Triggered, her mind slipped back to the hot summer days of her childhood. Bible school. Games and fun. Singing and clapping. The joy of God. The unwavering belief she once boasted.
It was part of the reason she’d become a preschool teacher. She might not be cheering for God anymore but the interaction with children offered a certain feel-good comfort within her. Just felt right.
“I can tell by your expression you’ve got something in mind.”
“Sure.” She swallowed. That place he spoke of was here—Serenity Cove. The picturesque church upon the hill.
Too bad her heart just wasn’t the same anymore, that innocent and pure. Oh, but how she wished it were.
“Well then, that place, Hope…you should go back there sometime. Visit it.”
And then he was rowing on, no idea the turmoil he’d stirred inside her with all this talk of the Lord.
* * * *
A flash of red. Blonde hair. Movement under the deck.
Alerted, Caleb eased the boat into the dock, searching the vibrant green expanse beset with oaks and evergreens and copses of bright Texan bluebells that backed Hope’s property to the lake.
“It’s beautiful.” She regarded the signs he’d recently hammered in along the banks. “Don’t pick the flowers? Really? Why ever not?”
The wild annuals were growing close to endangered but he didn’t time to explain that now.
“Shhh.” Caleb gave a jerky nod toward the house, which brought a startled look to her face.
Whipping around, she too searched for the unexpected visitor who had the hairs on the back of his neck standing at attention. “What is it?” she whispered. “Deer?”
Another flash of crimson, disappearing around the side of her two-story log cabin.
“No. A person, snooping around.”
Neil, something in him screamed. A six-sense of danger snaked through Caleb.
Except Neil had been wearing white. Had short, dark hair.
Still the ranch wasn’t exactly on the way to anywhere and the closest neighbors could hardly be considered a stone’s throw. If it were a tourist, they were mighty lost. Nearly a year now Caleb had cared for the property and in that time, the only surprise caller he’d ever received was the pastor.
Something wasn’t right. After the morning he’d had, Caleb could feel it in his bones. “Wait here and stay put.”
Quickly securing the boat, he leapt to the dock and ran with all his might, the tracking device forefront in his mind. Neil’s strikingly convenient arrival in Serenity Cove.
Never had Caleb cursed his injuries more, practically dragging his left leg behind him. Pain ached in his hip, threatening to give out. Cutting his speed with every miserable step, as if someone had hit the slow motion button. In the distance, an engine roared to life. Gravel kicked up under throwing speed.
He’d lost them.
“Great!” With a frustrated smack to his leg, he bent with hands to his knees to catch his breath, furious. At himself. At whatever in the world was going on here. Even momentarily, at God. “Just fabulous!”
Useless! With these cursed injuries, he was about as worthless as a lame horse. Ought to be put down.
The man he was meant to be was good as dead anyway. He should’ve burned in that explosion rather than sweet old Annie Rivera.
Look after Hope? What was God thinking, dumping her and whatever messed-up business was going on here in his lap? Just the manner of which the vehicle had torn from the lane indicated reason to be suspicious. His guess, her ex was stalking her.
I know I shouldn’t question your will, your plans, Lord. But the futility that gripped him was unshakable. What good was a man born with a heart to protect and sentenced to life in an inadequate body?
Nerves thrumming, he searched around the cabin, discomfort pulsing in his hip as he checked for signs of vandalism examining the doors and windows and finding they remained locked and secure. Under the deck, there was nothing he could turn up as suspicious. In the sunny pasture, the horses grazed on luscious green. Samson, the four-month old collie he’d recently adopted—or rather, the pastor had left off here whether Caleb had wanted a companion or not—howled in protest over his confinement in the barn. The trees encompassing the property stood solemn and quiet. The guest cabin where he lived offered no evidence of a break-in.
Returning to her larger home, he
All seemed normal. Right and in its place.
And yet, instinctively Caleb knew it was not. The question was, what exactly was he dealing with?
Chapter Four
Stay put? Easier said than done. Not that Hope was taking off anywhere, at least not too quickly considering her injuries.
She was, in reality, a sitting duck. One who couldn’t swim to save her life.
How long had Caleb been gone? Ten minutes? Twenty? It felt like hours. The rippling, ominous water seemed to laugh her. To mock her. Just like Neil’s face in the rearview mirror. Goosebumps mottled her arms as the boat rocked gently and the warm wispy breeze took on a chilly edge. Along her spine, unease crawled.
It wasn’t just the lake. From the moment Caleb had raised alarm, instinct told her something was wrong…very wrong.
Logic equated Caleb was after a simple a run-of-the-mill trespasser. Maybe a reporter or the pappazari—heaven knew she’d dealt with enough the past few weeks.
Still, Hope’s pulse thrummed. Tension tightened in her shoulders as waves lapped innocently at the rowboat.
Her fear of the water, of the unknown, burgeoned. The silence was maddening. Dark menacing ripples lapped at the sides of the rowboat, as if ridiculing her inability to swim. Swish, bob…swish, bob…
Had Caleb tied the boat securely enough?
Could this vest fully support her weight? What if it were faulty?
“Caleb!” She couldn’t do this. Couldn’t just wait here helplessly, not in the boat at least. “Can you hear me? Caleb?”
Silence ticked back, each second more unbearable than the prior.
“Caleb!”
A fisherman’s motor boat whizzed by, inciting a wave to swell and rock her sadistically.
In the distance, she spotted another boat headed her way. That did it. She was nothing if not resourceful and she couldn’t just sit here. Surely she could put some weight on her foot, enough necessary to climb to solid ground.
She shifted her crutches onto the dock, abandoning the rest of her items as she tugged the boat in line with the dock’s ladder and hoisted herself to standing. The sea craft bobbed and weaved under the shift of weight, raising the hairs on the back of her neck. Before throbbing fear could force her back down, she wrapped a death grip around the rail and mounted the second step. In immediate response, the boat drifted several feet to the right, deserting her.
“Oh no…” Beneath her, waves licked the bottom of the ladder.
Don’t panic! she commanded herself, the knot in her throat almost painful. You’re fine! Half way there!
Gingerly, she attempted lean on her left ankle while lifting the right and pulling herself up. Pain like fire shot through her leg.
Not good.
Clenching her teeth, she tried a second time in the opposite manner.
Unbearable!
What now? Stupid boat! There was no going up, no going down…
Oh, she could go down all right. Straight into the lake!
Clinging for dear life, Hope calculated her next move. She’d no idea how to manage the rest of the way other than sheer upper body effort. Scrambling for purchase, she wedged her elbows behind two posts as she tugged and fought the bulky life preserver that, in an ironic twist, only hindered her efforts.
Was she really so heavy? She was so going on a low-carb diet!
Fighting with all her might, she gained an inch but lost a mile. Her sunglasses inched down her nose, threatening to fall. Panic set in, more furious than ever. She couldn’t hold on much longer. Was going to slip—
Never could she have
imagined the familiar thump-slide, thump-slide of a man with heavy boots and exaggerated limp to be so wonderful.
“Ah, Hope. I can see we need to work on this whole ‘do-it-yourself’ issue.”
“Go ahead and poke fun!” she snapped, nevertheless relieved. “Just pull me up!”
His bulky frame cast a shadow as he leaned in and big, firm hands grasped her elbows. Just like that, she felt safe, secure, once again. “Trying to land back in the medical center?”
As if Doc Waters and suffering on a gurney were Hope’s idea of a summer blast!
Searing humiliation shot to her face amidst a swell of emotion. “Just hurry and help me! Please!”
Could she look like any more of a fool? Yet again, leave it to her.
“I should let you fall in and learn your lesson.”
“You wouldn’t dare!” When he didn’t immediately haul her up, fear revisited swift and striking. “Caleb!”
“Easy, easy. I have you.”
The man lifted her as if she were cast from Styrofoam, delivering her to her feet with such motion it caused her sunglasses to plummet from her face and hit the dock with a thwack! “Oh, tell me they didn’t break!”
“Decent quality, considering they didn’t crack in two.”
“The first bit of luck I’ve had today.” Her feet—or her good foot anyway—planted firmly on the dock, she leaned on the rail for support as he gathered her eyewear and crutches.
“Thank you.” Acutely conscious of her heavy rate of breath—and the attention on herself—she slid the much-needed supports under arm as he replaced her sunglasses. “Did you catch the trespasser?” The goal being to talk about anything and everything other than herself at the moment. “Was it someone you knew? Someone local?”
“We’ll discuss that later. Just take a minute and calm yourself down.” Gently, his hands rested on her shoulders in a caring gesture. Beneath the rim of his cowboy hat, the scowl that never seemed to leave his face only intensified. Yet soft cerulean eyes gentled on her in a manner that made her heart beat faster. “Sweetheart, you’re shaking like a leaf.”
“I’m fine. Really.” When his thick brows slanted as if to say “yeah right” she gave a nervous laugh. “Nothing like having your feet on solid ground. I had to get out of that boat, that’s all.”
“Ah, sweetheart, why do I have the feeling you’re just an accident waiting to happen?”
She ignored the jest. “So was someone snooping around or what?”
“Yeah, appears that way… Are you sure you’re all right? Did something scare you out of that boat?”
In a reassuring gesture, his hands squeezed her shoulders.
“Only my overactive imagination.”
“I see.”
That caring gaze, his comforting fingers soothing her shoulders… Despite having yet to see a smile touch his lips, everything about Caleb presented as completely concerned and friendly. Innocently so. So unlike her interactions with Neil, that no matter how small had always left her feeling like a piece of meat. The way he would loop that possessive arm about her or sneak a squeeze to her bottom. At first, it’d made her feel hot. Wanted. No man had ever touched her quite that way.
Then the shine had worn off. She’d longed for something more, something deeper, and now she knew why. She had been nothing more than a piece of meat.
Caleb’s full, attractive mouth drew to one side, slanted in disbelief. “So you simply scared yourself silly and why again didn’t you call for me?”
Unfastening the preserver, she tossed it into the boat. “Actually, I did. Several times.”
The look that crossed his expression was pure steel. “You did.”
“You must’ve been too far.”
“My hearing isn’t quite what it used to be.” Exhaling in frustration he glanced away, jaw set as he scraped scarred fingers along the whiskers. “Just like the rest of me, damaged in the explosion. I’m sorry.”
Regret was evident in his voice. Sheer guilt tugged at her heartstrings like nothing and no one had before.
“No…oh no, Caleb, don’t feel bad. It was nothing. Pretty dumb and entirely my fault. A boat came along and the wave scared me and I—” Stupid, so stupid! She swallowed hard, unable to explain how she’d felt. Why she’d panicked. That it wasn’t his fault. “I—”
“I wish I would’ve heard you. I should’ve. I’m sorry.”
Could a man be any more sweeter? Sadder? “You’re not my keeper. Don’t feel bad. Let’s just forget about it.”
Please. Before she crossed the boss-employee line and flung himself into his arms.
She wasn’t sure what she wanted more—to hug away his pain or vice versa. But the lure, with his big hands resting on her shoulders, his deep voice gruff with sincere concern, was almost omnipotent.
“All is well that ends well,” she reassured, lifting her spine a fraction taller. At least she was breathing like a normal person now instead of quivering as if she’d been dumped in ice. “No worries, okay?”
“Let’s hope. You’re sure you didn’t see anyone? Hear anything?”
“Nope. Nothing scared me but me.” Thank goodness she was able to answer with more poise this time instead of sounding like such a ninny. “What about you? You didn’t catch whoever was snooping around? Was it a reporter?”
The more she reflected upon it, the more certain she was. Mostly the press had backed off the past week or so but her father’s death had warranted a tidal wave of interest and there was this one woman who just wouldn’t let up. Had gone as far as to accuse her father of having a sordid past. Not being the man he claimed.
“A reporter?” Caleb’s answer was a low, cavernous, “No, I don’t think so.”
“I’m sure it was—”
“Hope.” The manner in which he said her name silenced her.
He wasn’t saying something, something that mattered.
His right hand traveled from her shoulder to her head, stilling gently there. Sensing there was a serious revelation to follow—and partially fantasizing he might want to kiss her…not that she wanted him to—Hope waited. Stared at his lips and fancied how they’d feel—
Wait a sec! He was praying.
It was evident in his hooded eyes. The tenderness of his barely-there touch, sensual somehow, but not in a physical way.
And here she was, mentally making out!
A wash of searing heat spiraled through her. How dare he? What’d he think, that she was so pathetic she needed his pity, his prayers?
God? What, to screw her life up even more? No sir, she could manage that on her own and had the track record to prove it! “Don’t—”
Before she could wrench free in defense, he dropped his hand and gestured to the trail leading to her cabin. “What do you say we get you settled in?”
Hope swallowed back the cynical remark she’d nearly let fly, thankful she hadn’t. She’d made a fool enough of herself for one morning.
“Sure.” As he crouched to fetch her purse, she painted on a plastic smile. “I hear that old comfy couch calling my name.”
All she wanted at the moment was to smother her face in a pillow and be left alone to wallow.
“And I thought it’d be war to get you to rest.”
“Maybe tomorrow.”
“Argue all you like. Doctor’s orders.” He passed her purse to her and she slung it around her neck.
“I’ll get a second opinion.”
Or maybe a new nurse.
No way was she spending the next few days with him waiting on her hand and foot. Always around. Always praying.
Ha! She’d crack her nut! Caleb was too…too…everything wonderful. Good-hearted. Good-natured. Good-looking… Even with that scowl.
Not to mention into God. As if it was the most natural thing in the world…
But for Caleb, she supposed it was. Just as it had been for her father.
Her Daddy though, unlike the man she trailed on the path, always had everything to be
grateful for. A successful career. A happy family. Nothing to want for.
At least until Mom passed on.
The loss hadn’t changed Father’s faith though, not as it had hers. Nor, it seemed, had tragedy shaken Caleb. At least not much.
Maybe he never smiled but she couldn’t help but marvel at the way he carried himself despite the scars, the limp… The unyielding strength in his squared shoulders, his confident stance. The gentleness about him, so contrasted by his physical appearance.
The deep, evident faith.
She couldn’t comprehend how someone who’d experienced something as ugly as an explosion and losing his dream career still had anything to thank to God about. For what?
Life?
Deciding to concentrate on something else, she tilted her sunglasses and turned her attention to the flowerbeds lining the shady path that bloomed in full glory. Pink and yellow Columbines. Brilliant orange lilies. Thick vibrant green ferns.
She’d always had a habit of picturing the ranch as this wondrous place—perhaps making it out to be a little better than true—and yet even still, she didn’t remember it being quite this breathtaking.
Up ahead, sunlight streaked from white fluffy clouds upon the place she’d always called her true home, as if the warm beams were welcoming her. In the clearing that surrounded the house, white roses trailed over an arch leading to the cabin’s back yard and all along the split rail fence encompassing the area. “I can’t believe how incredible Mom’s flowerbeds look. Magnificent. Do you care for them?”
“Just doing what you pay me for.”
Removing her sunglasses to better appreciate the colors, Hope blinked back emotion as she spotted the angel statues at the garden’s entrance. Inside, she recalled, amongst that thick vines and blooms, was an array of religious garden décor her mother had collected from all over the country.
“Wow.” Her fingers wisped over a healthy bloom, amazed by their size. Never had they been so big. So beautiful. So full of life.
Accident Waiting to Happen Page 4