“No need. Myles and I can handle it.”
Disappointment clouded Leah’s face.
Eli coughed, and Jamie stifled a laugh. Leah was matchmaking, and he must have found it as preposterous as Jamie did.
“You have the kids and your job. You shouldn’t have to do house repairs, too. I’ll send Eli over some evening next week to do it for you.”
This time Eli’s cough came out more as the choke he was trying to cover.
Leah waved him off. “Go ahead and watch your game. I’ll shop with Jamie. We can get in some girl talk.”
Jamie had a feeling Leah’s girl talk might evolve into boy talk. One “boy” in particular. Maybe while they were on the topic, she could convince Leah that she didn’t need Eli to help her with her plumbing. Or maybe Leah’s current art project would absorb her attention to the exclusion of everything else, as often happened, and she’d forget all about her offer.
The last thing Jamie needed was more quality time with Eli. He couldn’t seem to open his mouth without saying something that rubbed her the wrong way. Of course, if he stopped talking and just stood around looking good, she might get used to him.
* * *
Eli found his friend Drew Stacey’s truck in the driveway as he pulled up to the small winterized cottage he was renting on Paradox Lake. He parked next to the truck and got out.
“Hey, I thought you’d stood me up,” Drew said.
Eli’s mind went blank for a moment. The game. He’d invited Drew over to watch the game. He was becoming as absentminded as his mother. Between repairing his mother’s heating system and the distraction of running into Jamie at the hardware store, he’d forgotten about Drew. Maybe he should cut Mom some slack. Civilian life was proving less predictable than his former life.
“Time got away from me.”
“Now, that’s a first,” Drew said.
Eli rubbed the back of his neck. “I had to go into Ticonderoga and get a release valve for Mom’s heating system. She wanted to come along to pick up some groceries.”
“Let me guess. She ran into someone she knew.”
Drew obviously knew his mother. “Several someones.” Eli opened the door and the men went in the house. “Including Jamie Glasser.” Eli winced. He had no idea why he’d added that.
“Better watch out,” Drew said, making himself comfortable on Eli’s couch.
Eli picked up the remote and flicked the TV on. The screen flashed a zero-zero score and went to a commercial break. “How’s that?”
“After Jamie’s husband was killed, your mother helped her out. All of us at church did. But your mother more than many. She said she could relate to Jamie’s situation having been a young widow herself. And having a son in the military.”
“That sounds like Mom. She has a big heart.”
“That she does. And it was broken when Jamie and the kids stopped coming to church and she couldn’t convince her to return.”
“Jamie was a member of Community Church?”
“Yeah, she was one of the charter members of our Singles Plus group, sang in the choir and often helped with the women’s group fund-raisers.”
“And she just stopped coming?”
“Pretty much.”
Eli would have thought that, if her faith had been as strong as her church activities seemed to indicate, she would have drawn on that faith. That’s what he’d always done.
“Jamie’s bitter. John was supposed to have come home in less than a month. Pastor Joel, your mother—no one’s been able to break through that bitterness.”
“Tough situation.” One he’d seen too often. And one he didn’t need to get involved in. “I’m going to get a drink. Do you want anything?” Eli needed to distance himself from Drew’s words and the pain they recalled.
“I’ll take a cola if you have one.”
“Sure thing.”
Eli walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. He’d been stunned when he’d learned that his ex-fiancee had been killed. And he’d lost other friends. So he knew a little of what Jamie had gone through. He knew the bitterness, too. The questions about how a loving God could allow the atrocities of war. But he’d found solace in prayer. Turned to, not away from Him.
He grabbed two sodas and closed the refrigerator with his elbow. Who was he to judge Jamie’s actions? Still he pitied her for not taking the healing love offered her. And he pitied her kids more for Jamie’s denying them that healing power by taking them away from church.
“What did I miss?” he asked as he returned to the living room and tossed Drew his cola.
“Incomplete pass.” Drew waited a second and popped the tab on the can.
Eli settled in the worn recliner. Thoughts of Jamie and his mother clouded his concentration on the game. Army called for a timeout and the station went to another commercial.
“You know you never told me what I needed to watch out for,” Eli mused.
“Huh?”
“When I’d said we’d run into Jamie, you said I’d better watch out.”
“Oh, that. Your mother has become something of a matchmaker.”
Eli groaned, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. An image of Jamie’s face lighting up with an impish smile when he’d given her his thumbs-up signal in the hardware store flashed in his head. “Jamie and me? No way. She’s not my type.” So why couldn’t he get the woman out of his thoughts?
Chapter Four
“Eli Payton.”
The woman’s voice filtering back from the reception area jerked Jamie’s attention from the patient chart she was updating on her iPad. Eli was here? At the birthing center? She looked through the window separating the nursing station from reception.
“Has agreed to cover my classes for me,” Becca Norton finished. “So any time of the day is okay for my appointment.”
“The new guidance counselor? My daughter loves him. And he’s not bad on the eyes, either,” the office assistant said.
“I can’t argue with that and neither would my junior girls. Some of them find the need to visit the guidance office daily to discuss their college and career goals.”
Jamie’s stomach clenched and she tapped the tablet’s screen too sharply. Seriously, she couldn’t be jealous of a bunch of starry-eyed sixteen-year-olds. Nor should she be jealous of Becca. Jamie was hard-pressed to think of anyone who suited her less than Eli Payton did. If, that is, she was looking for someone to suit, which she wasn’t. She had more than enough in her life with work and the kids.
As for Eli and Becca, Jamie’s rational side said they might be good together. They were both educators and active in the Hazardtown Community Church. He’d offered to cover Becca’s classes for her doctor’s appointments. There could already be some interest there. Jamie tamped down the less positive feelings her emotional side had set loose.
She should drop some hints about Becca to Leah the next time she ran into her, so Leah could channel her matchmaking efforts elsewhere. A good part of her shopping trip with the older woman had consisted of Leah touting Eli’s virtues and how much he liked kids. How he realized that, at his age, he needed to be open to the possibility of the “right” woman already having children. Leah had assured Jamie that he was.
Her cell phone buzzed in her pocket, halting Jamie’s thoughts and the empty hole that had started to blossom in her stomach when she’d pictured Eli and Becca together. It was most likely one of the kids. She frowned. They knew they weren’t supposed to call her during office hours unless it was an emergency.
“Hello,” she answered without checking the caller ID.
“Hi, Jamie. It’s Emily. You busy?”
Jamie regretted the irritation in her greeting. “I’m at work, but I’ve finished my last appointment. What’s up?”
“I need a favor. Drew is taking the youth group sledding at the golf course tomorrow. Maybe Myles told you about it. The kids planned it at the last meeting.”
Jamie tensed. Was she going to
ask her to allow Myles to go? Eli had probably told Drew about her blowup with him after he’d driven Myles home from the meeting and Drew had asked his wife to clear the sledding with Jamie beforehand. She was torn. She wanted Myles to be involved in good activities. But she didn’t want him to be taught to depend on faith to get through life. John’s death had shown her the futility of that.
She shook off the tension. More likely she was making something out of nothing. Guys were more closemouthed about things. Emily was probably calling about something else altogether, like borrowing her kids’ sleds.
“No, Myles didn’t mention it.” But, then, he hadn’t said much of anything to her in the past couple of weeks, except when Jamie had asked him a direct question.
“I thought he might be coming since he was at the meeting. He took a permission slip.”
“Oh.”
“No matter. Could you come and chaperone? It’s tomorrow from one to four. I know. Short notice. I’m supposed to be the girls’ chaperone, but both of my kids had some kind of bug the past few days, and now I’m way behind on a deadline. I need to work tomorrow.”
Three hours of chaperoning the youth group outing meant three hours with Eli—probably, the more congenial jeans-and-Henley-shirt Eli she’d glimpsed at the hardware store. Her pulse quickened. No, it wasn’t a good idea. Even if Myles went, Jamie still had the girls and was on call.
Emily filled the growing silence. “Rose and Opal can come, too. It’s strictly a social event. I understand you’ve distanced yourself from church, and I respect that.”
Church wasn’t all she’d distanced herself from, but she didn’t need to get into that with Emily or anyone else. “I don’t know. I’m on call with Kelly tomorrow.” Even though it was a reasonable excuse, it wasn’t good enough to stop the twinge of guilt that pricked her. Emily had taken the girls after school the day she’d been delayed by her meeting with Eli, even though Emily had been busy working.
“I’m sure you could leave if you got a call. I’ve asked everyone I can think of. No one’s available.”
There was a time when Jamie would have been the first person Emily would have called, not the last. Or wouldn’t have had to call at all because Jamie would have already volunteered to chaperone. A yearning to belong to something beyond work and family pulled at her. It was time for her to get involved in activities again. They didn’t have to be connected to church. She could volunteer with Rose and Opal’s Girl Scout troops or at school. If Myles ran track in the spring as Eli had suggested, she could join the sports boosters. They were always looking for help.
“Are you still there?” Emily asked.
“Yes.” She had to stop the woolgathering and simply tell her friend no.
“Good. With the spotty cell coverage around here, I thought I’d lost you. Drew and I would really appreciate it if you can cover for me. He doesn’t want to have to cancel and disappoint the kids.” Emily paused. “If it makes any difference, Eli won’t be there.”
Jamie cringed inside. Emily did know about the friction between her and Eli. For all Jamie knew, everyone did. Everyone but his mother.
“Sure, why not?” She relented. What could it hurt?
* * *
Saturday turned out to be one of those perfect winter days, the sky so blue it almost hurt her eyes and the temperature low enough to make the snow crisp and ideal for sledding without being bitterly cold.
“Put a move on it, girls. Get your saucers out of the garage. We’re supposed to be at the golf course in fifteen minutes.”
Although the group was gathering at the church for carpooling, Jamie had told Drew she would meet them at the Schroon Lake Country Club golf course.
“Mom, do we need the padding for the toboggan?” Myles called from the garage. “I can’t find it.”
Considering the searching abilities of most teenage boys, that wasn’t saying much. She started toward the garage.
“Never mind. I found it.” A moment later, he appeared at the garage door with the padded toboggan in tow. They loaded it into the car, and Myles lifted the girls’ saucers in.
Everyone piled in, the girls vibrating with excitement at being included in an event with the big kids. Under his usual gruff, noncommittal attitude, Myles seemed to be happy, too. Jamie snuck a look at his relaxed profile as she drove State Route 74 to Schroon Lake. Since she’d told him about her filling in for Emily today, she’d had her old Myles back. The joy of having her goofy, lovable lug of a teen boy around lightened Jamie’s heart.
As usual, Jamie and her crew arrived at the country club first. She couldn’t help it. She was perpetually early, which was one reason Eli’s attention to her arrival and the clock had aggravated her so during their first meeting. If she’d known about the meeting she would have been on time or let him know she wouldn’t be. But no need to ruin her good mood by dredging up something that happened in the past and couldn’t be changed.
“Let’s unload our stuff. I’m sure everyone else will be here in a minute.” She checked her watch. Or ten.
“I knew you’d be here,” Drew said when he pulled up and got out of his pickup.
“You know me. When I first started driving, my dad drilled into me to always leave with enough time to change a tire if I had a flat and still be on time.”
“How’s that worked?”
“Can’t really tell you, since I’ve never had a flat tire. Of course, I’m never late, either.” Or almost never late.
Drew laughed. “Emily and I really appreciate your helping out.”
“Glad to.” She hadn’t realized how much until just now.
The other drivers started arriving, and the kids spilled out into the parking lot with an assortment of sleds.
“Ready, girls?” Drew asked, motioning Rose and Opal to follow him. Myles had already sauntered over to Tanner’s mother’s car.
“And no big deal if Kelly calls you in for a birth,” Drew called over his shoulder. “Eli changed his plans. He said he could cut out of his American Legion meeting in time to get here by two at the latest.”
Jamie stared at their retreating backs. It surprised her that Eli would skirt a Legion commitment but not that he still had a hand in the military. John had planned to join the U.S. Army Reserve when he mustered out of the army. Once in the service, always in the service. She’d learned that as a young military wife. The service always came first.
Jamie pocketed her keys and trudged across the snow-covered parking lot to catch up with the others. Had Drew told Eli she was filling in for Emily? Was that why he’d changed his mind about being able to help? Her traitorous heart skipped a beat. If so, it had to be because he didn’t trust her to watch the kids, not because of any desire to see her. His attitude at their meeting had said to her that he thought she was an inept mother who couldn’t take care of her own child. Why would he think she’d be any better with other people’s children? Not that it mattered, beyond the fact that his critical attitude aggravated her. She didn’t need to prove anything to him. For all she knew, he treated all parents the same as he treated her. Jamie breathed in the clear cold winter air and released it. But, for whatever reason, his treatment of her did matter.
* * *
Eli shielded the sun from his eyes and surveyed the figures at the top of the golf course hill. He spotted Jamie’s purple jacket right off. At least he thought it was hers. It was the same color as the coat she’d worn to their last meeting. The figure turned. Black curls peeked out from the sides and front of her multihued ski hat. A sense of satisfaction filled him. He knew it was her. He climbed the hill, surprised at how much he’d warmed at the minor exertion. He hadn’t thought he’d let himself get that much out of fighting shape.
As he reached the top, two smaller kids grabbed Jamie’s gloved hands and pulled her toward a toboggan. Evidently, along with the youth group teens, Jamie had Myles’s younger sisters to contend with, too. Good thing he hadn’t had any difficulty leaving the meeting. The guys ha
d already worked out all of the details for the teen rifle course, and he hadn’t really been needed. Not as much as he was needed here.
“Hey, man.” Drew lifted a hand in greeting.
Eli joined him.
“The kids wanted to have toboggan races. I’ve had Jamie here setting up the heats and I’ve been clocking the finishes at the bottom. We’re taking a break so she can make a run with Rose and Opal. She’s okay with them using their saucers on the smaller run but didn’t want them taking the toboggan down alone.”
Eli nodded his agreement with her decision. “How many kids came?”
“About twenty. All the regulars and a few guests, older kids’ boyfriends and girlfriends. Lends a new dimension to the chaperoning.” Drew moved his head to the left to a lone couple snuggled close, waiting for the last round of racers to return with the toboggans.
“I can think of a whole lot of worse places for them to be getting close than sledding with the youth group. Why don’t I walk over and say hi?”
“You do that,” Drew said. “And I’ll go back to my station downhill.”
Drew was going to leave him here with Jamie? Well, here with her when she got back up from her run with her daughters. After a second of ridiculous and unfounded apprehension, reality clicked in. Of course. She’d need more help up here shepherding the teens and keeping an eye on her girls than Drew would at the bottom of the run. He whistled as he walked over to the young couple Drew had pointed out.
“Hey, Seth.”
“Hi, Mr. Payton.”
While most of the youth group members called Drew by his first name, Eli had stuck with the more formal address, since he was most of the members’ guidance counselor at school.
The boy loosened his vice grip on the girl’s waist and she lifted her head from his shoulder. “This is my girlfriend, Ava. She’s from Ticonderoga. I might have mentioned her when I was talking to you about college and stuff.”
Ava tipped her head toward Seth and her eyes narrowed.
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