Lost & Found Love

by Laura Browning

  He guided her to the chairs on the veranda and thought it was a sign of how worn out she was that she made no protest.

  “Well first, my car wouldn’t start, so I rode my bike to the elementary school. Then Mr. Underwood looked at me like I was naked when I walked inside in my cycling pants to ask if I could store my bike in my classroom.”

  Joe groaned mentally. He had forgotten Dennis Underwood was the principal there and one of his more conservative church members. Remembering his own view of Tabby in her cycling pants, he could understand where Dennis might have overreacted.

  “All of the teachers treated me like I smelled bad, even the new kindergarten teacher.”

  Joe closed his eyes for an instant. Another one of his church members. She’d done her student teaching at the end of last school year and was one of those women ready to redecorate the parsonage if he winked at her wrong. Many of the other teachers were also members of his church. Bless their gossiping little hearts. Joe had a feeling the ladies’ worship committee was already hard at work. He had turned down no less than three invitations to supper for tonight. Now he knew what motivation lay behind the sudden spurt of invitations.

  “The only teacher who was nice to me was Mr. Powers, the new P.E. teacher. After seeing me arrive this morning, he spent the entire lunch period staring at my butt. I had to sneak out a back door this afternoon because he was still hanging around the front door.”

  Joe’s eyes narrowed to slits behind his sunglasses as an unaccustomed shaft of jealousy sliced through him. Staring at her butt? What kind of man would do that? Then he realized with chagrin he’d done the same thing the first time he watched her walk up the steps in those cycling pants. In fact, he’d done it a few minutes ago. It was a nice butt from his perspective. He could imagine…Lord! He better not think in those directions. He needed to stick with something practical he might be able to handle but thinking of her delicious derriere was not it.

  “I work on my own car a lot. I could take a look at yours,” he offered. Cars. There. That was safe.

  “Would you? I’ll get the keys, then if you don’t mind, I’ll leave you to it. I need a shower and a change of clothes.”

  He smiled, and from behind the lenses of his dark glasses, he allowed himself the luxury of letting his eyes drift over her figure. She was certainly tall and slender, but the curves were in all the right places. As she walked past his chair, his eyes drifted down to the butt the P.E. teacher found so interesting, and Joe smothered a groan. It was definitely worth a second glance, even a third or a fourth. The door slammed behind her, and a discreet cough came from the direction of his porch.

  Joe glanced over his shoulder to find Jake Allred standing there in uniform. Joe sprang to his feet, feeling suddenly awkward, even if Jake was one of his poker buddies.

  “I see there is some grist to the rumor mill,” Jake remarked.

  Joe shoved his glasses onto his tousled hair as he came down Tabby’s steps and popped the hood on her car. “Do I dare ask what the rumor mill is saying?”

  Jake joined him, leaning casually against Tabby’s car as Joe methodically checked belts and hoses.

  “If you’d get on Facebook, you’d know.”

  Joe rolled his eyes. “We’ve had this conversation before. I refuse to encourage gossiping, and that’s all the town’s Facebook page has become.”

  Jake snorted. “There’s a general consensus you’re succumbing to the wiles of your neighbor. While some describe her as young and free-spirited, the less charitable are already bandying the words ‘jezebel’ and ‘witch’ around.”

  Joe straightened abruptly and bumped the back of his head on the hood of Tabby’s car. “Oh for heaven’s sake. This town’s got more ears than a field full of corn.”

  “And more tongues than the tower of Babel?” Jake finished. He patted Joe on the back. “Between Facebook and what I’m sure is going on behind the scenes over the phone, it could get ugly fast. Trust me, I know. I came by to offer some friendly advice if you don’t mind, Joe.”

  He looked at Jake warily. “Advice from you I’ll take. There are a few, now, I don’t have a mind to be so charitable toward.”

  Jake grinned lazily. “If the lady is worth it, then stand up for her early on and be damned to all of them. ’Scuse me. Holly would have my hide if she heard me cuss in front of the preacher.”

  Joe laughed at that. “Trust me, Jake. You won’t say anything I haven’t already heard. I haven’t always been a preacher. Besides, it’s not me you have to worry about. It’s the guy up there… And he hears it no matter where you say it.”

  Jake glanced at the car’s engine compartment. “See her publicly. Make all the gossips go public, too, so you can get it out in the open before it festers. And I’m telling you again, you need to get on Facebook. Read what’s there so you can put a stop to it. Good luck to you. She’s a real pretty lady. Classy.”

  With that, Jake sauntered back out to his car and drove slowly down the street, waving to some of the neighbors out working in their yards. Joe stared after him. See Tabby publicly? He was having a tough time seeing her at all. She was more skittish than her cat.

  Joe looked back at the car. All the belts and hoses were fine. Fluid levels were fine. He checked the battery connections and found corrosion around the terminals. He disconnected them, then went to his toolbox in the trunk of his Mustang for a wire brush. After cleaning the terminals and checking the wires, he reconnected everything as Tabby was coming back outside. He tossed her the keys.

  “Get in and try her. Let’s see if she’ll start. You still might need a boost.”

  The car started, a little reluctantly, but it started. Tabby grinned.

  “Let it run for a few minutes. Chances are your battery is a little low.”

  Tabby got out of the car and smiled. Joe couldn’t help himself. He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and their eyes met for a long moment.

  “Thanks,” Tabby said a little breathlessly. “You saved me calling a mechanic. Can I make you dinner to say thank you?”

  Joe shook his head, thinking of Jake’s advice, not to mention the prospect of more tofu. “No, but you could let me take you out to dinner. That way I can have my cheeseburger and you can munch on rabbit food.”

  Her face grew wary. Sure, it was easy for Jake to talk about going public, but Joe not only had to contend with his parishioners, he had to contend with Tabby’s own reluctance. He sighed, knowing he needed to deal with it head-on.

  “It’s dinner, Tabby, not a lifetime commitment or an altar call.”

  She blinked and chewed on her lower lip. “Joe…I…”

  “I won’t even denounce you as a heathen.” He kept his tone light. Why was he bothering? Any other woman he would have already cut his losses and moved on, but Tabby was different. Special.

  Her breath huffed out on a strangled laugh, and she looked down at her jeans and long-sleeved T-shirt. “Do I need to change?”

  Joe felt a surge of relief. He noted she was covered once again from ankle to neck. “Not at all. Go grab your purse or whatever you need. We’ll take my car.”

  Tabby’s eyes went to the Mustang and suddenly glowed. “With the top down?”

  “Sure.”

  “I’ve never ridden in a convertible before.”

  What the devil? Where had she grown up?

  “Then hop in.”

  Joe’s red Mustang convertible no sooner pulled out onto the street than he could have sworn he saw curtains twitching in several windows on both sides. Jake was getting to him, making him paranoid.

  * * * *

  Evan tucked the information he’d uncovered into an envelope and shoved it into his briefcase. He was breaking every ethical rule in the book, but by God, he would take this home for Jenny to see. He’d called in a few favors from former college classmates to get some of it, but the last fax arrived just a few minutes ago. From what he could see, there was ple
nty of reason for Mary Owens MacVie to warn Jenny about Thomas MacVie.

  As he left his office, Wanda Sue Gardner, one of his paralegals, looked up and smiled. “Leaving early, aren’t you, sir?”

  Just a year ago, he knew his staff would never have dared to comment on what time he left, but that was before Jenny came back into his life. He smiled. “Jenny wasn’t feeling too well today. These last few weeks are making her miserable.”

  “Still waiting to be surprised?”

  Evan grinned now. “Yes. Faith if it’s a girl. Peter if it’s a boy.”

  Jenny’s BMW was parked on the square in front of the courthouse. He’d taken to driving it lately because she could no longer fit comfortably behind the wheel of the sports car. As he tossed his briefcase into the passenger seat, he saw Joe’s red Mustang. The pastor’s tawny hair glinted gold in the afternoon sunlight, but that wasn’t what attracted Evan’s attention. It was the laughing face and the dark hair of the woman next to him. Tabby.

  He felt a surge of protectiveness toward her after what he’d pieced together of her past, and relief that she’d chosen someone as rock solid as Joe Taylor for a friend followed quickly. His eyes narrowed as Joe pulled up in front of Mercer’s and Evan watched the preacher offer Tabby a hand out of the low-slung car. He wondered if the two of them knew how they looked together. Already like a couple.

  Evan slid behind the wheel, still smiling, and drove home. The Tahoe was where it sat when he’d left that morning, so it seemed reasonable to assume Jenny decided not to go into the clinic today. In recent weeks, she had begun to shift many of her patients to Dr. Razawi at the hospital. He’d agreed to cover for her, but Evan knew it would be only temporarily. The area was short on doctors. They needed Jenny as much as she needed them. She’d completed additional surgery work that meant she was often called on to help in the OR, especially with emergencies.

  When Evan entered the house, he heard her in the kitchen. It never failed to make his breath catch a little when she smiled at him. He’d first fallen in love with her when they were fourteen years old. They’d dated all through high school until their fathers conspired to tear them apart. Evan shoved that back. That was behind them now.

  Her father was long dead, and his father was on house arrest for the next two years for his part not only in what had happened thirteen years ago, but also an attempt on Jenny’s life last year. Evan hadn’t spoken to him since then and had no plans to begin any time soon. Evan had Jenny back, and to Evan that was the only thing that mattered.

  He took her into his arms, his hands going automatically and protectively to her swollen belly. “How are you feeling?” he whispered into her ear.

  “Uncomfortable, but better than this morning. How was your day?”

  Evan set his briefcase on the table. “Productive. I have some information on Tabby and Thomas MacVie I think you should read.”

  Jenny arched a delicate brow, and her golden eyes twinkled. “Well if Facebook’s to be believed, she’s already seduced the minister, bewitched the P.E. teacher at the elementary school, and has a cat some folks believe is her familiar.”

  Evan paused in the act of opening his briefcase. “Oh for Christ’s sake! Has someone actually posted that kind of shit?”

  “Not sure. You know I try to avoid looking at the town’s page, but it’s other places too.” Jenny held up her hand and began ticking off on her fingers. “My nurse practitioner, Sara, heard it from her brother, Jim, who heard it from his wife who heard it from Sally Concannon who heard it from both Betty Gatewood and Jeanie Underwood. One of those two supposedly saw Pastor Joe’s clothes strewn all over Tabby’s veranda and heard him singing love songs to her in an upstairs bedroom.”

  Evan’s mouth had dropped open halfway through Jenny’s recitation. When his wife finished, he stood there stunned for a moment, then began laughing until he clutched his stomach in both of his hands.

  “It’s not funny, Evan,” Jenny said stiffly. “She’s my sister.”

  Evan’s face sobered. He’d known she’d come around, particularly if there was a threat. They had both struggled to rebuild their concept of family in the wake of their parents’ betrayals. Jenny was probably a little further along than him in that.

  “Damn right,” he agreed. “That’s exactly why you need to take a look at this. Start with Thomas MacVie’s rap sheet.”

  Jenny lowered herself awkwardly into the chair Evan pulled out for her and took the envelope he offered. As she slowly examined the contents, her brows drew together. “How did you get all this information, Evan?” she asked as she continued to sift through it, reading between the lines as he had.

  “A few friends from law school who owed me favors. Plus, Tommy MacVie appears unpopular with not only law enforcement, but also his neighbors. People were more than willing to spill their guts over the phone.”

  She looked up at him, her golden eyes concerned. “You called people?”

  Evan shrugged. “A couple of neighbors. I didn’t tell them where I was from.”

  Jenny ran her finger down the paper. “There are a lot of abuse arrests here, all dismissed.”

  Evan nodded. “Lack of evidence. I talked to the D.A. in that area who referred me to the former district attorney, who’s now retired. He said they could never get your mother or Tabby to testify against him. The guy was slick. Even social services couldn’t find enough evidence of abuse. The house was always neat as a pin. Tabby never seemed to want for anything. She was always clean and well fed. One thing did keep coming up…how modest Tabby was. No one ever saw her in a bathing suit, shorts, or even a short-sleeved shirt.”

  Jenny tapped her finger on the medical records he had somehow accessed. “She appears to have been very accident prone,” she said in a dubious tone. “A broken arm at five, a wrist at seven, the other arm at eleven, and several ribs a year later. That alone should have been enough to launch a thorough investigation.”

  Jenny looked up at her husband. “I want to meet her.”

  “You can’t right now.”

  “Why?”

  “She’s having dinner with Pastor Joe at Mercer’s.”

  Jenny’s mouth dropped open. “So the rumors are true?”

  Evan chuckled. “Well, I seriously doubt the pastor’s clothes were all over her porch or that they were in a bedroom while he sang love songs to her, but they are neighbors, he does sing—beautifully so Holly tells me—and when you see the two of them together…”

  Jenny grinned and finished for him, “They already look like a couple.”

  “Exactly.”

  * * * *

  “What did Jake Allred come by to tell you this afternoon?” Tabby asked Joe curiously over the noise of the wind rushing by the open top and windows of his Mustang.

  After dinner, Joe had suggested a drive along a stretch of the Blue Ridge Parkway, leaving the top down so she could enjoy the warm, evening breeze.

  “You saw him?” he asked with a quick glance in her direction just as he slowed and pulled off the road. They stopped at a place where they could get out and sit on a large rock overlooking the valley below them.

  “Yes.” She kept her gaze on the patchwork quilt of farmland still visible in the waning light as she carefully seated herself, thinking that if she painted landscapes, this would certainly be a view worth capturing. “I glanced out the window and saw him talking to you.”

  Joe, who had stretched out beside her, took her hand. Instantly, warmth flooded through her, and she closed her eyes briefly in surprised enjoyment. His thumb rubbed along the back. “He told me if I cared about you, I should take you out publicly and not worry about what anyone might say.”

  She stiffened slightly. “Is that what this is all about?” she asked without looking at him. Joe released her hand to touch her hair and her cheek.

  “Partly. Tabby, I have to be honest with you. I would have gotten around to this anyway. Jake’s visit just spurred m
e to act more quickly than I might have.”

  “And the fact that I told you right up front that I don’t date ministers makes no difference?” Tabby wasn’t sure whether she was angry or scared by his persistence. Having always kept her distance from men, she wasn’t sure what to do with one who was ignoring the keep off signals.

  His fingers cupped her chin. “I can’t help what I feel, Tabby. If I were a lawyer, a doctor, or a musician would you even worry about going out with me?”

  Sadness tightened her chest. He was so beautiful, and when he touched her, it felt right. It felt good. She wanted to touch him back. Instead she looked down, breaking eye contact. “But you’re not any of those things, Joseph. You are a minister.”

  “Why does it make such a difference?” he demanded. “Yes, I am a minister. It’s what I do, but can’t you look beyond that to who I am? Beneath it, I’m still a man.”

  He bent his head then and kissed her. Although she sensed his frustration, his kiss was pure gentleness, asking not taking. Tabby’s hand rested against his shoulder. Waves of heat and desire coursed through her. She wanted him like she’d never wanted anyone. Yes, he was a minister, so what would happen when he got a good look at her standard paintings? Sure, he’d seen one, but he didn’t realize that was the norm for her. His portrait was the departure, not the scene he’d compared to Dante’s Inferno.

  Her mind raced ahead to a future where she was mindlessly painting flower arrangements or seascapes complete with lighthouses and seagulls, just to make sure she didn’t upset anyone. Panic followed quickly. She couldn’t breathe. She felt as stymied and hemmed in as she had around Tommy and his ultra-conservative view of religion.

  She couldn’t do this. They couldn’t do this.

  She pushed him away. “Stop, Joseph.”

  He vaulted to his feet and stepped away from her as he raked his hands through his hair. “Sorry.”

  “Don’t apologize. It’s not you. It’s not anything you’ve done. It’s me.”

  He laughed, but with no real amusement. “I have to tell you, that sounds way too close to a classic dump the loser line.”