Focus, Noah. Why did she have to sit right in his line of sight, like a gazelle, delicately perched on that boulder? He’d noticed her blond hair and dimples the minute she’d arrived on the scene. He’d barely been able to peel his eyes from her since. Good thing he wore sunglasses, or the rays glinting off the gold in her hair might blind him. She’d hardly aged a bit.
Just then, the tree sheltering the rock parted in the wind, and the sun shone directly behind her like a beacon from heaven. Oh, come on! That only happened in movies and stupid romance books. This was real life. Trees didn’t part. God didn’t send a beam from heaven. Did He? Noah shook his waves from his shoulders and fanned himself with his clipboard. His heart raced. He’d never experienced such an immediate attraction to someone—but Hadley was no stranger to him, and neither were the feelings stirring in his heart.
She lifted a bottle of water to her lips. No wedding ring. Then there was hope.
But why had she been talking to Brad? Brad Hopper was up to no good—if history offered any indication, anyway. If she liked that type of guy now, no way she’d be interested in Noah.
Then again, after the way she’d left him years ago—well, she had some serious explaining to do.
Lyssa caught his eye from the registration table. She nodded at the crowd and gestured for him to talk. How long had he been standing there like an ogling fool? Had anyone noticed?
“Okay, folks.” He took a deep breath to keep his voice from shaking. So this was what nervous felt like? “You’ve all got your registration packets—hopefully you’ve obtained a GPS unit from Communication Location—but if not, they’re ready and willing to outfit you with whatever you need and are offering hunters a great discount. Directions to the store are included in your packet.” He held his plastic cup between his teeth while he turned to a new page of notes. He reclaimed the cup and held it up. “One other thing I want to mention before I kick off the hunt is that Common Grounds, a local favorite, is offering all registered hunters free coffee beverages with the purchase of a sandwich or a bakery item between five and six o’clock on Tuesday evenings. This is a great way for y’all to mingle and catch up on hunt stories.”
Noah grinned as many in the crowd lifted their Common Grounds coffee cups in salute.
“I should tell you guys, this is special coffee—it’s the best you’ll find in all of Osage Beach. It’s”—Noah looked at his notes—”estate-grown, unfiltered Arabica, custom blended and microroasted. I used to think coffee came from a metal can with a plastic lid—start to finish—until I found Common Grounds. Now I don’t settle for anything less than the finest.” He took a well-timed sip from his steaming cup.
Hadley smirked. Was his shameless plug that obvious? A sponsor was a sponsor. What could he do?
Come on, Noah. Focus.
“The hunt itself will last two months, ending with the final ceremony right here when we announce the winner, which will be decided by the accumulation of points. You’ll find the point sheet in your registration packet, and you can refer to that whenever you have questions.
“I want to point out that everything is worth one point except for the official Rainbow’s End geocoin.” Noah held up a coin the size of a silver dollar. “It’ll be planted in a secret cache—no one will know which one contains the coin—and it’s worth five points. The finder can choose to keep it, preventing other hunters from finding it and receiving five points. Or he or she may return it to the church office so it can be rehidden and so that someone else might earn five more points, too.
“Please, folks, we’re human beings, and we’ll do our very best to keep track of points and award what is due. But don’t rely on us. Keep good records and be diligent about your details so there’s no confusion at the end.
“Now, other than the unofficial meetings at Common Grounds on Tuesday nights, we won’t meet up again until our midpoint rally, at which time the big prize package will be unveiled. Donations and prizes are still coming in, so all I can say is—it’s going to be a whopper!”
He shielded his eyes from the sun and scanned the crowded audience. “Okay. Here we go folks. If you have any questions about the hunt, the caches, the use of your GPS units, hit up any of these folks up front wearing yellow Rainbow’s End T-shirts.”
Noah closed in prayer then climbed down from the picnic bench and searched the crowd for her. He just had to see her. He’d made it the entire thirteen years since Hadley took off with no warning without getting sucked into romance or rushing in and out of relationships like all his friends had. Who knew? Maybe now was the time for them. Noah shook his head. He’d better settle down and remember how much she’d hurt him.
There she was. Noah gasped as his heart fluttered to the ground. She flipped her gorgeous ponytail over her shoulder, and it hung down her back between her tan shoulder blades. He had to talk to her. She laughed at—Brad? Noah’s stomach churned. If her eyes were going to turn from the flashy Brad, who always got the girls, and onto Noah, who never did, it would take a miracle.
Hadley settled into a seat at a table for two, waiting for … what was his name? How could she have agreed to go on a date with someone whose name she didn’t even know?
The door jangled as it opened, and a handsome figure filled the frame.
Oh, that was how. Hadley chuckled quietly. She’d fallen for the first gorgeous guy who’d hit on her. Why not—he would be a diversion and a good experience for her. He seemed nice enough, after all.
Flashing a full set of veneers, what’s-his-name turned the wooden chair backward and straddled the seat. He reached forward and engulfed Hadley’s left hand in his huge paw and dusted the back of it with a light kiss. Hadley watched the scene unfold as though it were happening to someone else—but the tingles up her spine and on the back of her hand brought her down to reality.
She pulled from his grip. “I don’t even know your name.”
“Yeah. That’s how true love works, baby. Names are nothing but a formality.”
“Not to me. I’m Hadley Parker.” She reached out her right hand to shake his.
He wiggled his eyebrows as he kissed the back of it, electrifying yet another part of her body. “I’m Brad Hopper. Nice to meet you, um, Hadley Parker. That’s an interesting name.”
Wait until he heard the middle name. “Yeah. Hadley Emmerson Parker. Sounds like a law firm.” “Sounds sexy when you say it.”
Hadley picked up her menu and tried to hide her reddening cheeks. Brad was hot, and her blood pressure was on the rise. He might be more than she could handle. But it sure was fun trying.
Alone in the dark church after planting the special cache with the Rainbow’s End coin under the night sky, Noah leaned his shovel against the wall then picked up the stack of registration forms and rifled through them.
Where was hers? Hadley Parker. Age: twenty-nine. Birthday in a few days. Employment: drug company sales rep. That was her.
Noah felt for his desk chair across the room without taking his eyes off the paper in his hands. He spun the chair around and rolled it over to his laptop and touched the mouse pad. Feet bouncing, Noah waited for it to spring to life.
Going straight to Facebook, Noah entered “Hadley Parker” into the search bar on the top of the page. It brought several Hadley Parkers up right away, but he found her easily by the picture of herself as a little girl that she used as her profile image.
Noah scanned her info page. A graduate of Loyola University in Chicago. A sales rep for a major drug company based in Chicago. Not married, no kids. She had no pictures posted, no other personal information at all. Why, with all of her many Facebook friends, wasn’t she tagged in any photos? She’d left her profile public, so they’d show up there if they existed—but hadn’t anyone ever taken her picture? If he were her friend again … or more, Noah would take a new picture of that face every single day of his life.
Religious views: Christian. Well that was an absolute plus. Wonder if that meant American Christian—like by association—or a follower-of-Christ type of Christian. Time would tell.
Political views: Conservative. Hmm. Reagan Republican? Or Colin Powell conservative? Big difference.
Favorite Quote: The one thing that matters is the effort. It continues, whereas the end to be attained is but an illusion of the climber, as he fares on and on from crest to crest; and once the goal is reached it has no meaning. ~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Music: Carrie Underwood. Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert, Third Day, Maroon Five, Casting Crowns, Sugarland, Chris Daughtry, Kelly Clarkson, Stephen Tyler, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi.
Movies: Steel Magnolias, The Devil Wears Prada
Television: American Idol
Interesting information, but too basic. Noah wanted more. There was a big piece to the Hadley Parker puzzle missing. Time for good ol’ Google.
Hadley Parker.
Search.
Did this make him a stalker? He didn’t feel like he was doing anything wrong. Just checking things out. That was okay, right? It was all public information. It wasn’t like he paid for one of those background checks. Should he do that? No! That was pushing things a little too far. The search results popped up. Noah glanced over his shoulder to make sure no one had come in the office then scrolled through the Hadley Parker entries. Some celebrity stuff came up, lots of businesses, and other types of pages. Nothing that appeared to point to her until the third page.
Noah clicked on the link for Impressa Drugs. Ah-ha! A page for sales representatives. He scrolled through the two pages of images; none were her. Then he looked to the left where the names were listed in alphabetical order. Parker, Hadley. How had he missed her photo? He’d recognize those dimples anywhere. He clicked her name.
The page opened slowly to the image of a Hadley look-alike … if you added about a hundred pounds.