Six

M

icah relaxed against the church pew as he listened to Zane Spencer sing. He sounded like a professional. Of course, it probably helped that he had a live band backing him up, including Wade on guitar and their brother-in-law, Gray, on cello.

With the welcome he’d received when he entered the church tonight, Micah’s spirit lifted for the first time since he’d caught Rachel and Jo having their big old judge fest at his and Lala’s expense. Yeah, they’d apologized and he’d forgiven them, but it hadn’t kept him from missing Sunday night’s church service or from sulking in his apartment for the last four days.

Chase and Wade had both talked to him about it, which only made it worse. He’d decided long ago that though he wouldn’t broadcast his and Lala’s past, he wouldn’t hide it either. That had been a lot easier to live with back in the crowded trailer park filled with people who shared similar backgrounds.

Time to put it all behind him and keep moving forward. As soon as church was over, he would be headed to work. After these next three days were done, he and Lala would venture out and get to know their new hometown.

As those on the stage found their places among the congregation, Micah leaned forward to speak to Wade who sat down in front of him. “That was some good pickin’. Maybe I’ll join you next time.”

Wade’s eyes lit up as he looked over his shoulder. “You play?”

Micah nodded. “The mandolin. I play a little on the violin, but I’m better on the mandolin.” The two family heirlooms were all that was left of his daddy’s things. Everything else had been sold a little at a time whenever a need arose. The violin had been passed to Faren and the mandolin to him, but they were both his now.

“We’ll have to get together and try it out sometime. What’re you doing next Saturday?”

“Sleeping. Gotta work that night, but I might have a little time after supper.”

Dani tugged on Wade’s sleeve, letting him know preaching had started. He whispered over his shoulder, “We’ll talk later.”

Micah nodded and scooted back in his seat. He flipped through his Bible to the first verses in Matthew shown on the screen at the front of the church. His eyebrows raised as he scanned all the begats sprinkled over the page. Seemed like an odd place for the preacher to land. Didn’t most people skim over these parts?

He listened with a humble heart as the preacher brought the people who were a part of Jesus’ lineage to life. Of course Micah had read in other parts of the Bible about people like Rahab, the harlot, and Achaz, the ruler who’d sacrificed his own sons to a false god, but he’d never thought about how they’d ended up in the Savior’s bloodline.

He didn’t have to look too far back to find the bad seeds in his own family line. The long line of men his momma had taken on as lovers paraded through his mind. He’d somehow never resented her for it. It had just seemed like the normal way of life, until God showed him otherwise.

And his sister… Faren had been a good girl for a long time. She’d gotten saved around the same time as Micah. They’d attended church together and had high hopes that one day their momma would join them. Then Momma got sick, and things went downhill for Faren after that.

Yeah, he’d come from bad seed, but he was determined that part of his family history ended right there with his mother and sister. He hadn’t turned out half bad and he would be sure Lala stood a better chance of making the right choices.

Micah scanned the line of Spencers filling the two pews in front of him. That was the type of family he wanted. Theirs was the kind of living he wanted for Lala and his future family. He wanted to do things right in that department. Find a good woman to marry and share a life with.

His mind clued in on the one Spencer who was missing. Guess it stood to reason that if one person in a lineage could go from bad to good, the opposite could happen too. But how? How could Jo grow up in a family like hers, be raised in a church like this one, have a momma who touched heaven with her prayers, and still end up rejecting God?

Oh, she had the manners. Sure, she’d falsely judged him, but he hadn’t heard one bad word said against her. She seemed to have a pleasant enough personality, and it appeared that she adored Lala, which added points in his book.

Her apology had played out in his mind several times in the last few days. And truth be told, those soulful eyes that were somewhere between hazel and brown had haunted his dreams too. But the girl was not for him. If he truly wanted the future he’d planned on, one that was the complete opposite of his past, then he needed to hand any thoughts he had of Jo Spencer over to God.

He used his time during the closing prayer to do just that. He added in a petition for her salvation too—for her sake and for Miss Leora’s. He knew how badly she wanted to see her daughter saved.

Lord, it sure would be nice if it happened before You call Miss Leora home.

From where she leaned against the front bumper of her Subaru Outback, Jolene stared up at the modern craftsman style house. Everything was perfect from the double-gabled roof to the slate gray shake siding. It fit in with the more traditional styles of her siblings, yet it still had a contemporary flare that was more to her individual taste.

The bulk of the farm had been willed to Wade, but twenty acres had been divided equally between the four remaining kids. Her five acres had been sitting here between Chase and Belva’s homes, just waiting for her to get her act together. She’d been renting an apartment closer to her job—far enough away that no one in her family would ever find out that her place had been frequented by someone else’s husband.

But that was all over, and soon she’d be living here. When the contractor called to say that their part of the job was officially done, she’d gotten dressed and hurried over here.

The joy bubbling up within her could barely be contained within the walls of her chest. She’d shout but it would probably send her siblings running to see what was the matter. She was tempted to let it fly anyway. It would be nice to have someone to share this moment with. But Belva was probably the only one free right now and she was about seven and a half months pregnant. No need to send her into premature labor.

Jo closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath. Tage’s image shimmered against her eyelids, causing her nose to sting. If only he wasn’t married. Even if he had left his wife like he’d threatened to so many times, Jo knew she never would’ve been able to trust him. If he cheated with her, he would cheat on her with someone else. She knew this, but it didn’t ease the longing that snuck in at odd moments like this.

Gravel crunched on the dirt road behind her. She looked over her shoulder expecting to see one of her siblings, but she didn’t recognize the Toyota 4Runner. It stopped at the end of her drive and the passenger side window opened. Jo took a few steps that way and squinted to see the driver.

“Is everything all right?”

Her stomach tightened when she heard Micah’s voice. She quickened her pace and leaned her arm on the open window so she could look at him. His manly, evergreen scent enveloped her, which sent heat to her face. Hopefully, he wouldn’t mistake the blush on her cheeks as attraction. If anything, the reaction to his manly scent was the effects of Tage taking up space in her mind that he didn’t deserve.

“I was just checking on you. Is this your place?” Micah nodded his head and looked past her.

She’d wondered how awkward it would be when they met up again after what happened last time, but she didn’t hear any censure in his tone.

“Um, yeah. I haven’t moved in yet. The contractor just finished up, but there’s still lots to do before I can live here. Wanna see?”

Now why did she make that offer? Probably because her mouth was trying to make up for her lack of focus while she tried to explain away her internal signals that were crossed up at the moment.

He looked from the house to her. “Sure I do. Just let me pull in behind you.”

She stepped away from the vehicle so he could park and headed for the house.

He started talking before he even made it to the porch, which melted away some of her tension. “I just woke up and was headed to get Lala.”

“You like working third?”

“Not really. It seemed to work best when I was traveling up and down the mountain, but I’m thinking of trying to get on first shift now that things are changing.” He grabbed the porch railing and gave it a shake, then looked closely at the siding. “Good, solid construction. Looks like they did a good job. You planning to move in this weekend?”

Jo bit her lip and looked over her shoulder. He was going to think she was an idiot once he got a look inside. Why had she asked if he wanted to see the house? “It’ll be a while before I can do that. It isn’t exactly finished.”

His brow bunched when he looked at her, but he didn’t say anything.

She unlocked the door and pushed it open. Their footsteps thudded over the raw plywood floors and echoed through the open space. It might look like a forest of two-by-fours and wiring to the naked eye, but Jo saw a great room with a kitchen at the back and a dining room tucked in behind the garage.

She looked back at Micah as he scanned the area and wondered what he pictured, if anything. “I know it might sound crazy, but I had the house built to this point and I plan to finish it myself, or at least contract out the parts I don’t want to do myself. It was cheaper doing it this way and I didn’t want to borrow more than I had to against the land. I plan to use savings and my 401k to pay for the rest.”

He nodded his head as he continued looking around. “Smart plan. I worked construction from the time I was thirteen years old until I started nursing. I’d be glad to help in any way I can. Just let me know.”

Thirteen?

Her heart swelled. Of course, she didn’t expect him to help, but he’d said smart plan. He hadn’t made her feel like an idiot the way Tage had when he heard through the grapevine what she was doing. Micah had also offered to help without leaving the impression that she wasn’t capable of taking on this project herself. And he hadn’t clowned around like her brothers had when they claimed they would be doing all the work. Though she knew they’d been joking, it still stung.

“I take it your daddy must have worked construction.”

His brow wrinkled as his gaze landed on her. “No, he was a truck driver. He died in a bad wreck when I was ten. I worked construction to help my momma out.”

“Oh.” What was she supposed to say to that? She looked away, hoping he didn’t pick up on any of her whirling thoughts. Everything about the man screamed honorable and it made her earlier assessment of him all the more shameful. Especially considering her own sins.

Not knowing what else to do, Jo moved on through the house as she laid out how it would all go, and Micah followed. He added a few pointers here and there but none of it sounded like criticism. He seemed truly interested, which added to her pleasure. She’d wanted someone to share her excitement with and he showed up out of the blue, offering just the kind of encouragement she’d needed. Her momma would call it a God moment. She didn’t know about that, but she would call it an enjoyable one.