The Preacher's Daughter

by Lyn Cote

  Chapter Eight

  The luscious scent of candy cotton hovered over the Fourth of July carnival in Dailey. Lucie bumped shoulders with what looked like half the county’s population crowding the fairway on the county fairground. She and Tanner walked side by side with Mikey and Danny who bounced around and between them like Mexican jumping beans.

  Her plan for the day was to have fun. After several tense days of worry, help had come in the form of Tanner and Ignacio. In only two days with Nate home, Sophie looked calmer. And the FOR SALE sign had been forestalled.

  Lucie tried to keep her eyes from straying toward Tanner but as the day heated up so did her attraction to…to this preacher. This can’t be happening. I can’t really be interested in a minister. And I can’t believe I kissed him. But it’s just due to circumstances. We’re together for ball practice, church office duties and now he’s staying in the spare bedroom next to Nate and Sophie’s room. It’s like a conspiracy—we’re together 24/7. I can’t get away from him! Help!

  Wearing a big smile, Sophie pushed Carly in her stroller. The smile was due to Nate finally being persuaded to attend the fair. Tanner had, in the end, been the one to get Nate to agree to come. Nate hadn’t wanted to see the fair from the rented wheelchair or maybe it was he didn’t want to be seen?

  Lucie heard again Tanner’s words to Nate this morning, gentle words that overcame Nate’s reluctance to be seen by his friends in a wheelchair— “Nate, your family needs to have you with them. You’re doing this for them.” And Tanner’s urging had won the day. The man definitely had his moments. That’s why he’s so dangerous to me. I’ve got to get out of this town as soon as I can!

  An older couple, another in a steady succession of acquaintances and well-wishers, stopped to shake Nate’s hand. “Great to see you here, Nate.” The husband, Mort Hazelton, slapped Nate’s shoulder. “We heard that the preacher was helping out so you could come home.”

  “We’ve been praying for you, but I’ll be bringing a meal over this week, too,” Mort’s wife joined in. “Now don’t say no.”

  “We only live a couple miles west from Nate and Sophie’s, Preacher,” the husband said. “If you need any help, call me and I’ll come right over. I rented out my fields this year. Had heart surgery in January, but I can still help out with Nate if you need a break.”

  “Thank you,” Tanner replied, “but the other softball coach, Ignacio Valdez, is taking turns with me staying over at Nate’s.”

  “Is he one of those new people out at Shangri-La?” the wife asked.

  Lucie sensed the standoffishness in the question and opened her mouth to let the woman know what she thought of that attitude.

  “Yes—” Tanner cut her off “—he’s great with the kids.”

  The urge to kiss Tanner a second time rocketed through Lucie. This has got to stop! Tanner and I are like oil and water.

  “Well, I told the guys at the café,” the retired farmer said, “that the people at the trailer court are probably just like us—some keepers, some losers.”

  Tanner nodded.

  Lucie watched for the wife’s reaction to this, but the woman turned her head to coo at Carly.

  “I can’t thank Ignacio enough.” Nate spoke up. “He’s taken our boys fishing at the river more than once. He’s really good with them.”

  The crowd surged around Sophie’s family and the older couple waved and moved off on the crest of people wending their way toward the food tents.

  “I wanna ride that.” Danny pointed toward the Ferris wheel towering above the fairway.

  “Oh, I don’t think—” Sophie started.

  “Why not?” Nate asked, out of the blue. “I’d like to ride the Ferris wheel myself.”

  “But Nate—” Sophie started.

  “Why not?” Lucie agreed. “Nate is capable of sitting in the seat on the Ferris wheel. Let’s get in line.”

  Tanner gave her a look, one of his please-think-before-you-speak ones.

  In return, Lucie gave him one of her let’s-get-this-moving expressions.

  He shook his head and mouthed, “Mind your own business.”

  Lucie stuck the tip of her tongue out at him.

  Silence.

  Sophie touched Nate’s arm. They exchanged glances, then her worried expression lifted. “I’m in the mood for it myself. And it would be the boys’ first time.”

  Lucie sent Tanner an I-told-you-so look.

  He ignored it.

  They all moved forward, heading toward the line for the ride.

  Out of the corner of her eye, Lucie glimpsed a group of teens from Shangri-La. Some of them she recognized as older brothers and sisters of the kids in softball. As they passed close by, she waved to them and smiled. Though the teens had shyly greeted her when they had picked up younger siblings, now they ignored her. I’m probably not “cool” enough to notice in public.

  Then she spotted Riel Wilkins and his cronies peacocking their way down the fairway, too. Both groups eyed one another across the milling crowd. The looks were not friendly. Zoë had lucked out and had the holiday off from DQ. She somehow managed to walk draped against Riel.

  Sophie must have noticed Zoë, too. “Zoë!” she called “Zoë!”

  The girl ignored Sophie.

  With a sinking sensation, Lucie could only be glad that help was on the way.

  Tanner led them to the ticket line for the Ferris wheel. The jangling carnival music, the thrum of the Ferris wheel engine and the creaking of its metal parts filled Lucie’s ears. Trying to shake Tanner’s sway over her emotions, she closed her eyes and breathed in the mingled aromas of funnel cakes and popcorn. It didn’t work. Her eyes opened and immediately sought Tanner. She caught the full force of his handsome profile.

  With her artist’s eye, she began to sketch his straight nose, firm chin and the clean planes of his cheekbones. He had the face of a Renaissance noble. She tore the page off her mental sketch pad and focused on the scene before her.

  The Ferris wheel had started letting couples off and on, one by one. The seats filled up slowly, each one moving up and waiting for the next couple to get situated. Lucie started a conversation with Sophie about their garden, ignoring Tanner or trying to.

  Finally Tanner bought tickets for everyone and helped Nate into the seat. Beside him, Sophie took the boys onto their laps for the ride.

  “Would you and Tanner take Carly up with you?” Sophie motioned to Lucie.

  “I’ll just stay down here and watch her sleep in the stroller,” Lucie hedged, not wanting to be alone with Tanner for the duration of the ride.

  “No!” Mrs. Hazelton, who’d appeared behind them, objected. “I’ll watch that baby. You and your young man go up and have fun.” The woman patted the baby sleeping in the stroller and nudged Lucie into the Ferris wheel seat.

  My young man! Lucie squeezed her eyes shut, cringing at the implication of this comment.

  She felt the seat sway as Tanner parked his solid form beside her. There was something disturbing about having him so near. He made her feel so feminine, so delicate—sensations that were completely different from the way she usually felt about herself.

  “All full!” the carney shouted.

  Lucie felt the seat vibrate as it rose in the air. The music, an old show tune, tinkled up around them. She watched the ground recede. In the distance, she saw Riel swaggering by with his arm still around Zoë.

  As the Ferris wheel ascended, Tanner looked to Lucie. “This is my first ride on a Ferris wheel.”

  Her eyebrows touched her hairline. “Your first?”

  “My mom didn’t like carnivals. Sometimes, I’d see the Ferris wheels from the road as we drove by.” He nodded toward the view. “It’s breathtaking, isn’t it?”

  Lucie stared into the endless blue, away from Tanner, trying to ignore the brush of his arm against hers.

  “You never speak about your mother.” Why did I say that? It’s none of my business.

  “Nothing to s
ay.” He shrugged.

  But the way he shrugged belied his words.

  Don’t ask. He’s not your concern. Neither is his mother. “My mother’s coming next week.” She sat back, making the seat rock. Her mother had wanted to come immediately but her father had insisted that the car needed work before he would let her drive the distance alone. And their mechanic was on vacation until Monday.

  He raised his eyebrows this time. “With your mother, we’re going to have a full house.”

  She nodded, unwillingly studying his muscular thighs, shown off by his neatly pressed navy blue shorts. “It’s good Nate’s family believed in building a large farmhouse. But she’ll share my room.” He even presses his shorts! I take mine out of the drier damp, shake them and that’s it.

  He glanced down at her. “You never speak about your mother.” He echoed her words. “Sophie does, though. I take it your mother—”

  “Dorothy. My mom’s name is Dorothy.” Now, Mom presses Dad’s shorts. She’d approve of Tanner’s neat appearance. She’d always despaired of Lucie’s casual way with laundry.

  “I take it Dorothy was a second mother to Sophie?”

  “Yeah.” Lucie began swinging her feet. Their seat swayed back and forth with her rhythm. Unraveling the attraction Lucie felt for Tanner would be easier with her mom here. Her mom would be a visible reminder that Lucie didn’t have what it took to even date a minister, much less fall in love with one. I’m not spending my life ironing! “Everybody loves my mom.”

  “You make it sound like that’s bad.”

  She sighed at herself. “It’s not bad. My mom is a great person. But people take advantage of her. She’s so sweet, so kind, so…the perfect pastor’s wife.” It sounded like a lame response to her own ears.

  “Ahhh,” he commented.

  “What does that mean?” She made a face at him.

  “I’ve heard that PKs, preacher’s kids,” he said, looking away, “don’t like having to be perfect.”

  “Well, I was never in danger of being that,” Lucie said with a sardonic twist of her lips.

  But I also never flirted with disaster like Zoë is. Below her, she glimpsed Riel and Zoë with his group of hangers-on heading straight for the large group of Mexican-American teens she’d seen before. Their body language shouted confrontation. No, don’t spoil the day!

  Just as panic ignited inside her, she saw a county deputy sheriff walking near the two groups who were just about to collide. The two sets of teens visibly recognized the presence of the law and veered off course. Whew!

  But the carnival setting was the perfect venue for teenaged hormones to spark a fight. Lord, please don’t let angry young men disturb this holiday. And please keep Zoë safe when fists are flying…. Please bring Mom here safe and soon.

  “Did your mother have unrealistic expectations for you?” Tanner asked.

  With Zoë’s rebellion right in front of her, Lucie considered this. Images from the past came up in her mind—toe-to-toe battles she’d had with her mother over things such as wearing a bright pink miniskirt to church on Easter Sunday, getting her ears double-pierced, dating a boy who had spiked hair. Why had she thought such minor things mattered so much?

  But of course, the things hadn’t been the issues; her independence from her mild-mannered pastor’s-wife mother had been. But how could she tell Tanner that? “Not really,” Lucie admitted. “I just wanted to be me.”

  He looked puzzled and then his face cleared. “Ah.”

  “What do you mean, ‘Ah’?” His know-it-all tone grated on her. “I didn’t like how you said that.”

  “Well, you know,” he temporized with a wave of his hand, “you have a…very…flamboyant…streak…sometimes.” Then he had the nerve to look at her as if she might pop a cork—if she had a cork.

  “And you, Tanner Bond—” she punched his biceps “—have a…very…stick-in-the-mud…streak…sometimes.”

  “You’re entitled to your opinion I suppose.”

  Then hoping to disconcert him, she grinned and pumped her feet as though she were on a park swing. Their seat rocked back and forth as it neared the ground again. “Oh, really?”

  Tanner gave her a long look. “Yes.”

  As their seat began another ascent, he imitated Lucie and pumped his legs. They swung forward and then rocked backward. His legs proved longer and more powerful that hers.

  “Ohhhhh!” Lucie wailed, her stomach churning.

  Tanner repeated the motion.

  Lucie shrilled, “Tanner! I could lose my lunch!” She grabbed his arm.

  “I’m not a stick-in-the-mud!” he taunted her. “Say it!”

  “You are!”

  He pumped again. Their seat swung to its maximum, back and forth.

  “Okay! Okay!” Lucie shrieked. “You’re not a stick-in-the-mud! Uncle! Uncle!”

  Then she heard laughter from above her. Sophie and Nate were laughing at them! The sound of Nate laughing lifted Lucie’s mood and she laughed at herself.

  Shifting on tired feet, Lucie waited for the fireworks to begin. It had been a long, hot Fourth of July and Tanner had left to take Nate, Sophie and Carly home and feed the dogs. Lucie imagined crawling into bed—what a welcome thought!

  Mikey and Danny leaned against her, also fatigued but not willing to give in. “How much longer?” Mikey asked.

  Lucie glanced at the growing darkness. “Not long now.” Tanner had said he’d come back to help her get the boys home. She’d told him not to bother, but now she wished she hadn’t. She missed him. If he were beside her now, she’d have been tempted to rest her head on his chest. Just thinking the thought warmed her to her toes.

  Then it’s good you told him not to come back. Really, Lucie, you’re not being logical. You know you have to get rid of these idiotic feelings—

  Suddenly she noticed that Sam Torres, the man who had slammed a door in her face that night she and Tanner had gone to the mobile home court with Fella, was heading straight for her. He was a formidable-looking man and had the same scowl on his face that he’d had at their first meeting. What could he want?

  He came to a halt in front of her. “Señorita Lucie?”

  “Sí.” She felt a shiver of apprehension streak through her. Would he ask for his dog back? She hoped not. She’d come to love Fella.

  “I hear your cousin needs help on her farm?”

  Lucie nodded.

  “I worked on farms in Texas, not corn and soybeans, but I know how to spread herbicide and run the equipment. I could come in the evenings or the weekends.”

  Lucie could hardly take in what the man was saying. His offer didn’t fit her preconceptions of the man. “We can’t pay much.”

  “I just want to work outside—not sit in the trailer when I’m off work,” he said gruffly. “I like working the land.”

  Lucie swallowed. “Why don’t you come over tomorrow after work and talk to Nate? He’s the one you want to talk to.”

  “Bueno. I will. Gracias, señorita.” He looked like he wanted to say more, but right then another familiar voice summoned her.

  “Hey! Señorita Lucie! This is my mom!”

  Lucie glanced over and saw Miguel dragging a plump, dark-haired woman, dressed in jeans and a floral print peasant blouse, toward her.

  Sam Torres nodded and turned away.

  After saying adiós to Sam Torres, Lucie smiled and offered her hand to Miguel’s mother. “¡Hola!”

  “I’m Maria.” The woman shook her hand. “I’m happy to meet you. Miguel talks about you all the time.”

  Lucie ruffled Miguel’s dark hair. “You have a wonderful son. He’s our most enthusiastic player.”

  Maria chuckled. “I’ll bet. I want to thank you for taking an interest in Miguel. It’s hard for him to be alone all day with just his older brother watching him. I was hoping Juan would be able to find a job this summer, but…” Maria shrugged. “But I needed someone to watch Miguel anyway.”

  Lucie didn’t want to say
anything, but if an older brother was watching Miguel this summer, it was news to her. But she just gave Maria a tight smile.

  “Here,” Maria explained, “Juan plays video games all day and runs around all night. At home in Texas, he always helped his grandfather at his small engine-repair shop in the summers. But the recruiter from the packing plant told me about the great schools here. I wanted that for my boys.” The woman wiped a smudge off Miguel’s chin with her fingertips.

  Lucie wondered why people always told her personal information like this. Lucie’s father had told her that people confided in her because she looked like someone they could trust. Whatever the reason, it was obvious that Maria was worried about her older son. Maybe she didn’t have anyone else to talk to about this. Or maybe she thought Lucie could help her with advice. I’m not up to this task, Lord.

  “Miguel says that the padre is really nice—once you get to know him?” Maria posed the statement as a question. The woman studied her, no doubt waiting for Lucie’s response.

  Maybe Maria thought Tanner could help with Juan, too. Lucie nodded in reply—though she didn’t know what Tanner would do with Juan. He hadn’t known what to do with Miguel. Lucie suddenly remembered that Tanner had said that the church mower needed fixing. “Did you say Juan was mechanical?”

  “Why, sí, yes, he is.”

  Bingo! Thank you, Lord. “Why don’t you have him drop over after Friday’s softball practice and he can take a look at the church’s lawn mower.”

  Maria beamed at her. “¡Estupendo!” The woman scanned over the crowd. “There he is. There’s my Juan.”

  Lucie followed the woman’s motion and saw a young teenaged male in scuffed cowboy boots and faded jeans slouching near the front of the group of similar-looking teens, the same group that had been on a collision course with Riel’s crowd earlier.

  Again, this wasn’t something she was going to tell Maria. It could sound like a criticism of Juan. She turned her gaze back to the woman. “So how about you, Maria? Have you adjusted to life in Pleasant Prairie?”

  Maria shrugged. “I go to work. I come home and clean house and cook. There’s not much to do around here.”