Finally a Bride

by Renee Andrews

  Brodie tossed a mesh bag filled with black-and-white soccer balls toward the cabin door. “I figured as much.” He looked at Haley. “Speaking of excited, Eli got pretty excited when he saw you here. The guys from his cabin should be getting off the bus next. They were gathering their gear from the back. I’m sure he’ll make a beeline over here to find out how Buddy is doing. He hasn’t stopped talking about that puppy. I’m hoping you’re here with good news?”

  Haley lifted the backpack. “I’m actually here to return this. But I wanted to give him an update on Buddy, too.”

  “So, how is he?” Brodie asked, climbing the porch steps to stand next to his wife. He wrapped an arm around her and she smiled up at him.

  Haley swallowed. They reminded her of her parents back when things were still good, and of the kind of relationship she’d always thought she’d have.

  “Buddy?” Savvy asked him. “I didn’t realize we knew his name. Was he wearing a collar?”

  “No,” Haley said, “but apparently Gavin named him when they found him.”

  “Did he, now?” Savvy asked with a grin.

  “From what he told me earlier, it wasn’t intentional,” Brodie said with a chuckle. “But, anyway, how’s he doing?”

  “He’s doing...” Haley paused. She didn’t want to say something that wasn’t true, and the little dog was a far cry from being out of the woods. “He’s doing okay.”

  Brodie’s mouth slid down and he gave her a single nod. “Well, we’ll just have to pray for him to be doing better than okay soon,” he said as Haley saw Eli hop off the bus, with Gavin right behind him. They wore bright blue T-shirts that matched those of the other boys currently climbing out of the bus.

  Eli said something to Gavin and then took off running toward Haley. She smiled at the boy but kept an eye on the big man also making his way toward Brodie and Savvy’s front porch.

  In addition to the bright blue T-shirt, Gavin Thomason wore well-worn jeans and tennis shoes. Nothing overly fancy, for sure, and similar to what Brodie and the other cabin counselors wore. But on Gavin, with the T-shirt accenting the firm, broad planes of his chest and shoulders, coupled with the jeans outlining lean hips and long legs, he looked more like a walking advertisement for an outdoor apparel store.

  She caught herself staring, which really couldn’t be prevented. He was just so easy on the eyes. But she glanced away in time to see that Savvy hadn’t missed her reaction. One corner of her mouth had curved upward and Haley did her best to act like she hadn’t noticed.

  “Miss Haley! Did you bring Buddy? Is he better already?” Eli’s feet slid to a stop near the bottom of the porch steps, where he dropped his jacket, mittens and bright yellow shin guards that matched his soccer cleats. “Did you? Is he here?”

  She was grateful the sweet boy interrupted the uncomfortable moment and, hearing the hope in his tone, almost hated showing him the backpack. “Buddy is still at my office so I can take care of him, but I did bring you this.” She held up the bag. “I thought you could use it for school tomorrow.”

  His expression fell in one big swoop. “Oh. Okay.”

  Gavin neared the porch, his jaw set firm and those intense blue eyes focusing on the little boy, barely acknowledging Haley or the other adults. “Eli, we talked about how it would take some time for Buddy to get better, right?”

  “Yes, sir,” Eli said solemnly, climbing the steps toward Haley. “Thank you for bringing my backpack.”

  “You’re welcome.” She couldn’t stand the sadness in his face, or his tone, so she added, “And I look forward to you coming tomorrow afternoon to visit Buddy. I know he’ll be happy to see you.”

  As she’d hoped, his mouth eased into a slight smile, full cheeks lifting with the action. “I will be happy to see him, too.” Then his eyebrows inched up and he asked, “Hey, can you take him something for me, Miss Haley?”

  “Take Buddy something?” She saw Brodie and Gavin exchange a look. “Um, sure. I’d be happy to. What do you have for him?”

  Eli unzipped the backpack and rummaged through binders and papers until he found what he was looking for. A small library book. “I get to check out two books, ’cause I’m in the second grade. I can keep one for me to read, and you can take this one to read to him, if he wants to hear a story before he goes to bed.”

  Haley squatted to be eye to eye with the little boy. “Eli, that’s so sweet. But I don’t want to mess up your library book.”

  “You’ll be careful.” He put the book in her hand.

  She glanced up to catch Savvy holding a hand to her chest. “You’re right... I will be careful. And I’ll read it to him tonight, when I go back to check on him.”

  “You promise?”

  No way could she let him down. “I promise.”

  “It’s a chapter book. You might not be able to read it all to him tonight, but you can do your best.”

  Haley was instantly reminded of her words to Gavin earlier, that she would do her best to heal the puppy. She glanced up to see his stern expression and assumed he recalled the same statement. “Yes, I will.”

  “I’ll show you my favorite part.” He opened the book.

  That’s when she noticed his hands, not moving as easily as she’d have expected for a boy his age. Then she saw the wrinkled skin across the top. When he turned the pages, she also noticed the fingers that weren’t quite complete, the skin and bone melded together to join digits that should have been separate.

  Her breath caught in her throat and she looked up to see Gavin, those blue eyes staring directly at her, telling her without words that she should maintain her composure...for Eli’s sake.

  Eli, swiftly moving through the pages despite his gnarled hands, smiled broadly when he got to the one he wanted. “This part. It’s about when the boy finds his dog, like when I found Buddy.”

  Haley didn’t know how much more her heart could take. She forced a smile. “I’ll be sure to read that part to him.”

  Eli handed over the book, wrapped both arms around her and gave her a hug. “Thank you, Miss Haley. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  She inhaled the outdoorsy scent of a boy who’d been running on the soccer field, a combination of a little sweat, a lot of dirt and an abundance of...adorable. She squeezed a hug in return. “I can’t wait to see you again, Eli.”

  And she meant every word.

  “Okay, then—” Gavin ran a palm across the top of Eli’s head “—you should go get your shower and get ready for bed now.”

  “You’ll come read some more to us before we go to bed, Mr. Gavin?”

  “I always do.” Gavin reached out and ruffled Eli’s hair as he walked away. The boy grinned back at the man who undeniably held a special spot in his world.

  Regardless of his gruffness, he had such a soft spot for that child.

  “I should start getting the guys moving toward bed,” he said, nodding his goodbye and then turning to follow Eli toward the cabin.

  But Haley couldn’t end her day without knowing what happened to that poor child. “Wait!”

  * * *

  Gavin didn’t need this, not today. But he’d seen the moment Haley Calhoun had noticed Eli’s hands and he’d prayed she wouldn’t want to discuss it.

  But his heart had told him that she would.

  Why hadn’t she asked Savvy or Brodie? And why hadn’t he made it to his cabin before she’d called out to stop his retreat from the attractive—and unnerving—woman?

  Bracing himself as her footsteps approached, he stopped and turned to face her. “Yes?”

  She glanced behind her toward Brodie and Savvy, now standing in front of their cabin speaking to several of the teen boys. “Can we talk in private for a moment?”

  No. That was what he wanted to say. Not only because there weren’t a whole lot of private places to talk at Willow’s Haven—it
was always saturated with kids and counselors, one of the things Gavin liked about working there—but also because he didn’t want to be anywhere private with Haley Calhoun.

  Or any other woman, for that matter.

  However, he also didn’t want to explain that, nor did he want to appear rude, when she was clearly concerned for Eli.

  “We can sit at the fire pit for a moment,” he conceded. “But I’ll need to get my cabin ready for bed soon.” Without waiting for a response, he started toward the circle of wooden benches and stumps surrounding the devotion area. She walked in silence beside him, but in spite of the lack of communication, he could sense the tension, the undeniable anxiety in the way she moved, and he dreaded the upcoming conversation. Eli had hit his own heart hard, and it’d be difficult explaining the boy’s past without enlightening her to his own.

  But he also knew she wouldn’t leave without knowing. That was the way women were. They cared too much. Needed to know too much. Pulled at a man’s heartstrings...too much.

  Instead of taking a seat on one of the benches, which might have caused her to sit beside him, he selected one of the larger stumps. He watched as she took a bench nearby, sitting slowly and then rubbing her hands down the sides of her jeans.

  Gavin waited for her to say something. But she merely sat there, looking nervous and like...she might cry.

  No, God. I can’t handle this today and You know it. Help me out here, Lord. Let her say whatever she needs to say, learn whatever she needs to learn...and let me be.

  He cleared his throat. “What did you need, Dr. Calhoun?” The abrupt tone returned, but he couldn’t help it. Maybe that would cause this conversation to end quickly.

  She shivered, even though there wasn’t any sign of a chill in the air. “What...happened to Eli?” Her hands flattened over her knees, fingers tightening as though visibly steadying herself for his answer.

  Gavin thought of the boy, so loving and trusting, regardless of every letdown in his past. He’d known what she would ask, but that didn’t make telling her any easier. He inhaled, let it out.

  “He was at home with his parents, a little over a year ago, and they were all sleeping when their house caught fire.” His mind painted a picture of Eli amid those burning flames.

  One of her hands moved to her throat and the other to her stomach. “They—didn’t make it out? His parents didn’t make it?”

  He shook his head. “Neighbors called 9-1-1. The firemen were able to get to Eli, but the house started caving in and they couldn’t get to his parents.” He ran a hand across his mouth, hating the truth of Eli’s past. “From what we know, he somehow got free of his rescuers and ran back to the house, trying to get inside and save them.”

  “That’s what happened to his hands?” Her voice was thick and raspy, filled with the same emotion Gavin experienced every time he thought about what Eli had been through at merely six years old. “He burned his hands trying to save his parents?”

  He nodded, cleared his throat again and stood. “Eli needs that puppy to be okay. He can’t lose someone else he was trying to save.”

  Gavin turned away before he saw her response. He hadn’t wanted to hear the soft sob that tore from her throat. But he did. She was hurting for Eli and he understood why. However, it wasn’t his place to comfort Haley Calhoun. Or any other female.

  He couldn’t go there.

  Not today.

  Not ever.

  Chapter Four

  “We’d like you to head up the Adopt-an-Animal program, Gavin.” Brodie glanced up from the sheet of notes he held in front of his breakfast plate. “It makes sense, with you already establishing a rapport with Dr. Calhoun.”

  Gavin had thought this morning’s staff planning breakfast would be like any other: going over the week’s activities, conveying issues concerning the children in their care and discussing current projects at Willow’s Haven.

  Which, of course, was what Brodie was doing now. Gavin simply hadn’t realized he was on today’s agenda.

  He swallowed the bite of scrambled eggs that had tasted good a moment ago but now moved past his throat in a thick lump.

  “I don’t know that I’ve established a good rapport, necessarily.” He didn’t want to let Brodie and Savvy down if they’d selected him to run the program, but there had to be some other program he could run instead.

  Unfortunately he couldn’t think of a decent alternative to recommend.

  Brodie grabbed a corner of toast and pointed it toward Gavin. “Now that you have those daily visits with Eli lined up, to take care of the puppy and all, we thought you might as well go ahead and meet with Dr. Calhoun about the program. Be her key point of contact for the activities and keep us aware of what she has planned for us at Willow’s Haven, as well as at the Cutter farm.”

  “She’d mentioned the kids going to the Cutter Ranch to hike and spend time with the horses there as part of the program,” Savvy added, “in addition to her bringing animals here for the children, and we think that’s a great idea.”

  Obviously they’d put a lot of thought into this and Gavin should be happy to lead one of the programs. As a matter of fact, at last week’s staff breakfast meeting, he’d asked for more responsibility at the children’s home.

  Now he was getting it.

  But that meant spending additional time with Haley Calhoun.

  “Sounds like a good idea to me,” Mark mumbled beside him. His grin said he didn’t mind Gavin’s discomfort with the notion.

  Gavin leaned toward his fellow counselor. “Did you tell them they should put me in charge of this?”

  Mark popped a couple of red grapes into his mouth, smiling as he chewed. “Not me—” he held up his hands, palms forward “—but it does seem like a good idea, given your good rapport with the pretty vet and all.”

  “I don’t have a good—”

  “Gavin? Can you do this for us?” Brodie said from the other end of the dining table, Savvy smiling reassuringly beside her husband.

  As reluctant as he was to team up with Haley, Gavin couldn’t deny that he wanted to do whatever he could to help them succeed in their goals for the kids.

  “I can,” he said at last.

  “Great.” Brodie popped the rest of the toast in his mouth, chewed and swallowed. “We talked to Haley about it this morning, and we’d like you to go meet with her. She said she would be available most of the day.”

  Not what Gavin wanted to hear, but since he had to see her later anyway... “I can speak with her when I take Eli to visit Buddy.”

  “She wanted to spend a bit more time with you than that, I think,” Savvy said. “She mentioned y’all deciding which animals to bring, setting up the groups of kids, scheduling dates for traveling to the Cutter Ranch and so on. We were hoping you could meet during the day, while the kids are at school, so y’all could have more time to iron out all the details.”

  More time with Haley Calhoun? Again, not what he wanted.

  “I can call her. We can discuss it over the phone, I’m sure,” he offered. When he watched Brodie and Savvy exchange a disappointed look at his suggestion, he added, “Or I could ride over there after we get done with this meeting.”

  Gavin knew that would be better, instead of him trying to cover the program information over the phone, but he wasn’t all that keen on more one-on-one time with Haley. Their brief interaction at the fire pit last night had left him more uncomfortable than he cared to admit. In fact, he’d awakened this morning thinking he should have turned around when he’d heard her crying.

  But he’d walked away.

  “That’d be great,” Brodie said, moving on to the next topic of discussion.

  * * *

  Haley gently pinched the skin behind Buddy’s neck between her thumb and forefinger and frowned as the tiny tuft stayed tented before gradually returning
into place. She’d started him on a slow IV for fluid replacement therapy last night and had hoped for a better response by this morning.

  “Come on, little guy.” She tenderly stroked the brittle fur on his back. “Eli needs you to be okay.”

  Buddy squinted one eye to look at her, then closed it, as if he didn’t have the energy to respond. He hadn’t minded the IV, hadn’t squirmed when she’d checked his vitals, hadn’t done much of anything this morning.

  Which didn’t do a thing to alleviate Haley’s concerns.

  She’d even called Doc Sheridan to get his advice on how to handle the tiny puppy, and he’d concluded that she was doing everything he would’ve done. Which also didn’t sit well. She would have loved to have heard of something she’d forgotten, some minor detail that would cause Buddy to take a turn for the better, preferably before Eli came to visit.

  She updated his chart, then glanced at the library book Eli had given her yesterday afternoon. As promised, she’d read the story to Buddy last night. Even though it was a “chapter book,” she’d finished the entire thing, not because she’d thought Buddy wanted to hear it, but because it made her feel good to know she was doing something Eli wanted.

  Roscoe barked from the next room, which set off a string of happy yelps and barks from Honey and Sugar in the adjoining kennels. She’d placed Buddy away from the others to keep him in the quietest spot possible, but now she opened the door so the boarded animals could see they weren’t alone. As she suspected, the barking settled down to happy yips.

  A bell dinged as the front door opened.

  “Dr. Calhoun? It’s Gavin Thomason. Are you here? I need to speak to you.” The tone was stiff and sharp, as though he couldn’t wait to get the conversation over with...or as though hoping she wasn’t around.

  “Bad news for him,” she said to Buddy. “I’m here.” She rubbed a finger beneath his chin then closed the gate to the kennel. “What could have gone so badly in his past to make him such a bear?”