Blue Ridge Setup

by Kimberly Rae

  “I didn’t see her.” Joe’s eyebrows were down. His skeptical look.

  “I didn’t either till you all had walked through the door. Then I noticed her near the back of the auditorium.” Ryan took a step back from the circle of teens. They had closed in on him the moment he mentioned Kayla’s presence in church the previous Sunday.

  “Aw, their eyes met across a crowded room…” Karl put a hand to his heart. “Isn’t there a song about that or something?”

  “Is she here today?” Elizabeth’s face was hopeful.

  Ryan ignored Karl and shook his head. “No, she’s sick. The doctor gave her medicine for asthma, but she hasn’t gotten her test results back about the rest of the stuff.”

  Cindy approached. “I knew it was asthma.”

  “Hey.” Karl cocked an eyebrow. “You seem to know a lot for a guy who just saw her across the room.”

  “Well…” Ryan began experiencing a distinct feeling of claustrophobia. The curiosity was closing in on him. “I’m… I’m working over at her aunt’s house.”

  An enthusiastic squeal came from one of the girls. “How romantic! Did you set that up yourself?”

  “No.” Ryan held his hands outward. “Her aunt hired me.” He saw the guys elbow each other and added, “Before I knew Kayla was staying there.”

  “Yeah, sure.” Joe was grinning.

  “We have to go visit her!” Elizabeth was already checking dates on her smartphone.

  “Maybe she still has that man-skirt thing they wear in Pakistan and will make Pastor R. put it on again!”

  “No thanks.” Ryan laughed. “Once just to prove a point was enough for me.”

  “But I didn’t have my camera out then!” Jainey pouted.

  “Exactly.” Ryan smiled. He remembered the shine in Kayla’s eyes as she’d brought out the lungi — the man skirt — and had him try it on over his pants in front of the whole group of teens. He’d do it again in a heartbeat if it would bring that sparkle to her eyes again. “And I do think ya’ll should visit her, but let’s wait awhile, till after she gets her test results at least. Till then, we can all pray for her.”

  “I bet she misses Pakistan. And the street kids.” Elizabeth sighed.

  “And eating cow brains,” Karl tossed in.

  Jainey punched his arm. “I’ll never forget when she put on that long black thing with the head covering. Gave me the creeps.”

  “Me, too,” another girl added. “I was so worried she was going to make us wear one!”

  “I thought it was a graduation gown.”

  Joe’s eyebrow went up. “Like she’d need a graduation gown on the other side of the world.”

  “Like you’d know if she did!”

  Ryan noticed Jainey pull at her snug T-shirt self-consciously. When she wandered to sit alone at the back of the room, Ryan left the crowd of teens and went to sit beside her.

  “Hey, Jay.” He used the pet name he’d called her since she was a toddler. “I may be out of line here, but would you tell me the story Kayla shared with you that first day?”

  “When I didn’t want to wear the fat outfit?” Jainey almost smiled but did not look him in the eye.

  “That’s the one.”

  Jainey’s face remained down, her eyes on her small hands. “She told me about this girl who grew up in a lousy home. She had to do all the work. They treated her like a servant and told her she was worthless just because she was a girl.”

  Ryan was trying to mentally connect the dots between Jainey’s resistance to the rules and this story, but so far he was lost.

  “When the girl was eleven, she had to start wearing a shalwar kameez, the stuff we had to wear, but on top of that she had to wear a burkah whenever she left the house or any guy was around.”

  “That’s the black thing Kayla put on?”

  Jainey frowned. “Yeah. The girl didn’t like wearing it, and so when she was my age, every once in awhile she’d take it off while she was out.”

  “She went to a park one day…” Jainey stopped talking, her frown deepening, and Ryan had to urge her on. “Some guy trapped and raped her.” In a rush, Jainey finished her story. “Her family blamed her and said she’d shamed them. The next day she was dead.”

  Ryan sucked in a breath. “How?”

  Jainey shrugged, though her hands rubbing up and down her thin legs showed him she was not unaffected. “Her family? Herself? Does it matter?”

  Ryan sat silently, digesting the story, when Karl sauntered over. “Hey, it’s a good thing Jainey’s your cousin, or I’d think you were making a move on my girl.”

  “Shut up, Karl.” Jainey crossed her arms. “Don’t talk about me like you own me.”

  “What’s her problem?” Karl looked to Ryan, who stood without answering. Karl flopped into the seat, pulling out his Mp3 player and putting an earplug in each ear.

  Ryan leaned across Karl. “Jainey?”

  “Yeah?”

  “What did that story have to do with you wearing the national clothes?”

  Jainey looked up at him, then down at her hands again, now clasped together. “Kayla said submitting to a rule for God’s sake, to keep a good testimony, was a lot better than submitting because you’re forced to, and you might get killed if you don’t.”

  Ryan shuddered. “Thanks, Jay.”

  Her eyes remained on her hands. “Yeah, I decided looking fat wasn’t as bad as being hated, or dead.”

  Karl pulled an earplug out, rolling his eyes. “Did I hear you say fat again? Would you please get over thinking you’re fat? Look at your legs. They’re like toothpicks!”

  “You can be such a jerk sometimes. I wasn’t even talking to you.”

  Ryan left mid-argument and returned to the front of the room.

  “You look worried,” Cindy said beside him. “About Kayla?”

  He nodded. “And Jainey.” His eyes drifted to where Jainey and Karl continued arguing. “Kayla says her dad is always saying God fixes things. She doesn’t understand why God didn’t fix her sickness. To be honest, I don’t understand either. So many people aren’t willing to go. She was, and she was making a difference, so why would God shut her down?”

  “Maybe He has something better in mind for her,” Cindy said quietly.

  “Better like asthma, and whatever else is wrong with her?” He looked over at Cindy. “What if she can’t ever go back? It’s like she’s wrapped up her whole identity in being a missionary.”

  “Then maybe God is taking that away so she’ll have to find her identity in Him.”

  That was something to think about. Ryan looked back at Jainey again, so small, a scary mixture of hardness and vulnerability. Some days he felt so inadequate. He didn’t know how to help her, or Kayla.

  “How do you give answers to questions that only God knows the answers to?”

  He did not realize he had spoken aloud until Cindy responded. “Now that’s an impossible idea if I’ve ever heard one. It’s not our job to figure God out. If we could, He wouldn’t be much of a God, would He?”

  “So then what do we do when people are hurting?”

  Cindy looked back at Jainey. “We love them.” She sighed, then Ryan watched her consciously brighten her stance. “Then again, who knows? Maybe Kayla will get good test results and be able to get back on the field in no time.”

  He nodded, but his mouth was turned downward. “That would be great for her.”

  Cindy smiled. “Not so good for you?”

  Ryan shook his head, a wry smile tipping up the corners of his mouth. “We’re not going there. I’ve already got Aunt Lavender playing matchmaker; I don’t need any more volunteers.” He turned away from Cindy’s knowing grin, hoping his face wasn’t red. “All right everybody.” He raised his voice over the hum of teenage chatter. “It’s six o’clock. Let’s get focused.”

  Chapter Eleven

  “After a week of resting in that huge, squishy bed in your guest room, I feel better than I have in months.” Ka
yla slathered butter on a blueberry muffin. “So much better, I actually feel like going out and doing something. Want to go shopping, Aunt Lav?”

  “That would be delightful, dear.” Laverne Bloom pulled a fresh batch of muffins from the oven. “However, I need to get working on my new novel. I’ve got a deadline, and the plot has taken a turn I didn’t expect.”

  “You’re the author.” Ryan, who had finally agreed to join them for meals, said after finishing off his third muffin. “Aren’t you the one who decides the storyline?”

  Laverne smiled off into the distance. “Ah, I start the story, but then the characters have a way of taking it places I’d never expected.”

  Ryan looked over at Kayla. “Do you have any idea what she’s talking about?”

  Kayla laughed. “Not really, but I have heard writers claim their characters tend to take on lives of their own.”

  “Oh, they do.” Laverne lowered herself gracefully to her chair. “Especially this latest book. I started out with certain ideas, but both of my main characters have surprised me. I’m not quite sure what will happen next.”

  “Well, maybe I’ll just head out to the swing and read another of your books today then,” Kayla said, clearing off the table while Laverne sipped her peppermint tea.

  “No.” Laverne shook her head. “If you are feeling well enough to get out, then in my opinion, you should head up our little hill here and see the view.”

  “Ryan told me about that trail. Is it far?”

  “Not too far,” Ryan pitched in. He took his empty plate to the sink. “But I wouldn’t go up there alone, since you haven’t gotten your test results back from the doctor yet. You wouldn’t want to overdo it, when you don’t even know what you have.”

  Kayla’s face fell. She dropped Ryan’s dirty dish into the sudsy water. “You’re probably right. I’ve been trying to keep busy with reading or catching up on emails, but I feel like I’m going crazy waiting.”

  “I could go up with you after I’m done working today,” Ryan offered, then turned toward Laverne. “Thanks for those muffins, Miss Bloom. They were great.”

  “You’re welcome, son. It’s nice to have someone to cook for besides myself. And you shouldn’t go up there later, you know. After it gets dark, it’s easy to get lost on a hill like that, with no lighting.” She stirred another pinch of sugar into her tea. “Why don’t you two go up there this morning?” Her eyes lit up. “That’s a perfect idea!”

  “I can’t just leave work, ma’am.”

  “Oh gracious sakes, of course you can. There’s no urgent need to get the walkway started, and if you need the work because of money, I’d be happy to pay you for your time escorting and protecting my great-niece.”

  Kayla went completely still and Ryan spoke quickly. “No thank you, ma’am. If you aren’t in a hurry about the walkway, I’d be happy to take Kayla up the hill. But there’s no way I’d take money for it.”

  Kayla visibly relaxed and began washing the dishes. Behind her, Laverne tapped Ryan’s shoulder. He sat beside her while she said, “It would actually be a favor to me if you both were gone. I love having you here, but all that hammering and such is quite distracting…”

  “Tell me about it,” Kayla added from the sink.

  “So it would be good for all of us to take a day and enjoy the peace and beauty of nature. Me here with my notebook and pen, and you two on a beautiful, romantic hillside.” She sighed. “Maybe I’ll put that in my story today.”

  Kayla rolled her eyes toward Ryan. “Let us know how it turns out.”

  Laverne’s smile was sly. “And you as well.”

  Turning from the sink, Kayla looked at Ryan. “Are you sure you want to do this? You don’t need to feel responsible to babysit me, or—”

  “I told you a week ago I wanted to take you up there, remember? Stop being such a martyr.”

  “Oh my.” Laverne rose from the table.

  “Are you okay, Aunt Lav?”

  She actually giggled. “Yes, honey, I just need to grab my notebook quick and write down that delicious little bit of repartee you two just had. What was it exactly that you said in response, Mr. Cummings?”

  While Ryan decided whether or not to contribute to Laverne Bloom’s latest novel, Kayla laughingly exited the kitchen. Ryan envied her escape.

  “Don’t forget to take along your medication, just in case you need it,” Laverne called after her.

  ****

  The moment Kayla’s bedroom door shut, Laverne Bloom nudged her chair close to Ryan’s. Her fingers spread the tablecloth smooth, and her eyes sparkled. “I have to talk to you in private, and quickly before she returns.”

  “Miss Bloom, I’m pretty sure nothing I say is going to help you write a good romance novel. I’m just a regular guy, you know.”

  “No, this isn’t about the book.” She reached out and shocked him by actually pinching his cheek. “Though you are just adorable.” She picked up her notebook, which, he noted, was covered with sketchy drawings of a path, covered in badly laid stones.

  “I need to talk to you about the walkway.”

  “I thought you didn’t want me to start on that today.”

  “I don’t. But when you start it tomorrow, there is a specific way I want it done.”

  “Okay, you can tell me all about it before I get started tomorrow.”

  “No.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “I need to tell you here, now.”

  Ryan found himself whispering back, though not knowing why. “Okay, what do you want me to do? I’ve done stone walkways before, so I know they need a lot of prep-work before the actual stone is laid, and—”

  “No, that’s exactly what I don’t want you to do.”

  “But, ma’am, with all respect, a walkway that’s not done right is going to be unstable and unsafe, and—”

  “I know.” Her voice had a gleeful quality that seemed totally disconnected to the words she had just said. “That’s exactly what I want. I want you to put the stones on the path that is already there. I want it to be unsteady and the stones unstable. In other words, I want you to do the job quickly and without quality.”

  “But Miss Bloom, I can’t in good conscience do a bad job and be paid for it.”

  “Don’t worry. You’ll be doing it the right way later. I just need it done this way first. And what I’m paying you for is your time and work and for doing it the way I want.”

  Ryan felt something inside him tighten up in an unpleasant way. Why was she so intent that Kayla not hear what she was planning? Something about this was unstable, and it was more than just the stones for the walkway.

  “Will you do it?”

  “I don’t know if—”

  “It’s good money for a job, that’s all. You already agreed to do the walkway, so if you say no now it’s a breach of contract.” She grinned like a child. “Not that we had a written contract of course, but basically I’ll use whatever powers of persuasion I have. Just trust me on this, okay? I’m a writer; I create scenes, and the characters respond to them. I see this particular scene turning out extremely well with the characters involved.”

  Was she expecting him to understand what she was getting at? “Um, okay, I guess.”

  “Wonderful! It’s all settled then. And not a word about this to Kayla, understood?”

  “Not understood,” he admitted. “But I’ll do it.”

  She giggled again and patted his hand. “You really are adorable.”

  When she left the room, humming to herself, Ryan remained at the table, dazed, his mind wandering aimlessly in some mental left field.

  Women. What in the world? Was it possible that they actually got harder to understand as they got older? If that was the case, he was in bigger trouble than he thought.

  Chapter Twelve

  “Ryan, do you see that kid?”

  Finally, after a hearty lunch where Laverne Bloom insisted they take the leftover sandwiches with them in case they got hungry later, Ryan and
Kayla left for their trek up the hill.

  They were heading behind the house toward the trail when Kayla saw him. A little boy, perhaps four or five years old, as brown-skinned as the street kids of Pakistan. He was hunched down, arms outstretched, and every few seconds he hopped forward.

  “What is he doing?”

  Kayla giggled. “I don’t know, but he’s so cute.”

  A bullfrog hopped, croaked, and the boy lunged forward again.

  “He’s trying to catch that frog.” Ryan smiled toward the child, then turned back toward the path.

  Kayla did not. Her one hand grasped his arm and her other palmed against his chest. She was still facing the child, which meant her face nearly met his profile.

  “Look how close he is to the road. He’s not paying any attention to where he’s going.”

  Ryan held his breath in a vain attempt to keep his heart from speeding at her nearness. He looked toward the boy. “I wonder what he’s doing out here by himself anyway.”

  Kayla glanced around. “I don’t see any parents.” The hand on his chest fisted a handful of his shirt. “Ryan, he’s headed straight for the corner. If he steps out onto that bigger road…”

  Ryan reached to put his hands on her arms reassuringly, but as both her arms were occupied with him, his hands clasped her waist instead. “Don’t worry. I have an idea.”

  With one quick squeeze, he released her and ran behind the house instead of toward the boy. “What are you doing?” Kayla called after him. He looked back to see her walk slowly toward the child, careful not to scare him into perhaps falling onto the road.

  The boy kept hopping closer to the corner of the larger street. When the frog hopped from the corner and onto the road, Ryan began running.

  Just as the boy leaned to jump forward, Ryan lurched off the curb and caught the wayward bullfrog. Carrying the frog back onto the sidewalk also brought the boy back toward safety.

  “Hey, that’s my frog!”

  The frog croaked, whether to agree or protest, Ryan could not tell.

  “I know,” he said calmly, petting the frog as if it were a kitten. “I was just getting him out of the road. The road is not a safe place for frogs.” Ryan looked directly at the boy. “Or kids.”