Sunday morning dawned bright and beautiful, and Lily couldn’t help smiling as she took in the view from the tiny porch outside her studio apartment. Sitting on the single wooden step, she sipped her coffee while the sleepy village around her seemed to yawn and wake itself for another day.
The gracious Victorian that had been advertising a room for rent had been a real find, she recalled as her eyes roamed the neighborhood dotted with comfortable-looking homes and well-tended gardens. There were only a few fences for containing pets such as dogs and chickens, and the other day she’d been surprised to find a glorious peacock strutting his stuff a few doors down.
Peaceful but humming with the comings and goings of everyday life, it was a far cry from Louisville. And with each passing day, Oaks Crossing appealed to her more and more. If only she could find her way into a job somewhere in the area, she wouldn’t mind staying on past the end of summer.
She heard the slap of a neighbor’s screen door and looked over to find an elderly man shuffling down his front walkway with an equally elderly cocker spaniel. The owner noticed her and nodded, giving her a toothless smile that told her he’d forgotten to put his dentures in. Again. “Good morning, Mr. Farnham.”
“Morning to you, too, Miss St. George. Out enjoying this lovely day?”
“I am. Are you and Lady headed down to the park in the center of all those pretty churches?”
“We are. Will we be seeing you at services today?”
Small Southern towns, she mused with another smile. In her previous life, most people she knew considered Sunday to be the day after Saturday night, designed expressly for sleeping in. Here in Oaks Crossing, she’d quickly learned that if you weren’t planning to be in church, you’d better have a good excuse. “Yes, you will. I really like the way Pastor Wheaton delivers a sermon.”
“Direct and to the point, just how everyone oughta be, in my opinion. I’ll leave you to your coffee, then.”
“Have a good walk.”
He raised a veined hand in response and continued on his way with Lady waddling along beside him. Behind her, Lily heard a tsking noise and glanced over at the open kitchen window.
“He forgets his teeth more often than not,” her landlady, Beatrice Herman, chided, shaking her head while she shooed a grasshopper off the sill with a dish towel. “From what I’ve seen, there’s not a man alive who can make it as a widower.”
“Everyone does better with company, I guess. Maybe you should take him some of your famous barbecue after church,” she suggested with a little grin.
“Augie Farnham? He’s the same age my daddy would have been, God rest his soul.” When Lily didn’t respond, the woman eyed her with a long, puzzled look that gradually gave way to a laugh. “You’re pulling my leg, aren’t you?”
“I just suggested you take him some food. You made the romantic leap all on your own.”
“At my age, it’s a wonder I can still jump any distance at all. Now, if I was a young, pretty thing like you, the men’d be beating down my door.”
“I don’t seem to be having that problem,” Lily pointed out, swallowing some more coffee. “I like it better that way. It’s much easier.”
“Easy, schmeasy,” Bea scoffed. Her skeptical expression became pensive, and a wistful look came into her eyes. “Take it from me, dear. When you find the right man, he’s worth every ounce of trouble he causes.”
Drawing her head back inside, she slid the window shut and left Lily to finish her coffee in silence. Well, quiet, anyway, she amended her thought with a grin. All manner of birds lived in the shrubs and trees that dotted the expansive yard, and they called to one another while they dive-bombed worms in the freshly turned dirt that marked Bea’s evolving vegetable garden.
Then she picked up a sound that was distinctly unbirdlike. It was a whimper so faint she couldn’t be sure where it had come from, and at first she thought she’d imagined it. No, there it was again.
Listening intently, she eased off the stoop to get a better fix on its source. The cool grass tickled her bare feet, but it also muffled her steps as she moved in what she hoped was the right direction. And there, under a mulberry bush, she found the source.
A small dog cowered under the low branches, doing its best to blend into the shadows beneath the bush. Covered in mud and bits of grass, its buff-colored coat hadn’t been bathed recently, which led her to think its mother might be gone. Looking around, she saw no sign of a dog or other pups.
When she came back to the pitiful orphan, she noticed its eyes were still grayish-blue. It opened its pink mouth, but it was so exhausted no sound came out. Moved by the pitiful scrap of fur, her heart lurched in sympathy. Going slowly to avoid scaring it, she reached in to take it from its damp nest and cradled it against her chest. She wasn’t very large herself, but the puppy looked tiny and helpless in her arms.
“Oh, you poor little baby,” she crooned, rocking the trembling animal in a calming gesture. A quick peek showed her the puppy was male, and in the space of a single heartbeat, Lily decided she had to do something to help him.
Edging toward the house, she kept up a nonsensical string of chatter to reassure her new friend. She had no idea what such a young dog would eat, so she tapped lightly on the kitchen door and waited for Bea to open it.
“What on earth?” Bea opened the towel she held and wrapped it around the bit of fur as if it was a child and handed the bundle back to Lily. “Where did you find this little darling?”
“Under a bush in the backyard. I have to get ready for church, but I wanted to make him comfortable in my bathroom in case he makes a mess. I know you don’t allow pets, so I promise to find him a home as soon as possible.”
“I’d love to tell you he could stay, but the last dog owner I rented to left me with a huge, expensive mess after he moved out. For now, though, I expect he’d like some watered-down milk for breakfast. Do you have any old newspapers?”
“Um, no.”
“Oh, I forget,” Bea replied with a chuckle. “You young folks get all your news online, don’t you? I haven’t read today’s yet, but come on in. I think I’ve got some in the recycle bin under the sink.”
While Lily waited in the center of the kind woman’s ruthlessly immaculate kitchen, the puppy fell asleep in her arms. The trusting gesture touched her deeply, and she silently promised the tiny pup that she’d find him a wonderful, loving home so he’d never be cold or hungry again.
Bea was full of practical advice about pets, and once she’d finished Puppy Care 101, Lily settled her fuzzy houseguest in her small bathroom with a bowl of diluted milk and a soft blanket. Seeming to realize he was finally safe, the adorable fur ball cuddled into the blanket and promptly fell back to sleep. He was so precious. She gently stroked his wrinkly forehead and plucked the worst of the grass from his coat before tapping his black button nose. After taking a few photos of him with her phone, Lily carefully stepped around him and eased the door shut behind her.
Then she quickly finished getting ready and opened the antique rosewood box where she kept Great-Grandma Katie’s Bible. Tattered from many decades of love, it was almost unusable these days, but Lily still took it to church with her every Sunday. She’d never met her feisty ancestor, but carrying the antique book just felt right to her. She had a feeling Katie liked the tradition, too.
The Shepherd’s Chapel was just up the street, and it was such a pleasant morning, Lily decided to walk. Built by the town’s residents in the late 1800s, it was a simple, sturdy building with a modest steeple whose bell echoed in the warming air, calling the congregation to worship.
In no particular hurry, Lily strolled along a sidewalk shaded by dark green awnings and deep porch roofs. She was still getting a feel for the quaint little town, and she paused here and there to see what the Main Street merchants had in their display windows. One showed off the latest in electronics and computers, while another was advertising half-off Kentucky Derby hats for ladies. The race had been run already this year, so she imagined they were intended for next season’s Run for the Roses. She couldn’t imagine planning that far ahead for a derby outfit, but she had no doubt some of her more sociable friends actually did.
Friends she hadn’t heard a peep from in months, she acknowledged with a frown. She’d been so busy with her master’s thesis and student teaching, it hadn’t occurred to her that none of them had bothered to contact her. No emails, texts, Tweets, nothing. Apparently, her choice to forge a satisfying career of her own rather than walk herself down the aisle to become Mrs. Someone was something they simply couldn’t understand.
She’d once read a quote that said following your own drummer would show you who your friends were. Now she knew exactly how true those words were.
Wading in emotions she’d rather not examine too closely, she suddenly realized she’d stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and was in danger of being late. She picked up her pace and was climbing the church steps just as the organist began playing the opening chords of their first hymn.
Lily recognized the tune for “How Great Thou Art” and smiled while she slid into a rear pew. As she opened her hymnal, she noticed the small church was nearly full, the way it had been the other two times she’d attended services here. People were beginning to recognize her, and several greeted her with nods and smiles. One in particular caught her eye this morning, and she wiggled her fingers back at a grinning Abby Kinley.
To her surprise, Abby waved her up to their row, pointing to an open spot beside her on the end. Figuring there was no harm in moving during the singing, Lily sneaked forward and settled in beside Abby.
“I saved it for you,” the girl whispered, eyes glowing with pride at her foresight.
Lily whispered her thanks and glanced down the row to find the rest of the Kinleys singing along in a family chorus that blended nicely together. All except one.
Mike.
Abby must have noticed her frown, because she motioned for Lily to lean closer. “Daddy doesn’t come to church with us. Grammy says he’s mad at God for taking Grampa away.”
The matter-of-fact explanation sounded odd coming from such a young child, but Lily reasoned that Abby had grown up with her father’s bitterness and had chosen to admire his good qualities rather than dwell on his faults. Still, it struck her as strange that he’d allow her to attend services when he’d turned his back on religion. Did that mean he still saw value in his faith? she wondered. Almost as quickly as the idea had popped into her mind, she recognized the futility of even asking the question.
Mike didn’t seem to be the confiding type, so the chances of her getting an answer were remote, at best. At least he wasn’t preventing Abby from embracing the faith that his family so obviously valued. While the situation wasn’t ideal, Lily had to give the man credit for not sitting in church just to make a good impression on the neighbors. She knew far too many hypocrites who attended church every Sunday and then did things during the rest of the week that would have made Jesus weep.
When the hymn was finished, everyone got comfortable in their seats and looked expectantly toward the raised platform at the front of the sanctuary. There was no elegant statuary or stained glass, just an oak altar that had darkened over the years to show the detail of a grove of hand-carved oak trees that echoed the town’s picturesque name.
A slender man dressed in a plain gray suit strolled over from his place in the choir section and stood at a small lectern off to the side. With no notes, he folded his hands and leaned forward on his elbows as he smiled out into the congregation. To Lily, he looked more like a grandfather about to impart some sage advice than he did a preacher.
“Good morning.” The room rang with voices wishing him the same, and he continued in a folksy tone. “Y’know, I had a nice, neat sermon all prepared for today. Practiced it, had it down pat for y’all to hear. Then I looked out at this remarkable day and decided that what I had planned was all wrong.” Winging a fatherly look around the crowd, he said, “That happens to the best of us sometimes. We think we’re on the right path, and then something pops up in front of us to show us another way. When people say ‘God works in mysterious ways,’ that’s what they mean.”
Intellectually, Lily knew he wasn’t speaking directly to her, but it certainly felt as if he was. When she glanced around her, she saw people nodding slightly, while others were frowning as if he’d hit a sore spot with them. A few, like her, appeared to be entranced by his words, as if he’d shed some light on something they’d been struggling to understand in their own lives.
Taking the lesson a bit further, for the first time she could almost view Chad breaking off their engagement as a good thing. That crushing disappointment and the embarrassment that followed it had forced her to reassess her life and admit it wasn’t the one she wanted for herself. No matter how wonderful he might be, she wasn’t the type of woman to exist in the shadow of her husband, following him through the maze of social obligations that had always bored her.
That was Natalie’s life, and she adored it. But Lily felt there must be more out there for her, and Chad’s leaving had given her the opportunity to find it. She might not be spoiled and sheltered the way she would have been as his wife, and being alone could be tough to deal with sometimes. But she was happy. Her independence was worth more to her than all the possessions in the world.
Here, in this tiny country church, she’d discovered what was truly important to her. Smiling at the vaulted ceiling, she offered up a silent “Thank you.”
A warm breeze wafted through the tall window beside her, grazing her cheek with a soft touch akin to a caress. Fanciful as it was, she couldn’t help feeling it was Great-Grandma Katie, reaching down from heaven to let Lily know she was proud of her.
After the service, some people filed out right away, while others hung back chatting with friends. Maggie nudged Abby, who gave her a confused look before catching on. Turning back to Lily, she asked, “Would you like to come back to the farm and have lunch with us?”
“That’s very thoughtful of you, but I’ll have to pass for today. I have someone waiting for me at my place.” Excitement got the better of her, and she thumbed the photos icon on her phone. Spinning it, she showed Abby a shot of the napping puppy.
Letting out a delighted shriek, the girl snatched her phone away and stared at the picture with unabashed joy. “Look how little it is. Is it a boy or a girl?”
“A boy. He’s so young, his eyes are barely open, but they look blue to me.”
“What are you going to name him?”
“Oh, I’m not going to do that. I can’t keep him, so I’ll let his new owners figure out what they want to call him.”
“They do that at the shelter, too,” her student informed her in a very grown-up voice. “It’s a good idea.”
The shelter. In all the excitement, Lily had forgotten all about the farm’s rescue center. But now that Abby had mentioned it, that was the perfect solution to her predicament of what to do with the little guy. Looking down at Abby, she asked, “Would you like to help me take him over there tomorrow after school?”
“Would I?” Abby echoed, sending Maggie a hopeful look. “Pleeease, Grammy?”
“I’ve got a better idea,” the patient woman replied. “Why don’t we go over to Bea’s and get him, and stop in at the rescue center clinic so one of the vet techs can check him out?”
“On a Sunday?” Lily asked.
“Critters show up all the time,” Maggie explained, “so there’s always someone on duty. They don’t earn much money, but every one of them really loves animals. Plus, they’ll have all the supplies a new owner will need to take care of such a young puppy. Your little friend will be in good hands.”
It sounded like an excellent plan, so Lily agreed. The pup was still asleep when they arrived, so Lily scooped him up, blanket and all, and settled him in the passenger seat. She followed Maggie to the Oaks Crossing Rescue Center and was surprised to see the older woman motioning from her car.
“Abby wants to go in with you, but I’ve got to get back to the house and start lunch. Would you mind if she stays here?”
“Not a bit.” She smiled down at Abby, who was excitedly bouncing in place. “I could use some help picking out toys and a collar for him. He’ll need something to do until he’s old enough to go home with a new family.”
“I’m great at shopping,” the girl assured her. “Then can I hold him? I promise to be extra careful.”
Giving in to Abby’s affection for the cuddly armful, Lily suggested, “Why don’t you take him now, while I get the door?”
“Sure.” Eyes wide with the responsibility, she took the bundle as if it was made of precious crystal. The puppy’s own eyes slitted open, and he let out a barely audible grumble. “Is he okay? I didn’t mean to scare him.”
“He’s fine. That’s just his way of saying hello.” In truth, she had no idea if that was accurate or not, but it made sense to her and Abby seemed content with the explanation.
“You two have fun now.” Waving to them, Maggie pulled around in the parking lot and headed down the lane that led to the main house.
Anxious to find out if the abandoned pup was healthy, Lily pulled open the glass front door etched with what she recognized as the town’s logo, with the words Oaks Crossing Rescue Center inscribed in an arch over the iconic oak trees. An old-fashioned shop’s bell jingled overhead, and a door behind the reception desk opened.
Stepping through, a petite woman in pink scrubs dotted with puppies and kittens greeted them with a friendly smile. “Hey, Abby. What’s shakin’?”
“This is my teacher, Miss St. George,” she answered in a tone that was remarkably polite for someone who’d just been bouncing out of her patent leather shoes. “Miss St. George, this is Sierra. She works here with the animals.”
Lily shook the young woman’s hand and nodded at the bundle in Abby’s arms. “I found a puppy under my landlady’s bushes this morning. I don’t know the first thing about him or how he got there, so I’m hoping you can help us make sure he’s okay.”
“Definitely.” She came around the desk and hunkered down for a closer look. “Well, hello there, baby. What’s your name?”
“He doesn’t have one,” Abby informed her. “But I think he looks like a Charlie.”
“I think you’re right about that. Are you planning to keep him?” she asked Lily. “Or were you looking for us to keep him here until he can be adopted?”
Because of Bea’s rules, the option of keeping Charlie hadn’t even occurred to her. Now that it had been suggested, though, she wasn’t all that thrilled about leaving here without him. Folks were right when they cautioned you about taking in a stray, she realized with a smile. It sure was easy to get attached, especially with one as cute as Charlie.
Sadder than she’d anticipated, she sighed. “I can’t keep him where I live, so I guess he needs to stay here until he’s bigger. I do want to get him a collar and some toys, though.”
“We’ve got plenty of both.” With a gentle touch that spoke of years of practice, Sierra did a quick assessment without disturbing the puppy any more than necessary. “Other than being dirty, he looks pretty good. He’s too young for shots or anything like that, but in a few weeks, he’ll need to see a vet.”
Something about the way she said that caught Lily’s attention, and she asked, “Do you have someone here?”
“We used to, but he was on loan from a clinic and had to go back when business picked up. We’re hunting for a replacement, but this place is kind of remote, and since we’re a nonprofit, we can’t pay what full-fledged veterinarians are used to making.” Getting to her feet, she said, “I’ve got formula in the fridge out back, so I’ll see if he’s hungry and then get a cage ready for him in the baby room. Meantime, you two can check out the doggie stuff in the store. I’ll cash you out when you’re ready.”
“You wear a lot of hats,” Lily commented with honest appreciation.
The generous tech responded with a gentle smile. “Everyone who works here loves all of God’s creatures. Dogs, cats, raccoons, skunks—doesn’t matter to us. Our goal is to give them the best life we possibly can. If they’re adoptable, we find families for them. If not, they have a forever home right here with us.”
Abby had wandered into the store while they were talking, and once Sierra was gone, Lily took a business card from a countertop holder shaped like two paws. Mention of the place’s nonprofit status had made an impression on her, and she tucked the card in her purse.
One thing her philanthropist of a grandfather had taught her: always be on the lookout for a way to make the world a better place. With its selfless mission and devoted staff, she couldn’t imagine a more worthy cause than the Oaks Crossing Rescue Center.
On to more fun things, Lily thought as she strolled over and met Abby in a small shop off to the side of the lobby. The canine section stocked everything from treats to squeaky toys to collars in every color of the rainbow. With the sleeping puppy cradled in her arms, Abby stood in front of the accessories, her forehead creased in concentration.
“Which one do you think Charlie would like best?” Lily asked.
“Well, he’s light brown under the mud, so I think that blue one with the dog bones on it would look nice.”
“Bones it is,” Lily commented, hooking the collar on her finger to bring it down for him to inspect. After sniffing at it, he tentatively gnawed at the silver buckle and let out a muted grunt of approval. “That sounds like a yes to me. What else?”
Together, they chose a few toys, and Lily tore off an order form for a silver ID tag in the shape of a paw. She’d prepay the fee and leave it with Sierra so the new owners wouldn’t have any excuse for not buying a name tag for their dog. By the time they were finished, Sierra returned from out back with a small milk-style carton and a reassuring smile. “We’ll take good care of him, Abby, I promise. And you can come visit him anytime you want.”
Despite the reassurance, Abby was clearly reluctant to hand over her furry friend. Gazing hopefully up at Lily, she asked, “Could we bring him to the house, just for a little while?”
“Well...” Glancing at Sierra, she asked, “Is that okay?”
“Sure. I still have to get a cage ready for him anyway, so it’d actually help me out. He’s probably hungry, so you take this.” She dropped the chilled formula in a white paper bag printed with the center’s logo and handed it over. “We have a couple of other brands, so let me know how he likes this one.”
Lily thanked Sierra for all her help and held the exit door for Abby. She stowed the bag in the trunk of her car and opened the passenger door for her assistant. Very carefully, the girl slid into the seat and somehow managed to buckle the shoulder belt without disturbing Charlie. Lily had never met a child this age who was so considerate of others, and she knew even the sweetest little girl didn’t come out of the box that way.
Despite the difficult situation he was forced to work with, there was no debating that Mike was doing a wonderful job raising his daughter. If he somehow managed to get her through her teenage years unscathed, she’d be a remarkable young woman.
“Abby, I want to thank you for all your help today,” she commented as she backed around and headed for the house. “I’ve never had a pet before, so it was nice to have an expert to give me some advice.”
“You’re welcome.”
Her reply came in a barely audible voice, and Lily glanced over in concern. Abby was hugging her tiny armful, cheek resting on the puppy’s head. The girl looked so sad, Lily’s heart went out to her, even though she didn’t know what was wrong.
“Are you okay?” When all she got was a shrug, she pulled off to the side of the lane and turned to give her passenger her undivided attention. “What is it, sweetie? You can tell me.”
“I was just thinking how sad it is that Charlie’s mommy didn’t want him. I know how that feels.”
Lily frowned. Mike was under the impression that because Abby was an infant when Dana left them, her mother’s abandonment had no impact on her. Apparently, not remembering and not understanding were two very different things, and the intuitive girl understood the implications of being left behind all too well.
Resting a comforting hand on Abby’s shoulder, Lily waited until those china-blue eyes met hers. The mournful expression she saw in them made her want to cry, and she waited a moment to be sure her voice would come without a sob in it. “Have you ever told your father how you feel about this?”
Predictably, Abby shook her head. “He doesn’t like to talk about Mommy. Whenever Grammy or Aunt Erin tries, he gets mad and walks out.”
“Why do you think that is?”
“He’s not really mad,” Abby explained with the instinctive clarity of a six-year-old. “He’s sad, like I am. He loved her a lot, but after I came along she didn’t want us to be a family anymore. I don’t know why she didn’t want me,” she added, her slender shoulders heaving in a sigh.
Being the adult here, Lily felt compelled to say something, but she didn’t have the slightest idea how to respond. Then she recalled something her father had told her when he had to explain to his eight-year-old daughter why the mother she loved more than anyone in the world was packing her bags. “It has absolutely nothing to do with you, sweetie. Sometimes people change when we’re not looking.”
Abby took a few moments to absorb that, then declared, “Grown-ups are weird.”
“Tell me about it.” They traded half smiles, and Lily asked, “Is there anything else?”
“No, that’s it. I was just feeling bad because Charlie’s mother is gone. It’s a good thing you found him. Babies shouldn’t be left alone with no one to take care of them.”
“I agree a hundred percent,” Lily commented, shifting back into gear and pulling back onto the rutted field road.
When they pulled up next to the house, Charlie finally woke up and blinked up at Abby. When she lifted the puppy to rub noses, she got a yawning whine in reply.
“I think he likes you,” Lily commented, smiling over at them.
“I like him, too. Maybe when you come over to help Daddy with riding lessons, we could bring him over to watch us. Then you’d get to see him sometimes, too.”
Pleased to hear the bright tone back in her voice, Lily said, “I think that’s a great idea. Charlie would love that, and he could get used to being around other people and animals for when he’s older.”
“Babies don’t know much, so you have to teach them how to behave,” Abby cautioned in a knowing voice. “My friend’s brother can only crawl, but he gets into everything.”
“Really?” Lily got out and opened the other door for her. “Like what?”
While her passenger rattled off all the things the little terror had munched on, smashed or all out destroyed, Lily couldn’t stop laughing. She was fond of kids in general, which had led her to become a teacher in the first place. But without even trying, this endearing blend of tomboy spunk and compassion had zoomed to the top of her list.
She was really going to enjoy her summer at the farm, Lily mused with a grin. Of course, she and Mike would have to find a way to combine his brusque way of speaking with her softer approach, or their riding school would end up being an unmitigated disaster. Fortunately for him, she enjoyed a good challenge.
* * *
The very last person Mike expected to find chopping vegetables in his mother’s kitchen was Lily St. George.
Barefoot and wearing a blue dress dotted with white flowers, the pretty kindergarten teacher was slicing tomatoes for a salad and chatting with his mother as if they were old friends.
“And then what did she do?” Lily asked, making it clear he’d foolishly stumbled into an old-fashioned gab session.
“Told him if he liked that car so much, he could share the garage with it.” Mom chuckled while she pulled a pitcher of sweet tea from the fridge. “It seems he prefers that to being in the house with her, because he’s been living in his workshop ever since.”
“Boys and their toys.” Giving Mike a bright grin, she added, “It’s a guy thing, right?”
“I don’t know about that one. Have you ever met the lady in question?” When she shook her head, he grinned back. “When you do, then we’ll talk.”
“Michael Adam Kinley,” Mom chided, clicking her tongue in a sound he was all too familiar with. “What a thing to say.”
“Hey, at least I’m not adding fuel to the gossip fire. I make it a point to leave that to the experts.” Winking, he leaned in to kiss her cheek. On her best day, his mom was what you’d call a handful, but to his mind that was part of her charm. Unfortunately, she’d taught him to admire spirited women, and that had left him a divorced single father with a struggling farm to run.
Most days, thoughts like that kept spiraling downward until he was so cranky, no one wanted to talk to him. Today, instead of retreating into the living room, he settled on a stool at the breakfast bar next to a knife that was waiting for Lily to start slicing a loaf of fresh soda bread. Still steaming from the oven, it smelled fantastic, and he stuffed a hunk of it in his mouth.
“I saw that,” Lily murmured, her vivid blue eyes sparkling in fun. “You left that end all ragged, you know. Your mother’s going to think I can’t be trusted to properly cut a loaf of bread.”
This woman seemed to have a real knack for making him smile, and this time he didn’t bother trying to fight it. “Just blame it on me. I’m her favorite.”
“At school the other day, Drew told me he’s the favorite. If I ask Josh and Erin, will they tell me the same thing?”
“Most likely. It’s one of Mom’s bits, and we all play along.” Leaning in, he motioned Lily closer as if they were sharing some huge secret. “Truth be told, Abby beats us all, hands down. Just don’t tell her that, or we won’t be able to live with her.”
Lily laughed, a bright, carefree sound that made him want to join in. When he did, she rewarded him with yet another incredible smile. “It’s nice to hear that from you. Up to now, I’ve gotten the impression that you’re a pretty serious guy.”
Was he? While he munched his bread, Mike let his memory wander back in time, to when he was younger and didn’t have a care in the world. After leaving Oaks Crossing, he’d roamed from one beautiful area of the country to another, working at ranches that offered everything from trail rides to all-out cattle drives for city folks willing to pay a hefty sum to play cowboy for a week. At the end of his trail had been New Mexico, where he met Dana and worked his way into the plum job of stable manager.
That had been his dream ever since he could remember, and the day Abby was born was still the happiest of his life. Not long after that, everything went south, and these days it was all he could do to put one foot in front of the other. For Abby’s sake—and his own—he wanted nothing more than to let go of the melancholy ghosts haunting his past and be happy. He just didn’t know how.
When he registered that Lily had asked him a question, he yanked his mind back into the present and met her worried gaze. “Sorry, I missed that.”
“I asked if you wanted something to drink. You just wolfed down all that bread, and you must be thirsty.”
He was, but he’d been so lost in his thoughts he hadn’t noticed until she mentioned it. Getting up, he filled a glass with ice water from the dispenser on the fancy new fridge they’d all pitched in to buy Mom last Christmas. Then, remembering the manners she’d relentlessly pounded into his head all his life, he offered it to Lily.
“Thank you.” She beamed at him, and he was glad the gesture had occurred to him.
“No problem.”
Filling his own glass, he swallowed some while it dawned on him that his mother had sneaked out of the kitchen to leave him alone with Lily. Not very subtle, but apparently she assumed he needed the hint. Since leaving their visitor alone would be incredibly rude, he came up with a way to angle their conversation to her. “So, have you heard anything about openings at Oaks Crossing Elementary in the fall?”
“No,” she admitted with a sigh. “And I can’t keep waiting, hoping for something to turn up. When I’m not helping out with the riding school, I’ll be mailing out résumés to see what I can find. This part of the state is so pretty, and the people around here have been wonderful to me. I’m hoping to be able to stay in the area, but we’ll see.”
“What happens if that doesn’t pan out?”
“I go home and start working for my father,” she confided in a discouraged voice. “It’s not my favorite option, but I have to start paying my student loans this fall, so it might be my only choice.”
Accustomed to her being so upbeat, the defeated tone in her voice was getting to him. Since there wasn’t much else he could do, he offered what he hoped was an encouraging smile. “Just hang in there. I’m sure it’ll work out the way you want it to.”
“I hope you’re right.” Her eyes went to the framed picture of Abby’s class hanging on the wall, and she added a fond smile. “I couldn’t have asked for a better class to start out with. If my next one is half as good, I’ll count my blessings.”
She wasn’t exactly preaching to him, but her phrasing made him feel itchy all of a sudden. Pulling back into himself was his usual reaction to something like that, but she’d been so open with him, he felt she deserved the same in return.
“You’re probably wondering why my whole family was in church today except me.”
“Abby told me.” That was surprising enough. Even more so was the compassion in her eyes. “I’m sorry for the way you feel, but I understand.”
He expected her to go on, but she didn’t offer anything more. More than a little suspicious, he said, “Go ahead. Get your preaching in.”
“I hate to disappoint you, but I’m a kindergarten teacher,” she told him breezily. “My lectures all end with ‘and remember to wash your hands.’”
With that, she picked up the salad she’d been tossing and carried it past him into the dining room. Stunned beyond words, Mike stood there and stared after her, trying to figure out what was wrong with him.
It seemed that no matter what they talked about, she always left him staring after her with his mouth hanging open. In his experience, when a woman did that, it was time to fish or cut bait. The trouble was, he wasn’t quite ready to commit to either one, and he’d never heard of a third choice.
“Mike, come here.”
Lily’s voice had a laugh in it, and he strolled into the dining room to find her standing in front of the bay window that looked out over the backyard and toward the side pasture. There, framed like a painting, Abby was on her back in the grass, smiling while the little fur ball on her chest snoozed away. Shafts of sunlight broke through the leaves overhead, spotlighting them like a joyful scene in a play.
He caught movement out of the corner of his eye and had to look again to be sure he’d seen right. Grinning, he pointed off to the left. “Well, I’ll be. Look at that.”
Sarge, who to Mike’s knowledge had never been keen on any animals other than his equine buddy, edged closer to the happy pair, ears perked with curiosity. When he reached the patch of grass where Abby was now giving the puppy a thorough belly rubbing, Sarge sat politely just out of her reach, his tail wagging hopefully while he waited. When she noticed him, she patted the ground beside her.
To Mike’s complete amazement, the old terrier trotted over to her and sat, giving the rambunctious pup what Mike could only term a condescending look. Abby managed to pet them both at the same time, and after a minute of that, Sarge finally gave in and lay down beside the younger dog so Charlie could reach him better. Clearly fascinated, the puppy rolled over and stared at Sarge, his tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth in a friendly gesture.
“Oh, how cute is that?” Lily sighed, taking out her phone to snap some pictures. “I thought you said Sarge didn’t like anyone other than Captain.”
And you, Mike nearly added before he caught himself. It hadn’t escaped him that ever since meeting Lily, the scruffy old mutt had been more sociable in general. Actually, now that he thought about it, Mike had, too. She seemed to have that effect on everyone, he mused. How she managed it, he had no clue, but he couldn’t deny she had a way about her.
Being more of a keep-to-himself kind of guy, he normally couldn’t relate very well to folks who were so outgoing. Lily was another story, though, and the irony wasn’t lost on him. The one woman he’d met since his divorce who interested him enough to get to know her better, and he’d deemed her off-limits. Yeah, he was a genius.
“Mike?”
She was still watching the cute scene outside the window, and Mike figured it was a good thing she wasn’t looking at him. If she had been, he was pretty sure the perceptive teacher would be able to guess what he’d been thinking. That was the last thing he wanted. “Yeah?”
“How would you feel about having a puppy?”
Her question just about floored him. Before he took his foolish romantic detour, he’d been thinking it would be nice for Abby to grow up with a dog of her own. “Funny that you ask, because I was thinking how we had such great dogs when we were growing up here. We always had barn hounds, but we also had a couple around the house that’d sleep on your bed at night. As I recall, we used to fight over whose turn it was.”
“Let me guess,” she said, spinning to face him. “You fed them your asparagus under the table.”
He chuckled. “It was broccoli, but yeah, we did that a time or two. Mom pretended not to notice, but I think she knew.”
“Would she mind having a dog around again? They can be a lot of work, can’t they?”
“Sure, but so can kids.” Then the full meaning of what she’d asked him hit home, and he could hardly believe it. “Are you telling me your family never had a dog?”
“Between the allergies and the mess, we weren’t allowed to have any pets.”
Her tone held a stiffness he’d never heard from her, and he regretted treading on what was obviously sensitive ground. As open and generous as she’d been so far, the stern clamping down was an unpleasant side of her that he wasn’t keen to see again anytime soon. Still, he couldn’t help wondering if the lack of furry friends was the only reason she’d reacted that way when he asked about her childhood.
Figuring it was none of his business, he said, “Well, around here we’ve got so many critters a little dirt is no problem. Mom’s a total dog person, and once she gets attached to that little guy—” he pointed out the window “—Abby will have to do some serious begging to get her share of nighttimes with the puppy.”
Lily rewarded him with the kind of bright smile he wouldn’t mind seeing more often. “I’m so glad you feel that way. I can’t keep him in my apartment, but I hated the thought of leaving him at the shelter for some stranger to take home. He’s had a tough start, and I’d much rather have him living here with friends who will love him the way he deserves.”
He couldn’t get over how easily she’d taken to Charlie. Then again, she’d done the same with the other animals on the farm. Not to mention himself, he added wryly. Most folks wrote him off after a few minutes, so he didn’t have much of a social circle. It took someone with an awful lot of patience to get past his well-honed defenses and actually consider him a friend.
“Puppies never stay there long,” Mike assured her. “They’re so cute, folks can’t resist ’em.”
“I’ll feel better knowing he’s here with you. And Abby,” she added in a rush, turning away from him almost as quickly. Avoiding his eyes, she asked, “Should we go tell her the good news?”
“Sure.”
It was going to make his daughter’s day, he added silently as they went through the living room and headed out the door that led to the backyard. That Lily was the one who was making it happen didn’t escape him, and much as he hated to admit it, he couldn’t deny things had improved greatly for him since the day he met the runaway bridesmaid.
Once their summer riding school was in full swing, she’d be around the farm pretty much every day. Whether that was good or bad, he couldn’t say, but he anticipated more than a few skirmishes between them. Soft-spoken as she was, he’d already learned that in her own way, she was just as stubborn as he was. Instinct warned him that if she was convinced she was right, there was precious little anyone—especially him—could do to change her mind.
Between that and the passel of kids who would be running all over the farm, it would definitely be an interesting summer. To his surprise, thinking about the chaos to come didn’t bother him as much as it would have just a couple of weeks ago. In fact, he was almost looking forward to it.