Longing For Home

by Christine Lynxwiler

  “Easy—it’s going to be fine.” He spoke to her in the same tone he used with the horses when they were skittish. Terror glistened in her eyes, but he was thankful for her outward calm. Tammy would have been in hysterics by now. “You can let go of the limb now. I’ve got you.” Ignoring his shoulder pain, he pulled her toward him.

  When he held her in his arms, he smoothed back her hair. Even though they were both half-immersed in water, at least it had quit raining. “You’ll be home safe and sound in no time, Brandi.”

  Her eyes, which had been closed, jerked open. “Home?”

  He nodded and stared into her unusual blue eyes. He’d forgotten how the brilliant cornflower color was punctuated by white flecks in the shape of a starburst.

  She closed her eyes again and relaxed against him, but he could feel her trembling.

  “Brandi, pay attention.” He felt her tense at his stern tone, but he couldn’t afford to be softhearted right now. “I need you to do something for me.”

  She opened her eyes. “What?”

  “I’m going to have to carry you on my back, so I can hold on to the rope with both hands.” He looked up at the rope stretched tautly from the branch to the tree on the bank. She was hooked to the rope by the lanyard, but he wasn’t. “Wrap your arms around my neck and don’t let go.”

  “Okay.”

  “Attagirl.” Keeping a tight grasp on her, he eased to his feet then reached up and grabbed the rope. After he’d positioned her on his back, he inched along the log. He finally stepped off onto the creek bank and pulled her around in front of him. As soon as he unhooked the lanyard from her belt, he cradled her against his chest and carried her toward the truck. “Delaney’s B&B, here we come!” he yelled.

  She said something else then, something that sounded almost like a very sarcastic “Yippee.”

  Two

  As Jake fumbled the door latch open with his free hand, Brandi desperately wanted to jump down and tell him she could take care of herself. But her legs still felt like a pair of Slinkies. When she was settled in the truck, he grabbed something from beneath the seat, tossed it into her lap then gently closed her door.

  Shivering, Brandi gathered the camouflage jacket around her. It smelled like a hunter’s closet, but she was grateful for its warmth.

  Jake jumped into the driver’s side and glanced across at her. “Brandi? How are you feeling?”

  She peeked out at him over the collar of the jacket. “Better, thanks.”

  “With the creek across the bridge it will take about thirty minutes to get to the ER.”

  “No!” She shook her head. “I’m fine.”

  He opened his mouth and stared at her, his dark blue eyes wide. Tiny rivulets of water streamed off his hair onto his face.

  “Okay, fine might be a stretch, but I don’t need a doctor. Please just take me to the B&B.” She’d never expected to beg to go there, but right now all she wanted was a warm bath. And a hug from Gram would be nice.

  At the beginning of the summer, when Brandi’s parents received an offer to join a six-month medical mission trip to Albania, adventurous Gram had jumped at the chance to take an extended trip to Arkansas. For the last month she’d been running the B&B and supervising Brandi’s brother and sisters.

  The seventy-year-young woman had taken to the new venture like a dolphin to the ocean and had made Brandi feel a part of it with her hour-long weekly phone conversations. Last time she’d called, the older woman had tried to make a joke of her fall down the stairs, but Brandi had known it was serious. When she’d asked if she needed to come to Arkansas, the hesitant silence over the phone line spoke volumes.

  So she’d taken a six-month leave of absence from her job as a computer programmer, and here she was. Dripping wet and freezing. She shivered again.

  Jake turned on the heat and eased the truck onto the road.

  She looked over at the man who had been the cutest guy in her senior class. Some people hit their peak in high school and went gradually downhill from there. That was obviously not the case with him.

  “So did you have a nice trip?” As soon as he spoke, she noticed red creep up his cheeks.

  She smiled at the silly question. “It was good until the last hour. Then things got a little weird.”

  “Didn’t you notice water was rushing over the bridge?”

  She could hear the disbelief in his voice. Funny, that was one big thing she remembered about her senior year. With a seemingly innocuous question the locals could always make her feel so stupid. She bit back the urge to explain and stared at the dashboard.

  She wasn’t a teenager anymore, and she’d learned a few tactics about dealing with questions that put her on the spot.

  After several seconds of silence he cleared his throat. “I guess you didn’t know any better.”

  Actually I knew better, but I almost drowned just to inconvenience you. She bit back the sarcastic retort and glanced over at him. He guided the truck with his left hand, his right arm resting lazily on his leg. Was he trying to accentuate her incompetence by showing how effortlessly he could drive this road?

  “What do you do if you’re swimming in the ocean and get caught in a riptide?” she asked quietly.

  He whipped his gaze around to stare at her then looked quickly back at the road. “I have no idea.”

  “Strange. I would think anyone would know that.”

  She regarded his profile. His chiseled lips tilted upward. “Point taken. Sorry.” He pulled the truck into the B&B parking lot and ran around to open her door.

  “I can walk,” she said before he could swoop her into his arms again. Being carried by a strong man was a luxury she had no intention of getting used to. She’d worked too hard to stand on her own two feet.

  “You’re sure?”

  “Yes, thanks.” When she stepped from the vehicle, the sun beamed as if in mock celebration of her arrival. Water droplets glistened on the leaves of the lush trees that surrounded the two-story house, giving it a fairy-tale aura.

  “Hard to believe it was pouring thirty minutes ago, isn’t it?” Jake cupped her elbow with his hand and guided her toward the sidewalk.

  Resisting the urge to shake off his helpful grip, she nodded. “But since my car’s gone and my clothes are soaking wet, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a dream.”

  “Want me to pinch you to be positive?” His grin was so unexpectedly mischievous that she giggled.

  “Not if you value your life.”

  “Look at you. I save your life, and you threaten mine.”

  “Brandi!” Her grandmother’s cry from the front door interrupted their bantering. The older woman hobbled down the sidewalk leaning heavily on a cane for support. “What happened?”

  “I’m fine, Gram.” Brandi ran to meet her. In spite of the dripping clothes Gram quickly folded her into a warm embrace. “It’s great to see you,” Brandi whispered against her grandmother’s shoulder. Tears stung her eyes as she relaxed in the familiar hug and breathed in the honeysuckle scent. How many times in her life had this particular embrace made all her hurts better? Too many to count.

  Aware that Jake McFadden stood watching this touching display of sentimentality, Brandi released Gram. The woman’s face was pale.

  “Where’s your car?”

  “It washed down the creek.”

  “That little stream?” Gram grew whiter as she pointed in the direction of the road with a disbelieving look on her face.

  Jake cleared his throat. “That ‘little stream’ is more like a raging river right now.” He leveled a gaze at Brandi, and she thought he seemed to be weighing his words. That was a pleasant switch. “Since Brandi isn’t familiar with how quickly a creek can rise, she didn’t know not to cross. It was a natural mistake.”

  “I’m thankful Jake was there to save me from the error of my ways.” If they were going to play nicey-nice for her grandmother’s sake, Brandi wasn’t going to be outdone.

  ❧

  Ja
ke took a sip of his coffee and rubbed his aching shoulder with his left hand. After he’d turned Brandi over to her grandmother, he’d called the sheriff to report the loss of her car. Then he’d taken a hot shower and spent the evening with an ice pack. He was glad he had weekends off from both his cardio sessions with Coach and his physical therapy. Maybe his shoulder would be rested by Monday.

  Something rustled at the door. He spied the newspaper on the floor and scooped it up. Right down to the morning paper delivery, he loved everything about this place. He sank into the overstuffed chair beside the window to catch up on current events.

  Instead of focusing on the words, he kept seeing a drenched waif with big blue eyes. A beautiful blond who made his heart beat faster with every glance. If his problems with Tammy had taught him anything, it was that beauty shouldn’t be trusted.

  He pulled his attention back to the newsprint; but when he’d read the same sentence three times and still didn’t know what it said, he tossed the paper on the table. Things had been going so well at the B&B. Until now.

  When the team doctors had sent him home to heal from a shoulder injury and subsequent surgery, he’d decided the smoothly run establishment in his old hometown would be the perfect place to stay. It had a hiking trail behind it for his daily runs. A brisk ten-minute walk through the woods took him to his high school coach’s house. They’d been working together twice a day for two months now on cardiovascular strength, and Jake felt more positive about playing ball again than he had since his first surgery.

  He couldn’t afford the distraction of living in upheaval. His parents had sold the ranch he grew up on to his brother Holt and taken up permanent residence at the lake house. But even with them gone it wasn’t as if the B&B were his only option. He could move to a motel or stay with Holt and Megan. They didn’t live too far away, and they’d certainly invited him enough times.

  He looked at his computer desk, covered with news stories and medical reports. As much as he loved his family, he needed privacy. The Delaneys understood that when he wasn’t at Coach Carter’s house he was in his room working on his fight against teen drug and alcohol use. Sometimes he made it downstairs for meals. When he didn’t, a tray always appeared at his door.

  They treated him more like family than a paying guest. And Elva had picked up right where the Delaneys left off. But with Tom and Lynette overseas and Elva hurt, now he was going to be left in the clutches of Miss That’s-not-how-we-do-it-in-California, as he’d called her in high school. He massaged his shoulder again. And from the way she’d turned things upside down with her arrival she hadn’t changed much in the past eight years.

  “Jake?” The whisper drifted into his room from the hallway. Tom and Lynette Delaney didn’t allow their kids to knock on guests’ doors, but no one had ever mentioned desperate whispers.

  He crossed the room and opened the door. Ten-year-old Melissa jerked back from where she’d apparently had her mouth pressed against the crack. Her twelve-year-old brother, Michael, stood behind her, his blond hair sticking out in every direction. A junior inventor, he already had the mad scientist hair down pat.

  “M & M! Come in.” He stepped back and motioned the inseparable pair into his room. When they didn’t grin at his nickname for them, he took a closer look at their troubled faces. “What’s up?”

  “Brandi’s been in bed ever since she got here yesterday afternoon,” Michael said.

  “Gram is worried about her—I can tell. And Valerie’s in her room and won’t come out,” Melissa added.

  Jake smiled sympathetically, thinking about the pouting seventeen-year-old. “She’s still mad.”

  Michael frowned. “Do you think Brandi’s gonna be as mean as Valerie says she will?”

  Both sets of blue eyes looked up at him, begging for reassurance. He took a deep breath and pushed his earlier thoughts aside. “I’m sure Brandi wouldn’t mistreat you guys. Valerie’s just upset.”

  “Who’s not?” Melissa snorted. “Mom and Dad should just come home.”

  “Yeah, right. Like that’s gonna happen. Maybe my time machine will start working, too,” Michael said. “I told you, you’re making a big deal out of nothing.” He looked at Jake. “Isn’t she?”

  Before Jake could speak, Melissa jumped in, her blond braids practically quivering with indignation. “Nothing? Even if she is our sister, we only see Brandi twice a year. Maybe we don’t really know her at all. What if she locks us in our rooms and gives us nothing but bread and water?”

  Michael shook his head. “You read too much.”

  Melissa muttered something about his not being able to survive without homemade pizza.

  Jake bit back a laugh. “Why don’t you two go check on breakfast, and let’s just see how things go?”

  “Wait.” Melissa grabbed his arm. “We need you to promise us something.”

  “What?” Jake asked. With these two there was no telling.

  “Promise you won’t leave.”

  “You know I plan to be here until right before Christmas.”

  The children looked at each other. “That’s when Mom and Dad are coming back.”

  Relief flooded their tan faces, and they hurried from the room. As the door closed behind them, Jake felt a flash of irritation at Valerie. She’d allowed her jealousy to scare her younger brother and sister. Though she’d never see it, this kind of thing was the reason her parents and then her grandmother hadn’t left her in charge.

  But whether they’d made the right choice by putting Miss California Beauty Queen in command of the B&B remained to be seen.

  Three

  Brandi rolled over and snuggled under the covers as warmth streamed across her face. Even with her eyes shut she could see light. She eased one eye open. Sunshine? Why hadn’t her alarm gone off? Her heart pounded. She hated being late. She sat up quickly, and for a minute the unfamiliar room seemed to tilt on its axis.

  She shook her head to clear away the confusion. The motion seemed to jar loose a flood of memories that gushed into her mind with the force of an out-of-control creek. Had her car really washed off a bridge? Or had it been a dream? At least until she recognized him, the handsome rain-drenched hero would have been dream material; but the rest would have to be classified as a nightmare.

  She pulled the covers up to her shoulders and ran her finger absently over the bright red-and-yellow square pattern. The colorful quilt faded from her vision as scenes played in her mind. Her car tumbling into the raging creek. A partially submerged log catching the little convertible. And finally Jake McFadden urging her to jump into the water.

  She shuddered. It was no dream. Her terror had been real. She’d thought she was going to die. But Jake had rescued her. And if that part was real, then she must be at the Delaney B&B.

  Alive and well and still bound to keep her promise to her grandmother.

  She flopped back down on the bed and pulled the blankets over her head. She needed time to sort this out.

  Eyes closed against the soft velour blanket, she breathed in the fabric softener scent and remembered soaking in a warm bath and slipping into a clean gown Gram had provided. Then she’d collapsed into the bed. How long ago had that been?

  A tap sounded on the door, and Brandi quickly yanked the covers off her head. “Yes?”

  The wooden door squeaked open. Gram stood in the archway leaning on her cane, holding a steaming coffee cup in her other hand. “Good morning, honey.”

  “Hi, Gram.”

  Her grandmother slowly closed the distance between them, set the cup on the nightstand, and wrapped her in a hug.

  Tears stung Brandi’s eyes as she realized the woman had negotiated the stairs with a cup of coffee for her beloved granddaughter. “Thanks for the coffee. I’ve missed you.” She pushed back and looked at the older woman. “Did you say morning?” Had she been in bed since yesterday afternoon?

  “Yes.” She squeezed Brandi’s hand. “I know I saw you then, but it’s so good to see you—”<
br />
  “Dry?” Brandi took a sip of her coffee.

  “No. Well, yes, but I was going to say awake and looking none the worse for the wear.” She smiled and ran her hand over Brandi’s hair. “I’m just thanking God Jake showed up in time to save you.”

  “Yeah, Jake McFadden—a real hometown hero.” She almost cringed at the sarcasm in her voice. He may have been a jerk in high school, but the man had just saved her life. She cleared her throat. “I’m very glad he was there.”

  Gram arched a brow and nodded.

  “I can’t wait to see the kids. I can’t believe I fell asleep before they got home from school yesterday and never woke up. I’m surprised Valerie hasn’t already been in here.” Brandi grinned. Valerie, nine years her junior, had hero-worshipped Brandi since before she’d left for California. Her sister’s unconditional acceptance had been a balm for Brandi’s smarting conscience at leaving her family.

  An odd look crossed her grandmother’s face, quickly followed by a smile that didn’t quite match the worry in her eyes. “I promised everyone I’d see if you were up to coming down for breakfast.”

  “Up to it? Do I smell pancakes?”

  “Chocolate chip. You remember Nellie, don’t you?”

  Brandi smiled. Nellie had started working for the Delaneys’ right after they moved here. Her cooking had been the only thing from Brandi’s year in Arkansas that she hadn’t wanted to forget. “Of course.” She could almost taste the pancakes. “Yum.” She held up her empty cup. “Any more of this chocolate-velvet coffee down there?”

  “A whole pot.”

  “What am I supposed to wear?”

  “I brought in some outfits from your mom’s closet I thought might work for you until you can get to the store. They’re hanging in the armoire. I also put a new toothbrush and a few other necessities in the bathroom. Of course, there’s still a chance your stuff will be recovered. . . .”

  Brandi thought of her last glimpse of the red car tumbling along with the water. She shook her head. “Somehow I doubt it.”