Rekindled Hearts

by Brenda Minton

  He shrugged. “Do you know that my parents never fought in front of us?”

  “And?” Now he was losing her. This was about them, their marriage.

  “I really thought that was the way marriage worked. You got along, and sometimes you didn’t talk, but you also didn’t work through everything.”

  Lexi didn’t hide the giggle that sneaked up on her. She reached for his hand. “Poor Colt, you didn’t know how to deal with a wife that wanted to talk it all out. Your parents fought—they just worked it out when you weren’t listening. Or they let it go.”

  “Michael suggested we talk to him together.” His face, golden tan from the summer, turned a little red.

  “We could do that.”

  “We could.” He flipped through the album. She thought he would say more, about them, about the future, but he didn’t. And she wondered if talking to Michael was just another way for them to move on. Or something else. And she didn’t want to hope.

  But there it was anyway, hope, rising up in her heart, probably showing on her face as if she was a giddy teenager waiting for a date to the prom.

  He stood and reached for her hand. His thumb rubbed her fingers. “I should probably go.”

  “Yes, you probably should. And thank you for bringing this.” She ran her hand over the photo album. “It means so much.”

  He saluted as he walked away, two fingers to his brow. Her heart melted.

  Chapter Twelve

  Lexi walked along the narrow dirt road, looking for signs of Charlie. She didn’t know why, but the dog wouldn’t leave her mind. Maybe because she’d seen the posters in town, replaced again. Please Help Me Find Charlie read one poster. It broke her heart, bringing back too many childhood memories of wanting her own dog to come home.

  A car slowed to a stop next to her. She turned, smiling at Josie Cane, Alyssa’s unsuspecting aunt. Poor Josie, she had no idea the girls were trying to patch things up between her and Silas.

  “Hi, Lexi.” Josie, blond and pretty, leaned out the window.

  “Good morning.” Lexi glanced back in the direction Josie had driven from. “You’re still at the cottages?”

  “Still there. Sometimes I wonder if life will ever get back to normal.”

  “I don’t know if normal exists.” Lexi walked up out of the ditch. “I’m out here looking for Charlie. That dog has to be somewhere.”

  “Speaking of dogs.”

  Lexi knew what was coming. “I have newborn puppies. They won’t be ready for at least another six weeks or so.”

  “I want to make sure she understands that a puppy is a lot of responsibility.”

  “In a few weeks they’ll be bigger. You could bring her over and show her how to care for them. Maybe she could help out around the clinic and feed some of the animals for me. I can give her housebreaking tips.”

  “Do you mind, because that would be great?”

  “I think we could arrange it.” Lexi smiled, as if it was about Josie volunteering, and not the exceptional planning of two little girls. She liked being in on something with those two. Whatever plan the girls came up with, Lexi knew that the outcome would be great.

  “Great. Well, I need to get to work. I’ll call, soon.”

  Lexi nodded and stepped back as Josie drove away.

  And still no sign of Charlie. She walked back to her truck, saying a little prayer that if the dog was alive, he’d come back. Tommy would survive without the animal. She knew that. But the dog meant so much to him.

  Another vehicle was heading her way. She stepped to the back of her truck and waited for Colt’s Jeep to slow down and stop. He pushed dark sunglasses back on his head and leaned out the window.

  “What are you doing out here?” She walked up to his window, and she remembered days when she would have leaned in to kiss him, when she had the right to do that.

  “I was looking for you.” He peered past her. “What are you doing out here?”

  “Looking for Charlie. I don’t know. I just thought maybe he’d be here, somewhere near water and people. I used to see him out here, hunting in the field.”

  Her phone buzzed at her side. She ignored it and let it go to voice mail. It rang again.

  “You’d better take that.”

  “Yeah, I know.” She flipped it open, smiling as she moved it to her ear.

  “Lexi, you have to get into town, quick. It’s your house.” Mayor Dawson, out of breath, her voice breaking up. “Honey, your house is on fire.”

  “I’ll be right there.” Chills ran through her body and her vision clouded. Colt’s hand was on her arm.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “My house. My house is on fire.” She looked at her phone. “I don’t know if they mean my clinic or the house. I have animals in there, Colt.”

  His radio crackled as the call came in, asking the fire department to respond to a structure fire. Colt grabbed his radio and broke in, asking Bud to give him more information.

  “I’m heading that way.” Lexi started to move but he had hold of her arm.

  “Get in. You can’t drive like this. I’ll send someone out here to get your truck.”

  Lexi agreed, she couldn’t drive. She climbed in next to him, and Colt hit the siren and lights as they accelerated and headed for High Plains.

  She could see the smoke and she prayed, really prayed, that her animals were okay. And then she remembered the photo album that Colt had brought to her. She had just gotten it back. She didn’t want to lose it again.

  The information Colt had asked for came over the radio. It was her house, not her clinic. And someone had broken into the clinic to get her animals out to safety, in case the fire spread.

  “What am I going to do?”

  “Start over.” Colt made it sound easy. In a soothing voice, it sounded logical. Start over.

  “I’m tired of starting over.”

  “You don’t know the full extent of the damage. Wait until we see what is going on before you make a decision.”

  “I know.” She leaned against the window, her attention focused on the trail of smoke coming from her house. “This is when it is hard to find faith. Or maybe this is God telling me something.”

  “Maybe.” Colt slowed as they entered town. “Lexi, I’m not going to let you lose it on this one. I know you’ve been through a lot, but this isn’t the end.”

  “Just another beginning. Yeah, I know. I’m tired of beginnings. I want to be settled. I thought that at this point in my life I’d be…”

  She couldn’t finish. He was waiting, she knew he was, but she wouldn’t hurt either of them with what would sound like accusations. They both shared responsibility in their failed marriage.

  Colt turned onto her road, stopping a short distance from the house. The yard was crowded with fire trucks, and people stood at the edge of the street.

  “I know what you thought.” His hand on her arm stopped her from getting out of the Jeep. “At this point in your life, you thought you’d be married, have a home and a couple of kids. You didn’t see yourself divorced, starting over by yourself.”

  “No, you’re right, that isn’t how the story was supposed to go. But I’m not blaming you.”

  “If that’s supposed to make me feel better, it doesn’t. I do blame myself.”

  She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I have to check on my house.”

  But there was no house left. She got out of the Jeep and walked across the road to the crowd of people. The firemen were still spraying the smoldering spots, but it hadn’t taken long for the framed house to burn to the ground.

  “This is unbelievable.” Her contractor walked up. “Lexi, I’m sorry. I don’t know what to say. They think the fire came from the connection on the pole. Something sparked. I don’t know.”

  “Don’t worry about it. This is just round three and tomorrow I’ll tackle this. I’ll decide what to do.”

  “I’ll stay, to make sure things get cleaned up,” he offered.
>
  “Thank you, I’d appreciate that.” In a daze she walked away from the burned-out foundation, back to the metal building that housed her clinic and her temporary home.

  Colt stayed behind to talk. When he jogged to her side, she turned, expecting soft words to brush off her pain. Instead he just shrugged. “I don’t know how to make this better.”

  “You could say this is a horrible dream.”

  His smile was gentle and sweet. “I wish I could.”

  “I know. Don’t worry, I’m down but not defeated. This is another bump in the road, but I need a day or two to lick my wounds. I’m going to go inside, feel sorry for myself, cry for an hour or so, and tomorrow I’ll be back to having faith.”

  “Do you want me to stay?”

  Oh, boy, did she. She shook her head. “No, that’s okay.”

  Because she had learned to stand on her own two feet. She didn’t want to get back into the habit of relying on him for her stability. Tonight she needed to really think about her future.

  Colt made a loop through the area around the Waters cottages, still hoping for something that might lead to information on Kasey’s family. The little girl wasn’t old enough to give them information. He had nothing to go on.

  And not one clue pointing in the direction of parents, family or how she came to be in High Plains.

  He disliked that deep-seated feeling of having failed. He had failed this little girl. She was still unknown, without parents, without a past. And he couldn’t do one thing about it.

  As he drove back into High Plains, he saw Michael’s car and pulled in next to it. Michael got out of his car and walked up to Colt’s open driver’s-side window.

  “I thought maybe you’d had enough of me,” Michael teased.

  “I like torture.” Colt leaned over the steering wheel of the Jeep and stared out the windshield, trying to make sense of what felt like a huge puzzle.

  “What’s up?”

  “I can’t help that little girl. I can’t find Charlie. Lexi’s house is nothing but a black spot on the ground.”

  “You can’t do it all, Colt. Try prayer. Let God have a hand at some of these situations you’re trying to solve on your own.”

  “I’m not good at sitting back and waiting.”

  He wanted to fix the situations, not wait for answers that might not come, or might not be the answers they wanted.

  “One thing at a time, Colt. One day at a time.”

  “Good advice, my friend.”

  “Glad I could help. Oh, Walter has a house that is ready for winter, thanks to you. That’s one thing taken care of.”

  Colt nodded. “Thanks for helping out with that.”

  “No problem. I’ll see you later, I have a date with Heather.”

  Colt shifted into Reverse and backed out of the parking space. He could see Tommy in front of Greg Garrison’s office. It hadn’t taken the businessman long to get his life and office back in order.

  Tommy waved, and Colt pulled over. The boy ran up to the car, his smile hopeful. “Have you seen Charlie?”

  “No, Tommy, I haven’t.” Colt sighed. “But I’m praying we can find him.”

  He was praying. How long had it been since he’d gone in that direction? But the little boy was smiling, his pain maybe a little less intense after two months.

  “Yeah, me, too. But I was hoping you could help.”

  “I’m not going to stop looking,” Colt assured him. Maya appeared at the door of the office. “Hey, I think Maya wants you to come inside. Tommy, God did some great things in your life. You know that, right?”

  The little boy nodded. “Yeah, I know. I’m learning about being thankful in Sunday school. But I sure miss my dog.”

  “I bet you do. I’ll keep an eye out for Charlie. I know Dr. Harmon has been looking for him, too.”

  “Yeah, I know.”

  Tommy skipped away, back to the office, and Maya.

  Colt cruised on, past buildings that would never be the same. But some were coming back, slowly but surely. It felt good to see what they’d accomplished in the two months since the tornado. He slowed down to look at the gazebo, now just an empty spot, no grass and a few concrete blocks. Cleaned up, but not rebuilt. It was on the list of things to rebuild, but it was at the bottom of the list.

  An unfamiliar car drove past him. He glanced, and then took a second look. His ex-mother-in-law. He groaned and turned to follow her back to Lexi’s clinic.

  She was out of her car when he pulled up. “Colt, how are you?”

  She looked every inch the successful Realtor that she was. From the sleek hair, to clothes that never wrinkled, she had the look. He’d heard her one too many times criticize Lexi for not taking more care with her personal appearance.

  “I’m fine, Anita. Lexi’s on a call.”

  “I realize that. But my question is, why are you back in my daughter’s life?”

  “We’re friends, Anita. We can’t live in the past.”

  “You know she’s miserable with you. She was miserable when she thought she was having your baby, and you left her.”

  His world went cold and he sucked in a deep breath. “What in the world are you talking about?”

  “If you’d been there, you would know.”

  “I have to go.”

  “Is that how you worked through your marriage, Colt, by walking away?”

  “If I’m going to talk, I’ll talk to Lexi.”

  “And if I have my way, she won’t be here much longer. I’ve found her a darling little house with a nice lot and an office attached.”

  “In Manhattan?”

  She nodded, lifting brochures for him to see. “With her family.”

  The word was empty when Anita said it. Family. To her, it meant only that she’d have won control of Lexi. Or so she thought.

  But he couldn’t have that conversation with Anita, not when her words were still slipping through his mind, mocking him. Lexi had thought she was pregnant. And he had left her.

  She hadn’t said anything.

  Lexi gave the last calf its immunization and stretched. Her back ached, her legs ached, and if she thought about it, her arms did, too. Twenty calves, a few ornery steers that had to be dealt with, and then that goat. The Stalwarts had a great operation, but they always seemed to save everything up for one day.

  The tornado hadn’t been easy on them, either. They’d lost one barn and part of their hay for winter. Last week a rancher from Oklahoma had shown up with a load of round bales, free.

  She walked back to her truck and wrote up a bill that Jason Stalwart would grumble about and then write a check for, because he knew her rates were some of the best in the county, and because days after getting out of the hospital, she’d been out here, caring for animals that had been injured. And she hadn’t charged him.

  He knew he could call at any time and she’d be there. She smiled as she handed him his copy of the bill.

  “You’ve got to be kidding.” He shook his head. “What is this world coming to?”

  “Well, for one thing, Jason, you’ll have healthy calves that you can sell next year. You have a goat that isn’t going to die. Your kids can keep showing that ornery angus steer.” She smiled at him. “Should I go on?”

  He pulled his checkbook out of the front pocket of his bib overalls. “I think you’ve said enough.”

  “You know you appreciate me.”

  “Yeah, I appreciate you. I’m just glad you don’t hold a gun to my head when you rob me this way.”

  Mrs. Stalwart walked up, wiping her hands on a kitchen towel. “Jason, stop giving her such a hard time. Lexi, he only does that because he likes you.”

  “Don’t tell her all of my secrets.” He tore off the check and handed it to her. “There you go. Mom, you’re going to have to go easy on the shopping for a few days.”

  Mrs. Stalwart slapped him with a towel. “Get in the house and wash up for supper. Lexi, do you want to stay for meatballs?”

&nbs
p; “No, I can’t. My mother is in town waiting for me.”

  “Oh, I hope we didn’t keep you too long.”

  Not long enough. Lexi smiled and shook her head. “No, you didn’t. I’ll see you at church on Sunday.”

  “Lexi, is Colt okay?”

  Lexi turned. “Okay?”

  “Well, they said that man shot at him the other day.”

  “Shot at him?”

  “You didn’t know.” Mrs. Stalwart bit down on her bottom lip. “Oh, honey, I’m sorry for opening my big mouth.”

  “I had no idea. But he’s fine.” And still hiding things from her. So much for friendship and putting the past behind them.

  It hurt worse because she had allowed herself to believe they were becoming more than friends. Something in his eyes, in the way he touched her, made her believe he might still love her.

  Had they ever really stopped loving one another?

  Lexi drove home, thinking about Colt, thinking about her mother, and thinking about how everyone seemed to want to make decisions for her. Including her ex-husband, who was still deciding what she could handle and what she couldn’t.

  And it made her mad.

  When she pulled into the drive of her clinic, her mother was sitting at the picnic table, waiting. And she didn’t look happy. It was sunny. The shade trees were gone. The doors were locked.

  Lexi parked and got out. She hesitated at her truck, thinking that she could always leave. She could tell her mom that she didn’t have to listen to this, and that she had business to take care of with Colt. Instead she sat down at the picnic table, stained hands clasped in front of her.

  “Mom, good to see you.”

  “Lexi, you’re going to love what I have to show you.”

  “Mom, not right now.”

  “What does that mean? I thought you had your mind made up?” Anita spread the papers on the table for Lexi to look at. “Look at these places. Especially this one, with the little Cape Cod, the workshop that could be turned into a clinic and this sweet little flower garden.”

  “It’s very lovely, Mom, but there’s a place here that I’m interested in. It’s a nice three-bedroom craftsman style, with land, and I already have a clinic.”