“So they drove up and made trouble.”
“Unfortunately, yes. When a detective paid the girl a call, she got scared and spilled the whole story. She and her boyfriend broke into Mia’s office in search of narcotics, took the cash instead, and he tore the place up for the fun of it.”
Inwardly Jake cringed. This was exactly the kind of crime Hatcher would exploit. He held in a sigh. “I’m glad it’s resolved.”
“Me too.” Brian paused. “Jake? One more thing.”
“Yes?”
“I can’t publicly take sides, but I admire what you’re doing. Good luck tomorrow.”
“Thank you.”
Brian ended the call, leaving Jake encouraged that the camp had more silent support than it seemed.
That hopeful feeling lingered until Wednesday afternoon, when he walked into the county meeting room, an auditorium bursting with a mob of people in orange T-shirts. Surveying the crowd, he gave silent thanks that Mia wasn’t with him. No way did he want her in the middle of his fight.
Today Pirate was his sole ally. Claire was struggling with a bad cold, and his dad was home with her so Lucy could stay off her feet. Sam had offered to come, but Jake told him not to miss class, especially with Lucy’s next ultrasound scheduled for tomorrow. The young couple had kissed and made up after their big fight, but time was still precious to them.
Kelsey didn’t show up at the meeting either. Much to Jake’s relief, she was dating Kevin Romano now. As for Jake’s supporters in the business community, people liked the idea of the camp, but they weren’t committed enough to give up an afternoon.
If he won today’s five-person vote for the zoning change, it would be on the merits of the camp. And if he lost, he didn’t know what he would do with his life. Tanner Vending paid the bills, but it didn’t give him a purpose, something noble to fight for and believe in.
He took a seat in the front row to give Pirate room to lie down. There wouldn’t be a lot of talk today. Speakers were limited to five per side, with a five-minute limit.
At exactly two o’clock, the commissioners entered the room and took their seats around a horseshoe-shaped table. Jake had visited each commissioner personally, and two of them nodded at him. A good sign, but he needed three votes to win.
The chairwoman called the meeting to order, the crowd settled down, and the commissioners voted quickly on other business. When the motion for Camp Connie was moved and seconded, the chairwoman cautioned the crowd to be respectful, then invited Jake to speak.
He stepped to the microphone, cleared his throat, and kept his remarks short. “I’ve met with each of you individually. There’s no need to repeat myself now. I urge you to vote yes on the zoning change.”
The crowd remained quiet until Jake sat and the chairwoman invited Hatcher to the microphone. He approached with four people flanking him, including Charles Blackstone, who took the mic first. The pharmacist made a strong case against the camp, citing the vandalism against his store. Jake was grateful Charles hadn’t heard about the connection to Mia’s office yet, or he would have used it to press his point.
Two more locals spoke against the camp, then a tall, silver-haired woman Jake didn’t recognize took the microphone. She identified herself as a retired social worker, called Jake’s plan naïve, and flamboyantly diagnosed him with a bad case of survivor’s guilt. He nearly came out of his seat at that last remark. Pirate sat up but stayed at Jake’s feet instead of climbing into his lap.
Bill Hatcher spoke last. As he told his story, Jake watched the commissioners and saw the sympathy he expected. No one with an ounce of compassion could hear about the arson, see Bill leaning on his cane, and not be horrified. Whether Hatcher believed Jake or not, Jake understood how he felt. They had both survived a senseless act of violence, and ironically, they both wanted to protect others. They just didn’t agree on how to do it.
When Bill sat down, the commissioner who represented Echo Falls spoke into the microphone. “Madame Chairman, I call for the vote.”
Jake offered a silent prayer, then faced the commissioners with the stoicism of a man who knew God sometimes said no.
The chairwoman went around the table, asking for individual votes. When she finished the roll call, the vote was 2–2.
“It’s up to me,” she said to the audience. “Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Tanner, and Mr. Hatcher, I assure you that I studied this issue thoroughly. I am well aware of the controversy in your lovely community, but the circumstances force us to ask a question. If we don’t do something for our youth, who will? And if not in Echo Falls, then where?
“There’s a quote made famous by President John F. Kennedy. Some attribute the original to Edmund Burke, but the original source isn’t clear. Nonetheless, the words are true and worth repeating now. ‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.’ In that spirit, I’m voting in favor of the zoning change for a youth camp in honor of fallen police officer Constance Waters.”
Pandemonium broke out in the meeting room. Jake slumped forward as if he’d been shot. The fight was over. He’d won. This is for you, Connie. For you and Sam. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he waited for a burst of joy, but all he could hear were boos amplified to a roar.
Pirate tried to crawl into his lap. Sobering, Jake rubbed the dog’s big head until Pirate slid to his haunches.
The chairwoman tried to quell the noise with her gavel, but the crowd broke into its trademark chant.
“Stop. The. Camp.”
“Stop. The. Camp.”
Jake’s nerves tightened into piano wires, the first sign of the panic that had haunted him for months after the bomb blast. He couldn’t tolerate having his back to an angry crowd, so he craned his neck to see over his shoulder. An old man from church glowered at him. A young mother hunched protectively over her baby, and just about everyone at the meeting shot daggers at him with their eyes.
Defeated by the noise, the chairwoman called for a ten-minute recess and motioned for the deputy to clear the room. Jake headed for the door but stopped at the sight of Hatcher five feet away, his back to Jake while supporters surrounded him and called him a hero in spite of the defeat. Bill Hatcher didn’t see Jake, but Jake saw him—his stooped shoulders, his ill-fitting suit, the cane wobbling as he leaned on it more heavily than usual.
Something akin to shame crawled up Jake’s spine. Was this really the victory he had worked so hard to attain? He felt more like a bully than a hero, yet he agreed completely with the JFK quote about good and evil. Jake’s cause qualified as good, though he couldn’t say Hatcher’s opposition was anywhere close to evil.
He waited with Pirate for a break in the crowd, contemplating what to do next. If he had lost, he would have shaken Bill’s hand and buried the hatchet. That was how politics worked—the loser conceded to the victor. On the other hand, Jake wanted to be gracious in victory and respectful to a man who had battled to the death.
Breaking protocol, he approached Hatcher and extended his hand. “You fought a good fight, Bill. I hope we can put this behind us.”
Hatcher glanced at Jake’s hand, then looked up with a scowl. “You won, Tanner. But don’t expect me to kiss and make up.”
Jake lowered his hand. “Understood.”
“You can rot for all I care!”
“Bill, look—”
“Get out of my sight!” He pounded the rubber tip of his cane on the floor, swayed, but caught his balance. “You won. I get it. What else do you want? A pat on the back?”
“No. I want peace.”
“So do I,” Bill mumbled. “More than you know.”
But I do know. For three years Jake had wrestled with his guilt over Connie’s death, the need to somehow redeem a tragedy that could have been avoided if only he’d— Stop it. There was no point digging up the past he had worked so hard to lay to a peaceful rest.
Before Jake could find the right words, Hatcher headed for the door with supporters flanking him
. Jake gave them a head start, then followed several steps behind with Pirate. When Bill hobbled into the lobby, Jake heard fresh chanting.
“We. Love. Bill.”
“We. Love. Bill.”
Jake stopped in his tracks. Somehow his private search for peace had turned Echo Falls into a war zone and Bill Hatcher into a Braveheart-worthy hero, but with a limp instead of blue war paint.
Jake waited out of view until the crowd cleared, then went to his truck to make phone calls. His dad, Sam, and Lucy were waiting for news, but Jake called Mia first—or more accurately, he called her voice mail. “Mia, I have news. You won’t hear this for two more days, but we won. The camp is a go.” He paused. “It wasn’t a pretty win. In fact, I—I don’t know what to think right now. Hurry back, okay? I miss you.”
He ended the call, left messages for his dad and Sam, and headed home. Like he’d told Bill, he wanted peace. He just wished he could find it.
Mia strode into the Colorado Springs airport baggage claim with a bounce in her step, her carry-on rolling behind her, and a mile-wide grin beaming off her face. She could hardly wait to see Jake. They had spoken last night when Mission Medical returned her phone. She knew all about the zoning meeting, but she had refused to share anything about her own adventure. Some stories needed to be told in person, and this was one of them.
When she saw Jake and Pirate come through the door, she waved. Behind them she spotted Lucy, waving back frantically, Sam at her side.
“Lucy!” Mia hurried toward her. When the carry-on tipped over, she dropped the handle, ran the last ten steps to her sister, and hugged her, tummy and all. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m off bed rest.” Lucy eased back from the hug. “Everything’s fine. It’s just like you said—the placenta moved up. No more spotting.”
“I’m so glad for you!” Mia hugged her again. With the surprise fading, her thoughts returned to Jake. She heard him moving behind her, holding Pirate’s leash while he retrieved her abandoned carry-on.
She eased away from Lucy and turned to him. Their gazes locked, and they both grinned. Suddenly shy, Mia couldn’t seem to find her tongue. She had thought a lot about her decision but was afraid of making the wrong choice and paying for it somehow. She hoped Jake could be patient a little longer, though she knew she was asking a lot of him.
He set the carry-on upright, held Pirate’s leash with one hand, and gave her a light hug. “It’s good to see you.”
“It’s good to be home.” Home. Did she mean that? Inhaling deeply, she breathed in the scent of his aftershave and couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.
When she stepped back, Sam punched her on the arm. “So tell us everything. Did you jump out of a plane?”
Mia gave them a smug little smile. “Not even close.”
“River rafting?” Lucy asked.
Jake took a shot at it. “Extreme hiking?”
“Nope.” Mia raised her left hand and showed off her bruised thumb. “We remodeled a house from top to bottom. Not as risky as some things, but I missed with the hammer.”
“Are you kidding?” Lucy plopped her hands on her hips and jutted one leg, sticking out her tummy. “All that worry, and you didn’t do anything dangerous?”
“It was dangerous to my thumb! We rehabbed the house of a woman raising her four grandkids by herself. I had a blast.” Mia would never forget the generous people she had worked with, or the moment they surprised the family with the keys. Everyone had traded high fives and hugged hard, especially Mia. Having grown up in a crackerbox apartment, where every month her mom struggled to pay the rent, she knew the value of a secure home.
Jake took her hand and pretended to inspect her purple thumb. “Hammers are dangerous things. Any power tool action?”
“Just a belt sander.”
“No table saws?”
Mia knew he was joking, but his voice didn’t reveal it. “I still have all my fingers.” She held up her other hand and waggled it. “See? All there.”
He gripped that hand too. “Maybe we should have practiced with power tools instead of taking that hike to Echo Falls.”
“I wouldn’t trade that hike for anything.” She yearned to say more but couldn’t here. She hoped he didn’t have to rush home, because she wanted to have that conversation before they returned to Echo Falls.
Jake turned to Sam and Lucy. “Who’s hungry? Sam, I know you are. How about lunch?”
Sam glanced at Lucy, but she shook her head. “We’re going apartment hunting. Now that I’m mobile, Sam and I have a plan. We’re going to rent our own place in December, take our time moving in, and be settled before the baby arrives in January.”
“That’s great.” Mia breathed a sigh of relief. “I was worried about you being so far from the hospital. What about Claire? Has Westridge opened up?”
“No,” Jake answered. “But they’re next on the waiting list. It won’t be long.”
“So everything is coming together.” Except for me. In Dallas she had prayed every night for God to show her where she belonged, but the seesaw in her mind just went up and down.
“We better go,” Sam said. “Knowing Lucy, we’ll have to stop at every store with a baby department.”
Lucy counted on her fingers. “Walmart. Target. Babies‘R’Us.” When Sam groaned, she elbowed him. “Man up, Soldier Boy. This is my first time to shop in eight weeks. We’re going everywhere.”
Mia grinned for them both. “Don’t forget—I have dibs on buying the crib. The bedding too.”
Lucy patted her baby bulge. Bump no longer described her tummy. “I can hardly wait for Beanie Girl to arrive.”
“Have you decided on a name?” Mia liked several of the choices in the running.
“Yes,” Sam answered. “But we’re not telling anyone until she’s born.”
“Just don’t overdo it, okay?” Mia laid a protective hand on the baby. At twenty-eight weeks, Beanie Girl was past the “way too early” mark and firmly in the “too early but the NICU is amazing” stage.
“I’ll watch out for her.” Sam slipped an arm around Lucy’s back. “By the way, we’re staying in town for a couple nights. Kind of a delayed honeymoon.”
When Sam waggled his brows at his wife, Lucy gazed at her husband with a pretty blush on her cheeks. Mia’s heart swelled, but with the sweetness came a familiar trickle of doubt. Sometimes love lasted; sometimes it didn’t. Only God loved perfectly, and she’d promised to serve Him with Mission Medical—if she got the job.
The four of them headed for the exit. Mia hugged Lucy and Sam good-bye, then turned to Jake. “Do you have to rush back?”
“Not at all.”
“Then let’s go somewhere quiet.”
“Just the two of us?”
“Exactly.”
On the way to his truck, they decided to stop at Caribou Coffee and then take Pirate to the Wolf Creek Dog Park. A nip chilled the autumn air, but they had coats, and Jake kept a blanket in the crew cab. When they were settled on a wooden bench, he took off Pirate’s vest and told the dog to have a good time. Mia picked up her latte, Jake spread the blanket across their laps, and she handed him his large black coffee.
They sat in silence until he pressed his thigh against hers. “Let’s see your thumb again.”
Mia held it out so he could inspect it. “It hurt like crazy at the time.”
“I bet.” He kissed the bruise, then lowered her hand. “So tell me about your trip.”
“It was . . . surprising.” In more ways than she had anticipated. “Sheryl met me at the airport, and we drove straight to a house in a poor section of Dallas. That’s where we stayed, and where Dr. Winkler told us we were remodeling a different house for a needy family. The trick here was speed. We needed to finish in five days, which meant we had to pull together and go without sleep.”
“So nothing dangerous?”
“Not physically. This turned out to be a psychological challenge. Dr. Winkler’s a clever man. He
put together a bunch of type A personalities who all wanted to be in charge. There was lots of negotiation, and tempers flared a couple of times, but we got the job done.”
“How many people on the team?”
“Thirteen total. Seven men, five women, and the contractor overseeing the remodel.”
Jake stared across the field, his eyes on Pirate, until he swung his attention back to her. “Any sign of Dr. Benton?”
Mia laughed. “Don’t tell me you’re jealous.”
“Nah.” He pressed his leg even tighter against hers. “I just want to punch him, that’s all.”
“Well, there’s no need.” She made her voice light. “He wasn’t there. And even if he had been, I’d feel the same way I do now.”
He raised a brow at her. “Which is . . . ?”
“Happy to be here with you.” Leaning against his side, she bent her neck and soaked in the warmth of him. She trusted Jake completely, but love? Emotions were fickle things. When a chill dripped down her spine, she straightened. “I’m very glad to be home, but I have to honest with you. I’m still not sure about giving up Mission Medical.”
“So let’s talk.” He raised her hand, their fingers entwined. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”
“I have a couple of options. The first is to continue to pursue the full-time job. The second is to switch gears and apply to go overseas for just a year.”
“A year, huh?”
“Yes.”
A dog barked on the other end of the park. Another joined in, and a third added a howl. Mia had more to say, but she stopped when Jake trailed a finger down her cheek.
“I think you know how I feel about you, Mia. I don’t like the idea of you leaving at all. But more than anything, I want you to be at peace—both with yourself and with God. If you need to go, then do it. Just be prepared to Skype with me every night.”
His support warmed her to her toes. “Thank you, but I’ve ruled out leaving for just a year.”
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