North Country Dad (Northern Lights #4)

by Lois Richer

  Grant said goodbye to Kurt and headed home. On the way he decided he’d look for an opportunity to tell her what he’d learned from Kurt.

  “And I’ll pray,” he vowed. “I have to think of some way to help. It’s her big dream. I don’t want to see it fail.”

  She’d done so much for him, it seemed only fair he do what he could for her.

  His heart warned that there was more to it than that, but Grant refused to stop and analyze what that might be.

  He pulled up to the house, but before he could open his front door, Lucy raced outside, her face as white as her hair.

  “Why don’t you answer your phone?” she asked, tears streaming down her cheeks.

  “What’s wrong?” Dread clamped an icy hand around his throat. He raced inside but didn’t see the twins. “Where are they?”

  “I don’t know,” she said, her voice frantic. “Grace asked for a glass of milk. I went to get it. When I came back, she and Glory were gone. Hector went to look for them.”

  “How long ago?” he gasped.

  “Fifteen minutes?” Lucy buried her face in her hands. Then, as if regaining strength, she threw back her shoulders. “I’ll stay here and pray. You go look for them. I’ve already alerted the police.”

  Guilt swelled. He wanted to blame Lucy, but it was his fault this happened. He’d failed again, having coffee when he should have been here, at home, doing his duty as a father. He’d never felt more helpless.

  “My phone is on now,” he said. “Call me—”

  Lucy nodded and said, “Go!”

  But once inside his car, Grant wasn’t sure where to go. Dahlia, he decided. She’d know. He pressed the gas and headed to her store.

  And prayed with every fiber of his being.

  Chapter Eight

  “You haven’t seen them?” Staff Sergeant Dave Cramer asked Dahlia as they stood at the counter in the hardware store.

  “No,” she said trying to understand. “Why would Grace and Glory come here?”

  “We’re not sure where they went.” He explained Lucy’s frantic call. “I’ve started a search.”

  “Those twins are as mischievous as they come and they love to play games.” Dahlia struggled to suppress her worry. “Grant must be frantic.”

  “I am,” Grant said as he strode into the store.

  “Give me a minute and I’ll go with you to look for them,” she promised. “Dave, this is Grant Adams, the twins’ father. Grant, this is Staff Sergeant Dave Cramer. He’s already looking for the twins.”

  “We’ve been trying to reach you, Mr. Adams,” Dave said.

  Dahlia ducked away to ask her assistant to cover for her for the rest of the day. When she returned with her jacket and truck keys, Dave was gone and Grant was pacing.

  “Let’s go find them,” she said.

  “It’s my fault they took off,” he growled, berating himself. She led the way to her truck.

  “Let’s take mine. I have four-wheel drive. We might need that. Why is it your fault, Grant?”

  “I’m supposed to keep track of them.” He sounded angry. “Where do we start?”

  “Let’s head toward your place in case they’re on their way back. Who knows what those two are up to.”

  “I should have known Lucy couldn’t handle them.”

  “Stop it, Grant. Blame doesn’t help.” Dahlia wanted to say she was to blame since she’d facilitated the twins’ care with Lucy. But that wouldn’t help. She pulled onto the street, glancing right and left as she drove. “Do you know what they were wearing?”

  “This morning they had on those polka-dot outfits you made. It’s been so warm and they wanted to show them off and…” His voice trailed away as he looked at her. “I don’t know if they took jackets or not. Lucy didn’t say.”

  Dahlia called Lucy, who reported nothing missing from the coat closet. Dahlia then called Laurel and asked if the Lives boys could help search.

  “Of course. I’ll drive them in now. Keep me posted. We’ll check the road on the way,” she promised.

  “There. We’ve got a lot of helpers looking,” Dahlia told Grant. “Keep praying. We’ll find them.”

  They drove in silence for several minutes toward the school. Suddenly, Grant grabbed her arm, startling her so much she slammed on the brakes.

  “Sorry. I just thought of something,” he explained. “Ben told the twins about a sod house the Lives boys helped build. The twins have been asking questions about it ever since.”

  Without another word, Dahlia wheeled the truck around and drove toward the sod house.

  “Can’t hurt to check it out,” she said. Her heart melted at the look on Grant’s face. She pressed his shoulder and let her fingers linger, trying to encourage him. She wanted to do more, to ease his burden somehow, but how?

  When they arrived, they stepped out of the car and glanced around. A giggle floated to Dahlia on the breeze.

  “Listen.” Dahlia held her breath. It came again, faint but undeniable. Her gaze met Grant’s and held.

  “Be calm,” she begged softly. “We don’t want to terrify them. We can explain later that leaving as they did was wrong. For now let’s just make sure they’re safe.”

  His lips tightened but he nodded his agreement. Dahlia led the way. A few moments later, behind the sod house, they saw the twins crouched down in some very tall grass, playing with a black cat.

  “Hello, girls,” she said. “I see you’ve found a friend. What’s his name?”

  “I don’t know.” Glory glanced from Dahlia to her father. “Hi, Daddy. What are you doing here?”

  “Daddy and I came to look for you,” Dahlia said before Grant could answer. “Miss Lucy is very worried. She doesn’t know where you are.”

  “But we left her a picture.” Grace frowned. “We asked for some milk for this kitty. Miss Lucy was bringing it to us, but she took so long. This kitty started to leave so we followed it. But I drew a picture for Miss Lucy.” Grace tilted her head to look at her father. “Maybe she doesn’t know how to read my pictures. Do you think so, Daddy?”

  “Yes, I think that’s exactly right,” Grant told her. “We should go home so she won’t worry anymore. You don’t want Miss Lucy to worry, do you?”

  “Oh, no.” The twins shook their heads in unison.

  “What about him?” Glory said, looking at the cat. “He’s hungry. He meows all the time.”

  “Let’s bring him along, then.” Dahlia reached out to pick up the cat, but it clawed at her, leaving long scratches on her arm. “Ow!”

  “You have to be gentle with him, Dally.” Glory frowned.

  “We’ll leave him here, then,” Grant said. He was immediately inundated with howls of distress from the twins.

  While Grant tried reasoning with his daughters, Dahlia called Dave Cramer. Then she called Lucy and finally Laurel.

  “I’m sorry I dragged you and the boys out,” she apologized.

  “Nonsense. We all wanted to help. Since we aren’t needed there, we might spend the next hour or so pulling weeds along the go-kart track.” Laurel chuckled. “I take it you won’t object?”

  “Hardly.” Dahlia was delighted that despite the emergency, they would make progress today. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

  Grant motioned to Dahlia that he wanted to speak to Laurel.

  “Hang on, Laurel. Grant wants to talk to you.”

  Dahlia held out her phone. As his fingers grazed hers, a tingle zipped up her arm. When he gave her a strange look, she wondered if Grant felt it, too. “She’s on the line,” she managed to squeak.

  “Thanks.” He cleared his throat. “Laurel,” he said bringing the phone to his ear. “Would you have room at Lives for a cat? I wouldn’t ask, but the twins seem to have adopted one and my rental doesn’t allow pets.”

  Dahlia could hear Laurel laughing. After a few moments, Grant handed back the phone.

  “She said, ‘How can it hurt to add a cat to this menagerie?’” He turned to
the twins. “We can’t take it home. But we can take him to Lives. They already know him there. Laurel says his name is Tux because it looks like he’s wearing a tuxedo.” Before they could ask, Grant explained, “A tuxedo is a black suit with a white bow tie.”

  “Tux. That’s a good name.” Grace and Glory looked at each other then nodded. “Okay, Daddy.”

  Dahlia could barely hide her grin at his huff of relief.

  “Before we can go to Lives, we have to go home. You need to apologize to Miss Lucy for leaving without telling her. She didn’t understand your picture and she was very worried.” His face tightened. Dahlia knew he was trying not to show how scared he’d been. “You know the rules, girls.”

  “No leaving without telling.” Grace nodded. “We’re sorry, Daddy.”

  “I know you are. But you need to tell Lucy.”

  “Okay.” Glory hefted the cat into her arms and, with Grant’s help, climbed into the truck. Grace followed close behind. Grant closed the door.

  “I’m sorry I took you away from work, Dahlia,” he said.

  “Any excuse is a good one.” She smiled at him. “You did a great job with them.”

  “Thanks. When I was talking to Laurel, she asked me to hold a group meeting at the go-kart track site. She thinks the boys need to talk.” Grant got in the truck and remained silent amid the twins’ chatter until she pulled up in front of his house.

  “Thank you hardly seems enough,” he said after he’d lifted the twins out and sent them inside to apologize to Lucy.

  “Forget it.” Dahlia smiled and shook her head. “I’m just glad they’re safe. If you’ll wait, I’ll close up the store and come back to pick you up. We could go out to the track together.”

  He shook his head. “You don’t have to—”

  “I want to, Grant. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have offered.” She looked directly at him. Couldn’t he tell how far she would go to help him and his sweet daughters? Dahlia didn’t realize she’d been holding her breath until he finally nodded “Give me fifteen minutes?”

  “Take however long you need. And thank you.” He smiled. “I keep saying that to you.”

  “Let’s keep it that way,” she teased and drove off.

  By the time Dahlia changed into jeans and a work jacket, packed a couple of thermoses filled with hot chocolate, gotten back into her car and pulled up in front of his house, twenty-five minutes had passed. It took several minutes more for the girls to settle the now fractious cat.

  “Are we going on a picnic?” Grace asked, eyeing the basket.

  “No. But it’s hard work pulling weeds. I thought we might like a drink and some cookies. Do you like hot chocolate?” When the twins didn’t immediately answer, she glanced at Grant.

  “I don’t know if they’ve ever had it,” he told her. “Eva felt sugar was very bad for kids and cut it from their diet as completely as she could.”

  “Oh, why didn’t you tell me? Here I gave them dessert and—”

  “Dahlia.” His eyes rested on her like a soothing caress. “I’ve accepted that while Eva’s ways were good, I can’t completely adhere to them. I think a few sips of hot chocolate and a bite of dessert are okay.”

  “Well, look at you,” she said with a huge smile. “Here you are making fatherly decisions about your kids. I guess you have accepted that.”

  “Yes, I have,” Grant said proudly as he returned her smile. They got in the car and drove to the track. “Oh, look,” Dahlia exclaimed as they pulled up. “Teddy’s here. We should be able to put up that hut in no time.”

  The girls bounded ahead of them, straight to Arlen, and handed him the cat. He set it down, grimacing when its claws scratched his arm. His frown vanished when the twins ordered him to bend down so they could hug him. To Dahlia’s amazement, a soft look of yearning spread across Arlen’s face and he gathered the girls close.

  “You scared me,” he said. “Why did you leave without telling anyone? That’s dangerous.”

  For the first time since they’d found the twins, Dahlia saw chastened looks on their faces.

  “We’re sorry.”

  “Okay, but next time, don’t leave before asking permission.” Arlen’s voice held a tightness that surprised Dahlia. “Promise?”

  “We promise.” The two faces remained solemn for about ten seconds before their charming smiles returned. “Can we help with Dally’s go-kart track?”

  “Do you mind when they call you Dally?” Grant asked.

  “No,” she said truthfully. But the sound of that nickname brought back so many memories. Tears welled.

  “But you’re crying.” Grant turned her to face him.

  “Happy tears,” she whispered, wiping her tears with her sleeve. “That nickname brings back memories.”

  “Good ones, I hope.” He took a tissue from his pocket and dabbed at her cheeks, his touch gentle, his gaze warm and comforting. “You must miss your grandmother and your parents a lot.”

  “Sometimes I do,” she admitted. “I expect my parents to appear one day unannounced and insist on inspecting what I’ve been doing.” Her shoulders went back defensively. “That’s why I need to get this done. I need to show them this track in action. Maybe then they’ll accept that I’m not their weak, helpless daughter anymore.”

  “Maybe they’ll come to see you, because they miss you.” His quiet, pensive voice soothed.

  “Maybe,” Dahlia agreed. But she doubted it.

  How could Grant understand? Grant would never betray the twins as her parents had betrayed her. He was committed to doing his best for them. All her parents had wanted was for her to marry someone who could take over their empire.

  As they approached Teddy Stonechild, he thrust out his hand and introduced himself to Grant. “Those two sweet things of yours must be a handful. I heard about their adventure this afternoon. Must have been hard on you.” After Grant agreed Teddy turned to Dahlia. “So what can I help with?”

  She told him about the hut and, as expected, Teddy organized the boys into crews to put it together. Almost two hours later, as dusk settled over the taiga, the hut was finished.

  Grant had already met most of Lives’ staff; Sara, Lives’ head cook, and her husband, Kyle, who was the activities director at Lives. He’d also met Rick Salinger, the local minister, and his wife, Cassie, and their son, Noah, all of whom had arrived in time for Pastor Rick to say a blessing over the structure. Dahlia bowed her head, filled with gratitude that this part had gone so easily.

  “I can’t thank you all enough,” she said. “We’re one step closer to making this dream a reality.”

  “It’s our dream, too,” Laurel assured her with a smile. “The boys decided on that this afternoon.”

  A loud cheer went up, but Dahlia noticed that Arlen didn’t join in.

  “It’s so warm I thought we could have a picnic,” Laurel continued. “Sara and Kyle are bringing it. In the meantime, we’ll help Rick build a fire by collecting some material we can burn in it.”

  Everyone began to scavenge brush. Dahlia moved closer to Grant and nudged him when Arlen squatted to show the twins what to pick up. The look he shared with her made Dahlia feel as if they were proud parents. Grant seemed comfortable with letting the twins stay with Arlen. She admired the growth he’d made as a father and savored the moment they shared together.

  Sara and Kyle arrived and within minutes had set up a table and loaded it with hot-dog fixings. Dahlia added her thermoses of hot chocolate and her cookies. Then she held Sara’s baby while the Lives’ cook supervised.

  Dahlia cuddled the small body close, savoring the scent of baby powder. She had so much love bottled up inside. If only God would touch Arlen’s heart, let him accept the love she longed to give.

  “Come and watch us, Dally,” the twins called, dipping their hot dogs dangerously close to the flames of the fire. Fortunately Arlen was there to look after them.

  “You’re very good with them, Arlen,” Dahlia told him sincerely. He gave her
a sideways glance.

  “They’re just little. You have to watch them all the time at this age. They can get into so much trouble.” Then, as if he’d said too much, Arlen clamped his lips together and turned away.

  A moment later, Grant approached her, his gaze moving from the baby she cuddled to her face. “You’re a natural, aren’t you?” Dahlia blushed. Before she could answer, he continued, “Do you have a moment? I want to talk to you. Privately.”

  Grant’s sober face worried Dahlia. But at that moment, just as Laurel asked the boys to gather round Grant, Sara came to take her baby. Though she was curious about Grant’s need to talk, there was nothing for Dahlia to do but find a spot to sit and listen.

  “This track you’re transforming,” Grant began. “It’s old. It had another use in the past. Together you’re remaking it, turning something useless and abandoned into something new and worthwhile. I want to warn you that there will be hardships along the way.”

  She knew he was talking to the boys, but Grant stared straight at her. Dahlia felt a frisson of worry build and climb up her spine. Something was wrong. She could feel it.

  Oh, Lord, her heart begged. Whatever it is, please don’t let it end my dream.

  *

  As Grant spoke, he grew very aware of Dahlia’s tension. He hated seeing her so worried.

  However, he’d come up with a possible solution to the problem Kurt had pointed out.

  “Think about ways you can reshape problems in your past into opportunities for your future. All it takes is some planning and determination. If you want to talk to me, I’m available for you.”

  Laurel asked Rick to close off the evening with prayer then asked the boys to help Teddy extinguish the fire.

  “That was a very inspiring talk,” Dahlia said to Grant.

  “I agree,” Laurel said. “I believe some of the boys are beginning to realize this is the time to plan for when they leave here.”

  “I hope so.” His gaze rested on Arlen, who sat nearby on a log, one sleeping twin on each knee.

  “I don’t know if he’s had a breakthrough yet. His facade seems as tough as ever, but you never know what God is working on beneath that mask.” Laurel smiled at Grant and Dahlia, then hurried away to get the van packed up.