by Cheryl Wyatt
She’d let herself get too close to Ian. Dependent. To care and be cared for. She’d joined their tight-knit fray of friendship. That’s all this was. Yet why didn’t Bri feel threatened by Kate in that case? Because Kate never looked at Ian like the lady doctor had.
Bri shook off the stupid thought. “Tia, this way.”
Halfway across the lot, she caught Tia eyeing her sling. “I been wondering, what happened to your arm?”
“I fell off a ladder and broke it. Your dad helped me.”
Tia gasped. “He helped you fall and break it?”
Bri laughed. “No, silly goose. I broke it all on my own. He helped me afterward. I’m very thankful he was close by.”
Tia glanced back to the center, where an ambulance pulled in. “He helps lotsa people. It’s why he went away for a very long time in the war.” Tia looked thoughtful yet downtrodden, as if she wanted to run back and hug him like there was no tomorrow. But there was, thanks to God and answered prayer.
“He tells me he’s glad to be back. You’re the best part of his life now.” Bri took Tia to check on Mistletoe snoozing in his kennel with a new blanket Bri suspected Ian had gotten him.
“Why wasn’t I the best part before?” Tia’s face shuttered.
Bri didn’t know what to say to that. Ian was right. Tia had extraordinary wisdom, reasoning and vocabulary beyond her years and therefore was harder to deal with than most kids her age.
“What happened to the little girl?” Tia eyed EPTC as they climbed the steps to Bri’s cabin decks.
“I’m not sure. I feel terrible for her, though, don’t you?”
Tia nodded, somber. “Yes. I’m sad about me, too. Boom isn’t as fun as a real friend.”
Bri hugged her shoulders. “Me and your dad will work on finding friends for you.” Tia’s eyes lit up, so Bri amended, “Which is to say, I’ll talk with your dad about finding you some playmates.”
Walking into the kitchen, Bri gathered Jonah’s fish food. Since it would be a while before Mistletoe reached countertops, they decided it was safe to keep him at Bri’s for ease of feeding and because Ian’s hours were unpredictable.
At least, they were before a pretty Alaska doctor came.
Bri scowled at herself and her silly insecurities, especially in light of Dr. Lockhart’s horrific loss.
Tia ran up when she saw the fish food. “Can I do it?”
“Yes, but only as much as I showed you. Overfeeding Jonah can hurt him.” Bri observed the fantailed fuchsia creature.
Tia sprinkled the pinch as Bri had shown her. Tia sighed. “I didn’t deserve the fishy. Or my new dolly.” Tia’s chin and shoulders drooped. “Santa needs new glasses. I was very bad.”
Bri leaned elbows on the counter. “Why do you say that?”
“I was mean to Da—him.” She jabbed a finger toward the trauma center. Bri knew she meant Ian. “He said I’d see Mommy on Christmas and I didn’t. I was very mad and messed up my room. Then Grandma told me it was Mommy’s fault.”
Hurray for Ian’s mother. Bri wiped Tia’s tears. “And you feel bad for blaming him?”
Tia nodded. Finger in her mouth, she dipped her head.
Bri wrapped her arms around her and held her close. “Tia, he understands. He’s hurting, too, mostly for you.”
Tia quivered. “He might get mad enough to leave.”
“No. That will never happen. He loves you despite what you do. Always remember that, okay?”
Tia’s expression relaxed, but not the writhing of her hands.
Bri picked one of the books she’d given Tia for Christmas that Tia wanted to leave here. “Want to read this one?”
After reading books, Tia asked to watch a movie.
Bri picked out a Cinderella DVD. “How about this one?”
Tia sifted through the stack. “That one looks good, but I was hoping for Tinker Bell. She’s a fairy, you know.”
“So I’ve heard. It doesn’t look like she’s here.” Bri looked again through the animated movies Ian had brought to be sure. “I’ll mention to your dad about Tinker Bell.”
“No!” Tia clutched Bri’s good arm. “Please don’t ask him.”
Bri turned at Tia’s fearful tone. “He won’t get angry at you asking for something.”
“Mama does. Did. She got very mad. So I never asked.”
Bri knelt. She had to be careful with her words. The fact that Tia was starting to speak of her mother in the past tense spoke volumes. “Would you like me to ask your dad for you?”
“Will he get mad?”
“I really don’t think he will.”
Bri thought she heard her door open and close. Probably Kate. She was supposed to drop another arm bandage by for Bri.
“I had Tinker Bell slippers at home.” Tears began to roll down Tia’s face. “At my mom’s home. Not at Ian’s.”
Bri wondered why Tia had to leave her mom’s so fast she hadn’t gotten to take all her stuff. She’d ask Ian for information later.
“He’s your dad, Tia.” Please give him a chance. “It’s disrespectful not to call him that, even when you feel so mad you don’t want to.”
“But I do want to,” Tia’s lips said, but her eyes whispered she just couldn’t. Not yet. Wow. Bri did not expect that response or the barrage of Tia’s conflicted tears that followed.
Bri’s heart twisted in empathy. As she looked into the pain-speckled eyes of the cutest little girl this side of the Mississippi, whose heart had become too hollowed to hope, Bri suddenly felt way in over her head as she hugged Tia gently.
Way in over her heart, too.
Lord, I don’t know what to say or do.
This was going to be far more difficult, and heart-wrenching, than Bri imagined.
When she looked up in the doorway and locked gazes with Ian’s remarkably kind and handsome eyes above Tia’s head, she knew falling for him was going to be easier than she imagined, too.
“Tia, you know how we’re rebuilding the lodge? God puts broken things and people back together, too.”
Ian caught it as well as Tia, because he turned his cheek slowly, attention going retro on her words. He stared at Bri for a full minute, then, “Doing okay, T-ia?”
No missing it. Ian’s voice changed on his daughter’s name. A hitch in cadence. A hairline fracture in tone. His fingers had also fluttered over his heart at her mention. He turned to go.
The truth hit Bri like a hurricane: rudeness wasn’t Ian’s prime problem.
He was hurting for his daughter.
His curtness and silence were symptoms. She was beginning to understand how he was wired. Beginning to care too much.
Lord, I took this on, and You know how hard it is for me to ask for help. I’m in over my head, and unless I’m imagining things, I’m about to be in over my heart. Please help me.
Chapter Twelve
Ian’s phone rang the next morning. Lem’s farm-tanned face and huge grin lit the screen. Ian smiled, too. “Hey, Lem.”
“Howdy, partner,” Lem said in his Southern Illinois twang. “I’m calling to remind you my chili cook-off’s today instead of Saturday because of the New Year’s Eve shindig. It’d mean a lot to me if you and your little’n would come join the fun today.”
Ian considered the progress they’d made on cabins. Thought about how Lem had spearheaded a great portion of the help. “We’d love to. I’ll get Tia ready and head over.”
“Say, bring that babysitter of yours, too. She hasn’t had the pleasure of tasting my chili yet, and I don’t want Mitch to beat me to her.”
Ian laughed at the friendly war Lem and Mitch waged over who could make the best chili. Hence the chili cook-off.
“I’ll see if she’ll accompany us.” Ian felt strange calling Bri
, but really, she needed a day out of the house, too.
“Hello?” she answered in a still-groggy voice.
Ian was stricken with how feeble she’d looked the day she’d met Dr. Lockhart, who, admittedly, had clung to Ian like Velcro. He knew it merely stemmed from a professional bond they shared over practicing in the same career field. Why had Bri looked so apprehensive?
Ian cleared his throat. “Hey, we’re headed to Lem’s today and wondered if you’d want to ride along. Kate and Lauren will be there, too,” he tacked on, so it wouldn’t seem like a date or anything.
Ian loosened the neck of his shirt, which suddenly felt tight.
“Mmm, sure. That sounds fun. Mitch has been asking me to try his chili, anyway.”
“Oh, no. You have to try Lem’s first. Or Lem’s likely to drag me across his cornfield by my ear, like he used to do with Mitch when he was younger and wreaking havoc in Lem’s fields.”
Bri giggled. “Yes, Sarge. I’ll be ready in ten minutes.”
And she was. Bri wore jeans, rodeo cowgirl boots with suede eagles on them and a chambray top that had glitter strands woven in its plaid. Tia reached out and brushed her hand along it when Bri leaned in to put a wool blanket in the seat. “Ooh! Pretty! Pink and purple and shiny.”
Bri ruffled Tia’s hair. “I wore it just for you.”
“Sit with me!” Tia patted the backseat. Bri climbed up.
Ian drove on the road leading from Eagle Point to Refuge where Lem’s farm was, confounded more each mile as to why it had disappointed him when Bri hadn’t sat in the front.
At Lem’s, the chili cooking was in full swing, with Mitch and Lem ribbing each other. The married PJs’ kids immediately took to Tia and included her in their games and antics. “We should’ve brought Mistletoe,” Bri said, watching them fondly.
“Next time,” Ian promised, then approached Lauren, who was giving tractor rides. Ian booted Lauren off, then faced Bri. “Want to see Lem’s place?”
“Sure.” Ian helped her up, then fired it up. Kate and the PJs’ wives oversaw the kids. Ian took Bri for a rickety spin around Lem’s property. She giggled every time he went over ruts. Ian didn’t want to admit how much fun he was having. On the trail, Ian pointed out wildlife that didn’t spook or run at their approach. River otter, deer, rabbits and a turkey.
Twenty minutes into the ride, Bri pointed to a turtle upside down in the road. “Ian, look! Poor little thing.”
“First off, he’s not little.” Ian shut the tractor off and lifted Bri down, reveling in how right she felt that brief instant in his arms. “Second...” Ian blanked. Her proximity didn’t help matters.
Bri blinked wide at Ian. He realized he still held her around the waist. “Sorry,” he muttered, yet didn’t actually feel one bit sorry. Bri clutched his arm as he approached the turtle.
He stepped close enough to see what kind it was. Bri leaned out. His arm halted her back. “Hold up, Bri. He’s a snapper.” Ian took a stick and tried to push him off the road. The turtle hissed and clawed but only moved in a circle. He was too heavy for the stick. And madder than all get-out.
“My word, he’s a temperamental thing.”
“He’ll hurt you like crazy if he bites you, so stay back.”
“Isn’t that just like us? Our world flips upside down, then we lash out at the one trying to set us right?” Bri eyed Ian pointedly.
She had a point. But he was on a mission. He was getting the stubborn thing to safety despite its cantankerous nature.
“If I can get him to the ditch, I can turn him right side up.” Ian nudged the turtle with his boot, but the shell simply spun. The turtle hissed. Ian tried again. No go.
Finally, Ian grabbed the tail end of the shell and hefted the hissing creature toward the ditch. “Stand way back,” Ian hollered, then, flipping the turtle over, set it down quickly and leaped away like an antelope.
“Ian!” Bri screeched, then burst out in a run and hysterical laughter as the angry snapper shot forward and went after Ian.
“They’re faster and heavier than they look.” He leaped onto the tractor, where she’d scrambled. The turtle crawled slow and stout toward them. He came to a stop below their feet and proceeded to hiss and stare them down. “Don’t step down, whatever you do.” Now Ian’s voice cracked with laughter, too. It’d been a long time since he’d laughed this freely. It felt good. Liberating.
Bri’s head dipped, shoulders quaked with snickers. “Sorry, Ian, it’s just if you could’ve have seen your face when he came out of that ditch after you.” Her words gave way to giggles.
Ian chuckled, too. The turtle continued to hiss and stalk.
Bri shifted uncomfortably, making Ian realize she hung on one-handed. This wouldn’t do. He hoisted her up into the seat.
“What are we going to do?” she said between snickers.
“Hey, far as I’m concerned, that was a trap.” Ian jabbed a finger at the turtle. “He can get his grumpy self off the road this time.” Ian lifted up his pant leg, showing Bri where the turtle had snipped a hole in his jeans. Ian had ripped the material free, jerking and dragging the turtle with him.
Bri gasped. “I didn’t realize they were so mean.”
Ian made a scoffing sound but eyed her adoringly. “Yeah, poor thing, my foot.” He shook his head and pulled himself up.
Her face deadpanned. “Ian, you can’t just leave him there.”
“Me? Seriously? After he hissed and snapped like that, you want me to risk life and limb to help him?”
Her eyes turned a lot like Mistletoe’s. Irresistible. He sighed. But climbed over the other side of the tractor and used the stick to lure the turtle far enough off the road he’d be safe. The turtle snapped at the branch all the way to the forest, whipping around every so often to run at Ian’s dancing feet. Bri’s melodious voice rang, face flushed from laughing.
Ian climbed back on the tractor and peered into the forest, whose majestically hued leaves were scattered among foliage now camouflaging the snapper. Ian realized with wonder that for the first time in a long time, he felt relaxed, stress-free and calm, despite having been chased by one of the biggest, meanest, fastest turtles he’d ever seen.
He started the tractor, still grinning. “Tia tells me all the time how fun you are to be with, Bri. I see what she means.”
Bri’s smile could reverse a sunset. Ian’s sense of well-being increased as she snuggled into him a tiny bit more than before. “Cold?” he asked.
She shook her head and elevated her arm on his leg as if they were the best of friends. Maybe these days they were.
Comfortable. Safe. Constant. That’s what she felt like.
And this time, it had absolutely nothing to do with her being the babysitter. “Bri, you make me believe it’s possible to enjoy life again.”
She shifted in the seat to peer at him. “It’s always possible, Ian. You’ll see.” My goodness, her sweet smile and stunner eyes almost made him run Lem’s tractor into a tree. That would be bad.
Meanwhile, did Bri have any idea what she was walking into?
“Fair warning. Everybody is probably all wondering where we went,” Ian warned. “And why we were gone so long.”
Bri’s cheeks tinged. “Surely they’ll believe us and not tease us or come to the wrong conclusion.”
Ian burst out laughing. “You don’t know them very well.”
Bri gasped. “What will the children think?”
Ian slowed the tractor and turned around, his eyes with a teasing glint. “They’ll think I stopped and gave you a kiss.”
Her eyes widened. She smacked his shoulder. Ian’s ears went ablaze when he blurted that.
“Sorry. That was probably inappropriate.”
Bri grew very quiet. Fidgety, too. He hadn’t meant to embarrass her. B
ut apologizing over his poor choice in subject matter would only bring it up again. Best not to.
The rest of the trip was a bit more subdued, yet Ian still didn’t want his time with Bri to end. Was he veering into dangerous waters? He really wasn’t sure.
“Me next, me next!” Tia exclaimed when Ian parked in Lem’s yard. Bri scrambled off and helped Tia into the front. He ignored the smirks and direct stares from the PJs and his trauma crew. Even Lem had an ornery glint in his eyes.
Great. The matchmakers were in full swing, and Lem was their unswerving ringleader. “Tia, want to go see bunnies?”
“Yay!”
Mitch helped her up. Ian wrapped a protective arm around her and off they went.
Tia giggled and squealed more than Bri had. Ian smiled. “Who knew one could have so much fun on a tractor?”
“Lookie!” Tia said as they pulled back into Lem’s yard.
“Looks like they’re getting ready for a hayride.” Ian indicated the long trailer filled with hay bales.
Ian helped Tia off and settled her next to Bri at the tables. Bri smiled up at him, nearly making him trip. He couldn’t seem to take his eyes off her.
And Kate wouldn’t stop snickering behind her hand. Ian gave her a narrowed gaze and shook his head. Attraction or not, Ian couldn’t feed this. A wistfulness went through him that made him wish he could. If only he’d met Bri at a different time in life.
She caught his gaze. He looked away. Went to help Mitch hook up the flatbed trailers to the tractors. While everyone was loading between the two, Ian helped Bri up, then settled himself and Tia next to her. But not too close.
Kate swept in and scooped Tia from Ian’s arms. “This little one’s coming with me.” Kate put Tia on her shoulders and galloped to the other trailer. Tia giggled all the way.
“Excuse me,” Bri said beside him as PJs and their wives crammed in so tight it forced Ian and Bri to scoot together. Bri’s eyes widened. Ian shot them all a lethal look. “What’s wrong with the other side of the trailer?”