Thanksgiving Groom

by Brenda Minton

  She loved walking down the street and being greeted by people. She loved the church bells that rang on Sunday mornings, and people telling her they’d pray for her. And they meant it.

  But Tucker didn’t want to hear a long, rambling explanation of why she loved Treasure Creek. Like every man in her life, he was ready to ditch her and get back to work.

  She pulled her coat closer around her body and waited for her parents to reenter her life. The hall was brightly lit by overhead fluorescents that glared off the white tile floor. She blinked a few times and watched the glass door. Tucker stood up, patting her shoulder as he moved away. She could hear people talking outside. They were closer. And then she saw them hurry past the windows.

  Tucker touched her arm. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to forget you.”

  The door opened and her parents rushed in. Her mother was bundled in fur. Her father’s black coat swished, dropping moisture as he entered the room.

  “Penelope.” Her mom pushed past him, grabbing her up in a hug. Penelope hugged her back. She knew they loved her. She knew it. Their lives had just always been so busy.

  As much as she’d told herself it wouldn’t matter, she felt it suddenly, missing them and being glad for them.

  “Mom, I’m sorry.”

  “What were you thinking?” Herman Lear’s voice boomed. She looked up, meeting blue eyes the same color as her own. He didn’t smile, he just shook his head as if he expected something like this from her.

  What had she been thinking? It had been days since she’d made the plan. She’d been thinking that she, Penelope Lear, could single-handedly save Treasure Creek. And instead, she had to be saved.

  She looked past her dad, searching the room for a familiar face. He was at the back of the crowd, near the door. When he winked, she smiled back and it felt good.

  He wouldn’t forget her. Maybe they’d even talk from time to time. She let herself believe he meant that. But didn’t people always make those promises? She couldn’t begin to name college friends that she’d promised to keep in contact with. Now she couldn’t even remember their names.

  “Let’s go home.” Her dad reached for her arm. She stood, not putting weight on her ankle. “Easy, kiddo.”

  Kiddo?

  “I can’t go home.” She accepted the crutches the doctor held out to her.

  “You’re going home.”

  “I want to go back to Treasure Creek. I left my stuff there. I have people I want to see.”

  “In that little town?”

  “Yes, Dad, in that little town.”

  “Penelope, your life is not in that town. Your life is with us, and with a good husband.”

  “That you pick.” This wasn’t the way she wanted to spend a reunion with her parents, with her dad. He had that hard look on his face, the one he wore at the office. He was all business. People were watching, listening.

  “I don’t want to do this, Dad.” She whispered with her head down, hoping they could at least get to the privacy of the helicopter.

  “You haven’t picked one for yourself.”

  Her gaze shifted to the man she’d spent the last week with. No, she hadn’t picked. But she’d done a lot of praying and she’d done a lot of soul searching as she considered her future. She took a few steps. “Is there room for the Johnsons and Mr. Lawson to fly back to town with us?”

  Her dad shrugged, as if it didn’t matter. “I suppose. Now, come on. Your mother is exhausted. She’s been worried sick.”

  “I’m sorry.” She looked around the room, with its two desks and scattered chairs. “Wilma, are you and Clark ready to go back to Treasure Creek?”

  “Oh, no, honey.” Wilma patted her arm. “We have a room for the night. We’re staying with the pastor, and he’s taking us back tomorrow. We’re not in any hurry.”

  Penelope felt her heart lurch. She wanted them with her. Needed them. But she knew that Wilma needed to rest. It made perfect sense that they wouldn’t want to jump into the helicopter and rush off into the night.

  A hand touched hers. She turned, expecting her father, expecting anyone but Tucker Lawson. “I’ll ride back with you.”

  “You don’t have to.”

  “I know, but I’m ready to get back to Treasure Creek. When I talked to Jake, he kept going on and on about how great love is. I doubt I can talk him out of getting married, so I should at least be there for him.”

  “He’s happy. This isn’t some devastating event you have to nurse him through.”

  Tucker smiled a half grin and winked. “I know he’s happy. More power to him, as long as it isn’t catching.”

  “I’m afraid there’s something contagious in Treasure Creek.” But she wouldn’t catch it either.

  Tucker opened the door for her and they walked together into the cold night air, toward the waiting helicopter. Her parents hurried ahead of them, heads bent against the wind and steady fall of snow.

  “Need me to carry you?” Tucker offered, and at first she thought he was joking, but he stopped and he looked as if he would really do it, as if he would pick her up and rush her toward the waiting helicopter.

  “I’m good.”

  “Suit yourself.”

  She would suit herself. She told him so, and he laughed as they climbed the steps of the helicopter. Once inside, they were separated by her parents. She glanced in his direction, but he was looking out the window. He was already forgetting her.

  The helicopter landed in Treasure Creek. People waited a short distance away. Red lights flashed through the night sky. As they hurried down the steps, Jake rushed forward, toward them. Gage was a short distance behind. Tucker exhaled a huge sigh of relief. He was done running. Time to face…life.

  “Buddy, we’ve been worried sick about you.” Jake clasped his hand and then pulled him close in a bear of a hug, patting his back hard. “What in the world happened?”

  “Long story, one I’ll be glad to share. Tomorrow.”

  “That’s good to hear, Lawson, because I need a full report.” Police Chief Reed Truscott said, the city cop. Tucker nodded and shook the man’s extended hand. “I know it’s been a long three days, but tomorrow I’d like for you to stop by my office. We’ve had a lot of people searching for you.”

  “I’m sorry about that Reed. I know it cost the town, and I’ll be glad to help with the expense.” His gaze followed the retreating back of Penelope Lear as she was hustled away by her family. “I need to tell you about a problem we had out at the lodge.”

  “What’s that?” Reed walked next to him, Jake on the other side. Tucker would prefer to talk about his friend’s relationship with Casey. That would have to wait until the situation with Penelope was dealt with.

  An oil man like Jake and a tomboy tour guide. Tucker shook his head and then pulled his thoughts back on the track they’d derailed from. “Someone was at the cabin. They showed up at about the same time as Penelope Lear. I’m not sure what they wanted, and we never saw anything more than tracks, but I’m pretty sure it has something to do with her.”

  “We’ll keep an eye on her.” Reed’s smile faded. “This treasure map situation has blown this town apart. I know Amy had good intentions when she talked to that re porter about Treasure Creek, and the people that article has brought into town have been a Godsend, but I could just about do without all the drama and the people trying to get their hands on that map.”

  “Why would you think this has to do with the map?”

  “Well, everyone figured Penelope went off in search of that treasure. She got a look at the map and hightailed it out of here. Not that she needs a treasure.”

  “Exactly. So maybe whoever it was sneaking around decided it would be easier to take Penelope Lear for ransom than to search for a treasure that might not exist.”

  Jake whistled. “Wow, I wouldn’t have thought of that.”

  Tucker shot his friend a look. “It makes sense to me.”

  “Maybe it’s one of the men her dad targe
ted as a husband wanting to get an idea of what kind of trouble she’d be.” Jake kind of laughed, but Tucker knew the truth. Old man Lear had approached Jake as well as Tucker.

  “She isn’t trouble, she’s just…”

  Reed and Jake both looked at him, waiting for him to finish. He didn’t have a word to finish the thought. At least not one he wanted to share.

  “She’s high-maintenance,” Jake supplied, his brows shooting up.

  When was the last time he’d hit Jake? Tucker tried to remember. It seemed like they might have been about sixteen, and Jake had smarted off and grinned, a little like the way he was grinning at that very moment. Tucker clenched his fist and relaxed it. Jake was still grinning.

  “I’m going to my dad’s.”

  Reed stopped him. “I need more information about what happened out there, Tucker.”

  “Yeah, I can do that. Would tomorrow be okay? I haven’t slept in a few days.”

  “Tomorrow would be good.”

  “Need a ride?” Jake offered as Reed walked away toward a patrol car that was idling near the fire station.

  The town was lit with a few flickering streetlights and the full moon. It was a quaint little place, just a dot on the map now, but it had once been a boomtown. He had run as fast he could from these towns a dozen or so years earlier.

  This had been the last place he wanted to be. The last place he wanted his dad to be. He had a bad habit of running from the things he didn’t want to face. He’d run from his dad’s broken heart. He’d run from his own guilt back in Seattle.

  “I can walk.”

  “A mile? In this cold?”

  “Yeah, I’ll take a ride.” Tucker followed Jake across the deserted street, past the community church where Penelope had found faith a couple of weeks earlier, and past Lizbet’s Diner. Lights glowed inside the diner, just enough to leave it all in shadows. The white letters stood out on the darkened window.

  Snow fell a little heavier. Tucker pulled the collar of his jacket up and picked up his pace. He was about ready to be warm. It felt as if it had been weeks since he’d really been warm.

  “What happened out there?” Jake asked as they got into his waiting truck.

  Tucker clicked the seat belt and shrugged. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, what were you looking for? What did you find?”

  Not peace, that’s for sure. “I don’t know. Answers, I guess. And what I found was an older couple looking for God, and then Penelope showed up.”

  “Yeah, that’s the part I’m wondering about. What happened to you out there?”

  “Nothing happened. I didn’t really find peace. And the last week has been a royal pain.”

  “I bet she has.”

  “This isn’t about her. Look, I’m happy that you’ve relinquished your man card in favor of a happy-ever-after card, but don’t try to take mine. I’m still happily single. I didn’t bite that hook when Herman Lear called me, and I’m not biting now. There’s more to her than I would have imagined. But I’m not husband material. I work a lot of hours, and when I do head in that direction, I’m looking for someone…”

  He wasn’t even sure what he was looking for any more.

  “Not pushing, Tucker. And believe me, I still have my man card.”

  “Good to hear.” Tucker leaned back in the seat of the truck. Heated leather. “Man, I’m tired.”

  “I bet you are. You’re crazy, too. I can’t believe you went off like that.”

  “Me? At least I knew where I was going. I didn’t hop in a Jeep and go hunting for buried treasure.”

  Jake laughed. “Penelope again?”

  The way he said it bugged Tucker. Yeah, Penelope again. If he closed his eyes, he could picture her walking along that trail, huddled into her coat and limping, but singing Christmas carols.

  He shook his head to clear the image, the way he used to shake an Etch-a-Sketch to undo a drawing. It didn’t work, though. Instead, he could almost hear her singing “Silent Night.”

  Penelope tiptoed down the stairs of the bed-and-breakfast, slipped on her coat and slid out the door. It was still dark. She didn’t mind. She’d lived in Alaska her entire life. Her ancestors had come here in the late 1800s and bought up land that later proved to be rich in gold and oil.

  Her father had invested in tourism, which he considered the oil of the future. Penelope knew his business, how it operated and what it could do. When she tried to become a part of things he got bristly. That was his reason for the manhunt to secure her a nice husband who would provide for her needs and keep her at home, working on charity events.

  People were up and around, even though it was barely six in the morning. She’d left a note on her bed for her parents. She wanted a cup of Lizbet’s coffee and a cinnamon roll. She didn’t want more questions or a lecture. She didn’t want to face her dad when he said that it was time to go home.

  It hadn’t happened before in her life, but Treasure Creek had changed things for her. This felt like home. This community and its people had settled in her heart in a way she knew her family wouldn’t understand.

  Last night, when she tried to explain it to her parents, they’d cut her off. She didn’t like that feeling, as if she were still a teenager and had no right to make her own choices. She wasn’t going back to that world, or to hiding her life in secrets and lies.

  She walked through the door of the diner and a bell jingled as the door closed. A few people shot curious glances her way. She waved at the morning waitress, Becca, as she slid into a booth and turned her cup over for the anticipated cup of coffee.

  “Penelope, we worried that we weren’t going to get you back.” Becca pulled out her order pad. She smiled big, her dark hair pulled up in a spiky ponytail and her white blouse pressed free of wrinkles. She was young, maybe eighteen. Young enough to still have some acne. “What will you have this morning?”

  “I want coffee, and I’m dying for a cinnamon roll.”

  Becca poured coffee, and the aroma lifted with the steam from the mug. “Here you go. So, was it rough out there? I mean, did you see wolves? Did you nearly freeze?”

  “I got lucky and found shelter.” Easy words for landing in the arms of Tucker Lawson.

  And Becca wasn’t fooled. The girl grinned. “Yeah, you found shelter. Tucker Lawson, that’s pretty amazing to be stuck in the woods with him. Last night, when it was announced that he’d been found, you should have heard the uproar. Half of those fancy women that have come to town were positive they could steal him if he came back to town.”

  “The Johnsons were with us.” Penelope assured the younger woman. “And the women are welcome to him.”

  “Yeah, but still.”

  “Nothing happened.” Heat settled in Penelope’s cheeks.

  Becca’s smile softened from teasing to kind. “Oh, I know it didn’t. I was just teasing you.”

  “I know.” Penelope stirred in creamer and sugar. “And it’s good to be back.”

  “I’ll get that cinnamon roll. I’ll make sure it has extra frosting on it.”

  Penelope’s mouth watered in anticipation.

  When Becca walked away, she looked up and realized people were watching. A few were obviously talking about her. She folded her napkin and folded it again. They probably had questions similar to the ones that Becca asked.

  Which meant it might be better to leave with her parents. She loved this place, but she didn’t want to be the person everyone was talking about. At least in Anchorage she had her life, her safety zone.

  It hurt, thinking of losing the life she had thought she’d found in Treasure Creek. She just wanted to be Penelope, someone people liked for herself, not for who she was.

  The door of the diner opened. Penelope glanced up and smiled when Amy James walked in and headed in her direction. The other woman, older than Penelope by just a few years, smiled. Amy was one of her real reasons for finding faith. Penelope had never met anyone like the widowed mother of two. With ever
ything happening to Amy, she still had faith. She still believed that God was going to do something big in her life and in her community.

  Her faith had been infectious. From the first moment that Penelope met her, to the time when Amy gave a brief testimony in church, Penelope had been convinced that Amy had something real, something she needed. Something her life had been missing. And she just hadn’t realized what it was until Amy put a name on it: faith.

  “Penelope, I’m so glad you’re back and safe.” Amy slid into the seat opposite Penelope.

  “I’m glad, too. It was a real journey.”

  “You proved yourself, though, didn’t you?” Amy turned her cup over for Becca to fill it. “Eggs and toast, Becca, the usual.”

  Amy pulled her red hair back in a ponytail and then she relaxed in the seat. She was waiting for details. Penelope realized that’s what everyone would expect. But Amy was different. She had blue eyes that were wise and compassionate. She had strength—physical, mental and spiritual.

  “I guess if I came here to prove that I could survive in the wilderness, I definitely did that. My brother will be proud that I can go without a department store.” Penelope smiled as Becca returned, setting the plate with the cinnamon roll in front of her. The sweet, sticky mess, with lots of cinnamon, was exactly what she needed to get her day off to a good start. “I missed these.”

  “I bet you did.” Amy sipped her coffee and then set the cup down. “People are talking. They say you went off in search of the treasure?”

  Penelope swallowed a bite of cinnamon roll. “I did. I just thought, if I could find it, you would have the money you need to help the town, to help keep things going until the economy picks up.”

  Amy smiled, laced her fingers together and rested her hands on the table—and for a long moment she sat there. Penelope never expected tears. She grabbed a napkin and handed it to the other woman.

  “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to cry. But seriously, Penelope, there are so many people searching for this treasure, and it matters to me that you wanted it for us, for the town.”

  “I don’t need the treasure, Amy.”

  “I know you don’t. That doesn’t always stop people.”