Betting on Love (3 page)

Sobered and feeling thankful for his mother and father, Drew grabbed his bag off the counter. “I’ve got to head on over to the homesite. I’ll talk to you later.”

His heart felt heavy as he made his way back to his truck. He loved the Lord with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength. At least he’d always believed he did. Sure, he knew he was a bit competitive and could be a bit mule headed at times. He wasn’t perfect, but he always wanted to be sensitive to God’s guiding and what God wanted from him.

After turning the ignition, he prayed silently as he started down the road.
God, Wyatt’s right. I have been defensive when it comes to Melody. I don’t know what it is about her that rubs me the wrong way. Forgive me, Lord. Help me be a better witness for You.

He slammed his brakes when a small mutt ran into the middle of the road. The contents of the hardware bag fell out onto the floor of the truck. He saw the spark plugs, and an idea popped into his head.

He groaned as he lifted his cap off his head, wiped the sweat off his brow with the back of his hand, then placed the cap back on. “God, isn’t there some other way?”

His heart felt as if it had been nudged again, and Drew cringed as he took the cell phone out of his pocket. “God, I wouldn’t do this for anyone but You.”

Hands filled with various vegetable seedlings, Melody followed her aunt Renee outside to the newly tilled garden. She felt like a fish out of water helping her aunt with plants and flowers. Melody knew everything there was to know about cleaning a house, doing laundry, and even fixing all kinds of things from televisions to microwaves to car engines, but she’d had absolutely no experience messing with Mother Nature.

“Okay, Melody.” Aunt Renee set down the plants then pointed to the right side of the huge garden area. Melody followed her lead and placed her plants on the ground. “I’m going to have you put the cucumbers over there. They need plenty of room to spread out.”

Melody nodded. “Okay. Which ones are the cucumbers?”

Aunt Renee picked up a tray with six plants. She handed them to Melody with a wry grin. “The ones with the picture of a cucumber on the tag.”

“Make fun of me all you want, Aunt Renee.” Melody smiled as she gently touched the dainty green leaves on the plants. “You’re the crazy one for letting me touch these poor things.”

“You’ll be fine.” She handed her a small shovel. Melody had never seen one so small. It was kind of cute. “Plant them about a foot apart.”

Melody nodded. She headed to her spot then surveyed the area where she was to plant the cucumbers. A foot apart seemed awfully far, but she didn’t know anything about gardening, so she’d have to trust her aunt.

Melody knelt down and touched the soft earth. It actually felt nice and cool and squishy between her fingers. Her aunt had fussed all morning about getting the garden out about a week and a half later than she normally did, but Nick and Addy’s wedding had taken precedence over the garden.

Might as well get to it,
Melody chided herself. She wasn’t sure how deep to dig. She glanced over at her aunt, who appeared quite busy with what Melody believed were the tomato plants—although she had no idea why her aunt was placing circular wire contraptions over the small plants.

She shrugged. If the plants had to be a foot away from each other, they probably needed to be around a foot deep. She gazed at the small plants. But the cucumber seedlings were probably only six inches tall at the most.

Just do it. If I can fix an engine, I can plant a cucumber.

She stuck the small trowel into the earth and shoveled out several shovelfuls of dirt. Once she had a good-sized mound beside the hole, she firmly stuck the plant inside then covered most of it with the mound.

I would say the plants need plenty of water, so I’ll build the dirt up around the plant; that way it will kind of be like a bowl to catch the rain.

Still unsure if she’d planted it deep enough, she looked at the small bit of cucumber plant that stuck out from the circular hole she’d created. She had no idea if it looked right or not. Peering over at her aunt, she watched her put another wire contraption over another plant. Blowing out her breath, Melody decided it was good enough and started a hole for the next plant.

Once she’d finished three more plants, she realized a shadow fell over her. She looked up to find Aunt Renee standing over her with her hands on her hips.

“Melody, what are you doing?” Her aunt’s voice was calm and smooth.

Melody furrowed her eyebrows, unable to see her aunt’s expression because of the sunlight. “I’m planting cucumbers.”

“Are you planting them or burying them?”

Melody cupped her hand over her eyebrows trying to shield the sun. “What do you mean?”

A smile bowed Aunt Renee’s lips, and she turned toward the other side of the garden. “Roy, come over here. You gotta see this.”

Melody watched as her uncle walked toward them. She looked down at the cucumber plants, trying to figure out what her aunt thought was so humorous. She’d planted them a foot apart. She’d stuck them in the ground, even made kind of a bowl shape around them allowing them plenty of opportunity to hold water. A little bit of each plant stuck up from the top.

She stood and wiped her hands on her hips while her uncle made his way beside them. An obnoxious laugh snorted from Uncle Roy’s mouth when he looked at her plants. “Melody, what were you thinking?”

She crossed her arms in front of her chest, trying not to feel foolish or defensive. “What?”

Aunt Renee bent down and pulled the first plant out of its crater. She filled most of the hole then gently placed the seedling into a much smaller hole and pushed dirt around it. “The plants need to be closer to the top to get the sunlight. And you want the dirt to go downward, away from the plant. The plants would drown the other way around.”

“I told you I don’t know what I’m doing.” Melody tried to smile as she spoke through gritted teeth. She tried to swallow back her embarrassment as she thought of the many times her mother had chided her about her need to do everything right the first time—her need for perfection.

“You’re doing fine. You’re learning. You gave us a good laugh this morning.” Uncle Roy patted her back. “Remember the last time you got a good laugh from me.”

Melody’s mind replayed the time Uncle Roy had tried to fix his muffler with wire and duct tape. She’d been both appalled and tickled by the mess he’d made of the poor car part. She grinned. “I sure do.”

Aunt Renee shook her head, obviously remembering as well. She pointed to the buried cucumber plants. “Go ahead and fix those. You know how to do it now.”

Melody nodded and bent down to her work as her aunt and uncle walked back to their spots in the garden. Her cell phone vibrated in her pocket. Flustered, she tried to wipe as much dirt as possible onto her jean shorts then dug into her pocket for the phone. She pulled it out and pressed the T
ALK
button. “Hello.”

Silence. She pulled it away from her ear to see if she’d lost the connection. She didn’t recognize the number, but they were still connected. She put it back to her ear. “Hello,” she tried again.

The caller cleared his throat. “Hello, Melody?”

She pulled the phone away from her ear to look at the number again. She furrowed her brows. The caller sounded an awful lot like Addy’s brother, Drew. But surely he’d be the last person on the planet to call her. She placed the phone back against her ear. “Yes, this is she.”

The caller cleared his throat again. “Umm. This is Drew—Addy’s brother.”

A sudden panic gripped her heart. The only reason he’d call her was if something happened to Addy or to Nick. Maybe he’d called her because he didn’t know how to tell Uncle Roy and Aunt Renee that something happened. “What’s wrong? Did something happen to Addy and Nick?”

“What?” He sounded confused. “No. No. As far as I know they’re fine. Haven’t heard from them, but then I wouldn’t expect to.” He chuckled then stopped. “I need to ask a favor of you.”

Suspicion filled her gut. What would Drew Wilson want from her? A rematch at cornhole? To try to make her look silly? He’d made it abundantly obvious he thought she was just a silly little woman. Pride swelled within her, and a slow grin formed on her lips. But she’d proven herself better than him in every way he’d challenged her.

“Did you hear me? I need your help,” he said.

“Okay. What do you need?”

“The dump truck I’m using. It doesn’t start up well. Sometimes I can’t get her going at all. I was wondering if you’d come look at it.”

Melody squinted. “You can’t fix it yourself?”

“I need your help.”

Even over the phone, she could tell saying those four words had taken a lot out of him. And even though she felt he was probably up to something, Melody was itching to have the opportunity to work on some heavy machinery. “Okay. I’ll come over after lunch. Your house, right?”

“Actually, it’s at my homesite. I’m building my own house. I’ll meet you at my parents’ house and bring you on out here.”

“Okay.” Melody clicked the phone off. Bending down she tried to focus on the cucumber plants once more. Her heartbeat sped up, and a knot twisted in her gut. It was kind of weird. She’d never been so excited to see an oversized truck.

Melody admired Kentucky’s idyllic scenery as she followed behind Drew’s pickup. He’d invited her to ride along with him, but she’d insisted she might need the tools packed in the back of her truck. Now she could drink in the rolling grass-covered hills dotted with trees of various kinds and sizes. Cattle grazed on the right side of the road, and Melody smiled as two calves chased each other in the field.

The old gravel road took them past a slightly swollen, rolling creek. She wondered about the crawdads that most definitely lived within it, reminiscing about a time when she and some friends spent an afternoon fishing for the small lobsterlike critters.

The ride was peaceful, serene. It was beautiful, awe inspiring. She thrilled at the idea of living in such a place. Though she’d been raised in a small town, her mother could only afford a small apartment in town. She’d relished the times she’d been able to romp the countryside with friends, always longing to live close to Mother Nature and away from people. People didn’t treat each other right. They lied. They abandoned. They mistreated. It was one of the reasons she loved machines so much. She didn’t need someone else to help her work on one. It was a solo activity, most of the time anyway. The road grew narrower and less traveled. For a moment, the trees seemed to grow thicker around them. Then they opened up into a beautiful cleared-out field.

Melody took in the machinery, spying the dump truck she assumed she was to look at. She noted the flags marking the spot of Drew’s future home. Just beyond the markings, she saw a good-sized pond. He’d practically be able to cast a line off his back porch. The idea of it made her smile.

Drew stopped his truck then hopped out. Melody followed his lead. He swiped his hand across the expanse of the place. Pride radiated from him. “Here it is.” He looked down at her, and Melody was surprised that his gaze held a hint of need for approval.

She swallowed the knot in her throat. It was the first time she’d noted any kind of vulnerability in Drew, and if she could allow herself to be honest with him, she’d tell him how amazing she thought the place would be. Instead her defenses took control, and her words came out flat and elusive. “It’s nice.”

A trace of hurt flashed across his expression. He nodded toward the dump truck. “There it is. Let’s go take a look.”

Without a backward glance, he walked toward the machine. Melody inwardly chided herself. He’d wanted her to praise the land, and it was worthy of a few accolades. The place was amazing.

She could just picture a small ranch home—brick or log, she wasn’t sure which she would picture. Either would be beautiful. A full front porch would extend the length of the house with a porch swing on both sides. She wondered if he’d put his bedroom in the back of the house, so he could build a deck off it so that he could sit outside his own bedroom and look out over the pond.

She shook her head. What was she thinking? She had no business thinking about how Drew Wilson should set up his house. She didn’t even like the man. She didn’t like any man. Well, except Uncle Roy. He’d proven to be different than any other man she’d ever known.

“Let me show you what she’s doing.” She watched as Drew hopped up into the cab of the dump truck. He shoved in the key and turned the ignition. The truck groaned and whined before she finally puttered to life. He turned it off and started it again. This time the machine jumped to a quick start.

Drew turned it off then hopped back out of the truck. “Well, that’s what she’s doing. One time she’ll start right up. The next time she whines and carries on until she finally decides to run. Occasionally, she just won’t start at all.”

Melody nodded. “Oil’s good? Filter’s good?”

“Yes.”

“What about the starter?”

“It should be fine. Replaced a little over six months ago.”