“I think you’ll be a good dad some day.”
“I don’t know if I want kids.”
Susan paused a moment on the trail and looked at him. “Are you serious? The way you were talking the other day, I sort of got the feeling you were at that place.… like you wanted to find the right person and settle down with.” I guess I was assuming again, she thought. Assuming settling down meant starting a family.
“That was before today—before Sarah took off. I don’t know if I could handle this sort of emotional roller coaster. Kit says I’ll love my own kids even more than Sarah. If that’s true, then I’d never survive this kind of shit with my own kid. I don’t think I’m tough enough.”
“Do you ever pray?” Susan asked.
“Until today—not often. You?”
“I pray every day.”
“I never was much for church,” Brandon said.
“Praying doesn’t really have anything to do with going to church.”
“So, you don’t go to church?” Brandon asked.
“No… I go to church. I was just saying praying and going to church don’t necessarily go hand in hand.”
“Well, I’ve prayed a lot today—that’s for damn sure.”
Brandon called out Sarah’s name again. Just as he did, thunder rumbled overhead.
“Damn,” Brandon cursed. “Please don’t tell me it’s going to start raining.”
As if some evil force had heard his concern, rain began falling. Instead of light sprinkles, it came down in a torrent, drenching them both in a matter of moments.
Fisting his hands, his feet planted firmly on the ground, Brandon looked up to the sky as rain water drenched his face.
“No, God! You can’t do this!” Brandon shouted at the top of his lungs.
In the next moment, a bell began to ring—the church camp bell. It continued to ring, the sound traveling through the mountain. Sarah had been found.
The thought that Sarah hadn’t been found safe and whole did not enter Susan’s mind. She knew from the depths of her soul that the little girl was safe—maybe even now with her mother.
“Is that what I think?” Brandon asked excitedly, listening to the sound of the ringing camp bell.
“Yes! Sarah has been found!”
Without thought, Susan leapt into Brandon’s open arms—accepting his spontaneous celebratory hug. Laughing, he twirled her around, his feet slipping on the now muddy ground. When he finally released her, Susan was still laughing from relief. Stumbling a bit when he set her back on her feet, she misstepped and fell to the ground.
“Damn, I’m sorry,” Brandon said, kneeling by her side.
Susan tried to stand up but discovered it was too painful to put weight on her right foot.
“Damn,” Susan cried out, clutching her ankle, “I think I sprained my ankle.” Rain continued to fall from the sky.
“Here, let me help you.” Gently Brandon pulled Susan up as she balanced her weight on her left foot.
“Ouch,” Susan said as she briefly touched her right toe to the ground. “Crap, I really screwed up my ankle. I don’t think I can walk back.”
“I’ll carry you,” Brandon offered. Susan looked up into Brandon’s face and rolled her eyes.
“What?” he asked, noting her lack of confidence.
“You are a nice, big, strong guy, Brandon. But carry me back to the camp… in this weather? I don’t think so. Maybe I can hop.”
“Hop all the way?” Brandon removed his jacket and put it over Susan’s head.
“Put your coat back on!” Susan scolded.
“You’re getting soaked.”
“And you aren’t?”
When Brandon continued to hold the jacket over her head, she snatched it from him and shoved it against his chest, urging him to put it back on. The movement only made her stumble, putting unwanted pressure on her lame foot. She cried out in pain.
Brandon hastily slipped his jacket back on and took hold of Susan’s left arm.
“If we could find some shelter until it stops raining… Maybe by that time, your ankle will feel better.”
Susan wrapped her arm around Brandon’s waist as he did the same to her. Leaning against him, she took little hops as he led her toward a shelter of the trees. Huddling under the limbs provided little protection from the rain. Lightning streaked across the sky followed by a clash of thunder.
“Not a good idea standing under these trees. The chapel,” Susan suggested.
“What are you talking about?”
“Remember the little chapel the other day—the one you pulled me into? It’s not far from here.
Together they made their way in the direction Susan suggested, moving with awkward hops. They continued on their way for about twenty minutes. Rain continued to come down, but now it was more in sprinkles than a steady downpour.
Moving through a small clearing, Brandon spied the chapel ahead. Tired of the incessant rain and the snail’s pace, he swooped Susan up in his arms and started toward the chapel, his hiking boots sloshing in the muddy ground. Not prepared for the sudden motion, Susan let out a little cry of surprise and wrapped her arms around Brandon’s neck, holding on tight.
“I’m too heavy for you,” she whispered in his ear.
“I just want to get the hell out of this damn rain,” he told her, determined to get to the chapel without having to put her down. The combination of pine needles and mud on the ground made for a slippery walkway. Several times, Brandon slid in the mud yet managed to keep his hold on Susan without falling with her to the ground.
Relieved at knowing Sarah had been found and finding humor in her current situation—especially considering Brandon’s stubborn determination to carry her the rest of the way—made Susan giggle in spite of her throbbing ankle.
“What’s so funny?” Brandon grumbled, his breathing now labored.
“If you think you’re going to have a heart attack, please set me down first.”
“I promise.”
When Brandon reached the chapel, Susan expected him to set her down by the door. Instead, he managed to open the door while still holding her in his arms. After moving inside the small building, he set her down on the church pew.
“We made it!” Susan exclaimed, sitting on the oak pew. Clutching her injured foot she slipped off the tennis shoe and sock. The ankle was slightly swollen.
“It doesn’t look too bad.” Brandon sat on the pew next to Susan. “Does it hurt?”
“Yes. Like a bitch.”
Chapter Seventeen
“I can’t believe how warm it is in here,” Brandon said as he attended to Susan’s injury. Shirtless, he sat next to her on the church pew, her injured limb propped on his knee as he carefully wound the makeshift bandage, fashioned from his shirt’s fabric, around her ankle.
“It’s the way the sun hits the stained glass window, and it’s a good thing, considering how soaked we are and that you’re sitting there practically naked. Do you really know what you’re doing?”
“I sacrifice my shirt for you, and you dare question my skill?” Brandon teased.
“I do feel bad about your shirt. It was a nice shirt. Ouch! That hurts; too tight.”
“Sorry.” Brandon loosened the bandage slightly and then continued on. “I couldn’t stand much more of your moaning and wincing.”
“I didn’t moan. But I do cop to the wincing.”
“There,” Brandon said as he finished securing the bandage. “That should do it.”
“It does feel better. Thanks.” Susan didn’t attempt to pull her foot from his knee, and Brandon didn’t move from his place on the pew.
“Susan,” Brandon asked in a serious tone. “I was just so damned relieved to hear that bell ring that I didn’t stop to think. Do you think she’s okay? We know they found her, but do you think she’s alright?”
“I’m sure she’s fine. The rain started about the same time the bell started ringing, so we know she wasn’t wandering around in th
e rain. No chance of catching pneumonia. I can’t recall the last time a wild animal—a dangerous wild animal—was seen this close to the camps or cabins.”
“Susan, when was the last time you were up here?”
“Okay, maybe it has been a number of years, and I suppose it is possible there’ve been wildlife sightings near the camps and cabins over the last few years, but we’re talking nocturnal animals. If she was out overnight, then I’d be concerned. But in the middle of the afternoon? I seriously doubt it. The one thing that did concern me was the lake, but you said she wouldn’t have had time to reach the water before the search party got there. I’m sure she’s fine, and once this rain stops, you can go see for yourself.”
“And leave you here alone?”
“I’ll be fine. I’d try to convince you to go now to relieve your worry, but I don’t think walking around in the rain and the lightning is a smart idea.”
“I have to get you back to the camp, and there’s no way to get my truck up here. I could try carrying you back.”
“Carry me?” Susan laughed. “It about killed you when you carried me a hundred feet. No, I’ve already figured it out. Have Lexi and Andrea bring the horses up here. I can ride back to the camp.”
“And how do you expect to get up on the horse?”
“Don’t worry. You have the girls get the horses up here, and I’ll get on one.”
“I’m sorry I hurt your foot.”
“You didn’t hurt my foot. I tripped.”
“Yes. After I dumped you on the ground.”
Susan laughed. “You didn’t dump me, exactly.”
Brandon flashed Susan a grin but reserved comment. They sat for a few moments in silence, each lost in private thoughts while Susan’s injured ankle rested on his knee.
“I’m sorry I acted like such a prick the other day—at the lake,” Brandon said at last.
“I’m sorry I jumped to all the wrong conclusions about you,” Susan countered in a quiet voice.
“Kit told me I was wrong. She said she understood why you’d jumped to the conclusions you did, especially considering the circumstances.”
“Circumstances? Umm… just what did you tell your sister about me?”
“She knows we went out.”
“Went out? Does she know we… you know…”
“Spent the night together?” Brandon asked with a smile.
“Yes.”
“I told her.”
“Oh… crap…” Susan closed her eyes for a minute. “What does she think of me, picking you up in a place like After Sundown?”
“I did not tell her about After Sundown. In fact, I’d prefer my sister wasn’t told about that place—or what typically goes on there.”
“I guess that makes me feel a little better… but just a little.”
“I’m not in the habit of sharing details of my sex life with my sister. She just knew I was a little upset the other day, and I only told her we’d gone out—spent a night together—and that after, you assumed I was married, that Sarah was mine.”
“I really didn’t get your second note,” Susan told him.
“I’ve sort of figured that out.”
“But you didn’t believe me at first, did you?”
“It wasn’t that—exactly.”
“I just remembered something,” Susan said shyly.
“What?”
“I don’t even know your last name.”
“I never told you my last name?” Brandon found that hard to believe.
“No, it never came up.”
“Carpenter.”
“Carpenter?” Susan frowned.
“My last name. Carpenter. My name is Brandon Carpenter.”
“Carpenter?” Susan began to laugh. “You’re in construction and your last name is Carpenter?”
“Someday, if I ever get around to getting my contractor’s license I figure Carpenter Construction might be a good name for my company.”
Susan smiled. “Are you considering getting your license?”
“I probably will someday. Can’t do framing forever—tears up the body.”
Your body looks pretty good to me, Susan thought, eyeing his exposed chest, the well toned abs. He had little chest hair, and what he did have was blond and seemed to disappear against his tanned skin. Taking another look at his impressively formed biceps, she wondered if perhaps it might be easy for him to carry her back to the camp. It was almost worth spraining my ankle to get you out of your shirt so I could admire this view.
“What are you doing at the end of summer?” Brandon asked. “Going back to the school district?”
“No. I gave my notice at the end of the school year. Not sure what I want to do. I was hoping this time up here would give me a fresh perspective on the future. Maybe I’d come to some grand epiphany on what I should do with the rest of my life.”
“And has it?”
“Not exactly. I still know I don’t want to go back to the school district. But what do I want to do? Haven’t a clue.”
“I was curious why you moved. I thought you liked your new apartment.”
“Well, one reason—why pay rent on an apartment if I’m living up here for the summer?” Another was that I didn’t want you to know where I was.
“Yeah, but you moved out before you came up here. Were you staying with friends?’
“My parents. I moved into my parents’ house. One of the neighbors knew someone who wanted my unit, so it all worked out. I didn’t lose any deposits or anything.”
“Are you planning to go back to your parents’ house after summer ends?”
“For a while until I get settled. It is a little strange going back there, but it’s not really a problem. No reason to get another apartment until I figure out what I’m going to do. And who knows? Maybe I’ll pick up and move to another city—another state.”
“Seriously? You’d really leave your family and friends?”
Susan shrugged and said, “It’s always a possibility. Not that I have any real desire to move from our area, but I’ll consider all options.”
“Your ex—is he still in the area? I think you mentioned he might get married. Did he?”
“Sam? No, he hasn’t gotten remarried. But it seems he and Loretta—that’s his girlfriend—have an off and on thing of convenience going on. At least, that’s what I gather from the grapevine.”
“So you never see him anymore?”
“Only once—and he asked me to go back with him.” Susan smiled at the memory.
“He asked you to go back with him?” Brandon asked incredulously.
“Hey, why wouldn’t he want me back? I’m a great catch!” Susan said with a faux pout.
“That’s not what I meant.” Brandon gently patted her leg and flashed a smile. “It’s just that you mentioned he was still with Loretta.”
“Yes, but I said off and on. Oh, it wasn’t that he suddenly realized he was madly in love with me. He’d just moved out of Loretta’s—they were on the outs at the time—and he needed a place to stay. Plus, I had just deposited my share of the money from the house.”
“You seem rather amused about it.”
“I suppose I am, in a way. And no, I was not tempted to accept his offer of reconciliation.”
“I didn’t ask.”
“No, but you were wondering, weren’t you?”
Brandon shrugged and said, “I suppose the question crossed my mind. But it really is none of my business.”
“Then why did you ask if I’d seen him?”
“Doesn’t mean I’m not curious—even if I know it’s none of my business.” Brandon didn’t say anything for a moment and then added, “Ah hell, I know it’s none of my business—but why didn’t you consider going back with him?”
“That’s easy. I don’t love him anymore. I’m starting to think I never did. No, let me rephrase that. I was in love with the man I thought he was. But the man he really is, frankly, I don’t even like that guy, much less love
him. And, Brandon… that’s one reason I jumped to the conclusions I did.”
“I don’t understand.”
“After my divorce was finalized, my friends admitted they never really liked him. They pointed out that I… I tend to be too trusting. I decided to stop being a pushover, and instead of assuming the best… Well, you get the idea.”
“While I understand what you’re saying, I don’t think it’s fair to judge a person by someone else’s actions.”
“I’m just talking about healthy skepticism.”
“Perhaps. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I’d rather I be judged on my own behavior, not on someone else’s.”
“I’m not saying I won’t trust someone again, just that trust needs to be earned. It’s not something to hand over blindly. At least, not anymore,” Susan said defensively. While she had begun to feel a little guilty about jumping to the conclusion that Brandon was married, she felt he was being unreasonable.
“I suppose it’s all about the glass of water,” Brandon said.
“What do you mean?’
“You know, the old is the glass half empty or half full thing. You choose to see it as half empty instead of half full.”
“I don’t see how that has anything to do with trying to be less naïve.”
“Do you hear that?” Brandon asked, ignoring Susan’s last comment.
“Hear what?” Susan frowned.
“It stopped raining.” Gently, Brandon lifted Susan’s ankle from his knee and set it on the pew as he stood up and walked to the door. Opening it, he stepped outside and looked up into the sky.
“How does it look?” Susan asked.
“It’s pretty clear. I think the storm’s over. Do you think you’ll be okay here alone?”
“Certainly. It isn’t that far to the camp; it shouldn’t take you long.”
Chapter Eighteen
Pillowing her windbreaker under her head, Susan stretched out on the church pew. She didn’t imagine she’d be stuck in the chapel for more than an hour, and quite possibly, the girls would show up within thirty minutes. The ground up on Shipley tended to dry quickly after one of these storms, so she wasn’t concerned about it being too muddy to take the horses out.
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