Rodeo Reunion (18 page)

But stop number three was perfect. Great location and solid structure. And even though Slade wouldn't be staying to pastor the church, his veins zinged at the potential this place had.

“What do you think?” Garrett scanned the ceiling. “Maybe we could buy the old barn we saw, tear it down and line the inside of this one with the wood. Maybe even have pews built from barn wood.”

“That could get pricey. How much are you willing to sink into this project?”

“However much it takes.”

Jenna clapped her hands. “Once people find out we're turning it into a church, we'll probably get donations, donated labor and discounts. I'd be happy to decorate for free.”

“With a light touch.” Garrett squeezed his wife's shoulder. “We want rodeo folk, ranch folk, cowboys and cowgirls to feel comfortable coming here. It needs to stay a barn, not a palace.”

“Steak-house decor.” Jenna rolled her eyes. “My favorite.”

“Jenna's a froufrou designer wannabe born and raised in Texas.” Natalie chuckled. “Maybe some Western stars, branding irons, horseshoes, that kind of thing.”

“I like it.” Slade turned in a circle, taking in the amount of space. “Lane, you're still on board?”

“I am.”

“Have you considered anything other than associate, like pastoring?”

“I've prayed about it.” Lane shook his head. “God's got me right where He wants me to be.”

“Do we have anyone else interested in pastoring?”

“You're not backing out on us, are you?” Garrett frowned.

“I never said I'd do it. I said I'd pray about it. I'm not done praying yet.”

“Well, here's the deal.” Star ran her finger over her tablet. “The owner is my brother-in-law, Quinn Remington. For a church, he's willing to sell the barn for considerably less than what it's worth.”

“See?” Jenna did a little bounce on the balls of her feet. “Once people hear
church
, they get very generous.”

“On top of that, Quinn is willing to let you use the building for two months—rent-free. You can see how it goes,
with no strings attached. If it doesn't work out, you're not obligated to buy.”

“If we do that, can we make cosmetic changes?” Natalie tapped her foot on the concrete floor.

“It was used as a woodworking shop, so it already has electricity, heat and air. Quinn doesn't mind if you paint or put up interior walls. But if you don't buy, he'll decide whether he wants you to restore the barn to its original condition. So nothing permanent.”

“Sounds to me like an offer we can't refuse.” Garrett turned to Slade. “How about this? I'll do a hailstorm of publicity for the next week and a half. We'll have our first service May 24. You preach two Sundays, see what happens, and we'll go from there.”

Slade swallowed hard. “And if we realize the church is worthwhile, but I'm needed back on the circuit, Lane can fill in until you find someone else?”

“Deal.” Lane offered his hand.

The three men shook on it.

“I'll get the paperwork in order.” Star tapped the screen of her tablet. “Nice doing business with y'all.”

Garrett clapped him on the back.

And Slade was more uncertain of his future than ever. He wanted to go back on the circuit. Needed to get away from Raquel. But if God wanted him back on the circuit, why had the cowboy church fallen so easily into place?

* * *

The big yellow tail wagged from side to side as Raquel walked a golden retriever named Goldilocks down the rehabilitation-center corridor with Ally and Midnight—a black Lab—by her side. They had a list of three patients to visit approved by administration, staff and family members. Two down and the most important to go.

Ally had no idea Cody was on the list. All Raquel had to do was get Ally to Cody's room and maybe Ally would
realize she loved Cody, too. If not, Raquel would leave it in God's hands to change Ally's heart. Or to bring Cody someone new.

This had to work. Cody obviously didn't remember uttering Ally's name in his half sleep. And Ally had no clue Cody was Raquel's depressed friend.

“I'm really glad you called me.” Ally stopped and adjusted the dogs' jackets, which were emblazoned with Ally's Adopt-a-Pet. Tori had whipped them up a few days ago, and no one was onto Raquel's scheme.

“Me too. This will be good for the patients. And maybe you'll get some dogs adopted out.”

“I might make this a weekly jaunt. Did you see that little girl's face light up when she saw the dogs?”

“The older woman's laughter was priceless.” Which meant her devious plan was helping others as well as Cody.

They neared Cody's room and Raquel paused. What if her scheme only caused Cody pain? What if Ally felt nothing for him and seeing her again only hurt Cody?

“Is this it?”

Raquel nodded.

Ally knocked on the door and pushed it open slightly. “You have a visitor.”

“Come on in,” Cody called.

Ally's jaw went slack. She'd clearly recognized his voice, but she pushed the door open and Midnight led the way.

Past the point of no return.
Lord, please don't let this be a mistake.

Memo to self—pray before you leap.

“Ally?” Cody's eyes widened.

“Cody. I, um, I thought I recognized that voice.”

Oh, yeah, Ally had feelings, too. Raquel grinned. Way more than friend feelings.

“Hey, Cody, I'm helping Ally with her pet visiting proj
ect. Since y'all obviously know each other, I think I'll go check and see if it's okay to visit that lady down the hall who was begging to see Goldilocks.”

“What?” Panic slammed Ally's expression.

Yep. Definitely love. “I'll be right back.”

Raquel put it in high gear and left the room.
Lord, let them get past whatever fears, issues or past mistakes have kept them apart. If they're meant to be, make it happen. If not, bring them each someone new to love.

“Hey, Raquel.” Caitlyn met her in the hall. “What on earth are you doing here with a dog?”

“This is Goldilocks. One of Ally's strays.”

“Is he a service dog?”

“Sort of. I was sitting on the back porch thinking about how to cheer Cody up and Snow licked my chin. And I was like, duh, dogs cheer everybody up. So I talked to my old boss about a visiting program with dogs. We met Ally when we adopted Snow, so I asked her if she'd like to help.”

“That's wonderful.” Caitlyn stooped to pet Goldilocks. “So Ally's here?”

“She's in with Cody.”

No reaction. Caitlyn apparently didn't know about any feelings between the couple other than friendship. “Good—I'll stop in and see them both. It's been a while since I've seen Ally.”

“Oh, wait. Could you help me out? I was just going to check and see if it would be okay to take Goldilocks to see a patient who wasn't on our list. She saw us go by and was begging to see the dogs. I felt terrible.”

“How can I help?”

Raquel handed the leash to Caitlyn. “Stand here and hold Goldilocks. We're not supposed to take the dogs near the nursing station.”

“Okay?”

“It shouldn't take long.” Raquel hurried toward the nurses' station.

But everyone knew nothing moved fast in a hospital setting. If the therapists would stay away, Cody and Ally could have the uninterrupted time they needed.

And the really great thing in all of this was Raquel had barely thought of Slade today. Barely.

* * *

It took the whole morning to get caught up on paperwork and filing, but at least Raquel could see the top of her desk now. And the monotony had at least distracted her from thoughts of Slade. No, she would not think about him.

The kids had left early since it was the last day and only a handful of teachers and staff milled about, tidying their rooms. Hunter had gone home with Max so Raquel could wrap things up.

With school officially out for summer, there were no excited voices in the hall or on the playground. No buzzing to signal the next class, no announcements over the intercom.

Enough peace to let her think about…not him. Cody and Ally.

They hadn't figured out her devious plan. But she wasn't sure it had worked either. By the time Raquel had come back from the nurses' station to retrieve Goldilocks from Caitlyn, Ally and Midnight had been with her. As they took the dogs to visit the elderly lady, Ally had seemed largely unaffected by seeing Cody. Either that or she was a great actress.

By the time they'd finished visiting the elderly dog lover, Cody had been asleep. Raquel had no idea if she'd made things better or worse.

A verse popped into her head. One of her favorites—Proverbs 3:5-6. “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.”

Raquel released a big breath. She needed to leave Ally, Cody and Slade in God's hands. God would direct their paths.

Her door flew open and the math teacher blasted in carrying an unconscious woman.

“Something's wrong with her!” Ben Smith shouted.

Annette Frasier—the science teacher. Her lips were swollen and blue. Raquel's heart lurched.

“Lay her down.” Raquel sprang into action. “Did she get stung or bitten?”

“I don't know.”

“Did you call nine-one-one?”

“No.”

“Dial and hand me the phone.” Barely breathing. An angry welt on Annette's upper arm.

Ben jabbed buttons and handed the phone to her.

“Nine-one-one, what is your emergency?”

“I have a woman I believe is in anaphylactic shock. Possible bee sting. I'm the school nurse.”

“An ambulance is on the way. Have you—?”

Raquel dropped the phone, tilted Annette's head back with her chin up to keep her airway open.

“I don't know what happened.” Ben trembled. “I was leaving, walking toward my car, and I saw her kneeling in the grass digging in her purse. She just fell over and I brought her here.”

“You did the right thing.” A siren started up in the distance. The ambulance service was only a minute away, but did Annette have a minute? She'd have given anything for an EpiPen, but the only ones she had in her cabinet belonged to students. Annette had dug in her purse? For keys? Or did she have an EpiPen?

“Her purse. Do you know where it is?”

“I guess we dropped it.”

“Can you run and get it for me?”

Ben bolted from the room as Annette's breathing grew more shallow.

Minutes later Ben ran back in the room holding a black purse. “Here it is.”

Raquel grabbed it and dumped the contents on her counter. An EpiPen. She jabbed it into Annette's thigh.

“What's that?” Ben was in full panic mode.

“It's for allergic reactions.” But Annette wasn't coming out of it. Raquel had felt this inadequate only one other time. “The ambulance should be here any minute. Can you go show them where we are?”

Ben nodded like a bobblehead and hurried out the door.

Countless times in the ER, Raquel had seen emergency tracheotomies done. If only she had the equipment and training. Could she pull it off with a box cutter, alcohol and a ballpoint pen like in the movies?

The ambulance siren drew near.

Lord, help me.

* * *

Why wasn't Hunter in the back playing with the dogs, as he normally would be? School had let out early for the last day. Slade checked his watch and stepped inside his back door. He'd heard her car return a while ago.

The phone rang and he grabbed it. “Hello?”

“Hey, Slade. It's Lacie. I'm worried about Raquel and I can't get in touch with Brant or Tori. Do you know if she's home?”

“I heard a car earlier. Is she sick?”

“At heart, I'm afraid. She stayed to clean and organize her office after school. This afternoon one of the teachers got stung by a wasp and had an allergic reaction. Raquel did everything she could to try to save her, but the teacher died.”

“Oh, no.” Slade pinched the bridge of his nose. “Where is Hunter?”

“With us. She called a few minutes ago to ask if I could keep him until practice tonight so she could have time to pull herself together. She sounded really upset.”

“I imagine. I'll go over and check on her.” He stepped out the front door and cut across his yard to hers.

“Thanks. I just don't think she should be alone. I thought about calling Mitch or Caitlyn. But he's probably at work and she's got the new baby.”

“I'm glad you called me.” He hung up and cupped his hands around his eyes to peer in the window of the garage. Her car was there. He sprinted up the steps of her porch and rang her doorbell.

No sound. No approaching footfalls.

He knocked. Then pounded. “Raquel, I know you're home. Your car's in the garage and Lacie told me what happened.”

A floorboard creaked. The lock clicked and the door opened.

Raquel hugged herself, her face tear streaked, her clothing blood spattered.

Blood? He scanned her for injuries but saw nothing. Not her blood.

“I'm sure you did everything you could.” He stepped inside and pulled her into his arms.

Sobs shook her whole body and she soaked his shoulder. A worse meltdown than at the hospital. Small and frightened, despite her height.

He managed to shut the door behind him and when her shaking stopped and the sobs let up, he led her to the couch. “If you feel up to changing clothes, that might make you feel better.”

She frowned at him as if he were crazy, then looked down. Her eyes widened as if she hadn't seen the blood until now. She covered her mouth with her hand. “You're right.”

“You steady enough to handle that? Should I call a female friend?”

“I'm fine.” She turned toward the back of the house.