Blessings of the Heart and Samantha's Gift

by Valerie Hansen

  “That’s right.”

  “What a good idea,” Rachel interjected, trying to sound upbeat.

  Hannah straightened and glared at her, hands fisted on ample hips. “Now you, missy. What do you have to say for yourself?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “There is no excuse for what you did.”

  Sean stepped up beside Rachel, clearly taking sides. “Most teachers would probably have left the child’s welfare in the hands of the bus driver. Ms. Woodward, however, took it upon herself to try to put things right. That speaks very well for her, don’t you agree?”

  For the first time, Hannah took notice of Sean. She gave him a critical once-over. “And who might you be?”

  He introduced himself and extended a hand of friendship. The annoyed woman begrudgingly accepted it. Then, instead of stuffing his hands into his pockets the way he initially had when he’d run into the pretty teacher in the hallway, he took half a step closer to Rachel and nonchalantly looped one arm around her shoulders. The gesture was casual yet obviously protective.

  Mrs. Brody noticed immediately. Her eyebrows arched. “Oh, I see. You two were too busy playing patty-cake to pay attention to anything else.” She grabbed the child’s hand and started away. “Well, what’s done is done. Come on, Samantha. It’s too late to take you shopping for new clothes today like I’d promised. I got to go start supper.”

  The little girl glanced back over her shoulder, silently pleading with her teacher and Sean to rescue her as Hannah Brody led her away. That soulful look was enough to put Rachel’s heart in a twist and leave a lump in her throat.

  For an instant she wanted to weep. Instead, she waved, smiled and called, “Bye-bye. See you tomorrow, Samantha.”

  “Will she be okay with that old grump?” Sean asked softly.

  “Hannah?” Rachel glanced up at him while deliberately removing his hand from her shoulder. “Hannah’s not a bad person. She gets a little irritable sometimes but she’s basically good-hearted. She’s been taking in the kids nobody else wanted to bother with for years.”

  “Samantha’s one of those?”

  “Apparently. Her social worker did say she was having trouble adjusting. That’s probably why they gave her to Hannah.”

  “I see. What else can you tell me about the Brody woman?”

  “Well…” Rachel’s smile stayed. “She baby-sat for lots of folks here in Serenity who’re all grown up, now. Me included.”

  “You’re kidding! No wonder you let her talk to you like that.”

  “Hannah means well. And she was right. I should have called her so she wouldn’t worry. I was so worried about finding Samantha, I guess it just slipped my mind.”

  “That’s understandable. Don’t beat yourself up about it.”

  “I won’t. The only thing that bothers me is the way the small-town rumor mill is going to have fun with us.”

  “Us?” Sean’s expression showed bewilderment. “What us?”

  With a wry chuckle, Rachel shook her head. “You do have a lot to learn about living in a place like this, don’t you. There doesn’t even have to be an us for people to talk. By tomorrow morning, half the folks in town will be saying you and I are practically engaged. And the other half will be trying to decide if you’re good enough for me.”

  She’d expected Sean to enjoy the lighthearted banter. Instead, he seemed upset. She pressed on. “Hey, don’t look so glum. I didn’t say it was my idea. It’s just how it is in a place where everybody knows everybody else, and half of them are related, besides.” That statement brought a further conclusion. “Oh-oh.”

  “What’s wrong now?”

  “I just had a horrible thought. Hannah’s my mother’s second cousin by marriage.”

  “So?”

  “So, I’ll bet Mom is the first one she calls.”

  Sean huffed. “Don’t tell me you’re still worried about pleasing your mother at your age?”

  “Hey. I’m not that old.”

  He deliberately took his time looking her up and down and fully appreciating what he saw. Chances were good that he was at least seven or eight years older than she was, maybe more, yet they had to be contemporaries in spite of her youthful appearance. For starters, he knew this wasn’t Rachel’s first year of teaching. A person didn’t usually finish college and earn a degree until they were in their twenties at least, so she had to be halfway to thirty by now.

  “You don’t look a day over sixteen,” he finally told her.

  “Actually, I’ll be eighty-four my next birthday,” she said. Struggling to repress a giggle, she twirled in a circle to put herself on display. “Pretty good for an octogenarian, huh?”

  “Excellent.” Sean was shaking his head in disbelief and laughing softly under his breath. “You certainly had me fooled. What’s your secret?”

  “Clean living. I never miss a Sunday in church, either.”

  “Very commendable.”

  “I think so. Hey! Since you’re new in town, how’d you like to come visit my church?”

  “Church and I don’t exactly get along.”

  “That’s too bad. We won’t eat you, you know. We really do accept everybody, even sinners.” The astonishment in his expression made her chuckle. “That was a joke, Bates.”

  “I’ll laugh later, okay?” He reached into his pocket for his car keys and jingled them in one hand. “You ready?”

  “As soon as I go grab my purse,” Rachel said. “Wait here. I’ll just be a minute.”

  Starting away she heard him mutter, “I don’t believe it.”

  She spun around. “You don’t believe what?”

  “You. You were driving all over the country without your license?”

  “Guess I was. I told you Christians aren’t perfect. You’d better start believing me or I may have to keep trying to prove it to you.”

  Rachel’s car was right where she’d left it, without so much as a hubcap missing—much to Sean’s surprise. A prankster had scrawled “Wash me” and drawn a happy face in the fresh layer of dust coating the lid of the trunk, but otherwise the car was untouched.

  He parked as far off the roadway as he could without scratching his sedan on the brambles and small trees growing along the right-of-way, and got out. Rachel followed.

  A closer look at her car made her sigh audibly. Her shoulders sagged. “Rats. You were right. I do have two flats.”

  “Apparently.” Sean circled the car, assessing the damage. “Looks to me as if it’s going to be dangerous to remove the tires, even if we use both our jacks. The ground is too uneven here. The car wouldn’t be stable.”

  “What do you suggest, then?”

  “Calling a tow truck. If we left your car jacked up and drove into town with two of the wheels, any little thing could knock it over and damage the axles. Then we’d have to call a tow, anyway.”

  Rachel was too exhausted to argue. She yawned. “Fine. Whatever. As long as I can get to work in the morning.”

  “I don’t suppose you happen to know the number of a local garage that does towing?” he asked, reaching into his car for his cellular phone and pushing the power button.

  She snorted cynically. “As a matter of fact, I do.”

  Sean waited, growing impatient when she didn’t recite the number. “Well?”

  “It wouldn’t be my first choice.”

  “This is not a popularity contest. If this place can come get your car and fix the tires, let’s get on with it, okay?”

  “Okay, okay.”

  Rachel gave him the number, then watched as he made arrangements with the garage. To her surprise, Sean knew approximately where they were and gave credible directions, so she didn’t have to interrupt to correct him.

  That was a plus. So was the lengthening day. If Craig Slocum had already gone home for supper, as she hoped, her personal involvement could be kept to a minimum.

  And if not? She clenched her jaw, imagining Craig’s superior smirk when he discovered she neede
d his help. Since their failed engagement, Rachel had managed to avoid him almost completely. If he showed up this evening it would be the first time she’d spoken to him face-to-face since he broke her heart.

  Her chin jutted out, her spine stiffened. If she had to face Craig, she would meet the challenge head-on. That man was never going to learn how deeply he had hurt her. Never.

  Sean noticed Rachel’s growing uneasiness. When they heard the approach of a truck, her head snapped around and she stared in the direction of the sound as if expecting a stalking tiger instead of deliverance.

  “Want to tell me why you’re so jumpy?” he asked.

  “I’m not jumpy.”

  There was nothing to be gained by arguing with her. “Okay. Sorry.” Sean smiled. “Maybe you’re just hungry. Personally, I’m starved. What do you say we grab a pizza or something while we wait for your car to be fixed?”

  Rachel nodded without taking her eyes off the distant roadway as the truck rumbled closer.

  Sean decided to test her. “Your treat.”

  “Sure. Fine.”

  His resultant laugh finally got Rachel’s attention. She frowned. “What’s so funny?”

  “You are. I could have asked you anything just now and you’d have agreed without hearing a word I said.”

  “Don’t be silly.”

  “Okay. We are on for dinner, then?”

  “Dinner? Oh, sure. Only around here, dinner is what we eat at lunchtime. The evening meal is called supper.”

  “I’ll remember that.” He saw the tow truck slowing. Inside the cab, its driver was grinning from ear to ear. The man’s eyes were shadowed by the brim of his baseball cap, but it was still evident he was concentrating on Rachel.

  “You know him?” Sean asked.

  “I told you. Everybody knows everybody around here.”

  “Let me put it another way,” Sean said quietly. “Do you dislike him as much as I think you do?”

  She huffed and managed a momentary smile. “Actually, Craig and I used to be engaged.”

  “Engaged? You were going to marry him?”

  “Yes.” Her frown returned. “Why is that so surprising?”

  “I don’t know. I guess he just doesn’t look like your type.”

  “Why not? Because he drives a tow truck?” The Slocums owned several lucrative businesses in Serenity and the surrounding area, and Craig drove the tow rig because he liked to, but Rachel wasn’t about to explain all that to Sean.

  “Listen, Mr. Bates,” she said firmly, “if a man does an honest job and is proud of his work, I see no reason to put him down simply because he may not have a college degree like you and I do. If you choose your friends by their level of formal education, you’ll miss out on a whole lot, especially around here. There are plenty of very smart folks who haven’t had the opportunities you and I have had.”

  Sean was grinning at her. “You through?”

  “I just don’t like stuck-up people, that’s all.”

  “Neither do I.” He chuckled softly, shook his head. “I was talking about the smug, know-it-all look on the guy’s face. I didn’t think you’d put up with that kind of attitude for a second. Since you two broke up, apparently I was right.”

  Chagrined, she wished she hadn’t jumped to conclusions. “Sorry about the lecture. Class distinction is a sore point with me.”

  “So I’ve gathered.” Sean was still grinning. “Well, here comes your ex-fiancé. Mind if I shake hands with him?”

  “Of course not.”

  “Good.” He stepped forward, his hand extended. “I’m Sean Bates. Thanks for coming so promptly. We really appreciate it.”

  The other man paused to glance at Rachel, then turned back to Sean and gave his hand a pump. “Craig Slocum.”

  His grip was more than firm, it was crushing. If Sean hadn’t known the man’s history with Rachel and anticipated the animosity, he would have been taken aback by the overt show of strength. Instead, he met it equally.

  “We aim to please,” Craig said. “What seems to be the problem here?”

  “A pair of flats,” Sean answered. “Like I told your dispatcher, we can’t safely repair the damage as the car sits. Think you can load it up on your truck and get it back to town for us? Ms. Woodward needs her car in time for work tomorrow.”

  Craig pushed his cap back on his head and wiped his brow with a red-printed kerchief as he studied the dusty car. Rachel, on the other hand, looked at her feet, at the tree-dotted farmland all around them, at the peacefully grazing cows with their new calves—everywhere except at her former fiancé.

  Interested, Sean watched the unspoken interplay between the two. It seemed to him that a spark of romance remained. Then again, he could be imagining things.

  Tension hung in the sultry air, blurring the truth like fog on a dewy morning. Slocum wasn’t a big man but he was definitely physically fit, Sean noted, which probably appealed to Rachel, at least on a subconscious level. They had undoubtedly made a good-looking couple. Perhaps they would again.

  As soon as Craig had winched Rachel’s car onto the flatbed of his truck and secured it with heavy chains, he opened the passenger door of the wrecker and flashed her a killer smile. “Ready, hon?”

  The expression of panic in her eyes spurred Sean to answer, “We’re ready.” Taking Rachel’s arm, he escorted her to his car and politely held the door for her, behaving as if there was no question who would drive her back to town.

  Sean could feel the other man’s angry stare. What had he gotten himself into? In town less than a week and already he’d run afoul of one of the good ole boys whose unofficial buddy system ran everything inside and outside of Serenity. These might not be the days of the Hatfields and the McCoys, but Sean knew it wasn’t smart to alienate the natives, either. No telling whose uncle or cousin would show up on the school board and wind up voting not to continue funding the counseling program next year. Even a born-and-bred city boy knew that much.

  He climbed in beside Rachel and started the car. “You okay?”

  “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “No special reason. If you’d explained why you didn’t want to call that particular garage, we could have done things differently, you know.”

  “Slocum’s is the best and the fastest. It made sense to use them.”

  “Not if running into Craig was going to bother you.”

  “The problem is mine, not his.”

  “You’re the one who broke up with him, then?”

  “Not exactly. It was mutual.”

  Puzzled, Sean glanced over at her as he slowly followed the tow truck, keeping his distance so he wouldn’t get a rock chip in his windshield. “Then, why do you say the problem is yours?”

  She pulled a face and quickly looked away, embarrassed to admit, even to herself, that she hadn’t been able to forgive her former fiancé the way the scripture taught.

  Staring out at the passing countryside she said, “Because he’s over it and I’m not.”

  Chapter Five

  The drive back to Serenity ended sooner than Sean wanted it to. Rachel had said very little more after her telling comment about her failed relationship with Craig Slocum, and there was no way Sean could hope to help her cope unless she chose to open up to him. Then again, she hadn’t asked for that kind of help, had she. So why did he feel compelled to give it? Good question. Why, indeed?

  Because I’m a “fixer” at heart, he told himself. Always have been, always will be.

  Though he’d failed to help his own family, that didn’t mean he couldn’t help others, like Rachel—or the children he’d been trained to work with. That way, at least something good would come out of his troubled childhood. Such assurances gave him solace when he was foolish enough to think back on the trauma of having been raised in a household where he was the only one who wasn’t a problem drinker.

  Sean parked in front of the service station garage and started to get out. “I’ll be right back. I just
want to tell Slocum where we’re going and when to expect us back.” He grinned. “Uh, where are we going and when will we be back?”

  “I’m not sure. There won’t be any real restaurants open tonight. I suppose we’ll have to settle for Hickory Station if we want to eat this late. We passed it on the way in. It’s not much to look at but the food’s pretty good.”

  Frowning, Sean glanced at his wristwatch. “What do you mean restaurants won’t be open? It’s not even seven yet.”

  “No, but it is Tuesday.” Rachel had to laugh at his obvious puzzlement. “This place isn’t like Little Rock. Or Cleveland either, I imagine. Folks around here seldom eat out in the evening except on Friday and Saturday nights, so those are the only nights most restaurants stay open past late afternoon.”

  “You’re kidding!”

  “Not at all. Breakfast and lunch are different, of course, because people are out and about then. By evening, everyone is home relaxing and getting chores done. We don’t stay up late in the country.” She smiled broadly, her vivid blue eyes twinkling. “And we don’t waste money eating out unless it’s payday or we’re celebrating the weekend.”

  “A guy could starve to death around here.”

  “Unless he had a local guide like me.” Rachel peered out at where Craig was unloading her flat-footed car. “Tell him we’ll be back in about an hour. There’s no need to be more specific. Nobody ever is.”

  “Kind of puts a whole new spin on the word casual,” Sean said with a lopsided grin. “Okay. Hang loose. I’ll be right back.”

  Rachel watched him jog away from her. He was good-looking all right, but awfully restrained for a knight in shining armor. The poor guy was totally out of his element in a place like Serenity. He was game, though. And he had a decent sense of humor. That would probably carry him through, as long as he didn’t make too many local enemies right off the bat. Country folk were some of the most loving people there were, yet they also remembered every slight, every error in judgment. It didn’t take much to alienate a whole community.

  “Guess it’s up to me to shepherd him until he gets the hang of things,” Rachel murmured to herself. “Humph. Just what I need. Another people project.” The thought made her smile.