Summer Breeze (19 page)

“So, was I supposed to wear a tie?” Derek asked. “I wasn’t sure.”

“You look fine.”

He smiled. “You’re gorgeous. Love those earrings, by the way.”

Kim couldn’t hide her grin. “I’m so glad you’re going with us.”

“Thought I’d better see what the fuss was about every Sunday morning. I invited Mom, too, but …” He shrugged.

Kim stiffened at the mention of Miranda. “Does she still have an altar in her bedroom? I specifically asked her to put that away. I know it’s part of her religion, but I’m not comfortable with it.”

“Just ignore my mother,” Derek said. “She means well, and is she really hurting anyone with her little statues and incense?”

“All paths lead to God,” Lydia intoned from the backseat. “That’s what Grandma Finley says. Every religion has some truth in it. And it’s smart to know about each of them and use the parts that help you find your inner holiness.”

“Whatever,” Derek said. “The main thing is that your mother chose Christianity, and until you move out of the house, kids, that’s your religion. Then you can choose whatever you want to be. Go burn incense with Grandma Finley if it toots your horn.”

Luke laughed. “I’m a Christian, and I’m not changing my mind.”

“You don’t have any choice except to be a Christian,” Lydia said. “We have to do whatever Mom and Derek say, remember?”

“Yeah, so why’d you call Dad the other day, Lydia? You know we’re not supposed to talk to him except on his weekends.”

“You phoned your father again?” Kim asked, turning to eye her daughter.
Great
. This was just what they needed in the middle of so much friction—Lydia bringing Joe into the mix again.

“I wanted to tell him about Luke being in the hospital. Dad should know. He’s our real father.”

“I told him,” Derek said. “I phoned him that afternoon.”

Kim glanced at Derek in time to see his hands tighten on the steering wheel.

“Dad wasn’t home when Lydia called anyway,” Luke said, his voice low. “She left him a message and he never called back. Both of you told Dad that I was sick, and he didn’t come to the hospital.”

“He might have,” Lydia said. “You were asleep lots of the time. Maybe he came at night after work.”

“He doesn’t work at night. He goes to bars.”

“Stop telling lies about our father,” Lydia snapped. “We hardly even know him, because Mom and Derek won’t let him near us without a big fuss.”

“There are rules, Lydia—and Derek had nothing to do with them. Your father earned his reputation with the court. I’ve told you the situation in as nice a way as possible, but since you keep bringing it up, I’ll give it to you straight. The judge took one look at your father’s rap sheet, and the custody hearing went in my favor. I’m not denying him access to you. I’m protecting you from him.”

Why had Lydia become so emotional about her father all of a sudden? Kim wondered as the car neared the church building. Her ex-husband made little effort to contact his children, and whenever they returned from one of their rare visits with Joe, they were always upset and off-kilter for days. But suddenly Lydia seemed taken with the man who had fathered her, and she was determined to rub his connection to the twins in Derek’s face.

“What makes Derek any better than our real father?” Lydia asked. “And now—because of Derek—we have to live with Grandma Finley, too. Luke and I don’t have anyone but each other, Mom, because you’re too busy with everyone else. I remember when it was just the three of us, and we were happy.”

“Yeah,” Luke chimed in. “I like Derek, but he’s too strict. He never lets us do anything.”

“Derek is sitting right here,” Kim said. “If you want to discuss something with him, he can hear you just fine. And for your information, Derek is a wonderful man. He’s always fair. If he’s strict with you kids, it’s for your own good.”

“What did we do to deserve Grandma Finley?” Luke asked. “We think she’s a witch!”

At this, both twins burst into giggles. Kim found herself searching helplessly for a reason to defend her mother-in-law. Miranda truly had made things difficult in the Finley household. She not only criticized Kim, but she insisted on changing meal plans, moving furniture around, rearranging kitchen cupboards, and worst of all, burning incense before the little statues in her bedroom. Miranda had even told the children she believed paganism was a path to God—and if that didn’t put her in the witchy realm, what did?

“Derek, why don’t you answer that?” Kim said finally. “Tell the children why you asked Grandma Finley to come to Deepwater Cove.”

Derek pulled the car to a stop in one of the parking spaces near the side of Lake Area Ministry Bible Chapel. “My mother is here to help us,” he said. “You know that. But all you three do is complain about her. She’s done a lot more for us than you realize, and I don’t appreciate the griping. Neither does she—and believe me, she knows how you feel about her. As for your
real
father, Luke and Lydia, last week one of the other officers ticketed him for boating while intoxicated in Party Cove. So, if that’s the guy you want to admire, fine. Don’t expect me to haul either of your little fannies out of jail if you decide to take after him, though, because I’m a man who believes you make your own life. You control your destiny—not your mom or me, and certainly not your dad. I’ve made my choices, and I’ll stand by them. Now, hop out of the car, all of you. I’ll be back to pick you up at noon.”

Kim froze as she stared at her husband’s hardened features. In the backseat, neither twin moved a muscle. Derek rarely expressed negative feelings, but when he did, it had an impact.

For so long Kim and her children had basked in this man’s gentle kindness and words of support. How many times a day did Derek tell Kim she was beautiful and whisper that he loved her? How often did he go out of his way to play with the kids, to let them know he was proud of them, to compliment their schoolwork or art projects? Quietly, he had surrounded the family with protection, adoration, and encouragement. And look how they repaid him.

Her eyes filling with tears, Kim reached out to lay a hand on her husband’s arm. “I’m so sorry, honey,” she said. “Please come to church with us. Please don’t let—”

“To tell you the truth,” he interrupted, moving his arm away from her touch, “I’ve decided I like my mother’s brand of religion better than yours. If Christianity causes people to act like this, I don’t want any part of it. Maybe I’ll give ol’ Buddha a try.”

He reached across her and pushed open the passenger door. Frantic, she brushed at her cheeks, but the tears wouldn’t stop. How had things come to this?

“You kids go on inside,” Kim ordered, leaning over the seat and brushing them out the door. “Meet us in the parking lot after Bible study time.”

“But what about you, Derek?” Luke asked. “I thought you were coming with us.”

“Not today,” Derek said. As the twins raced for the church, he studied his wife. “I wish you’d go with them, Kim. I need some time to think.”

“Derek, we have to talk about this,” she told him, shutting the car door. “The kids, your mother, religion. You mentioned wanting a baby, and we need to discuss that. There’s the whole issue of Joe and his relationship to the twins. And now we find out that Lydia’s best friend is dating a teenager! Please—let’s drive over to Bitty’s and get some coffee.”

“I’ve had my coffee, and I’m not interested in talking. Everything’s abundantly clear to me. I’m sure it is for you, too.”

“Maybe our problems are obvious, but we need to figure out how to solve them.”

“You know how I solve problems, Kim? I lock them up. That’s just the way I handle things.”

“Sure, if you’re a patrolman dealing with a—” A pounding on the car’s window cut off her words. Kim turned to find Luke staring in with a pained expression. She lowered the window. “What is it, Luke? Derek and I are talking.”

“My insulin kit. It’s in your purse, remember?” His big brown eyes filled suddenly with tears as he glanced at the man in the driver’s seat. “I’m sorry, Derek. I didn’t mean what I said about you. I hope I grow up to be like you and not my other dad. I don’t want to go to jail or become an alcoholic. And I like Grandma Finley. Lydia does too. It’s just that we don’t think she likes us. She’s always reminding us that she’s not our grandmother by blood, only by marriage. And when we saw those weird religious things in her bedroom, we started thinking that maybe she was a witch even though we know she’s really not. But if she is a witch, it’s okay, because we’re not scared of her. So please don’t divorce us, okay? Lydia feels the same as me; I promise.”

Derek blew out a breath and leaned his head on the seat back. “Just go on to church, Luke. It’s all right.”

“Are you going to divorce us?”

“No, I’m not going to divorce anyone. Get going, now. You’ll be late.”

Luke gave his mother a final pleading glance; then he slipped his kit into his pocket and ran toward the church. Kim opened her purse and pulled out a tissue. This was a nightmare. For a few precious moments, she had cherished such hope. A fragile hope, but a real one. Now it had vanished like flower petals in a harsh winter wind. And she wasn’t even sure why.

Derek put the car into gear and backed out of the lot. Kim blew her nose and tried to blot her cheeks, but the sight of her son’s face had just about killed her.

Luke was right in being fearful about the future—look what she had put her children through already. Though they had been young at the time, Kim knew the twins recalled the scenes of drunken rage and cowering fear that had occurred between their parents. When they escaped that life, Kim and the twins had lived in a women’s shelter for a time. Things had been so difficult as she struggled to clothe and feed her little ones. Then she had married Derek and forced yet another adjustment on the children. Until now, she had believed their life was finally better. But Derek’s angry words had sent a frightening chill clear through to her bones.

She couldn’t stop shivering as she dabbed at the tears streaming down her cheeks. Derek had told Luke he wouldn’t divorce Kim, but what must he think of her now? He had gone from a peaceful, independent life, in which the only thing he had to think about was maintaining order on the water. Now she had brought all kinds of turmoil and chaos into his life. His words were always kind, but did he really mean them?

“Kim, please stop crying,” Derek said evenly. He had driven back to Tranquility and was parking in front of the pumps outside Rods-N-Ends. “We’re running a little low on gas. I’m going to fill the tank. Try to cheer up.”

Cheer up? Impossible. Nodding mutely, she held a tissue under her nose as Derek got out of the car. Pete Roberts had hired part-time help for Sunday mornings and a couple of evenings a week, but Kim noticed that today Pete was inside the store. To her dismay, he ambled outside as Derek began pumping gas.

“Howdy, Officer,” Pete greeted his customer. “Playing golf this morning?”

Kim could hear Derek’s deep voice. “Just out for a drive.”

“I’ll wash the windows for you. Nice day, ain’t it? Not too hot. People are heading for the lake like bees to honey. I’m surprised you’re not on the water this morning.”

“Working the late shift.”

“That’s when the party gets going.” Pete’s bearded face and blue eyes appeared in the side window. “Hey there, Kim. How’s the kiddos?”

“Fine,” she managed. She pulled her appointment book out of her purse and studied it, hoping he wouldn’t notice her swollen eyes and damp cheeks.

“I figured you’d be at church by now.”

“We dropped off the twins.”

“Takin’ a break from religion. Sounds good to me. I thought I’d sit by a spell too. Me and Patsy used to see each other at church and go out to lunch afterward, but she won’t even look me in the eye since the Fourth of July incident.”

Kim frowned. “But that incident turned out fine. Luke is feeling much better now.”

“Aw, it’s not Luke. Patsy blames me for setting her down in that wobbly lawn chair. I mean … well, it
was
kind of funny when she fell through, but Patsy didn’t see the humor in it. That one little thing riled her worse than all the chain saws and Weedwhackers I had revved up next door to her salon.”

“She’ll get over it,” Derek spoke up. “Just give her time.”

“I hope you’re right. I couldn’t take another minute of sitting on that hard pew and looking at the back of Patsy’s head. You know, if you’re going to claim to be holy and righteous and walk around with all that sanctification oozing out, well, it seems to me you ought to be able to forgive a fellow for accidentally dropping you into a loosey-goosey lawn chair.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Derek said with a dry chuckle as he paid for the gas. He slid back into the driver’s seat and looked across at Kim. As he put the car in gear and pulled onto the highway, he spoke gently but firmly. “I’m going to the house. I have some paperwork that I’ve put off too long. Why don’t you drive back to church and pick up the kids? We’ll eat lunch, and then I’ll go to work.”

“But what about Lydia’s horrible attitude? … And all this tension between us? … And your mother?”

As she spoke the final words, a fog lifted momentarily and Kim suddenly saw the crux of their problems. It was Miranda. She had upset the twins. She had destroyed the balance of love and mutual support between Kim and Derek. The longer Miranda had stayed, the worse things got, until now Kim had even begun to wonder if her marriage could survive. Only one solution became clear: Miranda had to go. And Kim had to convince Derek to make that happen.

“Derek, we need to talk about your mother.”

“Kim, it’s like I told Pete. Let this stuff go. Give it time. It’ll pass.”

“But it won’t. I know we’ve had a lot of different things come up this summer, but one problem is affecting all of it. Your mother needs to move out of our house. We have to get back to normal, and that means she has to go. I want you to tell her that it’s time to leave.”

Derek groaned.

“I mean it, Derek. There’s no other solution.”

“You’re looking at this from one angle. Don’t overreact. We can handle it.”

“Can we? If you really believe that, then we had better start talking. We need to figure out a way to make things better.”