Page 84 of Sing with Me

Until now. At Seaside Chapel, he was incognito. Pastor Gonzalez had taken over the church after Grandpa Brooks passed away, so it was as though all things had been made new at that church. No one at church seemed to care about how much money he had in the bank, or how he had put his MBA to good use, or that he was from the Brooks family. They cared more about the condition of his soul, whether he was truly saved or not, whether he was studying his Bible—hence their encouragement for him to attend church, Sunday School, the Monday Morning Men’s Bible Study, and the Fire Pit Service on Wednesday nights.

Truth be told, he wouldn’t have gone to any of that if not for Skye. Regardless of how much his sister might have told Skye about his past, Skye had not shown any prejudice against him. In fact, she had tried to differentiate for him what it meant to be saved versus not being saved. Diehl was still thinking about that. In his heart, he could not fathom how God would forgive him after all that he had done, and take him back to His family. How?

Speaking of church, Diehl felt disappointed that he could not go to the Fire Pit Service tonight with Skye. He rather enjoyed her company.

Those kisses were premature, and he hated to have led her on, but in his heart, he knew that he wanted to see her every day, or at least as often as he could. In fact, he couldn’t recall anyone else he’d want to spend more time with than Skye—not even Isobel.

While Isobel had been spiteful, Skye was sweet. Isobel had been vengeful, but Skye was kind—as far as he could tell the last two weeks he had been with her.

He could use her company now to take the edge off this awful news.

Then again, if Skye found out what a mess his first—and technically second—marriage had been, would she trust him with her heart? If he couldn’t be in the right relationship, what did that say about his own judgment about personal matters?

There were several good guys at church. Diehl suspected that any one of them didn’t have nearly half the problems he had found himself in.

Perhaps he should spare Skye some of his problems.

His phone buzzed. Mark Gill wanted to talk. He had to find a private space. Dad’s office was locked. He heard Mom coming down the stairs—her bangles gave her away—in her swimsuit. For a woman in her seventies, she looked great.

She waved to him as she made her way down the hall toward the stairs that took her to the garden outside. There would be a path there to take her next door where the indoor pool was.

Diehl heard people talking in the kitchen across from the large dining room. He could hear pots and pans clanging, people talking, and Chef Pierre talking loudly above everyone, like he was wearing a microphone or something.

Where could he find a quiet place to talk to his attorney?

Diehl made his way downstairs to the terrace level. Dad used to like sitting out there in front of the outdoor fireplace. It was too hot in June to be outside, even with the ceiling fans spinning at full blast.

He stepped into the man cave, and walked by the bar. He should have kept walking, but he glanced over and saw the glass cabinets full of liquor. He knew that behind that wall was his parents’ wine cellar.

Dad had stopped drinking after his minor stroke a couple of years before. Mom still drank on occasion, when she visited Zoe and her husband in Paris, or when her friends came over. Brinley had always been a rare drinker, though she had stopped altogether since she became a Christian. Her husband was a teetotaler.

Diehl supposed that Dad hadn’t cleared out those liquor cabinets because they still entertained friends who drank.

“You should get rid of them all, Dad,” Diehl said. Alone in the room, no one could hear him.

Those days when he used to drink heavily were over. Back when Parker had been his drinking buddy, Diehl and Parker would be wasted every weekend. Sometimes Jared Urquhart joined them—though Diehl figured Jared might be there to glean corporate information he could not have gotten otherwise.

Then again, Brooks Investments and Urquhart Enterprises were not rivals, not in the true sense of the word. Yes, both companies dabbled in constructions and properties, but usually in different regions. Besides, there was plenty of room for both of them to thrive.

Diehl’s friendship with Jared remained, but they stopped socializing after Parker drowned. No one wanted to bring it up, and it was never mentioned in the obituary, but Parker was drunk when he fell overboard in the fishing vessel at sea.

Feeling partly responsible for not going with him on the deep sea fishing trip, Diehl had avoided talking to Parker’s widow for many years. They would see each other casually at Christmas and whenever Riley brought her kids over to Mom’s house, but that was it.

What a big mess this family is.

Perhaps a good thing that resulted from Parker’s death had been the change in Diehl. He stopped drinking alcohol altogether. There was nothing that could make him go back to those days when he could barely sit up, let alone think and make multi-billion-dollar business deals. A quick thought of Parker’s death ended his desire for a strong drink.

Diehl wouldn’t lie by saying he wasn’t tempted every now and then, but he also knew he should be all here, to have fully functional faculties to deal with this situation. Now, more than ever, he needed to be able to think straight about his two children.

They’ve never been yours.

Zeta’s words stung so much that Diehl felt he needed something to blunt the trauma. He tried to hum another hymn but the words didn’t come to him.

God, are You there?

He heard nothing.

However, right in front of him in those liquor cabinets was another type of spirit calling his name.

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