Love Inspired February 2014 - Bundle 1 of 2: The Cowboy's Reunited FamilyThe Forest Ranger's ReturnMommy Wanted

by Brenda Minton

  “We’ll see. In the meantime,” Mrs. Tingle said, steadily unpacking Kate’s bag as she spoke, “you should take advantage of the day off to pray and ask God what He thinks you should do, then relax awhile. There are some really good romance novels in the top drawer of your nightstand. Read one of those.”

  “A romance novel?” Kate asked, thinking that wasn’t at all what she needed to read at the moment, since the only bit of romance she’d ever experienced occurred last night...and would probably never occur again.

  “Inspirational romances,” Mrs. Tingle said. “The ones where God is in the center, and He makes it last. Those are the best kind, and I think that’s what you need to read about, to see how He can work things out, even when forgiveness has to occur along the way. You aren’t the only one who’s ever made a mistake in life, dear. In fact, the only one who didn’t...died because the rest of us do.”

  Kate blinked, taken aback by the wisdom spouted from the sweet lady currently stashing her suitcase in the closet. “Thank you,” she said softly, “for your kindness, and for believing that I might have changed.”

  Mrs. Tingle turned from the closet, walked to where Kate still sat on the bed and placed her palm against Kate’s cheek. “Oh, honey, you’ve got God in you. I can see it. And if you give all of them time, they’ll see it, too. Now you pray, relax and read. We’ve got church tonight, and you need to go.”

  “Oh, I don’t think I can,” Kate said, shaking her head at the very thought of attending the same church as Mitch.

  “Nonsense,” Mrs. Tingle said, patting that hand against her cheek and then turning to leave. “I don’t think you can afford not to. You can ride with us. We’ll leave at 6:45 p.m.”

  * * *

  Mitch entered the church parking lot frustrated that he found himself searching for Kate’s car.

  “Is Miss Kate here?” Dee asked from the backseat.

  Emmie had been dozing in her car seat, but she piped up at the mention of Kate’s name. “Kay-Kay?”

  Odd that just over a week ago they’d never met the lady and now they wanted her to be a part of each day. Mitch knew exactly how they felt, which only made him angrier. How would he explain the fact that they wouldn’t see her anymore? And had she, as Mitch suspected, left town? Or would she actually stick around and attempt to see Chad as she’d planned? Did she really think Chad would give her another chance?

  He pulled into a parking space next to Bo and Maura’s car. They were gathering their Bibles and climbing out, and they wasted no time hurrying over to open Dee’s and Emmie’s doors. Bo promptly picked Dee up for a hug, and Maura scooped up Emmie and received one of her trademark openmouthed kisses on the cheek.

  “You two are a sight for sore eyes,” Bo said, putting Dee down and holding her hand as they started toward the building.

  “We’ve missed y’all,” Maura said, snuggling Emmie as she carried her along.

  Mitch grabbed the diaper bag and Bibles and followed the group. “They’ve missed you, too, but I hear you had a good time at the beach.”

  “Oh, it was wonderful,” Maura said, “but it’d have been better if you were there.”

  “We’ll try to go next time,” he said, and he meant it. If he’d have gone to the beach with them this year, he wouldn’t be experiencing such a hole in his heart from Kate’s appearance in his world.

  And as soon as he had the thought, L. E. and Annette Tingle’s car entered the church parking lot. Mitch automatically lifted his hand to wave, but then he saw the pretty face in the back window looking directly at him...and then looking away.

  “Who’s that with L.E. and Annette?” Maura asked, and then she gasped. “Mitch, that isn’t her, is it? Hannah told us what happened, how she tricked you into hiring her. That’s just awful, if you ask me, after what she did to Chad and all.”

  “Now, Maura, we’re walking into the church building. Let’s keep our thoughts positive, okay?” Bo gently chided.

  “She didn’t exactly trick me into hiring her,” Mitch said, and then wondered why he felt the need to defend her.

  “Sure seemed that way to me. If you’d have realized who she was, you wouldn’t have brought her in your office, and you certainly wouldn’t have asked her on a date. Oh, Mitch, I’m so sorry you had to go through that.”

  The date hadn’t been so bad. Not bad at all, in fact. But Mitch knew better than to state that truth, since so much about the past week with Kate had been less truth and more fiction.

  “Daddy, it’s Miss Kate!” Dee said, turning completely around and using her free hand to wave wildly to the lady walking behind L.E. and Annette. “Can I go see her?”

  “Oh, dear,” Maura mumbled.

  Mitch didn’t know how he was going to handle his daughters’ adoration of Kate if she continued to stay in Claremont. He’d really thought she would’ve left town by now, but evidently she was more determined to talk to Chad than he’d realized. How exactly did she plan to support herself in Claremont without a job?

  “Kay-Kay!” Emmie said, reaching over Maura’s shoulder toward the trio crossing the parking lot.

  “I’ll drop Emmie off at the nursery,” Maura said, picking up her pace. “Bo, you take Dee to hers.” She shot another glance back at Kate and gave her a look that should’ve scared the woman into leaving church, maybe even leaving town.

  “Maura, please, settle down,” Bo said.

  “She has no business here, Bo,” she said.

  Brother Henry, their preacher, stood at the top of the steps to welcome everyone to the church and apparently heard Maura’s comment. “Now, Maura, you know everyone is welcome here, right?”

  She visibly swallowed. “Yes, Brother Henry.” But she walked even faster as she passed him and made a beeline for the nursery.

  “Sorry about that, Mitch. You know how women are when they feel like someone they love has been done wrong. She’s concerned about you and the girls, that’s all. There’s no reason in the world why that young lady can’t come to church and worship with all of us if she’s feeling it on her heart, and I’ll try to talk to Maura more about that when we get home,” Bo said.

  Mitch nodded. He certainly wasn’t feeling as though he should defend Kate’s presence at church, but he also didn’t want to be standing here in the lobby when she entered. So he walked into the auditorium and took a seat beside Matt and Hannah.

  He chatted with both of them but couldn’t keep himself from casually scanning the people entering the auditorium. He almost didn’t see her, since she slipped in behind a group and quickly took a seat on a back pew by herself. There really wasn’t a reason that she couldn’t sit with some of the people she’d met around town. She’d gotten to know quite a few over the past week, between their trips to the square and also her phone calls regarding policies. But she obviously wanted to be alone.

  Maybe she thought Mitch had told the entire town who she really was, but she should know him better than that. Then again, he thought he knew her better than to think she would have lied to him the entire time she’d been in town. And he’d never have thought her the kind of person who could have left her husband and baby girl behind.

  Maura huffed out an exaggerated breath as she plopped down on the other side of Hannah. “It took me a while to drop Emmie off because Annette was running behind, probably because of that person she brought along.”

  “Who do you mean?” Hannah asked, and then Mitch heard her intake of breath as she spotted Kate on the other side of the building. “Oh, my, Kate’s here.”

  Bo, returning from dropping off Dee at class, sat next to his wife. “I think it’s a good thing she’s here,” he said to Hannah.

  Hannah nodded and quickly recovered. “Me, too, Daddy. It’s just, well, it’s all kind of strange. But I agree that it’s good she’s in church.” She glanced to Mitch. �
��I’m still sorry I had to be the one to tell you everything.”

  “I’m glad you did,” he said, then turned his attention to the elderly man making the announcements. After he finished, they sang a couple of songs, and Mitch shifted in the seat to glance at the only occupant on that back pew. She looked straight ahead toward the pulpit, never venturing even a passing glance in his direction.

  And then Brother Henry took his place in front of the congregation and announced, “Tonight I’ve decided to put our study of Hebrews on hold while I cover a topic that I believe would be beneficial for all of us this week. Forgiveness and redemption, specifically as displayed in the lives of Joseph, Peter, Paul and the woman at the well.”

  Mitch didn’t know what had prompted Brother Henry to change his topic, but he knew one thing. He’d had his toes stepped on in church before, but he had a feeling this time they were going to be smashed completely.

  * * *

  Kate listened to the preacher describe the terrible things Joseph’s brothers had done to him, throwing him in a well to die, telling his father he’d been killed by a wild animal and then selling him into slavery. And yet, when he saw them again, he forgave them, even loved them.

  Then Brother Henry talked about Peter, how he was known for his faith...and also his lack of faith, when he started sinking in the water and again when he denied Christ three times. Yet Jesus forgave him, even loved him.

  And he discussed Paul and how he’d first been mentioned as a tormentor of early Christians and as the man who held the coats of the men who stoned Stephen. He’d persecuted Christians, and yet Christ knew his repentant heart and forgave him. Loved him.

  Kate swallowed thickly and glanced over to the center pews, where Mitch sat with his family. She locked gazes with him and wished she had told him the truth last night. Then, because looking at him and at the hurt on his face pierced her heart, she turned her attention back to the preacher. Why did it feel as if the lesson were aimed directly at her? As if Brother Henry knew how desperately Kate craved forgiveness from those she’d done wrong? From Chad, and now from Mitch.

  By the time he started discussing the woman at the well, Kate’s tears wouldn’t stop falling. In each instance the preacher mentioned, someone had done something wrong, and no little thing. The offenses were terrible. And in each instance, they were forgiven, and they were loved.

  Why was he torturing her with this lesson, talking about what she wanted while Kate knew it wasn’t possible? Mitch’s reaction this morning had verified the fact that even if they were able to forgive, they couldn’t forget, and they sure wouldn’t give her a second chance. Pretty soon, the whole town would know who she was, and then everyone would behave that way. These people in the pews wouldn’t smile at her when she entered the church. They wouldn’t speak to her when she met them on the square. She’d simply be the woman who, like Mitch said, abandoned her husband and child and who left anything and everything behind while she satisfied her own desires.

  Brother Henry hadn’t stopped preaching, but Kate couldn’t take any more. Her crying was so steady now that she had to clamp her jaw tight to keep from sobbing aloud, and she didn’t want to try to explain to the members of the congregation why the woman on the back row appeared to be at a funeral instead of a Wednesday-night lesson. So she stood, left the auditorium, crossed the empty lobby and headed outside.

  She hated that she hadn’t driven herself, because if she had she could leave. But she’d let the Tingles convince her to ride with them, so she’d have to wait, since both of them had Wednesday-night duties, Annette with the nursery and her husband teaching a class. So instead of fleeing in her car, she found her way to the darkened playground on one side of the building, sat on one of the swings and waited for the service to end. Maybe she’d spot the Tingles walking out and meet them at their car without even having to speak to another church member.

  But, as one of the church doors opened and a sliver of light from the lobby fanned across the ground, Kate knew she wasn’t lucky at all. Because she easily recognized the tall, muscular figure also leaving the service early...and walking her way.

  * * *

  Mitch heard every word of Brother Henry’s lessons in spite of his awareness of the pretty lady on the back pew...and the fact that she was crying. He saw her trembling throughout the preacher’s depiction of Joseph’s brothers, Peter’s denial and Paul’s persecution. But when he’d mentioned the woman at the well, Kate’s head had bowed, her tears dripping freely, easily visible from Mitch’s vantage.

  Those tears pierced his heart, and when he saw her stand and quietly leave the auditorium, he couldn’t take any more. He waited for Brother Henry to say a few more words, then he left, too.

  Exiting the building, he spotted her, the moonlight catching the pale yellow of her dress as she sat on a swing in the playground. Her shoulders were curved forward, head slightly bowed, and he was pretty sure tears were still falling when she looked up and saw him.

  Mitch had no idea what to say, no idea what he was about to do. But he knew without a doubt that what he’d done this morning, blowing up at her and bringing up every sin of her past, wasn’t the right thing.

  He heard her breath catch as he stopped in front of the swing and looked down to see her eyes swimming in tears, her face and neck damp from the streams.

  She ran her palms across her cheeks. “I...” she whispered, her voice sounding scratchy and raw. Then she swallowed and tried again. “I am sorry I came here tonight.”

  “I’m not.”

  Her eyes lifted, hands gripped the chains holding the swing in place. “You’re...not?”

  “No,” he said. “I know you needed the lesson tonight, and that’s why God has you here.” Then he cleared his throat and added the part that hurt most. “But I want you to realize that I needed it, too.” When she didn’t say anything, he forged on. “I shouldn’t have said the things I did this morning, shouldn’t have judged you based on your past.”

  “I should have told you myself,” she said.

  He nodded. “That would have been better,” he said, but even as he said the words he knew the truth. “But then...”

  “Then you’d have never hired me, would you? You wouldn’t want someone like me, someone who’s done what I’ve done, working for you, or being around Dee and Emmie,” she said, her voice still raspy from crying. “And you probably still don’t.”

  He thought about how much pain she’d caused Chad by leaving, and then he thought about how much it would hurt Dee and Emmie if they got too attached and then she did the same thing.

  Were they already too attached?

  Was he?

  Mitch couldn’t make any promises about whether he could encourage Kate’s relationship with his daughters. He also couldn’t make any promises about whether he would trust her enough to have a personal relationship with her himself. Those were things he needed to think about, pray about.

  But he knew one area that he could help her with now, and he’d simply start there. If she were going to try to stay in Claremont, talk to Chad and see about having a relationship with Lainey, then she needed a job. And she was a good office manager.

  “You left work early,” he said, deciding not to respond to the second part of her question about whether or not he’d allow her to be around Dee and Emmie. He’d take this whole forgiving thing one step at a time. “Leaving early without giving me any indication of when you’re coming back could cause someone to get fired.”

  She blinked. “I thought you wanted me to leave,” she said. “And not come back.”

  “Don’t you think you should ask your boss about something like that instead of merely making an assumption?” he asked. Before she could answer, he added, “So I can’t cut you any more slack. If you’re late tomorrow morning, I’ll have to fire you. You understand?”

 
; Her eyes fluttered through enough blinks to clear her tears, and she nodded. “Yes, I understand.”

  Satisfied that he’d done as much as he could do toward forgiveness right now, Mitch turned and walked back into the church.

  Chapter Twelve

  Mitch stared at his computer screen while Kate rummaged around her desk the way she did every day at noon, neatening her files, logging off the computer, withdrawing her purse from the drawer. Just two days ago, he’d have been standing near her desk and joking with her while she got ready to leave, and then the two of them would head to the diner and chat, maybe even flirt, over their meal.

  But today they’d said less than a dozen words to each other since she’d arrived, and now was no exception.

  “Do you—” she started, then her face paled when he looked up. “Um, do you want me to get you anything for lunch while I’m out?” she asked.

  “I brought something from home.”

  “Okay.” She took a couple of steps and then stopped as though she were going to ask him something else. Mitch waited for the question, but then she audibly inhaled and exhaled and proceeded out the door.

  He listened to her car start and watched through the window as she left, then he made his way to the back, grabbed his lunch and ate the leftover chicken while working at his computer, the same way he’d had his lunch every day...until Kate came to town.

  He missed being with her now, but he wasn’t ready to say he was okay with what she’d done back then. He was “getting okay,” he supposed, coming to terms with the fact that she was the woman whom the entire town had despised merely three years ago.

  How would the people of Claremont treat her after Chad got back and the truth came out to everyone? Mrs. Tingle knew and believed Kate deserved a chance to redeem herself; she’d told Mitch as much last night when he’d picked up Emmie from the nursery. And then she’d also added that she was pretty sure Kate had strong feelings toward him, and that she was also pretty sure he had them for her, too.