“Where did the guys go?”
Valerie looked at Alex. “Probably to Ken’s house. It’s just down the road, and him sitting around staring at his brother’s faces when he probably has a thousand details to handle tells me that they’re over there working.”
Alex chuckled. “Do they ever stop?”
Valerie shook her head. “No.” She looked at Daisy. “How are the plans going for building that house?”
She realized they meant the Labor Day weekend house project. “Everything’s all set up. We’ve done this many times before, so the biggest part of it at this point is the organization during the actual weekend, and I have that nailed. Since it’s Labor Day weekend, we get an extra day. I have some extra donations going toward that house, so I have painters coming in Sunday night that I’m actually paying instead of volunteers. They will get the house ready for all the final trim and everything Monday. Adding that extra twelve hours on Monday makes me think I should always do them on holiday weekends.”
Valerie propped her elbow on the armrest and rested her temple against her fisted hand. “I can design a house. That was part of getting my architect’s degree, obviously. I don’t. I preferred the interior design aspects. But I don’t think I could organize a crew to build a house in three days.”
Alex shook her head. “I can’t fathom the kind of organization it takes to do that. My skill set lies in taking pictures and throwing high-class parties for Connecticut’s elite.” She laughed and took a sip of her coffee. “I sit here among great women.”
Daisy watched Valerie and Alex as they interacted with each other and with her. She thought of their interaction with Brad and Jon and realized that she liked these women. A lot. The thought of being in their circle gave her a warm glow.
“I wouldn’t know how to throw a party for the elite of Connecticut.” Daisy smiled. “I hire someone to do those kinds of things. My fundraising organizer is brilliant, and I’m thankful for her. Because there’s no way I could do what she does.”
Valerie nodded. “I think it comes down to the same thing that building a house and designing a house does, and that’s organization. Lists.”
Alex lifted her hand. “Lists! Yes!”
“My list will be permanently affixed to my hand the entire weekend we’re building that house.” Daisy chuckled. “With all different colors of markers.”
Alex turned to Valerie. “You have been wonderful. Thank you for being so welcoming to me. I think that knowing I have a friend is making this transition easier.”
Valerie shifted her body and rubbed her hip. “It used to just be those boys and me. Everywhere we went, all the time, people called us Valerie and those boys. I love those brothers. Since I came back to Atlanta, it’s been my prayer that they find amazing women who can love them the way I love Brad. I think it’s incredible that Jon found you and recognized you. That’s all God. I hope you know that.” She looked at Daisy. “And I’m not afraid to be frank and tell you I have never once known Ken to date. He’s thirty-two years old, and you’re the first woman he’s ever actually introduced me to. I like you. I hope you keep him.”
Daisy didn’t know how to respond to that. “I fell in love with Ken when I was fourteen.”
Alex said, “Aww. I love that.”
Daisy shrugged. “He didn’t even know I existed. I was just his friend’s little sister. I remember him coming back from some mission trip, and he had this present in his hands, and he was handing it to me, and the whole time I thought, ‘Oh, it’s for me. He’s finally going to admit these feelings for me that I know for sure he has.’ I then went to this whole dialog in my head about how I would accept the offer of his heart, and we’d be together forever. But as he was talking, it occurred to me he was asking me to give it to my mother. It’s a basket she uses as her fruit bowl.”
Daisy and Valerie put their heads back and laughed. Valerie said, “I knew him at that age. He’s not the same man he was then, either.”
Daisy smiled. “It still would’ve been nice to grow together, wouldn’t it?”
Valerie’s face grew serious. “Yes. I left after high school and came back a different person. Sometimes I wonder what life would be like if I had recognized Brad’s feelings for me and stayed.”
Alex interjected. “It’s interesting how God maneuvers us, isn’t it? It’s something I’ve been thinking about for the last few weeks. I haven’t grown up in a godly state of mind. To my family, who are Jewish, it’s all about culture and tradition and not about a relationship. But I was in a terrible situation in Egypt and took a picture. It was published, and I was nominated for an award. The crazy thing is that Jon was in that picture.”
Daisy gasped and asked, “Did you meet him that day?”
Alex shook her head. “No. But when I met him, I felt like I had seen him before. It wasn’t until he showed me the picture that I realized why he looked so familiar to me.”
Valerie said, “I’ve seen the picture. Even though he’s not the subject of it, you can still see him very clearly. It’s incredible the serendipity that brought you two together.”
Daisy set her empty coffee cup on the table in front of her and brought the conversation back to something Alex said. “So, you recognize that God wants a relationship more than tradition and culture?”
Alex looked above Daisy’s head as if forming her thoughts. “I think I’m becoming more aware of the fact that He is way less detached from my day-to-day than I would have thought. Six months ago, I think you could’ve told me God didn’t actually exist, and I could have been convinced. Now I think I would stand and fight to the bitter end because I know for a fact that He does exist. Does that make sense?”
Valerie cocked her head. “I think that makes a lot of sense. It also makes me very happy. Jon has struggled, and it comes from his experiences in Egypt, stemming from his observations of the poverty and desperation he has witnessed all over the world. To know your faith is growing and firming up, and his faith is strengthening, tells me you two will be completely fine together. And that God’s got you both.”
The front door opened, and the sound of the brothers’ voices floated toward them. She turned her head as they came into the room. Drywall dust sprinkled on their boots gave evidence of where they’d gone. Valerie had called that one.
“So! Wedding all planned?” Jon asked. He walked over to the chair where Alex sat and perched on the arm of it.
Alex grinned up at him. “All planned. Thanks for all your input and assistance.”
