A House Full of Hope. Missy Tippens

Mark forced the corners of his mouth upward. “But I’m in a better place now. Found God again. And felt led to come home to make amends.”

       “Did you and your parents ever make peace?”

       “No. Now Mom is gone. Dad won’t speak to me. And—” He snapped his mouth shut before he broke down and embarrassed himself.

       With fingers steepled under his chin, Phil nodded. “So you’ve tried to apologize to your dad?”

       “Yes. I’m here because I need your help in reaching him.”

       Phil leaned back in his chair and crossed his ankles. “I know Redd’s a stubborn man, but I think he’ll come around.”

       Mark’s dad had always been stubborn. Stubbornly driven to build his hardware business. Stubbornly driven to punish Mark for Matt’s death. “In case he doesn’t, I want to at least help him financially. Did you know he’s renting out his house to the Hughes family?”

       “Yes. Also heard he’s in a bit of a financial pinch. His store has had a rough time since the mega home- improvement store opened up not twenty miles from here.”

       Oh, man. He hadn’t heard that news. “I’d like to make a deposit to his checking account. But I’m afraid Hannah Hughes will balk. She seems protective of him and…well…she doesn’t think much of me.”

       “I don’t know how I can help. We’ve already tried to give him assistance after his hip surgery, and he was offended.” Phil shook his head. “Yet Redd’s continued to donate funds to our youth program even as he’s struggled.”

       Out of nowhere, Mark’s throat constricted. It seemed he didn’t know his dad at all anymore. Had God changed Redd, too?

       “Stubborn, proud man.” Mark stood and walked across the office to stare at a painting on the wall—more to distract himself than to admire the art. “If I give you cash, could you take it to the bank, tell Hannah you’ve received an anonymous donation and ask her to deposit it into his checking account?”

       “No harm in trying.”

       The tension that had invaded Mark’s shoulders the moment he’d approached his dad that morning eased away on a big exhaled breath. He turned back to face the pastor. “Thanks, Phil.”

       “This is generous of you, you know. I hope your dad realizes the man you’ve become.”

       Phil might think the gift was generous, but Mark owed his dad so much more. If all went well tomorrow, maybe he could set up an arrangement with Phil. A way to continue helping.

       But would Redd accept the help if he found out Mark was the donor?

       “Okay, I’m it. You better hide really well,” Hannah called to her children Sunday after lunch as they squealed and scattered around the grassy front yard. She covered her eyes and started counting slowly.

       The past couple of years, Hannah had only wanted two things. A bigger home for her kids—check—and the certainty that each of her children felt important and special.

       But being a single working mom made that difficult. She struggled to make time for each one. Had dropped her volunteer position with the church youth group. Made Sundays family time.

       “Don’t peek,” Tony called from somewhere behind her.

       “Nine and a half. Ten! Ready or not, here I come.” She opened her eyes just as Emily’s head disappeared behind the rocking chair on the porch.

       She grinned as she started rattling bushes and jumping behind trees. “Where is everyone?”

       A giggle sounded at the side of the house. Within five minutes, she had found everyone, saving Emily for last.

       Redd, who’d started closing Hometown Hardware on Sundays a few years earlier, gave a wave as he lumbered across the yard, his uneven gait making him rock side to side. His graying hair had once been dark blond like Mark’s. And he’d probably been as handsome as his son in his younger days. But his wife’s death six years ago had aged him. Deep wrinkles formed brackets around his mouth and frown lines between his eyes. The smile that lit his face when he saw the kids gave Hannah an inkling of what he’d looked like years before.

       When Emily spotted him, she squealed and ran to hug him, dark hair flying in the wind. Eric followed closely and grabbed on to Redd’s other leg.

       He hobbled across the yard, pulling giggling kids along with him. “Well, now, I seem to feel a bit heavy today. Must’ve eaten too much lunch.”

       Becca, in her standard pink T-shirt and denim shorts, grabbed her belly and doubled over, laughing. “Mr. Redd is so silly.”

       Tony, usually reserved, actually smiled. “He’s teasing, Becca.”

       Her children loved Redd. And the man seemed to enjoy them, as well. In the beginning, she hadn’t been too sure about their extremely close neighbor relationship. With the Ryker-Williams family history, she’d worried how he might feel about them being there. But from the beginning, he’d been solicitous, almost as if he still felt guilty for his son’s actions.

       Admittedly, she’d felt awkward at first. But she’d come around to the fact that Redd had been as hurt by Mark as her family had.

       “Okay, you two. Don’t hurt his hip. Let go of Mr. Redd so we can talk.”

       The twins pouted—for about five seconds. Then they raced off, calling Becca and Tony to come play another round of hide-and-seek.

       Redd looked off into the distance, but his eyes didn’t seem to focus on anything in particular. “I guess you’ve seen that Mark has returned to town.”

       Her stomach dropped at the mention of his name. What if Mark had talked him into moving back in the family home? “Yes.”

       “I’d rather him not know I’m renting out the house, if there’s any way around it.”

       “I’m afraid he came by yesterday.”

       He ran a hand over his chin, rasping against whiskers, looking troubled.

       She gently touched his arm. “Are you okay?”

       His chin rose as he watched the kids. “I’m fine.” Then he looked into her eyes. “You?”

       He tried to act cool on the outside, yet he had to be a mess on the inside. Meanwhile she stewed, worried and angry. “I’m okay. Shocked, but okay.”

       “Still can’t figure out what he’s doing here. Says he wanted to come apologize. But now he’s hanging around.”

       Yes, it was unnerving, to say the least. And she felt sure he’d stayed to try to uproot her and the kids so his dad could move back into the house.

       “He seems to be concerned that you’re in the garage apartment.” She wrapped her arms around her waist and watched him closely for his response.

       He shook his head and huffed. “I’m fine over there. Don’t worry about me.”

       Yes, but could Mark change his mind? “Well, I guess we can hope Mark’s motives are pure.”

       Redd gave a snort but didn’t comment further. “I sure hope your sister doesn’t find out he’s back, even if it is just for a visit.”

       Goodness. Hannah had thought so much about her own situation with the kids and the house that she hadn’t considered Sydney hearing about Mark being in town. “Yeah, me, too. She’s still got a few more weeks in rehab.”

       Regret crawled across Redd’s ragged features, drawing his mouth into a frown. He shook his head and plodded toward the garage, hands in his pockets, head down. As if carrying a huge weight. He stopped partway across the yard.

       “I know the kids in the youth group miss you, but you made a good choice to spend Sundays with your little ones. They