by Sally John
“Gina! You’re a Christian? I mean, like what I’ve been preaching at you for years?”
“I guess so. It just didn’t make sense when you told me.”
Lauren rushed to her side and gave her a hug. “This is great! I’ve been praying for you.”
“I know. Thanks.”
“You’re not as uptight as when you first got here.”
“It’s my understanding that God has things under control. Do you want some lunch?”
“I think I just had breakfast.”
They headed down to the kitchen where Gina rummaged in the refrigerator. “So, what are we doing today?”
“Well, I had planned on going to Brady’s brother’s college graduation party at the farm. With Aaron. Now, I don’t know.”
“Lauren, just call him. It’s not that big a deal.” She set out fixings for a ham sandwich on the counter. “You know you want to marry him.”
“Maybe I’ll just go and run into him there. See how it goes.”
Gina sighed. “How old are you?”
“You can come with me.”
“I wasn’t invited. And I’m not dropping in on my mother’s first husband’s private wingding. Which reminds me. Did the whole family swear to secrecy about that or what? Why didn’t you ever tell me my mother was married before and had a baby?”
Lauren studied her nails. “We did swear to secrecy. My mother said it was up to your mother to tell you. Anyway, give me a piece of that ham. This is not a private wingding. All friends and relatives are invited. You just said you were friends.”
“Not friends friends.” The phone rang and she went to it. “More like acquaintances who are spending an inordinate amount of time together. Hello?”
“Hi.” It was Brady’s soft voice.
“Hi.” Her intimate tone betrayed herself. He was rapidly turning into someone beyond acquaintance.
“Why aren’t you here at church? Need a ride?”
“No.” She turned her back to her cousin’s curious face. “I’m too busy trying to talk Lauren into meeting Aaron. Halfway, at least.”
“Ah, good girl. He’s not here, so I can’t work on him. I’m calling to invite you out to the farm this afternoon. My parents are having an open house for Ryan, my brother you almost met the other day. He just graduated from college.”
She tried to imagine it…Maggie Lindstrom’s daughter surrounded by disapproving Olafssons. “Uh, sounds like a family thing. It’s natural that your parents would mind. But thank—”
“Gina.” He paused. She heard him inhale a deep breath. “My grandmother is dead. I’m the only other one who minded.”
She smiled. Absolutely no trace of a chip. “You more than made up for things last night, Brady. Why are you being so friendly?”
“Because of your Miss America smile. I’d rather see it than your scowl.”
“Now you’re skating on thin ice, mister.”
“If you need a ride, I’ll come by for you about two o’clock.”
Lauren was actually jumping and twirling in front of her. Gina turned her back to the spectacle, wrapping herself in the long cord. “How about if I come with Lauren?”
“That’ll work. I’ll make sure the groom is there. It’d be a shame for them to cancel. I was just beginning to look forward to being your escort.”
“Uh-huh. Well, I still don’t need one,” she teased, smiling to herself. “See you, Brady.”
“Bye.”
Ignoring her cousin’s pointed stare, she unwrapped herself from the cord and hung up the phone, then resumed fixing her sandwich.
“Well?” Lauren squealed.
“Well what?” She pulled two more slices of bread from the bag. Two sandwiches sounded appealing, especially with the whole wheat bread she had managed to find at the local grocery store.
“Gina!”
“What? Oh, I’m invited to the graduation party, and Brady’s going to make sure Aaron is there so that you two can make up.”
“I gathered all that. I mean, you were flirting with him and smiling—”
“Flirting? I was not flirting.”
“Call it what you want, but you don’t sound like just acquaintances. What was he saying?”
Gina shrugged. “Some nonsense about a Miss America smile and being my escort. Do you want a sandwich?”
“I think he likes you.”
“And I like him. When you and Aaron celebrate your twenty-fifth, I’ll come back for the open house and be nice to him because I’ll want to. Now back off, Cupid, and let’s eat.”
Twenty
In spite of Brady’s reassurance on the phone, Gina was apprehensive as she and Lauren drove to his parents’ farm. Besides helping her cousin deal with her dilemma, she’d have to deal with being scrutinized by the entire Olafsson clan.
She had asked her mother about it.
“Gina, it’s history. Whenever I return to Valley Oaks, the memories overwhelm me at first because they hit all at once, lots of happiness and lots of pain and not all related to the Olafssons. I’ve met Neil’s wife Barb a few times over the years. She’s a very nice woman who doesn’t seem threatened by the past. Stop worrying. Just go and enjoy yourself.” She winked. “And tell me all about their house and furnishings when you get back.”
Gina glanced at Lauren now. She drove with one hand, while chewing the nails of her other. “Did you pray about this?”
“What?” Lauren stared at her.
“Pray. Watch the road. Brady told me God is concerned about every little thing, so you should probably pray about this.”
“I have.”
“Then it will work out for the best. Relax.” Silently she told herself the same.
The beauty of the Olafsson farm struck her again as they turned onto their lane. It was picture-perfect on a slightly warm, sunny afternoon. An iridescent blue sky shone above the pure greens of the fields and whites of the fences, barns, and house.
Lauren parked her car behind a long line of others. A woman waited for them to get out, then hurried over to Gina. She was short and more plump than slender. Her light brown wavy hair was brushed off of her face, and she wore a denim jumper.
“You must be Gina Philips.” She smiled and shook her hand warmly. “I’m Barb, Brady’s mother. Welcome to our home.”
Relief flooded Gina. “Thank you.” She smiled.
“And Lauren,” Barb said, “I have a very unhappy nephew moping around in the upper meadow.”
Lauren’s face looked stricken. “What do I do?” she asked Gina.
“Oh, go to him, Laur. Try to apologize before he can.”
Barb patted her shoulder. “You’ll sort it out.”
As she walked away toward the barns, they went to the house. “Your farm is so beautiful,” Gina said.
“Thank you. The house is becoming too large with the children grown and more or less gone. The boys work with their dad, but only Ryan lives here. And I’m sure that won’t be for long. We have one grandchild, though, and another on the way, so we’re working on filling it again. How’s your mother?”
Gina was only slightly taken aback at the direct question, probably because of Barb’s genuine friendliness. “She’s well, thank you. She’s busy helping Aunt Marsha with the last-minute wedding details, playing the mean aunt role when necessary with caterers and florists.”
Barb smiled. “I’m sure that’s a big help. Marsha always was on the quiet side.”
“You know Aunt Marsha?” Of course she would! This is Valley Oaks.
“We were classmates, a few years behind your mother. I was sorry I didn’t get a chance to chat with Maggie last night at the reunion.”
What?
“You know,” Barb continued, “she and my husband graduated together. Now I want to say something that I hope will put you at ease. I don’t know what Brady has said to you, but I want you to know that my mother-in-law was an intimidating woman. However, I never allowed her to speak ill of your mother in my presence.
And Neil never spoke ill of her. Of course, he is a man of few words anyway.”
Gina felt herself relax. “Not like his son?”
Barb laughed. “Not at all like Brady.”
A large crowd was gathered in the backyard. As Brady approached, his mother excused herself.
“Hi, Gina.” His blond hair shone in the sunlight. A short-sleeved plaid shirt, tucked into blue jeans, covered the ever-present white T-shirt.
“Hi.” Suddenly self-conscious, she fought the smile that insisted on controlling her facial muscles. She wanted to scowl at his penetrating turquoise gaze rather than smile and be reminded of a—What had he called it? Miss America smile. “Uh, we’ve sent Lauren to apologize to Aaron.”
A grin softened his angular features. “Glad to hear that. Come meet my dad.”
She hesitated. She had just hurdled one obstacle, his mother, and was midair over a second, which was the startling affect Brady Olafsson was having on her heartbeat. The physical presence of this tall, good-looking man was scrambling her thoughts, and it seemed it just shouldn’t be so.
“My mother’s the one who can bite when she wants to. Dad’s a lamb compared to her.” He crooked his elbow out toward her.
She looked at the blond hairs glistening on his tanned forearm and thought that he was too real to touch. He was practically a stranger, but touching his skin would be too intimate considering these odd emotions racing through her.
“Practice.” He pointed at his arm. “For up and down the aisle, you know.”
Gina gave herself a mental shake and hooked her wrist through the crook of his elbow. It was just Brady, friendly wedding ceremony partner, annoying teller of jokes. “Right.”
Neil Olafsson was a slightly shorter, less angular version of Brady with gray streaks throughout his thinning blond hair. Nowhere near as handsome as Dad, she thought.
He shook her hand. “Nice to meet you, Gina.”
“Thank you.”
He smiled. “I talked with your mother last night. She seems to be doing very well.”
It was a casual comment. The son’s early furor was obviously not the father’s. Gina smiled back at the man. “She’s my favorite mom.”
“Be sure to make yourself at home. There’s plenty of food.”
As he walked away, Brady leaned over her shoulder and whispered in her ear, “That wasn’t too bad, was it?”
She exhaled. “No.” It really hadn’t been at all. More difficult to deal with was the tickle his breath sent around her neck.
Gina met countless others, including the mayor, barber, postmaster, and a good-looking deputy sheriff named Cal Huntington.
He shook her hand. “I’m surprised we haven’t met yet.”
“How’s that?” She flexed her fingers, glad that his grip hadn’t permanently mangled them. Her neck was going to get a crick in it. They sure grew them tall around here.
“Well, what with you being a California freeway driver and me patrolling our little old two-lane county roads, it seemed inevitable.” He emphasized a drawl. “Figured you don’t drive under 70.”
“I don’t, but have you seen Aunt Lottie’s car?”
His grin softened the iron jaw and square cheekbones. Clear green eyes bore into her. His build resembled a stone fireplace. Although he seemed friendly enough, she was glad not to be breaking any laws.
Anne approached, accompanied by a female version of Brady, tall and blonde, though more athletically built than slender.
Gina returned Anne’s hug. It was good to see a familiar face at last. “Gina, this is Brady’s sister, Britte Olafsson. She’s my boss.”
“Hi, Gina.” A smile lit up her face. “Welcome to the farm. It’s about time we met. My brother keeps talking about you.”
Gina glanced at Brady deep in discussion with Cal. The tips of his ears turned pink. “I’m nothing like whatever he said.”
Britte laughed. “He does write fiction.”
“Exactly. How are you Anne’s boss?”
“Only on paper. She’s my assistant girls’ basketball coach at the high school, but she leads me more than I lead her.”
Isabel greeted them, then turned to Britte. “Can we meet at your house on Thursday? My bathroom is still under construction.”
“No problem.”
Anne said, “Gina, has Lauren invited you to our book club? She’s been too busy to come lately, but you’re welcome to join us any time. You don’t need to read the book. We’re rather informal.”
Isabel laughed. “Informal is right. We could call it ‘ladies night out slash counseling session slash what can I pray about for you slash let’s all paint your living room slash book discussion if there’s time’ club.”
Britte nudged Isabel. “Scare her away, why don’t you? I don’t think I’m coming next week.”
“You just said we could meet at your house.”
“Oh, yeah.”
Gina joined in their laughter.
Brady touched her elbow. “Hungry?”
When wasn’t she hungry these days? Definitely not a good sign.
After eating a plateful of fried chicken and the best homemade potato salad she had ever tasted, she and Brady strolled out to a pasture to see Ruby.
“Brady, I just can’t imagine living with all this wide open space. Tell me you never get tired of waking up to this glut of nature.”
“I never tire of waking up to this glut of nature. Unless it’s the fifteenth straight day of subzero temperatures with a 35 mile-per-hour wind out of the north.”
“Oh.” She giggled. “Now that’s impossible to imagine living with.”
“Well, it doesn’t happen too often.” They walked behind a barn through scrubby grass. To their left an endless cornfield disappeared on the horizon. “Speaking of your imagination,” he said, “I think that’s what must make it easy for you to see God. Your imagination and your keen awareness of nature.”
“Could be. I never didn’t believe in God’s existence. Nature and life are just too complex to not be designed by a higher being. I remember feeling close to Him the day we watched the condor hatch. Here we all were, looking through the glass, holding our collective breath. I mean this magnificent bird is almost extinct, and we witnessed the first birth of one in captivity. It was incredible. Absolutely incredible. What?”
He was looking at her, an indecipherable expression on his face. He shook his head and turned away. “Nothing. That does sound incredible.”
“It’s true!”
“Gina, I didn’t mean not credible. You must think of Valley Oaks as quite the backward place.”
She bit her lip at the truth of his statement.
“It’s an everyday occurrence for you. Maybe not the birth of a condor, but births of all kinds of exotic animals we’ve never even heard of here. Not to mention caring for wild animals like elephants, making it possible for thousands of visitors to enjoy such grand creatures. Sounds pretty special to me.”
“Yeah, but I got fired.”
He squeezed her shoulder. “You’ll find another place. There’s Ruby.”
They stopped at a fence and watched the chestnut horse grazing nearby. Brady whistled and she cantered over to them.
“Feeling all right now?” Gina cooed. She stood on the fence and leaned over to pet her. “Oh, I like you much better this way.”
There was a peace about the farm that Gina embraced, letting it soak through to the very marrow of her bones. She spent much of the afternoon with Brady as tour guide. They roamed around the silo and through barns, one of which contained a full-size basketball court. She climbed on tractors and a combine. He took her through the house, indicated family photos mounted on the walls, and talked of his great-grandparents, who had built the original portion.
She protested that he spent too much time with her, ignoring the other guests. He shrugged and murmured something about all of them knowing what a combine was. They lingered in the backyard at the picnic table full of desserts and mu
nched on gooey chocolate brownies.
Lauren, all smiles after her reunion with Aaron, found them. “Gina, ready to leave?”
Before she could reply, her cousin’s words tumbled over Brady’s, both offering her options so that she could stay longer.
“Take my car,” Lauren said. “The keys are in it. I’ll go with Aaron.”
“I’ll take you home.” Brady’s words piggybacked hers.
“If you want.” Lauren raised her brows.
“If you want.” Brady smiled.
She didn’t know if it was his smile or the soft earthscented breeze that lifted his blond hair or the peaceful rhythms of the family gathering, but she chose to stay.
Brady took her to see the cattle. Straddling the threewheeler behind him, she placed her hands on his shoulders. After ten minutes of racing down a grassy lane, he veered onto a field of scrubby weeds. Gina squealed as they thumped across the uneven landscape, never slowing. Her arms intuitively encircled his waist, the only solid hold available. When they flew up a slight rise and soared, she pressed her face between his shoulder blades and screamed.
The wild ride ended near a patch of willows. She climbed off and, in spite of her laughter, fussed at him for his maniacal driving habits, vowing to never again get in or on a vehicle with him. He laughed at her.
Their laughter grew louder as they mimicked the lugubrious expressions of nearby cows and tried to out-stare them. After a time they gave up and sat on the ground, each chewing a long blade of grass, and discussed the raising of cattle.
