A Husband for All Seasons Read online

  “They tried to talk to me, but I brushed them off.”

  “That’s understandable. I know you’re not asking for advice, but why don’t you come to terms with your injury and the change in your future before you concern yourself with your family relationship?”

  Chad seemed not to have heard for he continued, “I should be grateful that Perry donated the kidney and saved my life. But that’s hard to do when I wish I had died. I’m only twenty-five and my usefulness on earth is finished. Anything will certainly be better than what I’ll face in the next few years. I’ve heard of too many professional athletes who lost all sense of purpose and headed down the wrong road when they couldn’t keep playing.”

  In an effort to steer his mind to more pleasant thoughts, Vicky said, “I’m sure you have some pleasant memories of the time you’ve spent with your biological parents.”

  With a slight smile, he said, “The best thing is that I now have a little sister. Amy was about six months old when I first saw her, and it was a case of love at first site for both of us. Lorene says that she’s always been shy with men, but she came to me right away. Maybe she sensed we were related. She’s a cutie! I hope you can see her.”

  He moved restlessly in bed. Vicky stood and straightened the sheets and gave him another drink of water.

  “When are they going to take all of this hardware off of my arms so I can do something for myself?” he complained.

  “It won’t be much longer,” Vicky said soothingly. She put another pillow under his shoulders and spread a blanket over the sheets.

  “Is that more comfortable?”

  “Yes, thank you. I’m sorry for being such a grouch.”

  “You aren’t being grouchy. Do you think you can sleep now?”

  “I’ll try. You won’t leave?”

  “Not until my shift is over. I’ll wake you before I go.”

  Vicky could easily understand why Chad preferred to have a stranger with him during this trauma rather than some member of his family.

  As Chad slept, she unwillingly recalled the most embarrassing time in her life. What she had done hadn’t been so terrible—she’d only fallen in love with the wrong man. A man several years her senior, already engaged to someone else. Vicky remembered as if it had been yesterday, when she and her friend, Amelia Stone, had been sitting in a church service in flood-ravaged Williamson, West Virginia.

  She had wanted to enter full-time Christian service, and her parents had always been strong supporters of the Red Cross. They had encouraged her to volunteer to help in the flood cleanup, suggesting the hands-on work with hurting people would give her insight into whether a humanitarian profession was the way for her to go.

  The experience had not turned out as they had hoped. Vicky had developed a huge crush on Allen Chambers, the pastor of a local church, whose members loaned their church for the Red Cross headquarters. But when the minister had announced the name of his fiancée from the pulpit and introduced her to his congregation, Vicky was devastated because she had made no effort to conceal her love, or perhaps her infatuation, from Allen. She thought he returned her affection, but she soon realized that the minister had never suspected that she had a crush on him.

  She and Amelia had left the church before the service was over so she wouldn’t have to face Allen again. She had avoided any contact with him during the days she remained in the area to help the Red Cross. But the incident had destroyed Vicky’s self-confidence. She cringed inwardly when she recalled that a subsequent incident had also destroyed her self-esteem.

  Feeling rejected by the young minister, Vicky had returned home from the flood disaster, doubting that God had called her to serve Him by working in foreign countries as a missionary. She had disappointed her parents by leaving college after the first semester, even though they lived only a few blocks from Ohio State University.

  She hadn’t expected them to support her. She moved into an apartment and started working in a bookstore at a minimum-wage salary. She was living from hand to mouth, doing very little worthwhile except volunteering at the hospital and participating in activities at her local church.

  Although she had tried to kill her dream of serving others, Vicky’s mind often turned in that direction. That was one reason she had started volunteering at the hospital. God wouldn’t let her forget the vow she had made to Him in a church meeting when she was fifteen, dedicating her life to full-time Christian service.

  Vicky took a Bible out of her tote bag and turned to the fifth chapter of the book of Ecclesiastes and considered the words of Solomon. As always when she read the passage she felt condemned because she hadn’t kept her vow.

  Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God… When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it… It is better not to make a vow and not fulfill it… And do not protest to the temple messenger, “My vow was a mistake.”

  Had her vow been a mistake? Had she acted on her emotions rather than waiting until God spoke to her heart? But if God hadn’t called her, why couldn’t she forget that electrifying moment when she felt as if He had singled her out for some particular mission? Did God ever allow a person to forget His call? Or did He cause the person to be uncomfortable until she fulfilled His will in her life?

  Because a purposeless future loomed before her, Vicky could empathize with Chad. Was she going to spend her whole life without any sense of direction? At the end of her life, would she have anything to show that she had really lived?

  Suddenly, Vicky had a feeling similar to the one she had experienced when she thought she had been called to the mission field. Was God really dealing with her heart again? What else could it be? Chad groaned in his sleep, and she quickly put the Bible away and stepped to his side. She checked the equipment and everything seemed normal.

  Vicky’s heartbeat accelerated and she wondered if God was sending her a message that He hadn’t cast her aside. She was suddenly overwhelmed with the enormity of the rehabilitation that Chad would need as he dealt with the loss of his profession. She could understand why he was angry over the unwanted revelation of his illegitimate birth. Could it possibly be that her mission in life would be to help Chad Reece take his place in a world that didn’t include football?

  “Oh, no, God,” Vicky whispered, and she quickly surveyed the handsome youth before her. “I make too many mistakes when it comes to matters of the heart. Not only once, but twice, I’ve really messed up. I can’t bear to think that I’d risk my heart again.”

  Could she be the friend that Chad needed in this stressful time without succumbing to his personal magnetism?

  Although she didn’t necessarily believe that God spoke audibly to His followers in this current day, she knew that He did speak through His Word. She opened the Bible again to the book of Ecclesiastes, and as she read the familiar King James Version, she recalled a more modern version of another passage.

  Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him get up!

  God, she prayed, if I can be helpful in lifting Chad Reece from his depression, I’m available.

  Chad was still sleeping when it was time for Vicky to leave, and she hesitated to disturb him, but she had promised. She touched his arm lightly, and he stirred.

  “Chad,” she said, “I’m leaving now.”

  His eyes opened reluctantly. “I didn’t think I’d go to sleep.”

  “How do you feel?”

  “Too soon to tell, but the pain seems better. My mind is still fuzzy. I hope they take me off some of this medication today—I’m not used to it. Will I see you tonight?”

  She shook her head. “I have to work tonight, and you don’t need anyone.” She held up a piece of paper. “I’ve written down my cell phone number and the number at work. Please call me if you need me to help you. If I have reason to be in the hospital before you lea
ve, I’ll stop by to see you.”

  “Thanks for helping me,” he said.

  Vicky walked down the hall thoughtfully, wondering if she would see Chad again. His home was in Alabama, and the Saunders’s lived in California. He would probably go to one of those places to recuperate. He had no ties with Ohio, so he probably wouldn’t return. But her recent experience in God’s presence caused her to believe that their paths would cross again.

  His new kidney was operating as if it had always been in his body, and on the surgeon’s next visit, Chad was told to expect a full recovery. By noon, Chad had been set free from all of the machines, IVs and tubes that had kept him in bed. A nurse helped him into a wheelchair, and he ate his lunch sitting up. He was weak and still on pain medication, but he accepted the fact that he was going to get well. He should be overjoyed, but in his frame of mind, it really didn’t matter.

  “You can be discharged in a few days,” the surgeon had told him. “Since Columbus isn’t your home, I can send your records to a competent hospital in whatever region you move to. I want you to return here in three or four months for a checkup, but your recovery and therapy can be done elsewhere.”

  The Reeces came in while the surgeon was still in the room, and he reported directly to them. “You can take him home with you, by plane, in two weeks. I’ll check out an adequate hospital in your area where he can be treated as necessary.”

  After the surgeon left, Mr. Reece said, “Lorene and Perry have suggested that you might want to go with them to California. It will be all right with us if you want to do that. They’re closer to a large hospital than we are.”

  “How is Perry doing?”

  “As well as you are,” his mother said. “You are fortunate that he was available and willing to be a donor. They plan to go home the first of next week.”

  “Your agent is also in town,” Stewart said. “He tried to come into the hospital to see you, but the surgeon has banned all visitors except family, and the receptionists know that there are only five of us here. He wants you to call him as soon as possible.”

  Chad had no desire to talk to Howard Crayton, his agent. He had always been outgoing, loved people and made friends wherever he went. At this point, the life of a hermit appealed to him. Perry was a quiet, more reserved person than Chad had ever been. Had he taken on more of his father’s personality than he knew? Or had the trauma of the injury and consequent transplant made him want to avoid people?

  “When Howie calls again, tell him that I don’t want to talk to him now and that he should leave Columbus. When I’m ready, I’ll call him. As for going home with you, I don’t want to do that, either. And I won’t go to California. I have some difficult decisions to make and I want to be alone to make them. I intend to stay in Columbus until the surgeon releases me completely.”

  Chad realized that he had spoken more bluntly than was his nature when Betty gasped. “This isn’t like you, son.”

  Chad stretched out his hand and Mrs. Reece placed her trembling fingers in his grasp. “Nothing about this situation is like me. I don’t want to hurt you, Mom, but you’re used to having me gone. I believe it’s better for my health to stay here for a few months. I have to sort out my life now—I can manage better alone.”

  He lifted his mother’s hand and kissed it.

  “Are you still mad at us for not telling you?” she asked.

  “No, not mad, just embarrassed because I was too naive to see the truth for myself.” Turning to his father, Chad said, “Go on home. You have your interests there. I’ll find an apartment close to the hospital and will be perfectly all right. I’m used to being on my own now.”

  “What about your apartment in Pittsburgh? And your car is still in the hospital parking lot in Ohio.”

  “My apartment is paid up for the year and my housekeeper checks on it occasionally when I’m away. My car is leased, so I’ll get in touch with the company and have them pick it up. If I stay here long, I’ll lease another car.” Still holding his mother’s hand, he said, “It will be all right. I’ll come out of this a better man than I’ve ever been. Don’t worry.”

  They crept out of the room like wounded, reprimanded children, and Chad hated to see them go like that. It was troubling to think that he might never feel the same way about them again. His family loyalties were going to be different whether or not he wanted them to be.

  Chapter Three

  Two days later, lying in his hospital bed, Chad heard a plane overhead that had apparently just lifted off from Columbus International Airport. The oval face of the clock on the wall opposite his bed registered the hour his parents’ plane should be leaving for Alabama, and he hoped they were on their way home. He breathed deeply, thankful for their understanding that he needed to be alone.

  But he squirmed uncomfortably and a sense of inadequacy alarmed him when he realized how ill-equipped he was to deal with his biological parents. Neither Perry nor Lorene had come to see him since the day they’d discussed his birth with him. No doubt they were unsure of their welcome. Although he dreaded talking to Perry and Lorene, he would have liked to have seen more of Amy. She had become the most important person in his life, and he always felt like he was ten feet tall when she climbed on his lap, gave him a slobbery kiss, and said, “Chaddie, I lub you.” One of the nurses had told Chad this morning that Perry would be released soon, and he couldn’t let them go without making the effort of reconciliation.

  He rang for a nurse to find out the number of Perry’s room, which was at the end of the same hall Chad was in. The nurse helped him put a robe around the hospital gown he still wore, and she walked beside him to Perry’s room.

  “Please ring when you want to return to your room. The doctor wants us to watch you closely for a few more days.”

  The door was ajar and Chad’s hand trembled as he lifted it to knock. Perry’s deep voice called, “Come in.”

  Lorene and Amy were in the room, too, and he was glad to find the three of them together.

  Perry was reclining in bed, entertaining Amy who sat beside him playing with a doll. Lorene was leaning back in the upholstered chair with her eyes closed.

  “Why, Chad!” Perry spoke happily. “Come in.”

  Lorene’s eyes popped open and she stood at once, started toward him, her face radiant, but checked herself.

  “You look wonderful,” she said.

  “That’s the way I feel, thanks to Perry.” He turned to his biological father. “And you must be doing all right, too. The nurse told me you’re scheduled to be discharged soon.”

  “Yes. Our plane leaves at one o’clock tomorrow.”

  “We’d like for you to go home with us. You and Perry could go to the same hospital for monitoring. It would mean a lot to us,” Lorene concluded slowly.

  “I realize that, but I’ll tell you the same thing I told Mom and Dad. I have to sort out my future, and right now I can do that better alone. I’ll stay in Columbus for a while. I’ll try to come and visit you after that. I don’t know.”

  Lorene’s lips parted in protest and Perry shook his head at her.

  “We accept that. When you’re ready to talk, we’ll be waiting. Our past behavior doesn’t give us any right to interfere with your plans. We’ll be grateful for any part of your life you want to share with us. We don’t expect you to think of us as your parents, but we hope we can continue to be your friends.”

  “I hope so, too,” Chad assured them in an apologetic tone. “It’s just that I’m a different person than I was two weeks ago.”

  Lorene’s dark eyes searched his face, apparently looking for something she didn’t see. “Do you think you can ever forgive us?”

  “I don’t know,” he said after a heart-wrenching pause. “I don’t know,” he repeated softly. His body trembled, whether from weakness or tension, he wasn’t sure. But Perry must have noticed.

  “We’re grateful that you visited us today, but we won’t try to see you again before we leave, so let’s pray
together.” He held out his hand. Chad took it and then picked up Amy’s tiny fingers, while Lorene took her place on the other side, gripping tightly the hand of her husband. Amy’s fingers wiggled under Chad’s touch, and he experienced a sense of belonging he had never known before.

  “God,” Perry prayed. “None of us are the same as we were a few weeks ago, but we’re thankful that You never change. We are made in Your image. You breathed into us a living soul, which belongs to You eternally. For some reason You have upset Chad’s life, but I believe You still have great plans for him. Many people can play football, but there’s something that only he can do for You. Take control of his future as You have his past and help his parents and us to accept all of his decisions as Your will. Thank You for allowing me the privilege to give him life two times. Amen.”

  Chad’s throat was too tight to say anything and unshed tears stung his eyes. He squeezed Perry’s hand before he released it to bend over the bed and give Amy a hug. He circled the bed and gathered Lorene into a warm embrace. He held her close for a few seconds before he turned and left the room, scurrying down the hallway as fast as he could, forgetting until he reached his room that he was supposed to call a nurse to accompany him.

  Expecting to enter his room and crash emotionally, Chad cringed when he saw the man sitting beside his bed. Howard Crayton!

  Bending an angry glance upon his agent, Chad demanded, “How did you get in here?”

  Howard, a short, slender, wiry individual, vaulted out of the chair as if he was on a spring. He extended his hand.

  “Meet your elder brother,” he said.

  It took a few seconds for that comment to register, but when it did, Chad demanded angrily, “Did you sneak in here pretending to be my brother? Didn’t Dad tell you that I don’t want to talk now?”

  “That he did, old buddy, but I’ve got offers for you that will far exceed your fondest dreams. Opportunities that would make a mummy want to talk.”