Irene Brand - Made for Each Other

“I guess that will be all right if you get your homework done in the next two hours. You really need to get that math grade up.”

Samantha didn’t answer, just went to her room immediately. Aimee didn’t hear any phone conversations, so she gave Samantha the benefit of the doubt that she was actually studying.

When the Niberts arrived, Aimee walked outside to greet them. “Thanks for taking Samantha. Do you know what time you will be back? I’m going out for the evening, and I don’t want Samantha coming home to an empty house.”

“I’m not sure,” Mrs. Nibert said, “but if you aren’t here, we’ll stay until you come home.”

Aimee thanked her, waved them on their way and turned toward the house. She didn’t really know the Niberts well, but she had to give Samantha some space. If fourteen years of parental guidance hadn’t taught her daughter the difference between right and wrong, she had failed as a mother. It was time to have some interests of her own, and she turned her thoughts to the evening with Jacob.

By the time Aimee was dressed, she was so nervous, she couldn’t sit still. While she paced the floor, she thought about how she felt the first time she had a date with Steve. Because she was only sixteen at the time and he was eighteen, her parents threw a fit when Steve asked her to go out with him. But she had known Steve forever, so in the end they trusted him. It wasn’t quite the same as going out with Jacob, who was almost a stranger.

She didn’t know why she was worried. Jacob seemed to have a knack of putting people at ease that must come from his profession as a counselor. Besides, she was only going to learn more about Substitute Siblings, right? This was definitely not a date. She just wished someone would tell that to her racing heart.

It had been a long time since Jacob had looked forward to anything as much as he did the evening with Aimee. As he drove the few miles to her house, he thought of the past few years when his only emotional outlet had been his clients and their problems. It had been a blessing when he had organized Substitute Siblings, for it kept his mind occupied with the needs of others rather than his own personal life—or lack of it.

But no matter how many unfortunate children he helped, a part of his heart still seemed empty and unfulfilled. Was it time for him to trust someone again? Would Aimee be the woman he could finally allow into his life—and his heart?

Benton, Virginia, was a town of fifteen thousand, established two hundred years ago in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. He knew the town so well that he easily maneuvered through the narrow streets as he went to pick her up. Although he hadn’t been in the subdivision where Aimee lived, Jacob drove directly to her house without any problem.

He parked along the curb and went to the front door. Aimee soon answered his knock.

She was as pretty as he remembered. As they walked down the sidewalk, he quietly surveyed her. Jacob had a knack for reading people’s thoughts, but Aimee was an enigma to him. He had no idea if she was excited about their evening together. Although thoughts of her kept intruding into his mind, he wondered if she had thought about him at all.

Jacob held open the door of his SUV for her, rounded the front of the vehicle and was in the seat beside her before she had her seat belt fastened. “I haven’t been in this subdivision before. Have you lived here long?”

“About fourteen years. My husband had a job in Washington, D.C., but after he died, I didn’t want to stay there. My parents live a few miles out in the country from Benton, and I came home to raise Samantha with the support of my family.”

He sensed that she was hesitant to talk about her husband, but he asked one more question, “Does your husband’s family live here?”

“Only a few cousins. His parents live year-round in Florida, as does my brother-in-law’s family. Samantha always spends two weeks with them during the summer. Occasionally, both of us go to Florida for Christmas.”

Although there were many more things Jacob wanted to know about Aimee, he would take his time. She’d already indicated that she devoted all of her time to her job and Samantha. Did that mean she hadn’t dated at all since she became a widow? Was she still mourning her husband?

Although he wanted to know more about Aimee, he didn’t want to pry. During the short drive to his offices, where the meeting would be held, they shifted the conversation to upcoming events in Benton, especially the city’s bicentennial celebration to be held in the summer.

“I’m on the planning committee, and we’ve had to revise our plans this month,” Jacob said. “David Harwood, one of the longtime educators in Benton, died a few weeks ago. The committee has decided to honor him at the celebration, so we’re changing our schedule to include him. Did you know Mr. Harwood?”

“No, but I’ve seen him on television several times,” Aimee answered. “I heard about his funeral on the evening news. Apparently he had a great influence on the schools and educational program in Benton.”

“That’s true. He taught at Paramount High School where I attended, but he moved on to administrative positions soon after I graduated. The committee asked me to prepare and deliver a eulogy about him at the bicentennial, but I can’t add anything more to my schedule. So they’ve asked a former resident who lives in Richmond to do it.”

Aimee smiled at him. “It seems to me that you do have about all you can do now. Your counseling business, Substitute Siblings, the singles group and church commitments must take up all of your time.”

“Just about,” he admitted with a laugh. “But I want to keep busy. I suppose I could have found time to write the eulogy, but I didn’t think I was qualified to do it. Mr. Harwood came to Paramount High in my senior year, but I wasn’t in any of his classes. I was away from Benton for several years, and we seldom met after I moved back home. I didn’t know him well enough to speak about him.”

Jacob drove into the parking lot adjacent to his two-story, brick building. It was located in an industrial park with many other office buildings and a few factories. Surrounded by a brick wall, they entered through a security gate. Aimee had rarely been in this section of town and had no idea that so many corporations were located in the area. She was quietly thinking about how narrow her life had been as they took an elevator to the second floor of his building and walked down a hallway to a conference room where the meeting was to be held.

Approximately two dozen people were in the room, and Jacob touched Aimee’s arm and steered her toward the front where a small woman with short, iron-gray hair was talking with two men.

“Excuse me,” Jacob said. “We have a guest tonight.” He introduced Aimee to the two men, whose names she promptly forgot. Then he turned to the woman. “Gran, this is Aimee Blake.” His eyes softened with obvious fondness for his grandmother as he turned to Aimee. “I want you to meet Stella Milton.”

As they shook hands, Aimee quickly assessed Stella. The makeup on her wrinkled face had been skillfully applied. She wore diamond earrings, and her blue suit was trendy. Her dark eyes glowed with intelligence and warmth as she greeted their guest. Aimee judged that she was in her seventies.

Taking Aimee’s arm, Stella said, “Come and meet our volunteers.”

Stella explained that this was a regularly scheduled monthly meeting, and the first part of the meeting consisted mostly of reports. Although it seemed to be routine stuff, Aimee got a fair idea of what the Siblings volunteers really did. More than thirty children had been contacted in a month’s time. The children had been taken on shopping trips, to ball games and movies, or out to eat at their favorite restaurants. The Siblings children as a group had been taken to the circus at the civic center. She gathered that, for the most part, volunteers supplied the finances for these extras, as well as their time. Well, that wouldn’t be an issue with her. Although she didn’t consider herself wealthy, Aimee was thankful she had an adequate income.

During new business, plans were made for a Fun in the Sun Day at Pioneer Park, an outing for youth enrolled in the Siblings program and their parents. Jacob reported that two of the restaurants in the city had volunteered to provide food and drink. Before she knew it, Aimee had been paired with Jacob to plan entertainment for the youth who didn’t want to participate in contact sports.

After the meeting ended, Jacob guided Aimee on a tour of the building. In addition to the conference room, there were three rooms on the second floor, one of which was the Siblings main office, plus his business offices on the first floor. He pointed out a waiting area, the receptionist’s office, his consulting room, a small lounge and a snack room.

“I’m impressed,” Aimee said as Jacob locked the door and they walked to the car. “Not only by the work of Siblings, but also with the scope of your counseling service.”

“I feel that God has really blessed me to become so well established in such a short time. Since I was a child, I wanted to meet the needs of others, but I didn’t think I had the ability to enter the medical profession. Counseling seemed to be the right outlet I needed to fulfill what God created me to do.”

Jacob waved to the security guard as they drove from the parking lot.

“Your grandmother seems like a lovely person,” Aimee commented.

“She is. Everybody loves Gran.”

“What about your parents?” Aimee asked. “Do they live in Benton?”

The streetlights illuminated the interior of the SUV, and Aimee watched Jacob’s expressive face go blank. His jaw tightened and his eyes darkened with emotion.

Automatically, she stretched her hand toward him. “Oh, I’m sorry I asked. I had no right. Please forgive me.”

From what she had seen of Jacob Mallory, she wouldn’t have dreamed that there were any dark areas of his life that he couldn’t, or didn’t want to, reveal.

He took her hand and squeezed it gently. When he glanced toward her, the pain was gone from his eyes, and he smiled, but not as brightly as usual.

“Of course you have the right to ask. You’ve answered the questions I’ve asked about your family.” Still he hesitated, and finally said in a husky voice. “I assume I have a father somewhere, although I’ve never known him. He abandoned my mother when I was less than a year old. They married when they were students at the University of Pennsylvania, and I was born a year later. He hung around for a few months, but apparently he wasn’t ready for family responsibilities. He left one day and, as far as I know, she never heard from him again.”

“I’m so sorry,” Aimee said.

Now that he’d started talking, it seemed easier for Jacob, but still his voice was distant as he continued. “Mother never got over his rejection. She died when I was six years old from a severe case of pneumonia and flu, but she’d been dying inside since he left her. She didn’t handle rejection very well, and I guess I don’t either,” he ended, almost in a whisper. Then he added, “Gran had most of the care of me while my mother lived, and she gave me all of the love I needed. I had a happy childhood, but I suppose all guys miss their dad.”

Up until now, Jacob had appeared to be without any problems. Maybe this was the reason he had chosen to become a counselor? He wanted to deal with his own hang-ups as well as the problems of his clients.

“So by not trying to get well,” Aimee asked quietly, “do you feel as if your mother rejected you, too?”