A Perfect Match

“Things?”

“Bowls for food and water. A collar and leash. A couple of squeaky toys. Dog bones. And a big bag of puppy kibble, of course. Things,” she concluded, feeling suddenly foolish for coming out to the site at all.

Zeke had things well in hand, and he clearly didn’t need her interference. Of course, he’d made her feel more than welcome, but it was obvious she wasn’t needed here.

She hadn’t even been sure she could find Tip again, thinking Zeke would most likely drop her off at the Humane Society.

She was thrilled to know Zeke would be keeping her. Tip was a lucky puppy. And buying things for Zeke’s new housemate would not only be fun, but a kind of catharsis, a way of doing something now for Tip, when Julia’s own inertia had kept her from helping yesterday at the pool.

The longer Julia’s list had grown the wider Zeke’s gaze grew, and now he was staring at her outright.

“What?” Julia asked, wondering if he was going to call her an idiot. She would call herself an idiot. What a dumb thing to suggest. At the least, she probably should have called first and asked if he needed anything for Tip, and if he didn’t mind her stopping by the site.

But there she was, the typical Julia, always going off half-cocked, trying to help when she was really just getting in the way, even if everyone was too polite to say so.

Perhaps she’d learn her lesson this time.

“You are a godsend,” Zeke said, carefully replacing Tip in her box with one last gentle rub.

Julia felt like someone had brushed a finger down her spine. Adrenaline coursed through her. “What?”

He turned to her, leaning his muscular arm against the side of his truck. His eyes gleamed with a combination of appreciation and genuine male admiration that made Julia’s stomach swirl with unusual and unnamable emotions.

Zeke continued, his voice low and resolute. “Unfortunately, I barely made it to the vet’s last afternoon, and then Tip needed looking after. I haven’t purchased anything for her. I’ve been feeding her from one of my cereal bowls with the sample food the vet gave me.”

“You don’t have anything for her?” she repeated numbly.

“Anything. Or is that nothing?” He smiled wide and belted a strong laugh. “So you see, Julia, you’re an answer to prayer today. For Tip. And for me. You’re a blessing disguised as an angel.”

This time, it was Julia’s turn to blush.

Chapter Three

As the Colorado Indian summer faded crisply into late fall, Julia found her mind often on Zeke. His unconventional good looks were part of it, to be sure, but that didn’t explain why she now anticipated his presence at HeartBeat, or why their frequent conversations lingered in her mind long after the lights were turned out and the doors safely locked.

On this overcast Tuesday evening she was hauling charitable baby gifts she’d volunteered to pick up at various community bins, located inside grocery stores and department stores.

During her commute from store to store, her mind often shifted to her budding friendship with Zeke. She was surprised to find they had a lot in common, not so much in hobbies or background as in values, interests and viewpoints.

She realized with a start that she should be thinking about Bryan Cummings, about her future. About stability and security.

It was just as well, pushing Zeke from her conscious thoughts. At least thinking about Bryan didn’t confuse her, or make her feel all these new, foolish sensations Zeke aroused in her.

Happy and sad.

Threatened and safe.

Give her a stronghold of security any day of the week. Father Bryan Cummings was safety. She would do well to remember that, she reminded herself severely as she got in her car. She had a plan to carry out.

She pulled her car into the Grace Church parking lot. Grace Church had opened its doors to the struggling ministry, given the small, dedicated staff of HeartBeat a place to assemble, and main offices where they could conduct the nonprofit business of benevolence without having to pay a high rent for the space.

The pregnant women who came for help often needed shelter. HeartBeat owned and maintained three houses in the neighborhood, where women in need were encouraged to stay and prepare for their little blessings to arrive.

After their babies were born, they often stayed around until they’d arranged, with HeartBeat’s help, new lives of their own.

Julia’s heart welled when she thought of the brave women who sought help here. It took courage to admit they needed help, and wisdom to fight their way through to new lives.

Julia opened the trunk and surveyed with pleasure the hodgepodge of gifts—pink, blue, green and yellow baby blankets; fuzzy-footed sleepers; bottles and big cans of formula. The back seat of her car was full to overflowing with diapers, which was a good thing. If there was one thing HeartBeat could never have enough of, it was diapers.

It was a remarkable baby shower, there in her trunk, and that’s exactly what it was meant to be.

“Hey, girl, what took you so long?” Lakeisha’s sudden speech nearly jolted Julia out of her shoes.

Placing a palm over her chest to still her racing heart, Julia whirled on her friend. “Do you mind not sneaking up on me that way? You nearly scared the wits out of me.”

Lakeisha laughed and waved her hand as if brushing away the comment. “You don’t have any wits to scare out of you.”

“Thanks for the compliment,” growled Julia affectionately. “Did you come out here to give me a hard time, or to help me with these packages?”

Lakeisha’s black eyes grew wide. “Well, I’m not carrying all this stuff inside, if that’s what you mean.”

“That’s exactly what I mean, and you know it. Come on, hon, it’s not any worse than carrying groceries up to our apartment.”

Lakeisha grinned, her eyes gleaming. “True. But at our apartment, we don’t have a smorgasbord of handsome men to choose from. Men willing and able to carry these meager boxes in for us poor damsels in distress.”

Julia hoisted a box from the trunk. “Lakeisha, you are too much.”

“Put the box down,” Lakeisha suggested. “I’ll run and get that mighty conqueror of baby boxes, just to prove it to you.”

“Make it Father Bryan,” Julia suggested, giving in to the inevitable. She might as well get something out of this charade.

Lakeisha snorted. “Like Father Bryan would condescend to carrying boxes.”

Julia shrugged. She was probably right. “I wish you weren’t so dead set against Father Bryan.”

“It’s not that I don’t approve of Bryan, exactly,” Lakeisha explained. “I just don’t think he’s the right man for you.”

“He is,” Julia muttered, folding her arms tightly across her chest. “He just doesn’t know it yet.”

“Don’t worry,” Lakeisha assured after an extended silence. Her voice was unusually bright and cheerful. Clearly feigned. It was an open disagreement between them. “I’ll bring back the best man for the job,” she assured. “And if he’s good looking, so much the better, huh? It’ll only take a minute.”

Julia sighed and slumped against the back bumper. It would take more than a minute to find the best man for the job. Such a man as Lakeisha painted with her words didn’t exist. Not in this world, anyway.

It was a busy night in the HeartBeat office as groups of volunteers worked on mailings. The church’s new janitor was even mopping his way around the compound. And Zeke was right in the middle of it, making wood frames for signs, his hammer swinging as fast as his thoughts.

But his busy hands couldn’t take away the excruciating stillness of his heart. He’d seen everyone but Julia, and he was dismayed to find how very much it mattered to him that she wasn’t there.

Fortunately, at that moment, Lakeisha came bursting in the door, her brown cheeks flushed pink from the crisp air, and breathing as if she’d been running.