Next Door Daddy by Debra Clopton

exuberant hug. Her face was illuminated by delight as she squeezed him practically in half. Then as quickly as she’d grabbed him she let him go, backed up and turned pink. “Sorry,” she mouthed, then called her son back from the opposite direction. “Gilly, come here.”
    Gil raced back to them. “Do you see him?”
    The boy was so excited he didn’t even complain that his mother had just called him Gilly.
    â€œListen.” Nate walked in the direction he’d heard the tiny voice. They were all silent, listening hard, hearing nothing out of the ordinary at first. Then it came again. Faintly at first, then growing in desperation.
    â€œPepper, all right. Pepper, all right. Jesus loves Pepper. Gilbert loves Pepper. Gilbert. Gilll -bert! Gilbert—”
    â€œPepper!” Gil yelped with joy and dashed past Nate. Nate and Pollyanna jogged after him with Bogie grunting behind them. A loud whack told him that Bogie had hit a tree. Nate glanced over his shoulder, and sure enough the dog was pulling himself up off the ground looking dazed. He shook it off and resumed galloping after them, his wrinkled face a picture of joyous glee, his droopy lips jiggling with every step. The dog reminded Nate of a walrus on legs.
    What a zoo Pollyanna had. Nate laughed again and followed Gil, anxious to do whatever it took to reunite Gil and his bird. Ahead of him mother and son had stopped and were listening as they searched the trees.
    â€œPepper, I love you, too,” Gil called, and held up his arms.
    And then it came, the desperation in the childlike voice vanished, replaced with pure elation. “Pepper loves Gilbert! Pepper loves Gilbert.”
    There was a flutter from among the canopy of green, then the small bird swooped from the trees shrieking with elation. He landed on Gil’s head babbling faster than a magpie on fast-forward.
    Gil and Pollyanna giggled in relief and delight, and Nate, well, he was grinning like a goof, never so relieved in all his life.

Chapter Six
    P olly and Gil attended their first church service at the Mule Hollow Church of Faith on Sunday. She was ashamed to admit it, but since Marc’s death she’d struggled to attend church services. Not because she held a grudge against the Lord. It was something else. Something she’d never ever anticipated. She’d struggled attending church because the place that she should be most comfortable was actually the place that accentuated her loss. So much so that she could hardly bear it.
    After years of attending church as a happy couple, walking in as a single—even thinking about it—caused her insides to curl up. She’d thought maybe it was just because back home it was her home church. The church she and Marc had attended together. The church she’d been married in—and held his funeral in.
    She’d hoped and prayed things would be different here. But as she and Gil walked into the sanctuary she knew nothing had changed. She felt immediately lonesome for Marc. It had nothing to do with the warm welcome she received. It was odd that she could be embraced by a community and still struggle with the issues of feeling alone, and lonely. She found herself wondering if Nate felt the same way.
    Looking around, she was disappointed not to find him. In the few short days that she’d known him he’d come to her rescue so many times she was afraid she might get accustomed to his help. She knew that he’d solidified his place as Gil’s hero when he’d helped find Pepper.
    Polly pushed thoughts of him from her mind as she saw Lacy Matlock waving her forward. Polly propelled Gil down the aisle and they slid in beside her and her handsome husband, Clint. The adoration the two shared for each other was evident, and Polly wondered if they really knew how lucky they were. If they truly understood how blessed they were.
    She hadn’t until it was too late.
    â€œSo, how’s it