Sweet Surprise: Romance Collection

by Wanda E. Brunstetter, Kristin Billerbeck, Kristy Dykes, Aisha Ford, Birdie L. Etchison, Pamela Griffin, Joyce Livingston, Tamela Hancock Murray

  She counted on her fingers. “That will still take five hours to bake. The night’s too short. We have to sleep.”

  “Then what about your parents? That’s only twenty pies each.” Rick paused to calculate three pies per half hour baking time. “No, that’s still not good enough. I need a church directory. I’ll be right back. You start packing three pies per box. I’m going to be making some deliveries.”

  Before she could protest that it was too late to be phoning around for favors, Rick took off into her father’s office, closed the door, and locked it behind him. In less than twenty minutes he had acquired the help of the eighteen families he needed.

  He returned to Lynette in the kitchen. “Let’s load up the car. I’m on my way. I’ll see you in the morning. And don’t forget your three pies.”

  It took him an hour to deliver all the pies to be baked, which was much better than the original five hours it would have taken if he and Lynette had to bake them all themselves.

  As soon as he arrived at home, Rick put his pies in the oven, but they weren’t fully cooked by the time he was ready for bed. He waited out the last ten minutes standing near the stove, because he knew if he sat down he would never get up.

  He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so tired, but the day’s efforts had been worth it in more ways than one. He’d spent the entire day with Lynette, and for the first time in ten years she had made no efforts to get away from him. Not once had she appeared nervous or uncomfortable in his presence. Just as she’d promised, they had spent time together as real friends, sharing and talking about everything with no holds barred. By the end of the day he loved her even more than he did before, if that were possible.

  Today a large barrier had crumbled, and with that barrier gone, he knew she loved him as much as he loved her. She just didn’t know it yet.

  Tomorrow, before the fair was over and life returned to normal, he had to do something about it.

  The timer for the oven dinged, and Rick removed the pies from the oven.

  Tomorrow would be another day.

  Chapter 7

  L ynette walked toward the church with all her attention on the clipboard, knowing she had walked this same way so many times that she didn’t need to look where she was going. Rick followed directly behind her, carrying the huge box.

  “Have you got the trophy?”

  “Yup.”

  “The envelope with the gift certificates?”

  “Yup.”

  “The case of chocolate bars?”

  “Yup.”

  “Fishing rods?”

  “Yup.”

  “Toys?”

  “Yup.”

  “Paper?”

  She checked off the colored felt markers without asking. She already knew they were in the Sunday school classroom. Her mom was picking up the hot dog buns and wieners, and her father was picking up the coolers for the drinks.

  “Plastic forks?”

  “Lynette, I had the same list as yours. I have everything in this box except duct tape. Trust me.”

  She stopped dead in her tracks. Rick bumped into her from behind, not hard enough to knock her down but hard enough to send the clipboard and pen flying to the ground.

  She whirled around. “You forgot duct tape? You have to go back.”

  “You think I should? I was kidding.”

  She couldn’t hold back her giggle. “So was I. Everything will be fine. Look above. Blue sky.”

  “How can you tell? It’s hardly daylight.”

  Lynette lost her smile. “Quit being so grumpy. Today is going to be great!”

  Rick didn’t smile. “I haven’t had a decent night’s sleep in a week, I was up before the crack of dawn, and I didn’t have time to make coffee this morning. Don’t give me any of that great day stuff.”

  She tipped her head to one side and patted him gently on one shoulder. “Not a morning person, are we?”

  He grumbled something she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear. Before she had time to respond, a car turned into the parking lot.

  “Sarah and her dad are here. The dunk tank won’t be far behind. Hurry. Put the box beside the door and go meet them. The animal pen is due to arrive in half an hour.” She checked her watch to be sure. “Where are all the boys? They said they’d be here.”

  Rick also checked his watch. “They’re not due for five minutes. They’ll be here in ten.”

  The four of them carried the boxes and paraphernalia out of the building until the first van full of teenagers arrived. Soon they were followed by a pickup truck loaded with fencing and a few bales of hay.

  The youth group members continued to arrive, each bringing the three pies, which Lynette directed to tables set up inside the lobby. The younger boys helped Lynette arrange the tables around the parking lot while the older boys and Rick set up the pen and spread the hay. Those remaining assembled the dunk tank. When everything was together, the boys filled the tank with warm water, and the girls set up the backdrop and erected the fish pond booth, doing their best to make the blue enclosure that would hide the two volunteers inside to resemble a small lake. By eight-thirty the last of the helpers arrived, all the pies were lining the tables in the lobby, and within fifteen minutes all the tables and booths were ready.

  “There’re the goats!” called out a couple of the girls when the truck and trailer came into view.

  Rick checked his watch. “Right on time. This is great.”

  Lynette wiped her hands on her jeans. “That’s what happens when everything is organized efficiently and you have lots of help.”

  Rick grumbled under his breath again, but this time Lynette didn’t have the strength to tease him about his rotten mood. The exhausting pace of the past three weeks had caught up with her; yet she still had many hours of hard work ahead of her. She couldn’t afford to slow her pace now. Soon it would be the time they’d advertised they would officially open.

  Rick supervised loading the goats into the enclosure, making everything ready. Still, nothing ever went smoothly, despite the most careful preplanning. Even though she felt ready to drop, her insides were still tense, waiting for something to go wrong at the last minute when things seemed perfect.

  Once again Lynette tallied up everything around her. The only person missing was the mayor, who would be arriving at eleven, after the fair was in progress.

  Rick appeared at her side. Lynette flinched when he picked up one hand and rubbed it between both of his. “Are you okay?” he asked quietly.

  She smiled weakly, grateful for his recovery from the morning grumpies, and shrugged her shoulders. “I guess.”

  He jerked his head toward the building. “Come into the church with me for a minute.”

  Not letting go of her hand, Rick started walking, giving Lynette no choice but to follow. He stopped when they were inside the door where they could still hear what was going on outside, but no one could see them.

  “Turn around,” he murmured as he placed his palms on her shoulders then slowly turned her around so her back was to him.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, tilting her head to glance over her shoulder at him.

  “Shh. You’re so tense.” At his words, with his palms still on her shoulders, his thumbs pressed into her shoulder blades then began to move in little circles, loosening up the knots in her muscles. With his touch all the tension of the morning and the past few weeks began to drain out of her.

  “I don’t know if—”

  “Shh, I said. Don’t talk. Relax.” As his thumbs pressed harder, Lynette struggled not to melt. In only two minutes she couldn’t have talked if she wanted to.

  “We talked a lot about being friends, and as a friend I’ve been worried about you,” he said without easing up on the pressure. “I can’t help but wonder why you took on a project like this. Before we got involved in this whole thing, you seemed ready to drop. I even thought you were starting to pull away from the church. The grapevine told me you’ve
dropped out of every committee. I’m glad you’re finally learning how to say no to people before you reach your breaking point. It isn’t selfish—it’s critical to know your limits so you can have an effective ministry. As for this fair, even though it’s been hard on both of us, I’m grateful for this time we’ve been able to spend together. It’s meant a lot to me. I hope that when it’s over we can stay friends. Or more.”

  His touch slowed and stopped. Slowly she felt herself being turned around to face him. “More?”

  He replaced his hands on her shoulders and raised his thumbs to brush her cheeks. “Special friends, Lynette. I want to be special friends. Forever.”

  Lynette’s heart went into overdrive. For eight years she’d been distancing herself from him, and now she knew he’d loved her all that time. Now that he agreed to be friends she could finally admit to herself that she had loved him for a long time, too, but she’d been too frightened to explore a relationship. After their discussions on what happened with her mother, she had done nothing but think about how she’d let it affect her life and mostly her relationship, or lack thereof, with Rick.

  The more she thought about what happened to her mother, the more she suspected Rick was right. The man involved must have perpetuated the rumors for some reason, even if no one would ever know or understand why, or the situation would never have gone so out of control for so long.

  Rick had no hidden agenda. For as long as she had known him, he’d been open and honest with her in both thought and deed. Lynette had been the one to put up all the roadblocks. She needed to talk to him about what could lie ahead for them, while she still had the courage to do so.

  Lynette raised her hands to touch the sides of his waist. “We don’t have a lot of time, so—”

  She couldn’t finish her sentence. Before she could think, his mouth was on hers. This was not a sweet, gentle kiss. He kissed her as if he meant it, from the bottom of his heart.

  So Lynette kissed him back the same way because she meant it from the bottom of her heart, too. She no longer wanted to keep hidden away from him as she’d done for so many years. She had wasted too much time, and she wasn’t going to waste any more. She wanted to have that special relationship with him, as he said.

  She slipped her hands around his back and held him tighter. His hands slipped to her back, and he pressed her against him. He lifted his mouth away only long enough to whisper her name, tilt his head a little more, and kiss her again.

  A sharp whistle cut the air. All talking and banging outside stopped.

  Rick and Lynette broke apart and stepped back from each other. As her brain slowly started to clear, Lynette thought she saw Rick shake his head to do the same. Without a word between them, they hurried outside.

  Her father stood in the center of everything with his hands raised over his head.

  “Attention, everyone! We’re ready to start, in plenty of time before the first people get here. While it’s still quiet and it’s just us, I want to take this time to pray for God’s blessing on this day.”

  Lynette almost smiled to herself at her father’s “just us” comment. The “just” consisted of about one hundred and fifty church members.

  They all bowed their heads. Lynette struggled to push aside thoughts of what had just happened and concentrate on her father’s words as he prayed, which was extremely difficult with Rick at her side.

  After a slight pause, her father thanked God for the joined effort of the entire congregation. He then praised the Lord for the blessings of everything from the small donations to the large specialty items that would make the day a special attraction for the community. He prayed for God to be glorified in everything they did and to bless their time with the people of the community. Last of all he prayed for the proceeds to be enough to fix the church roof.

  The group called out a boisterous “amen,” and everyone proceeded to their stations.

  Fortunately for Lynette, one of the teens pulled Rick away toward the goat pen, giving her a chance not to be distracted by his presence. She needed time to think.

  Chapter 8

  I t’s okay.” Rick pressed the two pieces of wood together then stood back. “It’s still connected, but I think I’ll get some twine and reinforce it to be sure. Thanks for bringing this to my attention.”

  “Glad it’s nothing,” Andrew said as he ran his fingers over the joint in the portable fence. “I’ll go back in with the goats now. I didn’t know if they could knock this down.”

  As soon as Andrew walked away, Rick let himself sag. He couldn’t believe what had happened with Lynette. He certainly hadn’t planned on kissing her; he’d only wanted to talk about seeing each other after the fund-raiser was over. But when she put her hands on his waist it was too close to a hug, and he lost it.

  Then she hadn’t pushed him away, nor had she hesitated. She’d kissed him back. Not a light little friendship kiss either. She had kissed him for real. It was there, the connection he’d hoped and prayed for. He’d thought about it and dreamed about it for so long that over the past few days, when she had begun to respond to him, he didn’t know if her reaction was real or in his over-optimistic imagination.

  But today, ten minutes ago, he certainly hadn’t imagined the way she’d kissed him.

  He continued to fiddle with the fence, even though it was fine, because he knew he couldn’t wipe the sappy grin off his face quite yet. He was a man in love, and she loved him back. He knew it now without a shadow of a doubt.

  Today, after everything was over, he could do something about it. Already, fifteen minutes before their advertised opening time, guests started to arrive, which was a good indication for the rest of the day. Soon a steady stream of people flowed in.

  By the time the mayor arrived, the place was bustling. Most of the crowd hovered around the dunk tank as Mayor Klein climbed onto the collapsing platform. The newspaper camera caught him giving Pastor Chris a wink and a thumbs-up as he settled into the seat. They also took a picture of Pastor Chris buying the first ticket for a chance to dunk the mayor. The crowd hushed as he aimed the ball for the target, wound up—and missed.

  Rick smiled, almost sure the pastor had missed on purpose.

  Many people bought a chance to dunk the mayor, who was attracting quite a crowd. A man Rick didn’t recognize finally hit the target, and the mayor slipped down into the warm water as the people cheered and applauded. As Mayor Klein came out of the tank, he made a show of pretending the water was cold, toweled off his face, and returned to the seat, which a couple of the church deacons had put back into position.

  After a few dunkings, the crowd began to disperse. Pastor Chris remained beside the mayor, encouraging everyone to buy a ball and dunk their fine mayor again. Of course, having a photographer from the local newspaper presenting a potential chance for everyone to be in the paper greatly encouraged people to try their aim.

  Since the mayor was in questionably good hands, Rick left on his quest to find Lynette. He made a big circle of all the booths, checking the goat pen, the bake and craft tables. Not finding her there, he moved on to the children’s games and contest tables. After he’d checked every booth without success, Rick stood beside the fishing pool and crossed his arms. The only place he hadn’t checked was the church building, where all the pies were stored.

  “Rick?”

  He turned his head without moving. “Yes, Sarah?”

  “I have to, uh, go, uh—can you do the fish thing for me?”

  Rick nodded. “Sure, Sarah.”

  As Sarah took off at a run toward the building, Rick walked behind the backdrop, dropped to his hands and knees, and lifted the blanket to crawl into the make-believe lake where he could attach prizes for the children when they threw in their line. A familiar voice came from within.

  “Hi, Rick.”

  He grinned as he crawled inside and let the blanket drop, hiding them from everyone. “Hi, Lynette. I was wondering where you went.”

  She smiled,
and his heart went wild. “I’m down here, a little fish in a big pond. Keep your head up. Those little balls aren’t heavy when they hit you in the head, but they can get tangled in your hair. I’ve recently found that out the hard way.”

  He ran his fingers through the top of his hair as he parked himself on the padded surface beside her. “I don’t think that’s possible with me. But I appreciate the warning.”

  A little ball with a fishing line attached sailed through the air and landed between them.

  Lynette giggled. “You can do this one.”

  Rick quickly clipped on a toy fish with the Bible verse attached and tugged gently on the line.

  “Mommy! Mommy! I caught a fish!” a child squealed from the other side of the backdrop.

  The line tightened, but Rick didn’t let go. He tugged again.

  “Mommy! It’s a big one!”

  Lynette covered her mouth with her hand and giggled again. “I hope the fight is worth it.”

  Rick released the line, allowing the toy fish to be reeled in.

  “I caught one, Mommy! It’s so pretty!”

  Rick and Lynette smiled at each other.

  “I like kids,” he said, his voice coming out strangely husky.

  She ran her fingers across his chin. “I know.”

  The tap of footsteps on the cement of the parking lot surrounded them, and voices echoed all around. Yet, behind the backdrop and surrounded by the cloth-covered wire circle, the enclosure felt strangely private.

  His throat clogged, but he cleared it. “We have to talk.”

  “I know.”

  “About the future.”

  “I know.”

  His heart pounded in his chest. It may not have been the ideal place to propose, but if he didn’t he thought his heart might burst. “Lynette—”

  The blanket lifted, and Sarah crawled in to join them. In the cramped quarters Rick shuffled to the side.

  “I’m back. Thanks. Ryan is looking for you. They want to put more warm water in the dunk tank, because Mayor Klein is starting to shiver for real.”

  Rick gritted his teeth, crawled out from beneath the blanket, and made his way to the dunk tank to do his duty. He hadn’t said what he wanted to say to Lynette, but on the bright side at least now he knew where she was.