Page 88 of Sing with Me

“Assuming I’m really her son, and Dad is really my dad.”

Diehl slumped over the living room couch, his curtains drawn so that nobody walking around his backyard or on the beach could see him—although the dunes would cover for him.

“I’m a sparrow alone.” The bottle slipped off his grip, and hit the rug on the floor. Fortunately, the rug was thick and the bottle didn’t shatter.

He wished he could talk to someone about his messed-up life and marriage.

What if he could never have children? All those years with Isobel and no biological kids of his own? What on earth?

“What if Skye wants children? What if I can’t give her any?”

He felt that his manhood had been threatened.

If he had known ten or twelve years ago that he could not have children, he could have done something about it. Now that he was forty, was it too late for him? By the time a child born today went to college in eighteen years, he’d be fifty-eight.

Well, to be fair to himself, just because the DNA results said he wasn’t the father to his two children whom he had doted over since they were babies, it didn’t necessarily mean that he was unable to have children himself.

“In fact, to have children, Isobel and I had to get together more often than she got together with Luigi, right?” Diehl asked no one.

It was getting hot in here. He had to turn down the thermostat. It was somewhere in the living room or house, he was sure. He peeled himself off the couch, but didn’t make it far before he tripped over the blasted rug on the floor and went down on all fours by the coffee table.

He made no attempt to get up.

Lying there on the floor, he looked up at the spinning ceiling fan.

“Oh, God. I need help.”

He closed his eyes, and heard guitar playing. Skye’s guitar. Then he heard her voice, singing.

His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me…

“Are you watching me, God? Right now?”

No answer.

Diehl wept quietly.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Skye’s the Limit did well so far. No debt. No loans. All rental fees were paid up. Skye was pleased with her finances and the money management skills that her brother had taught her.

Eleven o’clock was too late in the evening to send him a “thank you” text message. Sebastian was probably asleep by now. Instead, she sent an email on her laptop, and then shut it down. She left the laptop charging on her kitchen table as she made her way upstairs to her bedroom.

Her rental house was quiet. There was no party down the street tonight. As soon as she was able, she would find a house to buy.

She had gotten over her regrets about selling her half-a-million-dollar house to buy up Sebastian’s share of Saffron. However, two years later, perhaps it was time for a change.

To begin with, she had never been interested in owning or managing a restaurant. Saffron was a bit far away on Jekyll. With Jared in the ownership mix, Skye didn’t feel comfortable about dealing with Saffron anymore.

She had prayed about it, but she wanted to run her plans by Sebastian. He probably didn’t care what she did with her shares of Saffron two years after he gave it up. He had kept Sage Café, and added a new location in Athens, Georgia.

Skye washed her face and brushed her teeth. That was pretty much the extent of her nightly routine. Blessed with clear skin, she rarely had to deal with pores or pimples. Eating fresh fruits and vegetables all her life had helped, she was sure.

She loved putting together meal plans and menus, shopping for groceries, and cooking what she bought. That might be why being a personal chef worked out for her.

The job had less pressure and more flexibility compared to cooking in a high-pressure kitchen such as found in a restaurant. Running a personal chef business, she could always hire another chef if she needed more time off. Chef Joseph had filled in her weekends for her so that she could get a break and do other things like rehearse church music and attend church.

While she wished that everyone could have a chance to go to church twice on Sundays and once on Wednesday nights, not everyone was a Christian, and some churches did not meet that many times a week. Somehow her crew worked it out, whatever their personal beliefs might be.

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