Page 38 of Here With Me

An upbeat rhythm filled the car and young voices started singing, “If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands.”

He pushed the button again. Nope, he wasn’t happy. And the car hadn’t moved. Not even a foot.

Silence it was.

“David?” Sadie’s hand settled on his arm. It wasn’t like he needed the reminder that she was still there.

He really didn’t want to talk. Music was a better option. Even children’s songs. He turned the CD player back on.

Clap. Clap.

Sadie’s hand flew to the power button, cutting off the song.

Well, then.

David racked his brain for a topic, any topic, other than the disaster of the dinner. “Ready for the kitten?”

Sadie sighed, and she withdrew her hand. “Lottie is. Me? I don’t know. But we picked up supplies.”

The brake lights ahead let up, and cars started moving again. He inched forward, all of fifty feet, and traffic stopped again.

Sadie pulled out her phone and swiped a few times. “Looks like there’s an accident up ahead. But GPS says we should only be here for fifteen or so minutes. This is still the fastest route home. So we have at least that long for you to tell me what that dinner was about, because it wasn’t just a friendly night with your higher ups.”

David hung his head and rubbed his temples. Lance’s question about his involvement in the community weighed on him more than the traffic jam, more than the disastrous dinner. He didn’t know how to answer Lance. If David hadn’t made a single impact in Heritage in the time he’d been there, Marco and Lance were right to be worried about him. He hadn’t encouraged anyone. Hadn’t helped anyone. Had hardly interacted with his family until they’d forced his hand. And now? Now he sat in a borrowed van with his ex-girlfriend.

Impact? Unlikely.“I was sent stateside a little over six months ago, after an accident, and I haven’t been cleared to go back. Partly because they don’t know if I’m fit to return. My hands shake, and I’ve hidden myself away.”

“I noticed your hands at dinner tonight. But I’ve never seen them shake at the store.”

David held up his hand between them, letting it shake freely. “I’ve tried everything to get the shaking under control. They don’t tend to shake when I’m at the store. I haven’t quite figured out why.”

Sadie gently placed her palm against his. Instantly, the tremors stopped, and his hand stilled. Hmm, he hadn’t tried that.

The red lights blinked, and David inched forward a few feet. Lightning flashed in the distance. He glanced over at Sadie. Her expression didn’t hold pity or anger, only open curiosity.

Something in that look gave him the courage to keep talking even though he pulled his hand away and gripped the steering wheel. “I work at a school for missionaries. Mainly, we work with those new to the culture, who are learning the Spanish language. While the parents are in language class, their children continue doing regular schoolwork as they, too, learn the language. Students come and go on a regular basis as parents move about the region. I oversee the physical education department.”

“Lottie has mentioned that.”

Of course. Lottie had asked no less than a hundred questions about Costa Rica, his apartment, the classes he taught, what kind of food he ate, about the beaches, and if he had a pet. “I’ve developed the program from the ground up. Each semester, I take a group of teens white water rafting. The kids look forward to it, and it really does build relationships that last long after they leave the school.”

“I bet you love it.” Sadie adjusted the air vents away from her.

David shrugged. What was not to love? But no amount of loving his job would save it. “I’m committed to see my work succeed.”

“Why wouldn’t it?”

The brake lights let up again, and David drove a block before the red lights flashed and he stopped. “On the last rafting trip, one of the teens was…less than thrilled his parents had uprooted his life. Remy had an attitude that wouldn’t quit. I knew he might be trouble on the raft, so I made sure he was in mine.”

David’s throat constricted. Lightning flashed again, and rain plinked on the windshield. The wipers swished, but at least traffic picked up as they passed the accident. “The kid was so stubborn and bitter he wouldn’t listen to instruction. He must have loosened the chin strap on his helmet when no one was looking because when he fell out of the raft, it fell off and he bumped his head. Knocked him out and seriously injured himself in the process.”

Lightning continued to flash, and thunder rumbled in the distance. Sadie shifted in her seat, turning her whole body to watch him. “So, you jumped in?”

David shrugged. “The raft had gone over Remy, and he hadn’t come back up. He needed help.”

“Charlotte said you almost drowned.”

Almost drowned. He fought back the sting he could still feel in his nostrils, the tightness in his lungs. “The current was stronger than I anticipated. I could reach Remy easily enough, but his shirt snagged a log. When I tried to free him, my foot lodged between a rock and a log on the bottom of the river. I finally released Remy’s shirt and sent him down the river since I couldn’t get my foot to move. In the process of floating, he bumped his head again. The doctors don’t know if his head injury was a result of bumping it when he fell out of the raft or while he floated downstream. If I hadn’t gotten stuck, I might have been able to protect him.”

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