Chapter Eight
The phone ringing pulled me from my dream. I rolled over lazily and encountered a stack of towels that fell over on top of me. Contentment gone, I pulled them off me and reached for the cordless phone.
“Hello?” My voice was raspy and thick from sleep. What time was it?
“Honey! What are you doin’ sleeping in the middle of the day? Are you sick? Please tell me you’re not sick...”
Middle of the day? I looked around and noticed the bright sunshine outside. I vaguely remembered folding clothes and yawning before sitting down beside the towels I had just folded. I must have fallen asleep. It didn’t surprise me. I had been up almost all night with Chase. This single parenting thing was not for the faint of heart.
“Sorry, I didn’t get much sleep last night, Samantha. What’s up?”
“Well, wake up because you’re coming over here in about an hour. Did you wash your hair?”
“What? Why am I coming over, not that I object, but why in creation does it matter if I washed my hair or not?” I pulled on the end of my messy ponytail and looked with suspicion at it, knowing it wasn’t that clean.
“Because you’re going to meet Levi today!”
“Excuse me?” My heart stopped. Wasn’t he running for the hills or something like that?
“Levi! He came up to me this morning and told me he’d been in prayer and wanted to go ahead and meet you. I told him you’d be here this afternoon. I would have called you sooner, but I knew you’d just work yourself up into a tizzy, and I didn’t want you to worry longer than necessary.”
“Okay, so. Wait. You told him I’m coming over, when exactly?” “In about an hour and a half.”
I glanced at myself in the mirror, and it was not promising. I said a quick bye and tossed the phone onto the messed up towels and ran to the bathroom. I had an hour before we needed to leave, and I need to make the most of that time. This morning I had not expected to go anywhere, and so I hadn’t showered or put on any make-up. Who was there to impress anyway? With ruthless abandon I washed my hair and body, decided against shaving because it was winter, and it’s not like he’d be checking out my legs anyway.
I tripped getting out of the shower and landed on my shin. The pain was intense, and the spot was already bruising. I gritted my teeth and ran a brush through my long, blonde hair without mercy. After I wrapped the towel around my head, I began to apply my make-up. No, I wasn’t about to try and erase every imperfection. For once I wanted someone to love me for what I was, not what I could manage to erase. That decided, I applied a bit of concealer, a touch of blush, a swipe of mascara, and Chapstick. I nodded with approval in the mirror and tossed my head down to take off my towel.
Once my hair was dried and tamed into gentle curls I walked to the closet. What did I wear? I was going to Samantha and Frank’s dairy, so I needed boots. That being decided, I pulled them out. And jeans, and a coat, so really whatever I wore under my coat didn’t matter because he’d probably never see it anyway. The long, black sweater called my name and I put a grey cami under it. The mirror in the bathroom attested that I was ready, but I knew my heart wasn’t. Fifteen minutes. The house was quiet as Chase and Javan were still asleep, and I walked into the living room and dropped to my knees.
Father, I only want this if you do. I don’t know what I’m doing, but you do, so show me. Amen.
Javan was stirring, and so I grabbed him and helped him get his coat and shoes on. By then Chase was awake, and I bundled him up as well. With two minutes to spare, we headed to the car and began the drive to Samantha’s. My tension increased with each mile the passed. What was I doing? Was I ready for this? It didn’t matter, I was
