Page 12 of A Forever Home
“Well, you’re apparently not going to. She needs to vent her frustrations to someone. Let me be that person. Maybe I can help.”
Roman didn’t look so sure. Even so, he pulled his cell phone out and placed it in Della’s palm, his fingers brushing against her skin as he released it. Della ignored the little buzz that zipped from his touch to her toes.
She tapped the screen to connect the call and held the phone to her ear. “Hello?”
“Who is this?” the woman snapped on the other line. Only three words, but her anger was evident.
“I’m Della Rose. Are you Bob’s wife?” Della could feel Roman watching her from the corner of his eye, possibly regretting his decision to allow her to speak to this woman.
“Yes, I’m Marie Coker,” the woman huffed. “I want to speak to Roman Everson.”
“I’m afraid he’s busy right now,” Della said. Roman was busy helping Della get home so that she wouldn’t miss her boys’ recital. He was her hero today, even if he was the very opposite of that for Mrs. Coker. “But I have plenty of time if you want to talk to me,” Della told Marie. “You can tell me what’s on your mind.”
“Your boyfriend is on my mind. He fired my husband a couple days before Christmas,” Marie said.
Why did everyone keep assuming that Della was Roman’s girlfriend? Okay, well, Della was responsible for the folks in Sweetwater Springs believing that. There was no reason for Marie to jump to that conclusion, though. “I’m very sorry about your husband’s job, but it wasn’t Roman’s decision. It was his boss’s. Roman was just the bearer of the bad news.”
“Well, if he can dish it out, he should be able to take it,” Marie said. “Bob is the breadwinner in our family. I have to take care of the kids. And one of our children, Tim, is sick right now. Bob can’t afford to be out of work. What kind of man fires another one at Christmas?”
Della nibbled on her lower lip as her gaze slid over to catch Roman’s. He was a good man in her estimation. Then again, she’d thought her ex, Jerome, was better than he was. No one was perfect; some were far from it. An idea came to Della’s mind. “I think I can help you, Marie,” she said.
“You?”
“Yes. What if I set up a GoFundMe page for you and your family? I can explain your story, how your husband is out of work and that you have a sick child. I’ve set one up before for a lady in my church,” Della explained. “That GoFundMe raised almost ten thousand dollars.”
“Wow,” Marie said quietly. “Even a quarter of that would allow Bob to stay home and search for a job that he likes.”
“And he could be there for you and Tim. Wouldn’t that be amazing?” Della asked. “I can set the page up over the next hour and a half. I’m on a long car ride, so I have time on my hands, and I want to help.”
“Thank you,” Marie said, her tone notably softening. “That’s really nice of you.”
“You’re welcome. I can help your husband with a job search too. I’m great with navigating searches online. I’m a real estate agent in my town, but people come to me and need other areas of their lives worked out in order to find the perfect home,” Della explained. “They want to know about schools for their kids or jobs close to the neighborhood that they’re looking at. If you tell me what Bob wants to do for employment, I can send a few searches to him.”
“But you don’t even know us,” Marie said.
Della looked out the passenger-side window as the world passed by. “My nana used to say that if you’ve ever been on the receiving end of someone else’s help, you recognize another person in need. There are no strangers, just friends waiting to make your acquaintance.”
Della stayed on the line a while longer, collecting the Coker family’s information so that she could put up the GoFundMe. Then she promised she’d email Marie when she was done so that Marie could share the link with friends and family. Della would be sharing with hers as well. “The folks in Somerset Lake, where I live, love to help another in need. This awful thing is going to turn out to be something good. Just wait and see.”
“You’re amazing,” Marie said. “Thank you.”
“You’re very welcome. I’ll be in touch.” Della disconnected the call and sucked in a startled breath when Roman reached for her hand. He glanced over, taking his eyes from the road for just a moment.
“You are an amazing woman, Della. Thank you for that,” he said, voice low.
“It’s the least I could do, considering what you’re doing for me today. You’re driving out of your way to make sure I get home in time for my boys. One might argue that you’re pretty amazing yourself. Not Marie, of course,” she teased.
“No, she’d argue otherwise. But you are turning things around for them. I appreciate that.”
Della swallowed, noticing that Roman hadn’t removed his hand from hers yet. His skin was warm and welcome. “I better get started on that GoFundMe page. People love a good cause.”
Roman pulled his hand back to the steering wheel. “Maybe you can help me find another job too. I don’t want to be the bad guy anymore.”
“Sure. I can do that. That’ll mean you don’t get rid of me after dropping me off in Somerset Lake, though.”
“Fine by me,” Roman said.
***
