“I enjoyed your sermon today, Reverend Collins.”
“The heart of our faith is God’s love for his children. It’s not that different from the love we have for our own children. Sometimes we have to let them stumble to make them stronger, but that doesn’t mean we don’t love them.”
Nick frowned, his eyebrows slashing downward. “Is that why there is so much suffering in the world?” he asked Jesse as they walked away from the reverend.
“There is evil in this world, Nick. You know that. God is in a constant battle with that evil. People have free will.”
“Hey, you two. Jesse, I looked for you before the service. Where did you disappear to?” Darcy asked, joining them in the lobby.
“I wanted to show Nick the garden we planted last year. Even in the heat it’s a beautiful place to spend some time.”
“It’s our meditation garden. I find when things get a little hectic around here it’s a good place to escape to for a few minutes.”
“This place get hectic? Never!” Jesse saw Joshua weaving his way through the crowd toward his wife. “Nick, this is Darcy’s husband, Joshua Markham. They’re the ones who teach the summer Sunday school class for the elementary school children. We don’t have a regular schedule during the summer.”
“I met your daughter this morning,” Joshua said after shaking Nick’s hand. “She joined the class with Nate and had a lot of good questions. She was very interested in the story of Moses. I hope she comes back again.”
Even though Nick was good at hiding his emotions, Jesse could sense his stress. So much was being thrown at him that his system was overloading. “Cindy has an open invitation to come to church with me and Nate. I hate to cut this short but we have to head out.”
When Jesse stepped outside, she heard Nick release a long breath. The tension in his expression slipped away. She suspected he was at home in a business environment but a social one was alien to him, especially because this past year he had been recuperating from a series of operations and learning to walk again.
“Thank you,” he murmured on the sidewalk in front of the church.
“For what?”
“For understanding. Now where’s that playground?” He searched the area.
Perplexed at his half answer, Jesse pointed at the back of the building. “Around on the other side.” Mark had always been so easy to read. She had been able to tell what he had been thinking almost before he had. With Nick she was constantly wondering what was going through his head.
As they walked toward the playground, Jesse said, “Darcy and Joshua just got married a few months back. I’m so happy both of them discovered each other. It was touch-and-go there for a while. Joshua had sworn off ever marrying and Darcy was only here for a few months helping her father run his breeding farm while he was recovering from a heart attack.”
“Marriage is fine for some people. I’m just not one of them. Once was enough for me to find that out. I don’t make the same mistake a second time. That’s one of the reasons I’ve been so successful in the business world.”
“Business and personal lives are two different things.”
“Not to me.” Nick saw Cindy and waved her over to him.
The young girl ran up to her father, a big smile on her face. “Can I come next week?”
He glanced at Jesse, then placed his hand on Cindy’s shoulder. “Sure. Jesse said you could come with her.”
“But I want you to come, too. Daddy, you said we would do things together.”
His chest expanded with a deep breath that he held for a few seconds before exhaling. “We’ll see, sweetie, next week.”
“In the meantime, how about you two going fishing with Nate and me? I thought we could have a picnic later,” Jesse suggested.
“Yes!” Cindy shouted, jumping up and down and clapping her hands.
“I guess we’ll be going fishing,” Nick said.
Cindy whirled around and raced toward Nate to tell him.
“I’m sorry. I should have said something before mentioning it in front of Cindy. If you don’t want—”
Nick placed his finger over her mouth to stop her flow of words. “I want. It was nice of you to ask us to go with you.”
“Nice? Ha! I hate fooling with the bait. I was hoping you would volunteer for the job.”
“What do you use?”
“Worms.”
“This should be fun.”
“I know a sarcastic tone when I hear one. It will be fun.”
“If you say so.” A smile leaked out, making his eyes glitter with merriment.
“I do.”
* * *
“I think I’ll go with you all and show you the best places to fish.” Gramps came into the kitchen while Jesse finished up packing the picnic basket.
She looked up. “I thought you were going over to Susan’s house for dinner. Lately you’ve been going over to see her on Sunday evenings.”
“I guess I shouldn’t assume anything. She told me she had other plans this evening when I mentioned I would stop by.”
“Oh, what’s she doing?”
Gramps lifted his shoulders in a shrug, but a frown remained on his face. “Beats me. She didn’t say and I asked her straight out. She avoided the question. Most unusual.”
“Well, it’s not like you two are going steady or anything.”
“Yeah, but for the past six weeks we have been doing something together on Sunday night. I just thought we would tonight.”
“Did you say anything to her before today?”
“No, I didn’t think I had to.”
Jesse went to the refrigerator and removed some ham and cheese to make her grandfather a sandwich. “You probably should from now on.”
“So you think she doesn’t have anything to do but is trying to teach me a lesson?”
Removing the bread from the cabinet, Jesse began to put the sandwich together. “Susan doesn’t lie. She must have something going on.”
He rubbed his chin. “But what? Maybe I should stay here after all and take a long walk this evening.”
“Gramps, don’t you dare spy on Susan. That wouldn’t set well with her if she found out and you know very little is kept a secret for long in Sweetwater.”
His shoulders slumped forward. “Fine. I’ll tag along with you all.”
Jesse wrapped the sandwich in aluminum foil. “Ask her again tomorrow if it bothers you that much.”
“I might not see her tomorrow. Two can play hard to get.”
Jesse rolled her eyes toward the ceiling, wondering at the games people played, trying to manipulate a situation to their favor. You’re just as guilty, Jesse Bradshaw, a tiny voice in her mind interjected. She thought about the times she had tried to fix Nick up when he hadn’t wanted to be fixed up with a woman. He doesn’t want to get married again. He made that very plain this morning at church.
So why am I trying to get him married? The answer to that question was one she was afraid to acknowledge. There was something about Nick that threatened the neat little world she’d created after Mark’s death. She had control over this world. She had friends and family whom she loved and who loved her. She had a job she enjoyed. Her emotions were safely wrapped up in her life in Sweetwater. She didn’t want to shake up that world.
She was overreacting to the few little stomach flutters and racing heartbeats. Nick and she could be friends. No more trying to fix him up with any female between the age of twenty-five and forty. She could help Cindy while the little girl was in Sweetwater and perhaps even be able to guide Nick back to the Lord.
“Where are you thinking of going?”
Her grandfather’s question cut into her musing and pulled her back to the project at hand. “I thought we could fish near where Joe’s Creek empties into the lake. That’s not too far from here. We can walk there. Hopefully we’ll catch some fish.”
“I’ll let you walk there. I think I’ll bring the skiff. Maybe the children will want to fish on t
he lake.”
And leave her and Nick alone. That thought flittered across her mind, along with a sense of panic. She immediately shut down the thought before it took hold. She and Nick were friends. That was all. Even if she had wanted more, he had made it very clear he didn’t want a long-term relationship with any woman.
“Fine. We’ll meet you over at Joe’s Creek.” Jesse closed the basket and grabbed the wooden handles to lift.
“I’ll take that for you.”
The husky sound of Nick’s voice caused the back of her neck to tingle. She sucked in a deep breath and almost forgot to breathe. Finally when her lungs screamed for oxygen, she exhaled, then inhaled and released it immediately.
Nick brushed his fingers over the back of her hand holding the basket as he took it from her. “What do you have in here? Your whole kitchen?”
“Just a few things to eat for dinner. Fishing can make a person mighty hungry.”
“I agree. Lifting those fishing rods can be taxing.”
“You just wait. You’ll be glad I brought this food. Where’s Cindy?”
“Nate let us in and he wanted to show her something in his room.”
“Is Boswell coming?”
“No, he had something to do.”
“He shouldn’t stay cooped up in the house. It’s a beautiful day.”
Nick cocked his head and scrunched his mouth into a thoughtful expression. “You know, I don’t think he’s staying home. I got the impression he was going somewhere.”
“We’re ready.” Nate appeared in the doorway with Cindy and Bingo beside him.
Gramps headed for the back door. “I’ll take the fishing equipment in the skiff.”
“Can we go with you, Gramps?” Nate hurried across the room with Cindy and Bingo trailing behind him.
Her grandfather paused and peered back at Jesse. “Is that okay with you two? I can even take that basket.”
“Only if the children wear a life jacket.”
“Ah, Mom, I can swim.”
“You know my rule. When you’re in the boat, you have to wear a life jacket.”
“Fiiinne.”
Nick and she followed her grandfather and the children down to the pier, skirting the area where Fred and Ethel were with their baby geese. Nick helped Cindy put on her life jacket then he deposited the basket in the bottom of the skiff. By the time the fishing equipment and the three passengers were in the small boat, there was no more room for anything or anyone else.
After Nick untied the ropes, Gramps started the motor and the skiff slowly left the dock. “See you two at Joe’s Creek. Don’t get lost in the woods.”
Jesse could hear Cindy say, “The woods? I don’t want Daddy to get lost.”
Her grandfather’s booming laugh sounded in the quiet afternoon air. Then Nate explained to Cindy how small the woods around Joe’s Creek was.
“Do you think they’ll be all right?” Nick asked, frowning as he watched the skiff head toward the shoreline to the east.
“Yes. I’d never have let Nate go if I thought otherwise. Don’t worry.”
“Easier said than done. I used to not worry about Cindy. Now I do all the time. After my accident I realized how precarious life can be, how quickly it can change.”
“Life is a series of changes. Nothing stays the same for long.” Jesse heard her own words and realized how much she had been trying to keep her life the same, too.
“So how long is this walk to Joe’s Creek?”
“Oh, about a mile. Not too far.”
“Speak for yourself.”
Even though his tone was teasing, Jesse remembered Nick’s bad leg and said, “There’s a road that is about three or four hundred yards away from where we’re gonna fish. We can drive if you want.”
Nick massaged the top of his right thigh. “I’ll be fine. I need to walk more. When I return to Chicago, I want this leg one hundred percent.”
Jesse moved down the pier. “You miss being in Chicago?”
“I miss working. I conduct some of it from here, but I promised Cindy and myself I would take some time off so I’m trying to minimize the amount of time I work while in Sweetwater. But for so many years work is what has defined who I am. That’s not easy to walk away from.”
“But you aren’t walking away from it. You still have your work. It’ll be there when you go back.” Jesse noticed that Fred kept a wary eye on them as they avoided the area where the flock of geese grazed in the tall grass by the lake.
“I’ve done such a good job of hiring capable managers that the company is practically running itself.”
“And that bothers you?”
“The last few years of my marriage to Brenda, I knew she didn’t need me. But my company did. Or so I thought. Now I know I was kidding myself.”
“So what are you going to do when you get back?”
“I’ll get Cindy settled in school, then…” He paused. “I don’t know. I haven’t decided. I do know I need to spend more time with Cindy when we get back.”
“You have a wonderful daughter.”
“Each day I am discovering just how wonderful. This afternoon she asked me if we could help get Crystal a new wheelchair so she could play basketball. She offered the money she had been saving.”
“That’s so sweet, but I’m not sure Tanya wants Crystal doing that.”
“If she decides to, I would be glad to buy the wheelchair.”
“You would?”
“I have plenty of money. I give a certain amount every year to different causes. It would be nice knowing who will benefit.”
“Then some good things are coming out of your visit to Sweetwater.”
He didn’t say anything about her comment concerning Sweetwater, and she wondered if he regretted coming to spend a couple of months in the house next to hers. Her community wasn’t like Chicago at all.
Jesse, my girl, what did you want him to say? That Sweetwater was the perfect place to live? That he couldn’t think of any place better to be? She shook her head as if that could rid herself of that little voice in the back of her mind.
When Bingo ran ahead of them yelping, she realized they were near Joe’s Creek and the others. She could hear Nate and Cindy laughing while Gramps grumbled, his words too low to make out what he was saying.
She and Nick stepped out of the shadow of the trees that ran along the creek and found Gramps trudging toward shore, pulling the rope attached to the skiff.
Nate saw them. He began to laugh even more, pointing to his great-grandfather. “He didn’t tie the boat up good enough. It started drifting away. He had to run after it before it ended up in the middle of the lake.”
“He was funny splashing in the water.” Cindy continued to laugh beside Nate.
With water dripping off him, Gramps grumbled some more, bent down and tied the skiff again, checking to make sure the rope wouldn’t slip free. “You two distracted me.”
“Welcome to a Bradshaw picnic,” Jesse whispered to Nate. “Sure you want to stay?”
“Isn’t laughter supposed to be the best medicine?” he asked, chuckling at the loud sloshing sound Gramps made with his wet tennis shoes as he headed back to the boat to retrieve the last of the fishing equipment.
* * *
Nick leaned back against an oak tree, resting his arm on a knee. “Are there any more cookies left?”
“Nope. Cindy and Nate finished off the last two before leaving with Gramps to head back home.”
“That’s what I thought, but I was hoping a couple or three slipped down inside the basket.” The back of his head touched the rough bark of the tree as his eyes slid closed, and he relished the quiet of the moment. A bird chirped above him. A person more used to the woods would probably know what kind of bird. He had to admit he had rarely spent time in the country and this was certainly an experience.
“Did you enjoy fishing even though you didn’t catch anything?”
Jesse’s question brought a smile to his lips. “Se
eing you try to bait your hook was well worth the time spent trying to fish.”
“You were supposed to bait my hook for me.”
“But your grandfather insisted you do it yourself. I was taught never to go against my elders.”
Jesse snorted. “At least I caught a fish. And Nate. And Gramps. And Cindy.”
“Yeah, did you see her big smile when she pulled in that fish?”
Jesse finished putting the trash and leftover food into the basket. “It’s called a crappie. She enjoyed herself.”
“And so did I.” Pushing to his feet, Nick took the blanket he had been sitting on and began folding it. “Anytime you want to ask Cindy and I to come fishing please feel free to.”
“I can loan you a couple of rods and reels so you and Cindy can go anytime you want.”
“I’ll see what she says, but I think she liked the skiff the most.”
“Has she ever been in a boat?”
“She went on a friend’s yacht on Lake Michigan once. Not quite the same experience. I’m not even sure she realized she was on the water. She stayed in the cabin and watched TV the whole time.” Nick took the basket and started toward the trail they’d used earlier.
The “woods” were no more than twenty or thirty trees of various kinds that flanked one side of the creek. In less than three minutes he and Jesse emerged from the woods and saw their houses in the distance. Gramps docked the skiff at the pier behind Jesse’s home. The children ran ahead of the old man toward Jesse’s deck.
Nick looked toward the lake, glass smooth. The sun had sunk below the tree line to the west, and the sky was ribboned with oranges and reds. He drew in a deep breath saturated with the scent of forest and earth. “It’s a gorgeous day,” he murmured, surprised by the feeling of contentment that held him.
Stepping over a log, Jesse slipped and nearly fell. Nick quickly dropped the basket and grabbed for her. Steadying her, he brought her up against him. Her jasmine scent chased away all others. He filled his nostrils with it, closing his eyes for a few seconds as he savored having a beautiful woman in his arms.
Then the fact he was holding Jesse registered, and he quickly let her go, moving back a few paces while he picked up the basket.
A Mother for Cindy Page 10