by Arlene James
“Aw, Holt’s helped me out more than once, I can tell you.”
“Still, it was my car, and if I can ever repay the favor in any way,” Cara began. At that point, Kelly bounced up to her feet and waved a hand at her, turning toward the open doorway between the living area and kitchen.
“Come tell me what you think about this.”
With a bemused glance at Holt, Cara set her cup on the side table and rose to follow her hostess. A moment later, she found herself standing in a small eat-in kitchen. The square table and four chairs with red seat cushions had been shoved up against one wall to leave as much space as possible, but the room still felt crowded. Kelly regarded the window over the sink, or, rather, the colorful curtains hanging over that window. On closer inspection, Cara saw that the “curtains” were actually just lengths of fabric that had been draped over the rod.
“Coordinating or contrasting?” Kelly asked, tapping her forefinger against her chin.
Cara looked around the room again, noting the red towels that hung from the oven door handle and the red frame of the clock on the wall. “Coordinating,” she decided, pointing to the cherry-print fabric in the center of the window rod. “But if you want contrast, you might try banding it in the yellow.”
Kelly Priddy threw up her arms. “Brilliant! But why not the green?”
Cara tilted her head. “Too Christmasy for every day, don’t you think?”
Kelly smacked herself in the middle of her bangs. “Duh. So, do you sew?”
Cara shook her head. “Never learned.”
“I’ll teach you,” Kelly announced, reaching for a bowl of potato chips on the counter. “Let’s give the guys some snacks, then I’ll show you the bedroom so you can see what I’ve done in there.” She winked at Cara and whispered, “Froggy likes a fancy boudoir. Romantic cuss.”
Fancy turned out to be big flower prints, ruffles and lace. Cara managed to keep a straight face as Kelly explained how she’d created the various elements in the room. Amazed by the level of expertise in the workmanship if not the frilly decor, Cara soon found herself caught up in laughing conversation, which continued even after they rejoined the men. With every word and gesture, Kelly told Cara how much she adored her odd-looking husband. As the sentiment seemed entirely mutual, Cara could only envy the Priddys.
She and Holt departed several hours later with hugs from Kelly and handshakes from Froggy. “Good night, and thank you!” she called one more time as Holt handed her up into the passenger seat. When he slid beneath the wheel a few seconds later, she thanked him, too. “I guess I needed that to keep my mind off Eddie and the Elmonts,” she admitted, “but next time try asking, why don’t you?”
“Good advice,” he said around a grin.
Too bad he didn’t take it.
Five long days after Eddie blew her carefully constructed little world apart, Cara at last sat across the desk from one David Hyde in his Duncan law office, Holt beside her.
A stout man of middle height with frizzy gray hair, Hyde wore a huge college ring on one hand and a narrow wedding band on the other, along with golf clothes. Clearly they had interfered with his plans for the day, but he listened to the whole ugly story as if fully prepared to give them his undivided attention for as long as it took. After what felt like hours of questions, replies, notes and instructions via the intercom to his assistant in another room, the attorney gave it to them straight.
“I’m not familiar with California law. We’re researching that now. But according to Oklahoma statutes, since the commitment was voluntary, we only have a few problems.” He ticked them off, along with their possible solutions, everything from psychological evaluations to the most important consideration, a stable home environment for Ace. “For my money,” he went on, looking them square in the eyes, “the easiest, quickest, most unassailable fix is for the two of you just to get married.”
Cara bit her lips to prevent her gasp from escaping, while David Hyde went on, pointing out the obvious benefits of such an arrangement.
“It’s one thing to fight a single woman for custody of her child,” he concluded, “another to destroy a family. Make yourselves a family, and you’ve created a fortress of sorts. Then we fight from a strengthened position.”
Finally, he sat back, waiting for their response.
Cara gulped, keenly aware of Holt’s silent presence, and marshaled together the only possible reply. “I’m afraid you’ve misconstrued the relationship between Mr. Jefford and me.”
“He’s right, Cara,” Holt interrupted, taking her hand. “Fighting a married couple is a whole lot different from bullying a single mother. We should think about this.”
Appalled, she shook her head. Supporting her was one thing. Convincing his brother-in-law to bankroll her legal battles went far beyond anything she had a right to expect. She would not allow Holt to take this to absurd levels. She got to her feet as calmly as she could and stuck out her hand for Mr. Hyde.
“Thank you, sir. I feel much better knowing that you’re on this.”
“My pleasure,” Hyde assured her, and she didn’t doubt it a bit, considering what Tyler must be paying him. Holt, however, did not figure into this. How could anyone expect him to saddle himself with a wife and child just to help her win a custody suit?
Poor Holt. He’d only begun to make peace with the lies he’d known about when the whole truth had exploded in his face. She couldn’t let his guilt at unwittingly leading Eddie to her dictate his future.
Though aching inside, she walked out with her head high and eyes dry. Later, when Holt broached the subject again, she had to turn her face away in order to maintain her composure.
“It makes sense, Cara.”
“Not to me.”
“Look, if getting married will put a stop to this nonsense—”
“This subject is closed,” she interrupted sternly. “And that’s all I have to say on the matter.”
He gave up, and they drove back to Eden in silence.
Holt sat slumped over the dining table, his head in his hands. He felt all prayed out and still in shock over everything that had happened. He’d spent the first three of the past five days keeping Eddie Sharp away from Cara and Ace. Eddie had not, as hoped, returned to California, but he hadn’t had enough nerve to approach Cara again, either. That respite, Holt knew, would not last. Time was running out. Eventually Eddie would give up and summon the Elmonts. It would undoubtedly be best, as Hyde had pointed out, if they were married before that happened. That way Holt could fight for her. Apparently, though, Cara just didn’t see things that way. What hurt him most about that was the cool, resolute manner in which she had refused Hyde’s suggestion.
“I’m afraid you’ve misconstrued the relationship between Mr. Jefford and me.”
Holt had been shocked to hear Hyde’s blunt suggestion that they marry, but he’d immediately seen the sense of it. In that moment, it had even seemed inevitable, the absolutely correct end to all that had gone on before, but it appeared that he had “misconstrued” the woman’s feelings for him. After that meeting in the lawyer’s office, Cara had refused even to discuss the idea of marriage to him, and that had hurt Holt right into his own silence.
Ryan clumped into the room. “There you are! Granddad and I were waiting for you to get back and tell us what the lawyer had to say. Where’s Cara?”
“In her room.”
“This doesn’t sound good,” Ryan muttered, coming to brace his hands on the back of the chair at the end of the table. “Tell me everything.”
Holt did, including the lawyer’s suggestion that he and Cara marry.
“So what’s the problem?” Ryan asked, pulling out the chair and sitting down. Holt glared at him, partly in surprise, partly in anger. “Don’t look at me like that,” Ryan drawled, “and don’t try to tell me you aren’t wild about the girl. We’ve all seen it.”
Holt felt his ears heat and quickly looked down at his hands. “It’s not that simple.”
Holt stared more than glared this time.
“Did you think we didn’t know?” Ryan chuckled and sat back, draping an arm over the back of the chair. “That’s it, isn’t it? Tell me something. When was the last time you or any of your men had to go up top on a rig?”
“Falling isn’t the only danger,” Holt grumbled. “We blew two full lengths of pipe recently.”
“So? Everyone will be more careful now, won’t they? Check everything twice, I’m sure.” Holt looked away, because that was precisely what they were doing. “What about truck drivers, Holt? Lots more of them die every year than roughnecks. What about firemen? Policemen? Soldiers? Are those jobs only for single men? I don’t think so.”
Holt didn’t think so, either. He knew his conviction about staying single had more to do with the grief and fear that he’d somehow held on to when he should have turned it over to God instead. That didn’t solve anything, however.
“I’m not the issue. I made it clear I was willing to marry her.”
Ryan reared back in his chair. “Willing? That must have thrilled Cara right down to her little bitty toes.”
“Look,” Holt snapped, “Cara is the one who doesn’t want to marry me. All right?”
“Well, I don’t know. Is it all right with you?”
“If that’s the way she wants it,” Holt muttered.
“What about what you want?”
“That apparently doesn’t figure into it.”
“Maybe she doesn’t know how you feel about it.”
“How could she not?” Holt demanded, surprised by his own anger. “After everything I’ve done, everything that’s happened, how could she not know?” He rose, suddenly too worked up to stay in his chair. “I mean, I knew. Okay? I knew from the very beginning that she wasn’t being truthful with us, but I kept it to myself.”
“And why was that, I wonder?” Ryan asked.
“What difference does it make?” Holt retorted hotly. “She lied, and I kept mum. With every inconsistency that cropped up, I kept it to myself. I protected her!”
“Of course, you did,” Ryan commented idly. “That’s what you do, protect the people you care about.”
“Exactly! And if that wasn’t enough, what about after I found out she’d faked her identity? I kept quiet about that, too.” He thumped himself in the chest. “I stood by her. Even though she wouldn’t trust me with the truth, I stood by her! I’d still be keeping her secrets if not for that brother of hers. Then it all blows up, and what do I do? I get her every bit of help I can find her, that’s what?” He folded his arms, finishing glumly, “And now that she’s got the whole family in her corner, she doesn’t need me anymore.”
“So what are you saying?” Ryan asked. “That Cara’s an unscrupulous, immoral, ungrateful—”
“No!” Holt shouted, throwing up his hands. “You know better!”
“Then what’s really keeping you and Cara apart?” Ryan demanded, slapping his hands down against the tabletop.
“She doesn’t love me!” Holt roared, thinking it obvious. Ryan straightened. “She doesn’t love me,” Holt repeated miserably.
Ryan folded his arms, a smug look on his face. “Oh, really? And I suppose Cara told you that?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Oh. Of course. That would be too obvious. Like you telling her how much you love her and Ace.”
Holt winced. “Just stop it.”
“Better yet, you stop with this ‘willing’ nonsense and tell her how you really feel,” Ryan said. “Now would be a good time.”
With that he turned aside, revealing Cara in the open doorway to her bedroom, her eyes wide with shock as she clung to the casement, Ace on her hip. They were the two most precious things in his own personal world, Holt realized, and they just stood there staring at him.
Cara held on to the doorframe for support, her heart pounding so hard that it threatened to knock her off her feet.
Earlier, she’d lain on her bed with Ace sitting in the curve of her body and once again tearfully poured out her heart to God. The whole thing had felt a little shop worn, frankly, as if God had sat there on His throne shaking His head in strained patience, asking what more she wanted from Him. She’d wanted solutions; He’d given her solutions, and then she’d complained that they were not to her taste? She had wondered petulantly if having a husband who actually loved her was too much to ask. It had never occurred to her that Holt might be questioning her feelings for him.
“Is that what you think?” she asked. “That I don’t love you? After everything you’ve done for us, h-how could I not love you?”
He spread his hands. “But you told the lawyer that he had misconstrued—”
“Your feelings!” she interrupted. “I was talking about your feelings.”
“My feelings? Why do you think I was there with you? Why do you think I’ve done the things I’ve done, why I couldn’t just let it go and tend to my own business?”
“Because that’s just the kind of man you are, Holt,” she said, “a good Christian man with a big heart and broad shoulders that you expect the whole world to lean on.”
“Oh, please! I’ve followed you around like some pathetic, adoring hound.” He shoved a hand through his hair. “Everyone else has seen it! Why not you?”
“Because I’m me,” she said, thumping herself in the chest. “I’m the escapee from the loony bin, the liar, the schemer.” She shook her head. “A lousy schemer, but a schemer, nonetheless. I’m not what you thought I was, Holt.”
“No, you’re not what I first thought you were,” he admitted, “but you’re twice what I dreamed about. You and Ace, you’re more than I ever dared want, more than I ever dared ask for. And, the truth is, Cara, God brought you here to me. You’re mine! And I’ll be hanged if—”
She never knew what he’d be hanged for. She somehow got across the room before he could tell her, and then he didn’t have to, not with words, because he was kissing her, both her and Ace wrapped in his strong arms.
At some point, Ryan began to laugh, prompting them to pull apart enough for Cara to gaze up into Holt’s warm green eyes. “I don’t deserve you,” she whispered.
“Hoo, I’d better marry you before you come to your senses,” Holt crowed joyfully.
“I’m serious, Holt,” she insisted solemnly. “I do love you. How could I not? After everything you’ve done, you’re already my hero. But I don’t want to be rescued. That’s not what marriage is supposed to be.”
“Sweetheart,” he said, “it’s not about that. I’d planned to ask you as soon as the other issues were resolved. Then when the attorney suggested it, I thought…I thought how wondrously God works, dropping my heart’s desire right into my lap like that. Then when you just dismissed the whole idea out of hand, I can’t tell you how disappointed I was.”
“Oh, Holt. I couldn’t bear the thought of forcing you into something you didn’t want. I was afraid you felt guilty about leading Eddie to us when the fault was mine all along.”
Cupping her face in his big, capable hands, he pressed her forehead to hers, saying, “It’s not about fault, not yours, not mine. God’s been in charge here all along, honey. God knew, even before I did, how much I wanted, needed, you and Ace. He gave you Eden for a destination. He put your finger on just the right spot on that map. And He made sure that I was desperate enough to hire you when you walked in right off the street. Did you get that? I need you.”
“Good grief,” Ryan quipped, “I think he’s about to give up the big brother cape.”
Cara giggled. Holt dropped his hands from her face, his arm sliding around her shoulders as he turned toward his brother. “Okay, so maybe I have a little bit of a big brother complex.”
“Ya think?” Ryan stepped up and clapped Holt on the shoulder, adding, “That wasn’t a complaint, by the w
ay. No one’s ever had a better big brother than you.”
“Thanks,” Holt drawled before dropping his gaze to Cara once more. “But that’s not what this is about. That’s not what we are about. My wanting to marry you doesn’t have anything to do with heroics. This is about you and me belonging together.”
“Amen,” Ryan agreed. Reaching for Ace, he winked at Cara. “Personally, I’ve always thought what this family needed was a cute blond sister-in-law and an adorable nephew.” With that, he hoisted a chuckling Ace over his head.
“Heh, watch it,” Hap said, limping in from the front room. “That’s my grandson you’re tossing around like a sack of grain there.”
Cara pulled away from Holt and went to Hap. “You heard.”
He looped an arm around her, reaching out for Holt with the other. “I’m old, but I’m not deaf, sugar. I heard, and I just have one thing to say. Let’s get this show on the road.”
Laughing, Cara hugged him. Holt’s long arms embraced them both. Ryan carried Ace over to get in on the action, beaming ear to ear. Cara had never felt so loved, so included, so much a part of a something, so right.
She understood now what God had been telling her earlier. Her every problem had been solved. Her prayers had already been answered, with blessing heaped upon blessing until all the world could not hold them as they spilled out and ran over. God had kept His hand on her all along, from the very beginning. The Elmonts were not a problem; they were just a means He had used to get her here, to this man and this family, where she belonged.
They planned the simplest of ceremonies for the following Saturday, the first day of March, delaying only that long so Charlotte and Ty could whisk down from Dallas to be there.
Charlotte, God love her, came on Thursday morning armed with a trunkful of dresses. From that bounty, Cara chose a formfitting, cream-colored knit chemise with a flowing overlay of dusty pink lace, the sleeves of which ended in fluttery, bell-shaped cuffs. They dashed to Duncan for cream-colored heels and a simple bouquet of pink roses.