Hope's Garden

by Lyn Cote

  “You speak as though Manny has passed on.”

  Gage’s hand went to the cross on the chain around his neck. “Yeah, three years ago. But the bond we forged that summer stuck. I worked for him every summer after that—much to my mother’s distaste. Right through the summer after I graduated from college.”

  “I wish I had known him.” She almost added, “He was the father of your heart, wasn’t he?”

  “He would have loved Hope’s Garden.”

  “Did Harry work for him?” The mystery of Harry’s expertise with gardening needed explaining, too.

  “Yes, though I think he did it just to irritate my mother, but that’s how he learned gardening.”

  “Manny was more than your boss, wasn’t he?” Open up. Tell me, Gage. Please.

  “Why do you say that?”

  “I hear your respect and love for him in your voice.”

  Gage cleared his throat. “Manny was one of a kind. He taught by example. From the time I was little, he talked to me like I was a real person, like I mattered. He took time to show me what he was doing and tell me why. He lived life as an honest and well-loved man. At his funeral the church was packed, literally standing room only.

  “He had a deep faith. I can remember being around eight years old when he showed me how to plant my first tulip bulb in the fall. He told me about how Christ had been buried, then later had risen. He gave me the picture from the bag of bulbs to save till spring when the tulips would rise and bloom. That memory is so vivid, I can still feel the soft, moist dirt under my small fingers. He always said to me, ‘Seek God first and everything else will fall into place.’” Love resonated in Gage’s voice.

  Cat blinked back tears. “Good advice.”

  Stretching his arms out straight, Gage pressed his hands flat against the steering wheel. “But how do you do that? I’ve been trying to figure that out. How do I put God first in my life? I mean, I know I’m not the type to go to seminary or something like that. I love to do the work Manny taught me.”

  “Putting God first—anyone can do that.”

  He hit the steering wheel with his palms. “Well, tell me how! I mean it! How does running a golf course mesh with God?”

  Cat sat up again. “What’s that?”

  Gage stepped on the brake pedal.

  Cat jumped out. A stray-looking white dog barked at her and retreated into the cornfield. She got back into the truck. “Sorry. I just saw movement in the brush again.”

  “Don’t apologize. We don’t want to take the chance of missing Ginny tonight.” He drove on.

  Cat mused over Gage’s words just before they had paused. How did a golf course and God go together? Folding both legs under her, she drew closer to him. “You asked how to put God first in your life.” She watched for his reaction to let her know if he wanted her to go on.

  He nodded.

  “Gage, it’s a matter of how you do things, not what you do. You’re an honest man, Gage. That’s one way to put God first. Another is the way you’ve offered to share the golf course with the young people of Eden. Asking yourself what would please God, asking Him how to love your neighbor as yourself. I don’t know how to say it any different.”

  As Gage smiled, his teeth gleamed white in the moonlight. “That’s not a bad attempt. You make sense.”

  “Stop!” she shouted. Would this be just another false alarm?

  In the darkness beside the country road, stepping out from a stand of trees along a cornfield, a young girl waved her hands frantically.

  He slammed on the brakes again.

  “It’s Ginny. Thank God!” Cat touched Gage’s shoulder as she breathed a deep sigh of relief.

  “Thank God is right.”

  Throwing open her door, Cat jumped out and rushed to the girl. Sobbing wildly, Ginny staggered into Cat’s open arms. Gage caught up and pulled both of them into a tight embrace.

  The humid heat of the summer night enfolded them. For seconds, all Cat could do was cling to Ginny. Gage’s strong arms encircled them like a strong shield. Cat’s prayer of thanksgiving poured through her heart beyond words. The prodigal had been found. The weeping could end and the rejoicing would begin as soon as they got her home.

  Cat took a deep steadying breath. “It’s all right, Ginny. We found you. We’ll take you home.”

  Still, Ginny clung to them. Huddled around her, Cat and Gage waited. Finally Ginny’s wrenching sobs turned into hiccups. “I’m so tired and thirsty.” The girl swayed.

  Gage caught her and swung her up into his arms.

  Cat tugged the dusty black backpack off her shoulders. “We’ll give you something to drink and get you home right away.”

  He carried Ginny to the truck and gently set her in the middle of the seat. Cat scrambled in the passenger door as Gage climbed in and slammed his door, the sound loud in the night.

  Ginny lay crumpled against the seat. “I saw your truck…. I couldn’t believe it was you.” More hiccups and stray sobs. “I’ve been walking and walking…. I got turned around—”

  Snapping open the cooler’s green lid, Cat handed Ginny a cold root beer. “Drink this. You’ll feel better.”

  With shaking fingers, Ginny popped the tab and drew in a long swallow. “My stepdad is going to kill me!” Tears ran down her dusty cheeks.

  Cat tugged Ginny close and wiped her face with a paper towel. “No, you’ll probably get grounded, but everyone—including your stepdad—is worried sick.”

  Gage did a U-turn on the empty country road and headed north. Ginny tried to smile at Cat, then drank the soda.

  With Ginny settled warm against her, Cat pulled out her cell phone and dialed Ginny’s number to give the good news to the pastor. Ginny’s mother cried so hard that she couldn’t speak.

  The stepfather took the phone from her. “Thank you. Thank you,” he repeated, then he broke down.

  Ginny managed to stutter a few words, then she couldn’t stop crying.

  Folding up the phone, Cat calmed her down once again. Soon Ginny rested her head on Cat’s shoulder and fell asleep from the exhaustion and worry of a day of being lost and lonely.

  “Poor kid,” Gage murmured.

  Cat nodded, then stroked the mussed blond hair back from Ginny’s face. “I have a feeling that Ginny’s family is going to be ready to talk to the pastor about family counseling.”

  “What a difference a day makes.”

  Cat went still inside remembering losing her father on a night like this. She shook off the memory. Why was she thinking about that now?

  “That’s how I felt after my boating accident last summer.”

  Cat froze. She’d never asked him about the accident, which had evidently changed his life. It had seemed too private. “I know you lost a dear friend.”

  “Yes, Gary. He was one of our foursome at the university. Losing him—it didn’t feel real for a long time.”

  Her heart overflowed with sympathy. If anything happened to Laurette, she didn’t know how she could bear it. “You weren’t able to attend the funeral,” she said softly. “You were laid up for months Chuck said.”

  Gage nodded, his chin hard by the dashboard light. “Maybe if I’d been able to attend the funeral, it would have been real to me. I still keep thinking that I’ll give Gary a call. Then I remember he’s beyond my reach.”

  Oh, Gage. She longed to hold him close, comfort him. “You didn’t blame yourself, did you?”

  “I still do—”

  “But—”

  “I know, it’s irrational.” His voice was sharp. “I wasn’t at fault. We were wearing life jackets. The other boater was drunk, and he plowed right into us. I couldn’t have done anything different.” A pregnant pause. “The jerk only got scratched.”

  Intuitively, she sensed this wasn’t private anger, but righteous indignation against the injustice of this sometimes cruel world. “But he’s in jail, isn’t he?”

  “Yes, when you kill someone, there is a price to pay.”
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br />   Cat thought everyone involved had paid a high price, but that was understood. She could do nothing but offer sympathy. “I’m sorry.”

  A gust of a sigh came from deep within him. “Don’t be. I guess good can come out of anything. It shook me out of the rut I’d fallen into when I got out of college. For that and only that, I’m grateful.”

  Just after midnight, Gage drove up to Ginny’s brightly lit house. He noted that several other homes still had lights on also. In a small-town neighborhood, no one slept easy while a neighbor paced the floor for a runaway child. He lifted the sleeping girl from the seat and carried her to the house. The cool air revived her. She woke up, blinking in the light. He put her down just as her parents rushed out the front door to pull her into a three-way hug.

  “Oh, Mom, I’m so sorry!” Ginny wailed.

  Gage hung back. Cat came up beside him to watch the reunion. Before they could be noticed, Gage tugged her away. She followed his lead and they slipped away before being drawn into the scene.

  As he drove away, he glimpsed neighbors at their windows, joyful witnesses, too.

  “Thanks. I didn’t feel like a prolonged round of thank-yous.” Cat sounded exhausted.

  Feeling the same dragged-out sensation, he nodded and yawned.

  She tapped his shoulder. “Don’t drive me all the way home. I’ll just sleep on Laurette’s couch tonight. It’s too late for you to drive all that way out and back.”

  “But—”

  “No argument.”

  With Catherine, he knew this wasn’t just politeness, she always said what she meant. He grinned. The night had been rich with emotion and a growing intimacy. He’d told Catherine what lay closest to his heart. He wondered why he’d held back so long. Her calm words had been a blessing, the sharing, a deep relief. “Okay, boss lady.”

  Within minutes, he drove into the familiar garage next to Chuck’s car. In the dark narrow garage, he tugged Cat out of the truck through his side. She slid down to stand beside him.

  He turned to her and said, “There’s something else.”

  She looked up. “Oh?”

  He leaned down and kissed her.

  Cat couldn’t catch her breath. She closed her eyes, concentrating on Gage’s kiss. His lips moved against hers like dragonfly wings. She couldn’t move. If she did, she might break the exquisite contact. Everything within her held its breath, too. Did her heart still beat? Yes, she felt a pulse in her finger tips.

  Or was it his heartbeat under her hands? His shirt lay under her palms. She splayed her fingers wide and pressed them down on his rock-hard chest.

  His lips pulled away.

  “No,” she objected.

  He buried his head in the crook of her neck and brushed his lips on her tender nape. “Catherine, my sweet Catherine.”

  She took a little gasp of breath. She shivered. Her hands slid up to the column of his neck. “Gage.”

  Lifting his head, he pulled her into a full embrace. He kissed her lips again. This time his kiss grew persuasive.

  The light blazed on. “Is that you, Gage?” Chuck’s voice boomed in the silence. “Did they find Ginny?”

  Cat squeaked and jerked backward, bumping into the truck.

  Gage tugged her back close to himself again. “Chuck…we’ll be in, in a minute.”

  “We’ll?”

  Cat’s heart pounded. What would Chuck think?

  “Catherine is with me.”

  “Catherine?”

  “Cat, my partner. She wants to sleep on your couch. It’s been a long night. We found Ginny and took her home.” Gage shielded her from Chuck.

  “Great!”

  “Chuck, go get a pillow and blanket for Catherine.”

  “Anything wrong?” Chuck sounded puzzled.

  Cat blushed red-hot.

  “No, you interrupted us. We’ll be in in a minute.”

  “Okay.” Still sounding confused, Chuck shut the door to the kitchen.

  Gage smiled down at her. “Chuck always had lousy timing.”

  Cat couldn’t meet Gage’s eyes. What was Chuck telling Laurette right now?

  “It been a long night.” Gage brushed his calloused thumb over her bottom lip, igniting sparks in her. “So I won’t keep you out here. But there are two things I must say.” He gazed into her eyes.

  A warm, a sweet glow coiled through her. “What?” she whispered.

  “Number one, you’re very special to me, Catherine. Very special.” With his index finger, he lifted her chin. His touch danced through her making her chin quiver.

  “Number two?” Now she couldn’t take her gaze from his face. His scrutiny of her stirred up more vague sensations and longings.

  “We will take this up again very soon.”

  The passionate look in his eyes made her knees go weak.

  He slowly released her, but he threaded his fingers through hers and led her into the house. It was the first time Cat had ever wished to avoid her cousin and Chuck.

  Gage’s kiss had blown apart her world. She wanted to ask him a thousand questions. But right now, she couldn’t speak of it. It was too new, tender, precious.

  An hour later, Gage lay on his narrow bed in the basement. The house was quiet at last. Laurette and Chuck’s questions about Ginny had all been answered. They’d been too polite to comment on Gage’s holding Catherine’s hand all the while they talked. But their eyes had communicated their approval.

  He gazed at the unfinished beams overhead. In the room above him, Cat lay curled up on Chuck’s green couch. So near and yet so far.

  Well, I kissed her. I called her Catherine. She didn’t slap my face or tell me to knock it off. That much he had accomplished. Where do I go from here, Lord? How do I make her my partner for life?

  The next evening Cat sat at her desk staring vacantly at the day’s cash. All day she’d felt as if a fast-moving freight train had barreled into her life. It had snagged her, then like clothing on a line tied to the end of the caboose she flew along behind.

  All day, work and other obligations had kept her and Gage apart. They’d waved and smiled at each other in passing once or twice.

  Last night, Gage and she had brought Ginny home. Gage called me Catherine.

  Today was the open house at the group home.

  Tomorrow the groundbreaking at the future golf course and the garden party took place.

  Last night she’d had maybe two hours of sleep. And Gage kissed me.

  Today everyone in Eden had called or dropped in to congratulate her and Gage and thank them for helping bring Ginny home. Or at least, it felt like everyone.

  Gage said I was special, very special to him.

  She stared at the money in front of her. I should count this.

  Hetty drifted in, her purple gauze skirt fluttering around her. She looked at the clock over the door. “There’s only a half hour left of the open house.” The young, very pregnant woman shook her finger at Cat. “I am closing tonight.”

  “I’ll never make it. I don’t have time to go home and change—”

  “Just go wash your hands and face and brush that head of thick hair of yours,” Hetty ordered.

  Cat was too tired to argue. She rose and went to the small bathroom off the office. Cold water on her face refreshed her a little. As she brushed her tangled hair, she examined her face critically in the small mirror. A summer in the sun had left her hair blond-streaked and her face brown and freckled. Obviously Gage had chosen to kiss her in the dark for very obvious reasons.

  She squirted her juniper body lotion on her hands, spread it over her neck and face, too. She finished by fingering on tinted-pink lip gloss. “Don’t overdo it, Cat,” she murmured, then sighed. What could Gage see in her? She wasn’t beautiful. She wasn’t smart.

  Discouraged, she bid Hetty good-night and drove into town. Seeing Gage was what she wanted most right now, but a tautness filled her. It was like the feeling of tension in a movie when she feared the heroine might make the wrong c
hoice. And if she saw Gage, he might kiss her again. That was both wonderful and terrifying. Everything would change forever.

  Parking her truck down the crowded block, Cat tried to hide her anxiety as she strolled toward the group home. Lights gleamed in the windows of the freshly painted, newly occupied white raised-ranch. Two pots of lemon-yellow marigolds flanked the bottom of the front steps. Harry and Phil had also groomed the lawn, old shrubs and trees. Laughter and the chatter of voices spilled out the open windows and front door.

  As she stepped inside, Kevin, one of the residents, greeted her. “I remember you,” he said, “you were the one with the boy and girl painting each other yellow.”

  Cat chuckled and greeted him. She scanned the crowded living room for Gage. She heard his voice, but couldn’t see him.

  Another resident, the plump young woman, drew her toward the buffet table loaded with finger food and red punch in a huge bowl. She insisted Cat fill a plate with canapés, deviled eggs with paprika sprinkled on them, crisp carrots and celery sticks and a piece of chocolate cake.

  The young woman looked at Cat’s shirt and read the name out loud, “Cat. Is your name really Cat?”

  “No,” Gage’s voice came from behind. “Her name is Catherine.” His arm claimed Cat’s waist.

  She nearly spilled her punch. “Hi,” she gasped.

  “I’ve missed you,” he murmured next to her ear.

  Gage’s touch zipped through Cat’s whole being. Instantly, the fatigue and confusion that had weighed her down all day evaporated. Every cell of her body seemed to expand. She’d never felt so alive before.

  “I can’t wait to take you home,” Gage whispered. “We have some unfinished business we need to discuss.”

  Cat quivered inside. The kiss last night hadn’t been just her imagination. Gage no longer saw her only as a business partner and friend. A happy, warm glow radiated from her.

  Morgan’s mother bore down on them. “You two are wonderful. Thank God, you went out looking for Ginny.”

  “We couldn’t have just stayed home and waited. We were too keyed up,” Cat explained. She looked down at her plate full of food. Gage’s touch had filled her up and she couldn’t take a bite.