time,” Stella told him, and walked away sighing.
He knew he’d have to attend the elegant affair, which was to be held at one of Denver’s fashionable hotels. Stella was right: it wouldn’t sit well if he showed up alone when the governor wanted him to escort another lady. David didn’t know when the idea struck him to ask Melissa to be his date, but almost immediately he dismissed it. Of course she’d refuse. She’d hesitated even to move into his house until he’d made it clear that he would hardly be around. Still, the prospect of spending an evening with her kept nagging at him. He didn’t doubt for a moment that she would be a delightful dinner partner and could hold her own conversationally with anyone at the table.
By the time the plane landed and he drove home, he had decided to wait a few days before mentioning the social affair. In the meantime, he’d try to get more involved with the boys, a sure way to win her approval.
His good intentions were almost immediately reduced to ashes, when he came into a small utility room off the garage and nearly tripped over a mangy, flea-bitten, stray dog. The mutt was as startled as David. He lurched up on skinny legs, peered at him with round dark eyes through a tangle of dirty brown hair, and backed away from David, barking and growling.
Eric and Richie came bursting through a door that led to the back hall. “Scruffy! Scruffy!” Falling to their knees beside the straggly, long-haired dog, they engulfed him in a protective hug and glared up at David.
As Melissa hurried into the room, David demanded in a sharp tone, “Explain this, please.”
She moistened her lips. “I’ll try. Boys, go outside with the dog for a little while.”
“He’s ours,” Richie yelled at David.
“We adopted him,” Eric added fervently. “He’s like us. He ain’t got a home.”
Melissa didn’t look at David as she scooted the boys and the dog into the backyard. She knew that her weakness over the stray dog was going to create friction all the way around. Obviously, David was going to put his foot down about keeping the mutt, and the boys didn’t need one more heartbreak in their young lives. She silently prayed for the right words as she went back inside the house to face a glowering David.
He was in the kitchen with Inga, and she was talking to him about dinner. “I baked some stuffed pork chops and potatoes, just in case you made it home in time to eat. The kind of meals you have at those political junkets of yours don’t fill up a man the way they should.”
“Actually I’m not all that hungry,” he said, allowing a wave of weariness to sweep over him. It had been an exhausting trip and all he wanted was to come home to some peace and quiet. He had already decided to put off the confrontation about the dog until later when his nerves weren’t so raw. He liked to handle problems in a detached way, and he felt anything but detached about keeping a mangy stray dog—boys, or no boys!
“Why don’t you go upstairs and freshen up,” Inga coaxed like a mother hen. “I can set the dining room table for you and Melissa, and feed Eric and Richie in the kitchen. Both of you look as if you could use some quiet time. And you need to settle this dog thing, ya?”
David allowed himself a weak smile. “Ya.”
“Good. Now, out of my kitchen, both of you. Dinner in half an hour.”
David and Melissa exchanged smiles as Inga banished them from her kitchen.
When David came downstairs, he was surprised to see Melissa already seated at the dining room table. She had changed into a simple pink dress revealing her tanned arms and shoulders, and her raven-dark hair glistened in the soft light from an overhead chandelier. She looked lovely. Pleasure sluiced through him and his evening took a brighter turn as he looked at her.
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” he said quickly, taking a chair opposite her.
“You didn’t. I was trying to get the boys settled in the kitchen, and Inga ordered me out.” Melissa laughed.
“Inga insisted they eat with her and Hans tonight. She put Hans at the table between them, so I guess everything’s under control.”
“We can always hope,” he said dryly, and then quickly changed the subject. He wasn’t ready to spoil the evening so soon. The subject of the dog could wait a while, but there was no “question” in his mind about it—the dog had to go.
“How is the writing coming?” he asked politely.
As they talked for a few minutes about her current assignment, she realized what a polished dinner companion he was. He kept the conversation moving, asking questions and listening to her answers with a soft smile on his face.
As he leaned toward her, his slightly damp hair was burnished by the light’s glow into shades of golden brown. He wore tailored brown slacks and an expensive chambray shirt open at the neck.
“I decided to go freelance because I felt called to write my women’s book,” she told him as she reached for a crystal water glass and took a sip.
“‘Called’?” He raised a skeptical eyebrow. “That’s an interesting word.”
“Yes, I believe that there is a divine pattern in our lives. If we will only let go and let God, surprising things will happen. Haven’t you ever felt that a coincidence is not that at all?”
Inga’s entrance with a loaded tray saved him from getting into any discussion of her naive beliefs. As he looked at her, Melissa’s eyes were sparkling with such sincerity, he didn’t have the heart to argue that it was up to an individual to make things happen in his or her life, not some far-off deity.
As expected, the meal was delicious, perfectly prepared, and the beautiful dining room with its richly paneled walls lent a kind of magic to the whole evening. Melissa had trouble believing that she was sitting there in the company of a handsome and entertaining host who took all this elegance for granted. She hid a secret smile as she imagined him sitting at her marred Formica table on chairs that were losing their stuffing.
Once in a while she could hear Eric’s and Richie’s childish voices in the kitchen, and, although she missed them, she was grateful for the reprieve from their less-than-polished eating habits.
By the time they had finished their deep-dish apple pie and their after-dinner coffee, they had grown more comfortable in each other’s presence. Once again the idea came to David to ask Melissa to be his companion for the fund-raiser. He knew she’d be a perfect companion for the evening. Undoubtedly it would be a different experience for her, with all the handshaking and back-slapping, but she would charm them with her lovely eyes and sweet smile. And if tonight was any test, for a change he would finally enjoy himself at one of these political affairs.
He wondered why he suddenly felt more self-conscious asking her to go with him than he would have approaching a formidable dignitary. “I would like to ask a favor of you, Melissa.”
Melissa waited, wondering why he suddenly seemed ill at ease. This private time together had gone well, hadn’t it? Had she missed something? Was he going to ask her and the boys to move out of the house?
“Please, feel free to say no. There’s an important political fund-raiser next weekend. It’s a reception, banquet, and a national dinner speaker. I have to go.” He cleared his throat. “And I’m expected to take someone with me.
