Ranch work keeping me tied up the rest of this week. Sorry about Thursday.
Jessica read the message three times.
No real emotion. No explanation. Nothing that indicated those growing feelings, those shared kisses.
There you go, trying to read more into things than you should. Men sneak kisses all the time, don’t they? Now you know better.
Her brain was right to scold her. She’d known better last night, yet there she was, kissing Tyler Carrington and loving it. Maybe loving him. Starting to, anyway, so this was as much her fault because she knew better.
She and Dovie set up the manger. She had some florist foam in a box from Sally. She cut it to fit a long rectangular baking dish, then set it behind the manger. She and Dovie tucked thin branches of the trimmed evergreen tree, holly from the backyard bush, plain, thin sticks and tiny red ribbons in.
“That’s so beautiful, Mommy.” Dovie leaned her head against Jessica’s cheek Wednesday night. “It’s like a perfect place for baby Jesus to get borned.”
It wasn’t perfect.
Jess knew that.
What young mother would choose a cave for her newborn son? Or animal roommates? No clothing or diapers for the little fellow.
Yet Mary had pushed through the hardship. Jesus had thrived. She, Joseph and Jesus had made their way through life with purpose, and that was the example Jessica was determined to follow.
She kept Dovie busy the next few days, but called Lizzie on Friday to explain about the tree.
“It’s here, at the church, and I’ve got a stand for it, but I can’t set it up myself,” she told her.
“Ty bought the church a tree?” Lizzie sounded surprised.
“Yes. And he had an extra stand he’s letting us borrow.”
“But he’s not available to help put it in place.” Lizzie’s voice took on a thoughtful tone, the kind that meant she was reading between the lines.
“Busy, I’m sure. A big ranch is a lot of work.” Jessica made the excuse easily. Not for him. For her and Dovie, because the last thing she needed was sympathy over her foolishness. She hadn’t come to Shepherd’s Crossing to find romance. She’d come to find peace from the constant infighting of Ben’s family.
“Mel and I have time right now and we’ll grab Char on the way,” said Lizzie. Their younger sister was a local big animal veterinarian. “We’ll get this done so we can have it lit this Sunday. We’ll meet you in ten minutes. Okay?”
“Yes.”
Four women arrived ten minutes later. Corrie Satterly waved her hands at Lizzie. “You watch Zeke and Dovie. I am not havin’ one of my girls haulin’ trees around when she’s with child. We’ve got this.”
In fifteen minutes they had the tree screwed into the holder, ready for lights. An hour later the lights were strung, ready to be a backdrop for their Advent and Christmas services.
“We did it.” Melonie high-fived Jessica and Charlotte. “I’m so glad you thought of it.”
“Well, Mr. Ty was the one who thinked it.”
Jessica’s heart scrunched as Dovie outed them completely.
“Only he doesn’t come to see us anymore and I really miss him because he’s our friend. And I like having supper with him and Red.”
“Red?” Lizzie asked, and when Lizzie directed her attention to Jessica, she had to answer.
“Ty’s dog. A big, reddish golden retriever.”
“Ah. But you haven’t seen Ty or the dog in a few days?”
About now the thought of muzzling one smart child appealed to Jessica, but she was pretty sure that was illegal. “No biggie. We’ve been on our own for a while,” she told the women.
“Except that I’ve been here seven months and I’ve never seen Ty happier than he’s been the past two weeks. Talking with people. Laughing. Joining in.” Lizzie drew her brow down. “So what changed?”
Jessica put up her hands in surrender as they headed to the church door. “Who knows? I’ve come to the conclusion that men are a mystery, and my time is better used focusing on raising a wonderful daughter. Forget the romance.”
Melonie frowned over her shoulder as she bent to lock the church door. “Sounds like she’s got it bad.”
“Real bad,” added Charlotte.
“So how can we help?” Lizzie wondered out loud as Zeke and Dovie twirled in the freshly falling snow.
“No need for anything. I’m fine, really,” she assured all four of them. “But it’s actually a blessing to be able to talk to women about this. I’ve missed having girlfriends around. So, thank you. And now I’m going to get Dovie home for a quick bath and supper, because there’s a Christmas special on tonight and we’re going to have movie time.”
Lizzie smiled. “It sounds marvelous.” Then she stepped closer to Jessica and took one hand. “I’m going to make a suggestion,” she explained in a soft voice. “It’s up to you what to do with it, but I think you should talk to him. Find out what’s up.”
“Too embarrassing,” Jessica declared quickly.
“Maybe,” acknowledged Lizzie. “But he wasn’t just toying with one heart.” She nodded in Dovie’s direction. “And that’s worth a scolding or two.”
She thought about Lizzie’s words that night, and the next day, too. When Lizzie called to see if she could take Dovie to a movie with Zeke, Jessica quickly said yes.
Five minutes after she dropped Dovie at Pine Ridge Ranch, she pulled into Carrington Acres.
She hurried out of the car before she lost her nerve, then climbed the steps and crossed to the front door. She knocked.
No one answered.
She rang the bell.
Red began barking. He came to the door, tail wagging, spotted her through the window and barked some more.
Ty’s truck was here. Was he deliberately not answering the door?
Or was he out working?
She moved around the house to the first barn and spotted George. “Is Ty out here?” she asked.
“Toward the back of the horse barn, miss.”
She thanked him and went that way. There he was, in the back, rebuilding a stall gate. Whistling as if he hadn’t a care in the world.
“Ty.”
He turned quickly. First he looked surprised, then unhappy. “I wasn’t expecting you.”
“I know.” She moved forward. She hadn’t come to fight. She deplored fighting and drama. But she had come to say her piece. She folded her arms both as a defense and to ward off the cold wind sweeping through the far end of the barn. “I don’t know what’s going on with you,” she began. “And that’s fine. I don’t need to know. But I have a little girl who doesn’t understand why her friend Mr. Ty was a big part of her life and then suddenly dropped off the radar. I get it, Ty.” She locked her eyes on his. “I’m a grown woman. But four-year-old hearts are much more easily broken and confused, so the next time you—”
He stared at her as if dumbfounded that she didn’t get it. “You’re suing my father.”
Jessica stopped talking.
“You’re suing my father over the death of your husband. And you’ve even brought that sweet little girl’s name into it.”
“I don’t—” She started to speak, but didn’t have a real clue what to say.
“Don’t sugarcoat it, Jessica, don’t make excuses.” He wiped his hands on a well-worn barn towel. “I’m already feeling stupid for falling for the whole thing. The house, the proximity, quoting scripture, which means you probably know that I was a pastor at one time.”
She raised a hand to stop him. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m suing no one. Over anything. And if you’re talking about the lawsuit Ben’s mother and family instigated over his treatment, that’s got nothing to do with me. But what does your father have to do with any of this?”
“EJC Pharmaceuticals.” When she didn’t respond, he went on, “E.J. Carrington is my father. He owns the company.”
“Your father.” She stared at him, started to talk, then paused. “Wait. You think I set this up?”
“You come to town. Set up housekeeping in a house we bought. Pretend to know nothing about us. And yet your name is on the lawsuit. And Dovie’s name, too.”
“And you believed all this.” She took a deep breath to fight back angry tears. “You decided I’d come north to weasel my way into the EJC fortune.”
He stayed silent, but his face said enough.
“You didn’t have the decency to ask about it. You assumed. Well, here’s the real story, Ty.” She had to squeeze her hands into tight fists to not lash out at him. “I married a man who loved his cause far more than he loved me. I discovered that too late, and when things didn’t go his way, he got violent. And then he got terminally ill, so I stayed to help nurse him through the worst of it. When he died, his family didn’t just sue your father’s company. They sued me, trying to take custody of my daughter. There I was, my mother had passed away, my marriage was a sham, Ben had died and I had to wrangle with the court system to keep my daughter because tribal law said she should stay with them. And with the problems their community faced every day, I couldn’t stay there. It wasn’t an option. When the courts denied their petition, I came here to take over my aunt’s house. So before you go throwing around accusations, maybe you could have had the decency to do some homework. Or at least ask me. Because if you had, I’d have explained it all to you.”
She turned on her heel and started to walk away.
“Jessica.”
She didn’t turn back. She couldn’t.
Why would he assume such things when a fairly simple conversation would have cleared things up? When she got to the door, she turned, briefly. “And for the record, I’ve sent two written requests to have my name removed from that lawsuit. I didn’t put my name on it, my former mother-in-law did. If it wasn’t done, that’s because Ben’s family is hoping to get some sympathy for the grieving wife and child for a bigger payout. When all I want is to raise my child in a sweet, faith-filled community. That’s my goal in life, Ty. And never in my wildest dreams did I think it would be this difficult.” She walked back to her car, but not with her head down.
No. Never again.
Chin up, she crossed the graveled yard, then climbed into her car. And when she did, she put it into Reverse and drove away. Not once did she look back.
* * *
Half a story.
Funny how the guy who used to counsel people on getting all the facts before leaping to conclusions had just messed up his life by believing half a story.
He followed her to the edge of the barn. George cleared his throat and Ty looked his way. “I’d be letting that boiling pot go to simmer for a while,” he told Ty. “Give her time to cool off.”
“She shouldn’t cool off. She should probably hate me the rest of her days. How did I mess up that badly?”
“Well, there’s two things,” the older man told him as he sanded rust from the barn door hinges. “You’re sorely out of practice.”
That was a fact.
“And you used to base everything you did in faith,” George continued. “When you walked away from that, you lost something, Ty. And it’s not like I didn’t want to talk to you about it, but there was no right time till now. You were so mad.”
George was right. Anger had pretty much consumed him.
“You’ve got to get over being mad sometime. Move on. Reach out. You finally start to do that, and along comes a hurdle and you caved.”
Ty cringed at the truth in those words.
“It’s time to stop caving. It’s time to grab hold again, but you do that young woman no good if you don’t make your peace with God. He didn’t take your wife and baby. A wretched accident was to blame. I ain’t sayin’ it’s fair, because it ain’t, but it’s life. And we have to live it. And now I’m takin’ these old bones home for a good soak because that north wind is sharp today.”
George left Ty alone. Sally was with her father. He walked into the house.
Red raced his way, tail wagging. He went to the door, excited, then back to Ty, as if telling him Jessica had come calling.
He needed to go see her.
But George was right. He needed to get his head on straight first, because he’d lost it when Lisbeth died. And then he’d let things lie fallow way too long.
He called the new pastor of his old church, and when he explained the situation, the pastor invited him to join them for the following weekend. He accepted the offer because before he dared embrace the present, he needed to make peace with the past. He’d get back home before his family’s arrival. And maybe by then Jessica would be willing to hear him out, and if not...?
He’d keep trying, because he’d be a fool not to. He only wished he’d realized that a few days before.