by Amelia Adams
“That’s good,” Benjamin replied. Adam took another bite.
After a few more minutes of polite conversation, Benjamin couldn’t take the suspense any longer. “So, Adam? Are you going to put me out of my misery or what?”
“Misery? Are you in misery? Oh, about the young lady.” Adam wiped his mouth. “Tiffani’s right—she’s a really nice girl.”
“Um, yes, I already know that.” Benjamin turned to Tiffani. “Can you help me out here?”
She raised both hands. “Sorry—I’d better not get involved.”
Adam chuckled. “Okay, okay. It is a lot of fun to make you squirm, but I’ll be nice now.” He leaned forward a little as if settling in. “When we got there, she seemed a little nervous, but when she met Tiffani, she was instantly curious about her. So I took myself on a little walk and let the two women chat. When I came back, she was a lot calmer, and she seemed willing to learn more. That’s as deep as I went—you said you didn’t want to take unfair advantage.”
“That’s right. So, she’s opening back up?”
Adam nodded. “I think so. I’d give it another couple of days, though. She seems the type who needs time to process. Maybe let her concentrate on her work until Halloween—she’s awfully busy right now.”
“I can do that.” It would be hard, considering that she was all he could think about, but he’d give her the space she needed.
“And then I’d see about a real date,” Tiffani interjected. “You never really got one, did you? Spend some time getting to know each other as people aside from the whole destiny thing.”
“Yeah, our date got a little interrupted when she jumped out of the truck and walked back home,” Benjamin said. He’d relived that scene over and over again, wondering if there was any way he could have stopped it. Short of duct taping her door closed, every imagined scenario ended the same way. “All right—just so I’m clear, I should leave her completely alone until after Halloween, and then I should ask her out for a regular date, just two people with no weird gifts or psychic fathers.”
“I think that’s a good plan,” Tiffani replied.
“Unless she decides to take matters into her own hands,” Adam said.
“What? What do you mean?” Benjamin asked.
Adam didn’t reply, but just nodded across the picnic area. Melissa stood there with an astonished look on her face as she took in all the boys, ranch hands, and family members. Benjamin couldn’t blame her—it was a pretty overwhelming sight.
“Excuse me,” he said to Adam and Tiffani as he stood up, his heart pounding so hard, it almost hurt.
***
Melissa didn’t know what she expected when she pulled onto the McClain property. She saw a huge picnic area off to the right of the main house, and as she got closer, she saw something like twenty picnic tables, each filled with people. A bonfire roared in the middle of everything, pulling her in just like a moth to a flame. It was the first time she’d ever understood that expression for herself.
She parked and hoped her car was out of the way, then climbed out and walked toward the gathering. She was probably crashing a birthday party or something. She should have called before she came, but she didn’t want to go through that whole mess again.
“Melissa.”
She looked up and saw Benjamin walking toward her. Her heart gave a few extra thumps as he drew nearer, but she thought it was best to ignore them. “Hello. Am I interrupting a party or something?”
“No, just Friday night dinner.”
She motioned around, astonished. “You do this every single Friday night?”
“Yup. The boys do their own cooking during the week, so Mom puts on this spread as kind of a reward for all their hard work. She loves doing it. Says it keeps us united as a family.” He nodded toward the food table. “Come get a plate.”
“I’d rather talk to you, if that’s all right.”
“Of course.” He glanced around, then held out his arm. “Should we go for a little walk? We won’t get much privacy in this group.”
“Yes, please.”
She followed him through the picnic tables and out to the regular yard on the other side, where it was much quieter. “So that’s what thirty boys and their supervisors look like,” she said, shaking her head. “Quite a group.”
“Supervisors and ranch hands and the whole bit. There are about sixty of us out here.”
“Amazing.” She pulled in a few deep breaths as they walked, trying to figure out where to start. She’d been thinking about this moment all day, and now that it was here, she had no idea what she wanted to say. “I’m sorry I didn’t hear you out the other day,” she said at last. “I was impulsive, and I didn’t give you a fair chance.”
“On the contrary. I think you were remarkably patient with me, considering the strange things I was telling you. In your place, I probably would have taken off too.”
“Really? You haven’t been angry with me?”
He turned to face her. “Why would I be angry? No, I was worried that I’d upset you. I’d like to consider you a friend, Melissa, and I hated thinking that I’d ruined that forever.”
That wasn’t at all what she’d been expecting, and it took her breath away for a moment. “I was upset,” she said at last. “I was all kinds of things. But after I calmed down, I started thinking, and I realized that I’ll never be able to move past this until I learn more about it. Do you think . . . would you be willing to tell me more? Help me understand it a little better?”
“Absolutely. I’ll introduce you to my family, you can ask them questions, and I’ll tell you anything and everything I can.” He reached out and touched her hand. “Thank you for being willing to ask.”
Her fingers burned where he’d brushed against them, but it was a very nice sensation. “I couldn’t be less than fair,” she whispered, not knowing why she felt the need to lower her voice. It was a special moment, perhaps. Something that shouldn’t be shouted.
“And I appreciate that,” he replied just as quietly. “So. Are you hungry?”
Now that they’d cleared the air, she was starving, and her stomach growled. “Yes,” she said as they both laughed.
“Good. My mother always cooks enough to feed the entire county, and then she’s disappointed that we don’t eat more. It’s a good thing we work so hard all week or we wouldn’t be able to roll out of bed in the mornings.” He took her hand and guided her back toward the eating area. She liked the way her hand fit inside his, almost like they were sculpted to be together. But that was a silly thought. She was here to meet some people, ask some questions, and eat way too much food—she wasn’t here to speculate about being made for each other.
Benjamin ushered her over to the food line, where she loaded her plate with almost more than she could carry. Then they sat down across from Adam and Tiffani, where his own plate had been.
“I didn’t let any flies land on your food,” Adam told him as they sat.
“Very kind of you,” Benjamin said dryly.
Melissa answered Tiffani’s polite questions while she ate, but it was hard for her to focus on that conversation when there were so many other interesting things going on. The boys were helping to clean up, and they seemed to be doing it pretty good-naturedly, which was a pleasant surprise. She overheard one of the brothers talking to another about a high adventure trip he planned to take, and another was concerned about a sick cow out in the barn. They all seemed like normal people, but she reserved the right to stay a little cautious. One never really could tell.
After she’d eaten as much as she possibly could, Melissa turned to Benjamin. “I wonder if I could meet your father,” she said softly. She just needed to get a feel for the man, decide for herself if he was cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. She didn’t want to have to explain all that to Benjamin, but thankfully, she didn’t have to. He nodded instantly and stood, helping her up with a hand to her elbow. She was glad for that. She and picnic benches had never gotten along well on th
eir best days, and with as full as she was—yeah, it wouldn’t have been pretty.
Benjamin helped her steer through the crowd of people milling about and over toward a table where an older man with a strong jawline and bright blue eyes was sitting, joking with one of the boys. He looked up at their approach, then came to his feet, smiling. Melissa noticed that his eyes were the same shade as Benjamin’s.
“Hello,” he said, reaching out to shake her hand. “I’m Peter McClain. You’re Melissa from next door?”
The ranch houses were separated by several acres of fields, so it was a little odd to think of them as being next door, but it made sense. “Yes, sir. It’s good to meet you.”
“Come up to the house with me for a minute, Melissa. I have something I want to show you.”
The night was growing darker, and Melissa was glad for Benjamin’s strong arm to guide her as they walked across the lawn to the house. Peter opened the door and led the way inside.
“Come into my study,” he invited. Melissa was immediately intrigued by the room and its rich wood paneling and leather chairs. It was everything a proper study should be down to the two walls of bookcases. Peter crossed the room and took a small carved boat from one of the shelves, then handed it to her.
“Does that look familiar?” he asked.
She turned it over in her hands and saw her grandfather’s signature on the bottom. “Yes. My grandfather made this.” She ran her hands over the polished wood. It felt like silk to her touch.
“Yes, he did. He gave it to me a long time ago. I was having a rough time of it—I’d been sick, and the doctors thought it might be cancer. My gift failed me, and I didn’t know if I would live or die. Your grandfather didn’t know all the ins and outs of my situation, but he said he felt like I could use a little cheering. He brought that over and we sat and talked for probably an hour. He was an amazing man.”
“Yes, he really was,” Melissa said. “What was your outcome, Mr. McClain? I mean, obviously, you didn’t die, but . . . just forget I asked.” Her face was bright red, she was sure of it.
Mr. McClain laughed. “In the first place, please, call me Peter. In the second place, never be embarrassed to ask questions. We only keep a few small secrets around here, and we’ve kept even fewer from you.” He settled back in his chair. “The tests all came back negative. It turned out that I just had an ulcer in a strange place that was hard to see in an ultrasound, and when they did exploratory surgery, there it was. I’m perfectly fine now, having learned some valuable lessons and grateful for every extra minute I get.”
Melissa glanced over her shoulder to see that Benjamin had all but melted into the background. She appreciated the chance to talk to Peter in almost privacy, but at the same time, she felt a little more vulnerable that way. “So . . . you mentioned your gift just now.”
“That’s right. I have the gift of foresight.”
“And how does that work? I mean, do you know every single thing that’s going to happen? If I stand up and start singing and dancing, will you tell me you knew I was going to do that?”
He smiled. “No, although it would be rather entertaining and I’d love to see that sometime. Maybe at our next Friday dinner.” He chuckled, then went on. “I get small glimpses of the future when something is very important to me or to my family. It’s a sense, a knowing—it’s hard to explain. But I’ve never been given a glimpse that turned out to be unimportant, even if I didn’t understand the importance at the time.”
Melissa nodded. He seemed to be telling her the truth, so she thought she’d be brave and dive right in with both feet. “And you believe I’ll marry Benjamin?”
Peter McClain leaned forward and met her gaze with a soft, compassionate one of his own. “Yes, I do, and I’m sorry that’s so frightening for you. I promise, I’m no kind of charlatan, and we want nothing from you. We’re just moving forward on this earth with what we’ve been given, doing our best every day, just like everyone else.”
His sincerity burned through her, and she blinked a few times. “When you saw me, what did you see?”
He leaned back and smiled. “You wore a simple white dress and carried a small bouquet of berries and pinecones, and I’ve never seen my son look so happy in his entire life. It was just a glimpse, mind you, but you are definitely the girl I saw, and the joy on my son’s face could have lit up a whole room.”
She liked the sound of that—she liked it a whole lot. But she had to be sure of one thing. “If this doesn’t happen, if I don’t marry him, then what?”
Peter shrugged. “Then you don’t marry him. Nothing bad will happen—except for some hefty disappointment. Lillian’s already making lists of baby names. That’s something she does from time to time—don’t read too much into it.”
“I won’t be putting a curse on the family or anything if I say no?”
“No curses. Everything will be fine.”
She exhaled deeply. “Okay. I feel a lot better about that. Thank you for your candor.”
“Any time. Now, do you have room for dessert?”
Melissa put a hand on her stomach. “I don’t think I have room for anything for at least a few days.”
Peter laughed and stood from his chair. “I understand. Feel free to wander around, tour the ranch, meet everyone—whatever you like.” He nodded and left the room.
Melissa waited until the door closed behind him, then exhaled and turned to Benjamin. “Wow,” she said, shaking her head once. “Your dad’s something else.”
“Isn’t he?” Benjamin plopped down in the chair next to hers. “What do you think?”
“He seems perfectly sane,” she replied. “I’m at least willing to entertain that notion.”
“Good. I think that’s an excellent start.” He grinned at her. “So, what will it be? Tour of the ranch? Gazing at the stars? What do you want to do?”
“How about all of the above, including meeting the brothers I haven’t met yet? Daniel and Ephraim, I believe.”
He raised an eyebrow, looking impressed. “Very good. I’m not sure I could have remembered that.”
“Yeah, but you’re not me.”
“So true.” He hoisted himself out of his chair and gave her a boost, then they left the farmhouse and went back out to the party. Melissa cast one more look over her shoulder at the little boat, which she’d left on the edge of the desk. What a sweet memory of her grandfather.
Chapter Ten
One of the brothers—easy to recognize because of their similar looks and bright blue eyes—smiled when Benjamin walked up, his fingers interlaced with Melissa’s. “Hi there,” he said, giving her a nod. “You’re Melissa?”
“I am,” she replied.
“I’m Daniel. I’m not the oldest or the youngest, but I’m by far the best looking,” he said with a grin.
“Oh, I can definitely see that,” she replied, although she’d have to disagree—Benjamin had all the others beat, hands down.
“And this is Ephraim,” Benjamin said, leading her to the next brother.
“Oh, you must be the country bumpkin,” Ephraim said, extending his hand to shake. “How’s the frost on your pumpkins?”
“Excuse me?” Melissa was startled.
“I should have warned you about him,” Benjamin said, giving his brother a glare. “He’s always making up nicknames for people. Tiffani’s the fundster, if that helps anything.”
“The fundster?”
“Yeah, because she’s our new fundraising coordinator. Trust me—it makes sense in his own head.” Benjamin nodded to the group at large. “Is there anyone else you’d like to meet?”
“I think I’d really like a tour of the ranch, if you don’t mind.”
“Of course not.”
As they strolled around, Melissa listened to Benjamin’s mellow voice explain how the ranch came to be and about Penny, their ancestor whose heart was so big, she couldn’t turn anyone in need away.
“That’s just as much our legacy a
s the gifts,” Benjamin concluded as they finished their tour.
“I can see that,” Melissa replied. She was pretty blown away—everything on the ranch was so well organized and carefully laid out, she imagined it ran more smoothly than most corporations. “I have to admit, I’m impressed. And I’d also like to apologize again. I jumped to conclusions, and I shouldn’t have.”
He reached out and took her hand again. “There’s no need to apologize. In fact, I have a suggestion. Let’s start over fresh. I never said anything outrageous to you, you never jumped out of my truck, and we’re just a guy and a girl who are going to go on a date somewhere totally normal and see if we like each other.”
“I think that’s a great idea,” she replied, giving his hand a small squeeze.
“Actually, it’s not mine. Tiffani suggested it.”
“Well then, Tiffani is one wise lady.”
“I agree.” He grinned. “So, how about tomorrow for our date?”
“Tomorrow’s the last Saturday before Halloween, so things might get a little hairy at the patch,” she replied. “What if you came and helped out for a while, and then we took off at six?”
“Sounds perfect.”
“Yes!” She pumped her fist. “Free labor!”
He laughed. “Let me walk you to your car. We’re both going to need some rest if we’re facing last-minute pumpkin shoppers tomorrow.”
As they crossed the parking area toward her car, Benjamin cleared his throat. “So, in the spirit of starting over and absolute transparency, there’s something I need to tell you.”
“Um, should I start running again?” She was teasing, but there was a drop of fear in her stomach. She couldn’t explain why it was there—was she looking for any way out of this unusual situation?
Benjamin leaned against her car and hooked his thumbs through his belt loops. “So, you know how I fixed your pumpkin patch?” He looked sheepish, and she didn’t know if that was adorable or if it should worry her even more.
“Yes?”
“What if I told you I’m sort of the reason it was broken in the first place?”
