“I—well, that is, I guess you’d say I was jealous. I wanted to join so bad, but I didn’t want anyone giving me rules.” He glanced at the angry faces. “That’s why I ran away from home in the first place. There were too many rules, all of them impossible to keep.”
The boys never said a word, each waiting for the truth to emerge.
“I snuck in the back door that night. I was going to hide until the meeting got started. I’d done it before. I came to every one and you guys didn’t even know it.” Aware of the glowers around him, Lane lost his grin.
“Next time maybe we’d better post a guard.”
He’d been smoking right outside the door, and they hadn’t even known. The match, Ginny remembered suddenly. The fire chief spoke of a match at the scene. Tucker knew it was a clue.
Ginny studied Lane’s anguished face, knew he needed to confess. “Go on,” she said quietly.
“If you guys didn’t vote to let me belong to the club, I was going to do something to ruin your plans. I didn’t know what, exactly. I was just mad.”
“And then what happened?” Tom took over, his face grave as he watched the boy through narrowed eyes. “You were smoking, weren’t you?”
“Yeah.” Lane colored under their muttered condemnation. “I thought it was cool, smoking right under your noses. Then you guys split so I had to hide in the paper room. I waited, smoked a couple more, then I decided to scram. But Marty was there.” Lane gulped. “Every time I started for the stairs, I’d hear him coming down. Then I didn’t hear anything for a while. That’s when I saw it.”
Ginny almost smiled. Far from the punkish image he projected, Lane looked like nothing more than a frightened little boy.
“Saw what?”
“Smoke. It was coming from a pile of papers that were stacked there. I must have missed some matches.”
“Or the ashes from your cigarette dropped onto it.” Tom frowned at him. “That’s why we have the rules, Lane. To stop stuff like that from happening. Anyway, you’re too young to smoke.”
“I know.” The boy hung his head in shame.
“So you just took off?”
“No! I tried to put it out. I did. But there was too much paper, and it just got worse. Pretty soon I couldn’t breathe. I rushed up the stairs and took off.”
“You didn’t think you should warn Marty?” Tom’s hand reached out and grabbed one thin shoulder. “You didn’t think you should warn him that you’d set his business on fire?”
Ginny could see he was furious, not for himself, but because of his foster father. She wanted to step in, but she sensed Tom needed to handle this himself. She waited.
“I thought he’d gone!” Lane stared at them, eyes huge in his white face. “I did. I called a couple of times, but no one answered me. So I ran away.”
“But Mrs. Malloy insisted she saw Tom’s red hair.” Ginny frowned. “How could that be?” In one rush of understanding she noticed Lane’s hat, his orange knitted cap. In the dark, in a flurry of fire and smoke, Vera Malloy had mistaken it for Tom’s carrot top.
“My hat.” He pulled it off. “I know I should have told someone, gone to the police or something.” He begged them to understand. “But I didn’t think they’d understand that it was an accident. I thought they’d put me in jail for hurting him.” Tears welled as he gazed into Tom’s face. “I sure didn’t think they’d tie the whole thing to you. You’re such a Goody Two-shoes, the leader and everything. I mean, how could they think it was you?”
Ginny nodded. How, indeed?
“I’ve done lots of mean things, lots of bad things. I even got punished for things I never did. I thought it would be okay, that things would work out. But then when you said the club was closing, well—” Lane stopped, tried to control the wobble in his voice. “That club is the only thing I’ve ever cared about. It can’t quit. It just can’t!”
He turned to Ginny.
“I stopped smoking that night. Never even lit another match.” His eyes met hers, compelling her to listen as he poured out his heart. “I know I’ll have to get punished. I know it’s going to be hard, but couldn’t you get your guy to give me a chance, to find me a special friend like these other guys have?”
“It’s not that easy, Lane.” Ginny wished she knew a way to deal with this. “Marty’s still in the hospital. It’s going to be a while before he can come back to work. If ever.” She stopped, let him absorb that. “That fire did an awful lot of damage. I’m not sure how the police will feel.”
“But the other guy. What about him? Couldn’t he help—talk to somebody or something?”
Her heart bumped against her ribs. Oh, how she wished Tucker could be here to see this, to witness the impact his work had on one young lonely boy.
“Tucker isn’t available, Lane. He had to go out of town.”
“Oh.”
The disappointment in that one word stung her to action. She wouldn’t give up. She’d promised Tucker to do her best and she would.
“So that leaves you and me, Lane. We’ll just have to give it a try.” She smiled, encouraged to see the hope return to his eyes. “From here on it’s complete honesty, no matter how badly it hurts. Okay?”
He nodded.
“All right.” She took a deep breath. “You and I are going to take a trip over to the town council.”
“We’re coming.” The boys, led by Tom, gathered behind her.
“It’s our club, too. We want to know what happens.”
Hadn’t the whole thing started as a means to encourage them to take responsibility? She could hardly deny it now.
“All right, guys. You’re on. Let’s go.”
Two days later Ginny sat on the deck with her father, watching the boy’s club come to order. They’d been two of the longest days of her life, waiting, praying, hoping Tucker would soon come home.
“Tucker’s going to be so proud of those boys.” Adrian grinned, his healthy skin glowing in the last rays of the sun. “They do him credit.”
“So do you. You didn’t have to volunteer to hook Lane up with someone, you know. I could have done it.”
His hand closed over hers, squeezed.
“I know, honey. But I wanted to do my part to keep things going. Just until he gets back. You understand?”
She nodded, tears welling in her eyes.
God had worked wonders in their small town. Tom had been completely exonerated. Lane was on probation but did not have to go to jail. Marty was out of the hospital, his lungs finally clear and his burns healing. His nephew has taken over the day-to-day operations until he started a new job in a few weeks. Marty would be able to collect his insurance and rebuild if he wanted. So many praises to give.
But the biggest miracle, Tucker’s return, was still in the future.
Ginny refused to let on how worried she was. Every night, long after her father had retired, she pored over the late news, following the warring factions in a little-known African country. And every evening the news was worse. The fighting had escalated and the damage was horrific.
“I want to get this clubhouse finished so that when Tucker comes back, we can get busy on building another plane. Everybody agree?”
Ginny smiled. With Tom at the helm they had grown together, solidified into a unit that could not, would not be defeated.
“Okay, so let’s get to work.”
They sawed, hammered and nailed until the light was completely gone and the few flashlights Ginny had been able to scrounge were of no use.
The overcast sky shielded the moon, the rumbles in the west signaling a storm. At the first drop of rain, Ginny called a halt.
“I think you’d better stop now, Tom. I’ve seen a flash or two of lightning.”
“Yeah, I saw it.” He began putting the tools he’d borrowed from her father into their case. “It’s getting closer with every one. Come on, you guys. We’ve got a curfew to keep.”
Those words sent the others scurrying to clean up. A few moments
later they were off, wishing her good-night one by one.
Only Tom remained.
She stood beside him, sheltered under the roof as the first drops began to fall. They waited together as the storm intensified and the rain came down in sheets.
“Do you think he’s all right?” The words seemed to be dragged out of him almost against his will.
“I think Tucker’s in God’s hands. That’s the safest place he can be.”
“I know.”
It was clear to Ginny that Tom’s mind wasn’t at peace. She waited, hoping he’d tell her what was bothering him.
“It’s just that I thought maybe we’d hear something. You know? Maybe a news report that he was there covering a story. Something.”
“Me, too.” Ginny wrapped her arm around him in a consoling hug.
A jagged spear of white light slashed across the sky, illuminating the clubhouse for a few seconds.
“He loves you.” Tom glanced at her, his eyes dark, thoughtful. “I’m no expert, of course. Until I came here, I didn’t even know what love was. I thought it was like in the movies.”
“And now you don’t?”
He shook his head.
“Love is something you can see in action.” Tom’s forehead pleated in thought. “It’s like when Tucker tells us we have to make sure and thank you for the goodies or invite you to our stuff.”
He eased out from under her arm. Ginny grinned. He was as normal as any other teenage boy. He didn’t want a girl hugging him in public, but he didn’t want to hurt her feelings, either. It was touching.
“It’s not just because he’s teaching us manners and stuff. It’s more because he wants to make sure you know we appreciate you, that we want to include you. He doesn’t want you to be left out. Tucker cares about you and your feelings.”
Ginny couldn’t stop the tears from welling. She longed so much for Tucker to love her. Could Tom be right? Was it possible that he really did feel more for her than the caring he’d talked about?
“He asked me to look out for you and your dad while he was gone.”
The words shocked her.
“He did?”
“Uh-huh. After he told me the truth about his friend’s death.” Tom’s face suffused a bright red. “He said I should make sure you didn’t do too much, that sometimes when you were worried you tried to fix things and overdid it. You won’t, will you? Tucker wouldn’t like it.”
He looked so anxious that Ginny could do little else but agree.
“I promise I’ll call you if I need anything. But I think right now we’d better call Marty and ask him if you can stay here for tonight. I don’t think it’s a good idea to go out in this storm.”
He gave her a serious look, then nodded.
“I’ll call him.”
Ginny stayed on the deck while he phoned, enjoying the fresh scent of rain that cooled off the day.
“I think she’s lonely, Marty,” Tom whispered. “She asked me to stay tonight. If it’s okay with you, I’d like to. Tucker told me to be available.”
Ginny smiled at the quiet words. Dear Tucker. About to go off to the one place he feared most, to enter the same situation he’d barely escaped from, and he’d thought of her.
Wasn’t that love?
Chapter Fourteen
Ginny loved Sunday afternoons, especially warm sunny ones. She’d changed after church, left her father napping upstairs and come down to putter in her flower garden.
Tucker had been gone for days, and she’d still not heard a word. Why was it taking so long?
She’d run out of words to pray. God knew her heart. All she could do was keep petitioning Him for Tucker’s safety.
She gathered a bouquet of iris, lilies, dianthus and bachelor’s buttons. They’d look perfect on the foyer table for tonight’s service.
She checked on her father, scribbled a note, then hurried down the street. It felt good to stretch her legs, to work off some of the tension that had been growing over the past few days.
The church was empty, which was too bad because sunbeams streamed through the windows and lit the cross at the front. Ginny sat in a pew, a sense of holy awe surrounding her.
Her heart lifted, danced upward like the dust motes caught in the beams of light.
Tucker’s face swam into her mind.
Keep the faith, Gin. For me. Once more she felt the touch of his lips on hers. I will be back. I promise. Don’t you forget it.
The door of the church opened. Ginny turned, smiled when she saw Tom step inside. He always seemed in awe of the sanctuary, as if there was something to be afraid of in here.
“Hi, Tom. I brought some flowers and sat down to think.”
He stepped forward gingerly. Once he came closer Ginny caught a glimpse of his face. He was upset.
“Tom?”
He sat beside her, gathered her hands into his. His fingers were icy cold, and the chill from them rippled up her nerves, clenching her heart.
“What’s wrong? Is it Dad?”
“No.” He shook his red head. “Your father is fine. I just saw him. But I think you should go be with him, Ginny.”
She frowned. “Why? What’s wrong?”
Tears welled in his sad eyes. His chin wobbled.
“He’s dead, Ginny. Tucker’s dead.”
“No!” She jerked back, dragged her hands from his, surging to her feet. “I don’t believe you.”
Tom nodded. “It’s true.”
“It can’t be. Not now.” The promise, God. What about the promise?
“I was at your place. Your dad had the radio on. We were talking.” He stopped, gulped, then plunged on. “A news report came on.” He shook his head, tears welling in his eyes. “They said he’d been killed.
Tucker’s dead.”
She sat slowly, her legs crumpling.
“Why?” she whispered. “Why?” She lifted her head, searching Tom’s face. “He was coming back,” she told him. “He promised he’d come back.”
“I know.” Gingerly he reached out and took her hand. “Come on, Ginny. Let’s go home.”
She did what he said, put one foot in front of the other until she was climbing the front steps of her home.
Her father wrapped her in a tight embrace, but Ginny couldn’t respond. She felt frozen, numbed.
“He’s God, honey. He knows what He’s doing.”
She stared at him, tears coursing down her cheeks in a steady river.
“You have to trust Him, Ginny. All things work together, remember? For good.”
She couldn’t listen to it, couldn’t hear those words right now. She reached out one finger to touch the full-blown petals of Tucker’s roses, then lifted one flower out and buried her face in its scent.
“I need to be alone for a while. Okay?” She didn’t wait for an answer, but walked through the house.
The yard was just as sunny, the flowers just as beautiful, but none of it touched her soul now.
She caught sight of the clubhouse and automatically walked to the base of it. She climbed slowly, knowing this was where she needed to be. She felt close to Tucker here.
The tears came then, hot, aching tears of bitter regret. They fell unheeded as she begged for an answer.
“Why? Why did he have to go?”
The answer stole into her heart in a still, soft voice.
Am I truly Lord? Are you willing to deny your will and trust that I want only the best for you?
The truth flooded into her mind. God’s will—that’s what she’d been trying to deny. She’d been working overtime to make her desires God’s. She hadn’t truly submitted to letting Him control her future.
She acknowledged it with a soft sigh of repentance.
“I’m sorry. Your way is always best.” The pain was almost unbearable, but in her heart, in her soul, she kissed Tucker goodbye.
“Whatever You want, Lord, that’s what I’ll do.”
The pain didn’t leave, but a soft, sweet peace stole i
nto her heart. God was in control. He would help her deal with Tucker’s death. He would make something good come out of it.
As she glanced around the clubhouse, Ginny realized that something good already had. The boys were stronger now. They still needed a leader, and she would put her heart and soul into finding one for them, someone who would challenge them as Tucker had. They would be fine. Something good had come from his short time here.
She looked at the rose still clutched in her fingers.
“I love you, Tucker.”
“I love you, too, Gin. I always have.”
She let the dream continue until a hand closed over her shoulder. Then she twisted to smile at Tom and saw instead Tucker’s beloved face.
“I really do love you. I didn’t understand that until I was driving away that night. I love you more than anything else in my life.” He gathered her still body into his arms and kissed her with a tenderness that said more than any words.
“Tucker?” Ginny touched his cheek, his eyes, his hair. “Is it really you?”
“It’s me.”
He smiled, and it was her undoing. She wrapped her arms around him, sobbing with joy, relief and praises to God, who’d swiftly given back what she’d taken months to surrender.
He held her face between his palms, fingers threading through her hair as he examined every feature.
“I’m a fool, Gin. An idiot. I couldn’t see it, couldn’t understand it, when all the time you were right there looking me in the face. It took leaving to see the truth and hunkering down in a soggy foxhole to realize that I wanted it back, all of it.”
She couldn’t get over his return.
“But how did it happen? How did you get out?”
“Your dad and Tom are the only two other people who know I’m alive. It was part of the deal I made so I could get that rookie out.”
“A deal with Ulysses?” She laid her head on his chest, content to listen forever if it meant they could be together.
“He and his buddies. They wanted the truth of the story told to correct the impression the other side have given the United Nations.”
“And you told it?” She frowned. “We didn’t hear anything.”
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