A Perfect Match. Deb Kastner
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since the day I graduated high school and walked out that door,” she explained fiercely. “He tries to call once in a while, but I’ve always managed to avoid him. Until this morning.”
“Did he abuse you?” Zeke’s question was almost a growl, and his hands were back in his lap, clenched tightly together. He looked as if he were ready to punch someone, and Julia wondered if he would do her a favor and punch her dad.
Not that punching Dad that would solve anything, other than give her a sense of revenge. But she wasn’t looking for revenge. She was simply looking to be left alone.
“No. Yes,” she said in answer to his question. She took a deep breath. “Sometimes I wished he’d hit me. At least then he would have noticed me.”
“Absentee father, huh?”
“Deadbeat Dad. In the worst sense of the word. I don’t remember a time when he treated me like his daughter. He never even remembered to buy me a present for my birthday. He didn’t care if I had decent clothes for school or not. I don’t even think he cared if I got enough to eat.”
She paused. “I don’t think he wanted a daughter. I don’t think he wanted me.”
Zeke reached out to her. His hand engulfed hers, and the feeling was oddly reassuring. He stroked the back of her hand with his thumb. “That’s tough for a little girl,” he said, his voice husky.
Julia pinched her lips together. “Yes it was. But it’s over now.”
He squeezed her hand. “Are you sure about that? Why’s the man calling, anyway?”
She appreciated the fact that Zeke didn’t call Greg Evans her father. “I couldn’t tell you. Maybe he suddenly found his conscience or something. Too little too late, in my book.”
“Could he be stalking you?” His tone was deadly serious, and a chill went down Julia’s spine.
But she wasn’t afraid of her father. He’d never hurt her, at least not physically. The emotional scars he left were big enough, but she didn’t worry that Greg was going to do something rash. “No. I don’t think so. Hopefully he hasn’t resorted to following me around.”
“If he does, Julia, you tell me, okay?” His gaze pulled at hers, willing her to agree with him. He really cared.
And it felt good. Julia chuckled. “If my dad starts in with any cat-and-mouse stuff, I’ll be sure to let you know.”
Zeke leaned in to her, until their gazes were mere inches apart, and she could feel the warmth of his breath fanning her cheek, coming in quick, short bursts.
“This is serious, Julia. I want you to promise me.”
Julia wasn’t sure her mouth would work. Her heart had suddenly taken to calisthenics, and she wasn’t sure she’d be able to speak over the noise. “I—I promise.”
He leaned back as fast as he’d moved in on her. “Great. Then we have a deal.”
“A deal,” Julia echoed, placing a hand over her racing heart. Why did Zeke’s nearness affect her even more than her father’s phone call? Maybe she was just confused, given the way the day was going.
“You never asked me why I’m here,” Zeke reminded her with a grin bright enough to let her know he was intentionally changing the subject.
“Why are you here?” He was going to think she was a parrot if she kept this up.
“I’ve been thinking about that committee you wanted me to join.”
“For the service supper.”
He nodded briskly. “That’s the one.”
“And?”
“I’m happy to help.”
“You didn’t have to come all this way just to tell me that.” Julia chuckled. “You could have phoned.”
“No—I wanted to thank you personally for asking. It means a lot to me. I…wanted you to know.”
“Well, I’m glad I asked,” she said, realizing just how true that was. She was growing to regard Zeke as a dear friend. “I have a suspicion you’re going to be a great ally to have in my corner.”
In more ways than one.
Chapter Five
Before the evening was through, he was going to choke to death in this monkey suit with its fancy ruffles and wickedly snug-fitting bow tie, Zeke thought as he pulled his car into the lot at Grace Church and shut down the engine with a groan.
He wouldn’t be caught dead in a tuxedo for anyone, but he couldn’t turn this engagement down. The pregnant, often heartbroken women at HeartBeat, many of whom were facing one of the biggest crises of their lives, were expecting a formal dinner, the service supper Zeke had had a part in planning.
For them, he’d wear a suit. Even a tuxedo with a baby-blue cummerbund and a bow tie.
Naturally, he’d tried to talk Julia out of it, thinking they could do something a little less—constricting—but she just laughed and told him baby blue matched his eyes, and that he better get used to the idea. As if that were going to happen.
Sighing aloud, he got out of the truck and wrapped the fancy black jacket around his thick shoulders, then reached for the white orchid corsage he’d picked up on a whim.
A really stupid whim.
He was always doing goofy things where Julia was concerned. He couldn’t seem to help himself. Thinking of her made him think of flowers and sunshine.
It was his propensity to act on his crazy ideas that disturbed him. Think of flowers, buy flowers. Next thing you know, she’d have him buying her the sun.
Chuckling under his breath, he clutched the corsage box in his hand and whisked it behind his back. He was an idiot, but at least he was a happy idiot.
He had no idea how Julia would react. Hopefully she’d take pity on the Happy Idiot, and let him get out of this getup and back into blue jeans.
“What do you think?” Lakeisha asked loudly, if cheerfully, as Zeke walked in. “I look ridiculous, don’t I?”
“You look great,” Zeke assured her, meeting Julia’s amused gaze with his own, and thinking that if anyone looked out of place here, it was him. The women looked surprisingly feminine in their black coats and soft pink bow ties.
Lakeisha wasn’t finished. She pulled on his jacket arm to get his attention.
“I look like a penguin. Observe.” She demonstrated with the side-to-side rocking motion of the black-and-white bird. “Why do the women have to wear tuxedos?”
“Because,” Julia answered as she demonstrated with a waiter’s suave bow, “we’re offering white glove service tonight. And we’re the white gloves.” She donned the elegant accessories as she spoke.
Despite Lakeisha’s complaint, Zeke thought Julia looked stunning in her outfit. She’d swept her hair up so it surrounded her face like a halo. Her cheeks were attractively flushed, and her eyes were beaming with excitement.
He fingered the corsage in his hand. He’d definitely dived clear off the dock. Maybe he should just leave well enough alone. But when he saw her expectant gaze on him, his hand pulled the corsage out from behind his back on its own accord.
He meant to present the corsage and say something sophisticated and classy, but all that came out of his mouth was, “For you.”
Julia’s color heightened as Lakeisha let out a hoot. “I…Zeke…” she stammered, but when she looked up and met his gaze, she simply said, “Thank you.”
Slowly, carefully, he unwrapped the orchid and placed it on her left wrist. “I, know this dinner is for the pregnant ladies, but I, uh, just wanted