by Elsie Davis
A noise sounded from the direction of the kitchen, reminding her she still hadn’t thanked her dad for saving Brody, a situation she needed to rectify. Leaning down to give her baby another hug and kiss, she stood and made her way down the hall, Brody close on her heels.
Chad was leaning against the counter, gulping down water from a bottle. Streaks of dirt still lined his face. She stopped on the far side of the kitchen island, using it as a neutral zone between them.
“Thanks for what you did out there.” She looked away, uncomfortable, and unsure of what tactic to take. Words couldn’t express the true depth of her gratitude, but it was a start.
“It’s the least I could do since I’m the one who lost him in the first place.”
His I’m-at-fault attitude made her turn back to him, seeing him in a new light. “About that, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said what I said. It’s not your fault. Brody is excitable, and he didn’t know you. Even if he did, I’m not sure any command would have outweighed the fun of chasing a squirrel. He’s still such a baby at times, and this is all new.” Apologizing was the right thing to do, seeing as she had been out of line.
“It’s getting late, Gemma. Too late for you to head back to Syracuse. It would be nice if you could stay for dinner. The two of us can talk. There’s an extra room here, and you’re welcome to stay the night. I understand if you don’t want to, but I’d like it.” Chad seemed unsure of himself.
Why did he have to be so nice? It wasn’t supposed to be this way.
Brody sat next to him, nuzzling his head against her dad’s leg. Chad leaned down to pet the dog, rubbing his head and scratching behind his ears, zeroing in on Brody’s weakness. Every time he tried to stop rubbing, Brody nudged his hand with his nose. Crazy dog was lapping up the attention.
“Good boy. I’m glad you’re okay. No more squirrel chasing for you, buddy.” Chad seemed more at ease talking to the dog, his words full of concern and yet teasing.
She wasn’t sure how to answer his offer. Earlier, it would have been heck no, but now, she wasn’t so sure. I love my daughter an awful lot. He hadn’t known she was there when he spoke.
Watching him now with Brody, the seed of hope took root. If there was any chance it was true, didn’t she deserve the opportunity to find out? Maybe her mother had been right all along. It wouldn’t wash away her years of heartache, but maybe there was a new alternative to closure. Maybe there was a chance for her to at least get to know him. And from there, she’d figure out what to do.
After all, he did risk his life to save Brody. That did say something about the man. “Okay,” she answered before she changed her mind.
Chad stopped petting the dog and gazed up at her, a genuine smile eased across his face, reaching his eyes. “Thank you. Do you need me to help carry in anything?”
“I can get what I need. I hadn’t planned on staying, so I don’t have much.”
“While you’re doing that, I’ll see what I can rustle up for dinner.” And just like that, he’d moved on and acted as if everything was normal between them. It would still be awkward, but she was willing to hear him out.
“I don’t mind helping you,” she offered.
“How about you let me fix dinner, and we can talk.”
“Okay.” It was fine by her. Working next to him in the kitchen would seem close—almost relationship like. But she had only agreed to one evening, not a future. She wasn’t making any promises past tonight.
Gemma headed out to her Jeep, grabbing the bag of clothes and toiletries from the back seat that she’d thrown there just in case things didn’t go as planned. She fired off a quick text to her mother to let her know she was staying at Chad’s and to make sure everything was okay with her. Her mother would be curious to know more, especially since Gemma’s original intentions had been the complete opposite of what she was doing. Her mother still wasn’t off the hook for not telling her about Chad, so it wouldn’t hurt for her to wait out the night to hear the details.
For the first time since she’d arrived, she looked around, really taking in the details she hadn’t been able to appreciate up till now. The log home, the woods, the pasture and barn, all blended together seamlessly to form a picturesque homestead. She took a deep breath, trying to relax. Trying to convince herself she made the right choice. She could do this.
Gemma itched to go see the horses down in the pasture. Memories of a time when she rode tugged at her heart. She used to go riding almost every weekend, but there wasn’t much opportunity in the city. Instead, her focus became softball, and she’d put all her energies into the game.
In the end, it had worked out for the best. After all, her college was courtesy of a softball scholarship, and horseback riding scholarships were few and far between. Her love of the game had seen her through high school and college.
Gemma climbed the steps at about half speed, her heart pounding. She was twenty-four years old, and she was about to sit down to dinner with her dad for the first time in her life. Not to take anything away from Mark, but he’d always been buried in his work or looking for ways to escape with her mother. She got the feeling children had never been high on his priority list. But at least he’d stuck around, and he’d been a likable guy.
Chad stopped cutting the zucchini and glanced up at her when she stepped through the open door. “I’m going to barbecue some chicken if that’s okay with you?”
“Sound’s perfect.” It had always been one of her favorite meals, although she normally served it with corn as the vegetable. Add potatoes, and you had an all-American meal.
“What would you like to drink?”
“If you have any lemonade, that would be great. Or water is fine.”
“Coming right up. You can drop your stuff in the guest room. First door on the left down the hall. It won’t take but twenty to thirty minutes for dinner.”
Gemma dropped her bag in the room and reentered the kitchen. “Are you sure I can’t help?” This was the awkward part. Small talk with a stranger who happened to hold the dubious title of Dad. It would be easier if she could be doing something with her hands, even if it did mean a teamwork situation.
“No. Sit down. Relax. I’ve got this.”
Gemma took a seat at the high-top table. It was unusual, and unlike anything she’d seen before. Four pieces of wood had been joined together, and the rough surface and the whiskey barrel it sat on, added character. It also added to the rustic appeal of the house. “Where did you find this table?” Furniture was always a safe topic.
“I made it. I used some of the leftover wood from building the house. The barrels I found at an antique fair.”
So, the man had more talents than just bull riding. “It’s beautiful. Unique. Does that mean you built the house?”
“I did. I moved back here when I retired from bull riding, bought the land, and with the help of several local men in town, built the cabin.”
“When I picture a cabin in the woods, it’s not this. I think of small, dark, and basic. This place is amazing, and I love all the lighting. I’ve never seen anything like those before.”
“It’s a unique line of lighting made up in Montana. They use old wagon wheels from Brazil. But enough about the house, I’d rather hear about you.”
So much for her safety conversation. The house had been a neutral zone, but Chad had just stepped into a minefield.
“What do you want to know?” She could do questions and answers. And then maybe it would be her turn to ask a few questions.
Chad started to set the table. “I know you graduated from Syracuse University in New York with a business management degree almost three years ago, but I don’t know what you’ve done since then.”
How does he know all this stuff? He knew a lot more about her than what she knew about him up until three weeks ago.
“I’m an event planner. I work for a company called Parties Done Right. It’s a wonderful job, and I love the freedom that comes with it. I’m not trapped in
an office all day.” Not to mention, it was the perfect job for the way she lived her life. Her motto was to keep busy.
In high school, the softball field had been her arena. She applied herself, and no one had ever been any wiser about the emotional pain she kept locked deep inside. As an event planner, she managed to do the same thing—living in other people’s world of fun to distract her from things she didn’t want to think about or deal with. Although facing her father now, the part of her she kept buried, and the part of her she showed the world, were locked in a combat zone.
“That sounds like a fun job. Hang on a sec. I need to put the chicken on the grill.” He stepped out onto the porch and Gemma was left alone, giving her a chance to regroup.
She took a deep breath. She could do this.
It wasn’t long before his large frame filled the doorway again. “Is there a special guy in your life?” His question startled her.
“No special guy. I’m not interested in dating. I’d rather hang with my friends and be doing anything outdoors for fun than to be pandering to some guy’s whims and wishes and cleaning up after him.”
“Sounds harsh. The right guy wouldn’t be that way. It would be a partnership. Not that I’m pushing you in the direction of trying to find a guy. You’ve just come into my life, and I’m hoping we can stay in touch going forward.”
“I don’t have a lot of experience with the right guy. And I certainly didn’t have an example as a child.” She couldn’t help taking another shot at their history, or lack thereof. Years of repressed frustration made it almost impossible for some of her emotions to stay on a lockdown. And Chad was the perfect target.
He looked stricken as her barbed comments struck home. “Yeah, well, like I said, the right guy. I wasn’t the right guy for your mother, or at least I wasn’t at that time in my life. I’ll pay for my choices for as long as I live, but I’d hate to see you make the same mistake.”
“And what would the mistake be?”
Chad dumped the zucchini into a sauté pan, then stopped to look at her. “Running away from life. Speaking of your mother, how is she?” There was an edge to his voice, one she hadn’t noticed before.
“She’s doing okay. It’s been hard for her to deal with Mark’s death, and the legal issues involved with his partnership didn’t make it any easier. But she’s strong, and she’ll recover.”
“She know you’re here?”
This was the conversation she’d been waiting for. “Yes.”
Gemma wasn’t going to make this easy on him. And nothing would induce her to tell him about the album she discovered, especially because she wasn’t sure of her mother’s true motive for putting it together. The loving touches added throughout looked more like the work of a woman pining for true love than a chronicle of events for a child. And the fact she stopped keeping track of Chad when she married Mark, strengthened Gemma’s belief she was right.
“So, she told you about me?” His gaze intensified.
“Yes. She told me who you were and left it up to me to decide what to do with the information.” It was mostly the truth.
“I’m glad you came.” The sincerity in his voice was unmistakable.
She struggled to understand. “The jury is still out on my end.”
“Fair enough.”
Chad stepped out onto the front porch to flip the chicken and then returned to finish fixing the salads. He set the table and served dinner, all while she sat sipping her lemonade and answering his questions.
Thank goodness for Brody. He managed to break the tension in the room as he darted back and forth between her and Chad. Her crazy mutt was eating up the attention, and it was a great way to cover any awkward silences that crept into the conversation.
They sat down at the table. He took her hand in his, bowed his head and said grace.
Another surprise, but a good one.
“My turn to ask questions,” Gemma spoke up after they prepped their dinner and started to eat.
He paused the ascent of his fork in mid-air. “Okay.” He seemed less confident in his answer.
“I know you said you were young and weren’t ready to face fatherhood. And yeah, I agree it was a stupid decision. But at what point do you stop running from your past mistakes and not try to fix them? Why did you never contact me? You knew where I lived. You knew where I attended school. I don’t get it. How do you know so much, and yet we’ve never met?”
“That’s a tough one to answer.” Chad laid his fork down on the plate and ran his hand through his hair. He let out a deep breath. “It was just better that I stay away. It’s not that I didn’t want to know you, it’s that it was better you didn’t know me.”
“Maybe you should’ve let me be the judge. You have no idea what it was like growing up without you in my life. Always wanting. Always feeling as if I was missing out. There’re no do-overs. We can’t get any of those years back.”
“I’m sorry. What I’m hoping is, now that you’re here and you do know me, you will make a choice to keep in touch. It has to be your decision, but it’s something I’ve wanted for a very long time.”
“You’re not making any sense. How can I decide about a future with you if you can’t give me answers about the past?” Gemma leaned back in her chair, not hungry anymore.
“Get to know me. You’re welcome to stay through the weekend. In fact, stay as long as you want. I know this is awkward, but I’ll take a hundred times awkward if it means I get to spend time with you.”
“I’ll think about it. I don’t know.”
“Fair enough.”
For the next two hours, they talked. Chad regaled her with stories of his bull-riding days and even the story of the accident that led to his retirement. The real story, not the made-for-TV version. And Gemma told him about her friend Katie, about softball, about college, and more about her job. Little things, but it was the best they could do to fill in the gaps of their missing years. It was a start.
Stifling a yawn, Gemma stood. “It was a long drive. I’m going to head to bed if you don’t mind. Thanks again for today.”
“You’re welcome.” Brody followed her out of the room and down the hall.
She needed to talk to her mother to explain the change in plans, but before she could explain it to anyone, she had to figure it out for herself.
Chapter Five
The light of dawn streamed through the picture window doors that led from Gemma’s bedroom to the balcony, chasing away night’s darkness. She still couldn’t believe she was there and had spent the night at her dad’s house. But the log cabin walls, the rustic furniture, and the incredible view out the doors were living proof.
Any doubts about her ability to fall asleep in his house had been wrong. In fact, she’d slept amazingly well, all things considered. She stretched and crawled out of bed, moving to stand in front of the window. The view of the countryside held her in awe, more so than yesterday when she’d been caught up in her own personal mission to put Chad in his place. Of course, after that, all focus had been on Brody’s rescue. This morning was a different story. Her appreciation for the beauty around her multiplied tenfold.
Clouds billowed against the backdrop of the blue sky that met acres and acres of trees. She could see far off into the distant horizon with only the flashing beacons of a few cell towers to break the beauty. She glanced back at Brody, still sound asleep in her bed.
Poor dog. Exhausted from his adventure, he hadn’t raised his head to say good morning. Normally, by this time, he was nudging her to get up and take him out for his morning potty walk.
Gemma glanced at the chair where her overnight bag sat. She hadn’t planned on staying, which meant her choice of clothes left a lot to be desired. Black slacks and a dressy emerald green silk top were more suited for the fancy corporate parties she hosted than a ranch. Oh well. Yesterday’s jeans would have to serve double duty, but there was nothing she could do about the blouse.
After getting dressed, she chec
ked her phone for messages and discovered a text.
Mom: Okay. Keep me posted. How’s your dad?
That’s it? No curiosity. And her only question echoed Chad’s words yesterday when he’d asked about her mother. Gemma always assumed her mother hated her father for ditching them when she needed him most, and yet the photo album made a mockery of the presumed hate. She wasn’t sure how to answer the text, so for now, she decided it could wait. Besides, a phone call would be easier to explain what happened, even though her mother hadn’t asked.
Not wanting to put her high heels back on, she walked barefoot down the cold hallway floor to the kitchen. Her dad— no—Chad she mentally corrected, sat at the kitchen table, a cup of coffee in hand, reading a newspaper.
“Good morning. Is there enough coffee for me to have a cup?” she asked hopefully.
“Morning. And yes, I made a full pot, just in case. Did you sleep okay?”
“I did.” Much to her surprise. Apparently, neither Brody nor she was used to country air or the excitement of being center stage for a rescue. That part of the day, she could do without ever experiencing again.
“How about I fix you some breakfast? Bacon and eggs, okay?”
“Sure. Sounds wonderful.” Having someone prepare her meals was a nice change of pace. Living alone meant she cooked, or she starved. An associate event planner’s salary was nothing to get excited about and didn’t allow for her to eat out frequently, but at least she loved her job.
“I don’t know if you’ve made a decision about how long you’re staying, but I wanted to see if you had any interest in going for a ride with me this morning. I’ve got a mare who would be just your size, and she sure could use some exercise.”
Figures he’d zero in on her Achilles’ heel as an attempt to tip the scales in his favor to get her to stay longer. It had been twelve years since she’d been on the back of a horse, and she’d probably make a complete fool of herself, but oh, how she wanted to ride. Her horse had been her magical escape into a world where nothing else mattered except the fields, the wind, and the sun beating down on her face as she careened over the countryside.
