Stopping Traffic (A Back to School Romance) (Love at The Crossroads) (4 page)

His niece smiled at him. Royce peppered her neck with kisses and was rewarded with a taunting laugh for him to do it again.

In no time the table was set with stir-fry vegetables, smothered pork chops, garlic potatoes, tossed salad, rolls, and banana pudding holding in the refrigerator. Trent, the first brother in the family to repent of his sins and be baptized in Jesus’ name—in part because he wanted Julia, who was already a practicing Christian—did the honors of saying grace.

“Lord, in the name of Jesus, we thank You for this food. We ask that You sanctify it from all impurities and bless it. I also thank You for protecting my brothers as they serve others and continue to bless them, God, in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

“Amen,” Royce murmured touched by his brother’s prayer. Younger by three years, Trent wasn’t a public servant, but was a certified public accountant.

Julia added, “And find him a wife.”

She shrugged when Royce looked at her. With an angelic expression to match that of her daughter, she slipped a spoonful of mashed potatoes in her mouth.

“Maybe she’s a crossing guard,” Trent snickered. “Sorry, man.” His grin conveyed anything but repentance. “Hershel said it was too good not to tell.”

Snarling, Royce would have a word with his brother later. “It’s a simple curiosity about a good-looking lady. Our brother won’t even let my nephew snoop around for me. “If I only had a kid to walk to school, it would be a decoy to learn more about her.”

“You might start with a baby first, or I can loan you mine. Women love babies,” Julia said and she spooned a serving of baby spinach in her daughter’s mouth. His niece ate everything—table food, baby food and would wash it down with a bottle of milk. 

Borrow?
“Why didn’t I think of that? Thanks, Julia. One day tops.” Royce was already formulating a plan.

“
I was just kidding,” Julia continued to bring him back to reality. “Besides, she’s probably married or somebody’s mother. If you’re ready to pursue that special someone, let me introduce you.”

He had to satisfy his curiosity about the crossing guard first. “I’ll let you know when,” was his standard reply when she offered her free matchmaking services. Once dinner was finished, Trent helped Julia clean the kitchen.

Royce was assigned babysitting duties. He basically cradled Ariel in his arms until she dozed off.

His nephews, Brandon and his three-year-old brother, Harrison, played one of the many games Trent and Julia kept for them when they visited.

Hershel nudged him when he yawned. “Go home, Royce, so you can get some sleep.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Normally, his long shifts didn’t wear him out so much on his off days, but with some of the twenty-hour shifts lately thrown in the mix, Royce’s body was protesting. Ariel stirred in his arms as he shifted his weight.

As if on cue, Trent reappeared and took his sleeping baby. Saying his goodbyes, Royce received hugs and then headed to the door.

“We’ll see you at church in the morning,” Julia said.

“Yep.” Whenever he had a Sunday off, which could be a few times a month, Royce strove to be in morning service.  With his keys jingling in his hand, he got into his car and drove off. At home, he showered, then crashed without setting his alarm.

The next morning, Royce woke drowsy an hour later than he wanted. He rushed through a shave, dressed and microwaved a frozen breakfast meal. He ate it in record time. He might be late for worship service at Rapture Ready Church, but he would probably still beat Hershel there.

Years earlier, Hershel’s ex-wife had attended the same church and listened to the same message, but that didn’t stop her from cheating on Hershel. Eventually, she left him and abandoned their two small sons. Although his faith in God and women were shaken, Hershel came on most of his off days, usually blaming his tardiness on the boys. Sometimes Royce wondered if Hershel’s attendance was for an example to his sons, going through the motions, or believing God despite what his ex-wife did to shake his faith.

Royce slid into the pew next to Trent and his family. He knelt and said a quick prayer of thanks for being in the house of the Lord. Within minutes, the praise and worship segment began. The harmony and repetitious words of the chorus always seemed to clear his head of the tragedies and hardships from the previous week.

Hershel and the boys arrived five minutes into it. The pastor’s sermon: The power of God’s presence in our lives.

“We live in a spiritual realm. God just might be trying to get your attention…If we connect the dots of events that happen in our lives or people we meet, we’ll find out that Jesus was in the mix all the time to draw us closer to Him and His purpose…” Pastor Reed admonished his congregation. “Pay attention to the things that you would normally brush off as unimportant…” he finished less than an hour later. During the altar call, five souls repented and requested the baptism in Jesus’ name to wash their sins away. The applause was thunderous. Rapture Ready Church members believed in rejoicing with each soul that was snatched away from Satan’s grip.

CHAPTER SIX

What anxiety? Candace taunted at the devil. Every day she was getting stronger in her faith as the fear lessened of crossing the street. What mattered most was the children’s safe passage to school. Some days it was a challenge with the free-spirited skate boarders and bicyclists.

She had even begun to match a student’s name with faces, like now as she peered over her shoulder down a side street. “Tommy, slow down,” she fussed at a fourth grader who seemed bent on racing a fellow classmate to the corner.

Turning back, Candace’s hand hovered over the pedestrian crossing button. Before she could activate the walk signal, a driver slammed on his brakes at the same time Tommy sped past her and his bike made contact with the car’s front bummer. She reacted in slow motion as the scream was lodged in Candace’s throat as the children yelled.

Oh my God. Oh Lord. Not again.
Her heart pounded, then she remembered the children, including Lindsay. Forcing back her fears, Candace instructed the students to look away and not to move.  Waving the stop sign in the air, she raced to the boy who had slid off the hood of the car to the ground. “Tommy, are you okay?”

Tommy moaned as he tried to open his eyes. “My leg hurts, Lindsay’s mommy. It hurts. Ooh.”

The driver jumped out the car. “I didn’t see him,” he pleaded. The man was just as frantic as she would be if she were in the same situation. “He came out of nowhere.”

Candace could only nod her understanding as she dialed 9-1-1 from her iPhone strapped to her waist. The sirens wailing in the background provided her little comfort if Tommy injuries were more serious than what she could see.

“9-1-1. What’s your emergency?” the dispatcher answered.

Taking a breath to calm her nerves, Candace stuttered, “I have….struck. A child, a boy…he’s been hit at the intersection of Lindbergh and Cougar in front of the Duncan Elementary School. Yes, he is conscious and breathing. Hurry,” she pleaded as the woman had her repeat what she just tried to say.

Traffic had come to a stop on its own. The children remained at the corner. Horror was stretched across their faces as they looked on. Several encircled the boy.

“I’m a doctor,” a gray-haired man said as he bent to assess Tommy’s vitals. “It’s going to be okay, son.” He asked a series of questions, which the child answered through his tears.

“Miss Clark, do you need any help?” A parent came to her aid.

“Yes, will you escort these children to their classes and notify Mrs. Lovejoy what happened so the teachers can talk to their students.”

Lord, I know I didn’t want this job, but You know I don’t want to be relieved of my duties because I was negligent.

The parent patted her on the shoulder and went to tend to the other children as the fire truck arrived behind an ambulance. A paramedic rushed to Tommy and began to stabilize him.

“What happened?” the EMT asked of no one in particular, but the driver was the first to respond as Tommy grabbed her hand and held on.

“I was driving at the speed limit. I had a green light and this boy came from out of nowhere…”

A female officer took charge of directing traffic so the new group of students at the corner could be escorted safely across the street.

Another EMT assisted the first man with securing a brace around Tommy’s neck and support under both legs before lifting him onto a stretcher.  As the child began to cry in earnest, Candace tried to coax his mother’s number from him so she could call her.

After three attempts, the boy finally recited all seven digits. Candace’s hand shook as she punched in the number. She empathized with any bearer of bad news. Candace swallowed as the phone rang. She had to remain calm as a woman answered.

“Mrs. Harris, this is Miss Clark, the crossing guard at your son’s school.” Her lips froze as she relived the moment when she was on the other end of the phone, hearing the officer’s words that her husband was dead. Closing her eyes, Candace slowly forced out the words, “There has been an accident with Tommy and his bike.”

“Oh my God. Is he…alive?” Mrs. Harris’s piercing scream of terror made Candace shivered.

“Yes, yes. He’s just complaining about pain in his leg. The ambulance is here…”

Mrs. Harris disconnected without another word. Getting off her knees, Candace exhaled. A crowd lined the sidewalk. As she pressed her way through the crowd, Candace couldn’t get the images out her mind: Daniel and Tommy.

She had to sit down before her legs gave way. With her car within sight, she took one step after the other as the what-ifs began to overwhelm her. Could she have stopped Tommy? Should she have turned around so soon? Should she have even taken the assignment? She had almost made it to her Kia when she felt light-headed and her legs—like Jell-O—began to melt, then her vision blurred before everything went black.

***

Royce couldn’t believe it. A child struck in front of his nephew’s school had brought him face-to-face with the crossing guard who had dominated his thoughts since day one.

From her flushed face, he could tell she was in shock. The child’s mother came running down to the scene as if the wind propelled her. She heaved her body into the ambulance before they shut the door.

With one situation under control, Royce shamelessly checked the crossing guard’s ring finger—nothing. Under the pretense of asking if she needed medical attention, he followed her. Only to catch her before she collapsed. Evidently, the scene was too much for her.

Responding to medical emergencies was part of his job. Evidently, this woman had experienced a horrific scene like this before, possibly involving a child.

“Is she okay?” Felix asked over his shoulder as Royce checked her pulse.

Royce nodded and began to speak to her while Felix put an oxygen mask over her. The woman’s lids fluttered as she struggled to open her eyes. When she succeeded, he noticed they were the beautiful shade of brown.

Officer Williams walked over and squatted. “Was she injured? I need to get her statement.”

At the moment, the woman stirred.

“Give her a few minutes. She’s probably in shock,” Felix told the officer.

“Hey, easy there. I’ve got you. Are you okay?”

She nodded before she drifted away again.

“Let’s get her in an ambulance, so she can be checked out,” Hershel ordered as he quickly assessed the situation. Operating in his captain capacity, his brother was clueless that this was the crossing guard who’d snagged his attention.

As Hershel summoned the paramedics to tend to the crossing guard, it took all within Royce to release her. But his brother was the captain and Royce had to follow orders.

The firefighters were climbing in the truck as the second ambulance, carrying the woman, pulled away. Royce prayed that she was okay. Twice, the crossing guard had snagged his attention. However, her falling into his arms was not the introduction he had expected.

CHAPTER
SEVEN

Candace opened her eyes and was immediately disoriented by her surroundings. Then it dawned on her that she was in the emergency room. Instantly, it clicked what happened at the crosswalk. She blinked, staring into Solae’s worried expression.

“Tommy…is Tommy okay?”

“Yes.” Solae put pressure on her chest to keep her from getting up.

“He’s fine—and alive with a broken leg. His mother just left from checking on you. The doctors say it could have been worse.”

“How embarrassing.” Candace groaned as she eyed the machines monitoring her heart and blood pressure. Turning her head away, she began to cry. “God, will I ever overcome this? I had no business…”

“Stop it, Candace Clark! There was nothing anybody could have done to avoid it, except Tommy and we know children think the world revolves around them. I am not the one for a pity party today.” Solae lowered her voice. “Don’t take on burdens that aren’t yours. God knew this was going to happen. Tommy learned a lesson and I believe Jesus is teaching you one.”