“Mommy.” Ari raced into the dining room. “Grandma let me get a double chocolate-vanilla swirl.” The evidence of the treat showed on the little girl’s hands and T-shirt.
“Thanks, Debbie.”
Her ex-mother-in-law’s forehead wrinkled in question. “You’re welcome.”
The Sheriff dragged himself from his chair, showing every year of his age and then some. “We’d better get going.” He and Debbie left.
“You guys need to go get ready for bed, but give me a hug first.”
Ari rushed over and flung her arms around Becca. Brendon gave her a tolerant look and allowed her to hug him. When had he gotten so grown up?
While the kids were upstairs, Becca called Jared, first on his cell phone. It went right to his voice mail. More often than not, there wasn’t any service at the church or parsonage. She couldn’t wait to talk with him, to tell him her prayers had been answered. She dialed the parsonage’s landline. The phone rang a few times and went to Connor’s voice mail. She left a message for Jared to call her, knowing she probably wouldn’t be able to sleep a wink tonight without talking to him.
Chapter Thirteen
He was a coward. But a coward for a good reason. He wouldn’t jeopardize Becca’s custody of Brendon and Ari. Jared flicked the directional on his bike and hand signaled for the exit to the hotel outside of Albany where he’d made a room reservation last night. Fortunately for him, the person taking the reservation was a fan, and he’d been able to arrange an eight o’clock check-in.
Jared had gotten home before Connor yesterday evening and played the voice mail, deleting Becca’s message. That didn’t stop it from bouncing around in his head. She had sounded so happy. She had something important to tell him. When they’d last talked she had been so furious with her ex-in-laws and Matt that he was certain she was going to tell him that she’d dropped her opposition to his racing school, no matter about the Family Court petition. His heart broke in a million pieces. If she’d do that for him, he could do what he now realized he had to do. Leave Paradox Lake and get out of her life. He prayed Becca would see that it would be best for everyone.
Once he was in his hotel room, he called his brother.
Connor picked up immediately. “Hey, you sure were out of here early. I didn’t even hear you leave.”
“Yeah. I have unexpected business in Albany.” He wasn’t lying. Until he’d made his decision last night, he hadn’t expected to be meeting with his attorney this morning. “Can you tell Hope I’m out of town on business, like I was for the race, and I’ll call her every day until I get back?”
“Every day? Reminder, Bro, you have your public hearing tomorrow night. Whatever other business you have, I can’t believe you’d forgotten that.”
Jared clenched his jaw. He was trying to do exactly that. Forget the whole Paradox Lake project and his plans to settle there. And it wasn’t easy. Not when Becca kept appearing in his mind, her eyes dewy from their kiss the other afternoon in the meadow.
“Wait,” Connor said. “Hope just got up. You can talk to her yourself.”
“Hi, Jared.”
“Hi, pumpkin.”
“Where are you? Aren’t you taking me to The Kids’ Place today?”
“No, I had to go on a business trip. Connor will take you.”
“You are coming back?”
Jared’s heart constricted. Hope had lost so many people close to her. “Of course I’m coming back, in a couple days. Remember how I went to the race a couple of weeks ago? Like that.”
“But I didn’t get to kiss you goodbye.”
“Tell you what. You can send me a kiss over the phone and I’ll send you one back.”
Hope made a loud smacking sound that Jared duplicated. “Tell Connor that I’ll call him later.”
“Okay. Will you bring me a present like you did last time?”
“Yes, I’ll bring you a present. Bye-bye.” He hung up and powered off his cell phone. He’d clue his brother in to his plans later. And Hope. He had to take care explaining to her that he was moving to Albany. She was better off in Paradox Lake, where she had friends and Connor and Josh. Connor was the one who wanted marriage and family, and probably had the best shot at doing that. He was less damaged than Jared and Josh. Albany was only an hour and a half away. He could zip up to see her almost anytime. After fifteen years of thinking mainly of himself, it was time he put others first.
The afternoon meeting with Dan went perfectly from a business perspective. Not only had the attorney worked all weekend scouting potential properties, but he’d also lined up a couple of potential investors in the racing school. They were going to meet with them tomorrow morning, and he had set up appointments with a real estate agent to view some houses and condos tomorrow afternoon and evening. He needed something to do to keep his mind off the public hearing he wouldn’t be attending tomorrow evening.
Knowing Connor would be picking up Hope from The Kids’ Place about now, he called the house and left a message for him and Hope before heading down to the hotel fitness center. He hoped it had some heavy weights he could use to work off his restlessness. He had no idea taking the right actions could feel so wrong.
* * *
Where was he? Becca looked out over the fast-filling town hall meeting room. Jared’s lawyer sat at the front table without Jared. The exuberance she’d woken up with Monday morning knowing she was free to vote her conscience for the racing school tonight, had diminished with each unanswered call she’d made and text she’d sent to Jared. Connor didn’t seem to know what was going on with his brother, either, other than Jared had gone to Albany on business yesterday. As a last resort, she stooped to talking with Hope. All she’d gotten from the little girl was that Jared would be home in a couple days, like before, and was bringing her a present. Concern choked her. Jared wouldn’t miss the meeting. It was too important.
Tom Hill banged his gavel on the dais. “Everyone take a seat. I’m calling this public hearing to order.” Tom went through the formalities of getting the hearing under way. “So that everyone gets their say tonight, we’re limiting each speaker to no more than ten minutes. The first person on the list is Eli Peyton. Eli, are you here?”
Eli rose from a chair in the center of the room and made his way to the microphone set up in the front. “I support Jared Donnelly’s racing school as a teacher and guidance counselor and as a parent,” he began before going on to list all of his reasons and explaining how he saw the racing program as a potential resource for troubled students.
“Thank you, Eli,” Tom interrupted. “The secretary says your time is up.”
Emily’s husband, Drew, spoke next about how the racing program could be integrated with the summer camp sessions and other activities he offered at Sonrise Camp and Conference Center. Liz Whittan followed, rolling her wheelchair up the narrow center aisle between the rows of chairs. She ended her short statement with, “Jared Donnelly is not his father.” Applause rippled across the room, punctuated with a couple of boos.
When the room quieted, Tom called the next person on the list. One of Becca’s Conifer Road neighbors strode to the microphone. “The endorsements from the teachers and youth workers are fine and good, but we still have some unanswered questions about traffic congestion and the proximity of the racetrack to Camp Northern Lights.”
Anne Hazard stood. “I can answer your questions, if that’s agreeable with Jared’s representative.”
Jared’s attorney rose and turned to the crowd. “That won’t be necessary. Jared is considering another location and directed me to withdraw his zoning request if he wasn’t here by seven-thirty.” Dan nodded to the clock on the wall above the dais. “It’s seven-forty-five. He must have decided on the other location.”
A buzz went through the room before it settled to almost dead silence. Becca clenched her folded h
ands in front of her until her fingers hurt, her temperature rising with her fury. Jared hadn’t said a word about that Saturday. How could he abandon his project, his dream—and her? Where was his strength to confront his foes, the strength she’d drawn on to muster enough of her own to challenge the Sheriff?
“Maybe he ran into traffic,” she blurted. “Can’t you call him?”
Everyone’s attention turned to her. She straightened and held her head up high.
“No need.” Jared’s voice came from the doorway to the hall, saving her from whatever spontaneous reaction she might have exhibited next.
Her pulse quickened as he threaded his way to the front of the room, eschewing the microphone. “If it’s all right with the board, I’ll answer your question.”
“Go ahead,” Tom said.
“But first, I was going to withdraw the project. My attorney found me another property in the Albany area that may be better suited than my property here, and supporters, people who want to invest with me, in fact.”
The crowd murmured.
“And thinking about that offer early this evening is what changed my mind. The people in Albany want to help build my racing school as a financial investment.” He looked pointedly at Eli, Drew, Liz and others, ending with Becca.
She met his gaze with an equally pointed one.
“The people here...”
Was that a crack she heard in his deep voice?
“The people here who support the school support it as an investment in our community.”
At least three-quarters of the room roared in approval. Becca had to grab the sides of her seat to stop herself from joining a small, but loud standing ovation.
Jared raised his hand to quiet his supporters so he could respond to the man at the microphone. “Addressing your concerns about traffic, the Department of Transportation and GreenSpaces have come up with a resolution that should relieve most people’s unease. Traffic will be rerouted to bypass Conifer Road. No roundabout will be needed. We have maps available for inspection. And I’m donating land to Camp Northern Lights to buffer it from the racing school and track. Does that answer your question?”
“Yes.”
“Anything else?”
“No. Thank you.” Becca’s neighbor returned to his seat, and Jared took the chair next to his attorney.
Tom ran through the rest of the speaker list, and Becca watched with admiration as Jared fielded questions from both supporters and opponents. While confidence wasn’t something she’d ever seen lacking in Jared, he had a different way about him tonight, more at peace with himself.
“We’re down to the last speaker on the list,” Tom said. He called one of the Sheriff’s close friends.
The man stood. “I’ve given my time to Ken Norton.”
Jared drew his lips into a hard line that made Becca’s stomach churn. What was Ken doing? She thought they’d agreed he would lay off Jared. Although, thinking back, all she remembered him actually saying was that he’d get Matt to withdraw the Family Court petition. The one thing she did know was that she was done kowtowing to the Sheriff. Whatever he might say against Jared, she was prepared to defend him.
Jared avoided her gaze and tapped his fingertips together in a tent in front of him, any remnants of the earlier peace she’d seen gone.
“As most of you know, I’ve been vehemently opposed to this project from the start.”
Becca’s shoulders tightened. She braced herself for the worse.
The Sheriff glanced over his shoulder at her and back at the crowd. “None of that opposition came from anything to do with the project itself. But I don’t need to go into that here. I’ve done some hard thinking. The project itself is a good one. Good for our kids. Good for our community. It’s something we should all get behind.”
* * *
Jared dropped both hands to the table with a slap that garnered a startled look from his attorney. Sheriff Norton had just endorsed his project. In public. He looked up at Becca. She had a silly grin on her face. What was going on?
He asked Dan if they could request a short break, his mind racing over who he might be able to corner for information. Not Becca. That could be a conflict of interest for her. Not the Sheriff. On general principles, he couldn’t bring himself to ask him.
Before Dan could gain recognition to request the break, Tom asked the board for a motion to vote on the variance. The motion was made and seconded. He’d have to wait for any information.
Tom cast his vote in favor and polled the four other members in order of tenure. The secretary voted with Tom. The next member voted against. Two for, one against.
Jared rubbed the back of his neck as he watched Becca nibble her lower lip. As the newest member, she had the last and possibly deciding vote. He couldn’t read her uncertainty. Was she still undecided, or contemplating what voting him down would do to them? No way after their evening at his grandmother’s house could she claim there wasn’t any them.
“Bob?” Tom addressed the next board member, a friend of the Sheriff. “No.” He glared at the Sheriff, who glared back stony-faced.
It was up to Becca. Jared offered up a short prayer, not for her vote, but for them. He loved her. He could build his school near Albany and run it from Paradox Lake. None of his reasons for the school, except helping kids somewhere, mattered anymore.
“Becca?”
Jared’s heart leaped to his throat.
“Yes,” she said loud and strong, a nanosecond after Tom spoke her name.
He jumped to his feet and whooped, as much for the spark of joy he saw in Becca’s eyes when she cast her vote as for his project’s approval.
“We did it,” Dan said, offering his hand in congratulations.
“Uh, yeah. Thanks, man. I’ve got to do something. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” He left Dan sitting at the table and bounded up to the dais to catch Becca.
“We’ve got to talk,” he said.
“I should say so.”
Her stern teacher voice set him on edge. He was almost glad to have the Sheriff push through the crowd of people wanting to congratulate him and appear at his side. He knew how to deal with the Sheriff.
“Congratulations, Donnelly.” The Sheriff’s words had the same edge to them he always used when talking to Jared. “Becca, Debbie and I will keep the kids overnight, so you two can straighten things out.”
The Sheriff eyed him with what Jared would take as fear in anyone else. Things were getting curiouser and curiouser, to quote the abridged version of Alice in Wonderland that he’d read to Hope.
“Thanks, Ken,” she said. “I appreciate it.”
“Where do you want to talk?” Jared asked in a voice pitched low to keep their business as private as he could with a crowd of people closing in on him.
“Go ahead and accept your congratulations, and meet me at my house afterward.”
If it had been up to him, he would have skipped the congratulations, but tonight he was following Becca’s lead. He accepted all the slaps on the back and handshakes with the composure his former publicist had drilled into him for public appearances, all the time wanting to blow them all off, jump on his bike and race to Becca’s. Despite his best efforts to move through the crowd, it was nearly an hour later when he finally pulled in her driveway.
Jared took the steps to her kitchen door two at a time to find a note taped to the door that said, “I’m on the back deck.” He tore it off and marched around back to tell her how dangerous putting the note there was, even in Paradox Lake. Anyone driving up to the house could have seen it. He rounded the corner of the house and saw her sitting in one of two matching lounge chairs. The way the moon cast a glow on her mesmerized him and drove away all inclination to reproach her.
“Jared,” she said. “I wondered if you’d dec
ided not to come.”
“There were a lot of people, you know, wanting to congratulate me,” he replied, still stunned by the way the moonlight highlighted her perfection. He walked up the deck steps and lowered himself into the other lounge chair.
“It looks like you and your school are on your way to success.”
Did Becca think that’s what the school was about, success, another trophy on his shelf? “The school won’t be a success until we have some graduates prove it a success. It’s for the kids, not for me.”
“Not a little for you?” she goaded him.
“Some for me, I guess.” He gazed at the stars in the inky background of the night sky. He could admit it to Becca. “To feed my pride in what I’ve accomplished with my life. To prove to the people here and to myself that I’m not like my dad. And to rebuild my family’s tarnished reputation as a gesture to Josh and Connor and Mom for essentially abandoning them for my race career.”
“Then why did you abandon your brothers and Hope and us yesterday?”
She wasn’t making things easy for him.
“For you. I meant it when I said that I’d never intentionally hurt you. You got the letter from Family Court. I thought my being here was hurting you and the kids, that staying here would only make it worse.” He swallowed. “I was falling in love with you. What I feel for you, I’ve never felt for any other woman. I thought I’d better leave, leave you alone before it got to the point where I couldn’t leave.” His heart pounded against the wall of his chest. “But it was too late. I wasn’t falling in love with you. I am in love with you.”
Becca looked at him but didn’t say anything. His heart felt as if it was going to explode. He didn’t want to hear her say she didn’t feel the same. So, before she could he said the first thing that came to mind.
“So, what’s with the Sheriff?”
* * *
If she hadn’t still been processing Jared’s declaration, Becca would have laughed at his sudden change of subject. He loved her. But the information in Bert’s letter, Jared’s reaction to it, could change the situation, make it impossible to build a successful relationship, despite their shared love. Yes. She loved him, had given up trying to fight it. She wasn’t going to share that, though, not until she knew they had a chance at a future. Why give Jared false hope?
Love Inspired May 2015 #2 Page 38
