Rekindled Hearts

by Brenda Minton

  “I’m not going anywhere, Lex.” He sat down on the ottoman in front of her sofa and held out a glass of water. “Drink this.”

  She drank the water and then leaned back on the pillow he must have put under her head while she was sleeping.

  “Colt, I don’t want to do this to you. I don’t want you to feel I’m keeping you from your job. I don’t want you to resent me.”

  “I don’t resent you.” He took the glass from her hand. “Try to rest.”

  “While you pace and look out the windows.”

  “Don’t take everything from me.” He winked and she nodded.

  Keeping people safe was a part of who he was. She knew that, had always known. “Colt, I don’t want to change who you are.”

  Brows shot up and she had to explain. “Who you are is this wonderful man who cares deeply about people, and about keeping them safe. Sometimes, though…”

  “Sometimes it becomes an obsession?”

  She nodded again, but her head swam and she closed her eyes. His hand rested on her cheek, his fingers brushing lightly.

  She couldn’t forget that he had made a choice to stay with her. He moved to the chair and put his feet up on the ottoman.

  The next time she woke up, Jill was in the chair that Colt had been sleeping in.

  “Where did he go?”

  “He’s outside, Lex.”

  Lexi sat up, brushing a hand that trembled through hair that was tangled and needed to be washed. She reached for water and Jill pushed it close enough for her to reach. “What time is it?”

  “Two in the morning.”

  “I feel like I might have eaten dirt.”

  “Chicken will do that to you.”

  Lexi groaned. “I think I’m dying.”

  Jill laughed and put her book down. “Nope. Colt called Doc and Doc said to bring you in tomorrow and he’ll take a look and prescribe something.”

  “I’ve got antibiotics in the fridge.” Lexi closed her eyes because the light was bright and her head was pounding as if little men were in her brain with hammers, trying to get out.

  Jill laughed. “You want to give yourself a shot of something you give to Billy Faire’s Holsteins?”

  “Beats this.”

  “Go back to sleep.”

  Lexi shook her head and sat back up. She had to check on Colt. What if Parsons was after him? She must be getting better, because that thought hadn’t crossed her mind until now. What if Colt was in danger?

  “Where are you going?”

  “To check on Colt.”

  “He’s a big boy.”

  “Parsons is out there somewhere.”

  “And you don’t want him to touch your man?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. Colt and I have decided we can still be friends.” But her legs shook and her stomach protested the movement. Lexi leaned against the counter and waited for the world to stop spinning. “This stinks.”

  “Frankie May has it, too.”

  “Food poisoning?”

  “Yep. It was something at the carnival.”

  “I thought it might have been. I hope that more people don’t get sick.”

  “Lexi, sit back down. I’ll go out and check on him.”

  Lexi shook her head. “I don’t want him to know we’re checking on him. I just want to see for myself that he’s okay.”

  “And that he’s really out there?” Jill got up and followed Lexi to the window.

  “I’m not checking up on him.” Lexi stood to the side and peeked out the window, Jill close behind her. And there was his Jeep. The security light on the corner gave off enough light for her to see him inside.

  He hadn’t left.

  As if he knew she was watching, he turned and waved. Lexi raised her hand to wave, and then she blew him a kiss. Because he hadn’t left her.

  Pounding woke Colt. He rubbed his face and then the back of his neck. Blinking against the early-morning light, he realized he was parked in front of Lexi’s house and the pounding noise was the construction crew working on what was supposed to be her new home. He had slept in front of her house. He groaned and rubbed his face again.

  Someone knocked on the window. He jumped a little and moved his hand off his face. Jill. She smiled and held up a mug of coffee.

  Colt turned the key and rolled down the window. “Thanks for that,” he mumbled.

  “Scare ya?”

  “Not at all. I’m always on the alert.”

  “Okay, we’ll all believe that. Here’s coffee. You should go home now.”

  Home. He glanced at the building being constructed next to Lexi’s clinic and then at the clinic.

  “Do you know she has real estate brochures for Manhattan?”

  “What?”

  Jill leaned against the side of the vehicle. “She had information from different Realtors in Manhattan, for homes and office buildings. I feel like a snitch, but I thought you should know.”

  “I didn’t know.” He leaned back, closing his eyes.

  “Don’t let her leave. Not if you still love her.”

  “Jill, I’m not going to get into this with you. Lexi and I are doing the best we can.” He opened his eyes when Jill made a noise somewhere between a grunt and a growl. “What?”

  “So, you’re willing to let her leave?”

  “It’s too early for this conversation.”

  “That’s a ‘man’ response. You don’t want to talk about it. You messed up, my friend. You really messed up.”

  “Thanks for that. I need to go.”

  She rested a hand on his arm. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to give you a hard time. Or maybe I did. But I wanted you to know that you’re really close to losing her for good.”

  “Message received. Call if she needs me.”

  “Will do.”

  He drove down Main Street, remembering back to July. Clouds on the western horizon reminded him of how the air had felt that day, and how the wind had roared. Today the clouds were fluffy and white. The sky was robin’s-egg blue.

  But the General Store was still closed and the Old Town Hall was a pile of debris that they planned on burning soon. He looked out across the town green, at trees in the distance still wearing ribbons of sheet metal from barns that had been destroyed.

  He wondered if it would ever be the same.

  Of course it wouldn’t. Nothing would ever be the same. As the town was being rebuilt, so were the lives of the people in High Plains. And some people had new lives.

  As he drove, Josie Cane parked in front of the day care. He knew her schedule. She had probably dropped her niece, Alyssa, off at school and now she was going to work. He had seen Alyssa and Lilli Marstow, Silas Marstow’s daughter, sneaking off to play on Sunday morning before church. He smiled, because he hadn’t told on either of them. He had heard all about the two girls escaping after the tornado. It was wrong of them to do it. Just as wrong for Silas to try and separate them.

  And, in Colt’s opinion, the widower should give Josie a break. Actually, the guy ought to give himself a break.

  Not that Colt could really give anyone advice on moving on.

  His phone rang as he pulled up to the office. He didn’t recognize the number. “This is Chief Ridgeway.”

  “Yes, sir. My name is Brent Carlson. I live about twenty miles north of High Plains.”

  “Yes, sir. How can I help you?”

  “Well, this sounds a little odd, but I have something I think belongs to you. After the tornado, we found some wedding pictures in our field. We didn’t have a clue who they might belong to, and then, the other day, we saw you on the news and realized that you’re the guy in the pictures. We thought you and your wife might like to have these pictures back.”

  “My wife…” The words stuck in Colt’s throat. “My wife and I would love to have those pictures. When can I pick them up?”

  “I can bring them to you.”

  “You don’t have to.”

  “Son, you all have been thro
ugh enough down there. I’ve got business about ten miles from High Plains. I’ll swing by and drop these off at the police station.”

  “I would really appreciate that.” Colt ended the call and then he got out of his car. Their wedding pictures. He wondered if God was in on this.

  When he called his sister, he wasn’t sure what he wanted to say. She sounded as surprised by the call. They had family dinners from time to time, but life was busy and they didn’t get together as much as they should.

  He regretted that, along with other things.

  “Ang, can we get together for lunch?”

  “Of course we can. What’s up?”

  “I need to talk.”

  “Well, it’s about time.” Her words were brightly spoken, and she laughed a little. “I’ll meet you at your place. I’ll bring egg salad.”

  “Angie, I don’t like egg salad.”

  “I thought you loved it?”

  “Nope, just didn’t want to hurt your feelings.”

  “I’ll bring ham.”

  “Thanks, sis, you’re the best. Could we have lunch here, at the police station?”

  “Of course I’m the best, and yes, I’ll meet you there.” Long pause. “Colt, how is Lexi doing?”

  “She’s good. She’s still sick, but…”

  “Are the rumors true? That the two of you were at church together?”

  “It doesn’t take long to spread the news, does it?”

  “Jennifer called.”

  “Of course she did.” His sister’s best friend. “I’ll see you at noon.”

  And at noon, she walked through the door of the police station, smiling the way she always smiled. She spoke to the file clerk, Kathleen, and headed back to his office.

  “You look pretty bad.” She closed the door as she stepped in, and then hugged him.

  “Thank you. Words of encouragement are always appreciated.”

  “Oh, Colt, you’re so dry. Try to cheer up.”

  She opened the bag she had carried in and pulled out two foil-covered plates. “Ham, dill pickles and potato salad.”

  Colt offered her a bottle of water out of the fridge. He sat across from her, balancing his plate on his knee. She bowed her head to pray before she ate.

  When she finished praying, he met her curious gaze.

  “What gives?”

  “I’m trying to work through a few things.”

  “I’m something you have to work through?” Her brows came together and her smile dimmed.

  “No, of course not. I’m trying to find my way back to faith. I’m trying to look at things that have happened and see what God has done, not what I think He should have done.”

  “That isn’t easy for a fixer like you, is it?”

  “No, but it’s my own step one in moving forward.”

  She smiled, the mom smile he’d seen her use on her kids.

  “Colt, you’ve always taken everything too much to heart. From the puppies we had to give away when you were a kid, to the cows bellowing when it was weaning time for the calves.”

  “Yeah, maybe.” He didn’t want to remember that kid, a lot like Tommy, getting attached and now wanting to give up. Which was why Colt kept looking for that dog.

  “Colt, you had a yard sale and tried to sell Mom’s china because you thought you could save the farm after Dad got hurt.”

  He had done that. Heat climbed up his cheeks. Big lawman, brought down by his five-foot-three-inch sister. She knew too many of his stories.

  “That was one of my finer moments. I can’t believe the lady bought the china and then gave it back to Mom.”

  “You were cute, with your torn jeans and blond hair.”

  “It bothered me, Angie. It bothered me that you were all laughing and acting as if everything was great, and they were auctioning off part of our farm to pay hospital bills. We went to church and we sang songs about faith. We prayed together at night. And I just couldn’t see it.”

  “You couldn’t see that God was getting us through a difficult time? Couldn’t you see that we still had Dad, and that our family got stronger, not weaker?”

  “Now, yes, I can see that now.” And he remembered what Lexi had said about Tommy, losing his dog but gaining a family. All things worked together for good.

  “Colt, what in the world is going on with you?”

  He looked up, meeting the concern in his sister’s gray eyes. “I’m trying to get past what happened, to Dad, to our family and to Gavin. I walked away from my marriage because I kept thinking that given time, I would hurt Lexi—something would happen to her and I wouldn’t be able to save her. And then my fear changed to what if we had kids and something happened to me.”

  “You should have talked to us.”

  “I can’t go back.”

  “Okay, so move forward and give yourself a break. Try to find faith. Stop having these ‘garage sales’ where you think you have to save everyone.”

  “I’m working on it. It isn’t easy, though.” He smiled. “‘Garage sales’?”

  “Yeah, you think you have to take care of things, so you take action. Admit it, the yard sale was kind of sweet, but kind of funny.”

  “Cute. I was looking for words of wisdom.”

  “I know, and I’m not going to give you platitudes.”

  “Thank you, I appreciate that. Did you know that Lexi is thinking about moving back to Manhattan?”

  “She told you?”

  “Not in so many words, no. Jill was the one letting that cat out of the bag.”

  “Lexi thinks it is time for the two of you to move on. She said her life has been on hold for two years.”

  “I know.” His life had been in the same holding pattern.

  A car door slammed. Colt glanced out the window at the truck parked in front of the police station. An older man stepped onto the sidewalk, carrying a box. “There he is.”

  “Who?”

  “Mr. Carlson. I haven’t met him but I think that’s him.” Colt pointed to the farmer in his overalls and work boots. “He found what he believes are our wedding pictures.”

  “Oh, Colt.” Tears trickled down her cheeks.

  “Sis, I don’t cry easy, but if you do that, I might.”

  “I’m sorry, but you have to know how special this is. I talked to Lexi after the tornado. She was so torn up over the pictures.”

  “And her rings?”

  “She mentioned it. She wasn’t going to tell you.”

  He reached into his pocket and pulled out the platinum band, circled with diamonds. “I found it in her backyard.”

  It wasn’t often that he could surprise his sister. This did the trick. Her mouth dropped and she blinked a few times. And then she cried for real, wiping her eyes with her napkin.

  “I have to see a man about some pictures.”

  “You haven’t told her?”

  “Not yet. And don’t you tell. I’m working through this and I’m praying, Ang. These rings mean something, but that’s something else I’m working on.”

  He placed the rings on the table in front of her. She picked them up and held them to the light. “Not a scratch on them.”

  “Not one.” He took them from her outstretched hand and put them into his pocket.

  He walked out the door of his office and greeted the farmer who had found his wedding photographs. “Here they are, son. Now, they’re not perfect. Some of them are a little torn. The book got wet and there are water stains.”

  “I don’t think she’ll be worried about that.” Colt opened the bag and pulled out the wedding album. The floral design was ripped away from the binding and the water damage had peeled away some of the pages.

  He opened the book to the photograph of the two of them together. Newlyweds, still believing marriage was forever. He remembered that day, and how he had imagined their lives together.

  “I take it they’re yours?”

  Colt nodded, still a little stunned. He hadn’t looked at these pictures in a
long time. The images brought back a wash of memories, good memories of feeling in love and knowing they could make it through anything.

  And then regret, because he hadn’t fought hard enough to make it over the biggest obstacle, his own pride. As he flipped through the pages, he landed on one photograph. Lexi’s dad at their reception. He was on his phone, probably taking care of business. Lexi stood next to him, and her smile looked as if it was about to melt away.

  He slipped that photograph from the book and stuck it in his pocket. He hadn’t planned on being like her dad, always putting her somewhere at the back of the line. But that’s exactly what he had done.

  The man standing next to Colt cleared his throat.

  “Well, I should be going. I have a load of calves to get home.”

  “Thank you for this.” Colt shook a worn and weathered hand, gnarled by arthritis.

  “Don’t mention it. I would have wanted the same done for me.”

  Angie walked out the door, her purse over her shoulder. She stopped next to him. “I’m going home, but I want you to know that there’s a purpose in all of this, so don’t get lost in all of the whys, trying to make sense of it. Do what you feel is right.”

  “At this point, I have no idea what that is.”

  “I think you do.” She hugged him and then she walked away and he wished he could smile as easily as she did. She had never lost faith.

  Chapter Eleven

  The two little girls ran toward Lexi as she came out of the grocery store. She still wasn’t feeling great, but she knew she wasn’t contagious, and the girls looked as if they had something to discuss. She waited for them, glancing around the area for any sight of the feuding parents of the two children—Alyssa’s aunt, Josie Cane, and Lilli’s father, Silas Marstow. If she could have, Lexi would have explained to the two adults that they were both good parents. They probably didn’t want to hear from her that they should cut one another a little slack.

  “Hi, girls.”

  “Hello.” Alyssa looked around, fidgeting and scrunching the hem of her shirt.

  “Shouldn’t you be at the day care?” Lexi squatted to the level of the two girls.

  “I should be,” Alyssa whispered, “but I saw Lilli waiting for her dad. He’s talking to someone. And he’ll talk a long time.”