His Guiding Light

Title - His Guiding Light

Could the light lead him to love?

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Author's note -- I'd like to thank my editor, who always makes the story better. The prereaders and editors that help with our stories deserve all the praise they get and more. Thank you. All mistakes are my own.

The next paragraphs give some small insights into the story, so you don't waste your time on something you know you wouldn't enjoy. If you don't like knowing in advance, then skip past the next set of asterisks.

I started off writing a justice-is-served story and ended up writing a feel-good story. A heaping, helping of justice is still served up in this story, so if that bothers you, then you probably won't like this. If you cannot stand some amount of forgiveness, then this probably isn't for you either. At 26k words, it isn't short, so you've been forewarned. There is almost no sex in this story. If you have the time, I hope you'll read it and let me know what you think. This may be my last story for a while because I've barely started my next one.

This has a bit of early Mother's Day rolled in, with love going out to strong moms.

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The applause continued for several minutes as the guest of honor was celebrated that night. It wasn't the first time that Zach had sat through a minute of applause for his wife, Cassie, but this was probably the longest. Some of Houston's wealthiest families had come out that night to celebrate local charities, and for the second time in five years his wife was the guest of honor because of her work leading the WoW Foundation of Houston.

He was extremely proud of his wife, and she gave her usual classy and inspiring speech. Towards the end, when it was time for her to thank all those who had contributed of their time and their money that year, she looked at him, and he almost imperceptibly shook his head, so she smiled at him and thanked her family for being her foundation of support and providing her with the strength and encouragement to lead the charity each of the last several years.

As the graceful woman finished, she received another nice ovation, which meant it was time for the small orchestra to play. For the WoW Foundation, there was never any shortage of musicians who would come out to play. A particularly good local vocalist performed some during the evening, also.

All through the speeches, sitting next to Zach and holding his hand was Gabriella, Cassie's mother. Though in her late seventies, she was still a fashionable woman. Now standing, she leaned in and quietly asked, "You really should let her thank you directly. You know that's why she always looks this way."

He replied to his wonderful mother-in-law, "Mother, if anyone can wear me down, it will be you, but we've had this discussion. I wouldn't be sitting here were it not for her and you. It will always be me that is forever grateful to her, and to you."

She squeezed his hand and said, "Yes, that may be true, but I would say that you contributed more than your fair share to your family, our family. She wouldn't be standing there, and the foundation wouldn't exist without you. I couldn't have a better son-in-law, and I couldn't love you more if you had been born to me."

"Let's agree that she and I had really good guides for parents."

"You can be a frustrating man Zachariah Davis."

He laughed and said, "Well, I think I learned most of that from your late husband."

"I know, and I love you all the more for that. The Lord took him too soon, but if the quality of life counts over quantity, then he had very, very good years."

"Yes, and he told me that was because he lived those years with you."

Gabriella tried to hold back the tears while kissing Zach on the cheek. She missed her husband, but at least she was still healthy and had a wonderful family to love and to love her.

Zach missed him too. He probably wouldn't be married to Cassie, nor enjoying where he was had it not been for Sam and Gabriella Ortiz.

_______________

Twenty-five, or so, years earlier...

As usual, Zach was late. Another last-minute out of town trip threatened to cause him to miss the symphony performance that evening. He had asked Mary, his girlfriend for the last four months, to meet him there. He promised her that she would definitely enjoy the night and that they had fabulous seats.

Zach picked up the tickets from the theater's will-call five minutes before the show, but his date was nowhere to be seen. Five minutes after the concert had started, she still wasn't there. Damn. He was waiting outside in the cool February air, when he called her phone, there was no answer. A few minutes later he received a text -- "I'm not coming. Cannot count on you. We're done."

He sighed. Four months down the drain. He couldn't blame her. It was his job. He was a highly trained MRI engineer and was only sent out when there was a serious problem uncovered during routine maintenance or when, heaven forbid, something broke. Unfortunately, those trips tended to be unpredictable which meant he had to cancel a lot of last minutes dates and even missed her recent birthday. Another sigh. He had been looking forward to the evening and decided to go inside and try to enjoy the performance anyway.

Quickly and quietly, he eased his way towards the front of the very full hall, dead-center, about ten rows from the front. Almost as soon as he sat down, he was thinking, 'Mary who?' because next to him was a stunningly beautiful young woman, who appeared to be accompanied by her cute female friend. They both seemed to be near his age, which was late twenties.

Since the performance had already begun, Zach nodded at them in greeting, and they both gave him a polite smile in return. Tonight's performance was a collection of works from Mozart featuring several violin concertos. During the intermission, Zach offered the ladies, "Good evening, can I offer to buy either of you something to drink?"

The cute one said, "I'm good, but thank you. Maybe after."

That elicited a grin from the beauty who said, "Mindy, I'm sure he has plans 'after,' but it was a nice offer. Thank you."

Zach chortled, "Well, as you can see, there is an empty seat next to me, so it appears I've been stood up, which means I do not expect to have any plans after this. Too bad because I had reservations across the street at Arturio's. I hear the food is mouthwateringly good. I'm Zach. If the two of you don't have any plans, would you care to join me 'after.' My treat."

Not waiting for her friend, Mindy said, "Nice to meet you Zach. I'm Mindy and this is Lisa. I would love to join you. I've always wanted to eat there. Lisa, you can join us or not, but I'm going."

Zach liked Mindy's spirit, and she was cute. What he was hoping for though was that they would both join him, so he could spend a little more time admiring Lisa. Mindy seemed to be enjoying the concert, but Lisa was quite a bit cooler and more critical of the performance. They shared a few more minutes of chit chat until the second half of the performance began.

When the performance ended, there was a broad ovation for the orchestra, including himself and Mindy, but Lisa still seemed rather cool. However, next, she turned to Zach and said, "So, Arturio's, huh? Let's go."

Zach was thrilled. He truly did have reservations, but they were for two. After explaining the situation to the hostess, he slipped her a $50, and a few minutes later, they were seated at a table. The ladies were suitably impressed.

Mindy asked, "So, Zach. Even though your being stood up has worked out well for me, do you know why your date didn't show?"

"Yeah. It's mostly my fault. My job is appalling from a scheduling standpoint. I may have to fly across or out of the country at the drop of a hat, which means I've had to cancel on her several times because I had to leave town. I know it wasn't fair to her. It's too bad because I had to call in a favor from my boss to get tickets that were that good. I was trying to make it up to her with good seats and a nice dinner. Do you two get to go to the symphony very often."

Mindy said, "Lisa gets to go quite often. Tonight is the first time I've been in a while. Since I'm her roommate, I'm usually insanely jealous."

Zach looked at Lisa, and he could see her thinking a moment. She said, "I have a degree in accounting, but I have a minor in music. I used to love playing, but it's more of a hobby now."

Mindy snorted, "What she means is that she plays fabulously, but she's learning how to better critique performances instead of playing in them. Now she hardly plays at all."

Lisa turned to look at her friend, but it was not a friendly look that she gave her. She replied, "Well, I'm learning how to appreciate it more than I once did, back when I just played."

Zach asked, "Oh. What instrument do you play?"

Mindy spoke up, "She is amazing on the violin. You should hear her."

Lisa said, "I still play some, so I don't lose it all, but I wasn't good enough...at least, not good enough to make a living at it." Then turning to Mindy, she said, "and that's all I want to say about my playing."

Zach could tell it must be a bit of a sore subject between the two of them. They ordered their food and enjoyed their dinner together. Zach found out that Lisa was a CPA and worked at a local hospital near Rice University. Mindy was a Montessori schoolteacher working with kindergarten-aged children, and her school was less than ten minutes from where Zach worked. She loved what she did, but like most Montessori teachers, she wasn't making a lot of money doing it.

At the end of the evening, after Zach paid the bill he said, "I know I'm being forward in asking this, but I'd love to see you two again. If you are willing to give me your phone number, I'll call you. If you'd prefer to think about it, here's my business card. As I told you though, I do tend to travel unpredictably."

Mindy didn't hesitate, "Let me see your phone." Once he handed it to her, she dialed her number. She said, "I'd like to do something. I love fancy like this, or barbeque, too. I'm not high-maintenance."

He liked that. Lisa didn't seem to be ready to share her information, so Zach thanked them for a lovely evening and wished them a good night.

_____________

It was late in the day on Monday when Sam Ortiz, the owner and CEO of Magnolia City Diagnostic Instruments (MCDI), and his wife, Gabriella, knocked on Zach's door. They asked him, "so, how did those tickets work out? Did you and Mary have a good time?"

Zach laughed and told him about being dumped but meeting two other women, with whom he shared dinner.

Sam was a great CEO and a good guy to work for. Zach had been with him for nearly nine years, starting as a college intern, and loved every minute of it. Sam was in his late fifties with early grey hair showing and Gabriella's food was probably too good, because he needed to shed a few pounds.

His wife Gabriella was something else; not in terms of beauty, but she was a force in and of herself. She was the only woman he knew where he felt like he should be deferential all the time, because of the way she carried herself and acted. She was like a cross between a queen and the leader of a girls finishing school -- always proper, always dressed impeccably, never in slacks, nor jeans. Zach wondered if she even owned a pair of jeans. Probably not. She exuded confidence, but not cockiness. While many on staff thought her a bit too stuffy, Zach thought she was the rarest of gems, and she liked him as well.

Neither her face nor her figure would be considered above-average attractive, but she was an expert at clothes and make-up and made herself look nice by accentuating what she did have.

It was clear that she and Sam were truly partners in business and in life. She had some past involvement with the company's accounting department and continued to help prepare the quarterly and annual numbers. Her real value, now, was in helping Sam interview new employees, including Zach many years ago. She was also deeply involved in a local charity.

They had three kids all within a few years of Sam, with the oldest son a newly practicing surgeon, the middle daughter studying medicine and biomedical engineering and their youngest, another son, also a new engineer at the Ortizs' company. By all accounts, the children were fine people, just like their parents.

Sam said, "I'm sorry about Mary, but if you came out of the night with two, at least that's something. Hopefully your next girlfriend will be more understanding. You know I won't ask you to travel forever, right?"

"I know and thank you. Truthfully? I like what I do. Keeping those machines operating is important to the hospitals, their patients, and our company. So, I'm willing to have an unpredictable life a little longer. Maybe in a few years we'll find a way to scale it back. Or better yet, hopefully, we grow enough that you can hire a few engineers that reside in each geography, so cross-ocean travel is limited."

Sam smiled, "that's the plan, Zach. That is the plan. Hopefully one of those two ladies will work out."

Sam was always hopeful that Zach would find a good girl. Gabriella's never seemed thrilled with the discussion of Zach's dates, and her usual comment was for Zach to choose his dates wisely, which always brought a laugh from him and Sam.

The next day, Zach was quite surprised to see a text from Lisa show up on his phone. "Hey Zach, call me when you have some time."

Early that evening, he called her, and they arranged a date for that weekend.

When he picked up Lisa to take her to the restaurant, she looked great, decked out in a nice, black knee-length dress, with enough cleavage to draw attention without being too risqué. Mindy was at the apartment and gave them a sad smile when they left, wishing them a good time.

Lisa told Zach, "Mindy and I talked and thought you and I would try it first because she's looking for someone who doesn't travel quite as much."

Zach wasn't complaining, because while Mindy was cute, Lisa was gorgeous. She had dark Auburn hair, but not the usual fair skin. Standing around five and a half feet, she was fit with a tight butt and breasts that looked to be a little more than a handful. He would be the envy of many that night.

Thus began a relationship that quickly flourished.

A few weeks into their relationship, he convinced her to meet his brother and sister-in-law who also lived in Houston, at a restaurant near her work. Lisa went straight from work, and when she arrived at the restaurant, she saw a cute woman talking to Zach at the bar.

Liking what she had found in Zach, Lisa didn't want to let someone get between them, so she walked up to him and said, "Hey, Baby," and proceeded to give him a tonsil inspecting kiss.

The other woman's eyes bugged out at that happening, and Zach looked shocked as well. When she finished the kiss, she felt a tap on her shoulder and heard, "Hey, Lisa, I see you've already met my twin brother, Daniel. That woman about to claw your eyes out is his wife, Gina."

Lisa staggered back at the realization of what she just did. She immediately put Zach between herself and Gina and muttered, "I'm so sorry. I didn't know. I thought some strange woman was trying to chat up Zach." Then she wheeled on Zach and said, "You didn't tell me you had a twin!"

"Sorry. I wasn't expecting you to do what you did, either."

Daniel stuck out his hand and said, "Nice to meet you, Lisa."

Gina was not pleased, even if it was an honest mistake.

Trying to smooth things over, Lisa asked, "Gina, what do you do?"

She replied, "When I'm not protecting my husband from being molested, I work in procurement at Exxon."

Daniel offered, "I'm a defense attorney. How about you?"

Lisa told them about her job at the hospital, and once at their table, they eventually laughed, a little, about the earlier mix-up and wound up having a great evening.

Over the next several months, Lisa never gave Zach any grief about his travel. While gone, he would call, and they would talk for nearly an hour on the phone. She was disappointed when he would leave, but happy to see him return. When he was gone for more than two or three days, she acted not simply happy but relieved that he was back. He liked being missed.

Gina even introduced Mindy to a good friend of hers that worked at Exxon, Robert, who had quickly worked his way from the oil fields into management, and they seemed to hit it off quickly.

When Zach and Lisa talked about exclusivity, Zach asked, "Will my being gone so frequently be a problem?"

Lisa laughed before replying, "Sweetie, you already told me that the longest you've ever been gone was two weeks, but it's usually more like two or three days. I'd like to think that I can last two weeks without sex, especially when the welcome-home sex is with you. Besides, I can either work late or Mindy and I will do something together."

Many months later, when Christmas arrived, they spent time with each other's families. Her family also lived in Houston and was a simple upper-middle-class family that lived in a nice neighborhood. Both her parents seemed to like Zach, which pleased everyone.

At his parent's house, Lisa met Zach's older sister, Miriam, her husband and their two toddlers, who lived in Austin. Christmas afternoon, some extended family stopped by, and it turned into a big Davis family celebration. Zach's uncle Jack had brought a fiddle and was playing some Zydeco music for some of his kids. Before long, most of those in attendance were clapping to the music.

During a break in the performance, Zach said, "Lisa, you play. Play something for us."

She gave him a sad smile and said, "Sweetie, you know I don't play much anymore. I no longer enjoy it. They don't want to hear me play," which of course immediately caused everyone to plead for her to play.

The look she gave Zach was a pleading one, but having rarely heard her play, he asked, "Just one. Please."

Reluctantly she accepted the fiddle, a violin by another name, and played a few chords to get a feel for the instrument, and immediately everyone's ears were perking up. After twisting a couple of pegs to tune it the way she wanted it, she began to play Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah which became very popular thanks to its inclusion in the Shrek movie and soundtrack, amongst other covers of the song.

The entire audience was stunned into an entranced silence as she played it skillfully and soulfully. She only played one verse, but when she finished everyone simply sat there amazed, until the uncle began clapping furiously. Then everyone began clapping excitedly, and Lisa's entire neck and face blushed.

Jack said, "Dang, Lisa, I'm afraid to play this after what you just did. It's like a completely different instrument."

She whispered, "Thank you."

Zach wrapped her in a big hug, and a moment later so did his mom and dad. His mom said, "You should play more often Lisa. Anyone that can play like that has a gift that should be shared."

"I appreciate that," she said, "but I think once I realized that I wasn't good enough to play professionally, the disappointment took a lot of the joy out of playing."

Zach's dad said, "Lisa, anyone that plays like that can play better than all but a tiny fraction of the population. You should let people hear you. Or at least let us hear you. Or just me. Anytime you want to play, I can promise you an audience of at least one admirer."

"Thanks Mr. Davis. I'll think about it."

Seeing how well everyone got along with Lisa during the holidays, even Gina, Zach knew what he was ready to do.

As soon as their time off together ended, Zach bought a very pretty ring, and the next day at work, he asked Sam if he could come by his office at the end of the day.