by Glynna Kaye
“My calling a halt to the fun last week and putting a damper on the work that had been accomplished didn’t help.”
“No, it didn’t.” Questioning hazel eyes probed his. “Why did you do that, Luke?”
* * *
If ever a man looked uncomfortable when a reasonable question was posed, it was Luke Hunter at this very moment.
“I don’t think anyone would have gotten hurt,” Delaney continued. “Do you? Honestly?”
“I can’t say what might or might not have happened.” He leaned back against the kitchen counter, dodging a direct answer. “But I believe safe is better than sorry.”
“I do, too. But have you never had a water balloon fight? Turned a hose on one of your cousins?”
He shifted. “I have.”
“Was anyone hurt?”
“No overnight stays in the ER, if that’s what you mean.” A slight smile lifted the corner of his mouth. “But horseplay can get out of hand. And we—you and I—are responsible for the kids when they’re under our supervision. I take that seriously.”
“So do I.” But somehow Luke had her pegged as irresponsible. Lacking in maturity. Why did that hurt so much? And why did she care what he thought about her, anyway? Like Dwayne and Aunt Jen, he liked things to be the way he wanted them and wasn’t much into leaving wiggle room for others.
He scuffed the floor with the toe of his work boot. “I can get this linoleum pulled up for you.”
“I can help, too,” an unfamiliar voice said quietly from the open doorway leading to the dining room.
Startled, Luke and Delaney turned as one.
Drake Mason.
Delaney shared a quick glance with Luke, then took a smiling step toward the young man. “Drake, how good of you to come.”
“But the other kids aren’t coming, huh? Because you told them you invited me.”
“Some had other commitments today. But—” She didn’t want to lie to the boy. Or gloss things over. He wasn’t stupid and who knows how much of their conversation he’d overheard?
“To be honest,” Luke said, pinning him with a direct look, “that’s exactly what’s happened, Drake. Your reputation has preceded you. You’ve been involved in vandalism in the past. And you’ve picked on my daughter Anna, as well. Thinking you might be here today, she refused to come. The other kids likely rallied around her.”
Confusion and alarm flashed through the boy’s eyes. “I never picked on Anna.”
Luke’s jaw hardened and Delaney could tell he was fighting to control his temper. “What would you call shadowing her in the hallways at school? Trying to grab her backpack away from her? Making kissy sounds in study hall so that the other kids laughed at her? Made fun of her?”
“I...” His face flushing a bright red, Drake stared at Luke’s granite-hard expression, then at Delaney. “I... I like Anna.”
Was he saying he had a crush on Luke’s daughter?
“I wanted to carry her backpack for her. I—”
“If that’s what you’re claiming, you need to know right now that your behavior was totally out of line.” Luke didn’t look to be buying Drake’s romantic spin. “That’s not how you show someone you like them. Especially a sweet young girl who you repeatedly upset, embarrassed and made hate going to school.”
“I didn’t mean to do any of that. Honest.”
“Well, you did. Actions speak louder than words.” He jerked his head in the direction of the front door. “I think it’s time you went home, Drake. There’s nothing for you to do here today.”
The boy turned miserable eyes on Delaney. Hoping he could recruit her into his corner? But this was Luke’s issue, not hers, even though her heart went out to the boy, if what he was telling them was true.
After a moment, Drake nodded, then left. The sound of the screen door closing echoed through the house.
“Luke—”
He raised his palm to halt her. “I know what you’re going to say. You think I was too hard on him. That I should have found him something to do around here.”
“It is going to be his home. Isn’t it natural that he might be drawn to the place? Want to be a part of fixing it up?”
“If he’s here, the other kids won’t come back, Delaney. It’s as simple as that. Do you want to finish the project by the deadline or is taking up for the underdog—a boy whose history you know nothing about—the route you’d prefer to go?”
“I feel sorry for him.”
“Me, too. After all, his father is Benton Mason. But I can’t let that cloud my judgment. He’s caused a lot of trouble around here and Anna’s been targeted in the past.”
“Boys sometimes do dumb things when they like a girl.”
“Such as?”
She laughed at his puzzled look. “Don’t you remember? It can’t be that long ago since you were a teenager.”
He frowned. “You don’t seriously think he hounded her like that because he liked her, do you?”
“Maybe. I remember a boy in my math class who I had a crush on when I moved to Canyon Springs. He was a nice boy and I liked him. But he always acted irritated with me, picked arguments. I stayed as far away from him as I could get just to avoid being embarrassed and feeling bad about myself. It wasn’t until after graduation that he told me that he liked me back then.” She shook her head. “The poor kid, he was so socially inept that he couldn’t express his true feelings appropriately. Just acted out in behaviors that were totally in opposition to how he really felt.”
Luke, standing in that familiar hands-on-his-hip pose, stared down at the ripped-up linoleum.
“Luke? Did you hear what I said?”
“What? Yeah. Sure. I was just thinking, you know, about...Anna.”
She nodded, still not feeling good about sending Drake away. “Anna and Travis have previous commitments, but maybe I’ll give a few of the others a call to let them know Drake won’t be here.”
“Kids don’t lack for things to do on a holiday weekend, Delaney, and I imagine, like Anna and Travis, they’ve made plans for the day. And actually...” Luke’s eyes reflected an apology in advance. “I think you need to give the project a breather this weekend.”
Her eyes widened. Hadn’t all along Luke expressed doubts that the work could be completed in the allotted time frame? How could he suggest further delay?
“We can’t afford to lose another day of work.” She motioned to her clipboard checklist on the countertop. “While I’m popping over to visit my aunt Jen as often as I can on weekdays, there aren’t many Saturdays left after today and one of those I’m in a wedding in Canyon Springs.”
“I realize that, but I also recognize that I’m partially responsible for at least some of the kids being no-shows today, including my own. You need to give me the opportunity to make some phone calls. Talk to a few parents. Some of the kids.”
“But—”
“And,” he interrupted, his solemn gaze now warming, “I need your permission to deliver some motivation to get the kids back on board.”
Bribery again.
But what exactly did Luke Hunter have in mind?
Chapter Twelve
“I like the sound of that, Vinnie. I never thought I’d be calling myself a Kansan and certainly not by the end of the summer, but God works in mysterious ways. I’ll be talking to you later. Thanks for calling. I look forward to working with you guys.”
Luke shut off the phone and relaxed into a kitchen chair. It was settled. He’d made a decision. Had a direction. It felt good. Thank You, Lord.
He’d spent way too many years after Marsha’s death drifting. Not from place to place, but emotionally. Mentally. Spiritually. Going with the flow and not taking responsibility for his life. How had he become so passive? That had never been his n
ature, even as a boy.
But Marsha...that had changed him in ways he wasn’t proud of. Is that why his dad and Grady never challenged him to take on more at the Hideaway? Nor were they open to his recent rumblings of wanting additional responsibility. Didn’t they think he could handle it?
But Josh and Vinnie knew what he was capable of. Knew he could carry his share of the load. They’d pulled each other out of the line of fire more than once. Depended on each other. Trusted each other.
He glanced down at his watch and smiled. 5:30 a.m. Vinnie always forgot that their time difference in the summer was two hours rather than one. Good thing he was an early riser, even on a Saturday morning. It had taken all week for him, working alongside Delaney at the project house, to convince her a youth group trail ride this morning would be a good move to get the kids back on board. Bribery, she still called it. But she could laugh about it now, which made him smile, too.
For a long moment he listened to the silence, unbroken except by the cheerful chirp of a sparrow outside the open kitchen window above the sink. He loved this time of day when the thick stand of pines shadowed the cabin, fresh mountain air cooled the forest, and before the wind picked up. He’d missed the high country when he’d been in the military, especially when in the desert regions of remote locales. He’d miss it again, no doubt, when relocated.
But it was good to have the decision made.
He rose resolutely and looked around the kitchen where he and his children had shared meals together the past six years. He didn’t regret bringing them back here from where he’d been stationed in Texas. It had been the right thing to do. But it was time to move on, to see what God had in store.
Unbidden, the smiling face of Delaney Marks surfaced in his thoughts and his chest tightened. No, Delaney wasn’t in God’s plans for him. Appealing as she might be, as warm and loving as she’d been to his kids, neither she—nor any other woman—would be joining him in this new venture.
He flipped off the kitchen light and headed slowly into the still-shadowed living room area of the cabin, lost in his thoughts.
Until he heard a sniffle.
He reached out for the wall switch to illuminate the room. And there they all sat. His children. Sitting on the sofa like ravens rowed up on a power line. Glaring at him.
He frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“Anna heard you, Dad.” Travis’s voice held a dangerous edge. “About Kansas. When were you going to tell us?”
So much for finding the right time for a heart-to-heart. “Nothing had been finalized. There wasn’t anything to tell.”
“It sounds as if there’s something to tell now.” Travis crossed his arms, his eyes accusing.
Anna nodded solemnly. Chloe sniffed again. She’d been crying.
Drawing in a breath, he let it out slowly, then moved to scoop his youngest daughter into his arms and sat down on the sofa by Anna. She scooted away from him.
He closed his eyes for a moment, willing away the flashback to another time when he’d gathered his children around him, Chloe snuggled in his arms just like now. A child on either side of him. Travis barely eleven, Anna nine, Chloe two. He’d met them at the home of friends where Marsha had sent them off for a sleepover the evening of her fateful decision. Holding them close, he did by far the hardest thing he’d ever done in his life—broke the tragic news of their mother’s untimely death to them. A reality that he could barely comprehend himself at the time.
Shoving away the too-vivid memory, he opened his eyes. Thankfully, this was nothing like that time. Nothing. This was good news that, once they got used to the idea, would open happy doors to the future for all of them.
“Let me start by saying that there are things in life that you may not always understand until you’re older.
Travis sighed as he leaned his elbow on the far-side sofa arm, resting his jaw in his open palm. “Don’t give us that old song and dance. We can understand more than you give us credit for. Even Chloe.”
Luke’s littlest sniffled again and he kissed the top of her head. Wiped away a stray tear. He should reprimand Travis for his tone. His disrespect. But that could wait. Clearly Luke’s eldest had been caught off-guard. That was his fault.
Luke made a point of looking each of his kids in the eye. Travis, nearly a man. Anna, his rough-and-tumble tomboy. And sweet Chloe, who most resembled her mother. His heart swelled. I love these kids, Lord. They are a part of me and Marsha, the product of the love we once shared. Please let them understand that I would never in my life ever do anything that I thought would harm them.
He shifted Chloe in his lap. “You remember me talking about my army buddies, Josh and Vinnie, right?”
All nodded. They’d heard plenty about those two larger-than-life guys through the years. The funny stuff, of course. No war front stories.
“They’re from Kansas, and several years ago they started a business that’s growing steadily. Up until now they’ve had the financial and accounting work outsourced, but now they could use another partner to oversee that in-house.”
Josh and Vinnie, thankfully, understood he didn’t have cash to invest and couldn’t take out loans with Travis and Anna nearing college age. But they were good with that.
“They want you.” Anna’s lower lip trembled.
He met her gaze evenly, encouragingly. “That’s right. You may not remember, but before we came to Hunter Ridge, I held a lot of important jobs in the military. Had a lot of responsibility.”
“And you were gone all the time, too,” Travis mumbled. “I remember that.”
A muscle tightened in Luke’s throat at the accusation. But it wasn’t one he could refute. He had been gone a lot, and maybe if he hadn’t...
“You probably made good money, too,” Anna echoed, ever conscious of their limited finances, clipping coupons, shopping on a budget.
Luke frowned as he brushed back the sleep-disheveled hair from Chloe’s face. “Decent enough. But it’s more than that.”
“Like what, Dad?” Travis shot to his feet. “We don’t want to go to Kansas.”
Chloe’s lower lip protruded. “Anna says they don’t have mountains there. How do people live without mountains, Daddy?”
He gave her a reassuring squeeze, hoping to stave off more tears. “People all over the country live without mountains, sweetheart.”
“I don’t want to.”
Travis gave him a look. “Maybe you can just walk off and turn your back on Delaney, but I’m not leaving Scottie behind. So you can forget that.”
An invisible fist punched Luke in the stomach. Delaney? What did she have to do with this?
Shock must have registered on his face, because Travis snorted. “We know you like her, Dad. She likes you, too. What’s the big secret?”
“Dad.” Anna lightly touched his arm and he turned to look into her sorrowful eyes. “I don’t want to leave Grandma and Grandpa. Or Grandma Jo. Or Thunder.”
Her horse.
He reached out to take her hand, offering a consoling smile, but his mind raced, stalled, raced again at his son’s matter-of-fact conclusion regarding Delaney. “It’s not as if we’re moving to the moon, honey. We’ll be back for holidays. Summer vacation. I promise.”
She looked away, blinking rapidly, and he drew a heavy breath. This was not going as planned. He’d intended to do research on the area, on the fun things to do there so they’d be excited about it. But if the kids were reacting like this, he’d better be prepared for Mom and Grandma. Ready to do damage control.
“We don’t even get a vote on this?” Anna still wasn’t looking at him, but Travis’s glare did double duty.
“You know I love you, don’t you?” He drew Chloe close, squeezed Anna’s hand. “Sometimes dads have to make unpopular decisions for the best of a family. Remember how at fi
rst none of you wanted to come to Hunter Ridge? But it will work out. Good things will come of it and someday you’ll look back and see why this was a good thing for all of us.”
Travis rolled his eyes. “Yeah, right.”
“There are good universities in that area of the Midwest, Trav. Nebraska. Kansas State. University of Kansas. Mizzou.” He’d make sure Travis got the opportunities his father hadn’t been given.
“That’s nice and I hope you have a great life there, Dad. But I’m not going to Kansas. So bon voyage.”
Travis spun on his barefooted heel and headed down the hallway to his room.
When Luke heard a light knock at the door, he groaned. The youth group was here already?
“Delaney!” With a gasp, Anna leaped up and stared down in horror at her pajamas. “And my hair!”
Chloe squirmed in his arms, escaping from his lap to race to the door.
And all he could do was prop his elbows on his knees and lower his face into his hands.
We know you like her. She likes you, too. So what’s the big secret?
* * *
“Delaney! You’re here! You’re here!” The little girl hopped from foot to foot, almost dancing with excitement. “And you look beautiful!”
“Thank you.” As she stepped inside, Delaney couldn’t help but notice Chloe’s reddened eyes and sniffling nose. Must be one of those days in the Hunter household. How on earth did Luke manage?
She pulled out a tissue from her pocket and handed it to Chloe, barely glimpsing a pajama-clad Anna disappearing down a hallway. No sign of Travis. But a weary-looking Luke was rising from the sofa.
“Good morning, Luke.”
“If you say so.”
Oh, dear.
“Is the youth group here already?” He glanced out the picture window. “I thought they weren’t coming until seven.”
“I’m an hour early. Anna called me last night and said she wanted to show me around before we went riding.” She placed a gentle hand on Chloe’s shoulder. “If this isn’t a good time, I can come back later.”