Lakeside Redemption

by Lisa Jordan

  “Griffin is a great kid. He’s innocent in all of this. He shouldn’t have to pay for what I’ve done. He’s your grandson, after all. Do you really want to take him away from what he’s always known?”

  “We can give him opportunities you can’t afford.”

  “What about what Griffin wants? He wants to live with me. I think we need to come up with an alternative solution.”

  “The judge will determine the best solution. Now get off my property, and don’t come back. You’re not welcome here.” With tears glistening in her eyes, she slammed the door in Zoe’s face, leaving her shaking and ready to throw up.

  With wooden feet, she headed for her car. If only she could grab Griffin, drive out of town, put the past behind her and start fresh someplace else.

  If only she could just keep driving.

  But that was impossible.

  There was one place she could go where there’d be no judgment.

  Despite having left work less than an hour ago, she unlocked the back door to Canine Companions. Usually Leona and Travis minded the rescue animals, but they were still out of town, so Leona had asked if she’d go in and check on them.

  She’d fed them earlier and let them play a bit before putting them back in their kennels, but they could use some extra loving and playtime.

  Every time she walked into the kennel room, the sight of the dogs lying on their paws staring through the wire doors of their crates gripped her heart. She understood their needs, their longing to be free, to be loved.

  Some of the dogs had been taken from cruel owners, so they were skittish or snarly, while others had been rescued as strays. Their trust in humans who promised to love them and protect them had been broken.

  Thanks to Leona, though, they had opportunities to find their forever homes. If she could, Zoe would adopt each one of them and spend the rest of her life showing them how much they were worthy of being loved.

  She stepped out of her red flats, leaving them by the door, and dropped her phone in one of her shoes. She filled a bucket full of disinfectant water, pulled on rubber gloves and released the latch to the first kennel.

  She tried to coax Shiloh, a vanilla-colored schnauzer who had been rescued about two weeks ago, to come out so she could scrub his kennel. He whimpered and buried his face in his paws.

  Zoe tugged the gloves off and extended a hand.

  Shiloh’s nose twitched, and he stretched out his neck to smell her scent.

  Once she was confident she wouldn’t spook him, she moved closer, sat down and pulled him into her lap.

  The little dog quaked in her arms, but as she stroked his fur and spoke to him in soothing tones, his trembling stopped.

  She rested her head against the side of his cage and cradled the dog against her chest.

  Her chin quivered as tears scalded her eyes. A sob shuddered in her chest. She rubbed her cheek over the dog’s fur and allowed the tears to trail down her cheeks.

  Mrs. Jacoby’s words scrolled through her head. Zoe’s parents assured her the Jacobys had no legal grounds to gain custody of Griffin, so why were they continuing to threaten her?

  With a heaviness in her chest, Zoe wiped her cheeks and set Shiloh back on his bed. She went to work scrubbing the kennels, one by one, and allowing the dogs some freedom to roam while she worked. Once she filled their food and water dishes, she closed them back into their clean kennels and tried not to let their sorrowful looks send her into another spasm of tears.

  Her cell phone trilled, signaling an incoming text. She retrieved it from her shoe and opened a message from Sully.

  What R U doin?

  Cleaning kennels at CC. Y?

  Want some help?

  Almost done.

  Misery loves company. Get together when UR done?

  Meet me at the cabin in 30?

  Sounds good. <3

  She stowed her cleaning supplies and locked up.

  Once she reached her cabin, she had fifteen minutes to take a quick shower and tidy up the place from Griffin spending the weekend.

  With her wet hair pulled back into a ponytail and wearing a well-loved pair of jeans with a pink camp shirt, she put dishes in the sink, folded an afghan, picked up Harper’s toys and wiped off the table.

  Harper’s ears perked up as tires crunched on the gravel. Barking once, she raced to the screen door and jumped up to see who had arrived.

  Zoe’s heart picked up speed as Sully climbed out of his car. The evening sunshine glinted off his damp hair. So she wasn’t the only one who had taken a shower.

  Maybe hanging out with him was just what she needed tonight. Someone to make her laugh, help her forget her humiliation or the fear that shadowed her.

  She slid her feet into her flip-flops and pushed through the front door as he climbed the front steps. Harper raced past her legs and bounded over to Sully. He leaned down and scratched the dog behind her ears.

  She lifted a hand and gave him a small wave. “Hey.”

  “Hey, yourself.” Shoving his hands in the front pockets of his gray shorts, he smiled and allowed his gaze to wander from her toes to her face. His orange-and-gray-striped V-neck stretched across his chest.

  “I just got home. I need to walk Harper.”

  “I don’t mind walking and talking. In fact, I’ve been known to do both at the same time.”

  “See, I knew you had exceptional abilities.” Zoe stepped inside the door and traded her flip-flops for a pair of plaid canvas sneakers that offered better traction on the uneven beach.

  Returning to the porch, she found Sully sitting on the front step with his arm slung around Harper, who reclined half on his lap and half on the porch. She pulled her phone from her back pocket and snapped a picture of their silhouettes shaded by the multicolored trees and the lake against the horizon. “Ready?”

  Sully stood and gestured for her to lead the way.

  She jogged down the steps, then whistled for Harper as she patted her leg. “Come on, Harper, let’s walk.”

  The collie streaked past and bolted down the familiar path to the lake lined with fallen leaves of scarlet, gold and burnt orange. At the beach, Harper trotted ahead, kicking up sand.

  Seagulls cawed and weaved over the water. Shades of red and orange smeared the evening sky and dripped over the darkening lake. A breeze swirled around them, whisking Zoe’s ponytail into her face and ruffling Sully’s hair.

  Zoe bumped her shoulder against Sully’s. “So, tell me what’s put you in such a bad mood.”

  He sighed and kicked up a flat rock with the toe of his boat shoe. He picked it up and scraped off the sand with his thumb. “Today would have been my eighth wedding anniversary.”

  “I’m sorry. How do you feel about that?” As they walked, Zoe kept her hands in her pockets to keep from threading her fingers through his.

  “Like a failure.” He hurled the stone into the lake. The stone plunked into the water past the end of the dock, rippling the placid surface.

  “Nice throw.”

  He flashed her a quick smile. “You know the night you and Griffin came over for s’mores?”

  “Yes.”

  “I had a problem with my washer and called an old friend who had a similar problem a while back. He mentioned he had run into my ex, who is now remarried and pregnant.”

  “Oh, Sully.”

  “She walked out on us and started fresh with a new family. It’s not like I’m in love with her or wish for her to come back. I just keep asking myself, why wasn’t I enough?”

  The anguish in his eyes mirrored what she carried in her heart. She cupped his cheek and brushed her thumb over the scruff on his jaw. “I understand, Sully. I do, but do you think maybe she’s the one who felt like she couldn’t measure up? Maybe she struggled with bei
ng good enough for you and the girls?”

  “Hard to say.” He pulled her hand down and laced his fingers through hers. “Enough about me. What happened with you today?”

  With their entwined hands hanging between them, they continued along the shoreline with Harper still leading the way. “I love watching you with your girls, and the way you’ve been with Griffin. That means a lot to me.”

  “He’s a great kid.”

  “Yeah, I know. But watching you play football with him, helping him pick apples—those things reminded me he’s missing out on his own father-son relationship. I couldn’t get it out of my mind. This evening, I went to Kyle’s parents’ house to apologize once again, to tell them how sorry I was for his death. I had hoped to reason with them about this custody thing.”

  “How’d that go?”

  “Marcia Jacoby was as cold as the Arctic. Her hatred for me deafened her from hearing what I was trying to say. They’re fighting for Griffin in revenge for what I’ve done. Because they lost Kyle, they want to raise his son, take him away from everything he’s known. She argued they could offer him more than I can.”

  “Zoe...”

  Zoe stopped and shaded her eyes as she looked up at him. “I get it, Sully. I do. I mean, if someone killed Griffin, I’d be devastated, too. I truly don’t know how I could forgive them. She has every right to feel what she’s feeling. And I hate being the cause of that, but I don’t want to put Griffin through a custody battle. I can’t lose him. Not again. I don’t know how to fight this.” Her voice thickened as her eyes burned.

  Sully enfolded her in his arms. She soaked in his strength. She longed to have someone by her side to fight with her, instead of feeling like she was battling the world all on her own.

  His breath warmed her cheek as he spoke. “I promise you, Zoe, I won’t let them take Griffin from you. They need to prove you unfit to parent him. Besides, your parents have been doing an excellent job caring for him. A judge will see that. Maybe the Jacobys do want to raise him, but I believe they’re resorting to scare tactics to break you.”

  Her vision blurred as her throat tightened. “It’s working.”

  He tipped up her chin to meet her eyes. “Don’t allow them to get to you.”

  “What do I do, Sully? What do I do?” She stepped away from him, suddenly chilled by the absence of his body heat, and threw her hands in the air.

  “Trust God, Zoe. This battle belongs to Him. Allow Him to go to war on your behalf.”

  “I’m such a disappointment to Him. Why should He fight for me?” She blinked back the pressure building behind her eyes.

  He ran the backs of his fingers over her cheek and studied her, a frown lining his forehead. His voice softened to nearly a whisper. “The question isn’t why should He, but why wouldn’t He? He loves you way more than I could ever imagine loving Ella and Ava. Your past sins disappointed Him, but nothing will separate you from His love. Believe in that, and allow His grace to transform you into being the woman He wants you to be.”

  As his words saturated through the shame and self-loathing residing in her soul, she looked at him again, unable to mask what she was feeling in her heart. “We’re both searching for second chances, looking for our own fresh starts. I’m so glad you came back into my life.”

  An expression she’d seen him use so many times with his daughters—a mixture of amazement and joy—crossed his face. “I like to think our meeting again was no accident, but a part of God’s bigger picture for both of us.”

  “I really needed a friend like you.” She rested her cheek against his chest, the softness of his shirt caressing her skin. Listening to the pounding of his heart, she savored the lingering scent of his body wash, a mixture of ocean breezes and sunshine.

  If only she could stay wrapped in his arms, sheltered from the harsh realities of life.

  “Just a friend?”

  She drew back and peered into his eyes, leafy green under a sunburst of gold. Her lungs stalled as she pondered his question, almost afraid to guess what implication hung between them.

  A slight smile tugging at his mouth, Sully trailed his finger over her cheekbone, the outline of her lips, then down the hollow of her neck. He tugged her hair free from its ponytail holder and finger-combed it to fall around her shoulders. He cradled her face as her arms slid around his waist.

  Anticipation swirled in the valley of her soul. A sigh whispered past her parted lips. Sully lowered his mouth and brushed a featherlight kiss across her lips. His arms slid around her as he claimed her lips again, this time erasing any doubts from her mind about their future relationship.

  She’d finally found someone who truly understood her and showered her with compassion in spite of her past sins. Did she dare to risk hope that it could be part of God’s divine plan for them?

  * * *

  Holding Zoe in his arms felt so right. Even though they’d reconnected only a short time ago, Caleb couldn’t ignore what his heart was telling him.

  He was in love with Zoe James.

  Again.

  And yes, that scared him just a little. Having been burned once, he wanted to make completely sure she felt the same way. He didn’t doubt their shared values, but he needed to know he was making the right choice for his family.

  At least this time he wasn’t competing with someone else’s affections.

  He enveloped her against his chest and rested his cheek on the top of her head, breathing in the fragrance of her shampoo. As the waves lapped at the shore and the sun melted against the water, a sensation he hadn’t felt in a long time flowed over him, filling in the gaps and gashes in his heart flayed open at his ex-wife’s betrayal.

  Zoe wasn’t anything like Val.

  The more he spent time with her, the more he saw the girl he’d loved back in college. Life had changed both of them, but her sweet spirit remained the same. With time, she could put the past behind her and embrace the future God longed to give her.

  Hopefully with him by her side.

  Zoe pulled back and looked up at him. “You’re quiet.”

  “Just thinking.”

  “About what?”

  “You. Me. The future.”

  “Do you ever wish you could see into the future?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe sometimes. But if we could see the future, then we wouldn’t really need to rely on God.”

  “True. Sometimes it’s easier just knowing things are going to work out.” Worry colored her eyes as she turned in his arms and rested her back against him to look at the lake.

  He wrapped his arms around her and gave her a gentle squeeze. “I know it’s hard, Zoe. If I were in your shoes, I’d hate the uncertainty, too.”

  “If you were in my shoes, you’d stretch them out.” She glanced at him with a smile on her face.

  He laughed. “Yes, I would. After I was shot and Val left, I didn’t think I’d be able to handle two little girls. We definitely have our moments, but they’re clean, fed and well loved.”

  “You’re a great dad, Sully.”

  “And you’re a wonderful mom. Griffin knows that.”

  “I just hope I get the opportunity to show him.”

  “You’re doing that now.”

  “What do you say we head back to the cabin?”

  “Sounds like a plan to me.” Caleb reached for her hand, and they trudged across the sand to the path that led through the woods.

  Caleb’s phone rang as soon as they reached the cabin steps. He fished it out of his pocket and read Sarah’s number on his screen. He answered. “Hey, sis. What’s up?”

  “Caleb. Mom called.”

  “Yeah? What’s going on?”

  “Dad had a heart attack.” Her voice shook.

  “What? When? How is he?” His eyes darted to
Zoe, who watched him with concern.

  “About three hours ago. Apparently he collapsed at the office, and someone called 911. He’s been airlifted to Pittsburgh. Mom wants to go down, but I don’t feel she should go alone.”

  “No, she shouldn’t. We can pick her up on the way down.”

  “What about the girls?”

  Caleb sighed and rubbed his thumb and forefinger across his eyes. “I guess I’ll have to stay put. Can you handle taking Mom?”

  “Yes, I’ll manage.”

  “Okay, I’ll head back and we’ll go from there.”

  “See you soon.”

  Caleb ended the call, pressed his arm against one of the support beams on the porch and braced his head in the crook of his elbow.

  Zoe touched his shoulder. “Sully, what’s wrong?”

  “Sarah called. My dad’s had a heart attack.” He shared the details his sister had given him. “I’m sorry, but I need to go.”

  She waved away his apology. “Of course. Is there anything I can do?”

  “Conjure up a nanny for me? Because of the girls, I’m going to stay put while Sarah and Mom go to the hospital.”

  “I may not be named Mary Poppins, but I’ll stay with the girls, if you’d like.”

  He shook his head. “I can’t ask you to do that.”

  “You didn’t. I offered.”

  “What about work?”

  “Leona will be back tomorrow. I’ll call her and explain the situation. I know she won’t have a problem with it.”

  He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Zoe, you are a lifesaver. Sarah can handle Mom, but I feel I should be there, too.”

  She covered his hand with her own. “He’s your dad. Of course you should. You head home, and I’ll meet you there after I grab a few things. Do you mind if Harper comes?”

  “No, of course not. As long as you don’t mind throwing caring for Riley into the mix.”