What Hope Remembers

by Johnnie Alexander

  “Think about it. Nothing was taken, at least not that I can tell. But the door was unlocked, the worksheet left open. It wasn’t like someone had left in a hurry.”

  “Tapley would have had to know we were at Misty Willow.”

  “If it was Tapley. We can’t be 100 percent sure.”

  “I’m sure.”

  Tess rose, stretched the kinks from her back, and continued as if she were thinking out loud. “If we’d passed a strange vehicle on the way home, I would have remembered. It’s almost second nature out here.”

  A skill Gabe had picked up quickly. He might not know the names of all the people who lived around here, but he knew what they drove.

  “Though I haven’t been very observant lately,” Tess said. “How long did you say Amy was living here before I knew she was at the cottage? And that’s just across the road.”

  “I have a feeling Amy wasn’t getting out much. I still don’t think she is.”

  “Then why don’t you see if she wants to drive into town with you? You could even get a hamburger from the Dixie. I don’t think you’ve been there since you’ve been back. And as skinny as Amy is, she could use one.”

  The thought of a Dixie Deluxe burger made Gabe’s mouth water, but he didn’t know if he should take the time. The locks needed to be changed and pronto.

  As if she read his mind, Tess said, “Whoever was here may have been brazen enough to leave evidence of his snooping, but he’s too cowardly to stop by when anyone is home.”

  “You can’t be sure of that.”

  “He’s not been back since.”

  “That we know of.”

  “Don’t be a smart aleck.” She patted his cheek. “Go to town if you’re going. But call Amy first.”

  “Why do I feel like a teenager all of a sudden?”

  “Do you?” Her laugh was shaky, but Gabe was glad to hear it. “Good. You carry the weight of the world around on your shoulders, and it’s too big a burden for anyone.”

  “Why don’t you go into town with me?”

  “I can’t leave Knight Starr.”

  “I’m not leaving you here alone.”

  “I won’t be alone.”

  “Oh?”

  “If you must know, Flint is coming back out after the clinic closes.”

  “You weren’t going to tell me this?”

  “I didn’t want you to get the wrong idea. Just like you’re doing now.”

  “He is a widower, isn’t he? Seems the two of you spent a lot of time together at the Heritage Celebration.” He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “For what it’s worth, you have my blessing.”

  She blushed beneath her olive skin, and for a moment he saw the beauty of the young woman she’d once been. No wonder Rusty had been so taken with her. “It’s nothing serious. He’s just a good friend. A dear friend.”

  “That’s the best place to start, isn’t it?”

  It was where he wanted to start. With Amy. Maybe he would give her a call, though he doubted she’d say yes. This late in the day, she was either out already, had plans to go out, or planned to stay home.

  “You’ll have to let me take your truck.”

  “You know where to find the keys.”

  He walked toward the house and pulled his phone from his pocket. Gathering his courage, he dialed Amy’s number.

  Please say yes.

  30

  Amy totally disregarded her own rule about accepting a last-minute date and hurriedly changed into a sleeveless crocheted top over tailored jeans and added turquoise and silver accessories. She spent a few more minutes touching up her makeup and curling the ends of her hair. Only moments after she closed her gate, Gabe stopped in front of the drive, his elbow resting on the open window frame.

  “Need a ride, purty lady?” he asked in an exaggerated drawl.

  “Depends on where you’re going,” she said coyly.

  “With you?” He flipped on his flashers, then stepped out of the truck. “Anywhere your little heart desires.”

  “Be careful with your promises. I might hold you to that someday.”

  “Don’t think I wouldn’t let you.”

  What about Ellen?

  Amy dismissed the thought as soon as it appeared. At least for the next few hours, she had Gabe to herself.

  He escorted her around the truck to the passenger door. She paused before climbing in to revel in his closeness. The ends of his hair were slightly damp, which meant he’d taken a quick shower since he called to invite her to town. She didn’t mind that he hadn’t shaved. The scruffiness looked good on him, and his elusive cologne invited her even closer.

  Gabe was such a man, and his masculinity electrified her.

  She imagined Logan with a five-o’clock shadow, but it didn’t work for him. Too much of an affectation.

  A car appeared behind them, and Gabe waved them on by.

  “Any idea who that was?” he asked.

  “None at all. Why?”

  “Hadn’t seen that car before, that’s all. Probably somebody just passing through.” His lips smiled but not his eyes as he shut her door.

  She tracked him as he rounded the front of the truck, his gait sure and confident but also alert and wary. Even out here where nothing ever happened.

  Unless something had happened.

  “What’s got your rope in a tangle?” she asked after he settled into his seat and engaged the clutch.

  His eyes relaxed as he smiled his lazy smile. “Tess thinks someone was in the house while we were at the Heritage Celebration.”

  “Someone broke in? But why?”

  “No idea. Nothing was taken, but whoever it was got on her computer. I think they were in the stables too.”

  “What could they want in the stables?”

  “Again, no idea. But that’s why I’m going to town. To get new locks for the house.”

  “You know how to change locks?”

  “I think I can figure it out.”

  “I wonder if I need new locks too. They probably haven’t been changed since the cottage was built.”

  “I’ll change them for you if you want.”

  Such a simple offer, and yet it warmed her all the way through. Logan would have offered to call a locksmith, and she would have appreciated his thoughtfulness. That’s what Brett would have done too.

  But now—this was something new, and she liked it. Gabe, competent and capable, could do what needed to be done himself. He probably had no idea how appealing that quality was to a woman. She hadn’t known herself until just that moment.

  “I’d like that,” she said. “Thank you.”

  They drove to Grange Station first. Once they got inside, Amy roamed the aisles in awe. Fifty-pound bags of feed were stacked on shelves and pallets. Animal troughs, fencing materials, and rows of tools and strange metal doodads lined the outer walls. Every aisle seemed to hold something that fascinated her.

  “This is amazing,” she said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  “Then you’ve been hanging with the wrong crowd.” Gabe chuckled and steered her toward the locks. He picked out what they needed, then Amy insisted on exploring the aisles she had missed.

  “Do you know what all this stuff is for?” she asked.

  “You have led a sheltered life, haven’t you?”

  “I never would have said so. But I do find all this strangely fascinating. I have no idea why.” She gasped and reached for a headlamp. “Oh, look at this. It’s got a green light and a red light and a regular light. Do you think Jonah would like it?”

  “It’d be fun for exploring after dark.”

  “I’m going to get it for him. Though now I need to find something for Shelby’s girls. I’m trying to be a thoughtful ‘aunt,’” she said, making air quotes. Brett had once told her she was responsible for how AJ’s stepdaughters would remember her. At the time, she closed her ears to his lecturing. But during her time in the clinic, she had realized she wanted their memories of h
er to be good ones.

  “I’m not sure you’ll find anything for a little girl in here.”

  “I don’t know. They like outdoorsy things.” She wandered along another aisle and found the clothing section. One rack displayed pink-and-white-checked bibbed overalls in a variety of children’s sizes.

  “These are adorable.” She grabbed one hanger then another, checking sizes and lengths. After making selections, she discovered another display of assorted caps with the Grange Station logo and selected a brown one and two pink ones. On an impulse, she grabbed a larger pink one for herself.

  “Look,” she said, placing the cap on her head. “The girls and I can be triplets.”

  Gabe tugged at the cap’s bill. “Did you buy yourself bibbed overalls too?”

  “I don’t think I’m ready for those. At least not yet.”

  “Now I know what to get you for Christmas.”

  “Christmas is months away. But if you’re thinking what I think you’re thinking, I’m happy to wait.”

  “What do you think I’m thinking?”

  “That maybe you’ll still be at Whisper Lane and I’ll still be at the cottage and maybe we can exchange presents.”

  “I hate to disappoint you, but I wasn’t thinking that at all.”

  She smiled impishly and whispered in his ear. “But now you are.”

  He eased into another smile. “You got that right.”

  As the clerk scanned the gifts for the children, Amy tried to ignore the growing dollar amount.

  “Sure adds up fast, doesn’t it?” she said with as much flippancy as she could. She had to learn to economize but not at the expense of those three little kids.

  “Too fast,” Gabe agreed.

  As he paid for the locks, Amy checked her phone and saw a couple missed calls from Logan. He probably wanted to make plans for the weekend, but she preferred to keep her options open. If Gabe asked her out, she wanted to be free to say yes.

  They left the store, then opted to eat at the nearby Italian café instead of the Dixie Diner.

  “I’ve never been here,” Gabe said as the hostess led them to a table. Seemingly by instinct, he arranged their seating so he didn’t have his back to the door. “Have you?”

  “It’s been awhile,” Amy said as she placed her napkin in her lap. “Brett, AJ, and I came here—it’s been over a year ago now—after meeting with Gran’s lawyer about her will.”

  “If this brings up bad memories for you, we can go somewhere else.”

  “That’s not necessary. The three of us didn’t spend much time together back then, so it was kind of nice. We talked about happier childhood days.”

  Which wasn’t a topic she wanted to get into with him—not when her lie still hung between them.

  “But then something happened. I laughed about it back then, but actually it wasn’t funny.”

  “I’m all ears.”

  “I’m not sure I should tell you. It doesn’t put me in the most flattering light.”

  “There’s nothing you can’t tell me.”

  She wasn’t sure about that. She hoped he never found out about her disastrous fling with the state senator or her lack of ethics in dealing with a few clients. Okay, several clients. This story she might as well tell him.

  “I won’t go into all the details, but last summer Shelby didn’t like AJ very much because he’d let her beloved house fall into ruin. Brett was courting her, but he neglected to tell her that he and AJ are cousins.”

  “Wait a minute. Brett was courting Shelby?”

  “Not because he liked her. Though he ended up liking her.” She heaved a giant sigh. “It’s all part of the details I don’t want to get into.”

  “Maybe we can talk about those another time.”

  “Maybe. Anyway, Shelby didn’t know Brett and AJ were cousins. We’re here”—she looked around the dining area—“sitting at that table, all done eating when Shelby and her girls come in. Elizabeth and Tabby race to AJ, and that’s when it all came out.”

  “What did?”

  Amy hesitated, not sure how to end the story. For the first time, she saw herself as Shelby must have seen her—petty, spiteful, even vindictive. But she didn’t want to be those things anymore, and she didn’t want Gabe to see her that way either. She should never have started this stupid story.

  “We were unkind to Shelby, Brett and me,” she finally said. “Especially me.”

  Gabe reached for her hand, and she entwined her fingers with his. “I’ve seen you and Shelby together,” he said. “I don’t think she’s holding a grudge. And she must not be mad at AJ anymore or she wouldn’t have married him.”

  “You’re right. But I’m still sorry for . . . for being who I am.”

  “You mean for who you were.”

  “I’m not so sure.”

  “The Amy who sat over there,” he said, pointing to the table she had indicated, “she’s not the same person who’s sitting across from me now.”

  “How can you know?”

  “Because that Amy wouldn’t have bought presents for Elizabeth and Tabby. Maybe not even for Jonah.” He paused a moment. “I’m not sure that Amy would be here with me right now.”

  “Sometimes it seems everyone else can change. Brett certainly has. But I’m not sure I can.”

  “I believe you have.”

  “You don’t really know me, Gabe.”

  “Maybe I know you better than you think.”

  Only the girl you remember. Not the nasty person I became.

  Their food arrived, saving Amy from having to respond.

  “Do you mind if I say grace?” Gabe asked.

  “No,” Amy said slowly.

  His prayer was simple, brief, but heartfelt. She didn’t remember him as being religious when they were teens.

  “Have you always prayed?” she asked.

  “I didn’t used to. But you know what they say. ‘There are no atheists in foxholes.’ There aren’t any in prison either. What about you?”

  “Gran tried to instill some holiness in us. It didn’t stick, though AJ eventually went back to church with her.” She speared pasta with her fork. “That was after the mess with Meghan.”

  “After a mess is a good time to get reacquainted with God.”

  “Do you think God minds?”

  “I think he’s always waiting for us. Arms outstretched and watching for us to come home.”

  “Like in the story of the prodigal son?”

  “Exactly.”

  “You don’t blame God for what happened to your cousin? For all those years you spent in prison?”

  “I ask why.”

  “How does he answer?”

  “I’ll let you know when he does.”

  “What if he never does?”

  Gabe took a moment to answer. “You know who Job is?”

  Amy nodded.

  “He didn’t know why, either, but he never wavered in his trust. I’ve wavered, but I have to keep coming back to God having a purpose for my life. I may not be able to see it. I may never see it this side of heaven. But I know it’s there as surely as I know anything.”

  “What purpose could there be in going to prison for something you didn’t do?”

  “It’s where I found God again. If that’s what it took to get my life straightened out, then I’m glad for it.”

  “You’re thankful for prison?”

  His slow smile slid across his face. “Because I went to prison, I came to stay with Aunt Tess. And because I’m staying with Tess, I live across the road from the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known. Hard not to be thankful for that.”

  An uncharacteristic warmth flushed Amy’s cheeks. Men’s compliments and flatteries rarely fazed her. But Gabe was different. Perhaps it was because she sensed he didn’t hand out compliments with any more looseness than he did his kisses. And he certainly wasn’t being free with those.

  Gabe was a man who meant what he said, and she could believe she was beautiful to
him in a different way than she was to anyone else.

  Other men were taken by her height, her sweeping blonde hair, the clear blue of her eyes, and her model-like cheekbones.

  Gabe saw more than her outer appearance. Where she knew there was ugliness, he still saw beauty.

  How much she regretted lying to him that first day. But maybe it wasn’t too late to make up for that.

  He had once asked her to ride to the Hearth with him. That was the perfect place to tell him the truth and try to explain why she’d lied. If she could figure that out for herself.

  Only one problem with that plan. She hadn’t been on a horse in ages.

  Maybe she could persuade Tess to give her refresher lessons while Gabe was in the fields. When she was comfortable riding again, she’d plan a special date for the two of them. A date that would take them back to that long-ago summer when an innocent kiss joined their hearts in a love that might still have a chance to grow.

  She realized now she had compared every man she ever dated to an ideal set by Gabe. None of them could attain it.

  Perhaps Gabe had done the same thing. Despite the life she’d led for the past several years, he still saw the girl she’d been before her parents’ tragic deaths had torn her world completely apart. Having lost his own mother, he understood her grief as few others did.

  He’d tried to comfort her. But the pain had been too much for her then. All the changes in her life too excruciating.

  She’d make it up to him though. She wouldn’t tell him she remembered. She’d show him.

  Delighted by the plan, she made up her mind to talk to Tess that very evening. If she could get her alone. And then she would ride again.

  With an adult’s sudden perception, she realized this was what her father would have wanted. How disappointed he would be, how sad for her, to know she’d given up riding because it made her miss him too much.

  But now, because of Gabe, she’d find the courage she needed.

  Someday soon, she and Gabe would ride to the Hearth.

  Logan left the county commissioner’s office, then paused on the sidewalk to see if Amy had returned his calls. She hadn’t.

  He frowned in frustration and debated whether to try again. Instead of inviting her to dinner at one of the local restaurants, like he had originally planned, he could get carryout. A casual but intimate dinner at her cottage might lead to an invitation to stay over. No reason to pass up an opportunity like that. He started to tap her name, then hesitated.