A Gift of Family (Love Inspired)

by Ross, Mia

  “Sounds great. I’ll see you then.”

  Waving, Seth headed out the door and across the street. As he approached the square, his discomfort grew with each step. Even though he’d been recruited by the man in charge, it didn’t seem right that someone who’d turned away from God should be in charge of rebuilding a house of worship.

  Seth tried regarding it the way Lisa had suggested, as a building. Cozy and unassuming, the little white church looked like many others he’d seen during his travels. It had been built simply, its only embellishments being a modest steeple and that unique stained-glass window. But he knew from his inspection yesterday that, old as they were, those walls had been built to last.

  Even though he wasn’t from Harland, he recognized that this chapel was part of the town’s history, and it meant a lot to the people giving up their time to help make it whole again. People like Aunt Ruth and the Sawyers who were busy enough as it was but had offered their help without complaint.

  They were like a family, he realized as he climbed the front steps. Working together to make Pastor Charles’s promise of holding Christmas Eve service there a reality. In his memory, Lisa’s voice rang as clearly as if she were standing right beside him.

  I’ve gone to Christmas Eve service in that church every year since I was born. I can’t imagine it any other way.

  Seth wished he felt a connection like that to a special place. Any place, he thought while he got his hard hat from a rack and pulled on his work gloves. He’d spent most of the past two years trying to forget all the cities and towns he’d been to, desperate to put those memories out of his mind so he could get on with his life.

  Had it worked? Not so much, he admitted with a sigh. The problem was, he didn’t know what else to do.

  Taking a clipboard from its hook, he skimmed the checklist of jobs he’d made up for today. If they got through half of them, he’d be amazed, but he didn’t see the point in setting the bar low. High expectations would motivate people to work more efficiently, he reasoned. When he realized that was one of his father’s lessons, Seth grinned. The older he got, the smarter Dad seemed to be.

  The first thing on his personal list was to build a box around the irreplaceable window. He gathered the materials he needed and started toward the front of the church. Building, he corrected himself, taking a deep breath to keep his nerves under control. This was a building that needed to be repaired, nothing more. He was good at that.

  As he neared the front pews, the sunlight streaming through the remaining side windows broke through the gloom and made everything look more cheerful. Hopeful, almost. Distracted by the foolish thought, Seth cautioned himself to concentrate and set down the wood he was carrying. After measuring the opening, he tapped around to find some studs he could nail into without damaging the carved frame around the window.

  He built the box on the floor and partially banged in some nails around the edges to make things easier when he lifted it into place later. He stood up, and a shaft of sunlight hit the colored glass just right, making it look like a million gems sparkling in the morning sun.

  Deep golds, vivid blues and emerald greens glowed with what he could only describe as warmth. The slender gold halo over Jesus’s head stood out from the background, and Seth noticed something he hadn’t seen before.

  A hammer.

  By Jesus’s bare feet lay an old wooden mallet like the kind carpenters used to use. Squinting, Seth looked for other tools disguised in the artwork and found a plane and a chisel. He wouldn’t have seen them from a distance, and they were so cleverly integrated into the design he was sure most people wouldn’t have spotted them even up close.

  Seth found himself staring at the face depicted in the window. He didn’t know what he expected, but he focused on it for a long time. The longer he looked, the warmer the colors seemed to get. Crazy as it seemed, he felt as if someone was trying to communicate with him. Thanking him for helping to restore the broken church back to the way it was meant to be.

  Welcoming him home.

  “Is everything okay?”

  * * *

  Seth spun toward her, and Lisa frowned at the spooked expression on his face. She’d been standing there long enough to worry about him gazing up at the church’s signature window as if he was in some kind of trance. Now she was really concerned.

  “Seth, you’re white as a sheet.” Hurrying toward the front of the aisle, she asked, “Are you okay?”

  He nodded slowly, but his eyes cut to the animal scene again as if he thought it might have changed since he last saw it two seconds ago. She knew a lot of people who felt a special connection to the artwork, but she’d never seen anyone react to it the way he had. It was as if he’d found something disturbing in the old glass and was having a hard time putting it out of his mind.

  “It’s real pretty,” he finally said, focusing on her with a wan smile. “How old is it?”

  “As old as the church. Daniel Sawyer made it and hung it himself when they dedicated the chapel in 1860.”

  “That’s why this place means so much to your family,” Seth commented as the color came back into his face. “Did you get your talent for painting from him?”

  She’d never really thought about it, but his question made her laugh. “Probably. Our family tree has a lot more farmers than artists.”

  “That just makes you special.”

  Genuine affection warmed his smile, making her feel special. “What a sweet thing to say. Thank you.”

  When he hunkered down, she noticed the wooden box on the floor near his feet. As she knelt beside him, she asked, “What’s this for?”

  “I want to cover the window so we don’t wreck it while we’re pulling things down and putting them back up.”

  “We’re mostly just cleaning up today.”

  “I like to work ahead,” he explained. “Keeps things moving along.”

  The meaning beneath his words hit her, and she smiled at him. “You’re going to make sure this church is ready for Christmas Eve, aren’t you?”

  “That’s what the pastor wants.” He connected with her eyes in a rare direct gaze. “And you. It’s important to you, and I want you to have it.”

  “Why?” Realizing that sounded rude, she quickly added, “I mean, we hardly know each other. Why does it matter so much what I want?”

  “You’re a good person, and you deserve to be happy.”

  Determination lit his eyes, and Lisa had no doubt that if he had to work around the clock he’d make sure she wasn’t disappointed. Knowing he thought so much of her sent a tingle of excitement racing down her spine. What would it be like to be the woman he loved? she wondered. Would he use his considerable will to make all her dreams come true?

  While romantic notions were spinning through her head, the double doors banged open and several people entered. After the clang of them setting down their tool kits, she heard someone say, “First ones here, as usual.”

  “Yeah,” another replied. “Where’s our fearless leader?”

  The others laughed, and not in a nice way. When they started ripping into Seth, she started to stand up and give them a piece of her mind. Frowning, Seth put a hand on her arm and shook his head. She stayed put, but she didn’t like it. No one should be allowed to run someone else down like that. It just wasn’t right.

  One of them had the gall to complain, “I don’t know what the pastor’s thinking, bringing in a stranger to tell us how to fix our own church. Y’ask me, it’s a real slap in the face to Carl Miller.”

  “Carl’s not complaining,” one of his friends said sternly. “Neither should you. This Hansen kid’s been through a lot, and the last thing he needs is you making things tougher on him.”

  “How do we even know he can handle a crew like this?”

  “He’s military,” a famil
iar voice told him in a measured tone. “That’s good enough for me.”

  It was Gus Williams, and Lisa barely restrained herself from rushing out to hug him. Revered around town for his Marine service and tireless charity work, if anyone could convince them to give Seth a fair shake, Gus could.

  “I got plenty of respect for you service boys,” one of the whiners said. “But this kid’s like a ghost. He can’t handle a rowdy, inexperienced bunch of volunteers.”

  “He’ll handle them fine,” Gus assured him. “Meantime, I could use some extra hands unloading the lumber I’ve got out in my truck.”

  They all tramped out after him, and the doors slammed closed.

  “Morons,” Lisa seethed as she and Seth got to their feet. “You should have set them straight.”

  “Folks don’t just give you respect,” he explained patiently, as if she were a child who needed the lesson. “You have to earn it.”

  Still peeved, she tilted her chin defiantly up in the air. “I’d never let anyone talk about me like that.”

  “I don’t doubt that for a second. But I don’t make much of a first impression. When they see what I can do, they’ll change their minds about me.”

  He’d made an incredible first impression on her, but she wasn’t about to tell him that. In her experience, praising a guy made him expect all kinds of things. Since Seth was going to be leaving town soon, she knew it was best to keep him at arm’s length.

  Too bad, she thought with a mental sigh. The more she saw of him, the more there was to like. Even if his extreme shifts in mood—from surfer-dude mellow to superspy intense—did make her crazy.

  Lisa angled a look over at Seth, expecting to see defeat in his eyes. Instead, they snapped with determination.

  “Don’t worry,” he said as he lifted the box into place over the window. “I know more about building than they think.”

  “It would be hard not to.”

  They both laughed, and she held the box steady while he hammered it into place. When two of the judgmental idiots returned carting armloads of lumber, they stopped just inside the door and gaped at Seth and Lisa. Apparently, they didn’t mind trashing someone if they thought he wasn’t listening, but being caught at it was embarrassing.

  Feeling just snotty enough to be mean, she gave them the sugary smile she used on difficult customers who needed to be coerced into leaving her more than a quarter as a tip. “Hal, your wife asked me to let her know when we need those batches of chili the Ladies’ Aid is making for the crew. Tell her tomorrow would be great.”

  “Sure,” he mumbled, his face reddening by the second.

  “And Gerry,” she added in the same sugary tone, “anytime you want to bring those tables we’re borrowing from the firehouse, you can set them up in the square.”

  “Will do, Lisa.”

  He exchanged an awkward look with his buddy, and they took off with their tails between their legs.

  Turning back to Seth, she gave him a triumphant smile. “That’s how you deal with narrow-minded fools.”

  She anticipated him making some kind of flip remark, but instead he fixed her with a serious look. “You didn’t have to do that, but thanks.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  * * *

  When the noon fire whistle blew, everyone trooped outside for some fresh air. Parking an empty wheelbarrow he’d been using, Seth glanced around for Lisa and realized she wasn’t there. He’d been so busy trucking debris out to the Dumpsters, he hadn’t noticed when she’d left. More disappointed than he should have been, he put her out of his mind and got back to work.

  The biggest stuff was gone, so he was down to shoveling smaller pieces into the wheelbarrow. He’d just come back from dumping his last load when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to find Lisa behind him, holding a tray. The food was covered with metal covers, but he could smell something delicious steaming through the holes.

  “Lunchtime.”

  She flashed him a bright smile before heading back down the aisle. Clearly, she meant for him to follow her.

  “Thanks, but I’m good.”

  Turning, she nailed him with a give-me-a-break look. “You don’t expect me to eat by myself, do you?”

  This pretty lady seemed determined to make sure he didn’t spend too much time on his own. He wasn’t sure why she cared so much, especially since it was obvious he aggravated her on a regular basis.

  Get a grip, he scolded himself. Lisa was a nice woman who was giving him a little extra attention. Most guys would kill to be in his place right now, and he should just go with it.

  Pushing away his lingering discomfort, he stripped off his gloves and shoved them in the back pocket of his jeans. “Since you put it like that, I guess it’s time for lunch.”

  “Good boy.”

  With a satisfied feminine smirk, she led him outside to a picnic table under a tree. They sat at one end across from each other, and the conversation at the other end stopped abruptly. Judging by their reaction to his presence, Seth assumed these were the doubters that had irritated Lisa earlier this morning. He couldn’t help admiring her in-your-face attitude. It contradicted the accommodating, friendly personality she showed when she was waitressing. To him, the extra layer made her even more fascinating.

  “Nice move,” he murmured as she set their dishes on the table and stacked the trays.

  “Mess with my friends,” she hissed with a false smile. She didn’t finish the threat, but he got the gist from the blue fury snapping in her eyes.

  When her words registered more clearly, Seth asked, “You consider us friends?”

  “Definitely,” she assured him breezily while she unwrapped her club sandwich. “Don’t you?”

  Smiling, he unrolled his napkin and took out his silverware. “I guess I do.”

  “You’re trying to figure out when it happened, aren’t you?”

  A few days ago, her uncanny ability to guess his thoughts would have sent him into a panic. Now, it made him laugh. Maybe he was actually making progress.

  “You’re pretty good at that mind-reading thing.”

  Lifting the cover from his food, he found a deep bowl full of his aunt’s Irish stew. As he glanced around, he noticed that everyone else had sandwiches. “Thanks again.”

  “I figured since you’re the head guy, you should get something special for lunch.”

  Smiling, she patted his left arm. It was the one that still gave him trouble, and he ignored it as much as possible. Even though it had healed well, he couldn’t look at the scars in the mirror. Lisa had seen them, though, and he couldn’t believe she wanted to touch him at all. Most people would be horrified, but he was beginning to understand she wasn’t like most people. That thought led him back to the way she’d dealt with Hal and Gerry. Without hesitation, she’d made it very clear that she knew what they’d said about Seth and wouldn’t stand for any more nonsense.

  You didn’t encounter that kind of integrity very often. It reminded Seth of how the men in his unit had looked out for each other, even when all their backs were up against a wall. The last place he’d expect to find that kind of backbone was in a bubbly country girl who’d taught herself to paint. Maybe Aunt Ruth was right. It seemed there was a lot more to Lisa Sawyer than blue eyes and a gorgeous smile.

  Swallowing around the sudden lump in his throat, he forced himself to meet her eyes directly. “You probably hate secrets.”

  “Pretty much.”

  “I can’t do anything about that. I’m sorry.”

  With an unreadable expression, she studied him for what felt like forever. Hard as he tried, Seth couldn’t make himself look away. Shifting emotions swirled through her eyes: compassion, confusion, concern. The one that amazed him most was something he’d assumed he’d never see again.

/>   Acceptance.

  Tilting her head, she popped a slice of pickle into her mouth. “So what you’re saying is if we’re going to be friends, I have to take you as is, without asking a lot of questions you can’t answer.”

  Hearing it put so bluntly made it sound downright rude, but she had the basic idea, so he nodded. “Yeah.”

  “You didn’t look away this time.” Giving him an encouraging smile, she patted his arm again. “I must be growing on you.”

  Big-time. Since he didn’t want to scare her by coming across as needy, Seth settled for a quick grin. “Maybe.”

  She laughed. “Seth Hansen, are you flirting with me?”

  “Maybe.” Inspiration struck, and he added, “Is it working?”

  She regarded him with a tilt of her head. “Did you get that from a movie?”

  “Yeah.” Feeling the heat in his face, he knew he looked like a total idiot. “Flirting’s not my strong point.”

  “That’s okay. You’ve got lots of other strong points that are way more interesting.”

  Her open, honest approval of him left Seth totally at a loss. When he noticed her staring over his shoulder, he asked, “Something wrong?”

  “I know it sounds stupid, but I’ll really miss that old tree. Everything changes, I guess,” she added with a wistful sigh.

  She sounded so sad, he wished there was something he could do to bring that tree back for her. Since that was impossible, he tried to find reassuring words. Before he could come up with something intelligent to say, a man bellowed Lisa’s name, and she got up from her seat.

  “Duty calls,” she said as she slid an order pad from the back pocket of her jeans. “See you later?”

  When Seth realized it was a question, his brain kicked his mouth into gear. “Sure. I’ll be around.”

  She left him with a warm parting smile and moved around the tables, taking orders for extra sandwiches and more drinks. Watching her chatting and laughing with the volunteers, Seth realized she hadn’t finished her own lunch. Instead, she’d spent her precious free time making him feel more at ease, bolstering his confidence to the point where he felt as though he could tackle anything this project—and his crew—threw at him.