“Well, we’ve still got a few days to go…” Lindsay said, a trace of humor in her voice.
Than chuckled as he reached out to open the door leading into the building. Thankfully, the stairs were wide enough they could walk side by side to the second floor. As they reached her door, Lindsay turned to him. “I think I’m going to call it an early night. I’m still feeling a little out of whack and want to make sure I’m up for breakfast in the morning.”
“Sounds good. Hope you sleep well.”
“Thanks. You, too.”
After she had disappeared into the room she shared with the two other women, Than turned and went to his own room. He spent a little time unpacking in the rather sparse space. He eyed the bunk beds, pretty sure that his feet were going to be hanging off the end for the next two weeks. He couldn’t really complain though. He’d slept on a lot worse over the years. That didn’t mean he wasn’t going to be excited to get back to the California king size bed in his apartment.
After unpacking, he hooked his laptop up to the internet provided by the center. He didn’t anticipate it would be the fastest, but at least it would let him stay in contact with BlackThorpe stateside. It didn’t take long to get hooked up and to check his email. The team who’d been in charge of the kid and her friends spending spring break in Europe had delivered all their charges safely back to their parents and had returned to base.
The team members had each sent in a report with most of them offering Than everything from an all-expense paid trip to the destination of his choice to their first born if he’d keep them off all future rich kid babysitting jobs.
He answered them as a group to thank them for finishing out the job without any casualties. They would each have a week at home before they would be given new assignments. Eric would be in charge of assigning those later in the week.
After reading through all the emails that had been waiting for him and dealing with the important ones, he took the time to type out a quick email to Lucas. He followed that up with one to his mother giving a few details about his visit with Merlina and Alberto. He also told her in no uncertain terms, never to try matchmaking for him again. Who knew if she’d listen this time, but he had a feeling she’d be getting an earful from her sister after the debacle earlier that day.
He took a minute to check the course of the storm that was headed for the country. It looked like it was still on a trajectory that would take it south of where they were, and it still hadn’t been upgraded from a tropical storm. That was a good sign. That meant it would mainly just be rain and not the damaging winds that came with a typhoon.
He decided to take a quick shower and then call it a night because he was starting to feel the same tiredness Lindsay had mentioned earlier. He gathered up a towel, his shaving kit, and fresh clothes before heading to the men’s bathroom on the main floor. Apparently when the school was in session, the male students were on the first floor while the women had the second one to themselves.
Than gave his head a shake when he thought of how he’d probably would have tried to circumvent the division of genders back when he was that age. Since starting work at BlackThorpe three years earlier, he’d been confronted with men whose moral code had definitely been higher than his. At first he’d kind of looked askance at the choices they made when it came to things like dating and their language.
As far as Than knew, Marcus Black and Alex Thorpe didn’t have much of a social life or if they did, they definitely kept it off the company radar. Eric McKinley had been dating, but it became clear pretty quickly that his dates didn’t end the way Than’s usually had. Trent Hause was the same. It didn’t escape Than’s observation that both those guys attended the same church. And then there was Justin. Who knew about Justin’s social life? All Than knew was that none of the guys had been interested in conversations about the weekend’s highlights on Monday mornings.
At first he’d pegged them as fuddy-duddies even though they weren’t that much older than him, but gradually he’d begun to see that perhaps there was something to the way they lived their lives. And now Eric and Trent had both settled down with women whom they cherished and who, by all accounts, cherished them. The same could be said for Lucas Hamilton.
That was why almost a year into his employment at BlackThorpe, Than had begun to change his outlook on his social life. He had actually started to do his serial dating as a way to keep from getting involved with one woman enough to give in to the physical side of things while still being able to have a social life. After all, he did enjoy spending time with women, but he was trying to hold himself to a higher standard. No one expected anything after just one date, but more than three or four and women began to hint at things, and he started to feel tempted. So he’d go on a date or two and then move on. He hadn’t met a woman who had tempted him to go beyond that…until he’d met Lindsay.
The first time she’d flicked her gray gaze over him and dismissed him, he’d been a goner. He was so used to women responding to his friendly flirting that it had been a bit disconcerting when Lindsay hadn’t just not responded but had made it clear she had no interest in him at all. He still wasn’t sure what it would take to be the man that would interest Lindsay, but he was trying to figure it out. The first step, apparently, was to stop flirting. It was his go-to behavior around women but had become less so in the months since he’d met Lindsay. In fact, he’d realized that he’d begun to reserve the flirting for women who wouldn’t read anything into it—like Barb.
“Hi, Than.”
Than looked up from where he stood in front of the sink shaving. “Hey, Mark. How’s it going?”
The man dropped a shaving kit onto the counter that ran between the four sinks. “Not too bad. Checked the storm out again.”
“Yep. Me, too. Looks like we’re still in the clear. Even if it does upgrade, its trajectory still seems to be toward the south of us.”
“We’ll just keep praying it stays that way.”
“Do you pray about everything?” Than asked before he’d really thought about it, and he hoped the man didn’t take offense to his question. The thought of praying was something of a foreign concept to him. He relied on his own skills and abilities to get him out of sticky or difficult situations.
Mark bent and splashed water on his face. “Sure do. The Bible says to pray without ceasing. I find that I just keep up a running conversation with God throughout my day.”
“Always asking for stuff? Like about the storm?” Than asked as he wiped the last of shaving cream from his face.
“Nah. It’s not always asking. When Mel comes up to me and gives me a kiss, I thank God for blessing me with her as my wife. Every morning when I swing my legs over the bed and get to my feet, I thank Him for my health and ability to face another day. And when I am sick, I thank Him for doctors and the medicines that will make me better. So no, it’s not a running request line.”
Than zipped up his kit and then leaned a hip against the counter. “And how do you handle it when you pray for something and it doesn’t happen?”
“Well, I’ve always approached my prayer requests with the understanding that God knows so much more about what’s best for us. Yes, I ask for what I think is best, but in the end, it’s His will that I want for my life. Sometimes that means doors shut for me.”
“So if you’re praying that storm stays tropical and to the south, what does it mean if it kicks up to a category five and heads right for us?”
Mark straightened and met his gaze. “I don’t know, man. In cases like that, I just have to trust that God sees the bigger picture, more than what I see with my own narrow vision. Bad things happen and not just to bad people. Typhoons have ripped through this country before leaving devastation and death in their wake. This one might be no different, but I’m still going to pray that it is. And if it’s not, we’ll deal with that as well.”
As Than made his way back to his room, he thought over Mark’s words. That was probably the one thing he
balked at the most—having someone else take control of his life. He hated it when his mother tried to do it with her matchmaking, and he wasn’t altogether sure how comfortable he was with it coming from an unseen being.
But that didn’t stop him from saying a quick please, God, let the storm miss us. And then, just for good measure, he added, and please let Lindsay agree to go out with me again.
In the darkness of his room, Than gave a sheepish grin. He really had nothing to lose by asking for a little help with Lindsay. He wasn’t doing such a hot job of it on his own.
~*~*~
Lindsay woke to the sound of incessant beeping the next morning. She heard Barb mumble something before the noise stopped. Knowing that this wasn’t a morning to linger in bed, she kicked the sheet off her legs and pushed herself to a sitting position. A lock of hair that had escaped her braid slid in front of her face. Lindsay shoved it behind her ear and sat for a moment trying to get her brain to kick in. She had never been a morning person and now combined with jetlag and feeling like someone had left the heat on high, she was dragging, and her day had barely started.
She wondered if she had time for another shower even though she’d taken one the night before. If nothing else, it would wake her up and cool her down—hopefully.
Making up her mind, she said, “I’m gonna go take a quick shower.”
“Me, too,” Barb said as she stood up and stretched. “I hope they don’t have a limit to how many showers a day we can take. I have a feeling one a day just won’t cut it.”
Lindsay agreed as she grabbed her toiletries from the closet she’d put her things in the night before. It was actually not just a closet. Half of it had space to hang clothes but the other side had drawers halfway up and then open shelves above that. She’d managed to get all her things into just one closet, but at the rate she was going through clothes, she was a bit worried that she was going to run out soon. Hopefully, they had laundry facilities she could make use of.
After a super quick shower, Lindsay pulled on another pair of capris and a green T-shirt. She worked her hair into a single French braid and then smoothed a tinted moisturizer with high SPF on her skin. She didn’t add anything else but a little waterproof mascara and some lip balm—also with SPF. Her mother had lectured her about protecting her skin from the sun. Though she normally faced the world with much more makeup than she’d applied that morning, Lindsay knew that it would just melt away anyway, so it wasn’t worth the time or effort.
“You ready to go?” Barb asked when she got back to the room.
Lindsay slipped her feet into a pair of slip-on canvas shoes—the most practical and plain shoes she’d ever owned until this trip. Now she also owned a pair of expensive, sturdy hiking boots. “Yep.”
She, Barb and Amanda walked down the hallway and as they neared Than’s room, he stepped out and greeted them, as if he’d been waiting for them—which undoubtedly, he had been. She remembered his words from the night before about always being within her vicinity. Even though she knew it should rankle her, Lindsay found a strange comfort in it. If she felt overwhelmed or lonely or homesick, she’d just have to look for Than. He was her piece of home in a way. Not that she’d ever in a million years admit that to him, but he was just the same.
He wore a pair of black cargo shorts and an untucked light blue T-shirt. If she hadn’t known why it was untucked, she would have thought it odd. Anytime she’d seen him, he’d always had his shirts tucked in with a belt around his waist.
“Morning, ladies. Sleep well?” Than asked as he fell into step beside Lindsay.
“Yep,” Barb said. “Though I can’t believe it’s this hot already. And it’s going to get hotter, isn’t it?”
“Most likely,” Than replied. “But hopefully we’ll get a nice breeze, and if you stay in the shade it shouldn’t be too bad.”
As they stepped out of the building, a breeze stirred the air, and Lindsay hoped it would be a strong wind by the time they had to do any work. The upside to this heat and the physical work they’d be doing was that she’d probably be able to lose a few of the pounds that had been plaguing her for years.
She enjoyed the breakfast provided. It had included lots of fresh fruit, toast, eggs, and some sort of sausage that she had to be honest and admit she hadn’t really enjoyed. In fact, after one bite, she’d known she wouldn’t be able to eat more. It was just a bit too sweet for her taste. The others at the table didn’t seem to have a problem with it, especially Than, so after making sure no one was looking, she’d slipped the remainder of her sausage onto his plate. She hadn’t wanted anyone to think she was rude by not finishing what she’d taken.
When Than turned his attention back to his food from the conversation he’d been having with the guy next to him, he paused then looked at her. A corner of his mouth tipped up when their gazes met. She lifted her eyebrows and dared him to say something. Instead, he used his fork to cut off a chunk of the sausage and popped it into his mouth. Lindsay couldn’t help but smile as she finished the last piece of pineapple on her plate.
9
Once breakfast was finished, the missionary—Lindsay thought his name was Elliot—got up to speak to them. Over the next half hour, he led them in a time of prayer before going on to explain a little about the mission and what they did. And then it was time to hear the details about what they were going to do.
“The two main areas we want to work on are the school and the clinic. We’ll be painting the inside and outside of both buildings over the next couple of weeks as well as doing some minor repairs to each. Also, we’d love it if some of you would volunteer to help in the orphanage for a little while each day. Usually, the students help out but with them gone for the summer, the cuddles the little ones are used to have dropped considerably.”
Lindsay felt something spring to life in her. Cuddling little ones? At one time, she would have brushed that aside and stuck with the painting, but ever since Danny had come into her life, she’d changed her perspective on children. Maybe this would give her a chance to be around some younger ones to see what they were like and if she could handle them. She and Danny got along great, but maybe that didn’t translate to smaller children. But right then she sure hoped that it would.
After they had been divided into their groups, they set off to their respective jobs. She hoped that after lunch she could volunteer to go to the orphanage. But for now she was going to be wielding a paintbrush.
By the time lunch rolled around, all Lindsay wanted was another shower and a nap. Not only was it hot, she was out of shape. Badly. Exercise had never been her favorite thing, but she’d figured that painting wasn’t exactly the most physically demanding thing on the planet. Her arms and shoulders, however, were telling her something different.
Lindsay wished she could skip lunch except she was hungry on top of being tired and sore. Even as she felt like she was wilting away, Than looked like he’d spent the morning on some leisurely stroll. It made her want to throw the pan de sal she’d plucked from the basket at him. Luckily, manners and the fact that she loved the bread kept it in her hand.
“You doing okay?” Than asked as they passed food around the table.
“I’m fine. How are you?”
He stared at her for a moment as if judging her response. “I’m fine, too. I just hope the paint dries quickly. I think we’re going to get rain tonight.”
“Really? Is that storm getting closer?”
“Yep.”
“I like storms.” Lindsay took a bite of the fried rice she’d scooped onto her plate.
“Yeah, I do as well as long as they’re not damaging.”
Lindsay paused with another forkful halfway to her mouth. “Is it possible this one will be?”
Than shrugged. “If not here, somewhere, likely.”
She lowered her fork and stared at Than. “Is there a chance we’ll get part of the storm?”
“Definitely a chance,” he said as he ripped apart a pan de sal an
d put a piece in his mouth.
Lindsay glanced around the table to see if others were paying attention to their conversation, but none of them were. She leaned closer to him, trying to ignore the very male scent of soap and sweat. “Is this something we should be worried about?”
Than turned toward her, his brown eyes just inches from hers. “Right now, no. If that changes, just trust me that I’ll make sure you’re safe.”
She frowned at him. “But it’s not just me, Than. What about the rest of the group? The kids in the orphanage? Everyone who works here?”
He regarded her seriously, his dark gaze hard, before saying in a low voice, “I’m paid to make sure you are safe. For the duration of this trip, you will always be my first concern. Only when I know for certain that you are safe—and will stay safe—will I be able to help others.”
Lindsay knew what he was saying to her. If he left her somewhere safe and she didn’t stay put, he would be forced to stop helping others to come make sure she was safe again. She nodded that she understood and moved back from him. When she glanced around the table again, she saw that this time they did have the attention of a few people. Unfortunately, from the way they smiled at her, they must have assumed that she and Than were sharing an intimate moment.
If only they knew!
~*~*~
Once lunch was over, Than anticipated a return to the painting they’d been doing that morning but instead, Lindsay went to talk to Mark and the next thing he knew they were off to spend some time at the orphanage. He found it rather surprising since Lindsay had never struck him as a baby-oriented person. He’d seen her enjoy time with her nephew, Danny, but hadn’t seen her with younger children before. Personally, he had no objection to children and usually spent time each week with his nieces and nephew. The time at the orphanage would be a piece of cake.
Guarding Her Heart: A Christian Romance (BlackThorpe Security Book 1) Page 10
