Those Christmas Angels (Angels Everywhere #5)(66)

“I should’ve called first,” Roy said, and his gaze, which had been on Julie, moved to her father. “I hope it isn’t an imposition.” His eyes returned to her.

“Not at all. Julie made plenty. You do like clam chowder, don’t you?”

“Yes, very much.” Again his eyes briefly left her. “Julie and I had clam chowder the first time we went to dinner.”

“At an old college hangout of Roy’s,” she added.

Roy smiled.

“Julie baked the bread this evening,” her father said proudly as he reached for Julie’s soup bowl next. “It’s her mother’s recipe. She did an excellent job of it, too.”

Julie passed the bread basket to Roy.

“It’s an old German recipe. Her mother was of German ancestry,” Dean went on to explain.

“I’m sure it’s excellent.”

“It is,” her father said. “Julie’s mother was an exceptional woman.” He ladled soup into his own bowl and then sat down.

Her hands shaking, Julie offered Roy the butter.

Her father apparently wasn’t finished. “Darlene used to say it was a couple’s duty to keep their eyes open, their ears open, their hearts open and their mouths shut.” He laughed robustly.

Roy grinned.

Julie was following that bit of advice at the moment. She couldn’t possibly have carried on a civil conversation. All she could think about was the fact that Roy was in her home, having Christmas Eve dinner with her father and her. As far as she was concerned, this was nothing short of a miracle.

“I hope you’ll attend church services with us later.” Her father turned to Roy.

“I’d be delighted.”

“My wife had a lot of wonderful sayings,” he murmured, reverting to his previous topic. “She said interruptions were simply God’s appointments.”

“I interrupted you this evening,” Roy said.

“Now, Dad…” All this talk about her mother and God would probably confuse Roy. Christmas Eve was not the time to eulogize her mother. Then it occurred to Julie that her father needed to do this, that he wanted to remember and honor her by sharing her favorite expressions.

“Please go on,” Roy said. “I’d like to hear some of the other things your wife said.”

Her father grinned and put down his spoon. “My wife firmly believed that God sends pain into our lives for a reason.”

Roy frowned. “That’s an interesting thought. Most people don’t think of God in terms of pain.”

“I know,” Dean said. “Now, Roy, I realize from what Julie’s told me that you’ve seen more than your fair share of emotional turmoil. I don’t mean to discount that, but my wife always said we should lean into the pain, instead of running away from it.”

“Like driving into a skid in order to correct it?” Roy suggested.

“Exactly,” Dean crowed. “We have to use the experience. We can become either bitter or better.”

Julie wasn’t sure where her father was going with this conversation. “Daddy?”

“She only calls me that when she’s upset.”

“It’s okay, Julie. I want to hear this,” Roy said.

“Good, because I think it’s something you need to hear.” Her father had given up all pretense of eating. “Now it seems to me that you’re interested in my little girl.”

Julie knew her cheeks must be flaming. All this spiritual talk wasn’t like her father, who kept his faith private. She couldn’t imagine why he was saying the things he was.

“I care a great deal for Julie,” Roy confessed.

Julie nearly dropped her spoon. As it was, the utensil clattered against the china bowl.

Roy glanced at her. “Unfortunately, it took me a while to understand what I was doing.”

“So it seems.” Her father gestured grandly with a piece of bread. “But all’s well that ends well, right?”

“Right.” He turned to meet Julie’s eyes. “You’re the one who anonymously donated that twenty-five thousand dollars to the Salvation Army, aren’t you?”

Julie went very still. “Is that why you’re here?”

“No, but it was a catalyst. The bell—so to speak—that woke me up.”

“How did you know?” She’d done it anonymously for a reason.

“You haven’t seen the news, have you?”

Julie was aghast. “It was on the evening news?”

“Channel Four.”

“I watched Channel Four earlier and didn’t see anything about it,” her father said.

“It was there,” Roy insisted. “They interviewed a man by the name of Gary Wilson, a volunteer stationed at the Alderwood Mall.” He looked at Julie. “It was you who gave that check to the Salvation Army, wasn’t it?”

For a second, she considered misleading him, then decided against it. “Would it matter?”

Roy thought for a moment, then shook his head. “No. I don’t care what you did with the money because I know in my heart that you love me.”

“Those are mighty sweet words,” her father said, grinning from ear to ear.

“Dad!”