A Future to Fight For

by Mindy Obenhaus

  “When did it happen?” Addy asked, the words pinched with emotion. How? Why? The fearful questions swarmed about inside her head. Ones she refrained from asking with Finn within hearing range. Oh, Jake.

  “Finn, honey,” Mama Tully said, “why don’t you and I carry some of your aunt Addy’s things into the house for her and start getting her room ready for her stay here?”

  “Okay,” he replied. “What do you want me to carry?”

  Addy attempted to shake free of the surprise that filled her. “You can be in charge of carrying Peaches inside.”

  “You brought Peaches?” he exclaimed.

  “I thought she might like a vacation, too,” she answered. “And your Gramma Tully said it was all right to bring her.”

  “She’s my grandkitty,” her foster mother said. “Of course she’s welcome to stay here, too. What would you like me to carry in for you?”

  “There are only two suitcases and a carry-on. Lila and I can get those,” she told her. One had her clothes, the other the gift she’d bought for Lila and Mason along with crafting supplies for making wedding favors.

  “If you’re sure,” Mama Tully replied.

  “I am. Finn can carry Peaches in,” Addy said, forcing her gaze not to drift off toward the orchard. “He looks strong enough for the task.” The very thought that Jake had been shot had her stomach twisting in knots. It was made even worse that things were still so strained between them. When she’d last seen Jake the prior fall, they’d had so much fun together. Even during their phone calls, they were constantly laughing, thoroughly enjoying each other’s company. Until Jake had found out about her part in keeping Finn’s existence from his family. She understood his anger. Accepted it. That didn’t make the news of his having been hurt any easier. She couldn’t bear the thought they might never laugh together again.

  “I am,” Lila’s son said, drawing Addy back to the moment.

  She looked over to see Finn flexing his currently nonexistent muscles in demonstration.

  Laughing softly, Mama Tully said, “I’ll go on ahead into the house and put Honey and Grits in their room until they’ve had a chance to be introduced to Peaches.”

  “If it ends up being a problem having Peaches here—”

  Her foster mother waved a hand of dismissal, cutting Addy off. “Don’t even think it. They’re going to love her. Honey and Grits are quite fond of the Landerses’ barn cats. So now that that’s settled, I’ll go prepare them for meeting their new friend.” Turning, Mama Tully scurried away toward the house.

  Addy hoped her foster mother was right. That settling in wouldn’t be too much of a challenge for her sweet kitty or for the pups.

  Lila moved to stand beside her. “They’ll be fine,” she said assuredly, clearly having read Addy’s troubled thoughts. “Those dogs are the biggest, sweetest four-legged babies I’ve ever met. Peaches will have them wrapped right around her little paws in no time at all.”

  Addy might have smiled at that if she wasn’t so consumed with worry over Jake. “Peaches is in her carrier in the back seat if you want to go get her for me,” she told Finn.

  “Sure,” he said with a nod before racing off in the direction of her car, where he wasted no time in retrieving the bright pink travel carrier. “I’ve missed you,” he cooed to the meowing cat inside as he made his way back past Addy and Lila. “Wait until you meet Gramma Tully. She gives lots and lots of hugs and kisses.”

  As soon as he was out of earshot, Addy turned to Lila. “Be honest. How is Jake really? Who shot him? How bad is it?”

  “Shhh…” Lila said in a calming voice. “I hate seeing you so worked up. Not that I don’t understand your reaction to the news about Jake.”

  “News I should have been told about. You know how close we are…er, were,” Addy corrected with a deepening frown. “Despite his cutting me out of his life, I still care about Jake.”

  “I know you do,” Addy agreed. “And I decided to wait to tell you once you got here. Otherwise you would have hopped in your car the moment you found out and drove here in a far too distracted state of mind.”

  Her sister knew her well. “Then tell me now,” she pleaded. “What happened?”

  “Guerrillas ambushed Jake’s missionary group while they were building the new schoolhouse. I don’t have all the details, as Jake isn’t up to talking about it, but…”

  “But what?” Addy demanded, her heart pounding furiously in her chest.

  Frowning, Lila said, “He’s having a rough time dealing with everything that happened. We’re not sure how to go about helping him through this ordeal since he refuses to talk about it. All we know is the mission workers who were building the new school were ambushed and that Jake took a bullet to the shoulder during the melee. Apparently, he was coming down a ladder when he was shot, causing him to fall and break his leg.”

  “Oh Jake,” Addy breathed, imagining the fear and pain he must have felt. “I have to see him,” she said, heart pounding. Turning away, she took off toward her car.

  “Addy!” Lila called after her.

  “I won’t be long. I just need to know that he’s okay!” she called back over her shoulder as she slid behind the wheel of her car, tears blurring her vision. Starting the engine, she threw the car into gear and drove off.

  “Addy?” Mrs. Landers said in surprise when she opened the door. She looked tired, her shoulders drawn in and crescent-moon shadows stretched beneath her dark eyes. Her shoulder-length hair was pulled up into a messy bun, with several random strands having worked their way free to stick out in disarray.

  “Hello,” she greeted, trying not to show the trepidation that filled her. “I just got to Mama Tully’s. Lila told me about Jake,” she said, unable to keep her voice from cracking. “May I see him?”

  Mrs. Landers frowned. “I’m not sure this is a good time for a visit. Jake’s not quite himself right now.”

  Who would be, after going through what he had? “I’m sorry. I should never have come over unannounced like I did. But when Lila told me Jake had been injured—”

  A banging sounded in the nearby hallway, causing Addy to fall silent as her and Mrs. Landers’s gazes moved in that direction. The front of a wheelchair, one of its footrests lifted to elevate Jake’s casted leg, protruded from a doorway. A second later, he maneuvered it into the hallway.

  “Jake,” his momma gasped, surprise lighting her face. “You’re up.”

  He looked more exhausted than his momma, yet Addy didn’t miss the spark of fury that lit his dark eyes as he glowered in her direction. He struggled to turn his chair so that he could fully face the front entryway.

  Mrs. Landers hurried to help him.

  “I can do it,” he muttered in frustration.

  “You’re not supposed to be using your injured arm,” she gently reminded her son. She moved behind him to turn the chair and push him into the entryway, where Addy stood watching uneasily.

  “I can’t believe you let her into our house,” he said and then directed his attention at Addy. “Why are you here?” he demanded of her.

  Because I care about you. Because I’ve missed talking to you. Addy couldn’t speak past the pain of his rejection. Not that she hadn’t expected it, but it hurt deeply all the same.

  “Jake,” Mrs. Landers scolded, “that’s not how I raised you. And it seems pretty clear to me why she’s here. The Good Lord sent Addy to us.”

  The Good Lord? Addy stood dumbstruck. Wherever had Jake’s momma gotten that idea from? She and the Lord had parted ways a long time ago, making her one of the last people He’d be sending anywhere.

  Jake glanced up over his shoulder, certain he’d misheard his momma. Maybe it was due to exhaustion, because as much time as he’d spent shut away in his room, it hadn’t been in peaceful slumber. Or maybe he could write it off as the pain medicine. Not that he took it
as often as he probably ought to. He needed to feel the agony. Deserved to feel it. If it hadn’t been for him, Corey, his fellow missionary and newfound friend, might still be alive. He’d traded places with Corey to go grab them a couple of bottles of water. He was just going down the rungs of the scaffolding ladder when the shooting began. His friend took the fatal bullet that should have struck Jake instead.

  “What?” Jake croaked out in response to his momma’s comment as he shoved the unwanted memories away.

  She smiled tiredly as she rounded the wheelchair to stand next to him. “I said that Addy’s presence here could only be divine intervention.”

  He looked to Addy, who had betrayed their whole family, and then back to his momma. “How on earth do you figure that?”

  “Because you’ve barely left your room, or uttered a word, since you’ve been home,” she calmly explained. “Over a week now. And then Addy shows up, and you’re out of your room and talking.”

  “I came out of my room because I couldn’t believe my ears,” he muttered. “Why would ever you let her, of all people, into our house?”

  “Because there is a doormat right outside that front door, one you bought me for Mother’s Day last year, that reads, Welcome to Our Home.”

  Jake dragged a hand down over his face, releasing a heavy sigh of frustration. He didn’t want to “welcome” Addy. Shouldn’t even have to. Not after she’d wronged his family. Wronged him. Made him cherish their friendship. One that had been built around a lie. “I never meant to cause any trouble,” Addy said, her gaze misting over. “I just needed to know that Jake was all right.”

  “Your concern is appreciated,” his momma told her. “In fact, I’m grateful you stopped by.”

  Addy’s eyes widened. “You are?”

  “You’ve done what none of his family has been able to do,” his momma replied. “Spark some life back into my son, and I thank you for that from the bottom of my heart.”

  “Addy had nothing to do with…” He let the words trail off. Maybe she had been the catalyst for his motivation to leave his room, but only because his momma seemed to have suffered a momentary loss of memory. Addy had spent the past nine years pretending to be their friend, his friend, when all the while she was keeping the truth about Mason having a son from all of them.

  “I’m so happy you’re up and about,” his momma told him. “But I’m just plain worn out.” She looked to Addy. “Since you came over to look in on Jake, would you mind keeping my son company while I go lie down for a spell? A half an hour at the most, as I have pies cooling in the kitchen that I’ll need to see to.”

  “That’s not going to hap—”

  “Happy,” Addy blurted out, cutting his refusal off. “I mean I would be more than happy to visit with Jake while you rest.”

  “Thank you, honey.” Before Jake could utter another word, his momma turned and walked away. She had looked tired, no doubt thanks to the time she’d spent caring for him since his return home, but to abandon him to Addy…

  His hands curled around the oversize wheels on either side of him. “I don’t need anyone keeping me company,” he mumbled in frustration, then attempted to wheel away, but his right arm refused to cooperate fully. All he succeeded in doing was spinning in a half circle.

  “Especially me,” she said with a sigh. “I know. But if you care about your momma, you’ll make an exception just this once. I’ve never seen her look so worn out.”

  His momma had been burning the candle at both ends. She spent hours baking for, and working at, The Perfect Peach, their family market, while helping Lila prepare for her wedding to Mason. One they had only recently postponed because of him. And now his momma was spending every free moment she had seeing to his care. He’d insisted he didn’t need someone watching over him, especially some stranger hired on to look after him, nurse or not. But his family was lovingly persistent if anything and determined to see to his needs, all the same.

  Getting back to his room on his own would be a challenge to say the least. He’d learned that the hard way, determined to do things on his own and discovering his body wasn’t even close to being ready to get back to life the way it was. And to be stubborn now, because it was Addy offering to help, could mean exacerbating the injury to his slowly healing shoulder. With a resigned sigh, he said, “You’ve got a half hour, but I can’t promise I’m going to be in a talkative mood.” He’d much rather be shut away in his room, as he had been since coming back from Africa, surfing the internet on his phone or reading one of the many books he had on modernizing fruit orchards.

  Moving around behind him, Addy grabbed a hold of the chair’s handle grips.

  He twisted around and then winced at the sharp stabbing in his shoulder. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  Her gaze dropped to the white gauze sticking out from underneath the opening of his shirt collar. Her expression looked as pained as his shoulder felt at that moment. “Jake,” she gasped. “Your momma is worried enough about you without you tearing your stitches, or whatever they had to use to close your wound.”

  He acknowledged that with a nod and then eased back around to face the door, his arms coming to rest atop the wheelchair’s padded armrests.

  “Look,” she said, “I know I’m the last person you want to talk to, but I really need to talk to you. You don’t have to say a thing. Just hear me out.”

  “Addy,” he said tiredly, “this isn’t going to change anything.”

  “Not for you,” she allowed. “But it will for me.”

  “What are you doing?” he demanded as Addy spun him around to face the hallway. A second later, she was pulling the chair backward toward the front door.

  “Taking you out onto the porch for some sunshine and fresh air,” she replied. Opening the door, she nudged it open and pulled the chair out onto the porch with her. “It sounds like you can use a little of both.”

  The second the warmth of the afternoon sun lit upon his face, Jake had to bite back a groan of pleasure. It had been days since he’d been outside. Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply, taking in the familiar scents of fall, damp earth and the scent of nearby campfires. He could pick up the faint aroma of freshly baked peach pies. All those familiar smells of home. A place he’d feared he might never see again when the gunfire had erupted, and screams rose up around him, that day in the Congo.

  His moment of pleasure gave way to the pain of his past. The shock. The fervent prayers. And then the guilt.

  “Jake…” A gentle hand came to rest on his arm.

  Opening his eyes, he looked up, drinking in Addy’s pretty face and the unspoken comfort her gentle touch offered. He felt the tension ease out of his chest.

  “You cut your hair,” he stated.

  “I did,” she said.

  “It looks good.”

  She smiled as if the remark had given her heart a little jolt of pleasure. “Thank you.”

  Not wanting to think about her response, because she hadn’t cared about his family’s happiness, Jake leaned his head back and closed his eyes. The moment the sun touched upon his face, he let out a low groan.

  “Jake? Are you okay? ” Addy asked worriedly. “If being out here is too much for you…”

  He shook his head. “No, I’m fine. I just forgot how good the sun’s warmth could feel.” Being with her felt good, too. Odd how he could be so angry with Addy, yet at the same time he was somehow calmed by her presence. Maybe she still filled a small piece of his heart. Not that Addy had ever known she’d held it. She thought of him as a friend. As Mason’s little brother. And while their age difference had once mattered, they were adults now. Had been for a very long while. Besides, Addy was only twenty-nine. Three scant years older than he himself was. It ended up being a good thing he’d been waiting for Addy to give him some sign that she reciprocated his growing feelings before confessing his own, b
ecause he would have been made to look a fool. One didn’t lie to those they truly cared about.

  “You look a little pale.”

  Addy’s voice pulled Jake’s focus back to her. “All the more reason to sit out here for a little while,” he said, opening his eyes to look up at her.

  “Then let’s give you a better view.” She positioned his chair a few inches back, then set the wheel locks. Once that was done, she lowered herself to sit on the edge of the porch. “Jake,” she began, “I know you hate me…”

  “Hate’s a pretty strong word,” he countered. But so very close to what he’d felt inside when he’d learned of her part in keeping Finn from his family for all those years.

  “Whatever you want to call it, you’ve shut me out of your life,” she told him, and he heard the hurt in her voice.

  “Addy, you lied to me. To all my family for years,” he reminded her. “How am I supposed to get past that?” Even if the rest of his family had.

  She sighed softly. “I can’t answer that for you. All I can do is tell you how sorry I am for hurting you the way I did. That’s the last thing I ever wanted to do.”

  His gaze locked with hers. “But you had to know that’s exactly what your keeping Lila’s secret would do. I thought you and I…” He looked away.

  “I gave my word to Lila,” she told him. “For so many reasons, I had to keep the promise I made to her. I still care about you. Losing your friendship is tearing me apart.” Tears filled her eyes, something one rarely saw with Addy, and, as much as Jake hated allowing it to do so, it pulled at his heartstrings. “It’s going to be so hard being in Sweet Springs and knowing I can’t be a part of your life.”

  Friendship. It had been so much more than that to him. Had been. And Addy wasn’t the only one torn apart over the ramifications of her betrayal. “I’ve learned the hard way,” he said, motioning to the cast on his lower leg, “that life doesn’t always go the way we expect it to. All we can do is try to pick ourselves up and move on.” Just as he would find a way to do.