Love Inspired June 2015 - Box Set 1 of 2: The Cowboy's HomecomingThe Amish Widow's SecretSafe in the Fireman's Arms

by Carolyne Aarsen

  Maggie peeked over her aunt’s shoulder. There was no room in the refrigerator. Susan’s double-sized professional stainless steel refrigerator was full. Every shelf had been crammed tight with plastic containers.”

  “Oh, goodness,” Maggie exclaimed.

  “Don’t you be worrying. Nothing will go to waste. What your guests don’t finish we can freeze.”

  “Guests?” Maggie asked, certain her aunt joked. “What guests?”

  “You’re a hero, Maggie,” her aunt said with a smile. “People have been calling all day. They want to stop by and pay their respects. Some are friends of Mack, who simply want to thank you for your act of bravery. We told everyone to wait until Friday. Give you some time to rest up.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, really,” Susan said. “I brought you a new outfit from the shop. My thank-you present.”

  “Oh, Susan, that wasn’t necessary.”

  Behind them Uncle Bob reached out to sneak another corner of crust.

  “Bob, just cut yourself a proper piece of that pie and stay out of the way,” Aunt Betty scolded.

  She turned to Maggie. “He claims he likes my pie best but he can’t keep his hands off hers.”

  Susan and Maggie exchanged a look as Susan helped Maggie down the hall.

  “Bedroom?”

  “I’d rather sit in the living room. I feel like I’ve been in bed for days.”

  They stopped at the couch. “Lie down?” Susan asked.

  Maggie kept her feet on the polished wood floor. “The room spins when I do that. I’ll sit here until the medication wears off.” She grabbed her comfortable quilt from the back of the old floral sofa and covered her lap.

  As she settled against the cushions, she glanced around the room. Red roses sat in a glass vase on the curio table. Another dozen, this time pink, were in full bloom on the mantel. On the coffee table a lovely arrangement of pink and yellow gerbera daisies took center stage.

  “What beautiful flowers. Where did they come from?”

  “Let me look for the cards.” Susan took the card from the pink roses and handed them to Maggie.

  “The Paradise Volunteer Fire Department. Duffy signed it. How sweet.”

  “The red roses are from Mack and Bitsy. Bitsy told me that. No card on those.”

  “And the daisies?” Maggie asked.

  “I don’t know. They were here when I got here.”

  Susan’s phone buzzed. “Oops. Be right back.”

  Maggie sank back against the cushions as her aunt came into the room and adjusted the shade.

  “Nice view, if it wasn’t raining again. I know we need the water, but my joints are not happy.” She massaged her elbows and stuck her hands in her apron pockets as she surveyed the fat drops hitting the window.

  “Oh, I nearly forgot.” She pulled a folded piece of paper out of her apron. “The Paradise Gazette called twice and left a number. I think they’re worried the Four Forks Daily might scoop them. They want a call back ASAP.”

  “Thank you.” Maggie’s fingers played with the edges of the quilt. “No other calls?”

  “That would be all,” Aunt Betty said, handing Maggie the paper.

  Maggie was unable to contain a sigh of disappointment. Somehow she’d hoped Jake might be here when she got home. Or at least he’d have called. Had she imagined his caring response at the hospital?

  “What is it, dear?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Come on, now. It can’t be nothing if it makes you look so glum.”

  “I, um—I don’t suppose Jake called?”

  “Jake? Why didn’t you say so? He did, but he didn’t say much. Isn’t that just like a man?”

  “I suppose,” Maggie agreed with a false smile. She shifted slightly, her gaze following Aunt Betty around the room as she fussed, rearranging the roses in their vases. “What did he say?” she queried.

  “Say?” Her aunt leaned forward to examine the flowers on the mantel. She rearranged the roses and plucked a few limp petals off the blossoms, tucking them in her apron pocket. “You mean Jake? He asked if you were home yet.”

  “Oh.”

  “Said he’d call back.”

  “That’s all?”

  Giving the question some thought, her aunt paused and pursed her lips. “That’s all. Now, I imagine you’re hungry.”

  “Not really.”

  Aunt Betty waved a hand of dismissal. “I’ll bring you a plate. You have to eat if you want that arm to heal.” She started toward the kitchen and turned back. “Margaret?”

  “Yes?”

  “Thank you, dear.”

  “For what?”

  “You saved Mack’s life.”

  Maggie began to protest. Her aunt held up a hand to silence her. “The good Lord was watching over you and Mack that night.”

  Maggie blinked back emotions and nodded.

  “Folks are going to want to thank you, Maggie. I know this is very uncomfortable for you, but it will be over in a few days. Smile and nod. That’s all that’s required.”

  “Okay, Aunt Betty. I get it. I can do that if it will make everyone happy.”

  “It will and in the end, you’ll be happy, too. Trust me.”

  “I do.”

  “Okay, now rest. I’ll give you thirty minutes before I bring you a plate.”

  As her aunt left the room the daisies caught Maggie’s attention again and she leaned forward and spotted a small card hidden in the center of the arrangement. She pulled it out.

  The daisies were from Jake. Pleasure warmed her as she read the note.

  These reminded me of you. Hope you’re feeling better. I’ll see you when the crowd thins. Love, Jake.

  Love, Jake?

  The words filled her spirit and her heart and eased her pain. Maggie rested her head against the cushions and smiled.

  * * *

  Outside Jake’s window the rain continued to fall and the unmistakable sound of a kitten crying broke through the night. Chuck barked. He’d heard it, too.

  Jake rolled over and retrieved the sheet from the floor. Another restless night. No use trying to sleep. Once the rain eased up he’d go outside and check out the animal he heard.

  For now he lay in bed thinking while the rain hit the roof in a rhythmic pattern.

  How do you wake up and realize you love someone?

  He’d been up since 3:00 a.m. trying to figure that one out.

  Boy, had life changed in the last four weeks.

  Every single day since the fire seemed to drag.

  Now Maggie Jones had become the local heroine.

  He longed to stop by but couldn’t, not while the place was crawling with visitors. He wasn’t going to let his heart bleed in front of an audience.

  According to Bitsy, Maggie had a running line of well-wishers. And she would know. When Bitsy wasn’t nursing Mack, she was at Maggie’s. According to Sam, Bitsy spent more time out at the cottage than she did at her desk. Not that Sam was complaining.

  Trouble was she was also calling Jake left and right. The woman was driving him nuts.

  Every single day he got a play-by-play on Maggie along with pointed insinuations about what he ought to be doing.

  Yesterday had been the humdinger finale to the week, starting off the moment Bitsy stopped by his house to check on Mack.

  “I will be leaving right after I make your father dinner,” she’d informed him as she rolled up the blinds in his living room with as much of a racket as possible.

  Jake had nodded as he’d poured his second cup of coffee. He could have advised her that he was perfectly capable of making dinner, except he hadn’t.

  His silence led to the loudest harrumph he’d heard in his life. He’d barely sat down to read his mail when she started again.

  “Are you taking your father to his follow-up medical appointment with the pulmonologist?” she’d asked.

  “Happy to,” he answered, sorting through envelopes.

  The land
line rang, interrupting her interrogation. Bitsy reached for the phone at the same time he did.

  “My phone,” he said as he held the receiver to his ear. “Hello? Hey, Mrs. Jones. A party? Friday? I can’t promise. Maybe.”

  A self-satisfied smile lit up Bitsy’s face. She knew who was calling and she’d played him. Set him up, so he’d answer the phone. Yes. He’d been had.

  “How’s Maggie?” He listened as Betty Jones gave him an update. “Tell her I asked about her, will you?”

  Bitsy Harmony was doing her best to remind him of Maggie.

  He didn’t need anyone to remind him of Maggie. Since the fire, not an hour passed that a hundred images didn’t flash through his mind.

  Maggie with those glasses and ponytail and those burned eggs. Maggie throwing mud at him. A glowing Maggie in that incredible dress at the Founder’s Day supper.

  Maggie and the puffed cheese balls.

  Then his thoughts flashed to last Saturday night in the hospital.

  Maggie’s dark head against white hospital sheets.

  He hated hospitals. He last saw his mother in a hospital. This was different, he reminded himself, punching the pillow under his head. It wasn’t an ending.

  He had sat in the chair, holding Maggie’s hand, watching her sleep for hours, until he knew he had to leave. If she woke up she would clearly see his heart, and he hadn’t been prepared to admit anything that night. Jake had steeled his heart ten years ago. He never set out to fall in love again. One slip of a woman comes to town and he’d gone and broken all his rules.

  What was he going to do?

  How did Maggie feel? That was the real question. She had wanted him to pretend to care. To keep the suitors away. Still, he thought he’d seen something else in her eyes at the hospital.

  One way or another he realized it was time to go all in and take a risk. He could only pray that Maggie wouldn’t shut him down.

  * * *

  The week dragged. Though Maggie did little more than sleep and rest at first, her aunt and uncle insisted upon checking in on her several times a day. With each passing day the aches and pains were easing a bit. Her ribs were less sore and she’d gotten used to functioning around the assorted bandages.

  By the end of the week Maggie started spending a few hours a day on her laptop reviewing the class lessons for the fall.

  Her checkup had been this morning and the doctor had released her as mending with no complications.

  It was Friday and she’d finally convinced her aunt that after today, they—meaning all the ladies from the auxiliary—could let her fly solo. She’d firmly assured everyone that she would be able to handle things on her own.

  Right now, she longed for solitude. All the company of the past week had been a shock. Showering and dressing early each a.m. and holding court, just in case someone stopped by, was a novelty she didn’t want to grow accustomed to.

  Neighbors mowed her lawn for her and pulled her weeds. They had even watered her flowers.

  Yet each day passed without a word from Jake.

  Maggie toyed with the idea of going to see him. But she didn’t have a car and wasn’t sure she was ready to ride her bike yet.

  Bitsy dropped by nearly every day. A strange alliance had formed between Bitsy and her aunt. At least that’s how Jake would have seen the situation. Knowing Jake, he would have been suspicious.

  Maggie found it rather touching. The former baking adversaries spent an awful lot of time in Maggie’s kitchen talking and laughing and making pies. The little party they had teased about last Sunday seemed to be a go. Tonight. Maggie noted this from her eavesdropping, a habit she’d cultivated out of self-preservation.

  A few people over couldn’t hurt. They’d done so much for her that she couldn’t deny them a little fun. Then things would die down and her life would get back to normal. She was all for that, and anything that would empty her kitchen of all the food.

  Maggie had also found herself getting crankier as the week had worn on. She’d jump when a cell phone rang, be it hers or Bitsy’s or her aunt’s. Though she heard phones ringing often it was never Jake.

  Why didn’t he call?

  Each day she’d analyzed the words on the note that’d come with the daisies until she was frustrated and irritable. She couldn’t concentrate. Her mind kept slipping back to Paradise’s fire chief. His gentle touches in the hospital, his tender kiss.

  She was more than aware she’d fallen in love with him and how pathetic that was, as well. After all, how silly was it to be in love with the man that everyone else in town was head over heels for?

  Of course she was fooling herself, thinking he could possibly return her feelings. He still had a long way to go before he was ready for a relationship.

  Musing, her glance fell to the cheerful vase of daisies that she’d moved to her office.

  I remind him of daisies?

  Was that a good thing?

  Love, Jake.

  Hmm, love you like a sister? Love you as a good friend. Oh, then there was the time-honored, love you in the Lord.

  She stared blankly at the laptop. Looking out the window she saw the garden and reminisced back to the day they had the mud fight. A smile came to her lips. Again she tried to shake off frustration.

  Wandering to the kitchen she found Aunt Betty and Bitsy, with their heads together.

  Maggie cleared her throat.

  “Maggie dear, we were just talking about you,” Aunt Betty said, elbowing Bitsy.

  What a surprise. Maggie lifted her brows in mock astonishment.

  “It’s nearly dinnertime. Why don’t you change into that nice outfit that Susan brought by?” her aunt said.

  “I could do that, if you tell me how many people you invited for tonight.”

  “We only invited people you know. Or who know you,” Aunt Betty added.

  “Tell me this—do we have enough food to feed them?” Maggie asked.

  Aunt Betty looked at Bitsy. Their eyes rounded with concern.

  “Certainly,” Aunt Betty said. “Right, Bitsy?”

  “I don’t know,” Bitsy countered, pulling a pad of paper out of her pocket.

  “I told you I should have made more cookies,” Aunt Betty told her.

  “Well, who’s stopping you? Go ahead. I think I’m going to make one more pie.”

  “I was only kidding,” Maggie said.

  They didn’t hear the doorbell as they rushed around the kitchen.

  Maggie got up and slowly walked down the hall to the door. Beck Hollander stood behind the screen, his gaze firmly fixed on his sneakers as usual.

  “Beck,” Maggie said. “Come on in.”

  “No. I, ah... Maggie, I came to apologize.”

  He pushed his glasses up his nose and met her gaze head on. “I did it.”

  “Did what, Beck?” She wasn’t going to make this easy for him.

  “When I heard about the fire and all you did, I realized what a jerk I am.”

  Maggie opened the screen and stepped outside.

  Beck looked from her bruised face to her gauze-wrapped arm. “Are you going to be okay?”

  She nodded. “The Lord was watching over me for sure.”

  “I guess so,” he mumbled.

  The silence between them was punctuated by a thunder clap. Beck glanced at the sky and exhaled deeply.

  “You get me, Maggie. I think I got jealous of our friendship when you started hanging out with the chief.”

  “Beck, there are a lot of folks in Paradise who get you. People like you just the way you are. I’m not the only one. Above all, the Lord loves you. He created you to be unique.”

  “Yeah?” He studied her as if searching for the truth.

  “You don’t have to do things like that fire trick to make anyone stand up and see you. And by the way that was a really dangerous thing to do.”

  “I’m sorry. It was dumb. Really dumb.”

  She put a hand on his arm. “You know what? It’s time for you
to recognize how special you are. You have to love yourself unconditionally and demand that of others.”

  “I’ll try.” He swallowed, looked at her and then glanced away. “Can you, uh, forgive me?”

  “Of course I can. We’re friends. Friends care unconditionally. We all make mistakes.”

  “Does that mean I don’t have to go door-to-door with those fire magnets anymore?”

  Maggie burst out laughing. “Is that what Jake has you doing?”

  He offered a glum nod. “Ms. Harmony gave me a list of stuff to help the auxiliary, too. I’ll be working on her list for weeks. Maybe months.”

  “Paradise accepts you unconditionally, Beck, but the whole sowing and reaping thing isn’t going away.”

  “Bummer.”

  “Yeah. Though you know, I bet Julia would love to help you.”

  “You think?”

  “Yes. I do.” She smiled. “Now come on in and let’s have some of Bitsy’s pie and you can explain that device you used to me. That was really brilliant.”

  Beck grinned, his face lighting up. “My ninth-grade science-fair project.”

  Maggie shook her head as she opened the screen door.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The phone rang as Jake headed out to the store to pick up supplies for the kitten he’d rescued early this morning

  A trip to the vet had given the cat, a female, the all-clear. No microchips indicating she belonged to someone else.

  “It’s probably for you,” he told the peach-colored fur ball as he picked up the phone. The kitten shot him a bored expression from her seat on the sofa.

  “Jake? Can you take a call for the fire marshal?”

  Bitsy.

  “A call? It’s Friday after hours and I’m not on duty this weekend. Duffy is.” He paused, suspicion rising in the back of his mind. “What kind of call?”

  “I know that Duffy is on duty,” Bitsy stated. “But I figured you would want to handle this one yourself.”

  “What are you talking about?” As he spoke, the kitten began to chase Chuck’s tail. Chuck tolerated it for a few minutes and then ran out of the room. Jake turned around, trying to distract the little feline who now dangled from the phone cord like a furry aerialist.