understood the change in Tessa’s life. As he stood and shook the pastor’s hand, he felt as if he had truly been born again.

No longer did his sins weigh heavy against his heart. No pricks of guilt stole his joy. Instead, his heart sang with love and gratitude toward his Savior. He could scarcely wait to tell Tessa what had happened.

Tessa sent the boys to bed at ten. They had school in the morning and she had work, but Blake said he would call. She took a warm blanket from her bed and went outside to cuddle into it on the porch swing with the cordless phone in her hand. She might get cold, but she wouldn’t go to sleep before he called.

She had noticed him hugging Derek and walking to the car this afternoon with his arm around him. Her son—Blake’s son—soaked up every bit of attention his father gave him. Only he didn’t know Blake was his father. He would be happy to claim him as his stepfather. All the boys would love for her to marry Blake. They had all said so more than once. But she couldn’t marry a man who didn’t share her commitment to Jesus. No matter how much she loved him.

Would Blake want joint custody of Derek? He had a good income from his restaurant in Oklahoma and soon would from the one here. His parents had money. If he took her to court, there would be little she could do to keep Derek from him. Did she even want to? No, what she wanted was to tell the boys the truth. Derek needed to know his father. She hadn’t been fair to him or Blake, or the other boys for that matter.

A few minutes after ten thirty, the phone in her hand rang, startling Tessa. She turned it on and held it to her ear with her heart racing. “Hello?”

“Tessa, can I come over? I know it’s late, but I’ve got to see you.”

Her heart froze at the urgency in his voice. He sounded excited but hesitant. “Blake, what’s wrong?”

“Not one thing.” Blake laughed. “Not one single thing is wrong. That’s what I want to tell you about. Please, I won’t stay long. Can you meet me on the porch?”

She laughed. “I’m here already waiting.”

“Good, because I’m coming up your street now. Just stay put.”

“I will.” Tessa saw Blake’s headlights approaching, and then he stopped behind her car in the driveway.

He crossed the yard to her and stopped by the swing, looking down at her with a wide smile on his face. “I just came from Pastor Lieber’s. I’m a new man, Tess.”

She threw the blanket from her shoulders and sprang into his arms for a warm hug. She pulled back slightly. “You accepted Christ, didn’t you?”

He nodded. “I’ve made a commitment to serve Him. I’m still reeling from the experience of salvation, but I know it’s for eternity. I understand now what you’ve been trying to tell me. If you hadn’t lived your changed life in front of me, I never would have found forgiveness. I love you, Tessa. From the bottom of my heart.”

“I love you, too, Blake.” Tessa smiled at him. “I made a decision tonight, too.”

“Oh really?” Blake led her to the swing, where they snuggled together into the warmth of the blanket. He tucked the blanket under her chin and grinned. “You know, if we got married, we wouldn’t have to sit on the porch so much.”

Tessa smiled. “Is that a proposal or just an observation?”

His grin disappeared as he looked into her eyes. “I already proposed and you turned me down.”

“Maybe the timing was wrong.”

“Is the timing better now?”

The look they shared became so intense neither could have turned away if they’d wanted to. Tessa could not trust her voice, so she nodded.

Blake pulled her closer as his head lowered until his lips covered hers in the sweetest kiss she had ever experienced.

“Blake?” She breathed his name in a question.

He smiled. “You want to hear it again, don’t you?”

She nodded, never taking her attention from his face. Her heart raced in anticipation.

“You’d better give me the right answer this time.” Blake pulled back and took both her hands in his. “Tessa, I love you with all my heart. I love your boys as if they were all my own sons. Of course, Derek has a special place in my heart, but I promise I will never show partiality to him over Rob or Seth. I want to be the father they’ve never had but need. But most of all, I want to be your husband. I want to love you and walk with you through this life until God calls us home. I want you to be my wife. Will you marry me?”

Tears filled Tessa’s eyes and ran down her cheeks. She opened her mouth but could not find her voice past the sob that wanted to escape. So she nodded. Somehow she ended up in Blake’s arms, crying against his shoulder.

When her tears were spent and she had dried her face with the blanket, he asked, “Do I get to hear the word, Tessa, or am I to take that female display of emotion as a yes?”

She smacked his arm then looked into his smiling face and wanted to laugh for joy. Instead she said, “Yes, Blake, I will marry you. The sooner the better. When can we tell the boys? And your folks? And my mom? And Kasi? And Sarah and Amanda?”

He laughed. “Whoa, you can make an announcement to the world later. I want to tell the boys now though. What do you say we wake them up? Do they know I’m Derek’s father?”

“No, I haven’t told them.” She pulled him from the swing. “That’s the decision I made earlier. I think it’s time they knew. Let’s tell them together.”

They decided to invade the boys’ bedroom and talk there. Tessa woke Rob and Seth while Blake woke Derek.

“What’s going on, Mom?” Rob sat up and stared at Blake. “What’re you doing here?”

Blake slipped his arm around Tessa’s waist while the boys sat staring at them. “Your mother and I have an announcement to make.”

The words had no sooner left his lips than the three boys shot from bed and grabbed them in a group hug.

“I told you they’d get married,” Rob boasted to the other two.

“Are you, Mom? Are you and Blake getting married?” Derek looked up at her. “Can I call Blake Dad now? Can I
,
Blake?”

Blake sat on the edge of one of the beds as if his legs wouldn’t hold him any longer. He looked from Derek to Tessa and then at each of the boys, ending back with Derek. “Your mother and I have something more to tell you.”

“But you are getting married, aren’t you?” Rob asked.

“Yes, we are,” Blake assured them. “As soon as possible. I think we’ve wasted enough time, enough years.”

Tessa didn’t say anything then, but she thought as the boys cheered their approval,
Someday you will understand, Blake, that years of preparation are never wasted years. Only our foolish resistance to God’s love kept us from finding our happiness eleven years ago
.

“Boys, listen to us now.” When she had their attention, she said, “You know Blake and I were friends a long time ago. What you don’t know is that Blake is Derek’s father.” She turned to her youngest son. “Derek, I’m sorry to drop this on you so suddenly, but I didn’t know how else to say it. Do you understand Blake is your biological father?”

“Sure, Mom.” Derek shrugged. “Rob already told me Blake and me do some of the same stuff. Our hair and eyes are the same color, too. We talked it over.” He indicated his brothers. “And we figured he probably was, but we don’t care. We like him anyway.”

Derek’s comment hit Tessa like a punch to the stomach. “What do you mean? Did you expect to not like your fathers?”

“Well, sure, Mom.” Rob spoke for them all. “We figured they were all a bunch of losers, since they didn’t stick with you. I don’t know what happened between you and Blake, but he came back as soon as he knew where you were, and that’s all that matters.”

He looked at Blake. “You do know, though, when you marry Mom, Seth and me will be your sons, too. Are you sure that’s what you want?”

Tessa saw the vulnerability in Rob’s eyes as he waited for the answer. Seth never looked away from Blake.

“No man in his right mind would turn down an offer like that, Rob.” He looked from one boy to the other. “Rob, Seth, I want you to know I already consider you my sons. I’d like for you to think about adoption. We don’t have to go that route if you don’t want to, but I would be honored if you would take my name and become my legal sons. Don’t answer now. Take some time to think about it, okay?”

Both boys nodded, and Tessa watched uncertainty fade from their eyes as a new light of respect for Blake took over. She brushed at her moist cheeks and smiled at her future husband, who sat holding Derek. Their ten-year-old son’s legs stretched to the floor, but he and his father had ten years of catching up to do. They needed this time together.

Later, the boys climbed back into bed, and Tessa followed Blake outside. With the breeze bringing a promise of winter, they made plans for an early November wedding.

“That way our families can be together for the holidays.” Blake pulled her close and kissed her hair. “I’m so glad you decided to take a trip along Route 66. If not for the old road, we might never have connected again.”

Tessa looked up at him as love and thanksgiving flooded her heart. “God used the Mother Road to bring us together.”

“I think you’re right, Tessa,” Blake murmured. “I think you’re right.”

He lowered his head for a kiss.

T
essa stood at the back of the church with Blake’s dad. He patted her hand, held close in the bend of his arm, and leaned toward her to whisper as the “Wedding March” began, “My son is a lucky man, Tessa. I couldn’t ask better for him.”

“Thank you, Dad.” Tessa was not yet used to that name on her lips, but she already loved the man who had asked her to call him Dad. Not long after she and Blake announced their engagement, George Donovan had announced his decision to follow Christ. Tessa rejoiced with Blake and Janice. After today, she would have another set of parents. At their request, she would learn to call them Mom and Dad.

Together George and Tessa followed the flower girl. Five-year-old Zandra Baynes made precise steps as she dropped rose petals down the wide center aisle. Tessa smiled at how she took her job so seriously.

In the front row, Tessa’s mother stood watching her daughter. She clutched Clark Albright’s hand as a wide smile brightened her face. She winked at Tessa as she neared. Yesterday she had told Tessa that she just might walk up the aisle herself one day. From the smile on Mr. Albright’s face when he looked down at her mother, Tessa guessed a wedding might well be in their future.

Tessa lifted her gaze to the front, where Blake stood with Pastor Lieber. Rob, serving as best man, stood next to Blake. Seth and Derek, as groomsmen, came next. Across from them were Tessa’s best friends. Kasi was her matron of honor. Next to her stood Sarah and Amanda as bridesmaids. She was so thankful her friends had both been able to travel to her wedding. The day would have lost something special if either of them had been absent.

Tessa’s gaze shifted back to Blake. Her heart picked up speed as it always did when he smiled at her. George stopped and turned, letting her hand slide from his elbow to his hand, where he held it as he faced her.

In the silence after the processional, he said, “Tessa, I cannot tell you how privileged I felt when you asked me to walk up the aisle with you today. It is my honor, not to give you away, but to accept you into the Donovan family as my daughter by handing you to my son. May God bless you and Blake as you begin your life together.”

He leaned forward and kissed Tessa’s forehead before offering her hand to Blake. As Blake’s fingers closed around Tessa’s hand, tears threatened to escape. With her emotions so near the surface, she squeezed his hand and looked into his brown eyes so filled with love for her. She didn’t deserve this. She had never expected to have a wedding, let alone love. God had lifted her from the world’s gutter and placed her with the best He had. The best husband. The best in-laws. The best sons. The best mother. And the best friends. A tear escaped.