ARKANSAS WEDDINGS: THREE-IN-ONE COLLECTION

by Shannon Taylor Vannatter

  “Yes, dear.”

  “Thanks for telling us the truth.”

  Mother blinked away more tears.

  “And, Father, thanks for keeping your promise.”

  He gave a sharp nod. But Laken knew as soon as they left, he’d be in the liquor cabinet.

  Laken sat at the kitchen table, cupping her hands around her ceramic coffee mug. The plain wall clock ticked the slow passage of time. Collin hadn’t said a word since they’d left Mother and Father. She didn’t know what to say to him.

  Her cell phone played “Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours.” Hayden. Her heart warmed, along with her face. So that’s what he’d been doing the day he borrowed her phone on his lunch break. She didn’t look at Collin, knowing he’d make fun of the song. “Hello.”

  “Hey. You okay?”

  “Yeah.” She stepped down the hall and lowered her voice, uncomfortable with Collin listening. “It wasn’t bad, just sort of weird. I’ll tell you all about it as soon as I get a chance.”

  “My offer’s still good for dinner tomorrow night.”

  “I’d love to.” If only Hayden could come over for coffee and comfort. She could go to his house, but Brady would be there and she didn’t want to leave Collin alone. “But I need to hang out with Collin and he’ll be in Little Rock again next week, so he’s not leaving until Tuesday. I’ll see you at church and at work next week.”

  “Is that all?” Disappointment resonated in his voice. “Couldn’t we at least have lunch after church? I need something to look forward to here.”

  “I’m eating at Adrea and Grayson’s to discuss baptism. Besides, we’re still waiting on permanent placement, and I think I need to spend time with Mother over the next few days.”

  “She’s not sick, is she?”

  “No, but she’s having some problems. I really can’t talk right now, but surely things will ease up soon. I have to go.” She hung up and went back to the kitchen.

  “Sorry to put a kink in your love life.” Collin paced. “Don’t feel like you have to stick close to the house on my account. I think I’ll go to Little Rock tonight.”

  “No, you won’t. Hayden can wait.” She hated to put him off, but for now she had to concentrate on her semblance of a family.

  She plopped into a chair at the table. “My opinion of Mother changed today.”

  “Who’d have thunk it? An unwed pregnant teen certainly doesn’t fit the image she’s so carefully constructed.”

  “Not that. I mean—do you realize if Mother had agreed to abort our brother, she could have lived in a mansion all these years with servants to wait on her hand and foot? Instead, she lived a middle-class lifestyle with one housekeeper and a yard man.”

  “Yes, but she still enabled Father’s lifestyle. After his drinking got him fired from Grandfather’s company, her stock provided the funds for him to never lift a finger and enough alcohol to drown all his sorrows.”

  “Ease up on her. You have to admit, she’s had it pretty rough. I mean—emotionally.”

  His shoulders slumped, and he settled in the chair across from her.

  “You okay?” She touched his hand. “What is it?”

  “I just feel…Ugh, I hate talking about feelings.”

  Laken grinned. “I won’t tell anyone. What’s going on?”

  “All those years, Father took his frustrations out on me. I wasn’t the son he wanted. I was never good enough because he wanted the one that got away. While I was dying to get away.”

  “Well, this new brother may have the same blood as we do, but nothing can sever our bond of being raised and neglected together.” She gave him a halfhearted smile. Despite their differences on Brady’s future, they were siblings in the truest sense. They’d shared a lifetime of struggles, triumphs, and disappointments. Mostly disappointments.

  “My opinion of Martin changed tonight.” Collin’s voice cracked. “He’s more of a man than I’ve ever been.”

  Laken frowned. “All he does is drink.”

  “Which I don’t condone, but he was so devastated by the loss of his son, he grabbed the only escape route he could find. I was too big of a coward to marry the woman I loved, so I broke her heart and abandoned my child.”

  Laken squeezed his hand. “Once you learned about him, you came back for him. That counts for something.”

  Collin raised a cocky eyebrow. “Are you beginning to see that Brady belongs with me?”

  “I didn’t say that.” She shook her head. “I agree that you should have a place in your son’s life. A close place, but uprooting Brady would be a mistake.”

  “I don’t feel at home here anymore. My home is in California.”

  “What do you have there, Collin? Here, you have a son.” She ticked off the list on her fingers. “Me, along with parents taking tentative steps to make things right, and a close-knit, family-oriented community. What more could you ask for? You could even live here and commute to Little Rock or Searcy. Either way, it’s only a forty-five-minute drive.”

  Collin stared out the kitchen window as the icemaker clattered cubes into the bin. Shaking his head, he muttered, “The cost of moving wouldn’t be feasible. I couldn’t make near the money here.”

  “But the cost of living here is less and money isn’t everything, Collin. Even if it was, you’re two years away from your trust fund. And think of what moving to California would cost Brady. He’s just a child.”

  He checked his watch and stood. “I have to make an important call.” Laken’s shoulders slumped. Lord, help me make him see.

  As Laken’s car turned into her drive, Hayden’s insides melted. Two weeks ago, he’d kissed her, but he’d barely seen her since, except at work, where they couldn’t talk, much less touch.

  He jumped up from his seat on her porch steps and hurried to open her door. “Hey.”

  Swollen, red eyes tore at his soul.

  Gathering her in his arms, he kissed the top of her head. “Is Collin gone?”

  “I just saw him off. What are you doing here?”

  “You’ve barely said two words at work, and I couldn’t seem to get near you. I was hoping you missed me and you might need me.”

  “I’m sorry I neglected you, but I felt like my family needed me. Trying to keep my distance from you is torment.” Her voice wobbled. “I do need you.”

  “Good, I was worried you might listen to that pretty little head instead of your heart.”

  She looked up at him with tears brimming. “I have another brother.”

  “Another brother?”

  “My mother, the paragon of virtue, got pregnant before she and Father married.” She pulled away from him and turned toward the house. “Can you believe it? All these years, she’s broadcasted everyone’s secrets while she sat on a doozy of her own.”

  Hayden took the keys from her shaky fingers and unlocked the door. “You need coffee.”

  “My grandparents put him up for adoption, but he knows who his birth parents are.”

  In the tidy living room, Hayden pulled her into his arms. “Maybe he’ll show up, then.”

  “He’s known for a month.” She snuggled close, muscles tensed. “Maybe he doesn’t want to find us, but how will we ever find him? There’s nothing to go on.”

  “Was your father there?”

  “He didn’t drink a drop, but he smelled like a distillery.” She pulled away from him and paced the small kitchen. “His drinking stemmed from losing his son.”

  Hayden swallowed hard. “I can see how something like that could drive a man to drink.”

  “Mother hired a private detective.” Laken wrapped her arms around herself. “But if we can’t get into the adoption records, I doubt he can. We’ll probably have to go to court to get them opened, and we still may not be able to do it.”

  “I’ll be there, right by your side, whatever comes our way.”

  She stopped pacing. “I know, and I can’t tell you how much that means to me.” She traced her fingertips
across his cheek, sending tremors through him. “How’s Brady?”

  “I think he was bored with Collin.” He grinned. “It made the selfish part of me happy.”

  “Collin just has to see that Brady is better off here.” Doubt reflected in her gaze. “I’ve been praying for him to see that.”

  If she doubted, how could he keep hoping? He had to prepare himself for losing Brady. And prepare Brady.

  “I’m glad you’re a praying woman. Really glad.” Hayden curved his arms around her waist and brushed a light kiss across her lips. “Brady asked Collin to come to church next weekend since you’re getting baptized.”

  “I hope he won’t be too disappointed when Collin doesn’t show up.”

  “Actually, he agreed.”

  Laken leaned into him, pressing her cheek against his revving heart. “Maybe Collin will hear something to turn him around. I wonder if I could get Father to come.”

  He kissed the top of her head. “You can always ask.”

  “Thanks for being here. I did need you.”

  Symphonic harmony to his ears. He buried his nose in her coconutscented hair. “There’s no place I’d rather be.”

  According to the thermometer outside Laken’s kitchen window, September hadn’t figured out that summer was over. Still in the lower nineties.

  “Hello?” Father slurred a greeting over the phone.

  Laken drummed her fingers on the kitchen counter, determination wavering. She sucked in a deep breath. “I wanted to invite you to church with us tomorrow.”

  “Absolutely not.”

  “Collin’s coming and Brady will be there. You haven’t even met him.” She sighed. “Father, I’d like to repair things. Wouldn’t you like to have a real family?”

  Silent seconds ticked by.

  “What’s that got to do with church?”

  Everything. “Don’t you ever miss it, Father? You had some good friends at our old church. This one is smaller and everyone is so close. Grayson Sterling is the preacher, so you’d know someone there.”

  “As I recall, some of my really good church buddies escorted me out of Graham Sterling’s church.”

  If he hadn’t shown up drunk, they wouldn’t have had to. “Maybe getting back in church would help with—your problem.”

  “I don’t have a problem.”

  The connection went dead.

  Laken jabbed the END button and closed her eyes, pressing the cool flip phone to her pounding forehead. I’m getting baptized and I wanted you to be there.

  Laken tucked a still-damp tendril behind her ear as the altar call began. She’d read over every baptism in the Bible and asked Grayson countless questions. Though she hadn’t really expected it, it would have been nice to see a white dove like Jesus had.

  Collin’s feet jittered as the altar call lengthened. Mother sat on Laken’s other side with Hayden and Brady nearby. If only Father had come. Maybe she should have had Brady call and ask.

  Lord, please touch Collin. With Your love, melt the harsh, bitter wall of cynicism he’s built around himself.

  The pleading song ended, and Mark gave the closing prayer. It was over. Collin hadn’t made a move. Would she ever get him back in church?

  “Collin, I know your flight leaves soon.” Mother’s voice quivered. “But I was hoping you and Laken could bring Brady by for lunch at the house.”

  “I’m headed to the airport as soon as I say good-bye to Brady.” Collin checked his watch.

  “Laken?” Mother’s perfectly plucked eyebrows rose.

  “Is Father…?”

  Mother nodded.

  “How about the Rambler Café?” Knight Hayden rode to the rescue. “Brady and I were going with my folks. Why don’t y’all join us?”

  “That sounds nice.” Mother’s smile was genuine. “Really nice.”

  “Can’t you come?” Brady’s tone pleaded with his father.

  Collin checked his watch again and ruffled Brady’s hair. “I guess I can swing it.”

  Laken stole a glance at Hayden. Devastation mirrored in his vivid eyes. Losing Brady just might break him.

  The chill in the air had nothing to do with the official launch of autumn. Laken sank into her desk chair, certain her legs could no longer support her. She swallowed hard. “Yes, I understand. Thank you.”

  She hung up. The transfer had come through. She and Hayden would no longer work side by side or see one another each day.

  “What was that?” Carol asked.

  Laken swiveled her chair.

  Backs to their sorters, Carol and Hayden faced her.

  “Hayden is getting promoted to postmaster.”

  “Woo-hoo!” Carol clapped.

  A worried frown winged Hayden’s eyebrows. “Where?”

  “Here. You’re the new postmaster at this office.”

  Carol gasped and punched Hayden in the shoulder. “You’ve gone and gotten Laken fired.”

  Chapter 10

  Laken’s heart hammered against her ribs. “Hayden didn’t get me fired. I—” Hayden ran a hand through his hair. “The last thing I wanted was to jeopardize Laken’s career.”

  “Will y’all chill? They didn’t fire me. A permanent position opened up. In Rose Bud.”

  “That’s perfect.” Carol clapped again. “I was so afraid you’d end up in Timbuktu.”

  Me, too. Relief numbed Laken. Surely, it was too good to be true.

  “Only seven miles away.” Carol pointed upward. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say Somebody wants y’all together.”

  Hayden’s frown eased a bit. “Is it a demotion?”

  “I’ll be postmaster relief for a while.”

  His shoulders slumped.

  “It was either that or postmaster at Stuttgart, which is more like a hundred miles away.” Laken wanted to massage the tense muscles along the side of his neck, but a customer could pop in any time. “And it’s okay. Sam’s decided to retire at the end of the year. I have a guaranteed promotion then.”

  “I’ll miss you.” His groan spoke volumes.

  “My cue to leave.” Carol picked up her bag while balancing two trays on her hip. “You have my permission to play kissy-face while I load my car and stand guard.”

  “Carol! Why would you think such a thing?” How did she know?

  “I have eyes.”

  “We’re both way too upstanding to play kissy-face in the office—even though I’d like to.” Hayden grinned, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

  “I’m out of here.” The door closed behind Carol.

  “I also learned you were the postmaster in North Little Rock, took a demotion to be here, and put in for postmaster before I came. Why didn’t you tell me I beat you out of a promotion?”

  “It wasn’t important. Moving Brady was my priority.”

  “You could have held it against me.”

  “Instead, I fell in love with you.” He winked.

  Breathless, she whispered, “I’m glad.”

  “When do you go to Rose Bud?”

  “Monday. They’re sending a new carrier from El Paso.”

  “This will be okay.” He sounded unsure, as if he were trying to convince himself. “It’s not that far and we’ll still see each other in the evenings.” His head dipped down. “We might have to make some changes soon. I want more than just your evenings.”

  Giddy laughter bubbled within her.

  The outer door opened and Hayden took a step backward, even though they weren’t even touching. Laken reclaimed her chair and turned it away from him. By the time the customer came through the lobby, Hayden stood convincingly at his sorter.

  Yes, it was a very good thing they wouldn’t be working together much longer.

  For the first time in months, when Laken got in her car after work, the interior didn’t feel as if it could boil eggs.

  Her first day in Rose Bud had stretched long and uneventfully without the anticipation of seeing Hayden twice a day. The four carriers, all older men with cons
tant grandkid news, didn’t have much in common with Laken. She missed the easy camaraderie with Carol.

  And she really missed Hayden.

  As she neared her driveway, his pickup was already there.

  With Hayden seated on the tailgate.

  Smiling, she turned in and parked.

  He jogged over and opened her door.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Welcoming you home. I almost came all the way to Rose Bud.” He drew her out of the car, scooped her up, and twirled her around. “We don’t work together anymore and don’t have a thing to hide. I want the world to know I’m crazy about Laken Kroft.”

  Dizzy-headed when he set her down, Laken clung to his arm and giggled. “What’s got you in such a good mood?”

  “Let’s see, I’ve got a beautiful woman in my life, I got a promotion, and Brady said Collin’s checking into getting a job in Little Rock.”

  Her pulse jolted. Laken lunged into his arms. “That’s wonderful.”

  “You know, you never did properly congratulate me on my promotion.”

  “Hmm, I happen to have a pork roast I could pop in the oven and some nice potatoes for baking. It could be done in about an hour and a half.”

  “Sounds great, but you just got off work. We could go out.”

  “I love to cook.” She sidestepped him.

  He snagged her wrist, his gaze centering on her mouth. “That’s not exactly the type of celebration I had in mind.”

  She stood on tiptoe and pressed a tentative kiss on his lips.

  “I love you, Laken.”

  Her vision clouded. “And I love you.” She rained kisses over his mouth.

  Hayden pulled her closer, clearly with nothing tentative in mind. Moments later, they were both breathless when he came up for air. “We need to concentrate on dinner now. Jobs, life, anything but kissing.”

  Suppressing a bubbly giggle, she linked her fingers with his as they strolled toward the house. “So, what’s the new carrier like?”

  “Young, blond, and very pretty.”