His Bundle of Love / the Color of Courage

by Patricia Davids

  “You don’t have to tell me about it if you don’t want to.”

  “I don’t remember much about the accident itself. I do remember how hard it was to keep my eyes open looking into the snow. I must have fallen asleep at the wheel.”

  He patted his leg. “When I woke up rescue workers were cutting me out of what was left of our car. I reached for Emily. I found her hand in the darkness and then I felt her leave me. I felt her spirit touch mine and then she was gone.”

  “I’m so sorry.”

  Instead of answering, Brian rose and took another temperature reading on his patient. He had exposed enough of his soul for one night. “The fever is definitely going down.”

  “Thank the Lord for answering our prayers.”

  “I would say it is thanks to modern medicine.”

  “Perhaps the Lord’s plan called for both medicine and prayers.”

  “I doubt it. I’m sorry. It’s just that I gave up praying a long time ago.”

  “Because of Emily?”

  He wanted to say yes, but he wasn’t sure the words would make it past the lump in his throat.

  She laid a hand on his arm. “It’s okay. God will be there when you are ready to pray again.”

  “I don’t think much of a God who allows terrible things to happen to good people.”

  “The Lord never promised that we wouldn’t suffer. He did promise that He will always be with us.”

  “You surprise me.”

  “Why?”

  “Religion and a military life don’t seem to go together.”

  She smiled slightly. “Maybe not to you, but to most of us serving our country, it makes perfect sense. If I’m called to put my life on the line, I know that God has my back.”

  “Didn’t your brother’s injury leave you with doubts about that?”

  “My brother’s injury left me with the same anger and grief that everyone feels at a time like that. What God gives me is comfort, and the sure and certain knowledge that He is with me. My strength comes from Him.”

  Deciding it was time to change the subject, he asked, “Whatever possessed a woman like you to enlist in the army in the first place?”

  She looked at him askew. “Why shouldn’t a woman join the army?”

  “I not saying a woman can’t do the job. I’m just wondering why a woman would want to. You could be sent into a combat zone.”

  “You mean people might shoot at me?”

  “Well, yes.”

  “Here’s a news flash. I’ve been trained to shoot back. I even have a gun.”

  “Would you? Shoot back, I mean?”

  “Yes. Does that make me a bad person in your eyes?”

  “Of course not. Do you plan to make it a career?”

  Leaning against the wall, she stretched her legs out and stared at her feet. “You have to understand that I come from a military family. The Mandels have served with distinction since the Civil War. Growing up, I always knew that I would enlist when I was old enough. I don’t think my father would have approved of any other choice. He certainly wasn’t happy when Karen started talking about becoming a teacher instead of a soldier.”

  “Teaching is an admirable profession.”

  “Not for a Mandel.”

  “So will Karen enlist, too?”

  “Not for all the tea in China. She has stated categorically that she has no interest in wearing fatigues or taking orders from strangers.”

  “What does your mother think about your career choice?”

  It was the first time Brian had seen uncertainty and regret in her eyes. She looked down and plucked a piece of straw from the bale. “My mother doesn’t care one way or the other.”

  Brian sat down beside her. “What makes you say that?”

  Fighting back ugly memories, Lindsey wrapped the piece of straw around her finger like a wedding ring. When she realized what she was doing, she pulled it off and threw it aside. “My mother left my father when I was ten. Two days before my birthday, actually. We never heard from her again.”

  “That must have been rough,” he said gently.

  “We managed.” Only because she, Danny and Karen had had each other. Their father had retreated into his work, the work their mother had hated. He spent long hours away from home, and it wasn’t long before he was transferred to a new post. After that, Lindsey gave up watching for her mother to come back.

  It was at the new post that they met a wonderful man by the name of Chaplain Carson. A kind and generous man, he always made time for the lonely kids who lived next door. In more ways than one, he helped all of them through that terrible time as he taught them about God’s love.

  “Does your father still feel the same way about the service after your brother was wounded?”

  Brian’s question jerked Lindsey out of the past. “I’m sure my father suffers as any man must suffer to see his son injured and hurting. But Dad is as proud as I am of what Danny did.”

  “Of course. I just thought that he might want you out of harm’s way.”

  “He worries, but he knows I’ll do my duty. It’s up to me to carry on the family tradition. My father doesn’t have to tell me that. It’s understood.”

  “What would you do if there wasn’t an army?”

  She scowled at him. “What kind of question is that? There will always be an army. ‘The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.’ Thomas Jefferson said that and he was right.”

  “But what if you couldn’t stay in the service for some reason? What would you do?”

  The question was so foreign that Lindsey wasn’t sure how to answer it. It had always been the army or nothing.

  “Come on,” he coaxed. “Think outside the box.”

  “I honestly don’t know.”

  “What did your father do after he retired?”

  “Drove us nuts.”

  Brian chuckled and Lindsey found to her surprise that she adored the sound. Still, she wanted to change the subject, so she asked, “What do your parents do?”

  “They’re ranchers. My family owns a spread outside of Missoula, Montana. They both still work as hard as they ever did, according to my older brother. He ranches with them.”

  “Why didn’t you stay in the family business?”

  “That’s a long story.”

  She glanced at her watch. “Looks like I have time to listen.”

  “Okay. Long story short. As a kid, I was reckless. I thought more about impressing my friends than my own safety. One day, on a dare, I tried to ride my horse down the side of a steep embankment the way they do in the movies. We fell. How I wasn’t killed outright I’ll never know, but my mare broke both her front legs. When my friends brought my father to the scene, Dad gave me the rifle and told me to put her down because it was obvious her life didn’t mean anything to me.”

  “What a cruel thing to say.”

  “Maybe it was, but he was right.”

  “Did you do it?”

  “I couldn’t, so my father did. But that day I vowed I’d never be the cause of another horse’s suffering. I knew then that I’d be a vet.”

  “And you never wanted to be anything else?”

  “Occasionally, I have this recurring desire to work in a movie theater and make popcorn.”

  “You’re kidding, right?” She stared at him in amazement.

  “Think about it. The smell of buttery popcorn all day long. Can’t you just imagine it?”

  Lindsey closed her eyes. “The sound of the popper and the sight of fluffy white kernels pouring out from under a silver lid.”

  “Can you think of a better job?”

  “Driving a tank,” she stated without hesitation. “You’d never be caught in another traffic jam. You could roll ov
er anything in your way.”

  “Parking on campus might be a problem, though.”

  “Not a bit. Find the space you want and park on top of the car that’s there.” She glanced at him trying to control the laughter building inside. “After all, who is going to argue with a woman in a tank?”

  “Good point. Can I rent one from you?”

  She giggled and he began to laugh outright. His laugh had a wonderful, deep timbre. One she wanted to hear over and over again.

  His smile slowly faded. “Since it looks like Dakota is through the worst of it, I’d better get home for a few hours and make up with Isabella.”

  The name was like a douse of cold water on Lindsey’s joy. Did he have another woman in his life? The thought was a sobering one. Then the realization hit her. It mattered. It mattered more than she cared to admit. She swallowed hard. “Who is Isabella?”

  “My bunny.”

  She wasn’t quite sure she’d heard him correctly. “Your bunny. As in rabbit?”

  He looked at her sharply. “Yes. Why is that so odd?”

  She grinned, almost giddy with relief. “I’m not sure. I guess I pictured you as the kind of guy who kept a bulldog or maybe a python.”

  “Sorry to disappoint you. All I have is a domineering French Lop.”

  “I sense a story.”

  He glanced at his watch. “One that will have to wait for another day. I’ll be back in a few hours. I have a surgery scheduled for eight o’clock this morning. You have my beeper number if you need me. I only live about ten minutes away.”

  “Dakota seems much better. I’m sure we’ll be fine on our own for a few hours.”

  “There is always a student on duty if you need anything. I’ll see you later.”

  “Good night, Brian.”

  He stood and she rose to face him. The air between them suddenly seemed charged with electricity. She longed to reach out and smooth his rumpled shirt. She wanted to comb her fingers through his tousled hair and coax it into some kind of order. Instead, she stuffed her hand into the hip pocket of her jeans and took a step back.

  For a long moment, he simply stared into her eyes, then with a nod, he walked away. It wasn’t until then that she remembered to breathe.

  A few hours later, Dakota’s temperature had fallen to a normal level. His appetite returned with a vengeance and he made short work of any apple slices that came within range. When Lindsey turned away to pull another piece of fruit from the brown paper bag by the cot, he whinnied loudly, waking Karen.

  She sat up rubbing her eyes. “That sounds like he’s feeling better.”

  “Much better.”

  “What time is it? Or maybe I should ask what day is it?”

  Lindsey glanced at her watch. “It’s the day before Thanksgiving and it’s after nine.”

  “Why did you let me sleep so long?”

  “You looked so peaceful that I didn’t have the heart to wake you.”

  Tipping her head first to the right and then to the left, Karen winced. “My neck would have been happier if you had. Where is Brian?”

  “He had a surgery this morning.”

  “You two seemed to be getting along rather well last night.”

  “I thought you were asleep?”

  “I was—most of the time. What did you and he find to talk about until the wee hours of the morning?”

  “This and that. You know how it is. Small talk mostly.”

  “Small talk?” Something in Karen’s expression told Lindsey that she wasn’t buying that line.

  “All right, if you want me to admit that I’m beginning to like the guy, I will.”

  “I thought so.” She folded her arms over her chest and looked smug.

  Lindsey turned away and began to toss flakes of hay into Dakota’s stall. “Just because I like him doesn’t mean anything except that it will be easier to keep working with him.”

  “I wouldn’t be too sure about that. I sense more than a casual interest.”

  “I’m not looking for love, Karen, if that’s where this is going. I have plans to make the army my career. Marriage and the military don’t mix. Not for me, anyway.”

  “You’re thinking about Mother. Just because our parents couldn’t make their marriage work isn’t any reason to believe you can’t make a relationship work. I don’t remember much about Mom because I was only six when she left, but from all that Danny has told me, I can see you are a much stronger woman than she was. You have a good heart and a strong faith. Why not trust that God will bring the right man into your life?”

  She glanced at Karen. “What makes you think Brian is the right man?”

  Karen stepped up and took her by the shoulder. Giving her a gentle shake, she said, “Girlfriend, what makes you so sure he isn’t?”

  Chapter Eight

  The Monday after the holiday weekend, Brian sat in his office trying to concentrate on drafting a letter of appeal for funds to buy an ambulance when he noticed Isabella creeping toward his Wildcat mug. He knew that look in her eye. Picking her up before she could snatch one of his freshly sharpened pencils and chew it into splinters, he scolded softly, “I see what you’re trying to do. I’ve got to get this letter done, so that means you have to go outside.”

  Outside was one of her favorite words. She loved racing up and down the long fenced area he’d had built beside the building and nibbling on the fresh grass.

  He needed a break anyway. The words on his yellow legal pad weren’t anywhere near the tone he wanted to convey. Instead of fine-tuning his letter, all he had done that morning was think about Lindsey.

  Rising, he picked up his cane from where it leaned against his desk and made his way toward the door. As he pulled it open, Isabella suddenly leaped out of his arms and took off toward the stall area. He hurried after her, knowing she could easily be hurt if she ran into one of the occupied pens. Fortunately, he saw the double doors at the end of the hall were closed.

  He was only a step away from his pet when one of the doors opened and two students came through. It was all the opportunity Isabella needed.

  “Catch her,” he called out.

  By the time the befuddled students realized what he was talking about, the rabbit had darted between them and through the doorway.

  “Isabella, come back here!” His shout did nothing to stem her headlong flight.

  Running past the students, Brian entered the stall area and scanned the large enclosure for any sign of his fleeing pet. Checking each pen as he hurried past, he didn’t see Private Barnes until he almost ran into him.

  “Whoa, there, Doc. What’s the rush?”

  “Did you see a rabbit come this way?”

  “A what?”

  “Isabella is loose?” The familiar female voice made Brian looked past the young soldier. Jennifer was sitting on a folding chair beside the army cot, but she jumped to her feet, a look of alarm on her face.

  Happy to have an ally who understood what was needed, Brian nodded. “Make sure all the outside doors are closed.”

  She grabbed the soldier’s arm. “Of course. Avery, you go that way and I’ll make sure everything on this end is shut. Give a shout if you see her.”

  “What sort of rabbit am I looking for?”

  She rolled her eyes and gave him a shove. “The fuzzy kind that hops. Now hurry, but don’t scare the horses.”

  Brian retraced his steps and began searching more slowly. There were numerous bales of hay and bags of feed stacked along the center of the wide aisles. She could be behind any of them or under the wooden pallets they rested on.

  He’d only finished checking a small area when Jennifer returned. “None of the outside doors are open. I’ve left Avery in charge of seeing that no one goes in or out.”

&n
bsp; Brian stared around the large building. “Why would she suddenly decide she wanted to come in here? She loves going outside. I distinctly told her she was going outside.”

  “That may be my fault,” Jennifer admitted with a pained look. “I brought her out here with me yesterday.”

  “And why were you out here instead of at the desk?”

  “Avery...that is...Private Barnes asked for some help with the thermal thermometer.”

  His scowl prompted her to add quickly, “I held on to Isabella the whole time. I didn’t let her run loose. She wasn’t even frightened by the horse when he came over to check her out.”

  Brian sighed, trying to hide his vexation. “All right, we’ll talk about this after we find her. You take that aisle and I’ll take this one. Check everywhere.”

  “We don’t have to. There she is.”

  He turned to see Jennifer pointing toward Dakota’s stall. The big horse was lying down with his legs tucked under him. His neck was arched as he sniffed the bunny cuddled up against his chest. Brian approached the stall slowly. He didn’t want to startle Dakota into lunging to his feet. One misstep and the little rabbit could be seriously injured, or worse.

  “Come here, Isabella,” he called softly. Dakota looked up at the sound of his voice, but the rabbit didn’t move. Brian didn’t see any choice. He would have to go in and get her.

  “All right, big fella, you just stay relaxed.” Brian opened the gate slowly and stepped inside the stall. Dakota threw his head up as if he was about to rise.

  “Stay down, Dakota.” The command came from behind Brian. He shot a quick look over his shoulder. Lindsey stood at the gate.

  “He’ll stay still now. It’s okay,” she assured him.

  “How can you be so certain?”

  “It’s what he’s been trained to do. He has to follow orders just like the rest of us.”

  Trusting her word, Brian walked to the pair and scooped up Isabella. She squirmed and tried to get down again, but he held on tightly.

  Lindsey arrived beside them and squatted to pat Dakota’s neck. “They look so cute together. Why don’t you leave her here. She certainly seems to make him happy.”

  “It would be too risky.” Brian ran his hand down Isabella’s long, soft ears. “Lindsey, allow me to introduce you to Isabella the Terrible.”