Becca checked his expression for sarcasm, but what she saw looked more like admiration. She turned and lifted her Bible from the end table. “Connor and Emily are our strongest support in the Singles Group. If we’re not certain of our answer, we may want to wait a second to see if they raise their hands.”
“I can hold my own against my brother.”
“But we’re playing with him, not against him.”
Jared raised his hands in mock surrender.
“Any questions before Tessa reads the first question?” Connor asked. “No?” He looked around the room. “Then, game on.”
“First question,” Tessa said. “How many demons came out of Mary Magdalene?”
“Seven,” Becca wrote on a card without even having to think.
“Luke,” Jared whispered in her ear. “Eight, I think.”
Becca turned right to Luke and skimmed the page. She shot her left hand into the air while she wrote Eight: two with her right.
“Becca.” Tessa recognized her, walked over and read the card. “Correct. Do you or Jared want to read the verse?”
Jared gave Becca a nod.
“‘And also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out.’”
“All right. Not to show my allegiance, but the Singles are on the board.”
Jared smiled. “See, I can be a team player.”
“True.” And she was enjoying him being on her team a little too much.
“Now, on to question two,” Tessa said.
That one went to Jamie and Eli for the Couples Group. They played on neck and neck with the Couples Group, taking the second-to-last question to make the game a tie.
“The deciding question is...” Tessa paused for drama. “At the battle of Gath there was a giant with 24 fingers and toes. Who killed him?”
“That’s a tough one,” Becca said. “I have no idea.”
“I do.” Jared grabbed the last card from her and she handed him the pen. He scrawled Jonathan on the card, along with 1 Chronicles.
Becca already had her Bible open. “Any idea what book?”
He grimaced. “Toward the end.”
“Got it.” She pointed to the page and he quickly wrote Twenty: six and seven before raising his hand.
“Jared, Josh.” Tessa swung her head from one brother to the other. “I don’t know which of you had your hand up first. Good thing you’re on the same team.”
Jared tensed when Josh looked at him. The room went quiet.
From her many boy cousins, Becca knew how competitive brothers could be. She suspected giving way to either of his younger brothers would be difficult for Jared. But, in Connor’s case, it was likely he knew the right answer. He was the professional. She wasn’t so sure about Josh, despite the expression of pure challenge on his face that seemed to say he knew he was right.
A muscle worked in Jared’s jaw, causing her heart to beat double time. Men were so into proving themselves.
Jared motioned toward his brother. “Go ahead.”
A wide smile spread across Josh’s face.
“Good call,” she mouthed, warmed that Jared had yielded.
“Assuming that he has it right. I read Connor the story enough times when he was little. Hope Josh was listening, too.” He scuffed the toe of his shoe against the edge of the area rug lifting it up and down. “We had this Bible storybook I used to read to them, mostly to Connor.” He shuttered the look of vulnerability on his face as quickly as it appeared, making her want to know more about the real Jared Donnelly, the man who wasn’t a celebrity motocross champion. The man who, as a teen, had read Bible stories to his younger brother. Not that she expected he’d be quick to share.
* * *
“Josh has it. The Singles Group wins,” Tessa announced.
“Yes,” Jared said under his breath. It had been hard to step back and let Josh have the day, both because of his years of thriving on competition and because of the little-brother, big-brother family dynamics. The few times Jared had been home the past few years, Josh had seemed to begrudge him his success and been ready to challenge him at any opportunity. Sadly, he’d been all too quick to rise to the challenge.
He stood and rubbed the back of his neck, certain Becca had caught on to some of that. And he didn’t like it. He’d gotten comfortable living behind his world-champion facade. A facade that hid and helped him control things such as the rage he’d felt when his father had told eight-year-old Connor that Bible stories were for girls and taken the book, saying he was going to burn it with the trash. Jared had never seen the book again. With a role model like that, it was no wonder he’d decided it was in the world’s best interest that he not become a parent.
“That was fun,” Becca said.
“It was,” Jared agreed, thinking that if he couldn’t escape behind the facade, he needed to find a way to escape physically without being rude.
Becca smiled. “It would have been even if we’d lost.”
He definitely needed to get somewhere he could collect his thoughts. He’d had too good of a time today, let down his guard with Becca and allowed himself to enjoy being with her without thinking of all the reasons he shouldn’t, not the least of which were Brendon and Ari.
“I told you it would be fun.” Emily walked up beside Jared. “And it was even more fun winning. Now we have to have a playoff. What do you say, Connor?”
“What do I say about what?”
“A playoff.”
“No question. We need one,” Eli said, as he and Jamie joined the group, followed by Josh and the woman he’d been partnered with for the game.
Jared’s lungs constricted until he had trouble drawing a breath. They had him hemmed in. Through the window, he spotted his bike. That was what he needed, a rip across his property on Conifer Road.
“Are you okay?” Becca touched his arm.
“Looks like the asthma attacks he used to have when we were kids,” Josh said.
Jared gritted his teeth. “I’m fine. I haven’t had an asthma attack in twenty years.” He drilled his gaze into his brother’s to gauge whether he was trying to make him look weak in front of Becca and the others or was actually concerned. The lack of malice in Josh’s eyes shamed Jared for thinking the worst of him.
“We’ve got coffee, cold drinks and brownies, courtesy of Jamie, in the hall kitchen,” Emily said. “If that would help.”
If one more person fussed over him, he was going to explode.
Connor cleared his throat. “And if we want to get to those brownies, we need to wrap up here. Let’s bow our heads in a closing prayer.
Thank you. Jared didn’t know if Connor had done that for him or because he had an early day and wanted to get home. Connor was driving an elderly parishioner the fifty miles up to the Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake where his wife was having early-morning surgery. It didn’t matter. His intervention let Jared put things in perspective. The group wasn’t hemming him in. Unlike the race crowds, they didn’t want a piece of him. They were socializing. He could do this. He had to if he was going to pursue his dream.
“Amen,” he said when Connor finished, his voice rising above the others. He hung back while the group filed out of the lounge.
Eli was waiting in the hall for him. “I wanted to catch you in case you weren’t staying for food. I want to hear more about your racing school. Let me know when you’re free. The morning math class I teach finishes at eleven. If we met at noon at the Camp Sonrise lodge, Drew Stacey could join us. He’s the director and camp is in session. But he must get a lunch break. I’ll call him tomorrow.”
“I can do that. You can reach me at the parsonage.”
“All right.” Eli nodded toward the hall. “You should st
ay. I could be biased, but Jamie’s brownies are as good as everyone says.”
Socialize, Donnelly. As Connor had said, he needed to socialize, reach out to the locals and remind them he was one of them—for the project and for himself, too.
“You’ve talked me into it.”
That and the fact that Becca was in the hall. He could talk with her about joining him and Eli and Drew to hear his plans for the school. That would be a better idea than getting together with her alone. Better and safer. Much safer. He wouldn’t be putting himself in a situation like tonight where he might allow himself to be lulled into feeling comfortable with her and thinking there could be anything between them. He knew his reality. But Becca had a way of making him lose sight of it.
* * *
Becca poured a cup of coffee and glanced at the doorway of the church hall for the fifth time in two minutes. When she saw Jared walking in with Eli, she gave her full attention to adding cream and sugar to her drink. So, he hadn’t left. She stirred her coffee, watching the white swirls of half-and-half disappear into the dark brown of the drink. They’d had such a good time competing together. Then afterward, he’d gone all weird.
“Becca.”
She clanged the spoon against the side of the stoneware cup. “Jared. I thought you’d left.”
“No.” He hesitated and then flashed a tight smile. “I was talking with Eli. We’re going to get together with Drew at the Camp Sonrise lodge so I can tell them more about my plans for the racing school.”
She removed the spoon from the cup and placed it on a napkin next to the coffeemaker. The fun they’d had playing Bible trivia had totally pushed the motocross track from her mind. She’d just as soon it had stayed there.
“You can join us,” he said.
“I’m working, but if you let me know which day, I could come over on my lunch break.”
“Sure, Eli thought lunchtime would work best for Drew, too.” He pulled out his cell phone. “I don’t have you in my contacts.”
Becca debated whether to give him her cell number or the house number and settled on the cell.
It would be easier to screen his call. At home, Brendon might pick up. And he could get Jared’s number from the caller ID. She knew her son. If he had Jared’s number, he’d use any excuse to call him, which wouldn’t help her efforts to discourage his infatuation with motorcycles and Jared.
Jared finished punching in her number. “I’ll give you a call as soon as I know what day is best for Drew.”
“Monday, Wednesday or Friday is best for me. We bring the older kids down for swimming after lunch on those days. I can go out and join them at the beach when they get there.”
“I remember.”
She did, too. Becca’s mind flashed back to running into Jared on the dock the other day. A small smile twitched her lips.
“Are you about ready to go?” Emily came up beside her. “Izzy has scout camp tomorrow, so I have to get her up and out early. We’ve been pretty lazy at our house about getting up mornings since school let out. All of us except Drew, of course.”
Becca glanced from her half-full cup of coffee to Jared. Not really. Her kids were staying overnight at her ex-in-laws’, so she didn’t have to worry about getting them home and in bed. As much as she and Debbie and Ken clashed over many things, they were good about helping her with the kids.
“I guess.” She should have driven herself, but Emily had offered to pick her up, and she’d liked the idea of not having to drive home alone to an empty house. Her house was fairly isolated, which she usually liked. But it wouldn’t be for long if Jared built his racetrack. The meeting with him to find out more about his project couldn’t come too soon. “Let me grab a brownie. I haven’t had one.”
“You’d better get one fast. There are only two left.”
As Emily spoke, Jared reached around and picked up the plate of brownies from the table behind them, along with a couple of napkins. “I haven’t had one either. Judging from how fast they went, they must be as good as Eli said.”
“They definitely are,” Emily said.
He gave Becca a napkin and offered her her choice of the two brownies.
She took one. “Since you’ve never had one before, I’ll let you have the bigger one.”
“You don’t know what a sacrifice Becca is making,” Emily teased.
Jared lifted the brownie to his lips and sunk his teeth into it. A look of pure delight spread across his face. “Are you sure you don’t want to share half of the other one, too?”
“I’m sure,” Becca said, biting into hers. “They’re a million calories. But I’ll deal with the aftermath.”
He grinned. “And I know how. By running back and forth from the boulder in my meadow to your backyard to work them off. Don’t say I didn’t offer to help spare you.”
“Shh,” she said. “You’re giving away my secrets. Emily thinks I can eat whatever I want and not gain an ounce.”
Emily covered her ears. “No, don’t tell me it’s not true. Another illusion shattered.”
Becca finished her coffee. “I’m ready to go if you still are.”
“Yeah, we’d better. See you at the next meeting, Jared?” Emily asked.
“Probably. And I’ll call you tomorrow, Becca, to let you know which day.”
Emily raised an eyebrow as Becca said goodbye. As soon as they were in the hall out of Jared’s earshot, she grabbed Becca’s arm. “Was that what I think it was?”
Becca shook her head. “I doubt it.”
“That wasn’t Jared Donnelly saying he was going to call you to get together?”
“Oh, that.”
Emily’s mouth curved up in a knowing smile.
“He and Eli and Drew are meeting so he can tell them more about his racetrack project, and he asked me if I wanted to come. I need to know a lot more before I cast my Zoning Board vote.”
“That’s all?”
“That’s all. Now, will you stop turning every contact I have with the man into something more?”
Emily released an exaggerated sigh. “If I must.” She pushed open the door, and they stepped outside. “You can’t tell me you don’t find him attractive.”
“No, I can’t. A woman would have to be dead to not find Jared Donnelly at least physically attractive.”
“But Jared has other attractive qualities,” Emily said. She unlocked her car and Becca opened the passenger side door.
“Yes. And unattractive ones, too, like he wants to build a motocross track in my backyard.”
“Maybe it won’t be as bad as you think. He keeps calling it a school, not a track.”
“I’ll find that out when we meet.” Becca buckled her seat belt. But Emily made no move to start the car. “I thought you were in a hurry to get home.”
“Yeah, I should be. But you two look really good together and made a great team at Bible trivia.”
“You can stop anytime now.”
“All right, but it’s the first time since Matt left that you seem interested in another man. As you said, you’re not dead.”
Leave it to Emily to use her own words against her. “Can we put an end to this conversation if I admit that, yes, I’m attracted to Jared? But there’s no way I can pursue that attraction until the racetrack thing is settled.” Becca gestured. “And probably not then, either. Not if I have to vote him down.”
Chapter Six
Ari marched ahead of Becca into the Hazardtown Community Church hall, which served as the main room of The Kids’ Place. “Mommy got her important call last night, so she’s not going to have lunch with us today,” she announced to Leanne, one of the other teachers.
“I have a meeting today at twelve-thirty at the camp lodge,” Becca explained. “Zoning Board business. I don’t exp
ect it to take more than an hour. I can meet you at the lake when you bring the kids down for swimming lessons.”
Ari put her backpack with her swimming stuff against the side wall in the space marked with red tape for her class. “Yeah, it’s with Jared, the motorcycle-racing guy who’s going to build a racetrack behind our house. Brendon says we’ll probably get to go to the races for free because we’re his friends.”
“I don’t know about that,” Becca said.
“But Brendon said.”
Becca thanked God daily that her kids were close, even when that closeness united them against her.
“Where is Brendon?” Leanne asked.
“He went to his friend Ian’s. It’s just me and Mommy today, except when she has to go to her meeting.”
“Why don’t you go down to your classroom,” Leanne said. “And help Mrs. Hill finish setting up for the art project you’re going to do today.”
“Can I, Mom?”
“Sure.” It bothered Becca that Ari always asked her permission before she did anything, even with people she knew well and was comfortable with. Her daughter’s uncertainty reminded her too much of herself when she’d been Ari’s age and her parents had temporarily separated. Becca had wanted to do everything right so both her parents would love her. Not that they hadn’t. She hated to think her daughter was feeling the same insecurities she had. Her ex-husband’s on-again, off-again use of his visitation rights didn’t help. Never knowing whether she’d see her father when he’d promised confused Ari even more.
“Thanks,” Becca said.
“No problem. I had an ulterior motive. Your meeting is about the proposed motocross track out your way?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know where it’s going to be built in relation to Camp Northern Lights?”
Becca hadn’t thought about the Girl Scout camp on the parallel road west of Conifer Road. “No, I don’t. When I looked at the preliminary plans Tom Hill showed me before the last Zoning Board meeting, it didn’t strike me that Jared’s property might border the camp property on that side.”
“Can you find out for me? Both of my girls are scouts, and I’m the assistant leader for their troop. I hate to be against something that would bring jobs and business to the area, but I’m uncomfortable with a racetrack near a camp full of girls. You never know. The people it might draw. What might happen.”
Love Inspired May 2015 #2 Page 27