by Lyn Cote
Cat looked away. It had nothing to do with her. “That, Aunt Bet, is Gage’s former fiancée.”
“Former?” Hetty joined them with her happy silent husband in tow. “Then why is she wearing—”
“I know,” Cat interjected. “The rock.”
“Exactly.” Bet opened her eyes wide.
Cat shrugged. “It really has nothing to do with me.”
Hetty stared at her.
“I’m thirsty. I need some punch.” The late August sun had passed its peak, but the summer heat and humidity still held its sway. Cat walked to the buffet table set up in the shade. She accepted a cup of green punch and sipped its cold sweet lemon-lime.
Bet followed her. “Laurette was going to try to come in a wheelchair, but she just didn’t feel up to it.”
“I’m so sorry.” Cat’s happiness dimmed momentarily, but Laurette’s long wait was nearly over. The doctor had said the baby could come safely anytime now though the due date was still a month away. “She did such a wonderful job and you, too, Aunt Bet. Everything is just great!”
Hetty came up. “I can’t help it. I need to know! What do you mean that woman has nothing to do with you, and why are you barefoot?”
Cat grinned. “I’m barefoot because I have a blister, and Gage is well able to take care of his former fiancée.”
“Sounds logical to me,” Hetty’s husband spoke up for the first time. “You’re a smart woman not to make a fuss. Gage looks hunted by that woman. I feel sorry for him.”
Hunted! Cat giggled behind her hand. Bet chuckled and Hetty hugged her husband. Cat waved farewell and took her refilled cup of green punch and wandered over to the side veranda and sat down on the middle step. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Gage and Daria in deep discussion under an arbor near the rear of the lawn. Neither of them looked happy.
Cat turned her attention to the rose garden. Harry had planted already budding bushes early in the project so mature roses in deep maroon, light pink, white and yellow bloomed sweetly fragrant.
“Hi, Cat.”
Cat looked up at Ginny. Cat leaped up and hugged the girl close in welcome. “How are you?”
“Better.”
Cat settled back down, and Ginny sat beside her. Cat was relieved Ginny’s mother wasn’t with the girl. The mother’s effusive expressions of gratitude had embarrassed Cat. After all, God had just used Gage and her to answer all the prayers for Ginny’s safe return.
Cat scanned Ginny now and pronounced, “You look very pretty today.”
Ginny smiled. “Mom took me shopping, and we bought this.” The girl fingered the skirt of the simple pink dress she wore. “You look pretty, too.”
Leaning back on her elbows, Cat stretched out languidly on the steps. “Thank you.”
“I like your hat.”
To make Ginny smile, Cat hopped up and put one hand on the crown of her rolled brim straw hat. She struck a mock model pose. “Très chic, don’t you think?”
Ginny giggled.
The lovely sound opened Cat’s heart wide. She offered the girl her hand. “You are, too. Come on.” Ginny took her hand and Cat drew her up to stand beside her. Together, they posed as though modeling for a fashion shoot.
More giggles bubbled out from Ginny—fresh and free. Cat joined her.
“Catherine!”
Cat glanced over the railing.
The senior pastor waved at her. Beside him walked a photographer and a reporter. “Here she is. Catherine, they want to do a story about you for the Gazette.”
“Me?” Cat straightened up. “Why?”
“I told them you were a direct descendant of the Hadleys. In fact, you’re named after your great-grandmother Catherine Hadley.”
“And your nursery did the garden restoration for the grounds?” The man with his pencil raised over a notepad asked.
“Yes, Hope’s Garden did the design. But Harry…Harrison Farrell, Gage Farrell’s brother, did the research and actual work.”
“Gage is your partner, isn’t he?” The man jotted as he spoke.
“Yes, he is.”
The photographer poised his camera to his eye. “Smile.”
Though Cat normally would have been too shy, today she felt on top of the world or at least, on top of Eden, so she smiled.
“Walk down the steps,” the photographer, hidden behind his fancy camera, instructed.
Cat sashayed downward, inwardly chuckling.
“You’re barefoot?” the reporter pointed out.
“Yes,” Cat said in mock seriousness. “That’s to symbolize my great-grandfather, the poor dirt farmer, whom Catherine Hadley married.”
The reporter chuckled. “The farmer and the banker’s daughter. Sounds like an interesting match.”
Leaning on the railing, Cat regaled the reporter with the story of Catherine proposing to Joshua Simmons and even Catherine’s experience as a mail-order bride and the dirty undershirt that had sent her back to Iowa. People gathered to listen. The reporter scribbled furiously while the photographer took shot after shot.
Out of the corner of her eye, Cat glimpsed Gage at the edge of the crowd, grinning at her. The formidable fiancée in fire-engine red was nowhere in sight.
“Gage, darling!” Cat called out imitating Daria’s performance from the previous evening. She felt like adding, “It’s so good to see you again!”—the rest of Daria’s words. But Daria had embarrassed him enough last night and perhaps Gage might not see the humor in it so soon.
Grinning, Gage started for her. The crowd parted to let him through.
Cat turned to a reporter. “This is my mail-order partner. I thought about wearing a dirty undershirt to scare him off, but it’s turned out just as well that I didn’t.”
Gage stepped up beside her. His eyes gleamed with amusement. “I wouldn’t have been daunted that easily.” He leaned close and whispered in her ear, “I think you should take your shoes off more often.”
“Flattery will get you nowhere, sir. I’m not that kind of girl.” Cat took on the pose of outraged innocence. She whispered back, “Where is your fiancée?”
“I don’t have a fiancée—yet,” he replied only to her. He turned to the friendly faces gathered around them. “It’s time for the unveiling. Let’s move over there. My brother, Harry, will be announcing it shortly.”
Gage drew Cat along with him. His arm around her reassured her that her heart had been right. In the center of the garden, a white-sheet-covered sculpture waited. What would it be?
Harry and Jo, along with her beaming parents, stood beside it. Jo wore a gauzy yellow dress for the occasion and reminded Cat of a bright-eyed daisy. “This is the finale of a very special day,” Harry spoke loud enough to be heard. “I am a newcomer to Eden and feel honored to have been a part of the restoration of these grounds to something approaching their former beauty. Jo Handleman, the daughter of Dr. Handleman, the president of Eden College, has donated her artistic talent to embellish this garden in Eden.” Harry tugged the sheet away.
An appreciative “Ohhh!” sighed through the people encircling the sculpture.
The same sound filtered through Cat’s parted lips. “It’s beautiful!”
The two-dimensional copper sculpture depicted a Victorian lady in a long ruffled dress who held a parasol. The lady glanced over her shoulder as though flirting with an unseen gentleman.
Spontaneous applause broke out. Cat heard Ryan and Phil wolf-whistling madly, even though it wasn’t a naked lady. Tucked close to Harry, Jo looked especially pretty as she blushed.
“They make a great couple, don’t they?” Gage tugged Cat closer, settling his arm more securely around her waist.
She glanced up at him askance. “What will your fiancée say if she sees you hugging me in public?”
“I told you, Catherine, I don’t have a fiancée. I haven’t had one for more than six months.” He tightened his grip on her. She made a face at him.
Harry waved. “Gage! Catherine!”
Gage pulled her forward along with him. “Yes, brother?”
Harry had drawn Nikki and Duke over to Jo and her parents. Nikki looked suspicious of Harry’s motive.
“Isn’t this a lovely party, Nikki?” Cat asked in her best society hostess voice.
Chuckling, Harry winked at Cat. “Mom, Dad, Jo has done me the honor of accepting my proposal of marriage. We plan to be wed next June.”
Nikki looked like someone had hit her in the face with a wet fish.
Duke recovered first. “Wonderful! That’s great!” Beaming, he shook Harry’s hand, then kissed Jo’s blushing cheek.
Nikki glanced at Jo’s parents, then smiled. “Yes, it is.” She kissed Jo’s cheek, then turned to the Handlemans. “It looks like we’re going to be related.”
Cat made the inference. Now Nikki could go home and tell her friends, “Gage has started his own golf course and Harry is marrying the daughter of the president of Eden College.” Even after Nikki’s meddling, Cat was happy for her. Maybe a wedding and the possibility of a grandchildren would help Nikki learn to relax and enjoy her family.
The cell phone in Cat’s pocket rang. She pulled it out. “Hello?”
“Cat?” Chuck’s voice sounded breathless. “We’re at the hospital. Laurette’s water broke. She’s in labor. This is it!”
“I’ll be right there.” Cat snapped it shut.
“What is it?” Gage asked.
“Laurette’s in labor at the hospital.”
Evidently, Gage had the identical reaction she did. “Let’s go! My truck’s in the alley.” As he pulled her along, he shouted what was happening to Harry.
The round clock on the wall of the waiting room read twelve past 1:00 a.m. She and Gage were finally alone, sitting again on the uncomfortable tan plastic chairs in the quiet hospital. Upstairs, Laurette and Chuck labored together birthing their first child. Hetty and her husband and Aunt Bet had gone home to their beds at last. Cat rubbed her eyes.
“Now we can talk,” Gage grumbled.
Cat yawned. “All right. Start explaining about Daria and the rock.”
Gage slid his arm around her shoulders. “What has got into you, Catherine? You’ve been in a funny mood—”
She punched his arm. “Stop stalling.”
“Ow.”
“Fess up. Now.”
He shrugged. “My best guess is my mother made Eden sound attractive, very attractive to Daria.”
“Eden?” Cat tucked her chilled barefeet under her. “Attractive to Daria?”
“I believe Mom portrayed Daria as becoming a big fish in a small pond, the new Eden country club set. Also here, since the cost of living is still lower, Daria could have the mansion she’s always wanted and the shopping in Minneapolis or Chicago is less than an hour’s flight away.”
Cat stretched then leaned back against Gage. Being near him brought her contentment. She wasn’t even worried about Laurette in labor. All would go well. Her healthy baby would be born today. “I don’t get it. What has that got to do with you?”
Gage’s face lit up. “Exactly! Daria evidently thought all she had to do was show up with the ring on her finger and I’d forget about the breakup.”
“I would have thought she’d have known you better.” Cat considered him and stroked the hard line of his jaw feeling the growth of his beard. She contemplated all that had happened in the past twenty-four hours. One thing stood out. “Gage, I was so pleased about your hiring some of the young people from the group home.”
“Catherine Simmons, you do know me well, and I knew it would make you happy.”
“That’s your way of seeking God first?”
“One way. I finally understand what the pastor said today. Putting God first isn’t always in the big things. It’s in all the little choices that add up to the good of your neighbors. I finally feel I’m where I’m supposed to be, doing what I’ve always wanted to do. My only regret is that Manny can’t be here to enjoy it. He would have loved Hope’s Garden and you, too.”
Gage leaned over as though to kiss her, then paused. “I love you. Will you be my bride?”
“What would you do if I said no?” She leaned her nose forward until it touched his.
“I wouldn’t believe you.” He kissed her sunburned nose.
“You told Daria you loved her, too, didn’t you?” She waited for his reaction.
Gage’s face sobered. “Catherine, I didn’t know what real love was then. I got all mixed up for a while, but the accident—”
She pressed her fingers to his velvet lips. “I understand.”
He took her hands in his as though they were tender young seedlings. “Catherine, don’t you know in this plastic world, you’re twenty-four carat gold?” He kissed the calluses on one palm and then the other.
Cat felt tears sting her eyes. Gage had dared her to grow, to try new ways. She thought of the Crenshaws, the gardening software, the Hadley House bid. This summer she’d taken more than a few steps of faith.
Now her day had come, too, because of Gage’s challenging her. Gage was heaven-sent. “I love you, Gage Farrell. And I’ll be your bride.”
Chapter Thirteen
The next afternoon at the window of the baby nursery on the second floor of the hospital, Gage settled his hand possessively on the back of Catherine’s neck. “She’s so tiny.”
Reveling in his affectionate touch, Catherine gazed through the glass at Laurette and Chuck’s daughter. “She is five pounds three ounces.”
“My point exactly.”
“What do you expect? She was a month early! But she’s big enough to go home tomorrow.” Catherine smiled and scratched the glass with her finger. “Hi, sweetheart. Hi, little Cassie.”
Gage brushed his lips over Catherine’s ear.
“Don’t do that,” Catherine whispered. “You’ll embarrass us.”
“Impossible.” Taking her chin in hand, he turned her face to his and kissed her.
She pulled away. “Someone might see us.”
“Who cares? I can’t believe you are the same woman who yesterday went to the garden party barefoot.”
“I was in a funny mood yesterday.” Catherine lowered her eyes and blushed.
“Yes, and everyone in Iowa is reading about it today. So don’t get shy on me now.” The photos of barefoot Catherine had appeared on the front page of the Gazette’s “Iowa in Person” section that morning.
Catherine leaned her cheek against his broad chest. “I’m so happy, Gage. I didn’t know I could be this happy.”
“I’ll be happy December first. That’s as long as I’m waiting for you.” He kissed her hair. Then turning her so her back was to him again, he wrapped his arms around her waist.
Safe and warm, Catherine murmured, “It’s long enough. We’ll have the reception at Hadley House. They’ll have the first floor renovated by then.”
Gage grinned. “Yes, I think great-grandmother would like her namesake to celebrate her wedding there.”
“And it will make your mother happy.”
“More importantly, we will be together. A family.” He bent and kissed her hair.
“A family,” Catherine repeated. A shiver of joy rippled through her. “I’ll have a family again.”
Peeking at her from the side, Gage cocked an eyebrow at her. “We can start working on that as soon as December first if you like.”
Catherine’s gaze drifted to the baby behind the glass. In an awed voice, she said, “Oh, my, we could have a baby next year.”
“If you want to,” Gage added.
Catherine nodded. “We’ll talk about it.”
Gage kissed her. He cleared his throat. “The one thing I regret is that since I’m just starting up a new business, money will be tight for a few years. I won’t be able to build you that ranch-style house and stable by the river yet. But you’re going to get your dream. I saved a piece of the McCanliss property for us to build on.”
“Gage, a house is just a house. As
long as you and I are together, we’ll make a home. My house will welcome a fifth generation.”
“It will also welcome a new roof, gutters and a fresh coat of white paint.” Gage grinned and tapped her nose.
“Well, well, this is interesting.” The senior pastor stood beaming at them. “Young man,” he said with mock sternness, “are your intentions honorable?”
“Positively.” Gage pulled Catherine under his arm and kissed her cheek. “I found my perfect mate in Eden.”
Catherine suppressed a giggle. “We’re making it a partnership for life.”
Dear Reader,
Thanks so much for picking up Hope’s Garden. It is my third Love Inspired title, but my first book set in my home state, Iowa. I hope I have given you a flavor of life in the Heartland, the rolling hills, blue rivers and green fields of corn.
The themes of putting God first in your life and loving your neighbor as yourself are intertwined. Cat took Gage on as a partner because of business concerns, but she didn’t realize that God had brought him into her life for more than business. Both Cat and Gage needed to learn how to put their lives in the right order—considering God first and their neighbors before themselves. Not an easy lesson to swallow.
I know I struggle with these lessons in my own life. What helps me is always trying to remember that what I do to others, I am actually doing to God. Scary thought, don’t you think? How wonderful that when we fail, God loves us enough to pick us up, brush us off, forgive us and give us another chance. I’ve often heard that our God is the God of the Second Chance. For that, we can all be truly grateful.
Please write me at: P.O. Box 273 Hiawatha, Iowa 52233
ISBN: 978-1-4592-2433-9
HOPE’S GARDEN
Copyright © 2000 by Lyn Cote
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Steeple Hill Books, 300 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017 U.S.A.