Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
Max sat back as he finished carving a design into his last piece of furniture. It was hard to believe he’d managed to finish two nightstands, a table, and a couple of chairs in just over a month. Retirement certainly made it easier, but he hadn’t expected the skill he’d honed all those years ago to come back so easily.
But something still didn’t feel right. None of the pieces seemed worthy of being a wedding gift for Lanie. For one thing, she’d seen all of the furniture in various stages of completion, so there wouldn’t be much of a surprise. Then there was the fact she was moving into a furnished house. While Carissa had said the nightstands could be put to other use, Max wanted to give Lanie something meaningful to start her new life.
Carissa. Though he’d tried to sound understanding when she’d called early that morning to tell him about her trip to Deep Creek, he couldn’t quite hide his disappointment. He was relieved she’d told him about her plans, but the call had been brief, and they hadn’t talked about their kiss. He suspected she’d been avoiding him, and that hurt more than if she’d told him she regretted the kiss.
Shaking his head, he forced his thoughts back to Lanie’s wedding gift. Sitting here staring off into space isn’t helping anything. He headed through the house to the back porch. Perhaps he would find some inspiration in nature.
When he slipped out the back door, a mourning dove was perched on the railing again. He had no idea if it was the same one that had lost its mate, but it seemed likely. The bird cooed softly at him before spreading its wings and taking flight.
It didn’t go far, just up into the branches of the tree nearest his house. He could barely make out a small nest settled between a spot where two large branches met. From his vantage point, it resembled an arch.
The longer he stared at the bird’s nest, the more an idea began to form. His daughter was getting married. What could be more beautiful for a wedding than an arch for Lanie and Nate to stand under as they said their vows?
Not one of those cheap plastic arches that fell apart in a strong gust of wind but a wooden arch with hand-carved roses and vines. With the right design, he could even create notches in the sides where silk flowers could be wrapped around the wood to give the arch more color.
He closed his eyes as he tried to picture it. A deep cherrywood would work nicely in the church where they were having the ceremony. After the wedding, the arch could act as an elaborate entrance to Nate’s backyard. Maybe Lanie could plant a garden using the arch as a focal point.
His excitement grew as he considered the level of detail and work that would be needed for the project. The arch had to be portable so it could be moved first to the church then to Nate’s house. He could make it in two pieces that interlocked at the top to allow it to be transported more easily. What better way to represent their new union?
“This will require a lot of fresh-cut wood,” he muttered to himself, though he would have to figure out the size of the arch and where he might obtain wood pieces that were large enough. There was a time he could have made do with whatever he found in the forest near his house, but a project like the one he was planning would need more than whatever scraps he could harvest.
With one last look at the dove in the tree, he headed into his house. An internet search might help him get an idea of where to start. Then, he would have to figure out how to hide the arch from Lanie until the wedding. Perhaps he could get Carissa involved to help him plan the surprise.
A few minutes later, he was surfing the web for places to buy wood. He found quite a few reputable sources not too far away and sent up a quick prayer of thanks that he’d had the forethought to get a custom truck with an eight-foot bed. Without it, he wouldn’t be able to transport the logs easily. A few lumber yards were located not far from him along with a woodworking store that offered classes in whittling and carving. Perhaps they would have a lead on where he could get raw materials for the arch.
After contacting a few places, he leaned back in his chair. Building a wedding arch from scratch was a huge project. Halloween was less than a week away, which meant he had roughly two months to finish the piece.
Am I biting off too much? Maybe I should think smaller, like a vanity or something that would fit in a small corner of the house.
That would certainly be an easier build. But Lanie already had a vanity she’d inherited from her mother. It was old and not in the greatest condition, but she loved it. Would she be open to replacing it?
Max stood and stretched. He would pick up some materials from the hardware store to build a vanity as a backup, but his heart was set on building the arch. It would be the perfect gift—a way to feature his love for his daughter in her wedding then provide a beautiful entryway for a backyard garden.
“She’ll love it,” he told himself.
Two days later, Max drove across the county to meet with a tree-cutting service. They were scheduled to cut down a cherry tree and had told him he could have the wood if he hauled it away.
When he reached the address, the tree service was already there. The cherry tree was in the front yard of an old colonial-style house. Its branches spread across the lawn and were filled with colorful red and orange leaves. Max took a photo with his cell phone. Later on, it might be fun for Lanie to see what her arch had looked like as a tree.
“Are you here about the wood?” asked a young man with sandy-colored hair and tanned skin.
Max held out his hand. “Max McAllister.”
“Adrian Lockes.” Adrian shielded his eyes from the sun as he gazed up at the tree. “Any idea how much you want?”
“As much as I can fit in my truck. I’m building an arch for my daughter, and I want to make sure I have plenty of pieces to work with.”
“Makes sense. My guys are about ready to start cutting off the branches. Just hang back here, and as they bring her down, you can tell us which pieces you want.”
“Sounds good.” They shook hands again, and Max moved away to lean against his truck. As the men began tying ropes around the tree to hoist themselves into its upper levels, he was overcome with sadness that something so beautiful was about to be cut down. He hoped to do the tree justice with the arch he was planning.
Cutting the tree down took most of the day. After choosing from the multitude of strong branches, Max managed to fill his truck. He checked his watch as the last log was loaded into his truck bed. He needed to hurry if he had any hope of beating Lanie home. But he planned to store the branches in the shed behind the house until he figured out which pieces he would use. Since it was far from the house and filled with all manner of creepy insects, Lanie was afraid to go back there.
As he drove home, he considered calling Carissa before she left for Deep Creek. Part of him wondered if he shouldn’t have offered to go with her, but that felt too forward. They hadn’t even been on an official date yet, and her silence since their kiss only confirmed she wasn’t ready to take their relationship to the next level. It was clearly too soon for a weekend away together, no matter how much he wished it wasn’t.
Figuring it couldn’t hurt to try to reach her, he slipped an earbud into his ear and pressed Call. To his surprise, she answered on the second ring, her voice a little breathless.
“Hi, Max. I’m afraid you caught me in the middle of packing.”
“I won’t keep you,” he promised. “I wanted to hear your voice.”
“It’s good to hear yours too.” Her tone became wistful. “I’m sorry we haven’t had a chance to talk about… things. I needed some space.”
“I understand, though I hope we can sit down and talk when you get back.” He cleared his throat. “I wanted to tell you I’ve figured out what I want to give Lanie as a wedding gift.”
“Oh?” Curiosity colored her voice. “Are you making her something?”
“Yes, but I’d rather show it to you when it’s further along. It’s difficult to explain.”
“Okay…” She hesitated.
“And you can’t tell Lanie. I want it to be a surprise.”
Carissa laughed, though it sounded a bit forced. “Won’t that be hard since she lives with you?”
“Don’t you worry about that,” he said as he pulled into his driveway. Lanie’s school had let out, but she likely wouldn’t be home for another hour. Still, he needed to hurry. “Anyway, I have to go, but I hope you have a good trip tomorrow. Text or call when you get there.”
“I will. Try not to kill yourself in that garage of yours while I’m gone.”
He snorted. “No promises. Woodworking is a dangerous gig.”
They disconnected, and Max smiled as he climbed out of his truck. Though he struggled under the weight of the logs, he made quick work of unloading them and storing them safely in his garage. By the time Lanie came home, he had just finished sweeping out the debris from his truck.
“Hi, Dad!” she called as she climbed out of her car. “How was your day?”
Taking a deep breath, he plastered a smile on his face. Act natural. “Not bad. I finished the furniture from the old house the other day, so I picked up some wood for a new project.”
She cocked her head. “What are you building next?”
“Maybe a dining room table. I haven’t decided yet.”
They fell into step beside each other as they walked toward the house. Lanie had a book bag slung on one shoulder and another bag on her arm. The plethora of papers seemed to weigh her down.
“Need a hand?”
“I’ve got it.”
After he opened the door for her, he followed her inside. She took a deep breath, and her shoulders sagged.
“Are we not having dinner?”
Ah, crud. “No, we are. I got home later than expected. You go sit in the living room, and I’ll get it started.”
With a weary nod, she sank onto the couch and began removing stacks of paper from her bags. Max rushed into the kitchen and removed a packet of chicken from the refrigerator. He preheated the oven then prepared the drumsticks with various spices. It wasn’t how he normally cooked, but Lanie had mentioned more than once that his chicken tended to be bland.
A half hour later, dinner was ready. He called to Lanie and set the food on the table. When she came into the dining room, her steps seemed slow and tired.
“Everything all right?”
She gave a one-shoulder shrug. “It’s been a long week, and I’m ready for the weekend.” After taking a sip of water, she glanced over at him. “Do you have any plans?”
“I’ll probably be in the garage all weekend. What about you?”
When she didn’t respond, he took a long look at her. Her arm rested on the table as if it were the only thing holding her up. And while she ate with her normal enthusiasm, she seemed to be dragging.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
She sighed. “The stress of the wedding is starting to catch up with me. Carissa and I made a lot of progress the other night, and the invitations are out, but between working all day and then wedding planning at night, I’m exhausted.”
His immediate reaction was to offer help, but he didn’t want to upset her. Instead, he covered her hand with his own.
“I’ll be okay.” She gave him a tired smile. “Especially once December has come and gone.”
“I don’t want to overstep or throw money at your problems.” Her earlier words still haunted him. “But I’m happy to help in other ways, even if it’s just running errands for you. I am retired, after all.”
“Honestly, not having to cook dinner is a huge help.” She grinned. “Even if sometimes, it’s almost inedible.”
He folded his arms on the table and glared at her. “I’m improving.”
To his surprise, she nodded. “You certainly are. This chicken is delicious.”
They fell into silence as they focused on their food, but Max didn’t want the conversation to end there. He wracked his brain for something else to say.
“I realize this is probably something you would have preferred to ask your mother,” he finally said, choosing his words carefully. He was completely out of his wheelhouse, but he was desperate to connect with his daughter on a different level. “But do you have any questions about, uh, well, marriage itself?”
Real smooth, McAllister. Could you be more awkward? He prepared for Lanie to laugh off his question or change the subject.
“Oh.” Lanie’s eyes widened. “Um, I have always wondered if there was anything you might have done differently to prevent you and Mom getting divorced.”
He’d repeatedly asked himself that very question after they’d first separated. His answers were usually surface level. Perhaps they should have waited until they were older. Or maybe they should have gone off to college, dated other people, then found their way back to each other, much like Lanie and Nate had done.
But faced with the question from his daughter, he forced himself to dig deeper. She deserved more than some flippant response, especially since he could see the fear in her eyes. While he’d thought she’d accepted that Melody had made a mistake in discouraging her relationship with Nate, Max suspected that the damage Melody had done to their daughter went far deeper than even Lanie realized.
“There are many things I could have done differently,” Max blurted out, unable to choose only one thing he would have changed. “But what it comes down to is I wish I had gotten out of my own way more often.” Seeing her frown, he considered how to better explain himself. “You said the other day I seem to always think that I’m right, and you made it sound like I see the world through a very narrow lens. The truth is I’m so terrified of making a mistake that I stick to something that’s worked in the past. With your mother, we defined our roles early on in our marriage. When we had Steven, she quit her job to stay at home, and then when we had you, it made sense to keep things as they were. But as you both got older, your mother wanted to reassess things. She wanted to go back to work, and with that, she wanted me to take on a more active role in the family, particularly with parenting you and Steven.”
“Was that such a bad thing?” Lanie asked, and Max didn’t miss the hurt in her voice.
“Of course not,” Max replied quickly. “But I couldn’t just flip a switch. I was gone often due to my job. Even once I had more seniority, I didn’t take advantage of the privileges it allowed. I could have taken more vacation, switched my hours to be home more often in the evenings to help with homework or go to your extracurriculars.” Remorse filled his chest. “My attitude at the time was if it ain’t broke, don’t turn over a new leaf.”
Lanie burst out laughing. “The phrase is ‘if it’s not broke, don’t fix it.’”
That made a lot more sense, but he waved his hand. “You know what I mean. Your mom and I had a system, and she wanted to change the system because it no longer worked for her .” He shifted in his seat. “I wish I had removed my blinders and seen what was right in front of me. If I had given the slightest inch, we might have had many more miles in our marriage.”
For a moment, Lanie didn’t respond, but her eyes glistened with unshed tears.
Max wondered if perhaps he’d said the wrong thing or been too honest. He didn’t usually allow his conversations with his children to get heavy, but Lanie had asked, and he would gladly lay his soul bare if it meant they found an ounce of common ground.
“Thank you for sharing that with me.” She wiped her eyes. “It gives me a better perspective of what you and Mom went through.” She cleared her plate, which he took as his cue that the conversation was over.
“If you want to know anything else, please ask.” He stood, and when she turned from the sink, he held out his arms. “I’m always here for you, even if I’m not the greatest at showing it.”
She smiled and stepped into his embrace. “Thanks, Dad. That means a lot.”
After giving him a tight squeeze, she kissed his cheek and left the kitchen. He watched her go with a full heart. It felt like they had finally made a breakthrough, and he hoped it was the first of many.