Cade kicked at a clump of snow. “Ever since I got engaged, Dad has been really ticked off at me. Jack says I should try harder to reconcile with him before the wedding so there aren’t hard feelings. He says I’ll always regret it if Dad won’t come to the ceremony.”
“Jack is a wise man.”
“Maybe he’s got the right idea, but he ought to know better. My dad is stubborn as an ole mule and twice as cranky.” Cade looked over his shoulder and lowered his voice even though no one else was around. “You want to know what he and Pauley were talking about when I went over to try one more time?”
“Would I be right in guessing it wasn’t about the turkey?”
Cade slashed the air with the side of his hand. “They were talking about how coming to Jasmine’s dinner was just a chance for a little reconnaissance. Like it was an army mission or something to come here and spy on the enemy.”
“Maybe they were joking?”
“You didn’t hear them. Jasmine put on this dinner out of the goodness of her heart, and all they can think of is finding ways to tear down everything good that she’s tried to do.” He clenched his jaw. “It makes me so angry. Pauley even said something about me not having a clue about the true depth of what’s going on—as if they’re all cooking up something really bad.”
“Maybe that’s all hot air. This dinner is a wonderful start, even if change can’t happen overnight. I’ll bet this day will help spur gradual changes that will make a great difference down the road.”
“I hope so.” Cade shivered and rubbed his arms.
“I know so.”
“I came out here to cool off, and I guess I’m now just about frozen,” he said ruefully. “I guess we oughta get back inside. Thanks, Mei.”
Most of the crowd had gone back for seconds and thirds when one more lone, slender figure appeared at the door. Mom?
Mei set aside her pot holders and flew to the front door. “You came!”
“I had to, dear. It seems everyone else in town is right here, and there was no point in roasting a turkey at home. Will you sit with me?”
Mei hugged her, then led the way to the serving line. “I haven’t eaten yet, so I would love that.”
They found empty places at a front table vacated by a pair of guests who’d had to get back to their ranch.
“You ended up with quite a crowd.” Lisette slowly scanned the tables, her mouth forming a moue of distaste when her gaze skimmed past the Samuel Clayton family. “I’m surprised they came.”
“I’m glad they did. It’s time we all erased the bitterness and tried to start anew. I think Jasmine’s dinner has been a great start, don’t you?”
Lisette cut a small bite of turkey. “Maybe. But it’s far more than mere pettiness that caused all the trouble in the past. And you’d do well to remember it.”
“You know, we all make out Samuel’s clan as the bad guys, but it didn’t start out that way. If George Sr. hadn’t cheated Samuel out of his fair share of the family’s money and land, maybe they would have gotten along as loving brothers, not enemies.”
“You hardly need to tell me that, dear.” Lisette sniffed.
“I mean, I don’t condone any wrong that might have been done, but I can understand why there’s been some deep resentment against us over the years.”
“I’d rather not discuss it.” Lisette glanced around the room. “I don’t see that friend of yours here.”
Something in her tone—a hint of smugness—made Mei flinch. “He’s not.”
“Well, that’s a relief. I think Jack was a bit of a social climber, don’t you? Perhaps he learned his place.”
Embarrassment rushed through Mei as she studied her mother’s placid, satisfied expression. “What did you do, Mom? Did you say something to him?”
The almost imperceptible shrug of her shoulder said it all.
“Oh, Mom.” After their long discussion over the weekend, Mei had imagined that she and her mother had reached a deeper level of understanding. But nothing had changed after all. “Why did you have to do something like that?”
“It was for your own good.”
Mei bit back a cry of disbelief. “If you think he’s not good enough, you couldn’t be more wrong.”
“You have no idea how wrong you are, Mei.” Lisette leaned forward. “We had to do it once before, you know. Your dad and I, back when you were in high school. Your father heard through the family grapevine that Jack was developing an impossible crush on you, and we had to nip that problem in the bud. I just had another talk with him is all. He understood. He’s a bright enough boy to see the truth.”
Mei’s dinner turned to dust in her stomach. “I don’t know if I can ever forgive you for this. I’ll try because I know in some strange way you think you are protecting me. But you are so wrong about him.”
“When you’re a little older you’ll—”
“Understand? No, I won’t. I’ll always regret that I lost a chance with Jack. Always.” She released a long, frustrated breath. “Do you know what he’s doing right now? He flew to Florida. He went to search for Lucas, Mom. He figured that his search-and-rescue training would help him succeed even when the law enforcement officers down there failed. He wanted to bring Lucas back to us.” Lisette paled.
“Jasmine told me he left Saturday and was due back Tuesday, but he didn’t come back on his flight. No one has heard from him since. The man who you think isn’t worthy of me may have lost his life trying to save your son.”
Lisette looked over Mei’s shoulder, her eyes widening. “Mei.”
“I’m sorry.” Mei took a steadying breath to rein in her emotions. “I guess I’m a little upset about this.”
“Apparently. But you shouldn’t be. I’m back…and I’m not going anywhere.”
She froze at the sound of the familiar, deep voice, dimly aware of the sudden silence in the room. Her heart hammered against her ribs as she rose to her feet and slowly turned around.
Jack stood behind her, a jagged gash that should’ve had stitches trailing across one cheek, a dark bruise on the other. He still had the strap of a duffel bag slung over his shoulder.
He looked so weary, so incredibly wonderful, that she impulsively threw her arms around him. “Where have you been? What happened?”
He winced, then dropped his bag to the floor and gingerly wrapped his arms around her. He brushed a kiss on her forehead. Then reached up and tucked her head beneath his chin. “Maybe don’t hold on quite so tight. I’m a little bit banged up. But the good news is that I did find Lucas. The drug dealers are in jail, that little boy’s safe and Lucas will be coming home.”
They were suddenly surrounded by the family—Brooke and Arabella and Zach, and then all the others who were shouting out questions and laughing and crying.
And then Lisette was there, too, working her way through the crowd.
“You found my son?” she whispered, her voice trembling. “He’s coming home—and he’s all right?”
Jack must have overheard every one of her arrogant words as he was coming into the hall, but he smiled at her without any sign of rancor. “Yes, ma’am. Hopefully he’ll be home in a few days, and he’s looking forward to seeing you very much.”
Lisette’s soft smile flickered. “I think you’re being generous with me. My good Lord knows Lucas and I didn’t always get along. But maybe now I’ll have a chance to do things right. Thank you.”
Arabella, bless her heart, shouted, “Time for pie!”
The crowd turned away to form a line at the dessert table, leaving Jack, Lisette and Mei alone.
“I went after Lucas because of your daughter, Lisette.” Jack lowered his voice. “When you told me she planned to leave town at the end of her year here and wanted no attachments holding her back, I figured finding her brother was one last gift I could give her. But while I was gone, I realized something else. This isn’t the time or the place, but after this day is over, Mei and I need to talk.”
By the time the dinner wa
s over and all of the mess was cleaned up, it was nearly eight o’clock at night. Before he’d even eaten half his dinner Jack had been called away on a search-and-rescue mission involving a missing girl at the far end of the county, and Mei hadn’t heard from him since.
Now, on Friday morning, Mei had picked up Macy for a scheduled outing and the two of them had gone to Erin’s acreage to look at all of the animals. Mei and Erin stood at either side of a blue roan mare’s halter, while Macy sat on top. “Do you like horses, Macy?”
The child looked down at Mei and tried to smile. The morning caregiver had drawn Mei aside to let her know that Darlene had had a rough night and wasn’t doing well at all. As much as everyone tried to shield Macy from the truth, she clearly understood that her mother’s days were numbered.
Macy petted the horse’s heavy winter coat. “How come she’s so thin?”
“This is a rescue horse, honey,” Erin explained. “She was in a place where the owners didn’t care for her properly, so I’ve been feeding her really well.”
Macy frowned. “Why wouldn’t someone take care of such a pretty horse?”
“Some people run out of money. Sometimes they don’t know any better. And sometimes they’re just careless or thoughtless or mean and don’t remember that their pets are God’s creatures, too. If we have pets, we need to love and care for them every single day.”
Macy nodded somberly. “Like all the ladies who come to take care of my mama?”
Erin shot a quick, pained glance at Mei. “Sort of like that, sweetie. Of course, your mom is even more important.”
“I’d like to take care of people or animals when I grow up. I could be a nurse or a doctor or a vet’narian.”
Her heart breaking for this poor child, Mei fixed a bright smile on her face. “My brother, Lucas, went to school to be a vet, so he takes care of animals every day. When he comes back here, maybe you can visit his clinic someday. He’ll be back any day now.”
Erin paled. “Really? I thought he was…”
Mei nodded. “Jack McCord went to Florida after him. I haven’t heard all the details yet, but at our Thanksgiving dinner yesterday, Jack announced that Lucas was on his way home.”
“That’s…wonderful.” Erin swallowed hard. “You and your mom must be thrilled.”
Curious, Mei looked over the mare’s neck at her. “Were you and Lucas friends?”
“Barely. Small-town school, you know—everyone knows just about everyone else, at least a little. I remember him being a…a nice kid.” Erin patted Macy’s leg and smiled up at her. “Okay, Miss Macy—are you ready for us to go at a walk with you on board?”
At midnight Moose barked softly and lumbered to his feet from where he lay on the floor next to Mei’s bed. He poked her temple with his cold, damp nose. Waited. Then poked at her ear before barking again.
Mei awoke with a start and sat bolt upright in bed.
The barks and the sound of soft knocking at the door had seemed part of a dream, but now, blinking away her momentary confusion, she heard another quiet knock and detected Jack’s voice. Moose galloped to the door and barked again, his tail waving madly.
“Mei? It’s just me—Jack.”
She’d gone to bed wearing sweatpants and a sweatshirt, and now she scuffed on her slippers and grabbed a robe on her way to the door. After checking through the peekhole in the door, she unlocked it and found Jack on the porch. From his weary eyes to the slump of his shoulders and dirt-smudged face, he looked exhausted.
“I just got back to town,” he said. “Sorry to wake you up, but I just couldn’t wait.”
The turbulent emotions playing across his face sent a spear of worry through her. “Did you find that little girl? Was she all right?”
“We had volunteers from two counties and two search dogs out there looking for her. We found her two miles from home just over an hour ago. Mild frostbite and other exposure issues, but she’ll be okay.”
Moose pressed against her leg, his entire body vibrating with excitement at seeing a friend. She urged him through the door and the dog licked Jack’s hand, then bounded outside to do his business. Wrapping her arms around her waist, she stepped out onto the porch to try to keep an eye on him. “I’m so glad to see you back safe and sound.”
“Yeah, well…” His voice trailed off and he looked down at her. “It’s what we do.”
“You must be frozen to the bone. Can I make you some coffee? Hot chocolate?”
“I’d better head for home. I just wanted to stop in and say what I had no time to say at the dinner.”
She felt a shiver run through her that had nothing to do with the cold night air.
“In the past week, your mom, Charley and his cronies have let me know that this is a bad idea. For different reasons, though—your mom because she loves you, Charley because he is a twisted old man who doesn’t really care if I’m happy or not.”
Her pulse fluttered. “B-bad idea?”
“But though neither intended it that way, they helped me realize that I couldn’t just let you go, no matter who tried to stand in the way. I had to try to make it work this time around.”
Speechless, she looked up into his beautiful blue eyes and, despite the cold, felt warmth flow through her when he gently rested his hands on her shoulders.
“Your mom says you can’t wait to go back to your job in San Francisco. I know you’ve said it also, but my career is here…so maybe I shouldn’t stand in your way when it comes to a job that makes you truly happy.”
She struggled to find her voice. “There are a lot of jobs that can make me happy, Jack. Finding the right person to spend a life with is much, much harder.”
“I can’t argue with you there.” He swallowed hard. “And the truth is…I can’t just walk away without trying harder to find out if things could ever work out between us. I love you, Mei. I think I did way back in high school, though I was too young to even see it.”
“Me, too,” she whispered.
Moose bounded up the steps and skidded across the porch, all awkward legs and madly wagging tail, as if he knew this moment meant something good about his favorite humans. His furry body knocked Mei into Jack’s arms, then he shook off a shower of snow that filled the air with weightless diamonds.
Jack gently brushed some snowflakes from Mei’s nose. The laughter and love in his eyes matched her feelings exactly as he lowered her mouth to hers for a sweet kiss. “I think your dog likes me well enough, but now I just have to hope that you do, too.”
Her heart overflowing, Mei reached up and pulled him down for a longer, even sweeter kiss that sent tingles clear to her toes. “That’s a question you don’t even have to ask.”
Dear Reader,
I hope you have been enjoying each month of the six-book Love Inspired Rocky Mountain Heirs series, which began in July and will end in December 2011. Five of my favorite authors are a part of this series, and they were all absolutely wonderful to work with!
The Loner’s Thanksgiving Wish is a story that spoke to my heart. It deals with the problems of fitting in and of being different, and the fresh perspective one can have if they return home later, a little older and wiser. It also is the story of two people who were deeply attracted to one another back in high school but who never would have had a chance to be together back then, given their family circumstances. How many of us have wondered about the special gal or guy we knew when we were young?
I love to hear from readers! You can contact me by snail mail at P.O. Box 2550, Cedar Rapids, IA, 52406; through my website at www.roxannerustand.com; or at my blog (the All Creatures Great and Small place) at http://roxannerustand.blogspot.com.
Take care, and God bless!
Questions for Discussion
Mei’s late grandfather added stipulations to his will that required each of the six cousins to spend an entire year back in their hometown. Why do you think he made this effort to control their actions from the grave? Do you think it was fair, or should he
have simply left orders to distribute his estate?
The two factions of the Clayton family have been feuding for years, going back to some nefarious doings on the part of George Sr. Have you had to deal with difficult family situations like this? How could this have been resolved long ago?
Despite her legal adoption, Mei never felt she was a real part of her extended family, or a part of the town. Her feelings were reinforced by her grandfather, who clearly treated her like an outsider. Were you adopted, or have there been adoptions in your family? How do you think the risk of such feelings of alienation could be avoided?
At one point, Lisette is surprised to hear that Mei never felt close to her when growing up. Now that Mei is grown, do you think those wounds can ever be healed? Or would that damage run too deep? Do you have unresolved issues with your own mother or daughter?
Darlene Perry still refuses to identify Macy’s father, and as she is on her deathbed, that secret could die with her. What do you think about a father’s rights when an illegitimate child is involved? Is it ever best to just keep those secrets, or does a child always have a right to know?
Who do you think is Macy’s real father?
Jasmine and Cade are just eighteen and plan to get married no matter what anyone thinks. What do you think about such a young marriage? Can it work? What are the pros and cons? What would you do about this, if Jasmine was your own daughter?
Mei had strong feelings for Jack back in high school, and now believes her feelings never really died. Do you know high school sweethearts who parted and met years later? Do you think such a “once-in-a-lifetime love” is just a fantasy, a grasp at one’s youth, or that it can be something real?
Lisette has a hardened heart toward the other side of the family, in part because of the terrible rumors they started about her son, Lucas. What do you think about the possibility of forgiveness and moving on in a situation like this? Is Lisette wise to still keep her distance and be wary of everyone who was involved?
Lucas grew up behaving like a rebel, and there is still friction between him and his mother. Do you think this stems directly from Lisette’s behavior toward him over the years he grew up, or do you think this would have been Lucas’s personality no matter what?
The Loner's Thanksgiving Wish (Love Inspired) Page 18
