A Gift of Love (New Beginnings Book 5) Read online

  “I didn’t want to be late for my first day on the job.” She pointed toward her car. “Although fixed, I never know how long the repairs will hold. I’ve got my cousin on speed dial. Is it okay to leave it parked there?”

  “Fine.” He stepped to the side to allow her into the house. “Jana’s eating breakfast. Why don’t you go on into the kitchen and see her. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

  He padded toward the left, disappearing down a hallway, while she went to the right and immediately spied the girl sitting at an oblong glass table that seated six before a floor-to-ceiling window. As she ate her cereal, listening to her MP3 player, she had a book open on her placemat and was reading it, her forehead wrinkled, a small frown on her face. Jana didn’t look up at Alexa until she stopped near the child.

  “It’s time for school?” Jana’s grim expression deepened.

  Alexa slipped into the chair near the girl. “No, not yet. I was a little early. I thought the first day we could spend time getting to know each other.”

  The child’s eyes widened. “Have you run that by Dad?”

  “Well, no, not yet.”

  “You’d better. I have a timetable, and I’m sure he’s gonna want you to follow it.”

  A timetable? That sounded worse than a schedule, more rigid. Alexa shouldn’t be surprised. But the idea sent a shiver down her length. The years she’d lived at home, her father had insisted she follow a strict schedule—he might as well have said timetable—to the point she’d never felt she could just be a child, spontaneous, perhaps daydreaming, free to let her creative mind come up with something to do. Her mother had been more encouraging of Alexa’s naturally carefree nature, but she’d never directly interfered with her husband’s mandates.

  As soon as she’d graduated from high school, she’d gotten into the used car that her grandfather had given her, and drove until she’d ended up in Tallgrass, Oklahoma, where some of her mother’s cousins were. Her father had insisted she go to Vanderbilt University and become a doctor like him. He’d dreamed of his child going into practice with him. When he’d first told her that, she’d laughed, not thinking him serious. She went weak-kneed at the sight of blood. How was she going to be a doctor?

  “Okay, I’ll have a word with your dad.”

  “About what?” a deep, gravelly voice said behind her.

  Alexa glanced over her shoulder as Ian poured himself some coffee. Not a hair was out of place, and he’d buttoned his shirt correctly, as well as tucked it into his slacks. Didn’t he work at home? Or was he going out? “About spending some time with Jana getting to know her before we dig into schoolwork.”

  “Sure. You have about twenty minutes right now. Would you like some coffee?” He lifted the pot as though preparing to fill a mug for her.

  Alexa pressed her lips together before she blurted something out that would get her fired before she’d really started. Lord, I need patience. “I’ll pass on the coffee. Too bitter for me.” She rose, turning completely to face the man. “I was hoping Jana and I could spend a little more time than twenty minutes getting acquainted.”

  Taking a sip of his drink, he rounded the kitchen island. “How much time are you talking?”

  “Personally, I feel it should be all day, but at least this morning.”

  “All day!” His eyes grew round. He peered beyond Alexa at his daughter. “Honey, I’m going to give Alexa a tour of the house and show her the room we use for our lessons. Why don’t you finish breakfast and read, then come to the classroom in, say—” he glanced at his watch “—thirty minutes.”

  After a cursory look at the family room off the kitchen, she followed Ian to see the rest of the house, feeling as though she was taking a trip to the principal’s office. The tour took five minutes, with him waving his hand toward the entrance into his bedroom from the end of the short hall that led to it. He opened the door to his office and allowed her a quick peek inside—getting the impression of orderliness like an army barracks right before inspection—before moving on. Alexa passed the formal dining room on the way to Jana’s bedroom, where he paused for a good minute while she took in the perfectly neat, everything-put-in-a-specific-place room with no posters on the wall and little personal items on display.

  The tour finally came to a stop at the classroom—five feet away from Jana’s door. He entered and stood off to the side while she circled the row of desks and tried to tamp down her sense of apprehension. This was a sterile model of a classroom in a school except there were only six desks. And why six? Did Jana move from seat to seat with each shift in subject matter?

  He waved his hand toward the bookcase. “Those are the textbooks I’ve been using. I’ve left detailed notes of what I’ve covered with Jana and where I stopped.” He crossed to the “teacher’s desk” and picked up a stack of papers—more like the manuscript of a long book—and gave them to her.

  She was in over her head. She didn’t care what Nancy Baker thought. This was worse than her adviser realized.

  “Since I’ll be working a lot, I thought you could turn in lesson plans each night, and I’ll look them over and give them back to you with my notes before you start the next morning. Then you can adjust according to my suggestions.”

  Examining the very detailed schedule—no, strike that, timetable—of what was to be done down to five-or ten-minute intervals, she really tried to keep the horror from her expression, but she must have failed, because he tilted his head to the side with a puzzled expression and asked, “Is there a problem with that scenario?”

  Where do I begin? She drew in a deep, calming breath, then another one. “I know you’re paying me to work with Jana and teach her, but I must be able to establish a rapport with her or I won’t be able to maximize her learning. Doing that on a timetable is difficult.”

  “What’s wrong with a timetable?”

  The genuine inquiry in his question pulled at her. This man didn’t realize he didn’t control his life. It was in the Lord’s hands. No matter how much you structure your life, it could change instantly. Hers had her senior year in high school with the sudden death of her boyfriend. “Nothing per se, and I know that children need structure and boundaries, but not down to every five or ten minutes being planned. Being spontaneous in teaching can keep it exciting and alive for students. Help tap into their curiosity and creativity.”

  “Jana has been learning much better than the whole of last year.”

  His defensive tone underscored the fight she would have to change this man’s mind. She heaved a sigh and decided to take a risk. “I’m asking you to give me a week my way, and then if I haven’t convinced you, I’ll try yours.”

  His eyebrows crunched together. “A week?”

  “I need to get to know her. Her likes and dislikes. Her dreams.”

  “I can tell you those. And although I want you to like Jana, I didn’t hire you to be her new best friend. You’re the tutor. I’ll still be involved some in her education. I promised her I wouldn’t totally abandon her.”

  The force of his voice faded slightly at the end of the last sentence, making Alexa wonder what was behind those words. Was he talking about his wife walking out on the family? Or something else? Again, that connection sprang up, and she wanted to help him any way she could with his daughter. He had a way of peering at her in a certain manner that sparked something deep inside her.

  He looked away and stared out the window behind the teacher’s desk. Finally, after a long minute, he swung his full attention back to her. “Tell you what. I’ll give you a day to get to know my daughter. Then you can follow my schedule.”

  She should make a stand and walk out if he didn’t agree to her terms. She stared at the stony expression on his face now as though he regretted that brief glimpse of vulnerability. For that full minute she’d seen a war of emotions—pain, sadness, anger—flicker in and out of his eyes, and it had touched her more than she wanted to acknowledge. He wasn’t as in control of his emotions as he des
ired. Suddenly leaving Jana, and even Ian, was distasteful to Alexa. She would make this work somehow.

  Lord, I’m gonna need Your help BIG time.

  “Fine. I’ll take your schedule home tonight and study it.” Since I can’t burn it. “And I appreciate the notes on where Jana is educationally.” She gave him a sweet smile, remembering the look of hurt and sadness she’d seen in his eyes.

  “I’m glad we’re finally on the same page.”

  Of different books. Alexa headed for the hallway, needing to get out of the sterile classroom with a bookcase, one teacher desk and six student desks, a dry eraser board, a state-of-the-art computer and printer and a world globe. Her first job would be getting to know the ten-year-old child in her charge. The second was doing something about that classroom if she had to stay and teach in it. It needed color, posters, items to excite a child to learn.

  In the corridor Alexa shifted to face him. “Why six desks?”

  “If you look over the schedule, you’ll see where a group of students come to the house for math. I participate in a co-op through Helping Hands Homeschooling.”

  “They do? Does Jana go to their house for classes?” Although she was pretty sure of the answer after talking with Nancy Baker, she hoped to get more information from Ian about their situation.

  “Not yet. We do some things here, and it gets her around other children her age.”

  “You told me she doesn’t go to a lot of places,” she said, trying another tactic to get some answers to the multiple questions she had about what had happened to make Jana the way she was. What happened to put that look of sadness in her eyes?

  “She’ll go to the therapist and has managed a couple of other places with me there. But so far, that’s all.” His expression closed down, a tic twitching in his jawline.

  “How about around the neighborhood, lake, yard?”

  “Definitely the lake by our house and our yard. She’s also gone to our next-door neighbors’. Kelly babysits her some, always here, however. Alexa will go see Kelly sometimes, but never for long.”

  “Kelly lives next door?”

  “Yes, on the right. She’s fifteen and has befriended my daughter.” In the kitchen he refilled his mug with coffee. “I’ll be in my office if you need anything. We eat lunch at eleven-thirty.”

  “Okay,” Alexa murmured while he left.

  She definitely would go home tonight and read up on separation anxiety, but she didn’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure out Jana was scared her father would leave her as her mother had. Alexa knew about loss. She also knew what it was like to be estranged from a parent. Although her father was marginally in her life, their relationship was shaky at best. What few conversations on the phone they’d had in the past five years had been stilted and formal. The pain of his rejection still twisted her stomach in a huge knot.

  Entering the kitchen, Alexa covered the distance to Jana and sat next to her. When the child removed her earplugs and peered at her, Alexa asked, “What are you reading?”

  “Silas Marner,” Jana said as though she’d taken a dose of foul-tasting medicine.

  Nancy had said Jana was bright, and Alexa was beginning to see how bright. “What do you think of the story?”

  “Booor—ing.”

  “Then don’t read it. There are tons of good stories out there for you to enjoy.”

  “Dad wants me to read one classic a week. I love to read, just not these types.” She flipped her hand toward the book. “They’re slow. I don’t care about the past.”

  “Like any book, if you don’t care for the topic, it won’t be as interesting to you.” She pointed to the paperback. “For today I’d like you to put it aside. You can finish it tomorrow.”

  “But Dad was gonna talk to me at dinner tonight about it.”

  “I’m sure he can postpone it until tomorrow evening.” At least she hoped he would amend his schedule this one time. “He thought we should get to know each other first.”

  Doubt turned the corners of Jana’s mouth down. “He did?” Jana scraped her chair back and leaped to her feet then whirled around and charged across the kitchen into the hallway.

  Alexa quickly followed, hoping the path to Ian’s office didn’t become worn by the end of the day.

  Jana hurried in to see her father. “Dad, I thought I had to finish Silas Marner this morning and write a report. Have you changed your mind? She says I don’t have to do it today.”

  Alexa appeared in the doorway, the challenge to her authority still ringing in her ears. Ian’s narrowed gaze fixed on her. He’d begrudgingly gone along with the plan for her to get to know Jana first. Would he openly challenge her in front of his daughter?

  Chapter Three

  As Ian took in the pair standing in his office, his attention shifted from Alexa to his daughter. “Honey, you and Alexa will be spending a lot of time together. I think it would be nice if you two got to know each other.” He closed the file on the computer he was working on, preparing for Jana’s protest.

  “What about the book?” Jana asked with a huff.

  “We’ll talk about it tomorrow evening.” Tonight, I’m going to be questioning you about Alexa. Did I make the right decision? There had been another candidate he’d interviewed who might have worked out. She was younger than the first one and had worked as a teacher’s assistant in another state. But for some reason he couldn’t even define, he’d decided to go with Jana’s reluctant choice out of all the candidates. Had his daughter changed her mind already? That was quicker than the Attila the Hun debacle.

  “Fine.” Jana flounced out of the office, passing Alexa, who stepped to the side.

  After Jana left, Alexa stayed, even moving a few more paces into the room. “Thank you. You won’t regret hiring me.”

  “I hope you’re right. My daughter’s welfare means everything to me.” She was all he had, and he wouldn’t ever abandon her like her mother did.

  Alexa flashed him a smile, “I can see that,” then swung around and walked from the office.

  He could read her every emotion on her face, and he knew she was wary of him. She thought he was too rigid in his ways. That hadn’t always been the case. Once he’d embraced life as it had come at him until one incident after another had knocked any spontaneity from him.

  Alexa reminded him of what it felt like to be impulsive…and happy. The thought sent panic through him. She was so different from people he gravitated toward. She was too much like his ex-wife—flamboyant, carefree, too flexible. And even worse, Alexa and he were years apart. At least he and Tracy were close to the same age.

  Although he and his wife had had problems in their marriage, he’d thought they could work them out. She hadn’t. Her walking away without a backward glance had sucker punched him. He’d desperately tried to cling to something and found that a schedule and structure in his life, as well as Jana’s, had helped even more than before. Going with the flow only caused a person to go aimlessly through life with no purpose.

  He’d give Alexa today. Tomorrow was his.

  * * *

  “This is a beautifully carved bench. I can’t believe your father made it.” Not sure if she should sit on the piece of furniture that was more a work of art than anything else, Alexa ran her hand over the intricately patterned design in the wood, which had begun to weather. She couldn’t believe it sat under a large oak tree where the elements could rain down on it. Hours had been spent on this piece, and it seemed as though it had been carelessly tossed outside to deteriorate.

  “Yeah, Dad used to do woodworking a lot, mostly on the weekends.” Jana tossed a pebble into the lake then plopped down on the bench. “This was his last piece.”

  Alexa took the seat next to the child. “Used to? He doesn’t anymore?”

  “No, he stopped when—” Jana snapped her mouth close. Her jawline firmed into a clenched countenance.

  As much as Alexa wished she and Jana could talk about her mother, Alexa kept those questions l
ocked away for another time. “That’s a shame. He’s very good.”

  “Yeah.” Jana spread her legs apart and dangled her clasped hands between them. “He’d been in the middle of making me a bench for my room. He never finished it. It’s still sitting in the garage half done.”

  “Did you ask him about it?”

  “No. Things just haven’t been the same—lately.”

  “Where did he work? The garage?”

  “Yeah. Since it had been built for three cars, he used the extra space to make a small workshop for himself so he could get as messy as he wanted.”

  Messy? Ian? From all she’d seen, she hadn’t thought him capable. Well, maybe except for the stack of files on his desk in his office. But even they had been in an orderly pile. Then she remembered his tousled hair and his shirt buttoned wrong, as if he’d hurried when she’d arrived this morning. Her breath caught as the picture materialized in her mind. She quickly shook that image away and asked, “Did you ever make anything with wood?”

  “Nope. That doesn’t interest me.”

  “What does, besides reading good books?” Although she’d discovered a few things about Jana today, the child had been pretty closemouthed most of the morning. She’d ended up telling the young girl about herself, hoping to make some kind of connection.

  “I love animals.” Jana pointed out on the lake. “See those geese and ducks? It won’t be too much longer before they’ll have babies. When that happens, I keep a running tally of how many. Last year we had forty-three babies born here.”

  “What’s your favorite animal?”

  “Dogs. I never got to have one.”

  “I have a dog named Charlie. I got him a few years back at the pound. He’s been the best pet and a great watchdog except for when anyone new comes into my house he runs and hides. Barks like crazy while they’re outside, though.” Alexa watched several Canadian geese circle the lake then glide down until they lit upon the water. “What’s stopping you from having a pet?”