Finally a Bride (36 page)

He shuffled his feet, as if he might bolt away any moment. “I can’t. It isn’t right. I’m the minister.”

“Shhh … even ministers have a right to happiness and to find”—dare she say it—”love.”

He sucked in a breath.

Yes, she loved him. She’d been fighting it for days. She had no clue how it had happened so fast, but she loved Noah Jeffers, and though she wanted to shout it to the world, she’d keep that secret to herself and savor it for a while.

The crickets seemed to cheer him on. Off in the distance an owl hooted. “Please, Noah, kiss me one more time before we go in.”

He chuckled. “You’re a wanton woman, Miss Davis.”

“No, not wanton, just a woman on the edge of a cliff, who’s about to jump off.”

He exhaled another heavy breath. “Me, too, darling. Me, too.” He lifted her up and set her back down on the bottom step to Garrett’s office. “This way I don’t get a crick in my neck—not that I minded all that much.”

She couldn’t help giggling and boldly reached up and placed her hands on his shoulders. They were far wider and more solid than she’d imagined. She continued exploring, letting her hands wander around his neck where she fingered the hair on his nape. He tilted his face up, eyes closed, as if enjoying the moment. She gently tugged him toward her.

Dallas was looking less and less appealing with each second that passed.

Carly stared at Rachel then glanced at Garrett, hoping he would explain the courting thing. He just stood there with his hands in his pockets, a silly grin on his face.

Rachel’s pale blue eyes went wide as her hand flew to her chest. “Not you two?”

Garrett’s smile slipped, and he crossed his arms. “What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing. It’s just a shock.” Rachel glanced between Carly and Garrett, then shrugged. “I mean, it’s just that I’ve never even seen you talking to each other. Have you prayed about it?”

“Well, no, not yet.” Garrett kicked at the leg of the nearest chair. “Can’t a guy take a gal for a walk without everyone gettin’ in an uproar?”

“Of course, I’m sorry. But you didn’t say anything about a walk.”

Garrett had that confused look again. He reached up and scratched his temple, and Carly’s gaze wandered up to his blond hair. Would it be soft like hers or stiff and coarse? “What’s the difference in walkin’ and courtin’?”

Rachel nearly choked on a laugh. “You’ve got to be kidding, Garrett.”

He shook his head. “I’m not. A man doesn’t take a woman walkin’ around town unless he’s interested in her. Too many folks would start talkin’.”

“Well, I can see your point, but you need to seek God on something so serious.” Rachel didn’t smile. Carly shifted from one foot to the other. Did her friend think it wrong for her and Garrett to be interested in one another? Rachel had everything, not that she hadn’t struggled in years past, and now Carly wanted the same thing, with the exception of such a big house.

“Is Andrew asleep?” Rachel asked, seeming suddenly sober.

“I’m not sure. I laid him in his bed after he belched.” Carly crossed her arms. Did Rachel think she wasn’t good enough for her husband’s cousin? She grimaced, rejecting that idea. Rachel was right that they should pray about courting, but was there anything wrong with getting to know a man first and then seeking God about their future?

“Where’s Luke? I thought you two took a stroll.” Garrett reached for his hat, rolling the brim on one side.

Rachel stopped in the parlor entrance. “Oh, Terrance Gruber ran up and told Luke there’d been another break-in, but I didn’t hear where. Sometimes I wish the town had stayed small like it was years ago. With growth comes problems.” She nodded at each of them. “I’d better go check on the baby.”

A tight fist clenched Carly’s chest. Would folks blame her for this newest robbery?

She stared at the floor. Left alone with Garrett, she suddenly felt awkward. She knew how to talk to this man when her ire burned, but what did she say now?

“Well …”

“I …”

They both talked at once. Garrett smiled, and she relaxed a bit. He really was a handsome man.

“You go first,” he said.

She shook her head.

He gently touched her arm. “Go on. I won’t bite.”

She shrugged and stared down at his dusty boot tops. They needed to be cleaned and polished. The end of his trousers had frayed bits sticking where he must have torn them. The man sure needed a woman to care for him, but was she the right woman? Dare she believe God had sent him in answer to her prayer?

“Carly …”

She glanced up at his use of her Christian name, liking the mellow tone of his voice. “You’ll probably think it’s silly,” she admitted, “but I’m afraid folks will think I caused the break-in.”

His eyes went wide. “Why would they think that? You’ve been here all evening, haven’t you?”

“Yes, but folks talk, especially when there’s an ex-convict livin’ among them.”

Garrett winced as if she’d hauled back and punched him.

“Surely you realize the gossip you’ll be facing if you and I court. Have you considered that it could affect your business?”

He lowered his head, and she could see that he hadn’t. She feared the side of his hat would be as curled as Tessa Morgan’s hair on Sunday morning if he didn’t stop scrunching it. She tugged it from his hands then stretched up and set it on his head. “Go home, Garrett. Thank you for asking me to court. I am deeply honored, but before we consider such a thing, you need to think it through—completely. Reflect on how a relationship with me could hurt your business.”

“I’m thinking about changing businesses.”

Carly wondered about that, but now wasn’t the time to discuss it. A moth flittered between them. Garrett reached out faster than she could blink and caught it. A shy grin tilted one side of his mouth—his very appealing mouth. He held up his closed fist. “Guess I’d better go so I can turn this critter loose.”

She nodded and crossed to the door. “If you’re serious about us courting, promise me you’ll pray about it—and that you’ll only ask me again if God gives His blessing.”

He stared at her a long while then inhaled a deep breath through his nose. “I will. I should have done it before, but I just—just got it in my head that we’d be good together and headed on down here.”

With a boldness she didn’t know she possessed, she reached up and cupped his cheek. A day’s worth of light stubble tickled her fingers. “Thank you. You have no idea how much your offer means to me.”

He pressed his hand against hers, turned it, and kissed her palm. Then he scowled. “Shoowy! We smell like baby spit-up.”

Carly giggled and gently pushed him outside. Jacqueline and the pastor walked across the street, and Garrett greeted them. She closed the door, then hustled up the stairs, not quite ready to face another inquiry about her and Garrett.

Standing with her hand on her doorknob, she listened for the children. Only the sound of heavy breaths—and one nasally snort—could be heard. She smiled and entered her room. Leaning back against the closed door she thought of how her life might have taken a new road this evening—and she prayed it might be God’s plan for her.

Kissing Jackie was wrong, no matter how good it felt. Surely it couldn’t be God’s plan for him. Berating himself, Noah hurried upstairs while Jackie went to say good night to her folks.

But he had to admit, kissing her—holding her close—had been the fulfillment of a long-held dream, and far better than he’d ever dreamed. His steps slowed. Imagine Jacqueline Hamilton Davis kissing him. He shook his head. Maybe it had all been a dream.

That was it.

He must be sleepwalking.

But if that was the case, he wouldn’t feel so guilty. He’d always admired Jackie’s spunk and determination, even when it got her in trouble. He snorted a laugh—even when she got
him
in trouble. And she had. Plenty of times.

He closed the door to his room then dropped onto the desk chair. Bending over, he rested his elbows on his hands and forked his fingers through his hair. With the exception of a relationship with God, he’d never wanted anything as much as he desired a relationship with Jackie.

Was that wrong of him? Shouldn’t a man of God be content to reach his whole flock and not be attracted to one pretty woman? One very beautiful woman who set his senses on fire and flamed his dreams. Dreams of a home—a loving wife—a family.

If only Pete were here, he’d tell Noah what to do.

The wind lifted a corner of the curtain, as if the Spirit of God drifted in. He needed to pray and find that comforting peace God always brought him, but part of his mind said he never should have come back to Lookout.

Yet in spite of all his initial objections, he realized now that a part of him had never left here.

He fell to his knees, head on the floor, and cried out to God. “Show me what to do, Lord. Help me to stay on the path that You want me to walk—and if Jackie isn’t—” Just thinking the words gutted him. How could he say them out loud?

But to hold back anything from God was wrong. If he gathered Jackie up and held her close to his heart and refused to let her go, he’d be wrong. He had to give her to God—and if God chose to give her back, that would be the greatest day of his life.

Chapter 26

J
ack strode into the
Lookout Ledger’s
office, relishing the familiar odors of ink and paper. She slapped her article down on top of the editor’s desk.

Jenny jumped. She pushed her wire-framed glasses up her nose and scowled. “Can’t you walk in all quiet and graceful, like most ladies?”

Ignoring her friend’s intentional barb, Jack smiled. “I finally did it.”

“Did what?”

“Got my scoop—the story I wanted that will land me a job in Dallas.” As soon as she said the words, they tasted like curdled milk in her mouth. She’d stayed up half the night writing her article and the other half thinking about Noah’s kisses and trying to decide what to do. Was she ready to give up her long-time dream for a man? Did she actually want to leave Lookout and go to a town where she knew no one?

Jenny glanced down and read the article. With an ink-stained finger, she followed the letters Jack had written. Jack looked around the familiar office. Papers littered the building, stacked in every nook and cranny, and the large black printer sat in one corner, looking alone and ignored for the moment.

Pulling off her glasses, Jenny eyed her, as if weighing the truth of the article. “You’ve actually confirmed that the railroad is coming? I’ve been trying to pin down that info for months, without a speck of luck. Who’s your source?”

“I overheard the mayor talking with those two men he’s been escorting all over town.” Satisfaction welled up inside Jack, making her sit up straighter. She’d finally gotten her big story. There was a powerful feeling of success that she’d outsmarted the mayor, in spite of his avoiding her, and had learned what he’d tried so hard to keep quiet.

Yet writing this story, even though it was the biggest of her career, didn’t excite her as she’d expected it would. What was wrong with her?

A vision of Noah illuminated by the moonlight drifted through her mind. She hadn’t admitted it to Tessa or Penny, but she’d been attracted to him from the start. There was something about him that made her feel connected—as if they’d been friends for years instead of weeks. She couldn’t believe she was in love.