“I can’t do this, Laramie.”
“We all have bad days, Jack. Babies are exhausting, and you have twins. Don’t let what people say get to you.”
Jack scrubbed his palm across his face and stared out into the fields.
“What if you could have both?” Laramie asked gently. “The opportunity to work with your hands and have healthy relationships. It’s possible, you know.”
“I don’t want both,” he grumbled. “Everything’s fine the way it is.”
“Is it?”
Those two little words needled him. If everything was fine, why was he melting down on his deck?
“Are you happy, Jack?”
I’m happy when I’m with you.
What if he had the courage to say those words out loud right now? Laramie made him laugh, challenged his thinking, took great care of his daughters. She didn’t judge him or run when he was coming unglued. But he couldn’t tell her how his feelings for her had changed, because once he crossed that line from friendship to something more, there was no going back...
Heidi McCahan is a Pacific Northwest girl at heart, but now resides in North Carolina with her husband and three boys. When she isn’t writing inspirational romance novels, Heidi can usually be found reading a book, enjoying a cup of coffee and avoiding the laundry pile. She’s also a huge fan of dark chocolate and her adorable goldendoodle, Finn. She enjoys connecting with readers, so please visit her website, heidimccahan.com.
Books by Heidi McCahan
Love Inspired
The Firefighter’s Twins
Their Baby Blessing
An Unexpected Arrangement
AN UNEXPECTED ARRANGEMENT
Heidi McCahan
This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
—Lamentations 3:21–23
For Jill Lynn and Lee Tobin McClain: thank you for your kindness and encouragement. This book would not be possible without your pep talks and inspirational brainstorming sessions.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Epilogue
Dear Reader
Excerpt from Stranded in the Snow by Vannetta Chapman
Chapter One
It was official: he was getting a puppy.
Jack Tomlinson waited at the counter in Angie’s Diner and stared at the photo on his phone of two golden-haired puppies lined up on a plaid bed, their brown eyes staring back at him. Even his frigid, closed-off heart couldn’t help melting a little. His brother, Drew, had sent him the picture a few weeks ago, and before he could talk himself out of it, he’d texted Laramie and arranged to stop by and visit today. The puppies wouldn’t be available for another three weeks, but hopefully he could pick the one he wanted.
Then he’d have a new puppy by the Fourth of July and his thirtieth birthday. Maybe a pet would help him cope with the guilt and regret he couldn’t seem to shake. The loss of his father on the heels of Uncle Kenny’s suicide had wrecked him. And he couldn’t forget the irresponsible behavior that had followed. All the stupid choices he’d made in the last three years, trying to numb the pain.
“Your order’s ready.” Sandra, the petite redheaded waitress, set a take-out container on the counter. The aroma of his usual breakfast—ham-and-cheese omelet with a side of bacon—made his stomach growl. Jack tucked his phone in his pocket, grabbed his food and followed Sandra toward the register.
“Where you off to in such a hurry?” Pete Fisher, a regular at the diner and one of his late father’s closest friends, sat with three of his buddies in a booth nearby.
“I have a meeting.” Jack kept walking. He didn’t have the time or the patience to sit with the retired wheat farmers of Merritt’s Crossing. The conversation always circled back to the same old topic—Jack’s career choice. He was over it.
“Is that right?” Jack felt Pete’s gaze lingering as he pulled out his wallet. “You know, it’s not too late for you to start building furniture. You’ve probably got all the tools you need in that woodshop you inherited. Then you wouldn’t have to spend so much time away from home.”
Jack hesitated, a ten-dollar bill outstretched. There it was. The advice Pete offered almost every time he saw Jack in the diner. Which was often, since Jack bought his breakfast at Angie’s at least four times a week. Not that he was interested in listening to Pete. Or anyone else. Building furniture was the last thing he wanted to do.
Sandra offered an empathetic smile as she took his money. Jack pretended to ignore Pete and the rest of the men at the table. Let them talk. He already had a great job. His position as a cybersecurity analyst kept him busy and required frequent trips out of state, which was a bonus. He liked traveling. The more time he spent away from Merritt’s Crossing, the less he had to deal with other people’s ridiculous expectations about how he should live his life. The Tomlinson family furniture business was better off without him. He’d heard the gossip and the not-so-subtle whispers around town. It’s a real shame about Jack and his dad. Those Tomlinson men had their fair share of fights. If they’d been getting along, things might be different.
He’d give anything to go back and undo his last conversation with his father.
“Have a great day, fellas.” Jack dropped the change from Sandra in the tip jar, flashed Pete and the gang a tight smile, then strode toward the exit. The warm May sunshine greeted him as he stepped outside. While the diner’s door swung closed, he couldn’t shake Pete’s words.
It’s not too late...you’ve probably got all the tools you need. Pete was right about that. The woodshop behind the house Jack had bought from Aunt Willa and his cousin McKenna was filled with tools from his father and Uncle Kenny. Not that he had any plans to use those tools or to build furniture. Ever. Dad and Uncle Kenny had encouraged him, but the furniture business had destroyed their relationship, so why would Jack get involved? He and his father had had a terrible argument about Jack’s lack of interest in carrying the family’s legacy. Those harsh words were the last Jack had spoken to his dad before he died in a car accident. The pain still knifed at him every time he thought about their horrible fight.
But he still wasn’t interested in building furniture or giving up his career in cybersecurity.
Jack stole a glance down Main Street at the Tomlinson’s Furniture building. A delivery truck was parked out front and his sister, Skye, and brother-in-law, Gage, were speaking to the driver. Jack turned away. Skye had rescued the store from financial ruin and business was great now. She didn’t need him. So maybe he’d helped his father and uncle build a table or two back in the day. That hardly made him a professional. He strode toward his truck, eager to eat his breakfast and forget Pete’s annoying commentary. Late last night, he’d read about a cybersecurity job in Utah and he planned to apply. It was time to get out of Merritt’s Crossing and escape the heartache and the expectations he would never live up to.
After eating alone in his truck with the air-conditioning cranked, Jack tossed the empty container on the floorboards in front of the passenger se
at, then sent Laramie a text message that he was on his way.
Laramie was Skye’s best friend and one of the few people in his life who didn’t pressure him to change careers. Not that they’d spent much time talking lately. He didn’t even know she’d started a dog breeding business. He thought he knew everything about everyone in their small, eastern Colorado town, but this was news to him.
Then again, she was invited to their family gatherings and he’d made excuses to avoid almost all of them. Jack hadn’t spent more than five minutes with Laramie since Easter, and that was more than a month ago. Laramie was smart, beautiful and kind. He’d had a huge crush on her when he was a teenager. Just the other night, one of Gage’s friends had asked if Laramie was single, and had tried to get Jack to give him her phone number. He’d felt oddly possessive of Laramie in the moment, since the guy didn’t strike him as someone who was right for her.
Jack winced and scrubbed his fingertips along his jaw. Not that he had any business judging anyone else. His last brief relationship had confirmed what he’d long suspected—he was a mess. And not ready for a serious commitment. Maybe he wasn’t ready for a pet, either. Jack drummed his thumb against the steering wheel and considered bailing on the puppy plan.
Don’t be an idiot.
He could stop a hacker from infiltrating a network and banish cybersecurity threats, but he couldn’t accept responsibility for a puppy? Disgusted at his cowardly behavior, he mashed the accelerator and merged onto the highway headed toward Laramie’s house.
He wasn’t giving up on his mission. Sure, a puppy was an odd way to add balance to his life, but at least he was trying. More than anything, Jack longed to climb out of this hole he’d created and start fully living again. While he couldn’t change the mistakes in his past, he was tired of letting his regret shackle him. Keeping him isolated and a prisoner to the shame he couldn’t escape. Caring for another of God’s creations was a first step.
* * *
“Jack Tomlinson wants a puppy?” Laramie Chambers stared at the detailed notes her unofficial intern, Hope, had left on the kitchen table. While Hope was only a junior in high school, she was also Laramie’s starting setter on the volleyball team, a small group leader for teens at church and the best student in the junior class that Laramie taught. When Hope had approached Laramie and asked for advice on setting up an internship with a small business owner, Laramie had quickly arranged for Hope to help launch her brand-new dog breeding business.
Laramie hadn’t planned on keeping a litter of puppies in her spare bedroom or owning any kind of small business. But she also hadn’t expected her grandfather’s health to deteriorate so quickly. The strong, independent wheat farmer was getting belligerent and confused. He was too much for Grandma to manage, and Laramie and her parents were worried about keeping Grandma and Grandpa safe.
However, her big plans had spontaneously imploded when the first litter produced only two puppies. After expenses, there wouldn’t be much money left over to give her grandmother. It wasn’t nearly enough to make a dent in her grandfather’s expenses at a memory care facility, but she had to do something.
Laramie’s stomach knotted tight when she thought about her grandparents’ struggles and the exorbitant cost of adequate care. Her parents were trying their best to manage the farm and care for her grandparents, but the stress was taking its toll. The nearest decent facility was over an hour away in Denver. Even if she scrimped and saved, her teaching salary and coaching stipend didn’t leave her with a lot of extra money every month. When her friends from college offered to help her get started with breeding dogs, Trixie’s puppies had become the solution to her family’s overwhelming problem, and it looked like they’d found a way to afford the care that Grandpa so desperately needed. Convincing Grandma to accept financial assistance and move Grandpa away from the family farm was going to be an epic battle, but Laramie refused to worry about that now.
She peeked out her kitchen window as Jack’s pickup truck eased into her driveway, then glanced at the two goldendoodle puppies currently asleep beside their mother, Trixie, on her dog bed nearby. Hope’s notes weren’t wrong. Jack had arrived right on time. Laramie couldn’t imagine why he thought he needed a pet. He was rarely home, always working and had looked downright miserable the last time she saw him. Not to mention he hadn’t been helpful when his own mother needed care after her knee replacement surgery. How was he going to nurture a baby animal?
Boots thumping on her front steps kept her from grabbing her phone and texting her best friend and Jack’s older sister, Skye. What would she think about her brother acquiring a puppy?
Jack knocked softly, and Laramie strode toward the door and opened it. His blue eyes met hers, crinkling at the corners as he flashed a sheepish grin.
“Hey.” He tucked his hands in his back pockets, like he dropped by her place all the time to cuddle with puppies. Laramie had fully intended to grill him, but that was before those ruddy cheeks and his angular jaw produced a surprising and unmistakable flutter of attraction in her abdomen.
Totally inappropriate! The internal scolding had little impact on her wandering gaze, which defiantly swept from his handsome features to his gray T-shirt, dark-washed jeans and cowboy boots. Her best intentions were no match for his tall, muscular build filling her doorway, either.
“Hey, Jack.” She cleared her throat and tipped her chin up. “What’s up?”
His flawless brow creased. “I thought I had an appointment to pick out a puppy?”
“I saw your name on the list.” Laramie stepped back and motioned for him to come in. “Are you surprising Gage and Skye with a puppy?”
“No.” He linked his arms across his chest, which only emphasized his biceps and chiseled forearms and made Laramie wonder what it would feel like to step into the warmth of his embrace.
Stop. Sure, he was handsome, but he was a mess.
A hot mess, by the way.
She turned away as heat warmed her skin. While she couldn’t ignore that her thirty-fifth birthday was right around the corner, and her list of potential prospects for a relationship was short, she had plenty of reasons why Jack wasn’t boyfriend material. With his inability to commit, he’d broken more hearts than she could count; he was always traveling for work; and he rarely spent time with his family anymore. None of that added up to the substantial, long-term relationship she longed for.
“I want a dog.” Jack walked into the living room and sat on the carpet beside Trixie and her puppies.
“Why?”
He glanced over his shoulder, and she realized she’d said that out loud.
“I mean, you seem like you’re busy.” Laramie sat on the edge of her paisley-print sofa and tried not to stare as the one with the blue collar licked Jack’s outstretched fingers. “Puppies need a lot of attention.”
“Well, good, because I have a lot of attention to give.” Jack scooped up the wheat-colored male and nestled it against his chest. She didn’t even bother trying to avert her gaze. Was there anything more appealing? Laramie faked a cough to smother a contented sigh.
“You have a busy life, too.” Jack scratched Trixie behind the ears with his free hand. Trixie stared at him with a look that could only be described as adoration. “How do you have time to start a dog breeding business?”
“Please don’t tell my grandmother, but I’m trying to earn some extra money to pay for my grandfather’s care. We think it’s time for him to move into a memory care facility.”
The words tumbled effortlessly from her lips. Well. So much for keeping that a secret.
“Oh no.” Jack’s expression grew pained. “I’m sorry. I’d heard he wasn’t doing well, but I didn’t know things had gotten that bad.”
“Thank you.” She sighed. “I know it’s dumb trying to keep a secret in this town, but I’m hoping if I give my grandmother the money, she won’t be able to argue.
”
“Your secret is safe with me.” He gave her a compassionate smile. “As long as you’ll let me claim this little fella.”
Despite her misgivings, Laramie couldn’t say no. According to Hope’s notes, he’d already paid the required deposit. The money had transferred into her account yesterday. There wasn’t a good reason to refuse him, anyway. She couldn’t hold his busy lifestyle against him. And more than anything, she wanted Jack to be happy. Genuinely happy. The way she remembered him—laughing and mischievous, without a care in the world. Before his uncle’s suicide and father’s death had set him on the wrong path.
“All right,” she relented. “But if he’s more than you can handle, you have to promise to bring him back and let me re-home him. No questions asked.”
“I promise.” Jack’s eyes held hers. She’d never believed all that talk about the space between two people popping and crackling. Until now. The paperwork he needed to sign was in the kitchen. All she needed was his signature. Except she couldn’t move. Didn’t want to move.
Suddenly the puppy clamped his teeth on Jack’s arm, interrupting the moment. Jack flinched and glanced down at the puppy. “Hey, no biting.”
“I’ll get your contract.” Laramie stood and walked toward the kitchen. Even though she didn’t have the husband and family she’d assumed would be hers by now, Jack Tomlinson was not her proverbial Prince Charming. Always attracted to the impulsive, good-looking guys, she’d been left brokenhearted one too many times. She knew better. They were friends. Nothing more.
* * *
Jack slowly turned into his driveway, where a white SUV greeted him. His scalp prickled as he punched the button on his garage door opener and then eased his truck into his usual parking spot. He wasn’t expecting guests.
He gripped his phone in one hand as he got out of his truck and approached the driver’s side of the SUV. The window automatically rolled down to reveal a woman in her midthirties, with dark circles under her eyes and brown hair twisted into a tight bun.
An Unexpected Arrangement Page 1
