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

by Brenda Minton

  “Well, I think it’s great that Mitch found someone with office-management experience. It’s not easy to find anyone in Claremont like that because it’s such a small town, and there aren’t that many places that even need an office manager.” Hannah paused, tilted her head as she studied Kate. “You know, something about you seems so familiar....”

  Kate swallowed. “Maybe I have one of those faces, the kind that it seems like you’ve seen before.” She managed a laugh. “Common features.”

  “I wouldn’t say that,” Mitch said softly, and Kate found herself turning from Hannah to Mitch, who’d been quietly listening to every word she’d said and had, at some point, scooted a little closer to her on the step.

  “Thanks,” she whispered, losing herself in the blueness of his eyes and the reddish-blond lashes surrounding them. He was such a unique, interesting man, and he made her feel calm.

  Hannah cleared her throat loudly, and Kate blinked, then turned her attention back to the lady still studying her intently but now with a little bit of a smile. “So...what brought you to Claremont?”

  Kate noticed Mitch straighten beside her, as though he didn’t want Hannah asking this particular question, but Kate didn’t mind. She’d give her the same answer she gave him...for now. Later, whenever she got the opportunity to talk to Mitch alone, she’d explain everything. But now she only said, “I wanted to experience small-town living.”

  Hannah nodded but then squinted at Kate. “You really do seem familiar. Did you do any modeling at some point? We have a store on the square called Consigning Women, where the owner, Maribeth Walton, matches outfits of models and celebrities with the items she has in her store. She’ll put the pictures up of the models on the board beside the outfits. Maybe I saw you there?” Her tone was as friendly and inviting as Kate remembered, even if it did feel as if she was getting pleasantly interrogated.

  “No, I’ve never modeled,” she said. Then, ready to get away before Hannah put her finger on exactly why she seemed so familiar, Kate stood. “Well, I’m going to get over to the B and B and let y’all continue your visit. It was a pleasure to meet you, Hannah.”

  “You, too.”

  Mitch reached for her hand and held it a moment. “I’m glad you came over,” he said.

  Kate enjoyed the momentary contact, palm to palm, flesh to flesh, the warmth of his hand cloaking hers and making her feel as if everything would somehow be okay. “I’m glad, too,” she said.

  Still holding her hand, he added, “I’ll see you at work in the morning.”

  “Yes, I’ll see you there,” she said, then noticed Hannah staring at their joined hands...and smiling.

  “In case anyone’s wondering, I’m glad you came over, too,” she said.

  Mitch’s low laugh caused a sweet tingle along Kate’s spine, and she felt her cheeks blush as she quickly released his hand. “Thanks, Hannah,” she said, and then gave each of the girls a hug before walking back to the B and B.

  She was nearly to the opposite sidewalk when she clearly heard Hannah’s next four words to her brother-in-law.

  “I like her, Mitch.”

  Kate entered the B and B, closed the door and leaned against it. Then she let her tears of happiness fall, and she prayed that she wouldn’t shed tears of sadness when Hannah learned who she was.

  Chapter Nine

  Kate drove down I-20 from Atlanta toward Claremont thinking about how she couldn’t wait for the results of today’s checkup to come in. Her oncologist had said if everything came back good again, she could start scheduling her appointments for every six months instead of every three. And then, if she continued having clear reports for another year, her exam would occur annually. The anxiety that she developed for each of these appointments nearly made her as sick as she’d been the days after chemo. This morning she hadn’t been able to eat breakfast, and at lunch she hadn’t felt any better, so she’d skipped that, too.

  She’d been so anxious that she’d hardly said anything to Mitch today beyond answering his questions about work. She’d wanted to ask him more about his visit with Hannah and Autumn, and she’d wondered what he’d thought of Hannah’s comment that she liked Kate.

  Kate desperately wanted the Claremont community to like her. Maybe it’d be easier to forgive her when they learned who she was if they’d grown to like the new Kate. But Hannah’s approval meant even more because she was so close to Mitch.

  Kate’s stomach growled loudly, obviously ready to make up for that missed breakfast and lunch. She exited the interstate at the next town to pick up something from one of the fast-food restaurants. A cheeseburger sounded really good and should take care of her hunger.

  But as she pulled into the Wendy’s parking lot, her cell phone rang. Glancing at the display, she saw Mitch’s name, so she ignored the drive-through lane and pulled into one of the parking spaces to talk.

  “Hello,” she answered.

  “Hey, how did your appointment go?” he asked.

  She still hadn’t told him what kind of appointment it was, but she did have a positive feeling about today’s checkup, so she answered, “It went good.”

  “That’s great,” he said, then he cleared his throat, and the line went silent.

  Kate waited, wondering if this was the extent of the conversation. “Well, I guess I’ll see you in the morning?” she finally asked, and hoped he’d say that he wanted her to come over and spend time with him and the girls tonight. Even though she’d been gone only this afternoon, she’d missed him, and she’d missed Dee and Emmie, too.

  She wondered, if she were able to have a relationship with Lainey, whether this was the type of longing she’d feel toward wanting to see her little girl. Oh, she longed to see her now, but she didn’t “know” her like she knew Dee and Emmie. And she wanted to know her. Maybe if her prayers were answered with a yes, she would know her daughter very well, very soon.

  A couple of cars went through the parking lot to line up at the drive-through while Kate continued waiting for Mitch to say something. Finally, he said, “I’m not all that used to this, but I’m going to give it my best shot here. So bear with me.”

  He sounded nervous, not like the confident man she’d become so familiar with over the past week, and Kate pressed the phone closer to her ear. “What is it, Mitch?”

  “Hannah offered to let the girls stay at their place tonight so they could spend some time with Autumn, since they missed the beach trip. And she thought—or actually, I thought—well, I wondered if you might be hungry and want to have some dinner with me?”

  Kate’s stomach growled again, loud enough that she thought he might have heard it over the line, and she placed a hand over her mouth because her smile was so broad it hurt. Tears slipped free. Mitch was asking her on a date. A real date. Dinner. Over the past few years, she’d never been the kind of girl a guy took out in public. Harrison Tinsdale was divorced when he and Kate got together, so there was no reason for him to feel the need to keep from taking her out, but once the cancer hit and her weight fell off and she lost her hair, the renowned plastic surgeon opted out of a relationship with a girl who no longer fit his standard for perfection.

  “Kate?” Mitch continued, and she realized that now she’d been the one to keep him waiting on the other end.

  But she wouldn’t keep him waiting any longer. And she wouldn’t get that cheeseburger. Dinner with Mitch would be worth the wait. Anything that involved spending time with Mitch would be worth the wait. Tonight, they’d have their first date, and then she’d tell him the truth about Chad and Lainey. For her entire life, she’d done the wrong thing; now she was doing what was right. She could feel it in her soul, and it was a very wonderful, amazingly good feeling. Mitch would forgive her for her past. He would. She’d prayed for it, and she knew her prayers would be answered. Tonight. “Yes, I’d love to
go to dinner with you. I should be back to Claremont in about an hour.”

  “I’ll pick you up at six-thirty, then,” he said. “And, Kate...”

  “Yes?”

  “This is my first date in about three years, so I might be a bit rusty.”

  Kate’s heart melted. He was so nervous about starting over again, but little did he know, so was she. “That’s okay. It’s been that long since I’ve been on a real date, too, so we’ll be rusty together.”

  * * *

  Mitch opened the door of the B and B and waited in the foyer, as nervous as a high schooler picking up a girl for their first date and fretting about meeting the parents. But there were no parents to meet.

  Then he heard someone bustling down the hall and realized he’d been wrong. She wasn’t a parent, but he had no doubt Annette Tingle had already taken on a motherly type role in Kate’s world, and the way she looked at him now, her eyes expectant and inquisitive, Mitch prepared for something akin to the high school drilling. Where are you going? When will you be back? What are you planning to do while you’re gone?

  Mrs. Tingle said, “Kate is still getting ready. She’ll be down in a moment. Why don’t we wait on the porch?”

  “Okay,” Mitch said, thinking there was probably a reason she ushered him outside and then closed the door instead of allowing him to wait in the foyer.

  His suspicions proved true when she lowered her voice and said, “This means a lot to Kate, you asking her to dinner this evening, and I wanted you to know I think it’s a good thing, too, for her and for you.” Then she glanced back toward the door, still closed, and added in a whisper, “She’s been hurt in the past, and she’s hurt folks in the past. I don’t know the specifics, but I know that that sweet girl has been through a lot and that she’s trying to find her way again. And I honestly think God sent her here to do that.”

  “She’s talked to you?” he asked, curious as to whether Annette knew about the child or about whatever else had happened in Kate’s past.

  “Like I said, nothing specific, only to say that she’s not sure she deserves forgiveness for what she’s done. Breaks my heart, let me tell you.”

  Mitch hurt for Kate, feeling so terrible about letting her baby go. He wanted to help her find the forgiveness she needed and learn to live again. Maybe even learn to love again, if that was where this relationship headed. Because Mitch had started to think that it might be possible for him again...with Kate. Tonight was merely the first step in seeing if that possibility could become probability and then ultimately reality.

  The door opened, Kate stepped out and Mitch was momentarily speechless. She wore a long royal-blue dress, more classy than any of the dresses she’d worn to the office or to church. Tiny spaghetti straps held it in place on her slender shoulders, and a layer of lace, the same hue as the dress, covered the fabric and hung a little lower than the hem, drawing attention to her gold sandals and pink-painted toes. Her dark curls were pinned up on the sides with gold barrettes, and that gold locket that she often wore dangled beneath her neck. She looked so feminine, so beautiful.

  And Mitch had to tell her. “You look...stunning.”

  The spot between her neck and that locket blushed pink. “Thank you,” she said, touching that very place as if she could feel her heated skin. “I’m sorry you had to wait, but I had a hard time picking what to wear.”

  “I like what you chose,” he said. “That color matches your eyes, makes them even bluer, I think.”

  Mrs. Tingle nodded her agreement. “I think so, too.” Then she smiled at Mitch, gave Kate a hug and kissed her cheek. “Y’all have a good time,” she said, still smiling as she went back into the house.

  And then the two of them stood on the porch, alone and anxious. Mitch cleared his throat. “So, you ready to go?”

  She nodded. “I am.”

  Mitch stepped toward her and thought about putting his arm around her as he walked her to the car, but it didn’t seem the right thing to do, at least not yet. So he walked beside her, holding out a hand to help her as they went down the porch steps, since she used one hand to hold up the lacy hem of her dress. It felt good to help her, felt right to hold her hand, so when they reached the bottom of the steps, Mitch didn’t let go. And she didn’t pull away.

  A tiny measure of success trickled through him, and he found himself feeling a bit of ease at this first-date thing. He opened the passenger door and watched her gather the blue fabric to puddle around her legs as she climbed in. She was so graceful. So...fragile, his mind whispered. Fragile. Why did he get that impression? Maybe because of Mrs. Tingle’s comments that Kate had been hurt and that she also felt the pain of having hurt others. Mitch assumed that had something to do with when she gave up her child. He wanted to help her through those pains, but he’d have to wait until she trusted him enough to open up. Maybe she would start tonight.

  He circled the car and got in the driver’s seat to find Kate holding up a tiny pink Hello Kitty bag.

  “I’m thinking this isn’t for me?” she asked.

  He laughed. “Hannah called to say the girls forgot their toothbrushes, so I thought we’d drop them off at their place before we go to the restaurant, if that’s okay.”

  She placed the bag in her lap. “Of course it’s fine.”

  Mitch backed the car up and started the short drive to Matt and Hannah’s home. They lived in a subdivision on the other side of Hydrangea Park, and when they neared the park, Mitch noticed the Little League fields were packed. “Looks like a few T-ball games going on tonight,” he said, slowing the car to watch a tiny batter hit the ball off the tee and take off running toward first base while the crowd of parents cheered. The little girl’s blond ponytail bounced against her back as she ran. She stumbled and fell onto the base but then jumped up and started clapping. Mitch chuckled. “They get to play when they’re four. Dee just missed the cutoff this year, but she’s already said she wants to play next year. I’m looking forward to that.”

  “Oh, my, I didn’t realize girls played T-ball, too. That’s a girls’ team?” She peered out the window to see the next batter, a little boy who had turned away from the tee completely to wave at his family in the stands. “No, that’s a little boy,” she said, answering her question before Mitch had the chance.

  “Right. At that age, it’s all about having fun and bringing the community together. They don’t even keep score, and they don’t worry about separating the boys from the girls.” He continued past the fields. “In a small town, athletics are a pretty big deal because it gives folks something to do, and it usually keeps the teenagers out of trouble, or that’s what my folks always said. Seemed to work for me, though I wasn’t perfect or anything,” he clarified.

  “I wasn’t perfect, either,” she whispered, her face still turned away from Mitch as she peered toward the fields until they disappeared. He was fairly certain she hadn’t intended for him to hear the remark, so he didn’t ask any questions. Yet. He wanted her to tell him about her past without him feeling as though he were dissecting it. So he went with a safer point of discussion.

  “I’m guessing girls didn’t play T-ball where you grew up in Atlanta?” he asked, glancing at her and seeing that she appeared to be pondering the answer.

  “You know, I’m really not sure. I had two stepsisters, but they were much older and didn’t care for sports at all. And my stepmom and father didn’t sign me up for it, if T-ball were an option for me. As a matter of fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a T-ball game.”

  “Well, we’ll have to change that,” he said. “If not this year, then definitely next year when Dee plays.” He liked the idea of Kate being with him next year and cheering Dee on when she played. He liked it a lot, in fact.

  Still trying to learn a bit about her childhood and then hopefully her adulthood, he continued, “So, what types of act
ivities did you do as a kid? Soccer? Swim team? Karate? Or maybe you were more of an art and piano lessons kind of girl? I’ve been looking into all of the options for Dee and Emmie, and it’s almost overwhelming. I don’t want to pick too many and burn them out, but I also want to help them find their talents and interests.”

  Kate turned to look at him, and she gave him a soft smile. “You really are an amazing daddy, you know that?”

  “I’m trying,” he said with a grin. “So, what did you like? Maybe that’ll help me know which direction to start when I begin signing Dee and Emmie up for activities.”

  She shook her head. “To tell the truth, I don’t know what I would have liked at that age. Apart from things at the day care and then school, I didn’t do any activities that I can recall.”

  “Nothing?” he asked, shocked.

  “My father and stepmom worked late hours at their jobs, so they didn’t have time to take me to practices. I was typically the last one picked up from the after-school program. We’d eat dinner, then I’d do homework and get ready for bed, and then the next day, it’d start again,” she said. “I hope my little girl gets to do lots of activities, though.”

  “I hope so, too,” he said, wishing he didn’t hear so much sadness and regret in her words. Mitch knew her thoughts revolved daily around that little girl she didn’t know. Wondering about her, longing for her, missing her. He now suspected that Kate’s own childhood may have played a part in her deciding to give up her daughter. From just the brief conversations they’d had, he hadn’t detected a lot of love in the family, nor an abundance of time for familial bonding.