Rachel smiled at Molly. The little girl stood next to her, looking first to Wyatt and then back to Rachel, her eyes big. Rachel smiled at Wyatt, too, ignoring that he looked a little put out. “You can go, too.”
“Where are you going fishing?” He leaned against the door frame, still holding Kat.
She knew this had to be difficult. For the last six months he’d kept them pretty close. Now Violet was pushing him to get a housekeeper and Rachel wanted to take them off fishing.
“To the lake. I have permission to fish off a dock that belongs to one of our church members. It’s a pretty day and...”
She was rambling. He did that to her, and she really resented that he managed to undo her ability to hold it together. He was just a man. A man in jeans, a dark blue polo and boots. His hair was brushed back from his face, probably with his hand. And he’d shaved for once. His cologne drifted into her space, a fresh, outdoorsy scent.
Right, just a man.
So why couldn’t she focus and act like the adult she was? He was leaning, hip against the door frame, watching her, his dark eyes a little wicked, sparkling with something mischievous; as if he knew that she wanted to step closer.
One of the Sunday school teachers appeared behind him, opening her mouth to say something. Maria, just a few years older than Rachel, looked from Wyatt to Rachel and then she scurried away mumbling that she’d catch up with her later. That left her, Rachel, stuck in a quagmire of emotion she hadn’t been expecting.
She climbed out of the emotional quicksand and got it together.
“If it isn’t a good day...” She had been so sure of herself that morning when the idea hit.
So much for the butterfly on her back serving as a reminder to think before acting. If she’d followed that rule she would have allowed him to sign his girls out, and she’d have driven on to the lake alone. Alone was much less complicated than this moment with Wyatt.
“It actually is a good day.” He glanced out the window, and she followed his gaze to blue skies and perfectly green grass. “It’s a perfect day. I have a young horse that I need to work before his owner picks him up. I think Violet is leaving so it would be good to work him without the possibility of little girls racing across the yard.”
“Good, then this works for both of us.” She felt a funny sensation in her stomach. “I’ll pack a lunch and we’ll make a day of it.”
“Is it Frank Rogers’s dock?”
“It is.”
“Good, I just like to know where they are.”
“We can go?” Molly jumped up and down. “And take our swimsuits?”
“If your daddy says it is okay. I’ll go to our house and make sandwiches while you take them home to get play clothes. Swimsuits, if you don’t mind them getting in the water.”
“If you keep them in the shallow water.”
“I think we can manage.” She watched him leave with the girls and then she packed up her bag and headed out. This felt good, spending time with the girls. She had wanted to do it since they showed up in Dawson, but up till now he hadn’t looked as if he would agree to let them go.
But today she would teach them to fish. And she wouldn’t think about not being here at the end of the summer.
Two hours later, although fishing was her plan, she realized fishing was the last thing the girls wanted. Try as she might, Rachel couldn’t get them settled down next to her on the dock’s wooden bench. Instead they were running back and forth, sticking their feet in the water.
Kat wrestled with her life jacket, wishing, over and over again, that she could take it off. Finally she sat down next to Rachel, her little head hanging as she fiddled with the zipper.
“Leave it on, Kat.” Molly lectured in a voice far older than a three-, almost four-year-old.
“I’m big enough.”
Rachel smiled and shook her head at the statement.
“I tell you what, girls, let’s skip rocks. And maybe we can wade.” She looked around, spotting the perfect way to kill time. “Or we could take a ride on the paddleboat!”
Both girls let out squeals of delight. Who needed to catch fish, when there was something as fun as a paddle boat? She tightened the life jacket that Kat had managed to loosen and lifted her into the boat. Molly went in the seat next to her. Rachel untied the fiberglass boat and settled into the empty seat next to the girls. She started to peddle and the little boat slid away from the dock.
Waves rolled across the surface of the lake making it rough going for one person pedaling against the wind. But the girls didn’t mind. Rachel looked down at the two little girls, their faces up to the sun and eyes closed against the breeze.
They were quite a distance from shore when she turned and headed them back toward the dock. Kat leaned against her, groggy, her thumb in her mouth. Rachel leaned back, her arms relaxed behind the two little girls.
It was moments like this she ached for a child of her own. She wanted to be someone’s wife, the mother of their children.
A few years ago she had started to doubt that dream.
Her sister, Cynthia, had chided her for martyrdom. She said Rachel was giving up her life to take care of their parents. Rachel shrugged off that accusation. It wasn’t martyrdom, not really. It wasn’t even guilt, not anymore. It had started out that way, but over the years, when no handsome prince appeared, she stopped believing that there would be one for her.
Cynthia had a house in the suburbs. Rachel had boxes that she kept in the closet for the next move.
She didn’t want to think about moving again, not now with the girls next to her. If they moved, it would hurt in a way that no move had ever hurt before. She leaned to kiss Kat on the top of her head.
Time to push these thoughts from her mind and enjoy this day. She didn’t know for certain that her dad would take a new church. He never made a decision without prayer. And Rachel was praying, too. Because she didn’t want to leave Dawson.
* * *
The horse stood stiff-legged with Wyatt in the saddle. He really didn’t want to get thrown today. He should have stopped when he finished working the other horse, but this one couldn’t be put off. He gave the horse a nudge with his heels. The leather of the saddle creaked a little as the horse shifted. Wyatt settled into the saddle and the gelding took a few steps forward. He pushed his hat down a little because he wasn’t about to lose a brand-new hat.
A car pulled up the drive and honked. Great.
The horse let loose, bucking across the arena, jerking him forward and then back. Wyatt tightened his legs around the horse’s middle and held tight. Man, he really didn’t like a horse that bucked.
Eventually the animal settled and Wyatt held him tight. The horse stood in the center of the arena, trembling a little and heaving.
“Sorry, Buddy, I’m still back here. You aren’t my first trip to the rodeo.” He nudged the horse forward and they walked around the arena.
They did a few laps around the arena, the horse jarring him with a gait somewhere between a walk and trot. Wyatt nodded when his mother-in-law approached the fence. He’d thank her later for the ride he hadn’t really wanted to take.
At least the horse had calmed down and they would end this training session with the gelding remembering that Wyatt had remained in the saddle. Horses kept those memories. If they got a guy on the ground, they remembered. If you gave up on them, they remembered. If you stuck, they remembered.
He rode up to the gate and leaned to open it. A little more of a lesson than he’d planned, but the gelding didn’t dump him. Instead he backed and then slid through the open gate with Wyatt still in the saddle.
“I’m so sorry, Wyatt.” Violet smiled a little and shrugged. “I didn’t even think.”
He swung his leg over and slid to the ground. “Normally it wouldn’t matter. He’s just greener than most. The people bought him as a yearling and kept him in the field for the next two years. He hadn’t been trailered or had a halter on until we brought him over here.”
“And you’re already riding him?”
“We’ve done a couple of weeks of ground work to get him to this point.”
“I see.” But she didn’t. Violet wasn’t country. She had never been on a horse. A half-dozen years ago Wyatt had still been hitting rodeos and Violet had seen it as a waste of time.
He’d quit after that year, the year he won the buckle he’d always wanted. He quit to focus on ministry, on his wife and family.
The dog ran out of the barn and barked. Another car was coming up the drive. He groaned a little. Just what he needed, Violet and Rachel here at the same time. Rachel pulled up and his girls climbed out of her car.
“She took them fishing.” He explained, because Violet had been gone when he got back from church. She’d left a note that she’d be back in the afternoon and she’d spend another night before going home.
“That’s good, Wyatt.” Violet didn’t cry, but man, her eyes were overflowing.
“They love being around her.”
“Yes, they do. And she’s a lovely young woman.” She smiled at him as if that statement meant more. She was making a point he really didn’t want pointed out.
“Violet, she isn’t...”
Rachel was too close and the girls were running toward him with a stringer of perch. He shook his head and let it go. Violet could believe what she wanted. He let his gaze slide to the woman in question, to a smile that went through him with a jolt. Her hair was pulled back in a tangled mass of brown curls and her eyes sparkled with laughter.
Violet could believe what she wanted, he repeated in his head as his attention slid back to his girls, to what really mattered.
“Did you girls have fun?” He took the string of fish and hugged the girls close. Molly and Kat wrapped their arms around him.
“We fished and waded and paddled a boat.” Molly smiled a big smile. Her wounded spirit was healing. He smiled up at Rachel, knowing she was partially to thank for that. Rachel and time were healing their hearts. Kat’s and Molly’s, not his.
His didn’t feel quite as battered, but he thanked time, not Rachel. Oh, and the faith that he’d held on to, even when he hadn’t realized he was clinging to it like a life raft.
“They had lunch and on the way home took a short nap.”
“Thank you.” Wyatt straightened from hugging the girls, a little stiff from the wild ride he’d taken a few minutes ago. “I guess I should get inside and get cleaned up. I’m supposed to be at the church this evening to meet with your dad.”
Rachel glanced at her watch. “I have a meeting, too. But first I’m going to drive up and see if Andie needs anything.”
He nodded and watched her walk away. The girls were telling him all about fishing and the lake. He shifted his focus from them for just a moment to watch Rachel get in her car. She waved as she drove away, the top down on her car.
“Wendy would have liked her.” Violet spoke softly and he couldn’t meet her gaze. His mother-in-law liked Rachel Waters.
So where did that leave him? It left him staring after a little red convertible. The dog had come out of the barn and chased her down the drive. At least Wyatt had more sense and dignity than that.
* * *
Rachel pulled up the long drive to Andie and Ryder’s house. She did a double take when she spotted a plane parked near the barn. What in the world?
She got out of her car, still looking at the plane and ignoring the border collie that ran circles around her, barking and wagging its black-and-white tail to show that the barking was meant to be friendly. She reached to pet the dog and then walked up the sidewalk to ring the doorbell.
Etta opened the door before Rachel could actually push the bell. The older woman looked beautiful as always with every hair in place and makeup perfectly applied. Today she wore jean capris and a T-shirt, no tie-dye.
“Hey, girl, what are you doing out here?” Etta motioned her inside.
“I took Molly and Kat fishing, then thought I’d stop and see if Andie needs anything.”
Etta laughed. “She needs something all right. She needs off that couch. She’s driving us all crazy. It’s spring and she can’t stand being inside.”
“I hear you talking about me,” Andie yelled from the living room.
Etta’s brows shot up and she smiled a little, then motioned Rachel inside. She walked to the wide door that led into the living room.
Poor Andie, pregnant with twins, flat on the couch. The other option was the hospital. She waved Rachel in.
“Contrary to popular belief, I don’t bite.” Andie rolled on her side. “And do not call the media and tell them there is a whale beached in Dawson.”
“You look beautiful.”
Andie growled a little and sighed. “Right.”
“It’ll be worth it...”
Andie waved her hand. “I know, I know.”
“And it won’t take you long to get back to your old self. With babies, of course.”
“It’s frightening.” Andie’s eyes shadowed. “Honestly, Rachel, it really is scary. Ryder and I are just learning to be responsible for ourselves, and we’re going to be responsible for two little people, for making sure they grow up to be good adults. We’re going to be responsible for their health, for their well-being, for their spiritual life.”
“I’m sure God is going to have a little hand in it.”
“Of course. And hopefully He’ll get us past the mistakes we’re going to make.”
Rachel sat down in the chair next to the couch. “Train up a child in the way they should go.”
“And when they are teens they’ll rebel and give you gray hair.” Andie laughed and the shadows dissolved.
“Right. I think I gave my parents more than their share of gray hair during my rebellious years.”
“I can’t picture it, you as a rebel.”
Rachel sat back in the chair and thought about it. “I don’t know if it was rebellion or just trying to find a place where I felt included.”
“You?”
“Me. My sister, Cynthia, was the pretty cheerleader. Rob was studious. I was overweight and never felt like I fit in. I was always the poor pastor’s daughter in secondhand clothing, lurking at the back of the room.”
“I’m sorry, Rach. I wish you could have grown up here.”
“Me, too. But I went through those things for a reason. I can relate to feeling left out, afraid, unsure of who I’m supposed to be. When I tell the kids at church that this stuff is temporary, they believe me.”
“I love you, Rachel Waters.” Andie reached for her hand. “The girls at church are lucky to have you. And before long maybe we’ll also have a new youth minister?”
“Dad has interviewed a few people but he hasn’t landed on the right person.” Actually, her dad believed the right person was in their church and just not ready for the job. Not yet. Not until his own heart healed.
“What about Wyatt?”
“I’m not sure if he’s ready.”
“No, I mean, what about Wyatt?” Andie’s smile changed and her eyes twinkled with mischief. “He’s pretty hot.”
“He’s pretty taken and your brother-in-law.”
“Taken?”
Humor and laughter faded. Andie’s head tilted to the side and she waited.
“He still wears his wedding band.”
“Of course. I think he hasn’t thought to take it off.” Andie grimaced a little. “These two are really doing the tango in there.”
“Do you need me to get Etta or Ryder?”
Andie shook her head. “Nope, not yet. It’s just occasional kicks and a few twinges. When the contractions really hit, I won’t be this calm.”
Rachel left a few minutes later. As she drove down the drive and turned back in the direction of Dawson, her thoughts turned again to Wyatt Johnson.
He was a complication. She smiled because it was the first time she’d found the perfect label for him. Complication.
How did people deal with a complication like that, one that made them forget convictions, forget past pain, made them want to take chances?
It seemed easy enough. Stay away. That was the key to dealing with temptation, resist it. Turn away from it. Not toward it.
She’d learned to resist the lure of chocolate cake, so surely she could learn to resist Wyatt Johnson. After all, she really, really loved chocolate cake.