When Dreams Cross (11 page)

Chapter Fifteen

I
want you to come to a party tonight.” Laney sat across from Andi’s desk, her hand resting on her pregnant belly.

“What party?” Andi asked.

“I’m giving it, and it’s a last-minute thing, so I need everyone I can get to come. I have this secret fear, you know, of giving a party and having no one show up, so you’ll come, won’t you?”

Andi was secretly relieved that she wouldn’t have to spend the evening alone. “I’ll come, but why are you giving it at the last minute? Is there some special occasion?”

“Yes,” she said. “It’s an engagement party for Wes’s sister Sherry and Clint Jessup. You’ve met Sherry, haven’t you?”

“A couple of times.”

“Well, they’re crazy in love and have been seeing each other for a pretty long time now, and they just got engaged. She’s ecstatic. We all are. And I really wanted to do something special for them, but I’m scared to death the baby will come and put me out of commission for a few weeks. Since the date isn’t that far off, and neither is the baby, I thought I’d better go ahead and do it.”

“Can I help?” Andi asked.

“No. I couldn’t ask you. You’re too busy.”

“Really,” Andi said. “I’d love to.” It was the truth, for she couldn’t remember the last time she’d had any real female companionship. She had always told herself that she was a goal-setter, and goal-setters didn’t have time to spend on friendships. Now, with her father gone and her mother in Europe, she realized that she had been wrong. As both Wes and Justin had pointed out to her, she needed friends. And she needed to be needed.

“Well, okay. If you can be there around five, you can help. I’m inviting about twenty people. It should be fun. Very informal, though.”

“I’ll be there,” Andi said.

Andi was grateful for the distraction that night, and found that the fellowship among Wes and his family and friends was something she had not experienced since college. It had been too long. She didn’t know why she had let that part of her life fade into nonexistence.

Sherry was floating with the joy of her new engagement, and brandished her ring to everyone who came in the door. Clint seemed just as happy. As Andi watched them, she found herself wishing with every fiber of her being that she could experience the same joy and permanency.

So why did you treat him so badly the last time you spoke? Why did you let your pride dictate your behavior?

She had been hurt, but that was no reason to turn on him like she had. He had been nothing but kind to her after her father died. He didn’t deserve her treatment of him, even if he’d only acted out of a sense of obligation.

Laney sensed her melancholy in the midst of the laughter around them, and asked, “Is everything okay, Andi?”

“Yeah, sure. It’s fine.”

“Missing Justin?”

She breathed a disbelieving laugh. “Hardly.”

“But I thought you two were …”

“We’re not.”

There she went again, she thought, kicking herself. Cutting off the connections someone was trying to make with her. Maybe she needed counseling. Maybe she needed prayers. Maybe she needed repentance … again.

She watched, moved and envious, as Sherry gave Clint the engagement gift she’d gotten him, a fine gold chain that she said symbolized how precious his commitment to her was. He kissed her as she hung it around his neck. Then, in turn, he gave her a charm bracelet that he told her he intended to add to with the name of each of their children as they were born.

Still bubbling with excitement about her wedding plans, Sherry came over to join Andi and Laney. Andi began to relax again. It was easy to feel comfortable with people like these.

“So where’s Justin?” Sherry asked Laney. “I figured he’d be here.”

“No, he’s in New York.”

“Oh, well. At least he got to meet Clint the other day. We gave him a ride to that reception. He was late, and—”

“You gave him a ride?” Andi cut in, frowning.

“Yeah. He was a nervous wreck. He’d set out to leave forty-five minutes early and wound up being late.”

“Wait a minute,” Andi said. “I thought he was with Madeline. She said it was her fault he was late …”

Laney looked up at Sherry. “You’ve met Madeline, haven’t you? She’s the one who painted the cartoons on the wall in the baby’s room.”

“Oh, yeah! And it
was
her fault. Hers and the other staff members. All four of them left their cars parked behind Justin’s and took off to get something to eat. He couldn’t get out. He called and asked me to give him a ride. He was literally standing out in front of his house at the curb, in his tux and cummerbund and that cute bow tie, when we drove up. I guess everything worked out, though, huh?”

Andi stared down at the floor for a moment, trying to piece the evening back together. “I was awful to him. I treated him like he’d been late on purpose.”

Sherry lowered to the couch next to Laney. “You mean, he didn’t tell you why he was late?”

“No,” she groaned. “When I pounced on him the minute he walked in, he just clammed up. Justin’s not a man who grovels.” She closed her eyes and tried to sort it all out.

Across the room, Amy called for her mother, and Laney pulled herself up off of the couch. Andi watched her go to the child and bend over, as much as possible. Amy led her out to the pool to someone who’d been asking about her, and Wes joined them. What a sweet family, she thought. She wondered if she would ever have one of her own.

“You want to see the nursery?” Sherry asked Andi, distracting her.

“Sure,” Andi said.

Sherry led her up the stairs and down the hall. “Madeline did a great job. It’s all the Khaki’s Krewe characters. Justin was too busy to do it, but Madeline did freelance work on the side since Justin didn’t pay her very regularly. I guess that’s all over now. Glad Laney snagged her for the nursery when she did.”

They got to the doorway, and Andi gasped at the beautiful, bold portrayals of the characters she had come to know and love. “This is great. What a lucky baby.” She glanced at Sherry. “So you and Laney got to know Madeline pretty well?”

“It’s not hard. She’s never met a stranger.”

“How long has she been with Justin?”

Sherry shrugged. “I’m not sure. A few years, maybe.”

Her heart sank. She had hoped that Sherry would set her straight, tell her they weren’t an item. “Has she been working for him the same length of time?” she asked, just to clarify.

Sherry shot her a confused look. “That’s what I meant. What did you mean? Together, like Clint and me? Wow, I didn’t know they were a couple! Madeline never mentioned it.”

She felt a little relief at that. She started to dig a little deeper, when she heard someone bolting up the stairs.

Wes ran past them. “Laney’s water broke! We have to take her to the hospital!”

Andi caught her breath. “Wes, do you want me to call an ambulance?”

“No, we’ll be all right in the car. Sherry, help me get some things packed for her while I call the doctor. Andi, will you stay and close down the party?”

“Sure. Anything else?”

Wes looked a little uncertain for a moment. “No. I’m gonna have another baby!” His eyes filled with tears as he began to laugh. “Is God good, or what?”

Chapter Sixteen

L
aney had a boy, and Wes was so thrilled that Andi suspected they heard his shouts of joy all the way to east Texas. As she stood at the nursery window looking in at the little wonder that had caused such commotion, she felt a deep sense of loss. It wasn’t that she wasn’t happy for Wes and Laney. She was. It was just that the chances of her ever experiencing the excitement of motherhood were looking slimmer and slimmer. She wondered if God had called her to be single, if Promised Land was to be her only offspring. If that was the case, she should be happy, but her faith hadn’t been what it should be lately. Joy was difficult in the wake of grief and disappointment.

She leaned her forehead against the glass as a tear rolled down her cheek.
What should I do, Lord? I’m so confused.

It came to her that she should stop thinking of herself and start concentrating on Justin. He had been kind to her in her time of need, for whatever reason, and now she needed to make amends for the fight they’d had before he left.

The least she could do was offer him some token of regret, some clue that she hadn’t meant the ugly things she’d said. Torn between fighting for him and fighting for control over her emotions, she at least wanted to be his friend.

“Hey, those aren’t tears, are they?”

She looked up and saw Clint Jessup, Sherry’s
Embarrassed, she wiped her face. “Yeah. He’s just so sweet. I got a little emotional.”

He smiled and gazed through the window. “He’s gonna be a great nephew. I’m gonna be one of those uncles that spoils him rotten. And when Sherry and I have our own … man, I’ll probably strut around like the king of the world. Wes is so blessed.”

She dried her tears and grinned up at him. “Sherry’s the lucky one, Clint.”

“Yeah?” he asked. “Why do you say that?”

“To be marrying someone who looks so forward to the home and hearth stuff. It’s rare, these days.”

“Well, look at him,” he said, pointing at the baby. “How could you not want that?”

Her smile softened, and she shook her head. “I don’t know.”

They watched as the nurse took the baby out of his crib.

“You know who’d make a great mom?” Clint asked.

“Who?”

“You. With your organizational skills, you could probably handle a dozen kids. And they’d have such a cool backyard to play in.”

Andi laughed. “I think I’ll wait until I have a husband.”

“That shouldn’t be too far off,” he said. “I’ve noticed a glint in the eye of a certain animator …”

Her smile faded, but before she could answer, Sherry came running up the hall. “Clint, do you want to come hold the baby?”

Clint dashed toward her. “Are you sure? They’re not scared I’ll break him?”

Sherry waved for Andi to join them. “Come on, Andi. Laney wants you to hold him too.”

Surprised that she would be included in such an intimate family moment, Andi followed them to Laney’s room.

A
ndi gave Justin sufficient time after being back from New York to respond to the gift of apology she’d sent down to him. The little gold statue of Khaki Kangaroo had been custom-made in a frenzy when she’d ordered her jeweler to have it ready immediately.

Hoping the gift had paved her way back into his friendship, she rode the elevator to the sixteenth floor and smiled at the sounds of diligent activity that greeted her. To her left she could hear the tracks being recorded in the sound studio and unable to resist, she followed the high voice of Khaki Kangaroo and peered through the window to see a short, balding man with wild, laughing eyes reading the script.
That’s Khaki?
she thought with a laugh. Deciding not to disillusion herself by waiting to see the people behind the other voices, she tore herself away and hurried to Justin’s office.

His door was open, but there was no sign of him. Stepping inside, she saw the opened gift box on his desk and wondered where the statue was. Had she missed him on his way up to thank her? Or had he taken it to show his staff?

A woman’s gurgling laughter sounded outside and Andi turned around to see Madeline coming out of one of the offices, holding the statue for some of the employees to see. Pivoting in the corridor, she saw Andi. “Did you send us this?” Madeline asked in a lilting voice as she rushed into Justin’s office, brandishing the statue like a child with a new Christmas toy. Her thin eyebrows arched in delight and her dark eyes danced.

Andi forced a smile. “I sent it to Justin,” she said, tempering her voice with cordiality rather than animosity. “It’s kind of a congratulatory gift.”

“It’s great!” the woman said, straightening her pink headband over her unruly curls. “Wait until he sees it.”

“He hasn’t seen it?” The anger that she deliberately kept from her voice was apparent in the color rising to her tanned cheeks.

“No,” Madeline said nonchalantly. “He’s watching one of the Leica reels. You know, checking to make sure the pencil drawings match well with the sound track before they’re inked and—”

“I know what a Leica reel is,” Andi interrupted.

Madeline set the statue down and shrugged. “Well, I’ve been taking care of his mail today, trying to help him get caught up on some of the important stuff.”

“And that includes opening his gifts?”

“I didn’t know it was personal,” Madeline said, her voice beginning to edge with “sue me” irritation. “It didn’t even have a card.”

Andi picked up the statue, turned it upside down, and thrust it toward Madeline. “Wrapped gifts are usually personal. And it doesn’t need a card. It’s engraved.”

Madeline seemed undaunted by the personal touch. Taking it again, with no regard for keeping her fingerprints from smudging it, she read aloud. “‘To Justin, for victories without wars. You win, I win … Love, Andi.’ That’s nice,” she said mildly, handing the statue back to Andi and leaning against Justin’s desk. “Sorry. Guess I goofed. I didn’t know.” The genuinely apologetic look in her eyes softened Andi’s anger a little.

Andi nodded in reluctant acceptance of the apology and set the figure back down. “So,” she said, pushing back a wisp of hair that had feathered out of her chignon and seeking a new direction for the conversation. “Did you enjoy New York?”

“It was great,” Madeline enthused. “My first time. I went to the School of Visual Arts and found some new animators who are coming next week to start working with us. And then last night we went everywhere.” Her shoulders rose dreamily with the last word.

“Celebrating?”

“Yeah,” Madeline sighed. “Justin took me out to eat at The Russian Tea Room, and then we went to hear some great music—”

“Where were the others?” Andi cut in, realizing as she spoke that her voice was peppered with jealousy, an emotion she hated worse than any other.

Madeline crossed her arms defensively and narrowed her eyes at the floor. “We couldn’t find them. Later we learned that Nathan went to the Brooklyn Tabernacle for a special prayer service they were having. And Gene was with one of the new animators.”

Andi swallowed the knot constricting her throat and tried to think rationally. It wasn’t a surprise. She had known Justin was taking Madeline with him and she had known why. But coming to terms with their involvement was going to take time. It was hard to fight when her opponent didn’t consider her a threat, she thought miserably. Either Madeline was naive or didn’t care that Andi and Justin had spent so much time together before New York. But Andi couldn’t accept it so easily. Though there had been no declarations of love, no kiss, not even many touches except when she’d been distraught. Justin had done nothing that a brother wouldn’t have done. She was the stupid one for reading so much into it.

Before she could give it more thought, she heard Justin coming through the outside offices, answering questions on his way in and giving mild commands to the employees who scurried efficiently around him. An aura of self-confidence and success radiated from him, though the light blue shirt and tan slacks he wore gave a casual effect to his unself-conscious style. His eyes sparkled with reeling thoughts, but when he stepped into the office and saw Andi, the shutters closed visibly over them, and his cool hello left her feeling shunned and alone.

“Hi,” she said. When Madeline didn’t make a move to leave, Andi glanced uncomfortably at her, then dragged her eyes back to Justin. “I came to congratulate you.”

“Thanks,” he said, a cool smile lighting his eyes a degree.

Clearing her throat, Madeline grinned awkwardly and backed out of the office. “I have work to do. I’ll see you folks later.”

The obvious way she left the two of them alone bewildered Andi, and she watched her leave in amazement. Was she so secure with Justin that she trusted him completely? The idea was disheartening, for it had been her experience that self-confidence was the best defense against adversity. And if that was the case here, Andi was distressingly unarmed. It might be easier to deal with, Andi thought with chagrin, if she could make herself dislike the woman. But despite her efforts, she couldn’t manage to do even that. “How was your trip?” she asked finally.

“Great,” Justin said, setting down the papers he held and shuffling them absently on his desk. “Gave me plenty of time to think.”

From the deliberate way he tried to ignore her, Andi had no doubts that she had been the subject of those thoughts. “Me too,” she said in a hoarse voice, then cleared her throat. “I’ve realized I was a little … short with you before you left, and I shouldn’t have been.”

“It’s okay,” Justin said, bringing his vacant eyes up to hers. “I won’t let it affect our business relationship.”

The tone of his voice ranked somewhere between sarcasm and sincerity, and not prepared for such a comment, Andi couldn’t answer. There seemed nothing more to say as they held each other’s gaze across the room. Finally Justin looked down at his desk again.

“What’s this?” he asked, noticing the small, polished statue on his desk. He picked it up and examined the smooth golden lines of his star character.

“A gift,” Andi said carefully, waiting for some sign of pleasure in his eyes, but there was none. “I’m afraid Madeline got to it first.”

At the mention of the dark-haired beauty, Justin broke out in a grin. “Never leave a wrapped gift around Madeline. She can’t stand the suspense, and she’ll find some excuse to open it every time. She’s the same way with secrets, I’m afraid. But she means well.” As he spoke, he unbuttoned his cuffs and began rolling his sleeves up corded forearms, shifting the statue from one hand to the other. “What is it? Solid gold?”

Andi nodded proudly. It had cost a fortune, but it would be worth it if he would just flash her that smile that would tell her he forgave her for her outburst before his trip.

A muscle rippled in his jaw. “I’ll pay you back for it,” he said, setting it down. “We can afford to decorate our own offices now.”

A suffocating lump formed in Andi’s throat and her smile faded. “I don’t want you to pay me back, Justin. It was a gift.”

“I don’t want your gifts,” he parried, lowering himself into his chair. Then, as if catching his bitterness, he set the kangaroo down and raked a hand through his dark hair.

“It was for your staff,” she lied quickly, desperate to keep all painful inflections from her voice. “From my staff. I’ll be sure and tell them you appreciate it.”

The words seemed to change things, yet he studied her with suspicion. “Oh. I thought … Well, in that case I accept. For my staff. I’ll be certain to thank your people for it myself.”

“Don’t bother,” Andi said, lowering to one of his chairs and crossing her arms, as if somehow that would protect her from any more blows. “It was really no big deal.”

Justin picked up the statue again, seeming to fondle it with deeper appreciation now that he knew it was impersonal. As he turned it over in his hands, Andi prayed that he wouldn’t see the inscription. Maybe he would never see it. Silently, she lashed herself for making the foolish move, wishing that just this once she had not been so impetuous. “If you have time, I’d like to touch base with you about a few things,” she said, hoping to distract him.

He set the kangaroo down and leaned back in his seat, bringing his frosted eyes back to hers. “All right,” he said.

Andi propped her elbows on her knees, desperately trying to relax. “I kept B.J. pretty busy while you were gone. We got a good bit of work done on the designs for the automated figures, and I talked to him about some possible changes in your settings if you got the network contract. He seemed to like my ideas.”

Justin bit the inside of his cheek and drummed his fingers on his desk. “I haven’t had time to talk to him much since I’ve been here today. I’ve been in meetings all morning. You mind filling me in?”

Andi nodded. “I’d like for you to move your characters from the farm setting where you have them to a sort of Promised Land-type setting for both the feature film and the television segments. Your segments could have to do with areas of the park. The Noah’s Ark area, or Jonah’s Ride, or Jacob’s Ladder, or Canaan.”