Finding Love (A Mill Creek Crossing Romance)

by Rose, Angelina

  "Pretty in-depth, isn't it?" Clay said, interrupting Amelia’s reading. She could tell he was torn himself between wanting to start over and have a new life with his children alone, and keeping their mother's memory alive.

  "Yes, she took a lot of time on this. It must've been so difficult for her being so sick and all," Amelia said.

  "Yes, she was sick for nine months. It was very difficult on all of us with her treatments and such. I don't really know when she found the time to do this, but I found it in her old hope chest after she died."

  "I'll be glad to try to impart some of this wisdom to your children, but I have a feeling Molly wanted you to do that."

  "I know. But I can't do this alone. There’s something to be said for a child to have a mother. I guess they need that feminine touch, and I'm not sure I'm up to the task of doing all of the things their mother would do. That's one of the reasons why I pursued you so hard to keep my children. I've heard nothing but good things about you mothering other children, even though they weren’t really your children to mother."

  "Thank you. I can't wait to start keeping your kids, actually. Truth be told, I'm feeling a little bit like an empty nester at only thirty years old. I've had kids in my house, even teenagers, for the last twelve years. It's been really difficult to adjust to not being any child’s parent. I haven't even heard from my brother, Ian, since he left for college. I can only imagine the fun he's having," Amelia said with a smile.

  "Well, good. I'm glad you're looking forward to it, and I know Sophia and Riley are looking forward to it too."

  "Thanks for sharing this notebook with me, Clay. I know it can't be easy to share such private information with a stranger."

  "Amelia, for some reason I don't feel like you're a stranger. I've never felt such an instant connection of friendship with someone, and I'm glad that you're the one who will be taking care of my kids each day. It certainly will give me a sense of security while starting my new job. I haven't felt a sense of security in the last year and a half, so you don't know how much I appreciate that."

  Amelia was taken aback by his ability to express his emotions so easily and freely. She didn't realize until just then how closed off she was. Having been hurt by people in her past, Amelia put up walls around herself. Hearing a compliment or even having someone say something so nice to her like he’d just said made her uncomfortable. She fidgeted a bit before standing up.

  "I guess I’d better get back. Tell Sophia and Riley that I look forward to seeing them tomorrow when they get off the bus. I'll be waiting at the end of my driveway," she said.

  "Thanks again, Amelia. I have a feeling this is gonna be the start of a great relationship."

  "Excuse me?"

  "Well, I hope you'll have a great relationship with my kids," he said with a smile. She had a feeling, yet again, that he wasn't just talking about the kids.

  Chapter 7

  The next day, Amelia got as much of her work done for her real estate business as she could before the kids got off the bus. For some reason, she wanted to make a good impression on these kids even though they’d only just met. She loved young kids, and she remembered back to the days when she’d cared for her siblings when they were younger. Ian had only been six when their mother died, and he barely remembered her. There was always so much hubbub and drama going on in the house when the kids were younger, but she missed that now. She missed the loud, boisterous voices of children running through the house. She was sure that, in a few hours, Sophia and Riley would make up for lost time. She just hoped she was still up to the challenge of taking care of such young kids.

  A little after three o'clock, the bus pulled up at the end of Amelia's driveway. She waved to the driver as Sophia and Riley came bounding off the bus, seemingly energized from a long day at school.

  "Hi, Sophia. Hi, Riley," Amelia smiled.

  Sophia and Riley stopped in their tracks and stared at Amelia for a moment, as if to assess whether they really wanted to go inside of her house or not. She knew this would be a big change for both of them - new school, new friends, new teachers and now a new babysitter.

  "Hi," Sophia said looking down at her shoes suddenly.

  Sensing her trepidation, Amelia decided that she needed to do something quickly to help make the kids feel comfortable.

  "Listen, kids," she said as the bus drove away. "I have to make about one hundred cookies for a Sunday school party this weekend. Will you guys be able to help me make those cookies now?" Immediately, the kids’ eyes lit up. Of course they wanted to help, as most kids loved cookies anyway.

  They all walked into the house, where Amelia had the kitchen prepared to make cookies. She really did need them for a Sunday school party, but she was mostly doing it to make the kids feel comfortable in her home. They spent the next hour and a half working on cookies, laughing and telling jokes. Riley told about his day at school and what he'd learned while Sophia showed Amelia artwork out of her backpack. It seemed like they had always known each other, and for a moment Amelia felt sorry for Molly who would no longer be able to take care of her children and have these precious memories.

  Around six thirty, Clay showed up at Amelia's house to pick up the kids. Amelia was already making dinner, unsure of how late he might be from work. She certainly wasn't a world renowned chef like he was, but she could make a mean pot of vegetable soup. Adding some sweet cornbread to the mix, Amelia almost had everything done as she opened the front door.

  "Oh, Clay, I was just about to feed the kids some vegetable soup and cornbread. I wasn't sure what time you'd be here, and I realized I didn't have your cell phone number."

  "Sorry. In all the stress of getting to my new job, I forgot to give you my phone number. I figured that if you had an emergency, you would just call the resort anyway."

  "Yeah, that was the plan. Thankfully, we didn't have any casualties today. Of course, you don't usually have any danger when making cookies and playing games. Are you hungry?" she asked, immediately aware that she was asking a chef over for dinner.

  "Actually, I am. Often, the chef is the one who doesn't get to eat at all. If you're sure you have enough…"

  "Of course! When I make vegetable soup, I make a huge pot so I can freeze some. I always have way too much leftover for one person."

  For the next hour, Clay and Amelia enjoyed vegetable soup and cornbread while the kids watched cartoons on the TV. They’d eaten as much of their soup as they were going to - like most kids faced with a big bowl of vegetables, they quickly found a way to get out of the kitchen and back to the TV.

  "I'm so glad that today went so well," Clay said taking another bite of cornbread.

  "Me too. At first the kids seemed like they were a little bit nervous about coming into my house, but once they found out we were making cookies all afternoon they settled right down." Amelia smiled as she took her last bite of cornbread and stood up to clear her plate off the table.

  "Let me get that."

  "It's okay, you've been working all day," Amelia said with a smile.

  Clay put his hand over her wrist to stop her from picking up a plate. "And you haven't?" Amelia chuckled and allowed him to clear the dishes off the table.

  As Clay gathered up his children, they made plans for the next day. In fact, the next several days were the same as the first one. The kids would get off the bus, Clay would come by for dinner and they would eat like a happy family. It was an unusual feeling for Amelia, but she was comfortable because she knew it was just about friendship. No matter how attracted she was to Clay physically, she knew it couldn't go anywhere. He was a widower still mourning the loss of his wife, and she was scarred from issues in her own past. Amelia decided that it would be better to avoid bringing anyone else into her drama.

  Chapter 8

  If there was one thing Clay Barnes knew very little about, it seemed to be women. Even though he had adored his late wife Molly, he still never understood her any better than he understood any woman. They’d
been together for many years, but there were times that he didn't understand where she was coming from. And meeting Amelia Devin had reminded him of that fact. He just didn't know women.

  As he stood at the Mountainview resort cooking lunch for a big party, he thought about how close he appeared to be getting to Amelia. But, as soon as he’d get close or develop any kind of emotional connection, she pulled back. He wasn't sure what had happened in her past to make her unable to develop an emotional connection with a man. He watched as she developed a strong bond with his kids, friends, and even people at her church. However, anytime he appeared to be getting close to her, it was almost like she was a scared dog that had been kicked by its mean owner. She would retreat, as if there was danger in feeling emotions for a man.

  He’d only known her for a little over two weeks, but he felt like she might be someone he could date. He’d never thought about dating again after Molly died, but Amelia had all of the qualities he wanted in a woman. Aside from being great with his kids, he felt an attachment to her, but he didn't really know why.

  She was a generous person who was always helping everyone around her. Everyone but herself, of course. He never understood why she didn't seem to care about herself as much as she cared about everyone else. She would go out of her way to help anyone, including Mrs. Higgins next-door to Clay. When Mrs. Higgins had fallen and broken her hip, Amelia had spent many mornings helping her take care of herself before going home to take care of Clay's kids. He just didn't understand how she could be so wonderful and giving, yet seem so alone.

  As Clay diced up some carrots, he thought about ways that he could get closer to Amelia without scaring her away. So, he decided he would plan an outing to hike one of the nearby mountains and maybe even go camping with the kids – of course, inviting Amelia along. He was sure she’d say no, but maybe the kids could help him convince her. He hated to use his kids in that way, but he felt like he needed to help Amelia as much as she was helping him and his children. She needed to be broken out of her emotional shell, whether it meant dating Clay or not. She’d become a real friend to him, and he wanted to help her out of the emotional abyss that she seemed to be trapped in.

  As he picked his children up that afternoon from Amelia's house, he braced himself for broaching the subject about taking a hiking and camping trip in the mountains. He hoped his children would be able to convince her to come hiking and camping with them, but he knew that it was going to be an uphill battle, literally.

  "Hi, Clay!" she said in her usual chipper way as he knocked on the front door. The kids were covered in finger paint, and Amelia's kitchen table look like it'd been a battleground.

  "Oh, Amelia, I'm so sorry the kids messed up your table. I will help you clean that up," Clay said rushing over to the kitchen table.

  "No, no. It's no big deal. That table has seen a lot of finger paint over the years. We’ve had that table in our family since I was a kid. I know exactly how to clean it up. I'm sorry, but I didn't have a chance to cook dinner yet. If you're hungry, maybe we could go over to the diner?” Clay was taken aback by the fact she seemed to want to spend the dinner hour with them every night. He was more hopeful about asking her to go on the camping trip. “I mean, if you want to have dinner with me. If not, I understand if you guys want to have some time alone as a family…”

  "No, let’s go eat. I’m starving! We always enjoy eating dinner with you, Amelia." She smiled, and they all loaded up in Clay’s car to head for the square.

  As they settled into a booth at the diner, Clay decided it was the best time to broach the subject about taking a hike and going camping.

  "Listen, you've done such a great job with the kids the last couple of weeks. I really wanted to find a way to thank you, so I planned something."

  Amelia looked stunned for a moment and then looked down at her hands. "Planned something?"

  "I hope this won’t make you mad, but I thought of something fun that we could do with the kids. They’d love to have you come along."

  "What is it?" she asked, with a lot of trepidation

  "Well, a guy at work was telling me about Blair Mountain. It's a mountain over on the east side where you can hike and then camp in the clearing up near the waterfalls. I thought it might be fun to take the kids for an overnight camping trip. We can hike up to the falls, set up camp and just enjoy an evening making s’mores around the campfire. What do you say?"

  Amelia looked like a deer caught in headlights. She didn't want to disappoint the children, that was obvious, but she didn't have any intentions of saying yes. Clay was terrified he’d just overstepped his bounds by a huge amount.

  "Clay, I appreciate the offer, but…"

  "Oh, please, miss Amelia!" Sophia said with her hands in the praying position.

  "Sophia, I'd love to go, but I really don't do hike or camp. You guys would just be dragging me along like a sack of potatoes," Amelia said, trying to come up with some kind of excuse.

  "Amelia, I know that I just sprung this on you, so I understand if you want to say no. But, you should know that I don't have a whole lot of experience hiking or camping either."

  "Clay, you can't take people up in the woods on a hike to go camping if you don't have any experience yourself," she said laughing. “Don’t ever go into the sales profession.”

  "Well, I just thought we could learn together. The guy at work said it's not that big of a hike, and I think I can figure out camping. It's just for one night. I thought it might be a great way for all of us to de-stress and allow the kids to get to know you better."

  Amelia was shocked by Clay's request. In reality, she had been hiking and camping before, but she didn't want to let on to that. Her first inclination was to say no. Absolutely not! No way! But, her heart was telling her to say yes, yes, yes! Why did she want to go up in the mountains hiking and camping with this man and his children? She hadn't wanted to do anything with any man for many years. That just hadn't been in the cards for her.

  She would've thought the look in the children's eyes would've been enough to convince her to go hiking and camping with them. And that's what Clay thought. She could tell that he was hinging his bets on the fact the kids would make her want to go. Little did he know it was something in his own eyes that was making Amelia want to say yes. She had a longing in her own soul to be close to someone, especially a man. All of the men in her own life had let her down, starting with her father and going all the way through to her ex-boyfriend. Now, here was this man wanting to take her camping with his kids and include her in his little family. And, as she looked at his eyes - with those gorgeous flecks of gold - she knew there was no way she could say no.

  "Okay."

  "Okay?" Clay said with an incredulous look on his face.

  "Yes, okay. I'll go with you." The kids started screaming and clapping, and everyone in the diner turned around to look and see what all the ruckus was about.

  "Shhhh…. kids. You can't scream like that in a restaurant," Clay said with a laugh. Their commotion got the attention of one of the waitresses, who called them up to the bar to help her make some milkshakes. The kids had become regular milkshake makers at Stella’s Diner.

  "So what made you say yes?” Clay asked.

  "The kids, of course. You knew what you were doing there." Amelia smiled as she continued looking at her menu. She didn't need to look at the menu since it hadn't changed in the last fifteen years, but making eye contact with Clay made her feel warm and fuzzy inside. It also turned her cheeks a bright shade of red, and she didn't want him to know she was lying about it being the kids that made her change her mind. It was him that made her change her mind. The idea of spending more time with Clay was exciting to her, even though she didn't want to admit it to herself.

  One thing was for sure. This hiking and camping trip was going to be life changing for Amelia. She just didn't know how yet.

  ***

  A few days passed, and it was time for the hiking trip. Clay and his childre
n picked Amelia up at eight o'clock in the morning to head out to Blair Mountain. She heard that the waterfalls were beautiful, although she’d never had the chance to go up. She was actually looking forward to seeing the waterfalls and spending a day of peace and tranquility in the mountains of North Georgia. Although she was surrounded by them all the time, sometimes she lost sight of how beautiful those mountains were.

  As they pulled up in the parking area below the mountain, they started to remove all of the gear. Clay had it all organized, which was not something she was used to when it came to a man. She was the typical homemaker, always keeping things organized in her house. But he seemed to be just as organized as she was, and that made her like him even more.

  He threw on a backpack and held another gear bag as they started up the side of the mountain. It wasn't a steep slope, so it was particularly easy for a children's hike. He brought each of them a hiking stick to make it easier to get up the mountainside.