He gathered a handful of dead grass and tossed the blades one at a time.
“There would be something wrong with us if we didn’t grieve over what we care about. But remember this one good thing—God allowed us to love them and give them a nice home in their last days. They hadn’t had that before.”
“Yeah. That’s true.” He tossed the remaining grass and wiped a hand down his jeans’ leg. “I guess God is okay.”
Mia draped an arm across Mitch’s shoulders. “God is the best friend you could ever have, Mitchell.”
“Is Collin a Christian?”
Something sharp pinched at her heart. “You’ll have to ask him about that.”
She wanted to believe that Collin would eventually accept Christ. Especially now. And not just because of Mitch’s adoration, though that certainly loomed large. Mitch admired her Christian dad and brothers, too, but he shared a bond with Collin.
“You miss him, don’t you?”
“Yeah.”
“He misses you, too.”
Mitch looked at her, hope as rich as the coffee-colored eyes. “You think?”
“I know. He told me on the phone last night.” A phone call she’d instigated. Since the fire, he’d drawn back somewhat, as though he couldn’t deal with all the emotions that had come pouring out that night. She was still puzzled and exhilarated by that unexpected kiss. Puzzled even more at how he had seemed to develop amnesia afterwards.
“He needs your help out there to get things going again. Let’s call him later, huh?”
She would keep on calling until he opened up again.
“I guess so.”
“Hey, Mitchell,” Mia’s dad called. “Are you going to sit around on the porch and suntan or are we going to that turkey shoot?”
“I’m ready.” Mitchell leaped up, then caught himself and looked back at Mia. “Okay, Mia?”
After the fire she’d become Mia instead of Miss Carano. That kind of familiarity had never happened before with one of her clients, and she prayed she wouldn’t lose perspective. Somehow Mitchell had wound his scruffy self around her heart and that of her family.
“Have fun.”
Mitch was gone in a flash.
“You can depend on Dad to interrupt an important conversation,” Rosalie murmured, coming to join Mia in Mitch’s now-abandoned spot.
“Mitch needs the distraction. He’s been pretty down since the fire.”
“So have you. Maybe not down so much as too quiet. Want to talk about it?”
“I have a lot on my mind, Mama. That’s all. Work, Mitch.” She shrugged.
“Collin,” Mama concluded.
“Yes. Him, too.” She picked at a thread on her knit jacket. “He kissed me the night of the fire.”
“Who could blame him? You’re beautiful.”
Mia laughed. “Oh, Mama, no wonder I love you so.”
“You like him?”
“Maybe more than I should. I don’t date guys who aren’t Christians, Mom. You know that. You taught me that.”
“But you’re falling for him anyway.”
Mia stared morosely at the crystal lights Adam and Nic were tacking in place along the board fence. The brothers argued happily as they worked, the sound of frequent laughs punctuating the air. Two big ol’ macho men with marshmallow hearts. How she loved them.
No wonder Collin Grace appealed to her. For all his outward toughness, he was a softie on the inside just like her brothers.
Two nights ago, he’d lost his hard facade, both with her and then later when he’d found the first of several dead animals. Happy, the little survivor, had saved himself. Mitchell had freed Panda and her remaining kittens, and the large animals were safe in outside pens. But one litter of new kittens and an old sickly dog and her pup hadn’t made it out alive. Mia couldn’t forget the look on Collin’s face: stricken, haunted, guilty.
He’d looked the same in those seconds before he had kissed her. She couldn’t get that look or that kiss off her mind.
A kiss shouldn’t be such a big deal. She wasn’t a teenager. But she had already been fighting her growing emotions and when he’d looked at her, fear and firelight in his eyes, and wrapped her in a hard, protective hug, she’d faced the hard truth. Christian or not, she had strong feelings for Collin Grace. And even if he never admitted it, Collin felt something for her, too. Maybe that’s why he was running scared. Collin didn’t like to feel.
The wind blew a lock of hair across her face. She pushed the curl behind one ear.
“At first, I thought I was helping Collin. You know, doing the Christian thing, being a witness, going the extra mile, trying to draw him out to a place where he can heal. Collin’s a good man, Mama. But he’s had so much heartache that he’s afraid to trust anybody. Even God.”
Mama took Mia’s chilled hands in her warm ones. “Then our job is to show him that he can. That God is trustworthy. And so are we. Dad’s trying to do that at the bakery.”
“I know. After the fire I gave him a book to read, the one about finding your purpose through Christ. We talked about the Lord a little then, but I felt so inadequate in the face of what had happened. I’m not sure I said the right things. I wanted him to know that God cared about him and his animals and his losses.”
She yearned to tell Mama about Collin’s lost brothers and lean on her wisdom. But she’d promised confidentiality even though telling her mother would help both of them. Rosalie was a prayer warrior who never stopped praying for something until the answer came. Mia wasn’t having much success on her own, but God knew where Ian and Drew were.
“How is he handling the fire?”
“The usual way—by pretending he isn’t bothered.” The fact that he’d retreated into his shell again told her the tough cop with the marshmallow center was mourning the animals and the uninsured barn.
If only she could find some trace of his brothers to cheer him. Some bit of good news. She gripped her mother’s hands tighter, giving them a quick bounce.
“Mama. I need you to help me pray about something.”
Rosalie’s eyes lit up. “Of course. What is it?”
“Well, that’s the trouble. I need you to pray. But I can’t tell you why.”
Her mama looked at her for one beat of time, then smiled a mother’s knowing smile. And Mia felt better than she’d felt since the night of the barn fire.
* * *
“Thank you, Lord,” Mia said as she hung up the telephone. After going through dozens of boxes and hundreds of old records, she’d hit pay dirt two days after the conversation with her mama.
This time, she’d tempered her excitement long enough to make some phone calls and verify that a foster mother named Maxine Fielding not only still lived in Oklahoma City, but also remembered caring for a rowdy eleven-year-old named Drew Grace.
She glanced at the clock. Another two hours before she could head for Collin’s place with her news. She thought about calling his cell, but found that unsatisfactory. She wanted to see his face, to watch him smile again. The past week had been a rough one.
A desk laden with paperwork needed her attention anyway, so she went to work there, weeding through files, making calls, setting up appointments. She phoned Mitchell’s school to check on his attendance and discipline referrals and to inquire about any further indication of abuse.
Even with the barn fire setback, the boy had held his ground. And after the turkey shoot last Saturday, he’d let her take him out to Collin’s where the three of them had spent hours putting together makeshift pens for the remaining animals.
The problems with the stepfather were accumulating though, and all her praying hadn’t changed that one bit. The man had been furious when she’d interviewed him about Mitch’s black eye, and Mitch hadn’t helped by claiming he’d gotten into a fight at school. She wanted to get Mitch out of that house, though she couldn’t without substantiated evidence. But now, both she and Collin were watching. Collin had even alerted the drug unit to be a
ware of possible illegal activities, though nothing had surfaced yet.
At ten after five she rotated her head from side to side, stretching tired muscles. Time to go. She tossed three Snickers wrappers into the trash and then dialed Collin’s cell number.
“Grace.”
She smiled at the short bark he substituted for a simple hello. And she couldn’t deny that her heart jumped at the sound of that strong, masculine voice.
“Your name always makes me think of a song.”
“Oh. Hi, Mia,” he said. “I didn’t recognize the number.”
“My office.”
“How does my name remind you of a song?”
She’d known he wouldn’t let that one pass. With a smile in her voice, she said, “‘Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.’ It’s a song about God’s incredible love for us.”
“The guys call me Amazing Grace sometimes. I never quite got that.”
“Do you know what grace actually means?”
“I’m sure you’re going to tell me.” She heard the humor behind the gentle jab.
“Unmerited favor. God chooses to love and accept us, not because of what we do or don’t do, but all because of His amazing grace.”
A moment of silence hummed through the line. Though she hadn’t planned to talk about her faith just now, she wanted Collin to understand how much Jesus loved him. She prayed that the truth of amazing grace would soak into his spirit and draw him to the Lord. She also hoped she hadn’t just turned him ice-cold to the whole idea.
Finally, his voice soft, Collin said, “I’ll never let the guys call me that again.”
“Oh, Collin.” He’d understood.
“So what’s up?” he asked, sidestepping the emotion they both heard in her voice.
“I’m about to leave the office. Are you home?”
“Not yet. Why?”
“I want to talk to you in person.”
“News?”
“Maybe.” She didn’t want to get his hopes up again and have them shattered.
“I’m off duty. Meet me at Braums on Penn. I’ll buy you a grilled chicken salad.”
“Throw in a hot chocolate and you’ve got yourself a date.”
A soft masculine laugh flowed through the wires and straight into her heart. The memory of their kiss flared to life, unspoken but most definitely not forgotten. Oh, dear.
Mia bit down on the inside of her lip. Why couldn’t she ever keep her big mouth shut?
* * *
Maxine Fielding had a great memory. The silver-haired woman regaled Collin with the good, the bad and the ugly about his brother’s behavior. And the pleasure in Collin’s face served as a reward for the lunch hours Mia had spent in the spooky, smelly basement of the municipal building.
“You don’t by any chance have some pictures from that time, do you?” she asked the older woman. “Anything that could lead us to some of the boys who might have known Drew?”
“Sorry, hon,” Maxine said, her fleshy face sorrowful. “I used to have a lot of pictures of my kids. That’s what I always called them. Every one of them that came through here was mine for a while.” She gestured with one hand. The knuckles were twisted with arthritis. “Anyways, while I was in the hospital a while back, my daughters decided to clean my house. Threw out all my mementos.” She shook her head. “I’m still peeved about that.”
Mia wished she hadn’t asked, though Collin, sitting on an old velvet couch with his elbows on his knees, showed no emotion. His uniform was still neat after a day’s work. And even with a five-o’clock shadow on his normally clean-shaven face, he looked good. A woman could get distracted with him around.
In fact, she was distracted. She let Collin do most of the talking, a strange turn of events. She was falling for him, all right, and didn’t quite know what to do about it.
In the end, the foster mother recalled two other families that had cared for troubled boys during the same time period as well as a couple of group homes no longer in operation. That information alone gave Mia more names to plug into the computer, some specific files to dig through, and more chances to come up with something solid.
“So what do you think?” she asked when she and Collin were back inside his truck. He cranked the engine and pushed the heat lever to high. As night had fallen, so had the temperatures, and now a light rain spat at the windshield.
“Nice lady. I’m glad Drew was here for a while.”
She could hear the unspoken wish that he’d been here, too. “Doesn’t that give you hope that your brothers did okay in the system? That maybe they even found a family?”
“Wanna look into those locked files and find out?” A ghost of a smile reflected in the dashboard lights.
“No.”
“I knew you’d say that.” But his reply held humor instead of animosity, and she hoped he finally understood. There were some things she wouldn’t do, even for him.
“Mrs. Fielding liked Drew.”
“I’ve worried about him for so long, thought the worst.” He shifted into Reverse and backed the truck onto the street. “Hearing that someone cared about him, even temporarily, felt good.”
She was glad. More than glad, she was thankful. Collin had needed this news. He’d needed to leave the tragedy of the barn fire behind for a while. He’d needed to believe something positive had happened to his brothers. As he’d talked with Mrs. Fielding, he’d smiled, even laughed at her fond memories.
Collin’s love for his lost brothers was fierce and steadfast, a powerful testament to the way he might someday love a woman. Mia refused to dwell on the lovely thought.
“We’re going to find them, Collin.”
He reached across the seat and touched her hand. “After tonight, I’m starting to believe you.”
* * *
Three days before Thanksgiving the weather turned sunny and mild. Collin felt pretty sunny himself as he left the gym with his partner, Maurice, along with Adam Carano. The other two men argued amiably over which sit-ups worked best, straight knee or bent.
Adam had first come to the gym to discuss the lawsuit, but now he’d become a permanent member along with the two cops. Collin liked the guy. And he also admired the way Adam was handling the lawsuit. When he took on a case, he was a real bulldog. Like his sister.
Collin’s smile widened. Thinking about Mia did that to him lately.
“What are you grinning about, Grace?” Adam slapped him on the back. Collin’s sweat-damp sweatshirt stuck to his shoulder.
“You talk as much as your sister.”
“That’s a terrible thing to say to your lawyer.”
“When are you going to quit torturing me and get that problem solved?”
“I’m getting close. Did you know your neighbor has a real problem with cops? Especially you?”
Collin sawed a towel back and forth behind his neck. “Tell me something I don’t already know.”
“Okay, I will.” Adam looked pleased with himself. “You remember busting a kid named Joey Stapleton a few years back for breaking and entering?”
“No, but the fire inspector suspects my barn was arson. Not B and E.” His good mood evaporated at the memory of the animals Mia, Mitch and he had buried beneath the harvest moon.
Adam held up a hand. “Collin, my man. Lesson one about attorney-client privileges. Never interrupt your lawyer when he’s on a roll. You disappoint me. You didn’t even ask how Stapleton was connected.”
“Okay, I’ll bite. Who is he?”
“First of all, Stapleton didn’t burn down your barn. He’s still serving time. However, his half-brother, who mortgaged his land to defend Stapleton, lives down the road from you. His name is Cecil Slokum.”
Now that was interesting. But there were plenty of do-wrongs out there with a grudge against him. “You think Slokum could be responsible?” Collin asked.
“Maybe. If Slokum can force you to pay damages for his daughter’s ewe and destroy your barn at the s
ame time, he not only gets revenge, he gets back some of the money he spent on his so-called innocent brother.”
Collin had entertained the thought before, but a man didn’t accuse his neighbor of arson without some kind of evidence. He’d also suspected Mitch of the fire and had lived to regret that mistake. Though his young friend was hanging around the farm once more, Collin could feel a hesitancy in the relationship, as though Mitch feared Collin would turn on him again.
“You got evidence?”
“Circumstantial, but enough to strongly suspect.”
Collin’s jaw tightened. Though he wanted to grab Cecil Slokum by the neck and shake the truth out of him, he wouldn’t. He wasn’t that kind of cop.
“Where do we go from here? Anything we can bust him on?”
“I’ve turned my findings over to the fire marshal and the DA. If I’m right—” Adam’s grin was cocky “—and I usually am, an arrest could come at any time.”
“I appreciate it.” Although sincere, Collin heard the gruffness in the thanks. He wasn’t a lawyer and couldn’t do the job Adam could, but he didn’t like needing anyone’s help either. More and more lately, Adam and Mia and the whole Carano clan made him feel needy. Inside and out. It kept him off balance, edgy, vulnerable.
“I can’t believe I didn’t figure out Cecil’s grudge myself.” In fact, he was annoyed that he hadn’t dug deeper when the suspicion first sprouted. But work and Mitchell and rebuilding, not to mention Mia and his search, had kept him too busy to think straight.
“That’s what friends are for, Collin. To lighten the load.”
The words unmerited favor flitted through his mind. Was that what Mia meant? He’d thought a lot about that conversation, and the idea that anyone would do something for him without expecting anything in return never would jibe.
“How much do I owe you?” he asked.
Adam looked at him, an odd smile on his face. “My sister would hurt me if I took your money.”
A cord of tension wound around inside him. Cool from drying sweat and November air, he shrugged into his hoodie. “I pay my debts.”
“There are some debts you can’t pay, Collin. The sooner you learn that the better off you’ll be. The better off my sister will be, too.”
A Child's Christmas Boxed Set: Sugarplum HomecomingThe Christmas ChildA Season For Grace Page 49
