by Cheryl Wyatt
“I will call her soon. I need to make sure my landlord will release me from my lease, but I’m definitely interested.”
“Good, because I’m working on the unit you liked best now.”
“Sorry I’m not there to help.”
“That’s fine. Mitch needs you there at the trauma center.”
He’d just finished the inside repairs on Bri’s third cabin when his parents pulled up. Tia wasn’t with them. His mom explained Tia was coming later with Leah, who’d taken her sightseeing in St. Louis at the arch. Ian’s sister had taken her for ice cream. Nice. A bouncy child and a matchmaking sister on a sugar high.
Three more vehicles pulled in.
He pivoted. “What on earth?”
“What on earth?” Bri echoed his statement as she stepped onto the deck and joined Ian where he’d walked to greet his mom.
A slew of women and men came bearing food, smiles, work gloves, chain saws and other power tools. “We’re here to help,” Ian’s dad said. Ian’s mom shuffled over to hug Bri.
Ian knew Bri was beyond desperate, because relief rather than dread filled her face.
“This is our church’s chain-saw ministry,” his mom said.
Ian wanted to laugh. “I don’t know what scares me more, Mom. A destructive lodge fire followed by two days of unprecedented snowfall...or a bunch of folks bearing chain saws.”
The crowd of them laughed good-naturedly. Bri nibbled her lips and looked at Ian with dread. “I need to speak with you right away. Privately, please. Ian, I feel so bad about all these people showing up.”
“Bri, I know you have a tough time needing help, but—”
“Ian, that’s not it.” She drew a heaving breath. “I—I left the loan company office a note, conceding the property.”
Shock plumed over Ian’s ruddy, handsome face. One that was getting harder each day to look away from. “What?”
“Please don’t be mad. Try to understand.”
“Bri, no. You can’t give up.”
“I can’t go on, Ian. I’m not superhuman.”
He gritted his teeth. Paced. Turned back and braced her shoulders with his hands. “No. You can’t do this.”
“I’ve already made the decision.”
“Under duress.” He shook his head slowly. “I won’t let you do this. And that loan company is a shark tank, Bri. It’s not actually a bank.”
“It’s basically the same.”
Ian felt his anger and sense of justice spike. “No. It’s a loan company that preys on people in hardship. Like your mom. Caleb hired an investigator. He uncovered that your mom remortgaged through them due to medical bills. She wasn’t thinking clearly. And neither are you.”
“So what can I do? I already left a message.”
“Did you sign anything?”
“No, but—”
“No buts about it. They are not leveling that lodge.”
Bri brought her hands up on Ian’s. Her face softened. “Ian, I appreciate all you’ve done. But I don’t see any other way.”
“Where’s your faith, Bri?”
He could tell his words shocked her. Shocked him, too. So maybe he’d retained some of his understanding of God after his divorce.
“Hello?” A voice sounded behind them. The fire chief and another man sauntered up the yard. “Miss Landis, may we talk?”
“Of course.” Ian followed her in. The fire chief paying a visit to the home was never a good thing. Right?
Where’s your faith?
Ian’s own words came back to bite him.
Yeah, yeah, fine. “Did you find out what caused the blaze?” Ian pushed goggles over his snow cap and joined Bri on the couch across from the two somber-faced men.
“Yes. The fire forensics crew determined it was electrical.”
“But the electric wasn’t aged.” Bri stood. Paced.
“No, but it seems because it had been sitting empty for so many months, one of the walls became infested with mice,” the chief explained.
Bri’s shoulders sank. “Yes, it had. I tried to get rid of them at first, but—but then I recently removed all of the poison and chemicals keeping them away.” She’d lowered her voice and darted pensive glances Ian’s way, but he still heard.
His gut began to burn. He rotated knots of dread from his shoulders. Leaned in to hear.
“Well, one of those little varmints chewed through the wrong wire. Lit himself up, then set your lodge ablaze.”
“A tiny little mouse caught a great big lodge on fire?” Bri blinked disbelievingly.
The other man with the chief cleared his throat. “An electricity spark, actually, but yes, ma’am. I hate to say this, but you might have been better off to leave the poison there until you could get an exterminator.”
Bri peered at Ian. “I—I didn’t want to cause leukemia in kids, if—if the youth came in after—”
This was his fault. He’d petrified her into removing the chemicals that would have kept the mice away.
Ian went to her side after the men left. “Bri, I’m sorry.”
She shook her head. “No, Ian. Don’t be. The truth is, I didn’t realize those chemicals cause leukemia. I should have known it, but somehow didn’t pick that up in child-care classes. If they even taught it. Regardless, I’d rather lose my lodge than have any parent lose their child to cancer.”
Ian’s jaw clenched. “Once and for all, you will not lose the lodge.”
More cars showed up outside. Bri walked to the window. “Oh, dear. I have made an extremely big mess. The whole town just pulled up in my yard. Ian? Do you know what’s going on? Why are all these people here?”
Ian couldn’t keep the grin from breaking through.
* * *
What was happening? Why were all these people here? She went outside, shocked to see more vehicles had arrived. Townspeople and military people dressed in camouflage directed a truck full of roof trusses to her street.
“Good gravy, Ian! You brought in the National Guard?” She palmed the sides of her face.
He chuckled and led her inside. “Caleb called in the Guard. They’re guys from his unit who didn’t get deployed. I just called a few PJs.”
“A few? Ian. This looks like a military base.” But she giggled. And couldn’t stop. She gasped. “I think the entire town of Eagle Point is here!”
“And most of Refuge,” Lem said behind her.
Bri rushed him in a hug. Tears streamed from her eyes. “You helped organize this, didn’t you?”
Lem shrugged. “I mighta had a hand in it.”
She hugged him. “But what about your Library Read-N-Run fundraiser?”
“That’s a month away. Besides, people had to prepay to register for the marathon. That’s all said and done. Obviously folks ’round here have it in ’em to give lavishly. To help a neighbor in need. Don’t let ’em miss their blessing from God over it, kiddo.”
Bri hugged him again. “I love you, Lem.” He grinned, seeming well pleased with that. He was Lauren’s grandfather, sure, and someone who was very special to Lauren’s fiancé, Mitch. Yet Lem was a grandpa figure to everyone. Including Bri now.
Lem approached Ian, who’d grown quiet. “And you, young man, quit worrying about that trauma center. This year’s marathon proceeds are going one hundred percent toward it, and we had an unprecedented level of participation. I think you and my future son-in-law will be pleased with the amount.” He gleamed.
“I suppose you don’t want me to tell him yet?” Ian eyed Mitch, working on replacing logs with a group of muscular PJs.
“No, it’ll be our secret. But I know you got a ton on your mind, especially with that little’n. She’s your priority now, not that trauma center.”
Lem’s word
s seemed to deeply affect Ian. His parents stood smiling supportively behind him, so apparently it had been weighing on Ian. After listening in on plans, Ian’s parents went back to their posts, his mom organizing refreshments for workers and his dad overseeing construction.
“He did that for a living, you know,” Ian said of his dad.
The proud look and close bond pricked Bri with a strange feeling: she missed her dad. Deadbeat or not, he was still her father.
Maybe, someday, God would give her courage to go see him.
Bri walked with Ian to meet Kate, who pranced up with a paper. “What’s this?” Bri asked.
“My current lease.” With that, Kate ripped it down the middle. “As soon as you get a cabin ready for me, I’ll take it.”
Ian went to hang with his dad, while Bri walked with Kate to take workers bottled water. “Thank you, Kate.”
“Hey, I’m not just doing this to help you. I need to be closer to the trauma center. Twenty minutes is too far away. Living at the cabin means I’d get there in under two minutes.”
That made sense. They passed out several cases of water, then rejoined the main fray.
Things were being lifted, sanded, sawed, hammered, nailed, glued, built and caulked all around her. If her mom could only see this, and how it brought the community together like an old-fashioned barn raising, only bigger.
“I wish I could help more,” Bri said, raising her arm cast a while later, as a renovation planning team gathered around a brand-new picnic table someone had brought. It looked Amish as far as craftsmanship, just gorgeous.
“You just be the supervisor, telling us what needs to be done,” Lem informed. Ian chuckled. Then his face sharpened.
Bri looked up. The loan officer had pulled up and was getting out of his car. The way Ian approached him made her gasp. Lem held her arm. “He’s okay. Let him handle it his way.”
“Yes, that’s what I’m afraid of. You don’t know how mad he looked when I mentioned giving the guy the message he could have the lodge.”
“Well, by the looks of things, he’s not only leaving in one piece, he’d leaving your lodge alone.”
Lauren watched in wonder as Ian spoke a few more words to the red-faced man. Whatever he said sent him back in his car and away. Hopefully for good. Maybe Ian wasn’t so dangerous.
He walked up calmly and joined the planning session. Hammering, sawing, laughing, conversation and sounds of massive construction filled the air.
Bri had never heard a sweeter sound.
Lem handed Bri some sketched pages and jotted notes. “Here’s the deal. We’re gonna have ourselves a citywide New Year’s Eve fundraiser bash on Eagle Point’s square. Kinda like New York, except not the big, pretty plummeting ball or the trillions of people. I suspect we’ll have a few less than that.” Lem chuckled. “But still a fairly decent crowd.”
“What do you mean by a New Year’s Eve fundraiser?”
Ian slid another paper close and brushed her good arm in doing so. She felt disappointed when he moved it away. “All the businesses in town are donating ten percent of their proceeds over the next week to cover this week’s construction costs.”
Eagle Point’s mayor ran a finger down six columns of what had to be three hundred names. “These are business owners and patrons your mom helped out over the last two decades. The night of your fire, they got together to figure out how to help.”
Bri gulped. Eyed all the names, gratitude for each one wafting over her. Then gladness over her mom and kindness she’d sewn that Bri was reaping now. Caleb, too, now that he’d figured out the retreat center meant something to him.
The mayor handed her a city meeting minutes. “They proposed fundraising days plus a New Year’s Eve shindig on the square. Bands will come to play.”
Brock pointed at the vocal lineup. “Ben, my PJ teammate, is killer on guitar. Rowan, our youth pastor, has a set of pipes like Roger Daltrey. A girl in youth group who has a soulful, bluesy voice is going to sing along with a second grungy-voiced girl. Amazing vocalists these kids. They’re teenagers from Eagle Point and Refuge who are looking forward to your lodge youth project.”
Bri felt overwhelmed with kindness. If all of these people were participating, she realized how important the lodge was to them all. To the community. She looked Ian in the eye. “It seems Mom’s dreams didn’t die, after all. They’ve already come true. All she ever wanted her lodge to do was bring the community together.” Bri looked around. “She’s done that.”
He smiled. Put a hand to the small of her back, a gesture of support, because he knew she’d struggle with receiving the community outpouring of generosity.
But today, that wasn’t her only struggle. She struggled to keep her brain from exploding, her skin from zinging and her pulse from hammering every time Ian brushed his hand along hers.
The frightening part was Bri felt more inclined to lean into him than away from him. Things inside her were shifting toward Ian. She was starting to see him in a new way.
And with the brief glances he was sending her way, it was clear he was struggling with the same feelings. Someone cleared their throat behind Bri.
She ripped her gaze off Ian’s wide shoulders carrying a log and whirled. Blushed to find his mom smiling behind her. She waved Ian over. “Son, set that naked tree down and come ’ere.”
Bri giggled at his mom calling the log a tree. She was thankful for Ian’s family coming to help and that Ian’s sister had decided to keep Tia in St. Louis for the day so they could see the famed city museum and science center in town.
Thinking this was some sort of family discussion, Bri started to step away. “Whoa, hold on. You stay.”
Ian’s dad and a few of their friends joined the group.
Ian’s mom unfolded a hand-knitted throw blanket that matched the color of the first finished cabin. Also, little matching knitted doilies with country patterns. “You made this?” Bri asked.
She nodded. “Been workin’ on it since Christmas. I’ll have a few more made in the weeks to come, all for your cabins. But I’ll need their individual color schemes.”
Every cell in Bri’s system felt compelled to protest. Ian’s mom, Jenny’s, excitement as she stretched out the throw subdued Bri’s compulsion. Bri was still smiling when an envelope fell from the blanket as Ian unfurled its ornately scalloped edge.
Everyone grew quiet. Ian watched her carefully. As he might a ticking time bomb. In fact, so did others. Soon, Bri realized that Jenny had waved many of the workers up.
Everyone watched with goofy, expectant grins.
She eyed them in a funny way. “I’m scared to open it now.”
Ian shifted. “It’s from my family, Lem, Lauren, Mitch and other trauma center staff, plus nearly everyone else in town.”
Bri’s throat clogged as he peeled the envelope open and slid a check out. She picked it up, couldn’t read it because tears blurred her vision. “Oh, that’s a lot of zeros.” She shook her head. “This is too much. I can’t.” She shoved it back.
No one would take the check she shoved into the air with frantic, trembling fingers. Ian pressed the check back into her hand, curled her fingers around it and held his hand over hers. Then he squeezed her hand, equally firm and gentle. Like his demeanor. “The lodge benefits Eagle Point. This is your mom’s dream.” He increased pressure on his hand. “Okay?”
She nodded. Sniffed emotion back. “Okay. When you put it that way, it’s easier to accept.” But still hard. Bri suddenly wished she could flee. Out of this family who made her miss her own. Out of this situation of needing the help of others. Out of the intoxicating smell of Ian’s woodsy cologne. She was about to break down in front of all these happy people.
“Excuse me, I need a minute.” Bri slipped away and went inside to the solace of her sunroom, where Tia had le
arned to swim. Bri realized with an ache in her heart how much she missed Tia.
His mom came in, crossed the room and bent, sidling Bri’s face in her hands. “It’s a noble thing you’re doing, sweet girl, helping my son, my granddaughter, the trauma center and building a haven for teenagers.” Now she blinked tears back. As her husband and Ian walked in, Jenny locked gazes with them briefly, before turning back to Bri. “I’ll bet you didn’t know Ian lost his oldest sister to a drunk driver, did you?”
Bri gulped. Eyed Ian and his misty-eyed family. “I didn’t.”
“She was my oldest. Got in the car with an intoxicated group of kids. She wasn’t drunk but was too scared to speak up or ask to drive. They crashed on a dangerous curve and, well, she’s the only one who didn’t make it. Ian was ten.”
Hard swallows abounded. Hers, too. “What was her name?”
She smiled deeply into Ian’s gaze. “Her name was Tiana.”
“Tia’s named after her?” Bri directed the question at Ian, who was very subdued now.
“Yes.” His voice was tight. Hard. Eyebrows pinched.
“I had no idea.” Bri rose, took time hugging Ian’s parents, then reached behind them and squeezed Ian’s hand.
A flicker of emotion shuttered across his face as their hands locked. Ian’s fingers twined tightly to hers as she swayed with his parents in a group hug. A commiseration of human hearts who understood the anguish of a family loss. His eyes reached across his parents’ backs, to his and Bri’s intertwined hands.
Then he met her eyes.
The vulnerable pain swirling deep inside caught her by surprise. He released her hand as though she were live voltage, stepped back and looked the opposite way.
Bri knew his parents hadn’t caught it. But she had no doubt what was going through his mind. He’d realized that, unlike his parents, his marriage hadn’t stood the test of time. That he no longer had a wife to support, grow old with or help with family endeavors. Every dream of a mate for life, crumbled.
