A Gift to Cherish (Road to Refuge Book 2)

by Victoria Bylin

“Yes, but—” She shook her head.

  Rafe refused to back down. “But what?”

  “I just think dating is harder for women. For one thing, we’re physically more vulnerable.”

  “I can’t argue with that.”

  “Emotionally, I can’t say we feel more than men, but I do think women have a built-in desire to connect, while men are more focused on external things, like their careers.”

  Rafe thought of his lonely marble rolling around that box. “I don’t know, but careers put food on the table. They matter.”

  “Yes, they do. Now that I have one—or at least a job—I understand that better.”

  “But you don’t have a family to feed.” Irritation leaked into his voice. “D’Andre really struggles to do it all—pay the bills, get to his kids’ football games, keep the cars running. And that’s just the start—”

  “I know,” Daisy said quickly. “I’m sorry for what I said earlier. Jesse and your friend are good men.” She let her eyes twinkle again. “So are you.”

  Rafe appreciated the compliment, but his blood was too hot to cool quickly. “It’s just that I know what it’s like to struggle. I’ve worked with some great men—and some not-so-great men. My own dad was in the not-so-great category.”

  Daisy’s foot came to rest against his under the table. “My mom and dad split when I was little. Shane and I are half-siblings. Same mom. It’s a long story. I’ll tell you some other time.”

  He wanted to hear it now, but before he could respond, the baby in the booth behind them wailed in his ear. Daisy didn’t try to talk over the noise. He liked that about her—the way she went with the flow and didn’t overreact. The baby’s wailing stopped, and he relaxed into a smile.

  Daisy waggled her brows at him, signaling a lighter mood. “How about a change of subject?”

  “Sure.”

  “Did you date a lot in Cincinnati?”

  He liked the new subject just fine—quite a bit, in fact. “Define a lot.”

  “Once a week?”

  “It’s more like once a month, but you know how it is.” He lifted his shoulder in an offhand shrug. “You meet someone new. It’s exciting for a while, but the interest fades.”

  “Any serious girlfriends?”

  “Other than Kara—just one. She ended it, but I was on the brink of doing the same thing.” He didn’t mind the quiz from Daisy at all. It was part of getting to know each other. Before he could call for fair play with questions for her, she asked another one.

  “How about online?”

  He shook his head. “I tried it a few times but didn’t like it. What about you?”

  “I never had the courage, but Chelsea likes it a lot. She’s back on FriendsFirst.”

  Chatterbox Chelsea gave Rafe a headache; Chatterbox Chelsea meeting up with strangers for coffee, let alone drinks, put a knot in his belly. His brows pulled together with worry. “I hope she’s careful.”

  “That’s the first thing I said when she asked me what I thought. It scares me, but she won’t go anywhere without telling me.”

  “Crud.”

  “What?”

  “I just don’t like it.” It being Daisy chained to Chelsea. “It’s the cop in me. People are crazy.”

  Daisy heaved a shuddering sigh. “Tell me about it.”

  “Your ex?”

  “Yes. It’s an awful story.”

  “Oh, man.” Rafe’s whole body tightened, ready for a fight. “I already want to slug the guy.”

  “He’s in jail, so don’t worry, okay?”

  It wasn’t okay—and it was even less okay if Daisy planned to be Chelsea’s wing-girl. His cop instincts went off like a Geiger counter at Chernobyl, but arguing with Daisy would serve no purpose. Her mind was made up. He nudged the tray stacked with napkins and wrappers. “Are you ready?”

  “Yes.”

  He stood and reached for the tray. The baby wailed again. An old man with a cane hobbled past them on the way to the men’s room, his face pinched as he tried to hurry. Two tables away, a teenage girl shrieked as a drink spilled into her lap. Everywhere Rafe looked, he saw vulnerability.

  A sheen of sweat broke out on his neck. He ignored the ice-cold prickle, but a familiar helplessness overtook him, sucking him down and away. As he guided Daisy through the front door, someone angrily laid on a car horn.

  This wasn’t the mood he wanted for their first kiss, and it seemed unlikely to change as they crossed the parking lot. He opened the passenger door for her, but instead of climbing in, she turned and hugged him. Her arms tightened like ropes, and she pressed her cheek against his shoulder.

  He held her tight—a life jacket if she needed one. Or maybe she was rescuing him. Either way, they were a perfect fit.

  Daisy nestled closer, her breath warming his neck. “Thank you for today. And for worrying about Chelsea. That’s sweet of you.”

  He breathed out a sigh. “It’s hard to have a friend who takes chances.”

  “Like Kara . . .” Leaning back, she peered into his eyes. “Who, I believe, you said was a great kisser.”

  The tension drained out of him, and he relaxed enough to grin. “Did I say that?”

  “Yes, you did.” Her voice took on a lecturing tone. “Just so you know, men can be great kissers, too—or not.”

  The gauntlet had been thrown. He lowered his head, matched his mouth to hers, and kissed her for the first time—tenderly, slowly, with curiosity, and the wonder of discovery. He’d kissed a lot of women, but none of those kisses held a candle to this one. Somehow Daisy made him feel strong again, ready to kick down doors and save the day.

  When they broke apart, she was flushed and out of breath. Her fingers trailed down from his neck to the front of his shirt. Palms flat on his chest, she swayed on her feet.

  Rafe looked into her eyes. “So how did that rate on the kiss scale?” He was pretty sure he knew, but he asked anyway.

  She tilted her head to the side. “Top Ten?”

  “What?!”

  “Okay. Top Three. Maybe Top—”

  He kissed her again, just as tenderly, but with the insistence of a man who had something to prove. No way would he settle for less than rendering Daisy speechless. If first kisses asked questions, second kisses answered them. He cared about her—and wanted to care even more.

  Daisy eased back from the kiss, breathing hard. “Forget Top Three. That was Top Two, only because I think the best is yet to come.”

  “Same here,” he murmured.

  He pressed his cheek to her temple and inhaled the scent of her hair—something flowery with hints of sunshine and the day spent on the river. He breathed in the scent again, held it in his lungs, held on to her—not because of the physical attraction between them—though it was there and intense. Something even more special pulsed through him—a connection, a settling of his soul, a burst of energy that refused to be ignored.

  But what came next? A second date—yes. But there were some big differences between them, and those differences mattered.

  He wanted to go home to Cincinnati; Daisy loved Refuge and her family.

  She lived her Christian faith—something he’d seen in action today, both with her care of the boat passengers and how she credited God for the beautiful landscape. Rafe’s faith was weak at best, even damaged.

  What did her faith mean for physical intimacy? He knew Christians who were waiting for marriage, and others who weren’t. He’d respect Daisy’s boundaries, of course. He was a physical guy, but he wasn’t a beast.

  Those questions needed answers, but for now he was content to steal another kiss and be the good man she deserved.

  Chapter 15

  After church on Sunday morning, Daisy followed Shane and MJ up the stairs to his garage apartment to sort through the household items they were giving to her for her new apartment. When they finished selecting furniture, Daisy needed to buy just a twin bed that would fit in the tiny second bedroom of their new apartment. Chelsea and
Hannah would share the master when they moved on June 1.

  Daisy could hardly believe her good fortune—or her family’s generosity. Shane and MJ had a million things to do before the wedding, yet they were giving up their afternoon to help her. For the tenth time that day, her evil twin shouted in her ear.

  You don’t deserve any of this. You’re nothing but a charity case. You’re—

  Shut up! Daisy silently fought the lies, but when she turned to MJ, old words popped out of her mouth. “I’m so sorry for the timing of the move. With the wedding, you both have a million things to do—”

  “Hey.” Shane side-armed a throw pillow at her. “Stop apologizing.”

  Daisy caught the pillow and flung it back. “I’ll stop apologizing if you stop worrying about me.”

  He snagged her bad throw with one hand. “No chance of that. For one thing, I’m your brother. It’s my job to look out for you. For another, I love you.”

  Take that, evil twin! Daisy relaxed enough to smile. “I love you, too.”

  MJ chimed in from the kitchenette. “Don’t think twice about the timing. You’re helping us by taking this stuff off our hands.” She held up a white Corelle dinner plate. “Can you use these? It’s a set of four.”

  “Definitely.”

  “How about this?” She held up a set of plastic measuring cups. “I don’t think Shane ever used them.”

  “Not even once.” He grinned at his fiancée. “You do the cooking and I’ll clean up. How does that sound?”

  “Like teamwork.” MJ blew him a kiss, and they shared one of those special looks that made them a couple.

  Envy shot through Daisy, but contentment blossomed in its wake. She belonged here—in Refuge and with her family. She also loved her work and prayed for Maggie’s House to be the recipient of the giveaway—and for herself to be chosen as director. Talk about a leap of faith! Who was she to take on such a big responsibility? She was a nobody. But Lyn said God chose nobodies to be somebodies to share his love with everybodies. Daisy could hardly wait for Lyn’s visit, and until then she spent every spare moment working on ideas of her own for Maggie’s Rescue Ranch.

  A jingle from her phone signaled a text from Chelsea checking in after a FriendsFirst date. Daisy read it quickly to herself.

  “How did it go?” MJ knew about the date.

  Daisy read the text out loud. “‘Awesome good time’—with three exclamation points. ‘Headed home.’”

  “Was this with Chad?” MJ’s face lit up. “The outdoorsy guy? Maybe he can be Chelsea’s plus-one for the wedding.”

  “You’re obsessed!”

  “Just a little,” MJ admitted.

  Shane gave his wife-to-be a sizzling grin. “So am I.”

  Daisy had never seen two people more in love—or two people who had met more randomly, though she believed it was God, not coincidence, that brought her brother and MJ together in a laundromat on I-15. She supposed God could use anything to bring two people together, even FriendsFirst.

  A question sparked in her mind. “Before you two met, did either of you date online?”

  MJ’s smile dimmed. “No. Never.”

  Too late, Daisy remembered that dating had been difficult for MJ. She battled HPV, short for human papillomavirus, the dangerous strain that caused cervical cancer. The fight for her fertility wasn’t over, but her most recent pap test was clear.

  Sisters shared that sort of thing. Brothers, not so much. But Daisy still wanted Shane’s opinion. “What about you?”

  “Never.” He made a face like a toddler tasting spinach. “To be honest, I thought it was kind of sleazy. You know how I was before MJ.”

  “You mean obnoxious?” Daisy grinned. “Mr. Goody-Two-Shoes who never made a mistake?”

  “Yeah, that guy.” Shane rubbed the back of his neck. “He’s gone, but I still don’t like online dating. It doesn’t have to be sleazy, but an app turns a person into a headshot and a blurb.”

  “Maybe,” Daisy replied. “But it’s also a place to start. You were a famous professional athlete. I doubt you had trouble meeting women.”

  “None.” He propped his hands on his hips, his good looks and confidence on full display. “Being an athlete made dating easy—too easy. I didn’t like being chased.”

  Chased . . . Rafe had used the same word at Dairy Queen. Hearing it twice made Daisy wonder more about what men wanted—and needed. “Maybe the Mars-Venus difference is more real than I thought.”

  “Oh, it’s real.” His voice took on an edge. “Men test each other. We naturally compete. Do you know the Bible verse about ‘iron sharpening iron’?”

  Daisy shook her head. “Not really.”

  “It’s in Proverbs, and it’s spot-on. Competition helps a man build muscle and that’s good. But women—well, you’re different. More caring than competitive, I guess.”

  MJ and Daisy traded a glance. Daisy loved this kind of talk and wanted to hear more from Shane, even if she didn’t fully agree with him. “Women can be competitive, too.”

  “Of course.” He held up his hands, surrendering. “I’m an athlete. I understand that kind of drive.”

  “Then what did you mean?” MJ asked. “About women being more caring?”

  Shane looked into his fiancée’s eyes, his own bright with love for her, then he glanced at Daisy to include her. “You ladies might not realize it, but when a woman looks at a man a certain way—when she believes in him—he feels it in here.” Shane thumped his chest. “It makes us think that maybe we can climb that mountain after all.”

  “You do that for me,” MJ told him. “But I agree with you. Men and women are different. God made us that way, and I’m glad he did.”

  “So am I.” Shane held her gaze with an intensity all their own. “We’re good together, aren’t we?”

  “The best.” MJ’s voice softened to a quaver. She and Shane had both endured trials, come out stronger, and fought hard for each other. They weren’t expecting life to be easy, but they knew it would be good.

  So did Daisy, but a lump pushed its way into her throat. She couldn’t help but think of Rafe and their first kiss. As badly as she needed to be strong and independent, she was also a woman with a big heart, a lot to give, and dreams of sharing her life with someone special. Someone who shared her faith; someone who loved Refuge as much as she did—not a man going back to Cincinnati.

  Would Rafe change his mind and stay? Stop it! She was talking to herself, not her evil twin. No future-tripping allowed! But she couldn’t help but soak in Rafe’s kindness, his humor, the haunted look that sometimes popped into his eyes—a look she understood well because of her own scars.

  Unable to hold in feelings too big to be named, she resorted to blustering at Shane and MJ. “Hey, guys. We have work to do.”

  Shane swept his arm to indicate the whole apartment. “This place is yours anytime you want it. When Chelsea leaves, you’ll be stuck with the full rent. It’s a lot.”

  With Miss Joan’s permission, Daisy had told Shane and MJ about the giveaway. But she hadn’t mentioned the Maggie’s House proposal. She wanted Lyn’s visit to be a surprise, but she also wanted to put her brother at ease. “If things go the way I hope, rent won’t be a problem. Miss Joan promised to put in a good word for me with whatever charity wins.”

  MJ raised her eyebrows. “That would be a relief, wouldn’t it?”

  Like Daisy, MJ knew the value of a career. In Los Angeles, she had worked retail and barely scraped by. With Shane’s income, she could be a stay-at-home mom if she wanted, but she had a heart for women’s health issues and planned to enroll in a community college nursing program.

  Footsteps tapped up the stairs. A moment later, Chelsea knocked on the screen door. “Hi, there!”

  MJ waved her into the apartment. “Come on in. We want to hear about the date.”

  Shane groaned. “Why don’t the three of you head back to the house? I’ll finish up here.”

  MJ gave him a quick kiss, a
nd the women headed down the stairs with Chelsea in the lead, already gushing about Chad, his great sense of humor, and how they planned to have dinner on Tuesday—but only if someone could watch Hannah.

  “I’d be glad to watch her,” Daisy replied.

  “Thanks, Daize. You’re the best.” Chelsea blew a kiss to Hannah on the other side of the yard. The little girl waved back but didn’t come running. She was having too much fun with Cody and the neighbor kids.

  Daisy couldn’t help but wonder about the future. “Did you tell Chad that you’re leaving in the fall?”

  “I mentioned the possibility, but who knows? I like it here. Maybe I’ll stay.”

  Now that she had a family, Daisy couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. But if Chelsea could change her mind about staying in Refuge, so could Rafe. The thought pleased her far more than was wise, but she secretly hoped that someday soon he’d have a conversation like this one with Jesse.

  Chapter 16

  “Thanks again, Doc,” Rafe said to Dr. Susan at the end of the FaceTime session on Tuesday morning.

  With her wavy white hair and red-framed glasses, the psychologist looked more like a grandmother than a battle-hardened army nurse. She smiled at him from the iPad screen. “You’re doing the hard part, Rafe. Are you still planning to return to work on August 1?”

  “Yes.” Daisy’s face flashed through his mind. “Yes . . . I am.”

  “You sound hesitant.”

  “About getting back to work? No.”

  Dr. Susan paused for several seconds, giving him time to reply. He liked that about her. She never rushed him or told him what he should think or feel. She simply listened, considered, and shared her knowledge. He’d been nightmare-free for four days now, but he’d lost sleep over Daisy and his feelings for her. If Dr. Susan had advice, he wanted to hear it.

  A crooked smile lifted his lips. “You’re sharp, Doc. I met someone. It’s good—except she’s hardwired into Refuge and I’m hardwired into Cincy.”

  “I won’t blow sunshine here.” Dr. Susan never did. “Balancing her needs and yours could be a challenge. My only advice is to give it time and, if you’re so inclined, to pray about it.”