by Nancy Mehl
John slowly stood to his feet. “First of all, thank you for allowing me to sit in this morning. I—I know I don’t really belong in this group, not being a Christian and all, but would it be all right if I said something?”
“Of course,” Gabe said. “This is just an informal gathering of friends.”
I glanced around the table at the rest of our group. Sweetie, Eric, Sam, Gabe, Sarah, John, and me. An eclectic group to be sure, but everyone seemed to be enjoying our makeshift Sunday service.
“I came to Harmony on a quest to find my father,” John continued, “and I certainly accomplished that. Unfortunately, as most of you know, my quest turned up harsh truths that were difficult for me to accept. Like Gabe, I held resentment and anger, not only toward my father, but toward the world in general. That anger was directed at some of you. So I’m also asking for forgiveness, and like Gabe, I’m determined to leave the past where it belongs. In the past.” He ran his hand through his thick black hair. “I have to admit that I’ve been thinking about what happens next. My first reaction was to leave Harmony. I thought it would be best for me—and for Sarah and Gabe. But if it’s okay with them, I’d like to stay. I feel at home here, and I’ve never felt that way before. In fact, I think it might be time to turn my meat shop into something different—like a doctor’s office.”
I heard Sweetie’s sharp intake of breath. Having a doctor in Harmony was a dream come true for all of us.
“But here’s the thing,” he said, his dark eyes full of concern. “I can’t make that decision alone. Those scriptures Gabe read made it clear. If my living here would be hard for you, Gabe, or for you, Sarah, I’ll leave. No argument, no hard feelings. If staying causes either one of you pain, well, I just won’t do it.” He watched Gabe closely. “So what would you like me to do? It’s all up to you.”
He sat down slowly, and for quite a while Gabe didn’t say anything. The rest of us kept quiet, waiting for his response. I could feel my heart pounding. Surely he wouldn’t send John away.
“I appreciate how you feel,” Gabe said finally. “And I appreciate your concern for Sarah and me. In many ways it would be easier if you left. But I won’t ask you to do that. You see, I’ve spent years trying to protect Sarah—and myself—from pain. But all I did was make it worse.” He reached over and took his daughter’s hand. “Sending you away seems wrong.” His eyes sought John’s. “I believe you’re an honorable man, John. I believe you when you say you won’t pursue Sarah. Besides, I trust my daughter completely.” He broke his gaze away and looked at Sarah. “If I tell you to leave, it will be out of fear. Not faith. And not love.” He directed his attention to John again. “I don’t want fear to rule me anymore. Do you understand?”
I thought John would look relieved, but he didn’t. “I do understand. But since we’re being completely honest, I have to say one more thing. And it may cause you to change your mind.”
Gabe gave him a tight smile. “You mean that you’re still in love with my daughter?”
John’s mouth dropped open, but no words came out.
“I know that, son. I’m not stupid. And I know my Sarah loves you, too. If that wasn’t true, this decision wouldn’t be difficult at all. Your promise would be easy, and I know it isn’t. I still want you to stay.”
“Thank you,” John said quietly. “Then I will do that. And I intend to make you glad I did.”
There was silence at the table. I had no idea what to say, and everyone else seemed to be in the same boat I was.
Finally Sweetie broke the quiet. “Well, land sakes, Gabe. There for a while you had me nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. If you’d sent this young man packin’, I woulda been right disappointed in you.” She flashed him a toothy grin. “You done the right thing here.”
“Thank you, Sweetie. Coming from you that means a lot.”
“I hate to hurry off,” Sam said, “but I need to get outside. Please continue. Don’t end early for my sake.”
Gabe let out a long sigh that seemed to come from somewhere deep inside. “Frankly, I’m drained. How about a prayer, and we’ll bring this to an end?”
Everyone agreed. We held hands and Gabe led us in prayer. Then before he left, Sam made sure Sweetie and I had Sheriff Taylor’s number.
“He’s still in the area,” Sam said. “He told us to call him if we need anything or if we see someone hanging around who doesn’t belong here.”
“That would be a mite sight easier if the phones were working,” Sweetie said.
“I know that. But until then, if you need something, all you have to do is come out to the orchards and get me.”
“Wish we had them walkie-talkies. Did you ever find ‘em?”
Sam sighed. “No. Haven’t found them or the keys to the truck. Thankfully I have another set of keys. Maybe we’ll run across them today since the sun’s up. Couldn’t see much of anything last night.”
Sam left the kitchen to get his coat. Eric had offered a ride home to Gabe and Sarah, and they’d accepted. I hated to see them leave, but they wanted their own clothes and their own beds. Besides, Sarah was worried about Molasses. I prayed the horse had made it home safely. I knew Sarah would blame herself if she didn’t.
I got another cup of coffee while everyone got ready to leave. Then I sat back down at the kitchen table to relax a little. When the phone rang, it startled me so much I almost spilled my coffee.
“Glory be, the phone’s workin’!” Sweetie screeched. She grabbed it and hollered, “Hello?” so loud, I hoped the person on the other end hadn’t lost some of their hearing. “Why, howdy, Pastor,” she said. “Glad to hear from someone. Our phone’s been out for a couple of days.” After listening to his response, she handed the instrument to me. “Pastor wants a word with you, Gracie.”
I took the phone from her.
“Gracie? You all doing okay over there?”
“We’re fine, Abel. Had some trouble in the orchards last night, but everything is under control now. How about you?”
“Everyone’s fine. We’re all digging out.”
“Same here.”
“Listen, Gracie. I need to talk to you, but I don’t really want to do it on the phone. Are you planning to come into town anytime soon?”
Uh-oh. What now? Another letter? “I’m not sure. Is something wrong?”
Abel’s gentle laugh drifted through the receiver. “No. Nothing’s wrong. The baby’s mother came to see me this morning. I want to talk to you about it, but as I said, I’d rather do it in person.”
I was thrilled to hear the news but unsure how soon we’d be able to make it to town. I told Abel I’d have to speak to Sam and get back to him.
I hung up the phone, thrilled the mother had been found, but disappointed that Abel wasn’t willing to tell me more until I saw him. Just then, Sam came into the kitchen.
“Can I get a thermos of coffee, Sweetie?” he asked his aunt. “It’s really cold out there.”
She laughed. “I’m way ahead of you, son.” She handed him the thermos, already prepared. “And here’s an extra cup for John. This should last for a while.”
“Thanks.” He came over and put his hand on my shoulder. “We’ll be out there most of the day, Gracie. You and Sweetie could really help out by watching the weather forecasts. According to the most recent report, this cold spell could break sooner than expected. If it does, I need to know right away.”
I nodded. “No problem, but I have a question. When are we going into town again?”
“If the temperature goes up the way they’re predicting, we could go tonight. I’d like to take you both to dinner. Sweetie needs a break. She’s been cooking for a houseful of people. I’d like to have someone cook for her instead.”
“Sounds great. Abel says he knows who the baby’s mother is and wants to tell me about it.”
“You let me know what the weatherman says. If we can get up another twenty degrees and they tell us we’ll stay above zero for
a while, we’ll put out the fires and go to town, okay?”
“Sounds good.”
“Sounds real good to me, too,” Sweetie said. “I love cookin’, the Lord knows I do, but I gotta admit that I’m tuckered out. I ain’t as young as I used to be, you know.”
“Well,” Sam drawled, “none of us are, Sweetie.”
“Are you sassin’ me, boy?”
“No, ma’am.” He turned his face and winked at me. “I would never sass you.”
Sweetie took after him with a hand towel, ready to snap it on his backside, but he quickly kissed me on the cheek and sidestepped his aunt. Laughing, he bade us both good-bye and hurried out of the kitchen before his aunt regrouped.
Sweetie came over and sat down next to me. She was quiet until she heard the front door close. “Gracie girl, I’m worried.”
“About what happened in the orchard?”
She nodded. “Sam hasn’t said much to me because he doesn’t want me to stew about it, but I know somethin’s wrong. I got a gut feelin’ there’s more goin’ on than meets the eye. I want you to tell me what really happened out there.”
As I began telling her the events of the night before, her face wrinkled up in a frown. The longer I talked, the more worried she looked.
“And that sorry excuse for a sheriff just happened to show up when he did?” She snorted. “That’s plumb ridiculous. There’s somethin’ wrong with that man. I been feelin’ it ever since I first met him. There’s deep, dark water runnin’ under the surface of his pond.”
“But Sweetie, he saved the trees, and he probably saved me. If the fire had spread and someone hadn’t found me…”
“Don’t you even go there,” she said, shaking her head with vigor. “Ain’t nothin’ bad gonna happen to you. I pray much too hard for you, Gracie Temple.”
I squeezed her arm. “Thank you. I seem to need all the prayer I can get.”
“Has it occurred to you that the sheriff only pretended to save you so he could cover up his tracks? I mean, maybe he wasn’t countin’ on anyone findin’ out what he was up to. Maybe when you showed up, he had no choice but to play the hero.”
I could only stare at her. “But why not just run away? Why slug me?”
She shrugged. “Maybe he couldn’t get away without you seein’ his face.”
“Maybe,” I said slowly. “But what about my keys and the walkie-talkie?”
“I been ponderin’ that,” she said in a conspiratorial whisper. “Maybe he didn’t actually want you to get back to the house for help. Maybe he thought if it took you longer, the trees could burn faster. You fooled him by takin’ his truck. Then he had no choice but to put the trees out.” She frowned. “If that’s true, then he ain’t done, ‘cause he ain’t accomplished what he set out to do.”
I considered her words. They made a twisted kind of sense. “I don’t know, Sweetie. All we can do is pray for God’s protection and keep our eyes peeled. But I’m still not convinced about the sheriff. He acted really concerned about me—and about the orchards.”
“Well, here’s somethin’ else, Gracie. Somethin’ I forgot to tell you. It didn’t seem all that important until now, but while you was gone, I saw Taylor at your place, snoopin’ around. In fact, one night he was out there after dark with a flashlight.”
My head snapped up. “A flashlight? You didn’t tell Sam about it?”
She shook her head. “Nah. He gets aggravated at me sometimes when I complain about folks. I’d already been tellin’ him that snoopy sheriff was hangin’ around too much. I knew he’d think I was hallucinatin’ or somethin’. I was gonna tell you, but with everything going on, it slipped plumb outta my head.” She frowned at me. “Is it important?”
I told her about seeing someone in the woods behind my house the first night I came back.
“See what I mean? I’m tellin’ you, Gracie. There’s somethin’ goin’ on with that man. Somethin’…nefa-fairy-us.”
Even though our conversation was serious, I couldn’t hold back a smile. “I thought you said nefarious was a fancy-schmancy word.”
She grunted. “Well, it certainly fits in this situation.” She got up and went to the coffeemaker, grabbed the carafe, and carried it back to the table. “All I know is we need to do what Sam said. Keep our eyes open for anything suspicious.” She filled our cups with fresh coffee. “I swear, I wish things would settle down for a while. The past few days have been real confusin’.” She carried the carafe back and placed it on the warmer. “I can’t shake this strange feelin’ in my gut,” she said when she came back to the table. “I think that old lion, the devil, is roamin’ around, and we need to make sure we got our armor on good and tight.”
Her declaration sent a shiver down my spine. I was just getting ready to respond when Sarah came into the kitchen.
“We’re getting ready to leave,” she said. “I wanted to thank you both so much for everything. There’s no way I could ever repay you for your kindnesses to me or my father, but I would love it if you’d come by the shop next week after we open and pick out something you’d like.”
Sweetie rose from her chair and gave Sarah a hug. “That’s real nice of you, Sarah, but you don’t owe us nothin’. We’re all family, and lookin’ out for each other is just what we do.”
She smiled at us. “I know that, but I still would like to bless you in my small way.”
“Thank you,” I said. “I appreciate it. Hopefully all the businesses will be ready to open this week. We’re going to try to go to town tonight if the temperatures keep rising.”
“Papa said the forecaster predicted several days of below-zero weather. Has that changed?”
I nodded. “This morning they said the severe cold could break as early as today.”
Sarah beamed. “God is answering our prayers, isn’t He? This is wonderful news. I will continue to pray until the trees are safe.”
“Please do,” I said. “Where’s your father? I wanted to say good-bye to him.”
“I’m right here.” Gabe’s bass voice rang out loud and clear. “I’m sure Sarah has thanked all of you for your incredible help in finding her and nursing her to health, but I also want to express my gratitude. You’ve made both of us feel welcome. I won’t ever forget it.”
I went over and hugged Sarah. Then I held my hand out to Gabe. I wanted to hug him as well but wasn’t sure if it would offend him. I shouldn’t have worried. He disregarded my hand and wrapped me up in a big bear hug. I found my nose buried in the scratchy material of his thick wool coat. It felt wonderful.
“Well, I guess we need to get going,” he said when he let me go.
Eric came up behind him. “Whenever you two are ready, we can head out. I’ve already been outside. The truck started.” He grinned at me. “And I have no intention of turning off the engine until I get to my hotel.”
“That’s probably a good idea,” I said, smiling. “When you go back to Wichita, you might look into trading that thing in for something more reliable.”
“You’ve got that right,” he said, shaking his head. “Believe me, I’ve learned my lesson.” He smiled at Sweetie. “Thank you so much for your hospitality—and your magnificent food.” He patted his stomach. “I’m going to avoid the scale for a few days. The hotel food should help me lose whatever I put on here. You’re an incredible cook, Sweetie.”
“Young man, I ain’t usually wrong about people, but it seems I’ve been a mite unfair to you. I ain’t sayin’ I trust you completely. And I ain’t sayin’ I’m not still a little peeved with you, but you jumped in to help us when we needed it, and I’m mighty grateful. You’re welcome back here anytime.”
Sweetie’s little speech took all of us by surprise, including Eric. “Well…well, thank you. I don’t know what to say. That means a lot to me.”
Sweetie nodded at him. “Now you all get out of here and get home.” She pointed at Eric. “I’d be obliged if you’d give us a call when you get to your hotel. Let us know everyone ma
de it back safe.”
“I’ll do that,” Eric promised.
I followed them to the front door, grabbing Eric’s arm before he could leave. I pulled him back a bit, letting Sarah and Gabe go ahead. “I wanted to thank you, too,” I said. “And to apologize for the way you were treated. Sam and Sweetie were out of line. I’m glad everything’s okay now.”
“I wouldn’t say it’s okay,” he said quietly. “Sweetie may have come around, but Sam still doesn’t trust me.”
“I’m sorry. I know he appreciates your help.”
Eric’s deep blue eyes peered into mine. “You know what Gabe said this morning about John still having feelings for Sarah?”
“Yes.”
“Sam shouldn’t trust me. If I thought I had a chance with you, I wouldn’t hesitate to tell you how much I care about you. How deeply I’m attracted to you.”
I shook my head at him and took a step back.
“Don’t worry, Gracie. Like John, I’m a man of honor. I have no intention of acting on my feelings. I know how much you love Sam. You’re safe. I just thought you should know.” With that he walked out the door.
I stood and stared at the closed door, my heart beating so hard I could feel it. At the beginning of this strange weekend, I’d forecast that hidden emotions would come to the surface. Well, they certainly had. But I’d been looking in the wrong direction, never dreaming my prediction would come back to haunt me.
Chapter Fourteen
Sweetie and I spent the afternoon cleaning up after our guests—doing all the dishes, washing sheets, towels, and blankets. The entire time we kept one ear open to the weather forecasts. The temperature climbed into the thirties by late afternoon, and the announcer finally declared that although at first they’d expected it to stay below zero for several days, things had changed. It would stay bitterly cold, but the temperatures were predicted to stay well above zero. Sweetie and I thanked the Lord together for answering our prayers. When Sam came in around three o’clock, we told him the good news.