Jed was glad Holly agreed to ride with him to church the next morning. They were headed to the same destination. It was simply common sense to go together. At least that’s what he told himself as they walked toward the entry doors. Inside, he asked if she would like something from the coffee bar.
She shook her head. “No, thanks.”
“Well, I need a tall one. I got up too late to make my own. Wait for me here?”
This time she nodded.
He got into the queue, feeling impatient. Was it eagerness for his morning shot of caffeine or that he wanted to get back to Holly? They’d had a great time yesterday with Ben and Ashley, but something had changed between saying their goodbyes to their hosts at the farm and arriving at Holly’s house. She’d seemed withdrawn and even reluctant to look at him. Maybe it shouldn’t matter so much, but he didn’t like the idea of her pulling away from him, from their budding friendship.
The reaction puzzled him. His relationships with women had always come second, first to his higher education, then to his work. More than one of the women he’d dated through the years—attractive women, nice women, interesting women—had grown tired of waiting for him to become more involved. Some had told him their feelings. Others had simply disappeared. And, to be honest, he’d never minded much.
But when it came to Holly, he did mind. He didn’t want her to disappear from his life, even though he couldn’t say she was actually in it to start with. How strange was that?
He glanced over his shoulder and discovered Holly talking to a girl with a toddler in her arms. Holly smiled as she touched the little boy’s cheek, then said something to the young mother. At least he assumed she was the mom. Maybe she was a sister to the little boy.
His turn to order arrived, and he gave his full attention to the volunteer barista behind the counter. A short while later, a tall black coffee in hand, he made his way back to Holly. The younger woman was still talking to her. As he stepped close, they both turned to look at him.
“Jed, I want you to meet Willow Flynn and her son, AJ. Willow has taken my cooking classes recently. This is her first time at Covenant Fellowship. Willow, this is a friend of mine, Jed Henning. He’s visiting Boise, so he’s new to Covenant too.”
“Hi, Willow. Nice to meet you.” Jed didn’t offer his hand since both of hers were busy holding her wriggling toddler.
Willow didn’t return the greeting immediately. She simply stared at him, her light-blue eyes seeming almost too big for her face. Her complexion was so pale he wondered if she’d ever been in the sun, even for a minute. Finally, she said, “I . . . I’d better find the nursery. AJ wants down.”
“Sure.” Holly glanced at Jed. “I’m going to show her to the children’s wing. We’ll join you in the sanctuary in a few.”
“Okay.” He watched them go, an even more troubled feeling settling in his chest. The way Willow had looked at him. Had Holly said something negative about him to the younger woman? But why would she? Still, he had the distinct sensation that Willow had wanted to get away from him.
“Hey, Jed.”
He turned toward Ben’s voice. His cousin had his arm around Ashley’s shoulders as the two of them walked toward him.
“Holly didn’t come with you?” Ashley asked, sounding disappointed.
“No. She’s here. She’s showing someone to the children’s wing.”
“I know Grandpa’s already here,” Ben said. “I saw his car outside. Shall we join him or wait here for Holly?”
“She said she’d meet us in the sanctuary.”
The threesome moved in that direction, stopping every so often to speak to someone. The exchanges made it obvious how well liked Ben and Ashley were within this congregation. It reminded Jed once again how separate he’d kept himself for so many years, even within the body of Christ. His life had been almost 100 percent about work, and even there he’d formed only a few friendships. By his own choice. He’d been the one to set up boundaries with others.
Including with his brother.
His gaze darted to the entrance of the children’s wing. He didn’t like it that Holly had seemed to pull away from him, and yet he’d been doing that very thing for years—and to the people he loved.
It needs to change. I need to change.
He was still mulling over that thought when they arrived at the row of chairs where Grant Henning awaited them.
* * *
“Holly?” Willow held her son tight against her chest. “I think I’ll stay in here with AJ. They said I could do that and watch the service on the screen. You don’t mind, do you?” Her expression was anxious.
“Are you sure? AJ will be fine. There’re lots of kids for him to play with, and you could sit with me. I’d love to introduce you to my friends.”
“No. I’m sure. I want to stay here.”
Something told Holly not to press too hard. It was enough that Willow had come to church that morning of her own accord. “All right. Would you like me to come for you afterward? We could give you a ride back to the shelter.”
“No, thanks. We’ll walk back on the Greenbelt. It’s a pretty day.”
“If you’re sure.”
“I’m sure.”
Holly gave a little wave to AJ, then made her way out of the children’s wing. She told herself not to be disappointed by Willow’s decision. She’d issued many invitations to the women who came to her cooking classes, but none had accepted until today. Willow was here, even if she’d chosen to stay in the nursery. That was something.
She made it into the sanctuary as the worship team began leading the first praise song and soon reached the chair that had been saved for her between Ashley and Jed. Ashley gave her hand a squeeze of welcome. Holly returned it before setting her purse and Bible on the chair. Then she faced the stage and closed her eyes, joining in the worship.
* * *
“It’s not too late,” Jed said as he opened the door of his car for Holly. “We could still meet the others at the restaurant for lunch.”
“Sorry. I can’t. I have things I must do this afternoon.”
He was tempted to say she worked too much but stopped himself. Who was he to talk? If he hadn’t come to Boise to look for Chris, if his dad hadn’t suspended operations, he would be thinking about work even if he wasn’t at the office on a Sunday afternoon.
“Besides,” Holly added, “Trixie’s coming over later.”
Jed got into the car and started the engine. “More wedding plans?”
“Of course.” She laughed softly. “It’s all-consuming for my sister, and she seems to want me involved with everything. I should have said all I could do was bake the cake. I never should have agreed to be maid of honor too.”
“From what I can tell, it’s hard to say no to Trixie.”
She laughed again, this time with gusto. “You said a mouthful.”
“I envy how close you two are.” He hadn’t meant to say that.
“You aren’t close with your brother?” Sympathy had replaced humor in her voice.
“We were close when we were little. But we grew apart later. It got . . . complicated between us.”
“It happens.”
He frowned at the road ahead. “My dad seems to think it’s up to me to fix things. I guess that’s because I’m the older brother. But it’s hard to fix something when you don’t know why it’s broken.”
As the words left his mouth, he wondered if they were true. Did he really not know why the relationship with his brother was broken? He’d made his impatience with Chris obvious, not only to his brother but to everybody else who worked at Laffriot. He’d tried to force Chris to be more responsible, more ambitious. More like me. The thought made him wince.
“I’ve been too hard on him. Too hard for too long a time.”
“I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I can tell you’re unhappy about it.”
Funny, he hadn’t thought he was unhappy about it. He’d been angry and irritated. He’d had plenty of reasons to be. But he hadn’t thought he cared that the two of them were no longer close. Until now.
“Oh, look. Trixie’s already here. I wasn’t expecting her this soon.”
Jed turned into the alley and parked his car in the garage. By the time they stepped into the backyard, Trixie awaited them by the back door.
“You’re early,” Holly called to her sister.
“I know.” Trixie’s gaze went to Jed. “I was with a younger cousin of ours yesterday. His name’s Ricky. Do you know what he likes to do most? He’s a gamer. Isn’t that what you call people who are serious about playing electronic games? Role-playing and shooting and blowing things up and slaying the villain and all that?”
Jed shrugged.
Trixie grinned. “You should have seen Ricky’s face when I happened to mention the name of Holly’s new tenant. He said, ‘You mean the Laffriot guy?’ After that, he couldn’t shut up about you.” Trixie turned toward Holly, then looked at Jed again. “This guy’s famous.”
“Famous?” It was Holly’s turn to look at him.
“Not me. My company, maybe.”
“That’s not what Ricky says. He says the game you released last year is the best he’s ever played. He says you’re a genius.”
Jed felt tension tightening his jaw. Chris was the genius. Jed’s business plans had put the company on the map, but the game itself had been dreamed up by Chris, developed by Chris, perfected by Chris. But some kid in Idaho didn’t know that. He knew about Laffriot. He knew about Jed. But Chris wasn’t on the boy’s radar.
And that was Jed’s fault.
His jaw was throbbing now. “I’d better leave you two to your wedding plans.” Without waiting for a response, he turned and headed toward the apartment stairwell.