Natalie balked at the woman’s attack, realizing for the first time that Libby didn’t consider Natalie her family. She cringed as the torrent of words continued, Libby’s voice growing louder with each sentence.
“Okay, okay, just lower your voice,” Natalie pleaded, wondering if her stepmom had been drinking.
“Don’t worry about me.” Libby pointed at Jared who stood a few yards away observing the display. “Why don’t you go back to your preacher fella? I can see he’s anxious for your return.”
Natalie’s cheeks flamed hot as a branding iron. Not only had Libby embarrassed her and her family, she now implicated Jared. What would his congregation think of him? Eager to leave, she searched the crowd and spotted Dillon with a couple of boys his age. Chelsey sat at a table with Sarah.
On her way to fetch them, she stopped to offer Jared an apology. “I’m so sorry for causing a scene.”
Jared’s dark eyes shone with compassion. “I doubt people even noticed. Why don’t you stay and finish your ice cream.” He carried their bowls in his hands.
“I can’t. We need to leave.”
“No, you don’t.” He set her bowl on a table and waited for her to join him. “None of us are perfect, Natalie.”
Confused by Jared’s forbearance, Natalie struggled with whether to leave or stay, wanting nothing more than to return to the lighthearted evening they shared before. Right when she was about to agree, Libby again made her presence known and tapped Jared on the shoulder.
“Pastor Jared, I have something I want to ask you.” Her voice slurred, and Natalie was now certain the woman had been drinking.
Jared surely realized it too. “How can I help you, Libby?”
“I wanna know if you like my stepdaughter.” She leaned close to Jared and stared up at him. “Do you like Natalie? Cause if you do, I think that’s just great.”
“Why yes, Libby. I like Natalie very much. I have an idea, though.” Jared took the woman by the arm and sent Natalie an unspoken message. His eyes told her to trust him. “Why don’t you let Natalie drive you home, and we can talk about this later.”
Willard came up to them and buffered Libby’s other side. “That’s right, we can talk about this at home,” Willard said, lowering his voice for Natalie, “where there aren’t quite so many ears to hear.”
“I don’t want to leave,” the woman fussed. “The party is just beginning. I haven’t even had my ice cream yet.”
The two men led Libby through the crowd to the truck and passed by Chelsey and Dillon who watched in stunned silence. Natalie fought back her humiliation, desperately wishing to be invisible, but needing to be courageous for her brother and sister. She opened her arms to them. “The party’s over, kids. Why don’t you gather our chairs so we can go home?”
Dillon immediately did as told, but not Chelsey. Instead, she rushed to take Jared’s place and wrapped her arm around Libby’s waist. “Come on, Mom, we have ice cream in the freezer, and it’s twice as good as the stuff they’re serving here.”
Natalie recoiled at the barbed words issuing from her sister’s mouth. She exchanged worried looks with Jared. Then Chelsey shot a dagger at her.
“Like mother like daughter, isn’t that what you’re thinking?”
TWENTY-EIGHT
“NO ONE IS THINKING THAT, CHELSEY.” JARED OPENED THE PASSENGER door for Libby, hating that all their work this week would end on such a sour note and possibly destroy the progress made in the teen’s troubled life.
“That’s right, young lady. Nobody’s going to compare you to this woman.” Willard confiscated a near-empty bottle of dark liquor from the floorboard of the truck. “She’s been gone so long no one even remembers her. Not even here a week, and already she’s causing problems.” The man ground the words out through his teeth and set the bottle in the back of the truck.
“You never did like me, did you, old man.” Libby climbed into the cab, shoving past any help offered her. “But that’s okay, ‘cause I never liked you much either.” She scooted to the middle of the seat allowing room for Chelsey to join her.
“I know you love your mom and want to help her,” Jared told Chelsey as she entered the cab. “We want to help too. You believe that, don’t you?”
Chelsey stared back, confused and on guard.
“We’ll get home a lot faster if you’ll quit jabbering,” Libby bellowed, and Jared gently shut the door on the woman’s loud mouth.
He caught up to Natalie as she made her way to the driver’s side. “You’re always welcome here, Natalie. You and your family.” He cast a quick glance at his parishioners. A few still watched from the lawn. “Remember what I told you, none of us are perfect—we’re all sinners and all in need of Jesus’ forgiveness and salvation.”
Natalie turned to him and exhaled. “I don’t know, Jared. Somehow I get the feeling we don’t fit in with this crowd.”
Jared clasped her hand within his own. “I’m not here to judge you, Natalie.”
“Can you say the same about them?” She nodded toward his congregation.
“Test us and see. Come to church on Sunday. Bring Chelsey and Dillon, Libby too, if she has a mind to attend.”
Dillon appeared at Natalie’s side, his arms loaded with lawn chairs. She helped stack them in the bed of the truck, then waited for her brother to squeeze in beside Chelsey. “Thanks for inviting us tonight,” Natalie situated herself behind the wheel and rolled down the window. “But I wouldn’t count on seeing us in church on Sunday.”
“I’m not giving up that easy.” Jared watched as Natalie backed out of the parking lot and called out to Dillon. “I haven’t forgotten about our fishing trip, either. Best start digging some worms.”
Willard patted Jared’s shoulder as Natalie drove off. “Don’t give up on them. Remember, the prayers of a righteous man availeth much.”
Jared nodded, glad for the man’s support. “I’m sure by now my ice cream has melted. Want to join me for seconds?”
Willard let out a deep chuckle and patted his stomach. “Does it look like I’ve ever turned down seconds?”
LATER THAT EVENING, NATALIE RUMMAGED THROUGH THE VAST ARRAY of queen clothing in her closet. Her fingers lingered on the leather gown she’d worn at the Miss Rodeo America coronation, a red dress with fringe and sterling sequins. Of all her outfits, this had been her favorite—along with her sunflower vest designed especially for her by Rickrageous. Was it time to put all of this behind her and sell her pageantry outfits?
Her throat tightened with tears as she scanned the row of hangers. There were plenty of girls who could use the clothing, and she certainly didn’t have much need for leather dresses out here on the ranch. Her boots were another story though, as she didn’t think she could part with them.
She pulled two dresses from the closet, and a knock sounded on her bedroom door. “May I come in?” Chelsey asked in a muffled voice.
Natalie opened the door, still irritated about the evening. “What do you need?”
Chelsey traipsed into the room and sat on the bed. “I wondered if we could talk? About what happened tonight? About Libby?”
“You know you can talk to me anytime. I miss that about us—how we used to stay up chatting and giggling into the wee hours of the night.” Natalie draped a powder blue gown on the bed to study. “What do you think of this dress? Should I try to sell it at the queen clinic?”
Her sister fingered the soft, supple leather, and Natalie showed her the second gown on a hanger, a pink two-piece that complimented Chelsey’s complexion more than it did her own. “Want to try this on before it goes to auction? We could fix your hair and makeup…just like old times.”
Chelsey shook her head, but Natalie caught her hesitation. “Come on, it’ll be fun.” She dangled the dress in front of her sister as bait.
“Okay, if it means you’ll stop nagging.” Chelsey snatched the outfit and took it to her room, returning minutes later dressed in the pink leather.
Nata
lie noticed right away that her sister had taken the time to accessorize and wore the new heart necklace Libby had bought her the other day on their shopping trip. “Now all you need are some pink boots.”
“Does everything always have to match?” Irritation spouted from the girl’s lips.
“You bet.” Natalie dug in her closet through her stash of boots. “And you must always blacken the heels and bottoms of your boots because the judges are eyelevel with your feet when you’re on stage—It’s one of the first rules you learn in modeling.” She grinned and handed her sister a pair of pink ropers, dyed to match the dress.
“Sure seems like a lot of nonsense.” Chelsey slipped into the boots with ease, her feet a size smaller than Natalie’s.
“A rodeo queen represents the sport of rodeo,” Natalie said, “and there’s nothing foolish or sissy about that.” There were plenty of cowboys who made fun of rodeo queens, thinking they were all about style and beauty and didn’t have a brain, but they were wrong, and so was Chelsey.
Her sister pulled her hair back into a sloppy bun. “Okay, how do I look?”
“Let me help you with that.” Natalie guided her to the oak vanity and brushed the girl’s long blonde strands. “Are you mad at me for what happened tonight? You think I should have controlled Libby? Kept her from getting drunk?”
Chelsey stared back at her in the mirror, her hazel brown eyes made all the more vibrant by the pink collar on the dress. “Did you even know she’d been drinking?”
Natalie shook her head and frowned. “By the time I realized it, it was too late. Have you talked to her since we came home?”
Her sister gnawed on a fingernail. “She said she was nervous about being around all those church people. That she’d needed something to calm her nerves.”
Natalie groaned. A little Jim Beam would do that every time.She made a few more swipes with the brush. “What about the comment you made to me?”
The girl shrugged. “It was what you were thinking—that we were both drunks.”
Natalie twirled the teen’s hair, tempted to manipulate it even more with a good yank. Instead, she formed it into a chignon at the back of her head and set it with a clip. She gazed into the mirror at her sister and smiled. “I never thought that about you, Chels. I know you’re having a hard time dealing with Dad’s death. We all are. And we all make mistakes—goodness knows I’ve made my share of them.”
Chelsey sprung from the vanity chair and pulled the clip from her hair. “You never make mistakes. You’re perfect—Dad’s favorite little girl. He always said so.” She went back to the bed and fiddled with the pink fringe on the dress.
“Is that what you think?” Natalie joined her on the bed. “Because I assure you Dad and I had our difficult moments. What is this really about, anyway?”
Her sister’s bottom lip quivered.
“Are you mad because I’ve forbidden you to see Lucas? Is that it? You don’t want me controlling your life?”
“You don’t know what it’s like to be in love.”
“I’ve had plenty of boyfriends.” Natalie gazed down at her lap, thinking of one guy in particular.
“I mean someone you really love, who you want to spend the rest of your life with.”
Natalie recognized the raw emotion on her sister’s face and remembered all too well her own misguided feelings for Ryan. “You think you’re in love, but it’s just a phase you’re going through. Like puppy love. You’re too young to have those kinds of feelings, Chels.”
Her sister set her jaw hard and tight. “What about you and Pastor Jared?”
Natalie faltered at the mention of Jared’s name. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Do you like him?”
“I guess so…” She shrugged, not caring for where this interrogation might lead.
“Oh, I get it. We can talk about my love life, but yours is off-limits?” Chelsey crossed her arms in front of her chest and frowned. “You say you want to be close, to talk like we used to, but you don’t really mean it, do you?”
Trapped by her own words, Natalie gave in. “Okay, what do you want to know? Let’s talk about men or love or whatever.” She snatched a pillow from her bed and hugged it to her chest.
These must have been the magic words, as Chelsey turned all gushy and cheerful. “How do you know when you’re in love?”
Natalie’s face flushed with warmth. “I suppose it happens over time, when a man you like becomes your friend, and you enjoy spending time with him, or maybe you think about him when you’re not together.”
“Or your hands get all clammy, and your heart beats like a herd of horses inside your chest?” Chelsey stretched out on the bed and seized a pillow of her own.
Natalie grinned. “Yeah, I suppose it’s something like that.”
“Is that the way you felt when you fell in love?”
Natalie had to consider what it had been like with Ryan. She’d enjoyed spending time with the man, and he’d certainly made her heart thunder. Nearly every queen contestant drooled over the guy, so Natalie felt especially favored when he’d shown her attention. “I don’t know for sure…maybe.”
“That’s what it’s like for me and Lucas.” The girl rubbed the silver heart pendant that dangled from her neck as though it were a charm.
“But Chels, he’s so much older than you.”
“What does that matter, if we love each other?”
Natalie resisted throwing her pillow at the girl. “And what makes you think he loves you? Has he said as much?”
Her sister didn’t answer, and Natalie knew why. Though Ryan had declared his love to her, his words had been empty. He’d used her, like Lucas was using Chelsey. The boy probably just wanted to get as much mileage from her as he could.
“I don’t want to condemn the boy when I don’t even know him.” Natalie tried to give Lucas the benefit of the doubt. “But if it’s really love like you say, then some time apart isn’t going to hurt anything. Let’s do it this way. You agree to keep your distance from Lucas this summer, then if you both have the same feelings when school starts in the fall, we can discuss him coming over for visits when you turn sixteen. Sound fair?”
“I don’t know if it’s fair, but it’s better than nothing. Does this mean I’m not grounded?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“How about a cell phone? I’m going to be a sophomore. Don’t you think it’s time I get one?”
Natalie shook her head. “Are you ready to get a job so you can pay for it?” Chelsey’s mouth drooped, then just as quickly tilted into a conspiring grin.
“You never answered my question about Pastor J. Libby thinks he likes you. She thinks you went to church tonight to impress him.”
“I assure you, if I attend church, it’s because I want to, not because I’m trying to make an impression.” Natalie’s skin burned as she remembered the easy camaraderie she and Jared shared earlier that evening, the attraction she’d felt. She clutched the cool pillow to her neck.
“He seems a nice enough guy, for a pastor, that is.”
Natalie closed her eyes. If only Jared weren’t a pastor, she might allow her attraction for the man to grow. “We’re friends, that’s all.”
Chelsey’s eyes flickered with mischief. “Well, that’s how it begins, isn’t that what you told me? You start out as friends.”
TWENTY-NINE
SUNDAY MORNING, JARED LOOKED OUT AT HIS CONGREGATION AND scanned the pews row-by-row, hoping to see Natalie and her family seated among the members. But they were not there, just as Natalie had warned. Disheartened, Jared put the woman out of his mind and focused instead on his parishioners and the sermon he’d prepared. Afterwards, Mrs. Hildebrand cornered him in the receiving line to invite him to dinner.
“I refuse to take no for an answer. You will join us, won’t you?”
Jared peered over the heads of the congregation members filing out of the sanctuary. Why shouldn’t he have lunch with this family?
Had he really been so optimistic as to think there might be some hope for Natalie and him? At best, the idea was ridiculous. The two had so little in common. “Yes, of course, I’ll join you for dinner. Thank you for thinking of me.”
Two hours later, Jared checked his watch, having spent a good portion of his afternoon warding off Mrs. Hildebrand’s attempts to match him with her daughter. And to be fair, there was nothing wrong with Clarice, though he couldn’t help but compare her to Natalie. Both quite pretty, Clarice had a sweet innocence about her, while Natalie exuded confidence—whether she possessed it or not.“Thank you for a delicious dinner, but I should probably be going, as I promised to take Dillon Adams fishing this afternoon.”
“You spend a lot of time with those people, don’t you?” His secretary sniffed.
He wiped his mouth with a napkin, trying not to take offense at the comment. “They’ve had a lot of problems to work through since their father’s death.”
“I should say so.” She huffed. “That woman at the ice cream social certainly had problems. I fear what sort of impression she left on the children. It makes me wonder if the older sister is mature enough to be Dillon and Chelsey’s guardian.”
Jared tried to hold back his irritation. “I assure you, Miss Adams is quite capable of raising her brother and sister. I’m not going to condone her stepmom’s behavior, but let’s not forget that Jesus hung out with, and forgave, even the worst of sinners. We could all learn something from that.”
UPON ESCAPING THE HILDEBRANDS’ HOME, JARED LOOSENED HIS TIE, EAGER to put on his old clothes and enjoy an afternoon of fresh air and fishing. It irked him that his secretary had questioned Natalie’s ability. Sure, Natalie had more than her share of trouble, but she loved her brother and sister, and he had every confidence that she could handle the job.
A short while later, he drove the familiar road to the Double-A-Ranch. With his window down, he stretched out his arm to soak in the sun. He considered taking Dillon pond hopping, but by the time he arrived at the Adams’ house he’d decided on the river, which would be more exciting for the boy and for him.
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