His Ideal Match

“Your grandfather wanted you to have a safe, comfortable home, Tucker. That’s all he cared about.”

“I wish he could go with us,” Tucker whispered in a choked voice.

“I know,” Phillip replied gently, “but his house is in Heaven now.”

Tucker glanced around. “It’s probably nicer than here.”

“Much nicer.”

“It’s probably even better than Chatam House, isn’t it?” Tucker said, looking up at Phillip.

Nodding, Phillip told him, “The Bible says that where your grandpa lives now, even the streets are paved with gold.”

“Oh, that’s just a story,” Nathan scoffed.

“I don’t think so,” Phillip refuted blandly. “It’s written in the Bible.”

“Where?”

“I’m not sure,” Phillip admitted, “but we can look it up.”

Nathan rolled his eyes to demonstrate his skepticism.

Carissa cleared her throat and said, “Let’s figure out what we want to take with us tonight. Okay?”

“Toys?” Phillip suggested, pointing toward a box labeled in marker with that very word. Tucker brightened noticeably. “And don’t forget your pillow,” Phillip said to Nathan, who shoved his nose in the air then stomped off in the direction of the bedroom.

Carissa looked around her, trying to think. “I guess I need to pack the dressers.”

“Are there any empty suitcases?” Phillip asked.

“Dad probably had a few.” She got up and took a deep breath, bracing herself.

“Want me to look around for them?” he offered kindly.

Perhaps it was cowardly of her, but she wasn’t quite up to looking through her father’s things. “Yes, thank you. Through there.”

He went off toward her father’s bedroom, leaving her to go to the room that she’d shared with the children these past weeks. They had managed to squeeze a full bed, which she and Grace had been sharing, and bunk beds into the small space, along with a pair of dressers. They barely had room to walk, and the arrangement made Carissa feel like a horrible failure, but she’d happily go on enduring it to have her dad back. But no. He walked on streets of gold now, as Phillip had said. She wouldn’t bring him back just because she missed him, especially given how he’d suffered at the end.

Phillip arrived with several suitcases and began helping her fill them. He concentrated on the kids’ things while she took care of her own. She heard Nathan snap, “Don’t touch that!” and looked over to find him yanking a framed photo of him and his dad from Phillip’s grasp.

“Maybe you could help with the boxes,” she suggested to Phillip, her tone apologetic.

He gave her a quick smile, nodded and left the room. Nathan ducked his head, busily cramming clothes into an open bag. She decided to let the rudeness pass. They were all under a lot of stress at the moment.

When the dressers had been emptied, she got trash bags from the kitchen and filled them with shoes and the contents of the bathroom. Then she returned to the living room to find that the children had stacked up numerous boxes that they wanted to take. Phillip was nowhere to be seen. She nixed several and was arguing with Tucker over another when Phillip wandered out of her father’s room, her dad’s open Bible in his big hands. He seemed to be reading even as he walked over to the threadbare sofa and lowered himself onto the edge of it.

“I found this on Marshall’s bedside table,” Phillip said. Flipping a red ribbon, he added, “This passage was marked.” With that, Phillip began to read. “‘The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The twelve gates were twelve pearls. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.’” As he read, the children had gathered around him, and he underlined the last part with his fingertip so they wouldn’t miss it.

“And that’s where Grandpa is?” Tucker asked, looping an arm around Phillip’s neck.

“I think so,” Phillip said. “The Bible says all believers will spend eternity in Heaven. I tell you what—when you all get settled, we’ll ask my aunts. They’ll know, and they’ll be glad to tell us.”

Nathan said nothing, just frowned in thought. Phillip replaced the red ribbon and closed the Bible then passed it to Nathan, saying, “Why don’t you hold on to this for your mom?”

Nathan seemed surprised, but he folded the Bible tightly against his chest. Phillip calmly rose and rubbed his hands together.

“Okay. Let’s get this show on the road.”

They packed up both vehicles in a matter of minutes. At the last moment Tucker remembered something he wanted to take with him to Chatam House, so they walked back to the apartment. Inside the tiny coat closet was his grandfather’s old cap, one Tucker had worn several times while playing. Tucker smoothed the interior band before flipping the cap onto his head and nudging the bill slightly to the side. When he looked up, tears stood in his big blue eyes. He turned in a circle, looking around the place, and Carissa knew he was saying a final goodbye. Her heart stopped.

Suddenly, Tucker threw himself at Phillip, latching on to Phillip’s leg. She knew just how Tucker felt. He wanted an anchor, something—someone—solid and strong to hold on to in a world that suddenly felt rudderless and bleak. Grace let out a little hiccup of a sob and lifted her arms. Without a word, Phillip picked her up and cradled her against his side. While Carissa just stood there trembling inside and yearning for some of that strength, Phillip comforted her children. Worse, she looked at Nathan and saw the same hunger in his face before he turned and stomped off. Shaken to realize that her nine-year-old had more fortitude than she did just then, Carissa brusquely ordered the other children to head to the van with their brother while she went to fetch the manager. As the woman locked up the place, Phillip renewed his promise to return the next day to empty out the apartment.

“But where am I going to put everything?” Carissa demanded as they hurried to the car.

“There are attics at Chatam House.”

She shook her head. She wasn’t moving in lock, stock and barrel. If she did, she might never convince herself to leave again, and the Chatam sisters were just dear enough to let her and the children stay on indefinitely.

“Well, I have a storage unit,” he told her. “It’s barely half-full. You can start with that, and I expect they have empty spaces for rent at the same place. We’ll work something out.”

She decided that she would spend the remainder of the afternoon making some calls about new apartments, and if she couldn’t find something affordable, well, better that she should take advantage of him than his aunts.

“See you at Chatam House,” he said, moving toward the town car.

Nathan put his back to the van and folded his arms. Clearly, he didn’t want to go back to Chatam House—or anywhere else that left him in close proximity to Phillip. Carissa couldn’t blame him. Phillip Chatam was dangerous, not just to her heart but to those of her children. What other choice did they have, though, except to return to Chatam House?

She could take her children to a motel, but even the cheapest one would drain her meager funds and delay when they could move into a suitable home of their own again. No, as badly as she wanted to avoid Phillip, she had no real choice but to accept the hospitality of the Chatams. Still...she didn’t have to be right under his nose, did she?

Carissa thought about that as she drove her children back to Chatam House, and by the time they arrived, she had her argument well planned. The Chatam sisters and Kent were sitting in the formal parlor. Carissa sent the children to the sunroom then asked her aunt and uncle to come in. As soon as they arrived, Phillip explained the situation. Then Carissa spoke.

“We hate to impose on you any further, and the truth is, we’ll be much more comfortable with Uncle Chester and Aunt Hilda in the carriage house.”

Odelia blinked at that. She’d traded black onyx earrings and pleated, paper-white linen trimmed in wide black edging for purple amethysts and yard upon yard of floral chiffon. Magnolia, on the other hand, wore the same dark print cotton dress that she’d worn to the funeral; she’d traded her pumps for penny loafers, however. Only Hypatia had not changed a stitch. Still wearing gray silk, matching pumps and pearls, her silver hair twisted into a sleek chignon, she looked as neat and fresh as she had at breakfast that morning.

“Well,” Odelia said consideringly, “I suppose we could have Carol move into the house here to make room for you.”

Carissa frowned. She hadn’t meant to put anyone out of place.

“Of course, you’d still have to share a room with Grace,” Hypatia said.

“And that’s with Grace sleeping on the floor,” Hilda put in. “There’s no room for more than a half bed in either room upstairs in the carriage house.”

“Oh, we have bunk beds for the boys,” Carissa said quickly.

“They’re attic rooms, sugar,” Chester pointed out. “The ceiling slopes too much. Bunk beds won’t fit. Full beds won’t fit, for that matter.”

Feeling as if she’d swallowed a lead weight, Carissa bowed her head in defeat.