As Verity had predicted, Nate was one of the few men who had come. Most of the fathers were working or helping to get things set up in town for the festival. In fact, the only other man there was Stuart Draper, Harriett and Susie’s grandfather.
Mr. Draper had walked with a pronounced limp ever since he’d gotten hurt in an accident over ten years ago. But he had a skill that didn’t require the use of his legs and that endeared him to children. He was an expert at carving whistles and simple flutes from scraps of wood. At her urging, he had brought a couple of his creations for the children to play with, and also some materials to carve new ones on the spot.
In addition, several of the children had brought kites and there were balls and bats as well.
Once the picnic blankets were all arranged to everyone’s satisfaction, the women were soon busy chattering away, comparing hamper contents, swapping news and generally socializing. While they visited, the children ran with great abandon around the meadow. Verity kept Joy in sight, making sure she didn’t get too close to the pond, and not letting her stray too far from the adults.
Beans was also a big hit with the children. The dog was alternating his time between exploring, racing around the meadow with the children and letting himself be petted into a blissful stupor.
Nate seemed to take his role as a protector for the children quite seriously. Several times she saw him counting noses, and on the occasions when the count was not to his satisfaction, he’d march over to a section of the meadow that curved around the pond and then become hidden by trees. Sure enough, he’d reappear shortly with one or more kids in tow and send them back to safer—or at least more visible—ground. Apparently there were turtles and minnows to be found in the shallows there, and the children found it an irresistible attraction.
But he was more than a disciplinarian. He took time to play with them, as well. She saw him give one group lessons on how to skip stones, he played horseshoes with another group and worked to untangle a kite string for a teary-eyed youngster.
He even talked her into taking one end of a jump rope while he took the other, and together they turned the rope for nearly thirty minutes as the girls took turns jumping. It was so endearing—heartwarming really—to see him with the children.
When it was lunchtime, Mr. Draper blew on his loudest whistle, one that made a sound so shrill it actually startled a number of birds from the trees. But it served the purpose of getting everyone’s attention, and the children came scurrying in from all directions. When everyone was accounted for and had gathered on the individual family picnic blankets, Mr. Draper offered up the blessing on behalf of the group.
Then it was momentary pandemonium as everyone tried to make food selections. But at last all the plates were served and things quieted in the meadow while everyone partook of the delicious food.
Nate, naturally, shared her and Joy’s picnic blanket. She smiled as she watched Joy laugh at something he’d said to her. And then he casually slipped Beans a sliver of meat. It felt nice to have him there with them. It felt like...family.
Verity sat up straighter, trying to shake off that unexpected thought. Where was her resolve, her caution? The trouble was, she was having trouble remembering why all that mattered. He was a good man, deep down she knew that. As for the rest, maybe he and Hazel had been right. Perhaps it was time she stepped out in faith.
Nate looked up just then and caught her staring at him. Something of what she was feeling must have shown in her face, because his expression shifted from amusement to first uncertainty, and then something much warmer and deeper. They held each other’s gaze without speaking, without moving, for three heartbeats.
And then Joy spoke up, asking for another piece of corn bread, and broke the spell.
Verity blinked and turned to her daughter. “I’m sorry, pumpkin, what did you say?”
Joy held up her plate. “I’d like another piece of corn bread, please.”
Nate stood. “I’ll get it.” He looked down at Verity, his expression still warm and rather mysterious. “Can I get you anything while I’m up?”
She shook her head, and with a nod he walked away.
As she watched him saunter over to the food blanket, she began second-guessing herself. Should she have looked away? What message had he read in her gaze? What had she wanted him to see there?
Then she remembered they weren’t alone. Had anyone else noticed anything untoward passing between them? Verity did her best to surreptitiously look around the gathering. As far as she could tell, no one was paying the least bit of attention to them.
Nate returned, the requested slice of corn bread wrapped in a cloth napkin. “Here you go,” he said, handing it to Joy.
When he settled back down on the blanket, she felt a new tension strumming in him, something that seemed to tug at her, as well. It was almost like when they sang together—something inside him speaking to her and vice versa.
It was so real it amazed her that no one else could feel it.
* * *
Nate stood with his back against an oak and his arms crossed over his chest. Beans lay in the grass at his feet, panting. The dog had had a busy morning trying to keep up with the children and seemed to be happy just to stay with him for now.
From here Nate had a fairly unobstructed view of the meadow. Their picnic meal had ended a few minutes ago and, like Beans, everyone appeared to be moving at a much slower pace than earlier.
Several picnic blankets had been spread in an overlapping line under the shade of a nearby tree and many of the toddlers and younger children had been put down for their naps. Mr. Draper was keeping an eye on them, freeing the mothers to help with the cleanup or to take advantage of their temporary freedom to just visit.
Some of the older children were playing with the ball and bat well away from the picnic area, while several of the girls had claimed one of the blankets as a place to play with their dolls.
He spotted Verity among a cluster of women who were cleaning up and reorganizing all the leftovers. As if she felt his gaze on her, she looked up, smiled and then went back to work.
He was still trying to decide what to make of the look they’d shared earlier. The message in her eyes had been unmistakable. She felt something for him, something more than friendship. But was that emotion real and of the lasting variety this time? At least now he didn’t have to worry about what would happen if she found out his secrets—she already knew them all.
It was frustrating that he couldn’t do anything to resolve this right now, couldn’t have a meaningful conversation with her among this crowd. And taking a walk alone together was also out of the question—she’d never leave Joy unattended, even among this crowd of motherly types. Perhaps, though, when he brought her and Joy home this evening, they could find some time to talk in private. It was definitely something to look forward to.
He saw Joy race up to tug on Verity’s skirt, her trademark “can I please” expression in evidence. He pushed away from the tree, deciding to drift closer to the pair to see what was going on.
“But Mama, please,” he heard Joy plead, “I want to see the bunny.”
Verity shook her head. “I told you, pumpkin, I’m too busy to go with you right now. And besides, the bunny is probably long gone.”
“You don’t know. He might still be there.”
“What’s this about a bunny?” Nate inquired once he was close enough to join in.
Joy whirled around at the sound of his voice, a hopeful expression on her face. “Mr. Cooper, will you take me to see the bunny?”
Before he could answer, Verity spoke up. “Joy, I’ve already told you, you need to stay close to me.”
Nate saw the mutinous expression form on Joy’s face, and spoke up quickly. “I don’t mind going for a walk with her. I’ve been meaning to take Beans out for a bit of e
xploring anyway.”
Verity looked from him to her daughter. “I don’t know. Joy, maybe you should just stay here and keep me company while Mr. Cooper walks Beans.”
“But what about the bunny?”
“Let her go.” Nate tried to cajole a smile from Verity with one of his own. “I promise to keep a close watch on her. And we’ll definitely stay away from the edge of the pond.”
She held out for a moment longer, and then finally gave in with a loud huff of breath. “Oh, very well. I suppose it’ll be all right. But Joy, see that you mind Mr. Cooper. No running off on your own.”
“Yes, ma’am. Come on, Beans, let’s go find the bunny.”
Nate matched his steps to those of the little girl and dog at his side. He was so proud of Verity for overcoming her fears and letting Joy out of her sight in this setting. He knew it had been a big step for her. And it felt very good to know that it was putting her trust in him that had allowed her to loosen the reins.
“So tell me about this bunny,” he said to Joy.
“Molly told me they saw a bunny last time they were out here.”
“Is that right?” So this wasn’t a recent sighting. No wonder Verity had expressed doubt that it would be nearby.
Joy nodded. “Molly said she got close enough to almost pet it before it hopped away.” The wistful gleam in her eyes was sweet to see.
He needed to temper her expectations, but there was no point in dashing her hopes completely. “We’ll certainly keep a look out. But bunnies are very shy. There’s so many people here right now that I really don’t think a bunny will come out of hiding today.”
“But he might,” she insisted stubbornly.
“I suppose.” He couldn’t bring himself to express any stronger doubt. “But I tell you what. If we don’t see a bunny today, we’ll come back another day with just me and you and your mother and see if we have better luck.”
“Okay. But let’s try to find him today.”
Nate nodded in solemn agreement. They were reaching the section of meadow that wrapped around the pond and formed a pocket out of sight of the picnic area. He’d intended to turn back when they got to this point, knowing Verity would want to be able to keep Joy in sight. But he heard a ruckus coming from around the point and he could tell it was some of the kids from their party.
And they sounded as if they were in trouble.
When he rounded the corner, sure enough, three kids were standing at the edge of the pond. Well, two of them were, anyway. The third was actually in the pond and seemed to be in some kind of trouble. Nate didn’t recognize any of them from the choir—they must be some of the family members.
“What’s going on here?” he called out.
All three started and turned to face him.
“It’s Davey,” one of the boys said as he waved toward the kid in the water. “He’s got his foot caught on something and we can’t get him out.”
The boy, Davey, stood in waist-deep water right beside a tree trunk that had fallen over the pond.
“It’s starting to hurt something awful,” Davey added.
Nate could tell the boy was trying not to cry but was right on the verge. His foot was probably caught on some kind of rope or net that was down in the silt or lodged in the underwater part of the tree trunk.
He glanced down at the little girl whose hand he held and realized he had a problem. Verity wouldn’t want him taking Joy that close to the water’s edge, especially if he was going to have to focus his attention on someone else. He could take her back first, but he wasn’t sure how badly hurt Davey’s leg might be.
He quickly took off his jacket and spread it on the ground. “Joy, I need to go over there and help Davey. I want you to sit right here on this coat and not get up until I return. Do you understand?” Hopefully the jacket would serve as an anchor for her.
“Yes, sir. But then can we go look for the bunny some more?”
“I promise.”
As soon as he reached the waterline, he turned to see how Joy was doing. She still sat where he’d left her, hugging her knees. She waved when she saw him looking and he waved back, then turned to the two boys who were unencumbered.
“What’s your name?” he asked the largest of the pair.
“JJ.”
“JJ, you see that little girl sitting over there?”
JJ nodded.
“I want you to keep an eye on her for me. Let me know if she tries to go anywhere.”
The boy nodded, but Nate wasn’t satisfied. He didn’t completely trust Joy not to forget her promise if she saw some critter that she wanted to get close to.
He held JJ’s gaze a moment longer. “It’s very important that you watch her. Understand?”
The boy nodded again. Then Nate turned to the other boy. “And you are?”
“Irvin.”
“Irvin, I want you to go back to the picnic area and very calmly ask Mrs. Leggett to come down here. Tell her not to worry, but that Mr. Cooper needs her help with something. Do you understand?”
The boy nodded, but before he could take off, Nate grabbed his arm. “Remember, be sure to tell her not to worry.” He wanted her here because of her medical experience if something should be wrong with the boy’s foot. But he didn’t want her jumping to the conclusion that something had happened to Joy.
When the boy nodded this time, Nate let him go. Deciding he’d covered all contingencies as best he could, Nate gingerly waded into the pond beside the trapped Davey. Then he very carefully felt under the water around the boy’s foot. Sure enough, he found Davey’s foot was tangled in a knotted length of rope that had wrapped itself around a limb under the water.
“I’ve found the problem, but it’s going to take me a few minutes to get you free. Just hold on.”
Nate tried loosening the rope, but it was too slippery to get a grip firm enough to work the knots.
Davey shifted position and let out a yell.
“Easy now. There are some jagged bits of wood down there.” There was a real danger the boy could do himself serious injury if he wasn’t careful. “Here, lean on me if you need to.” Nate held out his arm, elbow bent, and the boy latched on. He let him balance like that for a minute and then helped him transfer most of his weight to the body of the tree.
That done, Nate reached for his pocketknife. Careful to position the knife in such a way as to not harm the boy, he went to work sawing on the rope. It was thick so it took several minutes, but at last it was done. As soon as the rope separated, Nate lifted the boy bodily, intending to carry him out of the pond.
“What’s going on out here?”
Nate turned to see Verity striding toward them.
“You’re just in time. Davey here had a little accident.”
“So I see.” Then she looked around. “Where’s Joy?”
Nate’s gaze flew to the spot where he’d left the little girl and his heart thudded in his chest.
Joy was no longer sitting on his coat.
Chapter Twenty
Nate looked around the area frantically but there was no sign of the child. He glanced toward JJ but the boy had hung his head and wouldn’t meet his gaze. Obviously JJ had fallen down on the job.
He quickly set Davey down on the bank then turned back to Verity, remorse for what he had let happen, for what it would do to the woman he loved, nearly suffocating him. “She was just here. She couldn’t have gone far.”
He saw the blood drain from her face, saw the fear in her eyes. “What do you mean, you don’t know? You promised me you would watch her.”
Her words hit him like a knife to his chest. “I turned away to help Davey and when I looked back, she was gone. But I’m going to find her.”
She glanced at the water with fear-filled eyes and he m
ade a sharp movement.
“No! She didn’t go near the pond—I would have seen her. She must have wandered into the woods, but she wouldn’t have gotten far.”
“I’m going with you to look for her.”
“No. You need to stay here and check on Davey. Besides, if she slips past me in the woods and comes back here, you need to be waiting for her.”
He turned to JJ. He knew the boy was feeling miserable for his lapse of attention. The kid needed a chance to redeem himself. “JJ, I need you to do something for me.”
The boy looked up, finally meeting his gaze, guilt radiating from him.
“Go on back to the group and tell them what happened with Davey and with Joy. And then borrow that very loud whistle from Mr. Draper and bring it back here to Mrs. Leggett.”
He turned to Verity. “If Joy does come out of the woods without me, blow that whistle and I’ll know to stop my search and come back.”
She nodded.
Without another word, he strode quickly into the woods. He called for Joy as he went, listening closely each time for a response. The longer it went without a response, the deeper the dread lodged in his chest. If something had happened to that precious little girl, he would never forgive himself.
Twenty minutes later he finally spotted her, curled up on the ground with her eyes closed. Was she breathing? He rushed over and dropped down beside her. The sweetest sight he ever saw was the sight of her eyelids fluttering open.
“Oh, hello, Mr. Cooper. You founded me.” She lifted her arms up to him.
He pulled her into his lap, and struggled to get his voice under control. “Hello, Joy. Are you okay?”
“Uh-huh. But the bunny ran away.”
He offered up silent prayers of thanksgiving that she was unharmed. Then he gave her a bear hug. “Everyone has been very worried about you. Especially your mother.”
Joy wrapped her arms around his neck. “Is Mama mad at me?”
Second Chance Hero Page 20