Love Inspired January 2016, Box Set 1 of 2

by Carolyne Aarsen

  “I told you I owned a couple of dresses,” Chloe said, sounding a bit short.

  Lucy patted her on the shoulder. “And now you’ve proved it.” She glanced over at Grady. “How are things back at the ranch?”

  Grady heard the subtext in her question. “No thefts yet.”

  Lucy just nodded. “That is intriguing. Do you have any idea why?”

  “Maybe whoever is stealing feels sorry for my brother.”

  “Maybe. But I doubt it.” Lucy gave him a cheeky look, then turned back to Chloe and frowned. “You feeling okay? You look a little green.”

  “And with just two comments you’ve effectively negated anything positive you just said,” Chloe returned.

  “Give with one hand, take away with the other. That’s what the long arm of the law does,” Lucy said with a grin. “Anyhow, I gotta go. Promised my mom I’d help her out with coffee this morning.” With a flip of her blond hair and a wave of her hand, Lucy was gone.

  “She’s certainly a ball of fire, isn’t she?” Mamie said, her tone admiring. “Always on the job.”

  “A bit too vigilant,” Grady mumbled, not certain he liked Lucy’s insinuations. He didn’t know why the Stillwater ranch hadn’t been robbed yet, but he guessed it was simply a matter of time until they were hit. He doubted they would be on the receiving end of any largesse on the part of the Little Horn Robin Hood.

  “Can we go sit down now?” Mamie asked. “I want to make sure there’s enough room for the three of us,” she added, beaming as she looked from Chloe to Grady.

  Grady wasn’t sure he liked the satisfied look on his grandmother’s face. As if seeing Chloe and Grady together made her happy. He was fairly sure she had hired Chloe for more than nannying and therapy, but he wasn’t about to confront her on that.

  They found their place at the end of the pew, situated in the center of the sanctuary. Grandma and Grampa Stillwater had laid claim to this spot when they’d married, and through the ebb and flow of the Stillwater family, it had become “theirs.”

  Grady stood aside while Grandma and then Chloe entered. Which meant he would be sitting beside Chloe.

  He sat down slowly, easing his way into the seat, trying to find a place for his crutch. It fell; he bent over to pick it up and tried to lean it against the pew in front of him. Wordlessly Chloe took it and laid it on the floor at their feet.

  “Thanks,” he said, giving her a smile.

  She returned the smile and there it was again. The awareness that sparked between them like a live thing.

  This time she didn’t look away as quickly.

  The pianist began playing and a group of young kids came to the front. With a clang of chords from a guitarist and the piano, they started singing. Grady didn’t recognize the song, but it seemed Chloe did. She sang along, her voice bright and clear and melodious.

  Grady clung to the sound, the purity of her voice easing away the memories that plagued him from time to time. Reminding him of a happier time when he and his fellow soldiers had been on leave in Kandahar and had stopped to listen to a street group singing. A young girl, her voice as clear and true as Chloe’s, had been singing, laughing and dancing. It had been a bright spot in that particular tour.

  A day later everything had changed.

  He stifled the dark thoughts, massaging his leg, clinging once again to the music to which Chloe sang along.

  “‘My hope is only in You, Lord, my solid cornerstone, my strength when I am weak, my help when I’m alone,’” she sang.

  Grady closed his eyes as the words soaked into his soul. When the song was over he glanced at Chloe. She returned his look, a sidelong grazing of her eyes over his. But her smile lingered in his heart.

  And he wondered if he dared let what he sensed was happening between them grow.

  He held that thought and then Pastor Mathers came to the front of the church. He looked around, smiling as he welcomed the gathering, his blue eyes shining with friendliness. He made a few jokes, then asked everyone to bow their heads to pray.

  His prayer was the usual invocation asking God to bless their worship time. To watch over them as they opened God’s word. He also prayed that the past events of the community would not turn people against each other and that, instead, everyone would come together to help and support one another.

  As the pastor prayed, Grady felt again the uneasiness that gripped him as he thought of the thefts that had been going on. It was making people testy.

  Pastor Mathers finished his prayer and invited the congregation to turn to their Bibles. Grady followed along as the pastor read from Isaiah 40. He tried to listen but he was distracted by the beautiful woman beside him, her eyes on her Bible, a faint smile teasing her lips as if the words she read pleased her. He pulled his attention back to the pastor in time to hear him read, “‘Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.’”

  Pastor Mathers closed his Bible and looked over the congregation, pausing as if to let the words settle into their collective mind. “In our culture and society these verses can be tough to swallow. We want to be strong. Independent. These are qualities we admire in ourselves and other people. But as Christians this is not how we are called to live.”

  Grady looked down, struggling with the pastor’s words. It was as if the sermon were tailor-made for him.

  You’re a soldier, he told himself, mentally arguing with what the pastor said. You have to be tough and strong. Weakness is death.

  But you’re not a soldier anymore.

  The other voice, the practical one he had spent the past few weeks ignoring, sifted back into his thoughts.

  Didn’t matter. He had to be strong. His brother was in the hospital. His grandmother needed him. Cody needed him.

  He looked over at Chloe, who was looking at the pastor, her face holding a peculiarly skeptical expression.

  As if she, too, struggled with the sermon.

  Again he sensed she was keeping something to herself and again he wondered what.

  In spite of his curiosity, he shook off the thought. He had enough going on in his own life. He didn’t need to take on anything Chloe was dealing with.

  * * *

  “I miss you, buddy,” Eva said to Cody, holding him close. The murmur of the people visiting after church rose up around the table they sat at in the hall attached to the church. Chloe felt a pang as she looked around the room. She recognized many of the people here, and as she and Eva chatted, a few members of the congregation stopped by to give her their greetings.

  It was home and, for now, she was thankful for a job that kept her there.

  “I think he misses you, too,” Chloe said, reaching over to wipe some drool off his chin.

  “Poor little motherless guy,” Eva said. She looked over his head at Chloe, her expression curious. “I hear that Vanessa is gone. What do you think that means?”

  That I don’t have to put up with her condescending attitude.

  Chloe simply shrugged. “I think she didn’t like the fact that Grady was on to her lies.”

  Eva shook her head in dismay. “I sure hope we find out who he belongs to. Every baby needs a mother and father.”

  Chloe’s heart skipped in her chest as she took Cody back from Eva. And what of her baby? She swallowed down a knot of panic, reminding herself of the song she had just sung. God was her refuge and fortress. He would guide her through the precarious place in her life.

  “And Grady is most definitely not the father,” Chloe said, settling Cody on her hip. He tried to grab for her necklace but she caught his hand, kissing his chubby fist.

  “I’m sure that’s a relief,” Eva said with a
coy smile.

  Chloe pretended she didn’t understand, unwilling to analyze her changing feelings for Grady. Sitting beside him in church had been more difficult than she had expected. She saw how earnestly he had listened to the pastor. How he had seemed to be pondering the message.

  The same message that struck a chord with her. After she’d discovered that Jeremy hadn’t returned to give their marriage another try as she’d believed, but had simply come to toy with her emotions, she’d promised herself she wouldn’t let any man have any control over her again. She wouldn’t let any man make her feel weak.

  Yet now she was in a position of weakness, and though she didn’t like it, she also knew it made her more dependent on God’s guidance and provision.

  All through the sermon she had kept wondering how Grady heard the message. Then she became frustrated that all her thoughts circled back to him.

  “So, barring any other Stillwater coming out of the woodwork, I would guess that leaves Ben as Cody’s father,” Eva continued.

  Chloe pulled her attention back to Eva and nodded. “It would seem that way.”

  “I just want to tell you how glad I am that you’re helping at the ranch,” Eva said, moving in closer as if she had some deep secret to impart. “Grady seems happier than when I saw him last.”

  Chloe frowned. “What do you mean?”

  Eva gave her a mischievous smile. “I think you know what I mean. Though Grady has devoted himself to the army, he always said that one day he wanted to settle down at the ranch. Find himself the perfect girl and raise the perfect family.”

  The perfect girl.

  That certainly wasn’t her anymore.

  Then across the room she saw Grady talking to Olivia Barlow, widowed mother of three children. Olivia brushed back her dark brown hair as she caught the hand of one of her triplet sons, frowning down at him as if warning him. She looked tired, and Chloe didn’t blame her. The thought of raising her child on her own frightened her. She couldn’t imagine doing it with triplets. Grady patted Olivia on the shoulder, as if in sympathy, then said something to the young boy. When Olivia left, Grady looked up, unerringly finding Chloe across the room. Their gazes locked. Chloe’s breath slowed and her heart raced. She pulled her eyes way only to find Eva watching her with a bemused expression.

  “Someone just like you,” Eva said with a self-satisfied smile. “I think you’re exactly what my cousin needs.”

  Chloe’s heart twisted at Eva’s words. She knew she was starting to like Grady too much. She wished she knew what to do about it.

  CHAPTER SIX

  “Smells wonderful in here.” Mamie Stillwater stepped into the kitchen carrying a pile of dish towels that she had just washed and folded.

  Chloe set the pan of freshly baked muffins on the counter, smiling at the results. “I thought I would bring some of these out to the hands. I’m sure they miss Martha Rose’s cooking.”

  “I’m sure they do, though the boys can certainly manage without her until she gets back.” Mamie set the towels in a cupboard beside the pantry and walked to the high chair Chloe had set close to the counter so she could watch Cody while she baked. “He looks tired.”

  Cody was rubbing his eyes, a piece of banana stuck to the back of his hand.

  Chloe wet a cloth and quickly wiped him down. “He is. I just wanted to finish up here before I put him in bed. Sorry I didn’t do it sooner.”

  Mamie waved off Chloe’s excuses. “Honey, I wasn’t trying to criticize you.”

  Chloe gave her a tight nod, realizing that her protest was automatic, hearkening back to her life with Jeremy. His constant criticism and harping had made her become overly aware of her shortcomings. It made her angry that he still had some influence on her behavior. She had promised herself she wouldn’t be defined by his treatment of her.

  Mostly she had kept that promise, but from time to time remnants of her old self returned.

  “I can lay him down if you want,” Mamie offered.

  “No. I need these muffins to cool anyway.” Chloe shucked her oven mitts and set them neatly aside, then pulled Cody out of his high chair.

  A sudden and strong wave of nausea washed over her and she grabbed the edge of the counter to support herself. This was the worst she’d endured yet.

  “Are you okay, child?” Mamie asked, suddenly concerned.

  Chloe swallowed and swallowed, praying fiercely this would pass.

  “Just feeling a little light-headed,” she said as the vertigo receded. “I think I forgot to eat breakfast. And yes, I know breakfast is the most important meal of the day. My mom used to tell me that.”

  Mamie put the last towel in the cupboard and leaned back, her arms folded. “Do you remember much of your mother?”

  “Bits and pieces. I was only ten when she died.”

  “That must have been hard for you and your father.”

  Chloe shifted Cody in her arms, tucking his warm head into the crook of her neck as her mind sifted back. “It was. My father was adrift without my mother. I think he barely remembered he had a daughter at times.” She shook her head as if dislodging the memories, disliking the self-pity creeping into her voice.

  “And then he remarried,” Mamie said.

  Chloe held Cody even closer as she recalled that moment when she’d realized Vanessa’s mother did not see her as an asset, but rather as a rival for her father’s affections. “That wasn’t a good situation.” She gave Mamie a wry smile. “Very Cinderella but with only one stepsister. And my dad didn’t die. Etta left before that.”

  “Can I ask why she left?”

  “A number of reasons,” Chloe said, her voice growing hard. “She thought my grandfather would leave my father a boatload of cash, and when he died that was a disappointment. And then my father had his accident. He couldn’t give her what she needed. Couldn’t provide for her, and he had his injury, and what woman can live like that?” She gave Mamie an arch look, underlining the irony of her comment.

  Mamie smiled sadly, clearly understanding what Chloe was saying and her slightly sarcastic inference.

  “That can be hard,” she said.

  “I’ll put this munchkin down and then I’ll head out.”

  “I’m going to lie down,” Mamie said. “I haven’t been feeling well.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” Chloe said, giving her a concerned look. “I can stay in the house if you want.”

  Mamie shook her head. “No. Cody will sleep. You go bring those boys some muffins. I’m sure they miss all the fussing they usually get from Martha Rose. I’ll be fine.”

  Chloe nodded, then left with the little boy, but as she walked up the stairs she felt another wave of nausea and wondered how long she could keep her condition a secret.

  And if it was fair to the Stillwaters to do so.

  I just need this for a few more months, she promised herself. Just until I can figure out what to do and where to go.

  The thought clung to her with icy fingers because at the moment she had no idea.

  * * *

  “That was a short break,” Saul said, looking up from the horse he had just tied to a rail.

  “Changed my mind,” Grady said brusquely.

  “Thought you said you needed a rest.”

  He had. His leg bothered him and while he resented resting it, part of him had been hoping to see Chloe. Until he’d overheard what she said.

  ...couldn’t provide for her, and he had his injury, and what woman can live like that?

  Though he didn’t know the context of the words, it wasn’t hard to infer what she meant, and it underlined his view of himself. Sure, he could take care of someone financially, manage the ranch from a desk like his father had, but that hadn’t turned out well for his father, either.

 
A nasty wind with a bite to it swept through the alleyway, making Grady shiver. The forecast was for unseasonably cold weather. They would have to increase the cows’ feed to compensate.

  Josh Carpenter, one of the hired hands, led the horse Saul had just worked on back to the pasture. When he saw Grady, he stopped.

  “Hey, boss, just wondering if I can take a day off this week?” he asked. “My dad needs my help setting up some surveillance cameras on his place.”

  “Has he been hit, too?” Josh’s father wasn’t even a rancher. He lived on acreage on the edge of town.

  “No. He’s just getting paranoid that he might. Must have bought seven of those cameras. I tried to tell him that no one would want his old stuff, but to him it’s precious.”

  “Should be okay.” Emilio and Lucas would be around, so he could certainly spare Josh.

  Josh gave him a goofy grin, which puzzled Grady until he realized the hired hand was looking at someone past him. He caught the same whiff of baking he had in the house and from the way his neck prickled he figured Chloe had just arrived.

  “Hey, Chloe, good to see you,” Josh said, threading his fingers through the reins of the horse he was still leading in a nervous gesture. He looked somewhat smitten and Grady couldn’t blame him. Chloe seemed to have the same effect on him, except he tried a little harder than Josh to hide it.

  “Good to see you, too,” Chloe returned, stopping right beside Grady. In one hand she held a plastic bag, in the other a plate of muffins covered in wrap, their warmth creating a cloud of vapor on the covering. “I though you all might enjoy a snack.”

  “Just let me bring this cayuse away and I’ll be right back,” Josh said with a bright grin.

  Though it had been only a couple of hours since breakfast, the smell of the baking made Grady’s stomach growl. However, the thought of sitting all cozy and cute sharing some muffins with Chloe after what he had overheard was too difficult.

  His mind scrambled to come up with a reason to leave, but then he made the mistake of looking at Chloe, who was smiling at him, her eyes bright and inviting, and he couldn’t think of much at all.