“You hate gossip,” Jason reminded her. “Since when do you listen to anything like that?”
“Since it involves a very good friend—” she narrowed her eyes “—and you.”
He laughed. “Gimme a break. You make me sound like the Big Bad Wolf going after Little Red Riding Hood.”
“Are you?”
The insult stung, and he bit back some pretty harsh words. Something was going on here, and while he didn’t understand it, he decided it was best not to further provoke her by retaliating. “You know me better than that.”
“Do I? I’ve been here six months, and in all that time, I’ve never seen you with the same girl for more than a couple weeks.”
She had him there, Jason had to admit, but Amy wasn’t like those other women. The more time he spent with her, the more she fascinated him. Usually, a few dates were enough to convince him it was time to move on. Between the show and other holiday goings-on around town, he and Amy saw each other every day, and he eagerly looked forward to connecting with her. In fact, he wouldn’t have minded if they spent even more time together.
He wasn’t ready to share those feelings with anyone else, so he shrugged. “Amy’s different.”
“How?” Leaning against a nearby tree, Jenna folded her arms with a curious expression. It beat the looks she’d been giving him, and he relaxed a little.
“She’s smart and funny,” he began, then couldn’t keep back a smile. “And she’s still the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“Prettier than Rachel?”
“To me, she is.”
“Spare me,” Jenna scoffed. “Even eight months pregnant, Rachel’s gorgeous. I can’t imagine how she is on a normal day.”
Being male, he couldn’t deny she held the more obvious appeal. But Amy’s appearance was more refined, and she had an elegant style no woman he’d ever met could match. More reserved by nature, she kept a lot to herself, and that only made her more captivating to him. While he considered how to explain his preference, something clicked into place for him, and he smiled. “Guess I outgrew Barbie dolls. Now I want something else.”
“Meaning Amy?”
“Maybe,” he allowed, still unwilling to discuss this with Jenna when he hadn’t brought it up with the lady in question. “But only if that’s what she wants. We’re about as different as two people can get, and I’ve got no plans to change. I’m figuring she doesn’t, either. Which is fine with me, ’cause I think she’s perfect the way she is.”
“I’m not big on compromise myself, so I get that.” Apparently satisfied with the result of her interrogation, she pushed off from the tree. “Okay, I’m going. But you watch your step, JB. I’ve got my eye on you.”
“Good to know,” he tossed back, getting a smack on the shoulder in reply. While he watched her get into her van, his cell phone vibrated in his pocket. Pulling it out, he saw the caller ID and answered. “Hey, Mom. What’s up?”
“I’m with your grandparents, and we need you here right now.”
The line went dead before he could ask for details, and his pulse shot into the stratosphere. Going back inside to explain would only waste time, so he ran for his truck, dialing as he went. “Chelsea, I’m headed to Gram and Granddad’s. Tell Paul.”
He ground the engine into gear and flew down the pitted lane, ducking reflexively from the stones pelting his windows. It couldn’t be Granddad, logic told him, or Mom would’ve called in Paul and Chelsea, too. That meant something had happened to Gram, and Jason pulled in long, deep breaths to combat the dread seizing his heart. He took one curve a little too fast and frantically steered the truck back onto the dirt road. Easing back on the gas, he reminded himself he couldn’t help anyone if he crashed into a tree on the way into town.
The drive felt twice as long as on a normal day, but he finally made it home. Leaving his door open and the cranky engine running, he ran up the front steps and into the dining room. Granddad was even paler than usual, and he pointed toward the kitchen. “They’re in there.”
“Is Gram okay?”
“More or less. I tried to get up and help them, but they won’t let me.”
Jason realized his panic was the last thing anyone needed to see right now, so he forced calm into his voice. “Can I get you anything?”
“I’m fine. See to your grandmother.”
He didn’t look fine, but Jason obeyed him out of habit. In the kitchen, he found the two women who’d raised him sitting on the floor. Gram’s arm was at an odd angle, resting on an overturned pot padded with towels.
Hunkering down, he summoned a little humor. “I’ve heard those things work better upright on the stove.”
“Oh, you,” Gram chided him in a shaky voice that scared him down to his boots. Resolute and strong, she inspired the Barrett family with her faith and unrelenting optimism. Seeing her this way was a stark warning that in a heartbeat, things he’d relied on his entire life could change.
Firmly shutting the negative thought away, he glanced around and noticed a three-step stool on its side. Obviously, she’d wanted something from one of the high cupboards and needed the stool to reach it. Even though he knew it was pointless, he felt awful for not being there. “You couldn’t wait for me?”
“Don’t you be giving me those guilty eyes, young man. You were at work, and I’m perfectly capable of fetching things on my own.”
There was no sense in debating that, so he asked, “Is it broken?”
“I’m not sure,” Mom replied with a frown. “X-rays are the only way to know, but she refuses to go to the hospital.”
“I’m not leaving Will,” Gram insisted stubbornly.
This brought to mind why he hated playing chess. He always got into some kind of standoff with his opponent, and he couldn’t come up with a way to get out of it. But this was real life, and he couldn’t throw in the towel just because things had gotten dicey. Then he had a brainstorm, and he prayed it would work. “Then we’ll bring him with us. Where’s that wheelchair?”
Gram sent a worried look into the dining room, and Jason took advantage of her distraction to wink at his mother. Her raised eyebrow told him she understood, and he kept his expression neutral when his grandmother’s eyes settled back on him. When they narrowed, he knew she was onto him, but at least she nodded.
“All right, you win,” she finally agreed. “Who’s taking me to the hospital?”
“My truck’s already running,” he answered, standing to get her a sweater from its hook near the back door. Holding it up so she could slide her uninjured arm into one sleeve, he looped the rest around her and did up the top two buttons to hold it closed. Hoping to lighten the mood a little, he chuckled. “I remember when you used to do this for me, Gram.”
“Now I’d need a ladder,” she responded with a fond smile. “Hand me my purse, would you?”
“No, but I’ll carry it for you.” Dangling the strap over his forearm, he held the other one out for her. “Ready?”
“I suppose. The sooner we leave, the sooner we’ll be back.”
“That’s my girl,” he approved heartily. Her ability to cope with bad situations never failed to amaze him.
“I’ll keep an eye on Will and have lunch ready when you get back,” Mom promised, patting his shoulder while they passed by. “If you need me for anything, just call.”
After very carefully helping his grandmother into his truck, Jason got in beside her and drove the ten miles to the hospital in nearby Cambridge as smoothly as possible. The emergency-room nurse was a plump woman with dark, sparkling eyes and a Christmas tree pin on her smock that blinked with multicolored lights.
Tsking with sympathy, she gently guided Gram toward an exam room. “You come with me, honey, and we’ll get you fixed up in a blink.”
Since she was already in their
computer system, all Jason had to do was confirm nothing had changed since they’d treated Gram for pneumonia earlier in the year. After that, he slumped in a waiting-room chair and finally released the iron grip he’d kept on his emotions. It was how he handled a crisis, and it worked well until things settled down and he had a chance to come to terms with what had happened.
As a family, the Barretts had all learned to live with the constant threat of a health issue with Granddad. When you loved someone who had terminal cancer, that kind of acceptance came with the territory. But a problem with Gram was something else entirely.
Their family orbited around her like the sun, and if anything happened to her, Jason feared Granddad wouldn’t be physically strong enough to survive her loss.
She’s fine, he told himself sternly. It’s only her wrist. His next thought flipped to Rachel, who’d surely call him in a panic when she went into labor. She had no one else to turn to, and while she and her baby weren’t technically his responsibility, he’d already decided that when the time came, he’d be there for them. That trip would be a hundred times more stressful than this one, he knew. Was he ready for it?
Suddenly, he was exhausted, and he bent over, dangling his arms over his knees while he stared at the speckled tiles on the floor. Footsteps hurried toward him, and he lifted his head to find himself gazing into Amy’s worried eyes.
“Is your grandmother okay?”
“They’re doing X-rays soon, so we’ll know more then. How’d you know I was here?”
“Your mom called me,” she explained as she took the seat beside him. “She didn’t want you here by yourself, pacing and hounding the nurses for information they don’t have.”
He’d been about five minutes from doing just that, he realized, and he marveled at how well Mom knew him. “That was nice of her, but I hate to drag you over here. Don’t you have your Ballet Tots class at noon?”
“I canceled it. We’ll make it up later in the week, or they can get a refund for the day. This is much more important.” Reaching over, she rested one of her delicate hands over his much larger one. “On the way here, I said a prayer for Olivia to be okay.”
Knowing how she’d felt about God not long ago, her revelation astounded him, and he turned to face her. “You did?”
“I’m not sure it will help,” she confided, “but it felt like the right thing to do.”
“It was,” he agreed with heartfelt gratitude. “Thank you.”
Suddenly, she seemed uncomfortable, as if her gesture had surprised her as much as it did him. “Can I get you anything?”
Settling his arm across the back of the couch, he gave her shoulders a light bump. “This works for me.”
“Well, you’ll be hungry soon. There’s a deli down the street, so let me know what you want, and I’ll get it for you.”
“That’d be great. We ate here a lot when Granddad was a patient, and the cafeteria’s not the best.”
“They never are,” she agreed with a grimace. “The hospital I was in after my accident would make a good weight-loss camp. Mom smuggled real food in to me, or I would have starved.”
“Sounds pretty awful.”
“Don’t get me wrong—everyone on the staff was fantastic. I still hated every second of it, not being able to sleep, having people tell me what to do all the time. I wasn’t crazy about having to move back in with Mom while I rehabbed, but at least she didn’t expect me to be a cheerful patient.”
“After what you went through, it must be tough for you to be here,” he said gently. “I really appreciate you coming to keep me company, but if you want to go, I’ll understand.”
“You’ve done so much for me, and I thought this would be a good way to start repaying you. I’ll hang around until Olivia’s ready to leave.”
“I didn’t sign on to the show to make you feel like you owe me something,” he argued. “I wanted to help.”
She rewarded him with a brilliant smile. “I know that, Galahad. That’s why I’m staying.”
With that, she snuggled a little closer and rested her head against his shoulder. He wasn’t in the mood to talk, and he appreciated her allowing him to sit there in silence. Most women he knew felt compelled to fill every silence longer than three seconds, but not Amy. She seemed to understand that he needed to focus all his energy on absorbing what had happened during what should have been a busy but ordinary day.
Instead, he felt as if it had gone on forever, and it wasn’t even lunchtime. Considering what could have happened, Gram had gotten off lightly, and he thanked God for watching over her. Just having Amy there made things look brighter, he realized. Accustomed to fending for himself since leaving home, he hadn’t had anyone to lean on. Even when he and Rachel were together, he’d been the one to take care of everything.
Despite the rocky start he’d gotten, he’d been raised by a family of strong, loyal people who supported each other through every conceivable peak and valley life could throw at them. Paul and Chelsea were the next generation in the Barrett chain, and he’d watched them with growing respect while they built their future with hard work and love.
Rachel’s betrayal had soured him on making that same commitment himself, but now he was beginning to think that with the right woman, he could have the kind of relationship he longed for. The kind where two people took on life together and made the best of what God handed them. Over time, he’d realized his mistake with Rachel had been to treat her like a doll, keeping her on a pedestal while he handled everything himself.
He’d never even consider doing that with Amy, and if he went astray, he had no doubt she’d jerk him back into line. And very clearly warn him never to do it again. The thought of it amused him, and in the middle of that sterile waiting room, he couldn’t keep back a smile.
He and Amy might look like two mismatched socks, but in his gut he knew that no matter what happened down the road, pairing up with her would be a decision he’d never regret.
Chapter Nine
Amy left Jason and his grandmother in the hospital parking lot with hugs and a promise to check in with them later. As she drove back to Arabesque, she mulled over what had gone on and what it meant.
Mostly, she tried to analyze what had compelled her to appeal to the God she’d been so angry with. Jason had clearly been stunned by it, and she could relate to how he felt. Maybe attending services with him and singing all those uplifting Christmas hymns had mellowed her attitude, chipping away at the grudge she’d carried for so long. Whatever the explanation, she couldn’t deny feeling liberated, as if a huge weight had been taken from her.
Even more surprising, throughout the afternoon, that light feeling stayed with her. To her, that meant it wasn’t a fluke or some lingering effect from an emergency situation that had turned out well. It was sticking because it was real. Understanding settled in, and as she cued up her favorite section of The Nutcracker score on the studio’s sound system, she glanced up with a smile. “Thank you.”
A warm softness brushed her cheek, as if someone had reached down to reassure her. Tears sprang into her eyes, and she resolutely blinked them away but held on to the emotion they evoked in her heart. It was comforting to know someone was watching over her, even when she thought she was alone.
Jason and Brenda were right, she finally admitted to herself. God had never deserted her, but had seen her on the wrong path and manipulated her circumstances to correct her direction. That fateful course shift had brought her to Barrett’s Mill and a man who could see beyond her imperfections to who she truly was.
Suddenly anxious to hear Jason’s voice, she thumbed through her contacts list and chose his number. While she waited for him to answer, she impulsively added him to her very short speed-dial list. It was only for people she spoke to frequently, and since they talked at least twice a day, she figured he belonged there.
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After a few rings, he picked up. “Hey there. What’s up?”
From the background noise, she knew he was at the mill. She didn’t think now was the right time to share her epiphany, so she kept things light. “Checking in, as promised. How’s Olivia doing?”
“Home with Mom and Granddad. Gram’s supposed to be resting, but I hear she’s trying to come up with a way to make dinner one-handed.”
“Can’t your mother take care of that?”
He let out a tired-sounding laugh. “Sure, but that’s not how it works in Gram’s kitchen. She’s in charge, and everyone else assists. I think that’s where Paul got his bossy gene from.”
“I heard that,” his brother chimed in from a distance. “Are you assembling that rocking chair or flirting?”
“Both.”
Paul groaned, and Amy interpreted the sound of a slamming door as her cue to finish up. “You’re busy, so I’ll let you go.”
“I’ve got three more of these rockers to do, but I’ll be in after rehearsal to paint that marble detail on the fireplace.”
“Why don’t you just go home after work?” she suggested. “The painting can wait another day.”
“Are you sure? That’ll put us off your schedule.”
Her schedule, she echoed ruefully. After the long, trying day he’d had, he was willing to stretch it even further to keep her happy. She hated the idea that her inflexibility was putting more pressure on this kind, compassionate man. After all, what was the worst that could happen? Certainly not anything that warranted him wearing himself out during the holidays. “We’ll get it done. If we really get in a jam, I’ll ask Jenna to come help us out.”
“Oh, man,” he groaned. “Don’t do that. She’d never let me hear the end of it.”
“Everyone needs a hand now and then. Even big, strong lumberjacks like you.”
“I’ll finish those sets myself if it kills me,” he assured her. “I made a commitment to you, and I never go back on my word.”
Love Inspired December 2014 - Box Set 2 of 2: Her Holiday FamilySugar Plum SeasonHer Cowboy HeroSmall-Town Fireman Page 33
