“Because that’s the kind of man I want to be. But, you know, I’d lost sight of that for a while.” Drew fished a slip of paper out of his pocket. It was the check she’d sent back to him through Kevin. She cringed, thinking what a mean gesture that had been. More than once she’d tamped down the urge to call him and take it back, especially when the roof showed no signs of problems. “I needed a wake-up call, Janet. I was turning into someone I didn’t recognize, and it took you to show it to me. So I’m back to check on your roof. And I’m going to keep checking on it all winter. And I’m going to fix anything that goes wrong.” He raised an eyebrow, “But I’m here to tell you, I don’t think anything is going to go wrong. Your church got a good roof. I’m just here to stand by my work.” A grin swept across his face. “And a few other things. So, you got any ladders?”
Janet nodded and stumbled toward the aisle where ladders were kept. “We’ve got ladders over at the church. You won’t need one of your own.”
He stopped walking, and a warm look lit up his face. “We?”
Even though part of her had yearned to call or write Drew and tell him she’d found her way back to the church, she never could find the nerve. Now that he was standing here, the words eluded her. “You…um…you might say I finally came around. Isn’t that how you always put it?”
She couldn’t describe the expression on his face. Part surprise, a hint of wonder, genuinely happy, and something she wasn’t sure she was ready to call affection. Which was a lie—she was more than ready to call it affection. His eyes melted her composure and did something warm and wonderful to her soul. “I don’t suppose you’ve got a minute to walk over and show me how you think the roof is holding up?”
Janet could think of nothing better she’d like to do at the moment. Smiling—probably grinning like a fool, she thought to herself—she managed to say, “I think I can find the time.”
She was even more beautiful than he remembered. She’d changed. Even if she hadn’t told him she’d made peace with the church, he’d have known it by the way she looked. There was an inner quietness about her that had always been there before, but seemed to be in full bloom now. Something spacious in her eyes. He knew, as he followed her around the church, poking into crawl spaces and looking at gutter fastenings, that he’d always been in love with her. Maybe even from the first day, but now, as she stood close to him looking up at the steeple flashings, he could barely hear the words she was saying for the thumping of his heart in his ears. This was the stuff of high school crushes, not a grown man renewing his professional integrity. Go slow, he kept telling himself, even though he counted no less that six times he could have pulled her to him and kissed her if it wasn’t such a dangerous idea. He’d never been a patient man, and now he seemed drowning in impatience.
“So,” she was saying as they walked under a tree in the church’s front yard, “I’m watching this section over here because it gets so much moisture.” She was blushing. A rosy glow he felt tingle through his fingertips and made him itch to brush his hand against her cheek.
“You’re right, that will be the spot trouble shows up. If it shows up. But I don’t think it will.” He caught sight of a birdhouse hanging from the tree branches. It was a charming wishing well. He knew instantly it was hers, and something uncurled deep in his chest. “This yours?” he could barely gulp out.
She nodded.
“It’s wonderful.” It was just a birdhouse, but at that moment Drew thought it the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. Well, maybe second most.
“Drew,” she said quietly, “I’m really glad you came back.”
He looked down for a long moment, and when he looked up, Drew felt his restraint puddle out through the soles of his shoes. Oh, Lord, You’re going to have to help me here. I’m a goner. “I had to come back,” he admitted, feeling like he was admitting far more. “For me. For you.”
With a surety he never expected, Janet leaned in and kissed him. A gentle, feather-light kiss that washed over him like a blinding light. The perfect stillness of it startled him. It was as if all the frenetic energy, all the business of his life had rushed to this single moment. The place where everything came together. Her. Here. He pulled his hands up to cup her face—as much to hold himself upright as to give in to the urge to touch her. The indescribable softness of her took his breath away. He loved her. It didn’t solve everything, and it didn’t need to. He’d take it however slow it needed to go from here, even if it near killed him. She was worth it.
She always had been.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The roof was holding up beautifully. Drew was back for his second monthly check-in, and Janet knew she’d have to concede her point when he showed up this afternoon. His roof installation had been a good choice. She was ready to admit that now. She was ready to admit a few other things—like the fact that she was head-over-heels in love with Mr. Missionnovation himself, the last person she’d expect, Drew Downing.
Granted, he was making it hard not to fall for him. Drew Downing’s full-force charm was a powerful thing. Sure, the daily e-mails were amusing. He’d regale her with tales of Kevin and Annie’s doe-eyed romance and how it drove Mike and Jeremy crazy. He’d complain about the food now that every meal on earth seemed to pale next to something from Gina Deacon’s Grill. Most of all, he’d tell her all about his plans to come to Middleburg once he’d finished his final tasks with the show. How they’d walk to church together or go get cookies from Dinah’s bakery on Thursday mornings. How he’d court her like a true Kentucky son—even though she was pretty sure there wasn’t an ounce of rural manner anywhere in that man. Which was fine, because she loved Drew just the way God made him.
She’d been fussing around the store all afternoon, jumping every time the bell over the store’s front door jingled. Each time Vern would catch her eye with a mile-wide smile. You’d think he’d introduced her to Drew, the way Vern took credit for their relationship. He seemed to enjoy it so much, however, that she couldn’t begrudge him whatever role he’d imagined in her happiness. Because that’s really what it was—Vern was just glad to see her happy.
And she was. Some days it baffled Janet why it had taken her so long to come around to her faith again. It seemed silly now, to hold so deep a grudge for so long. She’d denied herself years of peace just to hang on to a hurt—a deep hurt, granted, but one that Jesus was more than ready to heal once she’d turned back to her faith. Janet used to wonder what she’d do if she ever saw Tony again. Now, it hardly seemed worth a thought. After so much time looking back, she had rediscovered the joy of looking forward.
She’d bought a silver filigree necklace and earring set—fussy, completely non-sensible things that caught her eye one afternoon at Emily Montague’s West of Paris shop—and she smiled at her reflection in the store window. She’d bought some richly scented lotion, too—so uncharacteristic it made Emily grin like a cat and make some remark about “the power of love to make a woman glow.” Emily ought to know, she and Gil were getting married in just a few months on Valentine’s Day, and Emily had already made Janet promise to bring Drew to the wedding.
It seemed like hours before Drew’s dark green truck would pull up in front of the store and take her to lunch. Which was why she was completely surprised to see him chug up the street in a small yellow backhoe. Construction equipment didn’t seem like the ideal lunch-date vehicle—even for a guy as unpredictable as Drew Downing.
“Hello there, beautiful!” he called as the small-scale digging vehicle groaned to a stop beside the curb. He’d started calling her “beautiful” during his last visit and hadn’t stopped since. It still made her blush. “Like my ride?”
“It’s a backhoe, Drew.”
“Yep. A little smaller than most, but just the right size for the job I have in mind.” He pulled a picnic basket out from behind him on the seat. “I stopped at Deacon’s on the way over for our lunch. I didn’t forget I promised you lunch.”
J
anet couldn’t help but laugh. “You drove to The Grill in that?”
“I drew a crowd.”
“I’m not surprised.” Janet surveyed the bright yellow machine. “It’s kind of cute—in a construction-ish, technical kind of way.”
“I’m going to dig me a hole.” He affected a Kentucky twang with disastrous results that would make even Dinah groan.
As if that weren’t obvious. “No kidding?”
“Really. Hop on. I’ll give you a lift over to the church.”
There hardly seemed room to fit two people on the backhoe’s little metal seat, but when Drew wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close, she wondered if that wasn’t what Drew had planned all along. It took nearly ten minutes to go the short trip, chugging along slowly as they were. “What are we going to dig?”
Drew’s smile was warm and broad. “We’re going to bury a water tank. I spent the last two weeks talking with the guy who builds these things, and I’ve decided you were right. It goes underground. So, we’re going to dig the hole and put it where it belongs.”
Not that it was ever about the tank, but if Janet hadn’t known she loved him before, she was doubly sure of it now. She kissed his cheek tenderly.
“Whoa, woman, I need to keep my eyes on the road,” he chuckled.
“You are the real deal, just like you said. And I love you for it.” She’d planned to be more deliberate in how she told him, to make a big moment of it, but somehow now seemed the perfect time.
The backhoe stopped and Drew took his hands off the steering wheel to touch her face. He didn’t say anything for the longest moment, only looked at her with such heart-stopping intensity that she thought she would burst. Then he leaned in and kissed her so powerfully that someone honked as they drove past them on the road.
“We’re a moving violation,” he joked as he pulled his attention back to the idling machine. “And I’m loving every minute of it.” He pulled her into the crook of his shoulder and she snuggled up against him. Romance on a crawling backhoe. That was something only Drew Downing could pull off. “I’ve loved you from the first minute, you know that?” he said, sneaking a kiss into her hair while attempting to keep his eyes responsibly on the road. “I was just too busy fixing things to stop and fix myself.”
He kissed her again, longer this time, when the backhoe pulled up around the back of the church. She’d known it would be like this, but it still felt surprising and wonderful. “There was something I was going to tell you today, even before you announced your little project here.”
“You’ve already told me everything I wanted to hear.”
“No, there’s more.” She couldn’t help but grin.
“And what’s that?” he asked as he pulled the picnic basket off the back of the machine.
“I think the roof is sound. You made the right choice and I was wrong.”
He looked up at her. “I’m glad to hear that. I never pulled anything over on you or the church, Janet, ever. The only person I ever fooled in Middleburg was me.” He walked toward her and reached for her hand. “Missionnovation was great, but all I ever wanted was to be the real deal. I didn’t realize they might be two different things until I came here.”
An hour later, Drew and Janet shared a picnic lunch beside a large hole in the preschool garden. “Jacob, hmm?”
Janet repeated to him the story of how she’d picked up her Bible the first time, and her roof-inspection path back to faith. She’d told him the story on his last visit, but he asked to hear it again. “Well, Jacob and a whole lot of other scripture since. Dinah’s asked me to be part of her Bible study group. I’m glad to be finding my way back. Slowly, but you know me, I like to take my time and make sure I do things right.”
“I like that about you. Thoughtful, deliberate, non-impulsive. Fine qualities.” He held her eyes for a moment longer before picking up a thermos of coffee Gina had packed for them. Along with a healthy supply of chocolate chip cookies. Drew closed his eyes for a moment and lifted his head toward the strong November sunshine. “Thank you, Lord, for bringing me here, for bringing me home. For bringing me,” he turned his head and looked into her eyes, “to you.” Slowly, without leaving her gaze and with the closest thing Drew Downing might ever show to patience, he kissed her hand. “I do love you.”
Three weeks later, just before the holidays set in, Drew set the last stone in place on a charming wishing well in the corner of the preschool garden. The well sat on the ground that covered a tank. A tank Drew Downing buried to heal the woman he loved, and unearth the man he really was.
And it was…perfect.
Dear Reader,
Makeovers look fun. Lots of times, however, such “renovations” uncover as many problems as they solve. Painfully, tearing down walls always reveals what’s behind them—but the results are often worth the hassles.
Drew and Janet annoy each other, but they bring out precious blessings in each other, too. People who “get under our skin” get there for a reason—even if we can’t always see it at first. God sends us challenging relationships because we grow so much from them. I hope Bluegrass Courtship allows you to look at such trials with new eyes.
If this is your first visit to Middleburg, I hope you’ll go back and find Bluegrass Hero to meet other Middleburg neighbors. Get ready for a third visit in Bluegrass Blessings later this year. Blessings to each of you. Write me anytime at www.alliepleiter.com, or P.O. Box 7026, Villa Park, IL 60181.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
What if Missionnovation came to your home or church? What would you overhaul and why?
Do you know (or are you) an “octopus”? What motivates that behavior?
Why is fraud like Tony’s so damaging? How can God help people and communities heal from wounds like that?
Do you have something—like Janet’s sawdust—that brings back strong memories? What is it and why does it evoke such powerful emotions?
What’s your opinion of reality television shows? Are they all hype or are there elements of truth to them?
Have there been times in your life when, like Drew, you had too much going on around you to hear God’s voice clearly? What’s the best remedy for times like that?
Is there a talent, like Janet’s birdhouses, that you’ve been reluctant to share with the world? Why? What steps can you take toward letting God use that talent?
Janet remembers “what seems too good to be true usually is.” When has that been true in your life? Has it ever been wrong? Has something “too good to be true” really been good?
Has someone “let you down” the way Janet feels Drew has? What’s the best response for a person of faith in a situation like that? What would you change now to your own response if you could?
Do you think Drew should have left the work site? Why or why not?
Middleburg has lots of interesting characters. Which remind you of yourself? Do you see other people in your life reflected in the book’s characters?
Do you think Drew should have told Janet how he felt in Chapter Twenty-Three? Why or why not?
What would you have done with the check Drew gave Janet?
Drew decides God sent him into Janet’s life to help her heal. Has God sent someone into your life to help them heal? What does it feel like you should be doing to help that person—and what’s best left up to God in that situation?
Are you too busy fixing things to stop and fix yourself? What can you do about that?
ISBN: 978-1-4268-2825-6
BLUEGRASS COURTSHIP
Copyright © 2009 by Alyse Stanko Pleiter
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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*Kentucky Corners
*Kentucky Corners
Bluegrass Courtship Page 17