Free Route 66 Reunions by Mildred Colvin Page B

wouldn’t wait much longer.
    “I had fun tonight.” Blake grinned at the boys. “Coaching isn’t half bad with the team we’ve got. Don’t forget practice Monday. We’ve got a game coming up next Friday, and I plan to win. How about you?”
    “Yeah.” Derek and Seth smacked their right hands across the table. “We’re the best.”
    “That’s the spirit.” Blake chuckled.
    Tessa watched him interact with her boys and saw genuine interest on his part. When he dropped them off at her car, the boys climbed in while she thanked him again for the ice cream.
    “I’d like to do something special with you, Tessa.” Blake leaned against a tree several feet from her car. She stood an arm’s length from him and still felt entirely too close for her comfort.
    “I don’t know, Blake. That may not be wise.” She gave a bitter laugh as she remembered the clean-cut young man she had fallen so hard for and more than likely led astray. “We didn’t have much in common eleven years ago; I’m not sure we do yet.”
    “You’ve changed so much.” His gaze lingered on her face and hair as if he were comparing her clean, natural appearance with the blue eye shadow, glaring red lip color, and harsh black hair of her former life. “It’s almost as if you’re another person.”
    “I am, Blake. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. I have a new life in Christ. The old has been done away with.” She watched the confusion in his eyes and felt her chest tighten. “Why don’t you come to church with us Sunday morning? Maybe seeing that part of my life would help you understand.”
    Blake’s eyes darkened as if a shutter closed at her invitation. He shook his head. “I’m not much into church attendance. Besides, my dad’s operation is Monday morning. I’d better stay pretty close to the folks this weekend. I’m sorry, because Sunday’s the Fourth and I wanted to do something with the boys.”
    “Oh Blake.” Tessa saw the sincerity in his eyes. “Don’t worry about it. Your dad comes first right now. We’ll make it another time.”
    “Thanks for understanding,” Blake said. “I don’t know if I’ll make it to practice Monday night either. I’ll try, but it all depends on how things go with Dad.”
    “I’ll be praying for him.” Tessa felt a heavy weight settle on her heart. She longed to drag Blake to Jesus and force him to accept the free gift of eternal life that awaited him, but she knew she couldn’t. Each person must make that decision on their own. She could only pray and tell him what Christ had done for her. He’d already seen the difference in her life; now it was up to him to accept the same for himself.
    “I’ll call you Monday after his surgery.”
    Blake shoved away from the tree, and Tessa turned toward her car. She couldn’t help noticing he had thanked her for understanding but not for her prayers. As she started her car and drove toward home, she breathed a prayer for Blake.

    Monday afternoon Tessa hung up the phone and turned to her boys. “That was Blake. He wanted me to tell you he won’t be at practice tonight. His dad is doing fine at this point, but Blake wants to stay with his mom because she’s pretty shook up about the whole thing.”
    Derek hung his head and mumbled, “Won’t be as much fun without Blake.”
    “Yeah, but he can’t help it,” Seth reminded his brother.
    “I know.” Derek looked up. “He’ll be at the game Friday, won’t he?”
    Tessa slipped an arm around her youngest son as he stepped closer to her. “I imagine he will be. Tell you what. I was talking to Kasi yesterday at church. She asked if we’d like to go Saturday night with her family to Palo Duro to watch
Texas!
with them.”
    “Will Zack go, too?” Derek asked.
    “Of course.” Tessa nodded. “Zack and Zandra both. And Travis and Kasi.”
    Derek shrugged. “If Zack’s there, I want to go.”
    “Me, too,” Seth agreed.
    “Go where?” Rob walked into the room munching