Part 30 (2/2)
If she had to lie and manipulate a little, well, too bad. It was the only way she could think of to save what she and Tim shared.
Otherwise how would she survive?
Angela considered the coming holiday season and her busy cla.s.s schedule. Her idea was brilliant, but she wouldn't act on it until after Christmas break. That way she'd give Tim time to change his mind without her having to lie to him.
She smiled, feeling better than she had since Tim walked out. One way or another, she would win him back.
It was merely a matter of time.
”Angela! Talk to me!” Dirk shouted into the phone for nearly a minute before giving up and slamming the receiver back down. He tightened his fists, noticing the way his biceps bulged beneath his T-s.h.i.+rt.
If only she could see him, see the way he'd worked his body 270 into a piece of art. She'd never give the professor another thought.
Some kind of annoying boy-band music was playing in the dorm room next to his, and he pounded his fist against the wall. ”Turn it down!” Almost instantly the music grew quiet. But Dirk barely noticed. He couldn't stop thinking about his conversation with Angela.
How dare she mock his offer? ridicule him without giving him a chance? Dirk ran a hand through his hair and knew it was thinning because of the pills. His trainer had warned him that on the higher doses, hair loss was possible. He paced across the room once more and stared at the picture of Angela tacked near his bed.
This was all the professor's fault. In fact, maybe the man had tricked Dirk.
Maybe he was still making stops at Angela's apartment. Ever since Dirk spotted a second car parked in the professor's driveway, he'd been sure that the man had reunited with his wife. But what if he was still seeing Angela on the side?
The thought blinded him with rage. He grabbed a gla.s.s on his nightstand, threw it on the floor, and smashed it with the heel of his boot. His heart pounded as he thought about his precious Angela, blinded by the lies of a two-timing loser like Professor Jacobs.
Dirk dug his fists into his thighs and gritted his teeth. There was only one way to know for sure. He'd have to start watching her apartment again. Not every night like some kind of deranged stalker. But often enough to catch the professor if he really was stopping by. Often enough to know if that was why Angela was giving him such a hard time.
His calendar hung on his bulletin board nearby, and he yanked it off, pulling the tack out in the process. Thanksgiving vacation was in two days, but after that he'd start watching Angela's apartment at least three nights a week. He'd switch the days around until he could catch Professor Jacobs in the act.
Then he would scare the professor away once and for all. Even if he had to break the law to do it.
271.
THANKSGIVING DAY WAS UNSEASONABLY warm that year. John Baxter found he needed only a light sweater when he slipped out on the front porch after dinner.
It was a typical Baxter holiday-warm and bustling and loud. Kari and Tim were in the kitchen wrapping leftovers. Erin and Brooke had taken the children out back for a game of tag while their husbands, Sam and Peter, tossed a football with Luke. And Elizabeth was in a heated discussion with Ashley about the importance of spending more time with Cole. John loved the presence of his family, but he needed to clear his thoughts. He closed the door behind him and found Pastor Mark Atteberry sitting on the steps outside, alone.
He laid a hand on his friend's shoulder. ”I'm glad you and Marilyn could join us.”
”It's been great.” Mark turned, his eyes veiled in peace and contentment. ”We need more of this. One-on-one with the Baxters.” John leaned back and fixed his gaze on the bare trees that lined the driveway. ”Can you believe it? Tim and Kari in there together, as if their marriage wasn't all but over a few weeks ago?”
272.
”It's amazing.” Mark kept his eyes on the horizon. ”Goes to show you how good G.o.d is.” He paused, and his eyes narrowed. ”I was praying for them during dinner. They're trying so hard, being so careful with each other.” He hesitated.
”I take it Ashley and Brooke don't approve of his presence today?”
John sighed and took a seat next to the pastor. ”It'll take some time, but they'll come around. They want Kari to be happy.” Mark stared across the front yard. ”She and Tim have been attending Sunday morning services. I keep hoping they don't run into Ryan Taylor.”
A breeze stirred the nearby trees, and John thought of Kari's fis.h.i.+ng trip with Ryan. ”She'll always have feelings for him.” ”Yes.”
”But she loves Tim more.”
”I think so. She tells me love's a decision.” Mark stroked his chin. ”I like that. She's decided to be married to Tim for better or worse, and something beautiful is growing out of that decision. It's really something.”
They were silent for a long while, and the smell of freshbaked pumpkin pies wafted out the window behind them; mingling with the distant scent of burning leaves. It was john's favorite time of year, the season when memories of his family, his children's younger days, were close enough to see and hear and touch.
Mark inhaled long and slow and tapped his knee. ”How's Ashley these days? I haven't heard much about her since all the troubles with Kari started.”
John felt his eyes water. ”Life has never been easy with Ash. Not when she was a young girl, and not now.”
”She was a cheerleader in high school, wasn't she?” ”Briefly. Until she decided she wasn't the type.”
Mark nodded. ”That's right, I remember. And wasn't there one boy who always pursued her?”
”Landon Blake. Ran for the cross-country team, graduated same year as Ashley.
His family used to go to Clear Creek 273 Community Church, but they moved into town, and now they go to one of the big churches near the university.”
”Whatever happened between Ashley and Landon?”
That's what John liked about Mark Atteberry. He pastored by heart. His concern for his congregation went far beyond their partic.i.p.ation in church activities.
He cared for them as people, cared about their lives, whether they were once-a-year Easter attendees or families like the Baxters, who were anch.o.r.ed in the history of the fellows.h.i.+p. Because of that, he was one of the best, most loving and effective pastors John Baxter had ever known or heard of.
John considered his question about Ashley and Landon. ”It's a long story.”
”I figured.” Mark smiled. ”Tell me about it. I've got time..” Dessert was still an hour away, and the two men were not in a hurry. ”We always thought Ashley would go to college. Like her sisters. Maybe teach art or manage a music studio nearby.” He paused. ”We knew she was different, but we never thought she'd dive off the deep end.” John gazed across the brown gra.s.s, and suddenly he could see Ashley pulling into the driveway the summer before her senior year, marching defiantly into the house, and demanding more time with her friends.
”She'd met some people at a coffeehouse down by the university. Most were three or four years older than she was, caught up in some kind of seventies retro movement.”
That was the year, John explained, when she began dressing differently, wearing tie-dyed skirts, and walking out of the house without brus.h.i.+ng her hair. Several times that summer, John and Elizabeth had shared their misgivings with her.
”We suspected she was drinking, maybe even dabbling in drugs because of all the changes we'd seen. But she was careful not to get caught, and we couldn't be sure.” John shrugged. ”We didn't want to force the issue.”
In the end, nothing had come of their talks other than added 274 tension. When she got caught drinking at a high school party that spring, no one was surprised. Least of all Landon Blake.
”He came by the house after that and told me he loved Ashley. It was something in his blood, he said. No matter what decisions she might make, he'd love her until the day she died.”
”Big words from a high school boy.”
John considered that and nodded. ”Landon's always been old for his age. More mature.”
From an early age Landon Blake had been serious and highachieving, with movie-star looks and a wiry athleticism. He was active in track and field and was easily one of the most popular boys in their cla.s.s. Girls were always after him, but he was interested only in Ashley. And each time Ashley turned him down, he grew more infatuated with her.
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