Rain for Christmas

  RAIN FOR CHRISTMAS

  A Christmas Novella with your favorite characters from the Rain Series

  by

  Vanessa Miller

  Other Books by Vanessa Miller

  After the Rain

  How Sweet The Sound

  Heirs of Rebellion

  Feels Like Heaven

  Heaven on Earth

  The Best of All

  Better for Us

  Her Good Thing

  Long Time Coming

  A Promise of Forever Love

  A Love for Tomorrow

  Yesterday’s Promise

  Forgotten

  Forgiven

  Forsaken

  Rain for Christmas (Novella)

  Through the Storm

  Rain Storm

  Latter Rain

  Abundant Rain

  Former Rain

  Anthologies (Editor)

  Keeping the Faith

  Have A Little Faith

  This Far by Faith

  EBOOKS

  Love Isn’t Enough

  A Mighty Love

  The Blessed One (Blessed and Highly Favored series)

  The Wild One (Blessed and Highly Favored Series)

  The Preacher’s Choice (Blessed and Highly Favored Series)

  The Politician’s Wife (Blessed and Highly Favored Series)

  The Playboy’s Redemption (Blessed and Highly Favored Series)

  Tears Fall at Night (Praise Him Anyhow Series)

  Joy Comes in the Morning (Praise Him Anyhow Series)

  A Forever Kind of Love (Praise Him Anyhow Series)

  Ramsey’s Praise (Praise Him Anyhow Series)

  Escape to Love (Praise Him Anyhow Series)

  Praise For Christmas (Praise Him Anyhow Series)

  His Love Walk (Praise Him Anyhow Series)

  Could This Be Love (Praise Him Anyhow Series)

  Song of Praise (Praise Him Anyhow Series)

  Publisher’s Note:

  This short story is a work of fiction. References to real events, organizations, or places are used in a fictional context. Any resemblances to actual persons, living or dead are entirely coincidental.

  Vanessa Miller

  www.vanessamiller.com

  Printed in the United States of America

  © 2012 by Vanessa Miller

  BFP Publishing

  Charlotte, NC

  No part of this ebook may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical—including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system—without permission in writing from the publisher.

  .

  Prologue

  “You’re the kind of woman I could see myself marrying.”

  Diana Milner put her index finger against Donavan Walker’s luscious lips. “Don’t say things like that if you don’t mean it. I’m here, so I’m already yours. You don’t have to lie to me.”

  “Oh, so now I’m a liar. You weren’t saying that a few minutes ago.” Donavan began tickling her. “Take it back,” he demanded.

  She was wearing Donavan’s black and gray bath robe and nothing else, so she had little defense against his tickles,. She grabbed hold of the towel encircling his waist as if she was prepared to yank it off and said, “Who’s going to make me?”

  “You think I care if you pull that towel off?” He stepped back, lifting his hands in the air to give her easy access. “I mean, you’re going to be my wife and you’ve already seen me naked once anyway. So, have at it.”

  “No fair,” she giggled. “I can’t fight against an exhibitionist.”

  “Why don’t we both show our exhibits?” Donavan slithered toward Diana with his fingers dancing toward her robe.

  She wrapped the robe tighter around her body and screamed, “Don’t you dare,” as she took off running and giggling through the house.

  Donavan ran after her. As he caught up with her, he pulled her into an embrace and kissed her mouth, her cheeks, her forehead and chin. Just as Diana was getting into the kissing game, Donavan pinched her and said, “That’s for calling me a liar.”

  Diana’s mouth hung open for a moment. “Oh no you didn’t. You’re going to pay for that Donavan Walker.”

  Donavan was enjoying himself with Diana. She was the only woman he’d been with that could make him laugh about nothing. He was getting tired of the way he’d been living his life… a youth pastor by day and a hound with the ladies by night. Donavan loved being in ministry. His father was the pastor and he had entrusted him with the youth ministry. Donavan wanted to settle down and take his Christian walk much more seriously. He was thinking that Diana could be the one to rescue him from himself.

  Donavan was the picture of a happy man as he smirked at Diana and said, “Come and get me, baby. You’ve got to catch me before I’ll ever pay for anything.” He turned and made his way towards the living room, laughing all the way.

  Diana wasn’t about to let Donavan get away with taunting her. She ran behind him, tackling him from behind. As they fell to the ground Diana landed on top of Donavan, she pinched him and then said, “I gotcha. Now what are you going to do about it?”

  The two were having so much fun that neither of them noticed Donavan’s front door open, nor did they see the man standing just outside the door.

  Donavan reached up and pulled her into an embrace. He kissed her again. As her wet hair fell across his face, he inhaled. “I love the way your hair smells after a shower. Woman, I definitely could get used to you.”

  “Son!” Isaac shouted from the doorway. “What are you doing?”

  Donavan jumped up, eyes bulging out of his head as he looked into his father’s shocked and disappointed face. Donavan didn’t know what the rest of his life would be like, but he knew one thing for certain, he would never forget the moment his father found out the kind of man he really was.

  1

  Five years later

  Donavan Walker hated rainy days, but he loved the smell that permeated the air after the rain. It was like Sunday morning to him… a time of renewal and refreshing. Like the kind of refreshing he felt years ago as he listened to his father preach the gospel. In those days, Donavan believed that he had been called to preach the gospel just like his father. His father believed it, too, because he had been grooming him to one day take over his ministry.

  Donavan was the youth pastor at his father’s church, and he loved every minute of his assignment. Those children brought him great joy and he tried his best to teach them God’s word in a manner they could understand.

  But all of that occurred before the great Isaac Walker caught him with the church secretary. Things were never the same after that, and five years ago Donavan moved to Atlanta to help his frat brother with a start up investment firm.

  Now Donavan was his own man, not trying to follow in anyone’s footsteps but his own. But he hadn’t forgotten the things his mama taught him about helping the less fortunate. So even now, as Donavan found himself worth millions more than his parents would ever be worth, he still found the time to help Kenneth and Elizabeth Underwood at the homeless shelter they ran there in Atlanta. His mother was pleased that he helped out at the homeless shelter. But that didn’t stop her from asking him to come back home, where she thought he belonged.

  Donavan hadn’t been back to Ohio since he left in disgrace. His parents had visited him and the Underwoods for Christmas twice since he’d relocated to Atlanta, but now they were demanding that he come home to visit with his family. Iona, his half sister was expecting a baby and his mother refused to leave town until she held her first grandchild in her arms.

  Donavan didn’t have a problem with going home for a visit; he wasn’t embarrassed
about his current status as if he was a skid row buster. He had left home and made something of himself. Was he doing what he wanted to be doing at this point in his life? Donavan wasn’t sure how to answer that question. But the one thing he was positive of was that with the money he was making, no one would call him a failure.

  He knew that many who were less fortunate than him would love to be able to buy up a bunch of presents, take them home and act like Santa Claus, just because they had it like that. Actually, he’d already purchased presents and had them mailed to his parents’ home the same as he’d done every year since he left. He also purchased presents for the Christmas party the youth ministry sponsored for the children each year. Just because he couldn’t physically see the kids in the youth ministry anymore, didn’t mean they weren’t on his mind. So, he made sure that the youth ministry knew that Donavan Walker hadn’t forgotten about them.

  He would love to go home one year and pass those presents out to the kids personally. But Donavan knew that she would be there and she, as in Diana Milner, had been the one immovable force, keeping him away from his family all these years.

  ***

  Diana Milner stepped out of her shower, towel dried her body, and then grabbed her jar of Carol’s Daughter Almond Cookie Shea Soufflé and lotioned herself. She loved the scent and how soft the lotion made her skin feel, so despite her meager church secretary salary, Diana found a way to treat herself every now and then.

  But truth be told, Diana knew that she would soon have to give up that little treat and go back to the Avon moisturizing lotion that she used to order religiously. Her sister had been arrested for drug possession and Children’s Services had taken her four-year-old daughter away from her. Diana wasn’t throwing rocks at her sister for all the bad decisions she’d made recently, because once upon a time, she had made some bad decisions, too. Diana knew what it felt like to be arrested first hand. Yeah, she had made her share of mistakes, but she was well on her way to recovering from all her youthful missteps.

  Since giving her life to the Lord five years ago, Diana had lived a single and no-mingle kind of life. She was now twenty-nine with no prospects for marriage in sight, so she had all but resigned herself to living a childless life. But thanks to Children’s Services and her sister’s drug problem, Diana was an instant mother with a four-year-old child’s needs to consider, so as she scraped out the last of her Almond Cookie Shea Soufflé, she reconciled herself to spending what extra money she had on pull-ups and girly dresses for her sweet little Amarri.

  Diana slid on her dress and the brown pumps that she’d gotten on sale at Stein Mart a few weeks back and left the house with Amarri. She still hadn’t gotten a handle on getting breakfast ready in time, so she stopped at McDonald’s, ordered her niece some pancakes and let her eat them while she drove her to the daycare across the street from the church. Diane was so thankful that Lisa, the owner of the daycare center was able to make room for Amarri on such short notice.

  Having Amarri across the street from the church enabled her to check in on the little girl a couple times a day and that gave Diana peace of mind. The only thing that troubled her was the income she currently earned. She had just received a raise which brought her income up to thirty seven thousand dollars a year. She didn’t have a college degree, so Diana felt blessed to earn that much. However, the amount she earned barely took care of her needs. Now that she had Amarri to think about, Diana might have to leave her job at the church. And that fact saddened her, because Diana truly loved the Walkers. They had been good to her.

  She sat down behind her desk in the front office, preparing to turn her computer on, when her phone rang. That’s when she remembered the thing she forgot to do. She picked up the phone and plastered a smile on her face as she tried to figure out a way to let the first lady of the House of God church down easy. “Hey, First Lady Nina. How are you doing?”

  “Doing real good. I love this time of the year,” Nina Walker said with joy in her voice.

  Diana smiled as she thought of how Nina would decorate the church each year with the biggest Christmas tree she could find and holly, lights, garland and Christmas wreaths all around the church. Christmas was sometimes depressing for her since she didn’t have anyone to share the day with, but Nina made it enjoyable. And anyway, Christmas was about the birth of Christ, not her love life. “So are you needing my help with the tree?”

  “Not this year. Although I thoroughly enjoy the look of the Christmas tree and all the decorations, I’m getting too old to be lugging all that stuff around.”

  Diana waved a dismissive hand in the air. “Old… please. You don’t look a day over thirty-five.”

  “But I feel fifty-seven, which is what I will be in a matter of months. So, I hired a decorator to handle my Christmas beautification project at the church and at my house.”

  Diana hated the fact that she was envious of Nina. But she couldn’t help the way she felt at that moment. Pastor Isaac and Nina Walker were truly blessed of God, in spirit and in finances. As much as she prayed, she still couldn’t see a way to change her financial circumstance. Maybe she should ask Nina for advice. But Nina was a writer… it wasn’t like Diana could write a book and become famous.

  “But I didn’t call to talk about the Christmas decorations,” Nina said, interrupting Diana’s thoughts. “I haven’t received your RSVP for our Christmas party yet and I need to give the caterer the headcount.”

  Diana closed her eyes, hoping to block out the sound of chickens coming home to roost. She’d been dreading this conversation with Nina, because she had sent out the invitations to Nina’s Christmas party herself this year and she knew that Donavan had been invited. She hadn’t seen Donavan in five years and didn’t know if she was prepared to be in the same room with a man that she had loved, deceived and lost. And she still had so many lingering questions that she burned to ask Donavan about, like the words he spoke to her the day their affair had been discovered by his father. But she didn’t dare ask Donavan anything, because she didn’t know if she could deal with the answers.

  “I’ve been meaning to speak with you about this. You see… since Amarri came to stay with me, I haven’t done much socializing. I don’t even have a babysitter for nighttime events.”

  “Are you kidding?” Nina laughed. “I need Amarri there to keep little Isaac in line. That boy gets into everything.”

  “I don’t know, Nina. Christmas should be a time for family. You all don’t need me to help you celebrate.”

  “You come to our Christmas party every year. What makes this year any different?”

  How could Diana tell Nina that her son was the problem? That she couldn’t face him and relive those days all over again. But Pastor Isaac and Nina had both forgiven her for what she’d done to Donavan, so how could she even bring it up now as the reason she didn’t want to attend the party.

  “You’re the one who helped me decorate the house for this Christmas party. Don’t you want to be there when I tell everyone how wonderful you are?”

  “You don’t have to tell anyone that I helped you. I did that because I wanted to. It’s not as if I’m trying to become a decorator and need to network for business.” Diana loved the Walker family and would do anything for them, but attending the Christmas party this year…it just didn’t seem right.

  “Come on, Diana. It won’t be a party without you.”

  For Nina to say something like that, let Diana know just how much she meant to them. They meant the world to her also, so she couldn’t let them down. “I… will… be… there.”

  2

  “Welcome to my humble abode.” Isaac Walker stretched out his arms as he stood at the top of his winding staircase, looking magnanimous and larger than life as he smiled down on the guests in his foyer. He strolled down the stairs wearing a light grey v-neck, imported cashmere sweater with charcoal grey dress pants, looking like a man without a care in the world. And it was true, for Isaac had cast all of his care on God
a long time ago, well…all but one. And he was going to make it his business to take care of that last problem before the new year rolled in.

  Midway down the stairs Isaac stopped for a moment to view a portrait of himself and his two oldest children, Donavan and Iona. His son was six feet, the same height as his old man. Donavan had the same chocolate complexion as Isaac. As a matter-of-fact, both his children had his chocolate kiss complexion and deep dimples. However, Donavan had his mother’s hazel eyes and small button nose. Iona was the spitting image of her old man. She was five-seven with long hair and beautiful.

  He took a deep breath as he reminisced on time gone by and then continued down the stairs. Keith and Cynda were standing at the bottom of the stairs, as Isaac stepped to them. He and Keith bumped fists and then hugged. The two were best friends, but more like brothers. Isaac was godfather to all three of Keith’s sons. And Keith was godfather to both of Isaac’s sons and stepfather to his daughter Iona. The child he’d had with Cynda years before Keith and Cynda fell in love and married. “You made it just in time, my brother. Now you can help me welcome our guests.”

  Keith lifted a hand in protest. “I came to eat and be merry. I’m not getting ready to do the job Nina assigned to you.”

  Isaac grinned, showing off his deep dimples as he turned to Cynda and pointed at Keith. “See what I have to put up with from this man?”

  Cynda put a hand on Isaac’s shoulder as she consoled him. “Don’t let Keith worry you. I give him plenty of assignments at home, too.”

  Isaac backed up and got in his mac-daddy stance as he said, “That might be the way it works at your house, but I’m my own man up in here.”

  As Isaac said those words, the doorbell rang twice. Nina came out of the kitchen wiping her hands with a dish towel. She looked toward Isaac and asked, “Baby, why are you bothering Keith and Cynda when I asked you to greet the guests as they arrive?”