Island Hope (Wildflower B&B Romance Book 4)

by Kimberly Rose Johnson

  “Fair enough. I can’t explain it without sounding like a religious freak, but I felt the Lord nudging me to come out here and talk with you. Anything in particular we should be talking about?”

  Hope tilted her head toward Zoe. She’d been chewing on this since last Saturday. Maybe Zoe would be able to help. “I’m angry with God, and I don’t understand what He’s doing. Everything keeps going wrong, I feel attacked, and I don’t know what to do.”

  Wide-eyed, Zoe nodded. “Understandable on all accounts. My foster mom always tells me when I don’t know what to do, or I’m upset, or pretty much anytime.” She chuckled and a soft smile covered her face. “She always tells me to pray. Ask the Lord your questions and then wait for an answer. I’m convinced the Lord allows some stuff to happen simply to get our attention. Have you prayed about it?”

  Hope stifled a sigh. “You might be right.” It wasn’t like she didn’t pray. She did, but generally for others. She never considered asking Him about her situation and what to do. Or that He might be trying to get her attention. “I believe in the power of prayer, but do you really think prayer will make everything better?” She looked skeptically at Zoe.

  “It’s possible. I find when something is too big for me, turning it over to Him helps. He doesn’t remove the struggles from my life, but He does help me deal with the stuff I allow Him to.”

  “Hmm. I hadn’t thought of it like that. So what you’re saying is, if I hold onto a problem the Lord can’t help me?” That made perfect sense. Too bad she hadn’t thought of it sooner.

  “I guess that’s the gist of it.” Zoe pushed up from the seat beside her. “I could sit out here all afternoon, but I shouldn’t. I was serious about you living on the island. I hope you’ll at least consider it.”

  “Thanks, Zoe.” Hope reached out and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. Zoe strolled back inside leaving Hope to ponder their conversation. She stood then wandered down to the beach. Water lapped at the shoreline. Lord what should I do? How do I get out of this mess and come out unscathed?

  Up ahead she spotted a man and a girl tossing a Frisbee. They resembled Derrick and Alyssa, but in all her jaunts down here, she’d never seen them on the beach together.

  Laughter from the pair carried on the breeze and a longing in the pit of her stomach drew her toward the duo. She wanted to be a wife and mother someday, but the older she grew, the more it seemed like an impossible dream.

  The man turned and waved.

  “Derrick.” She said more to herself than him. She picked up the pace and drew near to them. “Hey there.”

  “Hi, Hope,” Alyssa said. “Would you like to play too?”

  “Sure.” Hope positioned herself so they formed a triangle. The hot pink Frisbee soared toward her, then a gust of wind sent it upward. She jumped high and snagged it then flicked it to Alyssa who then flipped it to her dad, but it veered in Hope’s direction. She ran for it and reached it at the same moment as Derrick. Somehow their bodies became entangled, and they both went down.

  Silence. His surprised brown eyes with gold flecks looked down at her. She laughed and pushed at his chest. “You caught me, but weren’t you supposed to catch the flying disk?”

  He pushed up and sat beside her facing the water. “Sorry about that.”

  Alyssa plopped down on her other side. “You okay?”

  “Sure. I had that coming. I should have called it.” She glanced toward Derrick. “How about you? Anything broken?”

  “I’m intact.”

  She couldn’t help but admire his strong chin and shoulders. Though she’d never seen him work out, he must do so to maintain his physique.

  Alyssa stood. “If you two are okay, I’m going to head back to the B&B.”

  Derrick nodded.

  “You’re going to be at the B&B for a while?” Hope asked.

  “Yes.” Alyssa pulled on her hoodie and zipped it up.

  “Good. I have a surprise for you.”

  Her face lit. “Really? What is it?”

  Hope pressed her lips together and mimed locking them and tossing the key.

  Alyssa shook her head and crossed her arms as if she were disgusted, but Hope could tell from the twinkle in her eyes that she was only playing. “I’ll be in the kitchen when you get back. Zoe is giving me a cooking lesson. It’s a project for my cooking class at school. Gabe is going to film it.”

  “Sounds like fun. I’ll find you when I get back.” She waved as the teen jogged away. She should probably warn Derrick about the surprise she had for his daughter, then thought better of it. Seeing the look on his face would be worth every penny she’d spent.

  Derrick rested his hand over hers. “I’m surprised to see you.”

  “Funny, I felt the same way when I spotted you and Alyssa. How are things going on that front?”

  “Better. We have our moments, but your advice was sound. Thanks.”

  She grinned. “You’re welcome.” Her heart kicked into double time. She felt like a teen herself when Derrick held her hand. Such a simple gesture turned her insides into a puddle. She chuckled.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “Just thinking.”

  He raised a brow. “Care to share?”

  “Nope.” She pressed her lips together.

  “Okay.” He drew the word out. “What’s your surprise for Alyssa?”

  “Can’t tell.”

  He released her hand. “I suppose I’ll have to get it out of you another way.” He suddenly stood then scooped her into his arms.

  Tingles shot through her, and she couldn’t help laughing. “If you think that will get me to share my secret you’re mistaken.” She wrapped an arm around his neck hoping to send the message that he wasn’t getting her to talk. “This is kind of nice.”

  He grinned. “Not talking, huh?” He walked, carrying her toward the Sound.

  Her eyes widened when she realized what he was up to. She pushed at his chest. “Don’t you dare!”

  “You ready to talk?”

  “No.”

  Merriment lit his face. “Well then . . .” He stood at the water’s edge and turned sideways as if to fling her into the water.

  “Okay. I give. Put me down.”

  “Smart lady.” He released her legs, but still held his arm loosely around her waist. “Well?” He brushed a strand of hair away from her face. His eyes probed.

  She licked her lips wishing he’d kiss her, but she was too shy to kiss him first. “We should probably—”

  He lowered his mouth and his lips melted into hers.

  She wrapped both arms around his neck and drew him closer. A sigh of contentment escaped her as he stepped back and brushed his hand through her hair.

  “Should I apologize?” Uncertainty filled his eyes.

  “You’d better not! If I didn’t want you to kiss me, I’d have stopped you.” She’d grown to care for Derrick and wished he’d kiss her again.

  Humor sparkled in his eyes. “Good to know.” He lowered his head and his warm lips found hers again. He pulled her close as she laced her fingers behind his neck. Too soon the kiss ended, but he still held her close. “When I first met you, I sure didn’t expect this.”

  She grinned. “That makes two of us. You’re not my type.”

  He raised a brow. “You have a type?”

  “Well, yeah, but my type never works out, so maybe venturing outside my box is a good thing.”

  He nodded. “I’m not sure I have a type, but if I did, you wouldn’t be it.”

  She playfully smacked his shoulder and pulled out of his embrace. “Thanks a lot.”

  He took her hand. “I’m messing with you. So what’s that surprise you were about to tell me?”

  “What are you talking about? Oh!” No way was she going to tell him before she surprised his daughter. “You’re going to have to wait. I only said I’d tell you to get you to put me down.”

  He waggled his brows. “I have my ways of getting it out of you.”
/>   She laughed then slid her hand from his grip, whirled and sprinted in the direction she’d come. Footfalls sounded close behind her. She pushed harder and raced all the way to the backyard of the B&B. Her lungs burned, and her calves cramped. She stopped and paced slowly with hands on her hips trying to catch her breath. Sprinting was not her thing.

  Derrick sprawled out on the lawn face down. Apparently sprinting wasn’t his thing either. “Remind me never to trust you again.”

  Hope couldn’t help grinning. “You can trust me, Derrick, but when it comes to surprises, don’t even ask because I’m not telling.”

  “Whatever you say.” He rolled over and sat up then wiped his forehead on his arm. “I noticed the electrical work in the cabins is back on schedule. I’m impressed.”

  She stood a little taller. “We couldn’t have done it without your help. Thanks for pitching in this past week.”

  “It was actually kind of fun.” He picked a blade of grass. “It’s been a while since I enjoyed electrical work. And to think it was once the only thing I wanted to do.”

  “Sounds familiar. I used to have a side job that was my passion but ended up sticking with electrical work and dropping it.” She eased down beside him.

  “Seriously? What was it?”

  Her gaze skittered to his and stopped. “Can you keep a secret?” She knew he could but needed him to understand this was between them. They’d spent several hours working side-by-side this past week, and he was not one to gossip.

  He nodded.

  “I am, or was a metal sculpture artist. I was pretty well known and managed to make a decent living at it. Actually my earnings are all tucked away to provide for my retirement someday, since I nearly had two full time jobs.”

  “Wow. Why’d you quit? Burnout?”

  She looked down then back at him, unsure how much to share. But if he was going to be a part of her life, like she suspected, he needed to know what he was getting himself into. “My mom was my manager. She, for reasons still unknown, thought it was okay to take more money than her commission, and on top of that, she spread lies about me to the media with the hope of getting more sales. As if I could handle more than I was already doing.” Sadly, her mother was of the school of thought that believed tortured artists garnered more attention and thereby more sales.

  “Whoa! That is not what I expected to hear. That was pretty gutsy considering she’s married to a cop.”

  “Dad never knew, and I decided for the sake of their marriage, I wouldn’t tell him. Being in law enforcement is hard enough on a marriage. They didn’t need that to deal with too.”

  “So you didn’t press charges?”

  “No. I was her only client, so it wasn’t necessary to protect anyone else from her or drag our family through that.”

  Awe shone in his eyes. “You are a good daughter. How are you and your mom now?”

  “We’re civil. I try to be polite, but it’s always going to come between us. I trusted her. It hurt more than I thought possible to be betrayed by her.”

  “I didn’t think you were close to your parents based on what you’d told me about them.”

  “Once I grew up, our relationship improved, then my art started selling well, and I needed help managing the business side of things.”

  “But you have a degree in business.”

  She shrugged. “I could only do so much. At the time I was working for another company full time as an electrician and spent all my off hours creating art. I went to art fairs, and soon a few galleries wanted my stuff. It took off, but I couldn’t deal with the business side too. My mom had good business sense, or so I thought, so I hired her.”

  He reached over and grasped her hand. “I’m sorry about what she did to you. But why didn’t you fire her and hire someone else? Why give it up?”

  “I did fire her. As far as continuing to sculpt, I couldn’t. I lost my desire to create art. My ideas used to beg to come out. So much so, I’d often get up in the middle of the night and pencil out drawings of ideas. Now I’ve got nothing. No inspiration.”

  He released her hand and tugged her into a side hug. “I’m sorry you were hurt so badly you lost your passion.” His voice filled with empathy. “That must have been devastating.”

  She nodded.

  “I’ll pray for you to find inspiration again. No one should give up something they care so much about because of someone else’s mistakes.” He placed a soft kiss on the side of her head.

  “Thanks, Derrick. That means a lot.” Her heart pitter-pattered. She was falling for him. Big time. After holding people at arm’s length for so long, his compassion almost overwhelmed her. Time to make a run for it before she blubbered. “I want to see Alyssa before she leaves, so I’ll catch you later. Okay?”

  “Sure thing. But, can we get together soon? Maybe we can go paddle boating.”

  “I’d like that.” Warmth filled her heart as she strode toward the bed-and-breakfast in search of Alyssa. Now more than ever, she couldn’t wait to give her the surprise. Derrick was sure to be pleased too.

  ***

  Late that same afternoon Derrick walked into his kitchen, determined to tell Alyssa that he planned to date Hope. Sure, she’d given her blessing, but now that it was really happening, he wanted her to know in case she had any concerns.

  Alyssa sat at the kitchen table with her sleeves pushed up, staring at her forearms. She looked at him wearing a huge smile. “Look!” She raised an arm. “Don’t you love it? Hope is the coolest! I can’t believe she did this for me.”

  A brownish-colored tattoo cluttered her arm. How and when did Hope have time to do this? Derrick’s gut twisted. He fisted his hands by his side and counted to ten.

  Hope had assured him it was against the law to tattoo a minor. But if that were the case how did his daughter manage this?

  “Isn’t it great? I got this one too.” Alyssa held out her other arm.

  Time seemed to stop as he stared at the heart tattoo with Gabe’s name inside. His brain finally unscrambled. “It’s something all right. Hope did this to you?”

  “Yes. It was her surprise.”

  No wonder she refused to tell him. She knew how he felt yet she went behind his back and did this? Rage burned through him. “I’ll be back.” He grabbed his keys and stormed out of the house. Hope had some explaining to do. He slipped on his helmet, mounted his bike, and took off.

  Overcome with the feeling he needed to stop and think before he confronted Hope, he pulled over and sat there. A light breeze rustled the leaves on nearby maple trees. He killed the engine and paced. Showing up at the B&B furious would not serve anyone well. He liked Hope—a lot, although he was angrier with her than he’d ever been with anyone.

  He’d finally convinced some of the busybody women in town that he could do a good job raising his daughter alone and that they didn’t need to keep interfering, and now this. All the gossip and dirty looks would start up again. He could handle those women, even if he didn’t care to, but what about his daughter? She didn’t need to be exposed to their ignorance. When Alyssa was younger she had no idea what people were saying, but she’d surely hear the gossip now.

  Lord, please help me to calm down and not say or do anything I’ll regret. He did not anger easily, except when it came to someone messing with his family. Didn’t Hope understand how dangerous what she did was? What if Alyssa got an infection? Then again, how did Hope get her hands on the equipment? Sure she was an artist, but wouldn’t she have to be licensed or certified or whatever it was called? Maybe the tattoo wasn’t real. That had to be it, but Hope should at least have talked to him before inking up his daughter’s arms. Alyssa could have an allergic reaction and then what?

  Or even worse, Hope could have bought a low quality or bad batch of ink. He’d recently seen an article about that happening, and several teens had ended up with serious infections. If he remembered straight, the kids would probably be scarred too because of it. What if that happened to Alyssa
?

  Lord, please help me here. I’m so angry. I know I need to calm down. Please give me Your peace that passes all understanding.

  A few minutes later he calmed, and he felt comfortable confronting Hope now. At least he could speak without losing it.

  A short time later, he pulled up to Wildflower B&B. The door swung open and Hope stepped out. Her face lit in surprise. She strode over to him. “Hi there. Long time no see.”

  He pulled off his helmet. “You’re just the person I need to talk to.”

  She shot him an eager smile. “What’d you think? They turned out great, right? I tried to talk her out of the heart one, but she insisted. What if she breaks up with Gabe tomorrow? She’d be stuck with his name on her arm until—”

  He crossed his arms. “What were you thinking?” She didn’t have a clue what she’d done was wrong. Frustration surged through him.

  Worry settled on her face as she stepped back. “I thought it looked very professional. She’ll probably start a new trend at school.”

  “You knew I didn’t want my daughter to get a tattoo, yet you did it anyway. What you did will only spur on her desire for more tattoos. This,” he pointed from her to him, “whatever we had between us is over. And stay away from my daughter.” If he couldn’t trust her where his daughter was concerned they had no future.

  Her mouth dropped open, but he wasn’t sticking around to argue. He slipped on the helmet, straddled the bike and fired up the engine. I’m sorry, Lord. I tried to be civil. He never wanted to see Hope again. It would be too painful to see her and know there could never be anything between them.

  ***

  Hope’s stomach sickened. What just happened? She stared in the direction Derrick had ridden.

  Overwhelming hurt, much like she’d felt when she found out about her mother’s betrayal, seared her.

  Why was Derrick so upset? He acted like she’d scarred his daughter for life. Oh no! She pulled out her cell and called Alyssa.