came up off his knees with the box in his hand and a wild look on his face. “What the—?”
“You said to break it, so I did,” she explained.
“Break the mud off my spare key—” he waved the muddy box “—not break the window!”
“Well, why didn’t you say so?”
“I did.” He swiftly unlocked the door on his side of the van and held out his arms. Justin was just landing in the front seat. Relieved, Zac grasped his small hand and helped him step down. “It’s okay, son. I’ve got you.”
The frightened boy wrapped his arms around his father’s leg and held on as if it were a lifeline. His breath came in halting, shuddering sobs.
Waiting, Tina stood back and watched father and son try to regain their composure. Zac rested his hand on the boy’s hair. When he tilted his head back and closed his eyes for a few seconds, Tina imagined him sending up a silent prayer of thanks. She’d already done the same. Breaking the window might be considered foolhardy by some people—but how was she to know Zac had a spare key? Given her assessment of the situation, she’d done the right thing. Anyway, Justin was safe. That was all that really mattered.
Acting on impulse, she approached the child, dropped to one knee beside him and began to gently stroke his back, while he continued to cling to Zac. “You’re fine now, honey. Your daddy’s right here. You know he’d never leave you.”
To her surprise, Justin released his usual hold on his father’s leg, threw himself at her, wrapped his little arms tightly around her neck and began to weep anew. Tina got down on both knees to hug him close.
“Oh, baby. Don’t cry. Don’t cry.”
Tears of empathy filled her eyes and slid silently down her cheeks. This emotionally needy child had touched her as no other had. She kissed his hair, his wet cheeks, then cupped his face in her hands so he’d have to look at her when she reassured him.
“We love you, Justin. We’d never let anything bad happen to you.”
As soon as she’d spoken she realized she’d made an inappropriate inference by combining her own compassion with that of Zac Frazier. Well, too bad. Knowing there was more than one person in the world who cared about him was critical to Justin’s peace of mind. If his father didn’t like it, tough.
She dried the child’s tears with the hem of her skirt and made sure he’d stopped crying, before she gathered her courage and stood to confront Zac. “We need to discuss a few things, Mr. Frazier. In private.”
To her surprise, he still seemed aggravated.
“Insurance will probably pay for the damage,” Zac grumbled, scowling at his van. “What a mess. I wish you’d asked me instead of getting so carried away.”
“You’re worried about the mess from a broken window?” Exasperation filled Tina’s voice. “Fine. I’ll help you clean it up. But I don’t give a hoot about your stupid window, okay? It’s your son I’m worried about.”
“You weren’t so worried when you dropped broken glass all over him.”
“All the new cars have safety glass. It’s not sharp when it breaks. I knew it wouldn’t hurt him.”
“How about scare him to death,” Zac countered. “He was already having a fit over waking up alone.”
She wanted to scream, So hug him. Show him some real affection, but she held her tongue. Yelling at the man wasn’t going change him, especially since he didn’t seem to have a clue he was doing anything wrong. If he agreed to rent the property she’d shown him, however, she’d have lots of opportunities to observe his interaction with his son and offer a few subtle pointers on parenting. Unfortunately, with the Fraziers so close by, she wouldn’t be able to escape from that duty, either. Even if she wanted to.
“So, are you going to take this house?” Tina asked, deliberately changing the subject. “You should commit yourself as soon as possible, you know. It won’t stay empty for long.” In her heart, she half hoped he’d say no, and relieve her of the God-given responsibility she was feeling.
“I suppose I will,” Zac said flatly. “I haven’t found any other place close to my job, and the rent is reasonable.”
Well, that was that, Tina thought. She was stuck. “Okay. I’ll let the landlord know. He can drop the rental agreement by your office, if you like.”
“That’ll be fine.”
Tina held out her hand as if to shake on the deal, then quickly withdrew it when she recalled the way she’d reacted when they’d touched before. “Good night, then. I’ve done my good deed for the day, so I guess I’ll be going. Do you think you can find your way back to your motel by yourself?”
“Probably. Can I borrow a whisk broom and dustpan before I go? I need to sweep up the broken glass.”
“And I said I’d help you, didn’t I? I really am sorry. I was sure you said you wanted me to break the window.” She flashed a wry smile.
“What I said was, give me something to break loose the dirt that was keeping me from getting to my spare key. I don’t understand where all that hard mud came from. It hasn’t rained since I’ve been here.”
“Probably from wasps. Mud daubers,” Tina told him. “They make nests in everything, even motors. Thankfully, they’re not as aggressive as the big, red, paper-wasps. Those can be nasty. If you see a nest with a bunch of exposed cells, kind of like honeycomb, don’t put your hand into it.”
“I’ll remember that. Thanks, neighbor.”
Neighbor? He soon would be, wouldn’t he. Phooey. Well, like it or not, that was apparently what the Lord wanted, because the only available house in town was the one they were standing in front of.
How could she argue with providence? Clearly, God agreed that it would be much easier for her to help Justin if he lived close by. All she had to do was continue to keep his good-looking daddy at arm’s length so she wouldn’t be tempted to repeat past mistakes.
As Tina turned away to fetch the broom, her empty stomach growled. Combined with her guilt over not really wanting the Fraziers to become her neighbors, her hunger reminded her of Sunday’s sermon about feeding a needy brother or sister. She didn’t know how needy Zac and Justin might be, but it was long past her suppertime and she was starving to death. So why not invite them to eat with her?
Because it was a stupid idea, she argued. It was also a perfect opportunity to make them feel welcome and begin to educate Zac about children.
Hurrying back with the cleaning tools, she made her decision. “Why don’t you two stay for supper? We can have a picnic in the backyard. I keep lots of hamburgers and hot dogs in the freezer, so I’m ready for any emergency.”
Raising one eyebrow, Zac regarded her quizzically. “Is that local cuisine?”
“Not unless we wrap the whole sandwich in dough, dump it in a pan and deep fry it, too,” Tina said with a light laugh. “Even some of the pies are fried around here.”
“So I’ve heard. The thing
