Chapter 15

fifteen

A warm shower and fresh clothes could change a lot for a guy—except the words still ringing in David's mind. This is my problem. My family. Maybe he should have stayed home, but Sadie's mom had said Lottie would expect him. He couldn't let the little girl down. Not again.

The air whooshed as he walked through the automatic sliding doors into the sterile waiting area at the ER. People sat in clumps around the quiet room. Several of them stared at a TV with the closed captioning turned on. Some decorating program played as a couple looked at their stylish deck overlooking the ocean.

In the far corner, Gary and Dawn Hoover sat together with Nate. The older couple held hands, their heads bowed, as Dawn wiped at her cheeks. David waited until they finished and looked up.

Dawn's smile broke through any of the doubts he'd had about coming. But before he could join them, the doors opened and Sadie stood, searching the room, until her eyes landed on him. Heat crept up his chest as she came closer.

His hands stretched out to touch her, to hug her, to pull her close, but she brushed them aside, her voice sharp. "I told you not to come."

"Sadie, that is not how you talk to the man who saved your daughter tonight." Dawn intervened, her hand holding Sadie's, which looked ready to strike him.

"We wouldn't be here if not for him." Her voice cracked, and David's heart seized. "Lottie heard us fighting and ran."

"You need two people to fight, Sadie." Gary's deep, firm voice brooked no argument, Refusing to let Sadie lay the blame fully at David's feet.

"No, she's right." David backed up and ran his hand down his face. "I?—"

Sadie turned toward her mom and dad, effectively cutting him out of the conversation. "I came out because I want to update you, and my phone is dead. The doctors say Lottie is fine and should be released later tonight. She's still cold, so they're warming her up with some heated blankets and hot cocoa, but otherwise, she's fine. Her lungs are clear, and all her responses are good. I'm going to head back now so Lottie's not alone."

Sadie hurried back to the door without looking at David. He stood, watching her until the doors closed. He should go since he wasn't wanted or needed here, and staying…well, it would only upset Sadie.

Gary's hand clamped down on David's shoulder, "Sit down, son. We need to talk."

David's stomach churned, and he tugged his coat a little tighter. Even with two pairs of socks on, his toes were still freezing inside his shoes. He shook his head. "I should go."

"Nonsense. You saved Lottie tonight." Gary sat down next to Dawn and nodded to the chair on the other side of her.

"I can't stay, Gary. I've hurt Sadie, again, and I don't think she'll forgive me." David let out a breath and shoved his hands in his pockets.

Dawn hummed her agreement then looked at Gary. The two seemed to communicate an entire conversation in one look. She leaned over, kissed Gary on the cheek, and stood up. "Nate, I feel like a cup of coffee—will you join me? David, you sit here." Sadie's mom guided him to the seat next to Gary and then motioned for Nate to join her.

Nate nodded at David as he walked away with Dawn.

David rested his elbows rest on his knees. Gary's hand clamped his shoulder again.

"What happened?" Gary's gentle voice prodded.

"Where to begin?" Letting out the air in his lungs, David folded his hands together and opened up, telling Gary about the accident with Remy, being sent home, his position being given to a younger candidate. The opening in Costa Rica, the trip down to talk with Wesley. About how much he enjoyed being in Heritage, working at the hardware store, playing soccer with the teens around town. "When Sadie showed up tonight, she had no idea I was leaving for the weekend. No idea about the opening in Costa Rica."

"Why didn't you tell Sadie about the trip?" No sharp accusation laced Gary's voice, just open curiosity.

"Because…quite honestly, I don't want to go back. Telling her about the job, the trip, made it seem like a real possibility. But telling her that I wanted to stay here—with her—seemed like a betrayal to God. To my supporters."

"Why do you want to go back to Costa Rica?"

It's my calling. The words shot to his tongue, but he couldn't get them out. "The Bible tells us to go to the ends of the earth."

"And being a missionary is the best way to serve God, if that's where God called you. But sometimes ‘to the ends of the earth' is just helping your neighbor. God calls us all to different things. My calling has been to my family and the people of Heritage as a shopkeeper. Sometimes I help people out when they need things. Other times it is just an encouraging word as they shop. Some people are called to be preachers, others teachers, others businessmen. No calling is lesser. And sometimes callings change. Middle-aged couples take to the mission field, leaving behind lucrative careers. Sometimes missionaries are called to return home. Both are good decisions—but only when the Lord leads."

It sounded so simple. So easy. But there was no handwriting on the wall. No specific direction. "How do you know when it's time for a change?"

"It's a process. And just because God called you to go to Costa Rica alone ten years ago doesn't mean He's calling you to remain there, single, forever. Do you know why we continued to support you financially even after you and Sadie broke up?" Gary's quiet voice encouraged David to sit up and look at him.

Honestly, he'd wondered. Was surprised when he'd heard the Hoovers had committed to supporting him. But he hadn't wanted to seem ungrateful, so he'd never asked.

"It was clear you two loved each other, but it was also clear you two weren't ready for a serious, committed relationship. So, I thought a few years apart might just help you both grow up. Although I'll admit, I didn't expect it to take ten years for you two to get your acts together."

"What do you mean you didn't think we were ready?"

"There's no doubt Sadie loved you. Still does, but despite your feelings for each other, you two didn't communicate. Didn't share pertinent information with each other. If there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's the importance of communication in any partnership—especially marriage."

"You don't even need words to communicate with your wife anymore." David remembered the look Gary and Dawn had exchanged before she left for coffee.

Gary slapped David's shoulder. "Not always. But I'm not stupid enough to think that's always the case. And it took us over twenty-five years of marriage before that became a reality in small areas. So let me ask you, are you really going to make the same mistake again?"

Letting out all the air he'd just breathed in, David looked away from Gary. It seemed the man had an uncanny ability to see right into David's mind.

An older couple walked into the ER, the man shuffling along, pushing a walker, the woman next to him looking pale, coughing as she walked beside him. He guided her to a chair and made sure she was comfortable before pushing the walker over to the registration counter.

"You could have that, David." Gary's voice cut through his thoughts.

"I think it's too late."

"Maybe you just need to start with step one."

"What is that?"

Gary jingled his keys in his pocket. "Go to Costa Rica. Figure out if you want this position or if you want something else. Ask God to make it clear to you."

"You want me to leave?" That didn't seem like the thing Gary would say after his pep talk about God changing callings.

"I do. Maybe God is changing you for something other than Costa Rica. Something better…not because Costa Rica isn't good, but because God's plan is always best. If you're seeking after God, your passions may change. That's God's doing. Follow Him where He leads you. Maybe it will be back here, maybe it won't."

God's doing? Could his change of heart really be God's working? His phoned buzzed in his pocket, and he pulled it out and glanced at the message from Lance. His director had changed his flight time. If David left now, he could make it in time for the next one.

Gary nodded next to him. "I'll talk to Sadie. She told you to leave anyway. So go, David. You have our blessing. Find what God's leading you to do. Trust Him. Not your supporters, not your preconceived notions, but God. He will lead you."

"Thank you." David walked out of the ER with purpose.

He pulled out his phone and typed a response to Lance's earlier message.

Ready or not, he was returning to Costa Rica.

In the light of day, things didn't look any better. In fact, they looked worse.

The wrecker slowly dragged Mrs. Allen's car out of the hardware store as glass crunched beneath the tire wheels. Once the car was cleared from the building, the wrecker towed it away.

The town square was quiet. It seemed folks had slept in after the excitement of searching for Lottie last night. Sadie stood alone outside the store—well, except for Otis, who had moved to the middle of the playground across the street. His bronze eyes were trained on the disaster that was Hoover's Hardware. At least he'd been safe last night.

Careful to miss any large chunks of glass, Sadie unlocked the door and stepped into the store. Instead of the order she'd created, chaos ruled. The glass counter that sat in front of the main window was shattered, the old-fashioned register bent and broken. The car had stopped before it had taken out the aisles—small blessings—but the shattered glass was everywhere, even embedded in the walls. Thankfully, the car had not affected the structure of the building, and she'd been able to stay in her apartment last night. But her mom was right, there was no way the grand reopening could take place next week. Unless they opened with a boarded-up front window and no front counter.

Not to mention Mrs. Allen's insurance had already called this morning and said they'd only cover a few thousand dollars' worth of damage. Nowhere near the amount they would need. Sadie didn't have extra money laying around to repair the store. Everything she could scrape together would need to go to the bank to cover the loan, and even then, she was still short. There was no money to fix the damages.

Her throat burned and her vision blurred. She'd failed. Four generations and she was the one to ruin the family business. She'd gambled her heart, her business, her savings. Her life. And she'd lost.

Lost it all.

At least Lottie had slept soundly all night. She was healthy and being spoiled at Sadie's parents' house this morning. Her mom had made cinnamon rolls, and Lottie ate two of them.

Silence reigned in the hardware store. David was gone. She wasn't sure why that had surprised her after she'd told him to leave. But when she'd gone back to the waiting room and her father said he'd left for the airport, it had been like a punch to the gut. She missed his presence, his friendship, his help. But he didn't want a partner, he didn't want…

Her.

A hand gripped Sadie's shoulder, and she jumped away with a screech.

"I'm sorry, Sis." An apologetic look crossed Romee's face. "I thought you heard me open the door and my footsteps crunching the glass. I wasn't exactly quiet."

Sadie hugged her sister, letting the strength of her embrace soothe the thoughts, the painful reality that she'd lost it all.

"I'm here, Sadie. We all are. Anna can be here next week, and Toby and Clara can be here tomorrow. We're going to get through this." Romee's voice oozed confidence.

If only Sadie could latch on to that, believe that with her siblings' help things would be better.

"It's not that simple." Sadie let go of Romee and turned back to the mess of her store as she walked farther in, taking in the mess. "We can't fix this."

"Of course we can." Glass crunched as Romee walked toward what used to be the front window. "We'll get this place cleaned up in no time."

"It's so much more than that."

"A little sweeping, some organization?—"

Sadie spun around. "That won't —"

"I know you like to do things on your own, but I'm here, Sadie. I can help."

"You don't understand."

Romee shoved her hands on her hips. "I would understand if you'd let me in. If you'd let me help."

If it were that simple. If telling Romee all about her problems, if just speaking them out loud would solve them, she'd shout them from the rooftop. "There's nothing you can do."

"I can help. Look—I'm sorry I almost burned the house down when I was eight. It wasn't your fault, and you need to stop holding it over my head."

"I don't?—"

"You do. And seriously, you have to let that go. It wasn't your fault, and I'm a grown woman now. I haven't started a fire in the kitchen in twenty years. Let me help with this." Romee stomped closer, reaching for her shoulder with a strength that surprised Sadie. Her sister had grown up, turned into a successful musician, and a competent and caring woman.

"I'm sorry. I have hung on to that. You're right though, we've both grown up a lot since then. But even so, this has nothing to do with not wanting to ask for help. Even with help, things are gone. The store, my home, possibly even Lottie."

"Lottie is safe. That is over."

"I'm talking about Doris contesting the adoption."

"What? Doris is contesting the adoption? You didn't tell me this?" Romee stepped forward and gripped Sadie's arms, shaking her slightly. "Okay, that's it. We're getting out of here."

Romee linked arms with Sadie and pulled her through the door, into the morning sun. She wiggled her fingers for the keys. Sadie handed them over, and Romee locked the door.

"It doesn't really matter if we close it. The front window is wide open."

"We'll have it boarded up soon, but first we're talking." Romee grabbed Sadie's hand again and continued to drag her around to the back of the store, up the wooden steps, and into her apartment. "Go sit on the couch. I'll make coffee. But we're talking about this. Let's talk about the adoption."

Sadie settled into the sofa so she could see the room and wrapped her favorite throw around herself. Soon, Romee came out with two cups of coffee, handing one to Sadie.

"Doris and Patrick are contesting."

"Wait. Hold that thought." Romee pulled her phone out and pressed a few buttons. A few seconds later, Anna's voice filled the room. "Hang on, I'm connecting Toby."

Sadie sipped her coffee as she listened to her brother join the call.

"Okay. Sadie is here with me. You both heard that Lottie was lost last night. And about the accident at the store. But what you haven't heard—" Romee lifted an eyebrow. "They haven't heard, have they?"

Sadie shook her head. "I haven't told anyone. Well, except David."

"Told us what?" Anna. Direct and to the point.

"Doris and Patrick are contesting the adoption hearing. And now that I can't pay the bank the money the store owes, I won't have a job, a home, or anything. I'm not sure that the case will be open-and-shut."

Silence.

Sadie looked at Romee, who chewed on her bottom lip and glanced at the phone between them.

"I really messed up, you guys. And on top of it all, David and I—" What? Broke up? It was so much more than a simple breakup. "He went back to Costa Rica."

"Idiot. Leopards don't change?—"

"That doesn't help, Anna." Toby cut off her sister's tirade. "David isn't a leopard, and I am guessing him leaving wasn't just on him. Just like I am guessing him leaving last time wasn't only on him. Am I right?"

"What do you know?" Romee and Anna practically said in unison.

"Nothing." Toby sat in silence as if waiting for Sadie to fill in the blanks, but she couldn't. Not right now. "Sadie, did you ever tell him you wanted him to stay?"

Romee set her cup on the coffee table. "There has to be a way to fight Doris and Patrick. You know what…I think we need Mom and Dad in on this conversation."

Sadie's stomach sank. "I haven't told them. I will. I promise. Just not…yet."

"Not yet? Stop shutting yourself away. From us. From Mom and Dad. From David." Toby let out a sigh, and Sadie could picture him shaking his head.

"It's more complicated with Mom and Dad. I don't want them to blame themselves." She focused on that because she really didn't want to talk about David. Sadie pulled the blanket up, balancing the coffee so as not to spill it. "I gambled. Put everything into the store. All my savings and it's not enough."

"Why does the store owe money? I thought Dad owned that property." Anna's accounting mind was probably crunching all the numbers.

"He said they went through a rough patch, took out a mortgage to pay for things, and it just sorta went south. They never caught up." Sadie lifted a shoulder. If she'd been prepared, she would have known this before taking over. Instead, she'd asked God what to do, her dad fell, and it just seemed right. She'd thought this was God's path, that He'd opened doors and directed in a specific way. So, she'd leapt—and landed in a puddle on the ground.

"And so, you took over the store, didn't tell anyone it was in trouble, and sank everything from Jeremy into the store." Romee's disgust bled through every word. She turned toward Sadie, squeezing her shoulders. "We're here to help. Hoover's Hardware is our family business."

"That you have no interest in. None of you. You took off to travel with your music, only to land in Grand Rapids. Toby settled down in Florida with Clara, doing what God called him to do. And Anna, she left Heritage the moment she graduated high school, never looking back. I don't even know where you are because you move around so much. Why would I think any of you have an interest in the store?" Or her. They'd all left her, just like David had. After she'd been left alone again with Lottie after Jeremy died, she learned to depend on herself. Sadie's hands shook. "I can handle this on my own. It's my problem."

"Except you're not handling it." Toby sighed. A door closed over the phone, and the sound changed. He must be going somewhere. "I'm coming."

"What? No, Toby. There's no need. Really. Not to mention it would take you hours to get here. You can't leave Clara on a whim." Sadie shifted forward out of Romee's grip and placed her mug on a coaster.

"Then listen, Sadie." Toby's deep voice sounded so much like their dad's that Sadie swallowed down her emotions. "You are not alone. God is with you. He did lead you back to Heritage, and He's never going to leave you. We've seen that promise come to fruition so many times, that even when we feel alone, we can trust something bigger than ourselves. Right now is one of those times. We have to trust Him."

"That's easier said than done." Sadie wanted it to be as simple as Toby made it sound. Wanted to just jump in and agree with him. But sometimes, trusting was harder than it sounded. Romee slung an arm around her shoulder and pulled Sadie close.

"Of course, it is. But God never, ever does things in our life without a purpose. And when things are too big for us to handle, that probably means we are trying to handle them in our own strength. We have to rely on Him and the support of the people He put in our life. I don't like this situation you're facing, especially the possibility of losing Lottie, but listen here. None of us—" Romee tightened her grip on Sadie and gestured toward the phone. "I repeat, none of us will let you face this alone."

Anna cleared her throat, her voice oddly gravelly like she was fighting tears. "You can't get rid of us. No matter where I am, I'm just a plane ride or two away. Mom always said siblings have to stick together. So, you're stuck."

Sadie relaxed into Romee's embrace. Strength came in many forms, but she hadn't leaned into the strength of her family. Maybe ever. As the oldest it was her job to take care of them, and she'd done a pretty good job. To have her siblings gather around her, to offer her love and support—her eyes burned. Maybe, with the help of her family, she could trust God. Trust that this path she'd jumped onto wouldn't take everything she loved from her.