Meant To Be: A Malsum Pass Novel

by Kimberly Forrest

She had waited until he had come home on leave to tell him, not wanting to drop that bombshell in a letter. Thomas, of course, had done the right thing and they had gone to the courthouse to get married. She hadn’t really known what to expect, but having a man ask her if she was doing this of her own free will before having her sign some papers had not been it. There had been no pretty gown, no bouquet of flowers. There hadn’t been vows or an exchange of rings. No wedding cake, or guests to wish them well with champagne toasts. No father-daughter dance or excited bridesmaids jostling for position to catch the bouquet. Just a cold-faced officiant and some signatures. His duty by her satisfied, Thomas had shipped out for SOI training and was deployed after graduation. He hadn’t come home again. If he had had leave in the interim, he hadn’t used it to come see her. Jeremy had been born healthy and strong but Thomas hadn’t been there to see it. She’d written numerous letters and received barely a handful in return, but she understood that he was busy – and then he was gone.

  Thomas’s parents had despised her at first, thinking she had purposely trapped their son, but after Thomas had died, they had been so grateful for Jeremy. They had opened up their home to her to be closer to their grandchild. And she had been grateful to them for their generosity.

  Laughter from the living room intermingled with a woof from Clyde brought Elizabeth back to the present. Conner was watching her with an expression she couldn’t read as he said. “You still miss him.”

  Elizabeth drained the small bit of wine that was left in her glass and shook her head. “It was a long time ago. Sometimes Jeremy will do something and I’ll think, boy Thomas would have loved that, or Thomas would be so proud.” She smiled sadly. “It’s sad that father and son never knew each other, but my time with Thomas feels like a lifetime ago. I’m a very different person than I was then.”

  Conner’s mouth kicked up in a half smile. “Is that a good thing, or…”

  Elizabeth released a self-deprecating laugh. “Oh, a very good thing. Definitely. Having a child, being responsible for someone else, it changes you in a good way I think. At least with me, I tend to think of Jeremy first before I do things, so I’m not as selfish or careless as I was before I had him.”

  Conner nodded his eyes moving over her face as if he was trying to see inside her head. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat but then Conner broke the tension by saying loudly enough for his voice to carry, “Who wants ice cream?”

  Chapter Twelve

  The next morning Conner loaded the air conditioning unit into the bed of his truck. He’d forgotten to mention it to her last night before she left. He couldn’t regret that though, since it gave him an excuse to go out for a visit. Granted, he’d also have an excuse when he went out to work on the repairs, but then he’d be with his brothers, and, well, working. It wasn’t easy to charm a lady with his brothers listening and critiquing everything he did.

  Conner stared vacantly at his truck and scratched his head. Not that this woman was easy to charm. He’d never had to work at it before. Women came to him. Hell, they practically threw themselves at him, but the woman who was meant to be his, could barely stand to be in the same room as him.

  After she had told him about J.T’s father, the sadness in her eyes, well, he’d wanted to dispel it quickly, thus the suggestion for ice cream. It had backfired. Oh, she had smiled all right, but she’d spent the remainder of the evening in the living room cheering on her son as J.T annihilated Zack’s best race times. He hadn’t had an opportunity to be alone with her again.

  So was it the dead husband? Was she still hung up on him? Her words had implied that she wasn’t, but… He swiped a hand over his face in aggravation. How did you compete with a ghost? And not just any ghost, but the ghost of a war hero. Insurmountable odds. He grit his teeth and growled. He would have to impress her, but how? What would impress someone like her? He thought of the previous night and remembered those moments of connection – her smile. They’d all come after he’d done something nice for her son.

  The proverbial light bulb over his head switched on. That was it. J.T was the key. He practically jogged back up to his apartment to grab a couple of baseball mitts and a ball. The way to Elizabeth’s heart was through her son. Easy. Besides, he liked J.T and he liked sports – combining the two would be simple.

  When he arrived at the camp, he saw that Elizabeth and J.T were both awake and were taking advantage of the cooler morning temperatures on a couple of lawn chairs outside. J.T jumped from his chair and practically ran toward Conner’s truck, a big grin on his face as he called out a greeting. Elizabeth barely acknowledged him, just lifted her book and resumed reading. He clamped his teeth down on a growl. Why couldn’t the mother be as excited to see him as the son?

  “Hey, big man,” Conner said getting out of the truck. “I’ve got a surprise for you and your mom.”

  The boy’s eyes lit with excitement. “What?”

  Conner walked around and lowered the tailgate of his truck. “Well, this one might not be so exciting for you, but I’m sure your mom will appreciate it. Do you want to help me put it in?”

  “Mom! Conner brought us an air conditioner!” J.T yelled.

  A murmur of thank God came to him on the breeze and he grinned. Sometimes having wolf hearing was a blessing.

  She came over and joined them at the truck. “I was thinking about ordering one. That camp was like an oven last night, even with the fans.”

  She gave him a polite smile, the same smile she would probably bestow on a clerk at a store or a random stranger. Not the smile one would give to a man you may consider taking as a lover. Conner grimaced. He definitely had his work cut out for him.

  She turned toward the camp. “Let me get my purse. Do you have a receipt so I can reimburse you?” She asked looking over her shoulder, all business.

  “No need, Elizabeth. It’s a unit no one was using since we installed the central air at The Stag. No sense in it just sitting in storage gathering dust. It’s all cleaned up and will work like a charm for your place once we get it in a window.” He said, his most charming smile in place.

  She eyed him for a moment, lips pursed, and he wondered just what was going through her mind as she considered him. “Well, I should at least give you something for it.”

  He knew what he’d like to get in exchange but saying so would probably earn him a slap. He shook his head at that thought and let out a huff of a laugh. “Consider this payment for the pleasure of watching J.T, here kick Zack’s as- ah butt.”

  She shot him a pointed look at his almost slip of profanity but her lips were twitching slightly and he couldn’t be happier. He would take that twitch as progress. Now he had to work on a full smile, possibly a grin, and then maybe, by the end of the day, an outright chuckle.

  “What’s this?” J.T asked, pulling the mitt and ball from the cab of his truck. “Are we going to play?”

  Conner grinned. “After we get this unit installed.” He looked at Elizabeth and wondered about the surprise on her face. He’d have to ask her about it later. For now, he continued. “There’s a town wide Fourth of July barbecue and pig roast coming up. That’s when we have our annual baseball game and if you’re going to be on my team I need to make sure you’re up for the challenge.”

  J.T let out a whoop of excitement and rushed around to the backside of the truck to help Conner lift out the air conditioner.

  Elizabeth remained silent as Conner and J.T got the unit inside and placed in the window, but she was nibbling on her bottom lip. She wanted to talk to him, he could tell, but whatever it was she had to say, she didn’t want to say it in front of her son.

  “Hey, J.T, why don’t you go out to my truck and grab that sheet of plastic I’ve got out there. It’ll do a better job of closing off that hole in the wall until the new window comes in.”

  Conner didn’t waste any time once J.T was out the door. “What’s the matter? Is it the barbecue? You guys will have a great time. There’s face painting, and
tree climbing contests, foot races, lots of food, music, dancing in the street. I promise it’ll be fun.”

  She shook her head and stepped closer. Her scent surrounded him and he barely resisted a growl as his wolf pushed against his skin. She glanced at the door and lowered her voice. “I tried to get him involved in sports. He hated it. He quit every time.” She chewed on the plump bottom lip again and he wanted to kiss her so badly it hurt. “It’s one thing for the two of you to play ball, but I don’t know how he’ll do with a team. I don’t want him upset.”

  She stepped back from him and smiled at J.T as he came through the door with the heavy-duty plastic in his arms.

  Conner nodded his understanding, not wanting to say more with J.T within hearing range. He wouldn’t force the kid to play if he didn’t want to, but J.T had seemed excited by the idea. “Let’s get this up and then check out your pitching arm, big man.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Elizabeth stood in front of the vents of the newly installed air conditioner and let out a sigh. She hadn’t realized how much she had taken such things for granted until trying to sleep without it. Tossing and turning while a suffocating layer of humidity kept her awake so her mind could dwell on a particular bad boy who had no place in her life.

  She watched through the window as said bad boy made a show of squatting down and thumping a fist into his baseball mitt. Jeremy grinned and threw the ball. Her son seemed to like the man. He was definitely smiling more. It seemed he’d undergone a complete turnaround from his sullen looks and monosyllabic answers when she asked about his day, his friends, his interests.

  Not only was Jeremy smiling more, but he was talking more. Mostly about Conner, Zack, and Clyde, but at least they were now having real conversations. She had planned this trip to accomplish exactly that. She just hadn’t anticipated it would take a man like Conner Pierce to do it. She would be lying if she said she wasn’t a bit jealous.

  Jeremy started doing some sort of odd interpretive dance after going long and catching a high throw. Elizabeth laughed. Did it really matter who accomplished this? No, she reminded herself. The point of this trip was fun and Jeremy was having that.

  Less than an hour later she was in the kitchen making ice tea and sandwiches to bring out to the two ball players. It was a bit early for lunch, but she was sure they had worked up an appetite. She heard a vehicle pull into the drive, followed by hoots, laughter, a dog bark, and a voice she could only assume was Zack say: “I demand a rematch, J.T!”

  Then from Conner, “Not today, Zack. We’re practicing so we can kick some butt on the fourth.”

  “New addition to the team? Nice!”

  Poking her head out the door she saw Jacob had arrived with Zack and Clyde. Jacob smiled up at her. “Morning, Mrs. Larkin. I’ve got lumber so we can start on your porch if you’re good with that.”

  Returning his smile, “Please, call me Elizabeth, and the sooner this porch is stable, the better I’ll feel.”

  Heading back to the kitchen, she started making more sandwiches. Someone turned on a radio and country music filled the air to compete with laughter and the thumps and bangs of the men getting to work.

  She had just picked up the tray to bring outside when her computer whistled at her to let her know she had an e-mail. Setting lunch aside she went over to check it and frowned. This was not good. She sighed. On the bright side, her assistant had done everything right from what she was reading: she’d contacted the vendor to address the problem, and looped in the appropriate people as to the steps she’d taken, but this was too big for her to leave in Julie’s hands alone.

  An extremely large shipment from one of their major vendors had sent the wrong colors. Shades may not be an exact match due to differing dye lots, subtle variations could be expected, but that wasn’t the case here – turquoise could never be considered a shade of navy blue. Then, when the quality control department had pulled them they had also discovered that the vendor had not sized them according to the standard size charts. Every shipment from this vendor, who provided merchandise across multiple departments, was being held; customer purchases now on backorder. Elizabeth picked up the phone.

  Conner was working alongside his brothers and J.T, prying apart the rotted lumber of the porch and tossing it into a pile for disposal. With all of them working together, it didn’t take long before the front section of the camp was clear. He stepped back and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Zack was singing along to an old Alan Jackson song, and he actually had a pretty decent voice when he wasn’t purposely massacring a song to get some laughs.

  A flash of white in the window caught his eye. Elizabeth had a phone tucked between her ear and her shoulder, her arms gesticulating wildly, her expression broadcasting her anger. She looked fierce, and incredibly sexy. “Whose ass do you think she’s chewing?” Conner asked J.T who had stepped up beside him.

  J.T let out an hmm, as if considering a long list of possibilities. “Probably someone at work, though Uncle Edward does set her off pretty regularly and he didn’t want us coming here.”

  Conner saw the twist of J.T lips, his expression turning sullen. “What’s that about?”

  “He agrees with Grandma and Grandpa Larkin that I should go to military school. They all think I don’t hear them talking.” J.T said with a shrug as if it was no big deal, but Conner could tell that it was.

  Conner opened his mouth to ask J.T how his mother felt about it when the boy started speaking. “Uncle Edward thinks I’m spoiled just because I didn’t stick it out with the sports but Grandma and Grandpa want me to be just like my father and I hate it.”

  Conner was tempted to ask about the sports. Elizabeth had said that he hated them but the boy had a good arm and had seemed to enjoy the play. Instead he focused on the second part of J.T’s statement. “You don’t want to be like your dad?”

  J.T shrugged, his toe digging into the dirt where the porch once stood. “Why should I? He didn’t want to have anything to do with me.”

  Conner frowned, hating to hear the catch in the boy’s throat that gave away how close he was to tears. J.T let out a little sniffle that someone with normal hearing probably wouldn’t have caught. He turned and looked at Conner, eyes shiny, his face red with anger, his voice rising by degrees as he said: “I heard Grandma and Grandpa Larkin talking when they didn’t think I could hear. He never even tried to come home to see me and he had the chance. He had leave but didn’t use it to see me. All he cared about was his stupid war and being a stupid hero. And everyone says I should be proud of him but I’m not!” J.T’s chin lifted in defiance but then it wobbled slightly as he continued. “I’d be proud to have a dad who was here to take care of us.”

  The boy took off at a run, the tears were streaming down his face now and Conner wasn’t sure what to do. Should he go after him or should he let the boy have a few minutes to get himself under control? He looked over at his brothers who were chatting over by the truck as they pulled out lumber, oblivious to the drama. Making the decision he yelled, “I’ll be right back,” and took off after J.T.

  He found him over by the stream tossing rocks into the water. Conner stepped up beside him and bent to pick up some rocks to throw as well. He remained silent for a few moments contemplating what he would say when J.T finally spoke. “I never told anyone that.”

  Conner sighed. “Sometimes it’s easier talking to people who aren’t so close to the subject.”

  J.T threw a rock an impressive distance and Conner couldn’t hide his curiosity. “You’ve got a great arm on you, and it seems like you enjoy playing but your mom says you hate it. What’s up with that?”

  The boy shrugged and threw another stone. “There was always a father thing.”

  Conner frowned in confusion. “What do you mean?”

  “Father, son camping trip in the scouts, fathers at the games, and one kid had his father acting as coach. Even kids whose parents were divorced at least saw their dad on weekends and stuff.” He t
hrew another rock, hard and fast. “And then they’d ask about my dad and I’d have to tell them he was dead. They’d get all weird after that and not know what to say or they’d say I should be proud because he’s a hero.” A shrug. “Music is easier. It’s just me.”

  “You play music? What instrument?” Conner asked, genuinely curious.

  “Piano, but I’m learning guitar too.”

  “I bet you didn’t know that I play guitar. We should have a jam session and play some tunes.” Conner suggested.

  J.T was nodding, looking at Conner as if he was trying to work something out in his mind and then he blurted, “Do you like my mom? Because you didn’t bring flowers. Though I bet she thought a whole air conditioner was way better than roses.”

  Conner chuckled, remembering the night before when J.T had given him romantic advice. “I do like your mom. I’m still not sure whether she likes me though. What do you think? Do you think I have a shot?”

  J.T seemed to ponder the question. “Grandma Larkin says mom is on the shelf. I don’t know what that means, but I figure it’s like being benched during a game. Maybe she’s sitting out because no one has ever brought her flowers. I think next time you come you should definitely bring some.”

  Conner didn’t consider Elizabeth on the shelf at all, and chances were pretty good that no one had actually shown her a good enough time for her to want to – as J.T put it – get back in the game. She needed to loosen up and have fun. He could certainly do that. But he’d also bring her flowers to appease J.T. “I’ll do that. Now, shall we get back to building you a new porch?”

  With a nod, J.T threw his last stone and walked with him back to the camp.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Elizabeth hung up the phone with a sigh. She’d managed to rope in all the buyers effected by the blunder, as well as Charlie who had seen a similar problem in the men’s department, on a conference call. The problem was being handled, both by the vendor, who had inadvertently mixed up the shipments, and by her company’s public relations team.