Love Inspired February 2014 - Bundle 1 of 2: The Cowboy's Reunited FamilyThe Forest Ranger's ReturnMommy Wanted

by Brenda Minton

  “Way to throw it back on me,” he teased, but truly he didn’t mind taking his girls to their beloved toy store.

  Kate grinned. “Sorry, but you’re the daddy, so you’re the boss, right?”

  Dee nodded. “Yep, he’s the daddy.”

  Mitch held the door and tilted his head toward the square. “I guess we’re going to the toy store, then.”

  Obviously excited to hear their new point of destination, Emmie gave him one of her openmouthed kisses on the cheek, which Mitch was fairly certain would leave him sticky. He didn’t care. He lived for those hugs.

  Dee, looking as happy as Emmie, took Kate’s hand and tugged her toward the sidewalk. “Come on, Miss Kate. You’ll like the toy store.”

  “I’m sure I will,” she said, passing close to Mitch as they walked through the doorway, the hint of peaches following in her wake.

  “Mr. Gillespie?”

  Ignoring the impulse to inhale deeper, he turned toward the teenager who’d been working the ice cream counter. “Yes, Jasmine?”

  She waited a beat as Kate moved farther away, then said, “I like her. Kate. She seems very nice.”

  He’d introduced Kate to the girl when they arrived and had also told her that Kate was his new employee, just in case she got the wrong idea about the four of them coming for ice cream. Had she gotten the wrong idea anyway? He glanced outside, where Dee had already tugged Kate toward the next store. “I like her, too,” he said. “I think she’s going to be a good employee,” he added for good measure.

  Jasmine’s mouth dipped in a frown and her brows followed suit, giving him one of those looks girls perfected that said he didn’t know what he was saying. But he did. And he wouldn’t justify her curiosity by trying to explain more. As a teen, Jasmine undoubtedly romanticized everything. Eventually she’d see that he and Kate had a professional relationship and that was it. No need for the people around town to think anything more of it than that.

  “Have a good day, Jasmine,” he said, closing the door behind him and ignoring the fact that her frown had slid into a smile, as though she knew something he didn’t.

  Teenagers. In ten years, he’d have one, and then soon after, he’d have another. And by then, hopefully, he’d understand them a little better.

  But he wouldn’t rush his little girls getting older. He wanted to enjoy every day, every age, like they were doing today, spending time together on the square.

  “Well, hello, girls,” James Bowers said as they approached Bowers’ Sporting Goods store. He put several fishing rods in a large red barrel on the sidewalk. “Who’s your friend?”

  “This is Miss Kate,” Dee said. “She likes ice cream.”

  Kate laughed. “Yes, I do.”

  Mitch quickly caught up and explained, “Kate just moved here and is my new employee.”

  Mr. Bowers situated the rods in the barrel and then turned it so the sale sign faced the street. “Well, that’s great,” he said. “You’ve needed some help for quite a while now, haven’t you?”

  “Yes, I have.”

  “So, you came to Claremont for the job?” the man continued.

  Kate blinked a couple of times, and her cheeks seemed to tinge a little more pink before she answered. “I wanted to live in a small town for a change, and Claremont seemed like a great place to settle down.” She glanced around at the square. “It’s lovely here.”

  “Been here all my life,” he said, “and I haven’t found any reason to complain. Met my sweetheart here when we were still kids at Claremont Elementary.”

  The door to the sporting goods shop opened, and Jolaine Bowers stepped out. “Well, hey, Mitch. How’re you doing?” she asked.

  “I’m good,” Mitch answered, not missing the fact that while she spoke to Mitch, her eyes were definitely more focused on Kate.

  “Your ears burning?” Her husband winked at her. “Or did you come out because you saw a new face and wanted the scoop?” He tilted his head toward Kate.

  She playfully punched him in the biceps. “I’m just being friendly, James,” she chided. “But I don’t believe we met,” she continued to Kate. “I’m Jolaine Bowers.”

  “Kate Wydell. I’m working for Mitch at his insurance agency now,” she said, then gave a soft smile. “Well, I will be working there. I haven’t actually worked at the office yet.”

  “We’ve been working from my house, since the girls have been sick this week,” he said.

  “Miss Kate likes ice cream,” Dee said. “And playing games. And toys.”

  Jolaine’s deep dimples pierced her cheeks as she grinned at Mitch’s three-year-old. “I think that’s great, Dee,” she said. Then she turned her focus to Mitch and said, “I think it’s wonderful, actually.”

  Mitch didn’t have to wonder whether she had the wrong idea. She did. And the knowing look she gave him said she was probably already seeing a wedding in his near future. Maybe it wasn’t just the teenagers in this town who tended to romanticize too much. And he really needed everyone to realize that Kate was his employee, nothing more. “We’ve had a tough couple of days,” he said, “with the girls dealing with the virus going through the day care and all, and so we decided to go for ice cream. Didn’t seem right not to invite Kate, since she’s helped us out so much.”

  The couple nodded...and continued grinning.

  Mitch gave up. “Well, we’ll see you around,” he said, and started walking away, but Jolaine halted them with her question to Kate.

  “Kate, I’m assuming you don’t have a church home in town yet? If not, then you should come to our midweek service tonight at Claremont Community Church. We have a great group of folks there and a wonderful preacher with Brother Henry. He teaches the auditorium class on Wednesdays.” She waited a second for Kate to speak, and when she didn’t, Jolaine continued, “Mitch, you and the girls will be there tonight, won’t you?”

  She knew he would, but Mitch went ahead and answered, “Yes.”

  “So he could show you where the church is,” Jolaine continued, her smile managing to grow even more and those dimples sinking to oblivion with her excited grin. “We’d sure love to have you.”

  Kate hesitated, looking to Mitch as though trying to determine his thoughts on the invitation to church. Mitch, however, was mentally kicking himself. He hadn’t thought to ask her to church. He also realized that he hadn’t thought to ask her why she’d come to Claremont initially. Obviously it wasn’t for the job, since she’d already arrived in town before she answered his classified ad. What would bring someone like Kate to Claremont? She’d come from Atlanta, as big a city as you could find in the South, and moved here to Tinyville, Alabama. A moment ago she’d said that she came to experience life in a small town.

  Was that it? Or was there more?

  “You’ll like church,” Dee said to Kate. “But we’ll go to the toy store first.”

  James and Jolaine chuckled, and Mitch realized he’d yet to state his own invitation.

  “Yes, you will,” he said. “You can follow us to the building, if you want. We meet at seven o’clock.”

  “That sounds nice,” Kate answered. “I had recently started attending a church that I liked in Atlanta, but I haven’t had a chance to find a place to attend here. Mr. and Mrs. Tingle had mentioned their church, though, and I thought I might visit.”

  Mr. Bowers grinned. “Same church, so we’ll see you there either way.”

  “That’s great,” Kate said, but Mitch noticed she still looked a little hesitant and not all that excited. Was faith something new in her life? And had that been a part of what brought her to Claremont?

  “Toys, Daddy,” Emmie said, patting his cheek with her small hand. “’Kay?”

  “Okay, sweetie,” he said, then told Mr. and Mrs. Bowers that they would see them tonight at church and cont
inued across the square. But he couldn’t get his thoughts off the niggling question...what really brought Kate Wydell to Claremont?

  By the time they reached the toy store, Mitch had introduced his new employee to the majority of Claremont’s merchants on the square, and each time they received the same look and response that they’d gotten from Mr. and Mrs. Bowers. A questioning gaze of whether there was something more to this ice cream outing quickly followed by a knowing smile that they suspected Mitch had an interest in the new girl. And then the response that bothered him most—a tender smile toward his girls that he knew meant “Oh, how wonderful it’d be if they had a mommy in their world.”

  That look pierced his heart. They did have a mommy. She’d been gone only a year and a half. And his girls were doing fine. So was Mitch, for that matter. He simply needed the town to realize that he could have a female employee without it being anything more, that he could take that employee for ice cream without it meaning anything more.

  The string of bells on the door at the Tiny Tots Treasure Box sounded loudly as they entered.

  “Welcome to Tiny Tots,” Mr. Feazell, the store owner, called from where he was settling a dollhouse in the middle of a display. He placed a tiny light so that it spotlighted the house and then quickly moved to the front of the store to welcome his guests. Unfortunately, Mitch saw the older man’s entire appearance change when he noticed Kate holding Dee’s hand. “Well, hello,” he said, grinning. “Who do you have with you today, Dee?”

  “This is Miss Kate,” Dee said. “She likes toys.”

  “You don’t say. Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Kate.” His head nodded subtly. “We’re glad you’re here. Where are you from? And how did you two meet?”

  Leave it to one of the oldest men in town to toss out his filter completely and ask what everyone else was thinking. Mitch prepared to explain Kate’s employee role again, but Kate spoke before he had a chance.

  “Oh, no,” she said, an embarrassed laugh bubbling out with her words. “It isn’t like that. Mr. Gillespie is my employer. I’m working in his office, and he was kind enough to invite me to the square this afternoon with him and his girls.”

  Mr. Feazell had a good deal of snow-white beard covering his face, but even so, Mitch saw the tops of his cheeks redden with embarrassment at his presumption. He shook his head. “Oh, I, uh—” he chuckled “—well, I’m glad you got some help for your office, Mitch, and a right pretty helper, too, I might add.” Yet another testament to the fact that Ted Feazell had no problem saying exactly what was on his mind.

  Looking uncertain about how to answer, Kate simply mumbled, “Thank you,” and then allowed Dee to pull her toward the dollhouse display.

  “Come look, Miss Kate,” she said, and Kate obliged.

  “Sorry about that, Mitch. Thought you had a lady friend,” Mr. Feazell said after they’d walked away. He attempted to whisper, but his ability to whisper had apparently flown out the window at the same time he lost his filter for words, and Mitch saw Kate’s cheeks blush bright pink.

  “No problem,” Mitch said.

  “Doggy.” Emmie pointed to an abundance of stuffed animals lining the entire right side of the store.

  Mitch walked toward the packed bins and tried to spot the one that had caught her eye. He spied a fluffy white puppy with a purple bow and pulled it from the stack.

  “No,” Emmie said, shaking her head and pointing again. “Doggy.”

  There had to be thirty dogs in the overstuffed bin she indicated, and since he wasn’t entirely certain he’d gotten all of the strawberry ice cream off of her hands, he didn’t want to have her running her palm across the toys, but he also didn’t know how he would find the one she wanted. He lifted a brown Chihuahua.

  Strawberry brows furrowed and her lower lip poked out. “No, Daddy. Dat doggy.” He leaned her closer, not close enough for her to touch, but close enough that he could narrow down his selection. It appeared as though she were reaching for either a tiny black poodle or a bulldog that had one of those “so ugly it was cute” looks. He plucked the poodle out as Kate and Dee walked over, with Dee moving to the fairy-tale figures near the Disney display.

  “Trouble picking one out?” Kate asked.

  “Trouble with me finding the one she wants,” Mitch clarified, while Mr. Feazell, standing nearby and watching it all, laughed.

  Mitch couldn’t imagine her wanting the other dog, with its flat face and wrinkles, but he took it from the batch, and then was shocked when Emmie began clapping.

  “Yes!” She grabbed the smushed-faced toy as soon as it was within reach and promptly buried her head against its fur. “Doggy!”

  “That’s the one you want?” Mitch asked, but Emmie simply continued to snuggle and love the new toy. He looked at Mr. Feazell. “I guess that’s the one we’ll take.”

  But Ted Feazell’s hand was over his mouth, his eyes were wide and his head shook slightly as he watched Emmie’s reaction to the toy. “I’m not believing...”

  Confused, Mitch looked from him to his baby girl and then back. “Not believing what?”

  “It’s just that, well, most little girls go for the cute puppies, you know, the fluffy ones, softer fur, that type of thing. I don’t get that many bulldogs in, because girls typically don’t like them, and the boys usually pick something bigger. I’ve only had one other little girl who ever had a fit over bulldogs like that. I remember each time she came in the store when she was little, that was what she wanted. She always said she wanted a real one someday, but she never got one.”

  Mitch’s memory kicked into place, and he remembered his wife talking about the puppy they’d get when Dee was big enough. “Jana?” he asked.

  Mr. Feazell’s eyes watered, and he rubbed a weathered hand across them before nodding. “Isn’t that something? She was just a baby when Jana passed, wasn’t she?”

  “Two weeks old,” Mitch said, and he noticed that Kate had taken a step toward them, her mouth open in surprise.

  “They always say kids take after their parents in what they like and all,” Mr. Feazell said. “Wouldn’t have thought about that applying to toy animals, but it sure does seem to be the case, doesn’t it?”

  “Yes,” Mitch said thickly, “it does.”

  “Doggy,” Emmie repeated, grinning against the animal’s face.

  Mitch held her a little tighter and silently appreciated the fact that she’d obviously taken after Jana in what she liked. How many other things would he see and learn over the years that showed a glimpse of the woman he loved through their children?

  “She likes...what her mommy liked,” Kate said, almost so softly that Mitch didn’t hear, but he looked up and noticed her hand held just beneath her throat as she stared awestruck at Emmie.

  Mitch didn’t get a chance to think too much about Kate’s tender emotion at seeing Emmie’s reaction to the animal because at that moment, Dee cheered, “I found her. I finally found her!” Then she ran toward them from the Disney section holding up her prized find. A tiny figurine...of Snow White.

  Chapter Five

  After the town’s reaction to the two of them at the square this afternoon, Mitch hadn’t offered for Kate to ride with them to church. No need to add fuel to the gossip fire. So instead, he’d merely let her follow them to the building, and then when they entered the lobby, he curtly introduced her to Brother Henry. While the preacher welcomed her, Mitch explained that he needed to take the girls to their respective classes.

  He ignored Dee’s tug on his arm as she tried to get him to wait for Miss Kate, and he ignored her complaint that she’d really wanted to show Kate her classroom. He’d also taken his time dropping the girls off at class so that his new employee would already be seated in the auditorium...and he could sit on the opposite side.

  His odd behavior bothered him, b
ut not as much as the events at the toy store this afternoon. And throughout Brother Henry’s lesson, his mind kept replaying that moment when he realized Emmie’s choice of stuffed animals was a tribute to her mommy. And that Dee’s toy choice...was a tribute to Kate.

  By the time the Bible class ended, he’d glanced across the auditorium at least a dozen times at the woman who indeed resembled Dee’s new Snow White figure. Something about her captivated him, and Mitch had no idea why. Nor did he like the reaction. He didn’t want to be captivated. And as much as he wanted to deny it, he kind of hoped to catch her looking his way upon one of those glances. Didn’t happen.

  He turned and exited the auditorium to go get the girls and noticed a small group of church members moving toward the new lady for introductions. Probably a good thing. He could pick up Emmie and Dee from class, get home and get a grip on the bizarre twist of spiraling emotions—a combination of guilt, fear...and infatuation.

  That last one was the kicker, because he couldn’t deny that Dee’s infatuation with the lady had nothing on Mitch’s.

  Lord, help me deal with this, he silently prayed as he went to the nursery to pick up Emmie. I can tell she’s a good person, and I know I need her help in the office—that’s what I asked You for, and You delivered—but I need help battling this pull toward her. You know I’m not ready for that, Lord, and I don’t think my girls are ready for it, either. Help me out here, God, please.

  “Emmie seems to be feeling better,” Annette Tingle said, handing her over to Mitch. Mrs. Tingle worked in the nursery on Wednesday evenings. Mitch liked knowing the sweet lady was watching after his little girl. As his neighbor, she’d been around the girls almost daily since they were born and consequently treated them like granddaughters. “Tell Daddy who we talked about tonight, Emmie.”

  Emmie grinned. “Je-sus.”

  Mitch nodded, always happy to see the girls learning about their Lord while so young. “That’s great, Emmie. You can’t go wrong there.”

  Mrs. Tingle reached for Emmie’s diaper bag, hanging on a peg near the door. Usually the pegs were all filled, but tonight only one more bag was present. “Only had three in here tonight,” she said. “Most of the town must be taking their summer vacations. Didn’t seem to be as many in the auditorium, either, from what I could tell.”