by Delia Latham
Winter didn’t buy it for an instant. Brady definitely had more than a little he could tell…but he clearly had no interest in talking about himself. Well, she was a patient woman, but she was also a dogged reporter. When something piqued her interest, she knew how to get to the heart of the matter. And this gentle man, with his quiet, unassuming manner, had definitely awakened that part of her.
But they’d reached their destination, and Winter opted to back off a subject that clearly made him uncomfortable. For now. She did not intend to leave it alone forever. Other ways of looking into Brady’s past could be found, and she had every intention of utilizing every tool at her disposal to peek into his life before he landed seaside, in Cambria, California. She refused to think about why she was so interested, and why she wanted to know everything there was to know about him.
He opened her door, having rounded the front of the vehicle while she lost herself in thoughts and possibilities.
“So, I recognize the church.” She grinned as she got out of the car and stood next to him. “I’m the furthest thing from a theologian, and I sure can’t quote chunks of the Bible like you and Miss Angie. Still, I’m smart enough to know that where there’s a steeple, there’s almost always a church. But what’s the building back there?” She nodded toward a long, barracks-like building bearing a fairly large sign that portrayed a butterfly and the word, ‘Chrysalis.’
“Well, since you asked.” Brady smiled, and Winter recognized the light of passion in his eyes. Whatever Chrysalis was, it meant something special to him. “That’s our non-profit outreach for troubled teens.”
Winter glanced at the church building again. It wasn’t fancy, by any stretch. Nor was it overly large. It wasn’t tiny either, but it was well kept. Some serious work had gone into the place. Surely the congregation wasn’t large enough to support an in-house teen outreach program.
“Is this something you inherited with the church and the congregation, or did you make it happen? Or should I say…” She hesitated, but then she grinned and plowed ahead. “Speak it into existence.”
Brady’s laughter lacked any trace of the grimness she’d glimpsed earlier. “I didn’t exactly inherit a congregation. And the church building was…well, a whole lot harder to look at than it is now. A handful of people who wanted a church and a pastor stepped in and invested a lot of time and elbow grease. Nothing was spoken into existence, unless you count all the wonderful conversations we enjoyed while we turned the shell of a structure into a real house of worship. We all worked hard, and now we’ve got a sanctuary that’s completely presentable and big enough to invite growth. Even better, we have a decent number of people filling the pews.”
“So the church was as much a grassroots project as the teen outreach.”
He cocked his head and narrowed his gaze, then nodded. “Yeah, I guess it was.”
“That’s amazing.” Brady liked to play down anything that might bring him a little recognition, but Winter saw through his façade. He was a doer. He made things happen and wasn’t afraid to roll up his sleeves and get a little dirt under his fingernails to accomplish a goal. “Tell me about Chrysalis.”
Brady’s eyebrows drew together in a teasingly suspicious glare. “Are you asking as a friend or a reporter?”
Winter shrugged. “Maybe both. Does it matter?”
“No, not about this. I’m always glad to let folks know about our outreach program. The more teens who know about us, the better chance we have of helping them. And the more caring adults who know, well...I don’t want to sound materialistic, but we do operate almost exclusively on donations, so obviously, any publicity is a good thing. We’re not shy about shining a light on Chrysalis.” He reached for her hand. “Come with me.”
Winter didn’t even hesitate before placing her hand into his outstretched one. Nor did she dislike the little thrill of pleasure when he gave it a gentle squeeze.
“Let me show you our butterfly baby. Raine Keller is the dynamo behind making Chrysalis happen. I think you’ll like her.”
“Wait…Raine? Is this the Spring Raine who was Miss Angie’s guest during the spring season?”
“The very one.” Brady sent her a slant-eyed glance. “I take it you’ve been chatting with your hostess.”
“Yes, she told me about the guests whose names coincided with the time of year they stayed at the lodge. Even I fall into the pattern.” She nudged his shoulder with her own—at least she tried but only managed to bump his arm several inches below the shoulder. “I wonder if Miss Angie would’ve been so accommodating about letting Kai and me have the apartment if my name hadn’t been Winter?”
Brady stopped just outside the door to Chrysalis, placed both hands on her shoulders, and turned her to face him. “Miss Angie is always kind and helpful to anyone in need. But your arrival in Cambria—no matter that it isn’t where you’d planned to be—was no accident.”
Winter hiked one eyebrow, and Brady chuckled. “You know what I mean. Some folks would call it destiny, but I call it God. Miss Angie had a couple of the former guests spruce up the apartment over a week ago—I think Raine may have been one of them. Somehow, Miss Angie knew…she even told Raine and Summer to make the place pretty because Winter was on her way.”
She laughed, even though a knot in her throat threatened to cut off her air. “Well, it is November, Brady. Winter is on the way. Mid-December, right?”
“That’s not what she meant. She specified the apartment as a destination, and she said Winter was on ‘her’ way. She was talking about you.”
“How is that even possible?”
He made a wry face and pushed the door open. “You’ll find out soon enough that around Miss Angelina Love, the impossible often happens.”
Winter dipped her chin, raised her eyebrows, and gave him a disbelieving look.
Brady shrugged and shot her a crooked grin. “We’ll talk about it again after you’ve been here a while. For now, come on in to our cocoon.”
Brady followed along as Raine took Winter on a tour of Chrysalis. Teens milled around, watching the women visit, but not taking part in the conversation.
For the first time since Chrysalis opened the doors, every bed in the facility was in use. Raine’s gift of connecting with the young people never ceased to amaze. As a pastor, he’d thought he understood youth, but Chrysalis had shown him how little he knew about today’s teens. With all the temptation and evil so rampant in modern society, life wasn’t easy for young folks under the best of circumstances—and the kids staying at Chrysalis hadn’t come from even remotely good home conditions.
Winter seemed sincerely interested in what they were doing here. She asked questions and hung onto every answer—which more often than not, elicited yet another inquiry. A couple of times, he was certain she fought tears. That didn’t surprise him. Most people who visited the outreach for the first time experienced a bit of an epiphany, a sense of guilt for not having done more to help youth in need. They often left with a burning determination to be more in tune with the needs of others, and more proactive about filling those needs, even if only in a small way.
They’d finished the short trip through the facility, and Raine stepped into the kitchen to request coffee. Apparently, she and Winter still had some talking to do.
Tara—one of the girls who’d been with them from the beginning—edged closer to Winter. She offered a shy smile, and Winter returned it with a blazing one of her own.
Brady’s heart swelled, and he forced himself to breathe in and back out again. He had to get himself in hand, and right away. He had no business, as a man or as a pastor, getting too attached to a woman who didn’t know God and would only be in Cambria until the doctor gave her permission to leave.
“You’re Winter Wonder.” The teen made the statement in a voice so low Brady almost missed what she’d said. “I’ve seen you on television. You’re so beautiful…even more in person than on TV.”
“Thank you.” Winter touched Tara’s hair. “You’re very pretty too…such lovely hair!”
Brady held his breath as Winter ran a hand down the length of the teen’s dark blonde hair. When Raine first rescued her off the street, Tara would have freaked out if a stranger tried to touch her, even casually. But she endured Winter’s gentle touch with just the barest flinch.
Brady noticed only because he was watching for a reaction. He hid a pleased smile. The girl had come a long way.
“I’m Tara.”
“What a pretty name! How long have you been here, Tara…at Chrysalis?”
The girl shrugged. “Since they opened—before, I guess. Raine found me on the street and took me home with her, so I was around when everything started happening here. I helped get the building ready. Cole and I—” She blushed and lowered her eyelashes for a moment. “We helped find kids who needed shelter, and talked them into coming here with us.”
Brady narrowed his gaze. How had he missed Tara’s crush on Cole?
“Well, that couldn’t have been easy.”
“I don’t know. It was OK. It’s just, you know, kids on the street don’t trust most people. They can’t. The hardest part was convincing them that Raine and Pastor Brady really cared about them, and that Chrysalis wasn’t a trap.”
“Oh!” Confusion and something else— sorrow—shadowed Winter’s face. She hesitated, and then met Tara’s gaze, somehow managing to hold it for some time before the girl looked away. “I’d really love to talk to you about all of this sometime. Would you be willing to chat with me, if I can clear it with Raine and Pastor Brady?”
Tara bit at her lip. “I don’t know. Why do you want to talk to me? I’m not…I mean, you know, I’m not really very smart. I don’t know much about all of this.” She managed a tiny smile. “I just know I’m glad they’re here. Chrysalis has been like a dream for me. I never thought I’d ever have this kind of life.”
Brady swallowed hard. “This kind of life” meant a narrow bed in a small room shared with another girl. All the Chrysalis teens slept two to a room. They each had their own bed, and a little bedside chest for their use, but they shared a closet. Privacy wasn’t easy to come by in this kind of place.
And yet, Tara thought she’d stepped into a dream.
“Father God, every day I learn something new from these kids. Don’t ever let me forget the lessons You’re teaching me through them.”
“I have a feeling you’re smarter than you think.” Winter winked at the girl, and Tara’s cheeks pinked. “And you’re really very pretty. I wonder if…” Her eyes widened, and the gray disappeared, leaving them a deep, smoky green, lit with excitement. “Would you and the other girls be interested in learning a few beauty tips?”
Tara gaped. “From you?”
“Yes, from me.” She paused and then hurried on. “Not that I don’t think you’re beautiful already. But every young woman wants to know how to make the most of her appearance. Right?”
“Miss Winter, that would be so, so awesome! I can’t wait to tell the other girls.”
Winter made a wry face. “Oh, well…maybe you should wait until I talk to Raine. I probably shouldn’t have said anything just y—”
“You want to talk to me about something?” Raine appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, grabbed Winter’s hand, and tugged her toward the meeting room, which doubled as a break room amongst numerous other purposes. She motioned for Brady to join them, gave Tara a smile and a wink, and disappeared.
Brady followed, strangely reluctant to miss even a moment of Winter’s visit.
8
One of the volunteers brought each of them a mug of coffee and set a plate of doughnuts on the table.
Brady grabbed one of the sweets with a napkin and stole glances at Winter over his coffee mug.
As they served themselves, Winter looked at Raine.
“I hope I didn’t start something I shouldn’t have. Tara approached me—what a sweet girl! She seemed interested in being attractive, and I kind of offered to share a few beauty tips with her and the other girls. Of course, if that’s not something you feel would be beneficial or is too trivial, I completely understand, and I apologize for speaking before thinking it through. I should have run it by you first.”
“Are you kidding? We’d love to have you do that. What teen girl doesn’t want to feel pretty? And you…well, you are!” Raine’s gaze warmed as it roamed Winter’s face. “I doubt there’s a girl here who wouldn’t love to hear your how-tos. When can you come?”
“Any time. I’m used to being busy, and here…well, let’s just say I’m about ready to climb the walls. I do have a story I’ll be looking into as soon as I get information from my editor, but other than that, I’m completely at loose ends. How about the day after tomorrow? That’ll give you a chance to get the girls all prepped and excited.”
Raine laughed. “I doubt that’ll be a problem. One look at you, and they’ll be over-the-top jazzed.”
“That’s sweet of you. Hey, should I bring makeup or anything? I can’t imagine you’d have a surplus of beauty supplies just lying around.”
“You’re right about that. We have the basics. Every girl has her own brush, and Summer has seen that they all have beautiful little hand mirrors.”
Brady remembered the day Summer Callihan—a stranger at the time, like Winter—gave the Chrysalis guests an unforgettable impromptu presentation on how important they were to God. Now Summer was Mrs. Logan Bullard, married to a talented local artist, and one of the most frequent and beloved volunteers at Chrysalis.
“We received a supply of skin cleansing products as a donation, so there’s plenty of that. Also…” Raine bit into a doughnut while staring off into the distance, her eyes narrowed. “I’m almost certain some company donated a case of lip gloss in various colors and another of nail polish. I’ll see if I can find them tomorrow.”
“That’s a great start!” Excitement glowed in Winter’s eyes and revealed itself in the upward curve of her lips. “I’ll shop around tomorrow and see what I can find to contribute to the cause. Where would you suggest I go?”
Raine laughed. “You’ll probably have to go all the way to San Luis Obispo. You won’t even find one of the big discount stores anywhere within a half hour of here. But SLO’s under an hour away, and it’s a beautiful drive. If you don’t mind making the trip, you should be able to find everything you’ll need—depending on how in depth you intend to take this little beauty class.”
“Nothing major. Are you kidding?” Winter shot a mischievous glance in Brady’s direction and nearly stopped his heart. “The preacher might string me up if I make these girls look like painted ladies.”
Brady had been paying more attention to Winter than the conversation. Her model-perfect face. Her slightly husky, totally tantalizing voice. That gorgeous fall of golden-blonde hair…his fingers tingled with an itch to tangle themselves in the lengthy strands. Could they possibly be as silky soft as they looked?
“Earth to Brady!” Raine sing-songed. “Brady Merckle, do you copy?”
The women broke into gales of laughter.
Brady rued the warmth in his neck. He stood, pushed his chair close to the table and shook a teasing finger at them. “A guy could go deaf and blind listening to all this chatter about primping products and other things we fellows don’t have the first clue about. I will trust you to avoid making our teen girls look like, uh…well, what you said. Keep it basic, if you will. I’d like to still recognize our young ladies when you’re finished with them.”
Winter’s groan was more playful than pouty. “I knew it. Preachers take all the fun out of everything.”
Raine laughed. “Not this preacher. You’ll be surprised how much fun Pastor Brady can be when his head’s in the game. I’m not sure what planet he was visiting just now, but you’re sure to see a better side of him soon.”
“Well, I suppose I could talk him into making the trip with me tomorrow, since
I haven’t a clue how to get there.” Winter’s gray-green gaze fixed on him, and Brady made a conscious effort not to visibly squirm. “Maybe he’ll show me his fun side.”
“I should’ve thought of that. I’ll be happy to take you, Winter, but be forewarned…” He grinned, glad to see he hadn’t permanently lost his sense of purpose and direction, and above all, self-control. “I know less than zero about the products women use to try and outdo God’s artistry in the beauty department, so I won’t be any help there.”
“And here I thought you’d be an expert on eye shadow colors and lipstick hues. I’m crushed.” She shrugged and heaved in an exaggerated sigh. “Oh, well, I suppose I’ll have to settle for your services as a chauffeur.”
Once again, she and Raine shared a laugh. Brady rolled his eyes. They weren’t being unkind, just playful, so he played along.
“All right, all right. I’ve had about all the ‘fun’ I can handle for one day. If we’re going into the city tomorrow, I’d probably best get over to the office and start working on Sunday’s sermon.” He wandered toward the door, muttering just loud enough to be sure they heard. “Maybe something about vanity of the flesh, or excessive pride in outer appearance. Hiding behind masks of makeup and subterfuge? Oh, so many things I could talk about, and so little time!”
The women were still laughing when he closed the front door and set off across the lawn toward the church.
For the trip to town, Winter wore the outfit Miss Angie had chosen for her departure from the hospital. She was comfortable in “Bowaiian,” and comfort would be important for a day in the company of a man whose entire life was about doing the right thing.
Why in the world had she asked, of all people, a minister to accompany her on this shopping expedition? She could just as easily have made the trip herself. Kai might even have kept her company, although he’d have hated hanging out in the beauty sections of whatever stores and shops they found. But she’d invited the preacher, and now she’d be on high alert all day, trying not to offend his spiritual sensibilities in word or deed.