Homecoming Hero (15 page)

“I brought you another helper. Hailey O'Brien, meet Cora Belle, the best cook in Savannah.”

Laughing at Wolf's outrageous compliment, the big lady smiled at Hailey. “Any friend of this boy's is welcome in my kitchen. Besides—” she jabbed Wolf with her elbow “—I'd never send away a helping hand.”

Hailey instantly liked Cora Belle, but she wasn't sure how to proceed. “I'm here to work,” she offered, hoping she sounded more confident than she felt. “Just tell me what to do.”

“I got plenty of hands in here.” Cora Belle turned back to her stove. “Why don't you help Captain Ty and my husband set up tables in the dining room?”

That sounded like something she could do. Hailey might not be able to cook, but she could set a table with her eyes closed.

An hour later the dining hall was full of chattering people, hovering over full plates of food. Hailey had been assigned to the relatively simple task of serving the potatoes, but she still felt uncomfortable, much as Wolf had looked at the country club.

She didn't make eye contact with the people she served. She simply heaped a spoonful of potatoes on the empty plates thrust in front of her.

That made her a coward, she knew. But as much as
she disliked this new insight into her character, Hailey couldn't muster the courage to lift her head.

How could she serve the Lord, when she couldn't even look His people in the eye?

Please, dear God, give me the courage….

Gulping down her trepidation, she lifted her head and connected her gaze with a woman who looked to be her same age. Something about her felt familiar, yet Hailey was sure she didn't know her.

Perhaps it was the loneliness masked behind the woman's shaky smile. Over the last six months, Hailey had experienced that emotion far too often. Maybe that was the way to go. Strike common ground, connect on a personal level.

Hailey returned the smile.

The young woman looked quickly away and moved on.

So much for making eye contact,
Hailey thought.

Feeling completely out of her element, she caught sight of Wolf weaving his way from table to table.

Unlike her, he looked comfortable. He spoke to every person he came across, treating each one like a long-lost friend. He wasn't afraid to touch them, either. He clutched a few men on the shoulder, then placed a gentle hand under an elderly woman's elbow as he steered her to a seat at a table. For a man who'd experienced such an unsafe, lonely childhood, Wolf made family wherever he went. Not friends,
family
.

Hailey wondered if he realized that about himself.

Watching him work the room, she felt embarrassed by all the lofty speeches she'd given him about what it meant to serve people in need. Just like she'd always feared, she
was
a fraud.

Wolf, on the other hand, was authentic. And so at ease
with everyone he met. They gravitated toward him. He was probably just as good with his soldiers as he was with the people here today. Well, of course he was. Clay had said as much in his e-mails.

Hailey hadn't realized she'd been standing there, staring at him, until a kind-faced, middle-aged woman slid in beside her. “I'll take over if you need a break. You've been serving for a full hour.”

“I have?”

The woman gently pulled the spoon out of Hailey's hand. “Go on, get yourself a plate and join the others.”

“Oh, I couldn't possibly take food.”

“Volunteers are encouraged to eat with our guests.” She bumped hips with Hailey. “Go on. Make some friends.”

“Sure. I can do that.” Hailey drew her lip between her teeth and moved to the back of the line.

Once she had a full plate of food, she chose a seat at a table where the young woman she'd made eye contact with earlier sat. “Hi.”

No response.

Hailey tried not to sigh. “I'm Hailey.”

Still no response.

“Mind if I sit with you?”

The woman raked her with blunt appraisal. “It's a free country.”

Find that common ground,
Hailey told herself.
Don't give up.
“Like I said, I'm Hailey.” She spoke softly. “What's your name?”

“Sara.”

“Really?” Hailey filled her fork with potatoes and
quickly took the bite. “My mother almost named me that.”

“Why didn't she?”

“You know what?” Hailey let out a short little laugh. “I don't know.”

Sara gave her a small smile, one that still had suspicion clinging to the edges.

“Do you have any kids?” Sara asked.

Unsure where this was going, Hailey shook her head. “No. I'm not married.”

Sara tossed her fork down and snorted. “Like that matters.”

Caught off guard by the woman's response, Hailey lowered her own fork. Less than five minutes into the conversation and she'd already managed to offend Sara.

Nevertheless, Hailey would not turn tail and run. Yet. “Do you have any children?” she asked.

An echo of a smile crossed her lips. “I have an eight-year-old daughter.”

So old? Hailey did a quick calculation in her head. Unless she looked younger than she was, Sara had to have had the child when she was still a teenager.

“My daughter's in foster care right now,” Sara explained. “It's been a tough year.”

The shame in her eyes made it clear she did not like accepting charity.

“You don't have any family?” Hailey asked.

Sara lowered her head. “My parents disowned me when they found out I was pregnant.”

Such a harsh response. If only Hailey knew what to do to help her. She didn't think money was the answer. Sara needed a long-term solution.

Hailey remembered a story in Scripture where the
disciples didn't give alms to a blind man but gave him his sight instead.

What would be the equivalent here? A job, maybe?

She had all kinds of contacts in the business community. Surely one of them would hire Sara.

Unable to make any guarantees,
yet,
Hailey stayed focused on their conversation. “What's your daughter's name?”

“Sara.” She gave a self-deprecating shrug. “I never did have much imagination.”

Hailey reached to her, touching her sleeve with a tentative hand. “Why not name your daughter after yourself? Men do it all the time. My brother was named after my father.”

“Was?”

“He died in Iraq,” Hailey said. “Six months ago.”

Sara's shoulders slumped forward. “I lost my boyfriend, Tyler, back in the early months of the war. He was called up before we could get married. We were waiting until he came home.” Her voice filled with regret. “But he never came home.”

How awful. “How'd your boyfriend die?”

Sara's lips trembled. “His Humvee hit an IED.”

A gasp flew out of Hailey before she could stop it. “I'm so sorry.”

I want to live with them, cry with them, find joy and hope with them.
Had Hailey really said those words to Wolf only a few nights ago? She'd been referring to people of other cultures, like the ones she would meet in Haiti next week. But here, right in front of her, God had given her someone who needed her help now. Not next week.
Now.

“My brother died from an IED, too,” she said.

A look of unity passed between her and Sara. Tragedy
had struck them both, but Hailey had had money and security to soften the blow of her loss.

Sara had not been so fortunate. She'd been disowned by her family, unmarried and completely on her own. Without the official help of the military she'd been left destitute.

Hailey would help her. She just had to figure out how.

W
olf watched Hailey scribble on a piece of paper then hand it to the woman she'd been speaking with since sitting down. With their heads bent close together, they looked as if they were in the middle of a serious conversation.

Once again, Hailey had surprised him. She'd clearly been uncomfortable when they'd first arrived, but that hadn't stopped her from helping where she was needed. She'd moved tables, stacked plates, served food and now was in the process of doing what she did best. Impacting another person's life for the better.

“You look at that gal the way my husband used to look at me when we were first married,” Cora Belle said with a dreamy glint in her eyes.

Completely unconcerned he'd been busted for staring at Hailey, Wolf laughed. “He doesn't look at you like that anymore?”

“It's different now.” But as soon as she made her claim, Cora Belle waggled her fingers at her husband. He paused in the middle of wiping a table and tossed her a wink.

“It doesn't look so different to me. In fact,” Wolf said,
grinning, “that light is burning so strong I might have to put my sunglasses back on.”

She slapped him lightly on the arm. “Oh, you.”

Wolf relaxed against the wall behind him. “How long have you two been married, Cora Belle?”

“Fifty-three years come next March.”

Talk about staying power. Wolf was impressed. “What's your secret?”

Before answering, the older woman smiled after her husband as he walked back into the kitchen, arms full of dirty plates. “Having the Lord in our lives is the key.” She pursed her lips. “But it also helps to like the person you're married to. Makes everything else go easier.”

Wolf looked over at Hailey again. She was still deep in her conversation. As he watched her, a solid sense of peace spread through him. The emotion settled over him like a whisper.

Yeah, he liked Hailey. No question about it. But his feelings were far more complicated than simple “like.” And more significant. If she walked away from him now, if she were hurt or killed, Wolf wasn't sure he'd ever get over losing her.

His fingers curled together, every muscle in his body growing tense as the truth washed over him.

He didn't just like Hailey. He loved her.

She was strong and sweet and the best person he'd ever met. She'd brought him back to life, and then made him desire an existence beyond himself, beyond just going through the motions of the day.

But was he meant to be with her? Could he provide for her and give her the family she deserved? There were a lot of obstacles standing between them—their different pasts, their conflicting goals for the future and the largest obstacle of all, Clay.

There was suddenly too much to think about, too many questions without answers.

Wolf crossed his arms over his chest and cleared his mind.

Eyeing him like a dog on point, Cora Belle wiped her hands on her food-stained apron, slowly, methodically. Then her gaze narrowed even more. “You gonna marry that girl?”

“That was direct.”

“Then give me an equally direct answer.”

Wolf shut his eyes a moment. The question should have shocked him, should have sent warning bells clanging in his head. Instead, he felt nothing but confusion, mixed with equal parts hope and fear. “I…don't know.”

Cora Belle shook her head at him, disappointment pulling her lips into a frown. “Don't take too long to figure it out.” She nodded toward Hailey. “That one isn't going to sit on the shelf for long.”

Wolf's breath clogged in his throat. Cora Belle spoke the truth. Hailey wouldn't stay single for long. She was meant to have a family, with a husband who treasured her and put her first in his life.

Wolf wanted to be that man. He wanted to be Hailey's family. But could he give her what she deserved? Did he have what it took to make her happy?

Did he even have the right to try?

 

Wolf was silent on the walk back to Hailey's house. She hadn't noticed at first, probably because she'd been too busy thinking about Sara.

Hailey was in a unique position to help her new friend. Before today, she'd looked at her charity work—especially sitting on all those boards—as a hindrance to
her service for the Lord. But she now realized all those years of making contacts in the business community were invaluable.

Hailey had the tools to help Sara. She also had her own personal experience to better help her understand the woman's loss.

All this time she'd been setting her sights on ministry halfway across the world, which she still firmly believed was her calling, but maybe the Lord was showing her another way to serve in the meantime.
Maybe
it wasn't a matter of all or nothing, but a matter of serving in more than one capacity.

“I understand why you took me to the Mission,” she said to Wolf as she unlocked her front door.

He followed her inside, a frown digging a groove across his forehead. “Why's that?”

“You wanted to show me there are people in need right here in my own city, people I'm uniquely qualified to help.”

He frowned. “I wasn't trying to manipulate you.”

“Sure you were,” she said without an ounce of resentment. “But I don't hold it against you. I can be stubborn. The only way to tell me about the need was to
show
me.”

“So you aren't upset with me?”

“No.” She waited for him to close the front door then slipped her hands up his arms, clasped them behind his neck. “In fact, I want to thank you.” She lifted on her toes. “Thank you, Wolf.”

Before she connected her lips to his, he lowered his head and did the deed himself.

She sighed against him.

After a few moments, he lifted his head and stared
intently in her eyes. “Does this mean you won't be going to the Middle East?”

“No.” She blew out a frustrated breath and stepped out of his embrace. “It means I'm willing to serve in Savannah
and
the Middle East. I can do both.”

He didn't argue with her, but simply stared at her. And stared. And stared. “Fair enough.”

His words sounded so…final. Like he was saying goodbye to her. “You aren't going to fight me on this?”

“Hailey, when I first arrived on your doorstep, I expected to meet a teenager, a girl with one foot in adulthood and the other still in childhood. I expected my task to be easy. A quick conversation and my duty to Clay would be complete.”

His duty to Clay. The only reason he'd sought her out. She'd thought they'd come so far from that day, that they'd managed to build a relationship that was solely theirs. But now she wasn't so sure. More frightening still, if Wolf failed to convince her to stay home, if he stopped fighting her about the Middle East, would he walk away for good?

“I was wrong about you on so many levels,” he continued. “You're a beautiful, independent woman, capable of taking care of yourself.”

Was he letting her go? “Thanks.”

He pressed his fingertips to the bridge of his nose. “I'm not trying to insult you.” He dropped his hand and looked directly at her. “I'm trying to tell you I think you're wonderful, beautiful, talented and gifted.”

If he thought all those things about her, then why did he sound so grim?

“But when it's all said and done,” he continued, “I—”

“Still see me as Clay's little sister.” The realization ripped at her heart.

“I don't know, Hailey. I don't know where my feelings of guilt and duty end and where my love for you begins. All I know is that I
will
protect you, even if that means going to the Middle East with you.”

“Did you just say you love me?” she whispered.

“Yes, I love you.” He practically growled the words.

She'd never expected to hear such a sad, pitiful declaration. Not from Wolf.

Didn't he know he was breaking her heart?

She had to ask him the hard question, the one they'd been dancing around for weeks. “But do you love me because I'm me or because I'm Clay's little sister?”

He didn't answer her. Pushing past her, he walked into the kitchen and pulled the picture of her and Clay off the refrigerator.

“He didn't deserve to die,” he said in such a low voice she barely caught his words.

“No, he didn't.” She stared at the picture, her stomach wrenching over their mutual loss. “But he did die, and now we have to go on. Life is all about loss, Wolf. We either let it cripple us or let it make us stronger.”

He didn't respond, but just kept staring at the picture. “Would he approve of us being together?”

Hailey knew the answer, knew it as sure as she knew her own name. “Haven't you ever wondered why he told me so much about you?”

He continued staring at the photograph. “Because we worked closely together. I was always on his mind.”

“It was more than that.” She touched his arm, certainty filling her. “Clay wanted us to be together.”

“No.” Wolf shook his head vigorously. “He didn't
want any man to have you, especially not a man like me, who knows nothing about family.”

“Of course you know. I watched you at the soup kitchen today. You made those people feel comfortable and at home, like they belonged to a large, happy family. I also saw how Cora Belle treated you like her own son, and she's only known you for two days.”

He was silent for a long moment, his gaze still glued to the picture in his hand. “You're embellishing the facts.”

“I'm speaking the truth. I've seen you in action. You understand family better than most men I know.”

“Even if what you say is accurate—” he turned the picture around his palm “—you know where I come from, what my childhood was like. Clay wouldn't have wanted you with someone like me.”

“That's just absurd. Clay was never a judgmental jerk.” She raised her voice to make her point. “How dare you suggest otherwise.”

He snapped his gaze in her direction and the picture dropped to the floor.

Finally, Hailey had his complete attention. “Now you listen to me, Captain Wolfson. Your childhood never mattered to my brother. And it doesn't matter to me.”

He blinked at her, his shock evident in his eyes.

Softening her expression, Hailey cupped his face tenderly. “Oh, Wolf, don't you understand? I'm only concerned with your future, and whether or not you have room for me in it.”

Sighing heavily, he relaxed into her palm, then reared back.

She let her hand drop to her side, saddened by the internal struggle she saw on his face.

“Hailey, don't look at me like that. I can't think with
you touching me. And I
need
to think. It would be too easy to ignore my doubts, to go with my feelings rather than the facts, but that wouldn't be fair to you.”

Maybe he was right, but she was afraid to let him walk out of her home with their conversation unresolved, especially knowing that next week she'd be leaving for Haiti.

Trust the Lord. He's already got this worked out.
The thought came to her with such clarity she felt a huge sense of relief flow through her. If she and Wolf were meant to be together, God would make that happen.

She also had to trust that Wolf truly loved her, for her, not out of misguided guilt or loyalty to a fallen friend. That he would ultimately see her as his family and his future.

In the meantime, it couldn't hurt to give him a little nudge in the right direction.

“Wait right here. I have something for you.” She turned to go then swung back around. “Don't leave.”

“I won't.”

She ran to her room, dug the box of Clay's e-mails out from under her bed and then rushed back into the kitchen.

“These are the e-mails Clay sent me from Iraq.” She held out the box to Wolf. “I printed them out.”

He raised his hands in the air, palms facing forward. “They're private, between you and your brother.”

“Please, Wolf, I want you to read them, especially the ones concerning you.”

His hands dropped to his sides and a look of confusion blanketed his face. “Why?”

“You'll understand once you do.” She pressed her lips to his cheek. “Take your time reading them. I leave for
Haiti next week. I think it's best we don't see each other until I get back. We can talk more then.”

He didn't argue, which made her think about despairing, but she didn't give in to the emotion. She was going to trust God all the way.

Putting on a brave face, she walked Wolf to the door. “I love you.”

Without another word, she kissed him on the lips, gave him a shaky smile then shut the door in his face.