The Prodigal's Return (12 page)

Nathan Cain. Down-and-out bum and den mother.

The image was enough to make him smile.

With a grunt, he turned and stomped down the hall.

The front door swung open. Jenn trudged in, Mandy holding her hand and trailing slightly behind.

“But Mommy,” the six-year-old said. “What did that lady mean?”

“Nothing, honey.” Jenn began stripping the little girl out of her backpack, winter hat and coat. “It's nothing for you to worry about.”

But from her posture he could tell Jenn was plenty upset. Why couldn't the people around here leave her the hell alone? And why wasn't her father running interference for her? Nathan had zero community clout anymore, but Joshua Gardner taking a public stand would go a long way for a lot of people.

“But what's everyone so upset with Grandpa about?” Mandy asked.

“Why don't you go see if you can help Traci in the kitchen?” Jenn gave her child's bottom a pat to scoot her down the hall. “You like stirring the chicken and rice, and I think there's a box of brownie mix in the pantry.”

“Brownies!” The kindergartner took off toward
the kitchen, the hallway echoing with the sound of her tennis shoes slapping on the hardwood planks.

Jenn stood and shrugged out of her own winter gear.

“Catherine Compton was in the school office when I went in to get Mandy,” she said, hanging her and Mandy's things on the coat tree beside the door. “She was talking with Nettie Hastings. She never looks at me, let alone speaks, but…”

“She decide today was the day to stir up the dirt between the two of you?”

“Not exactly.” Jenn looked ready for battle. “She wanted me to know that she and the rest of the church council have called an emergency meeting tonight. The Carpenters can't get to their daughter through me, so they're going after my father's job.”

“H
ELLO
?” T
RACI SAID
after opening Mr. Cain's front door to the total stranger who had to be the man's son.

No one could look that much like the guy and not be related. And for days she'd been hearing the gossip that the notorious Neal Cain was back.

“Who…who are you?” He looked behind her as if he didn't really care.

“Traci Carpenter,” she said. Like that would mean anything to him. “I—”

“I need to speak with my father.”

“He…Mr. Cain's in the den, but he fell asleep watching the news.” The grumpy old man must be really sick. Jenn acted like he was going to keel over any moment the way she fussed over him one minute and looked ready to cry the next.

“You want me to wake him up?” She let her eyes roam over the stranger's gorgeous face and the to-die-for body wrapped up in fitted jeans and a sweater. So this was the tough guy they said had killed his
best friend at the homecoming dance, like a hundred years ago. The guy Jenn had been dating before she turned all bad girl and everything.

Her gaze came to rest on the leather duffel bag he held in one hand. “Um—”

“Is Jenn here?” Eyes the same dark brown as his father's locked with Traci's. “Maybe I can speak with her.”

“I…um.” Traci heard sneakers squeaking on the wooden stairs behind her.

“Who is it?” Mandy grasped the knob out of her hand and swung the door open until it bounced off the wall.

“Oh, hi,” she prattled. “You're Grandpa Nathan's little boy. Are you going to the meeting with my mom?”

“I…What meeting?” the man asked Traci before staring back down at Jenn's daughter.

“The one where the church is going after Reverend Gardner, because of me.” Ever since Mr. Cain had said the same thing, Traci hadn't been able to think of much else.

She'd finished making dinner, hadn't eaten much more than anyone else, and had dutifully cleaned up afterward. When Jenn left for the council meeting alone, Traci hadn't known what to say. What to do. Only she felt lousy now for not even trying to help.

“What did you do that has anything to do with
Reverend Gardner?” Nothing flickered in the guy's eyes as they locked back onto hers.

Cold.

She searched for another word as she gazed at him, but nothing came to her.

This guy was ice cold.

“I asked Jenn to help me, that's all.” She dragged Mandy behind her and began closing the door. “I'll let her and Nathan know you came by—”

A large hand stopped the door and gently pushed until Traci was forced to move out of the way. The man's bag hit the foyer's hardwood with a thud as he stepped inside. He took his time studying the way Traci kept a squirming Mandy safely behind her.

The kid was slippery as an eel.

“Let me go.” Mandy gave one final yank and succeeded in stepping around Traci.

“Not too close!” Traci jerked Mandy to her side once more.

The man kept staring.

Traci gulped at the size of the muscles bulging beneath Neal Cain's sweater.

“Where can I put my things?”

“You…You're moving in here?”

His eyebrows shot up.

“I mean, I know you used to live here and all, but—”

“Why don't we let Nathan and Jenn worry about
where I'm staying after I speak with her.” He turned to go.

“Are you going to the church council meeting?” It was a meeting Traci should be at herself, except, according to Mr. Cain, she was too much of a loser to stand up and admit that she was to blame for all of this. “Can I come with you?”

“Why?” If the guy had actually looked like he cared, maybe she'd have hesitated before answering.

“Because I owe them. Jenn and her father. She's helping me think through what to do about my baby, and Reverend Gardner's helping keep my parents on a leash while I do.”

Her hand smoothed over her stomach as she faced up to the opportunity Jenn was giving her. What all this was costing the Gardners.

Neal Cain seemed to be sizing up her age. That and the purplish bruise still shadowing her eye. With a nod, he turned to head out.

“So can I come?” She grabbed his sleeve.

He pulled his arm away as if she'd shocked him.

“Please,” she begged. And not just because she was dying to ride in the bad-boy sports car parked at the curb. Something was churning inside her, something besides the baby making her sick every morning and half the day. Thanks to Jenn, and even grumpy old Mr. Cain, she cared about something besides her own problems for a change. Even worse,
she was suddenly mortified that she hadn't all along. “Jenn shouldn't be standing up for her father alone. I should be the one explaining everything.”

“Aren't you babysitting?” He glanced to where Mandy stood just inside the door.

The longer Traci looked at him, the warmer those scary eyes started to look. Especially every time Jenn's name came up.

Man, a few days with the woman and she was developing a bleeding heart of her own. A heart that felt good for a change, instead of like it was going to explode right out of her chest. Wanting to help Jenn and Reverend Gardner felt good. A whole lot better than obsessing about herself 24/7.

“Give me a minute to start a video for Mandy. She'll be fine in the den with your dad until I get back.”

Neal stared beyond her at the den's curtained windows.

“Get your butt in gear.” He turned away, almost as if he were worried he might head inside himself. “I'm pulling out of here in two minutes, with or without you.”

She hustled back to Mandy and settled her with her favorite Disney movie and very clear instructions that she wasn't to leave the house. A quick note for the snoring Nathan was all that was left. Then she grabbed her purse and the designer jacket that didn't
protect her from the winter temperatures as much as it went with her outfit, and headed toward the now-idling car and the blank expression of the man who was already behind the wheel. Gulping down lingering worries about his rep, she climbed inside.

He was a friend of Jenn's. Traci didn't care what the rest of the town said. If Jenn thought Neal Cain was okay, then he was okay with her.

“Before we get there,” he surprised her by saying—she'd figured on a chilly, silent ride all the way into town “—why don't you fill me in. Exactly how much trouble are Jenn and Reverend Gardner in?”

 

“A
CHILD'S FUTURE IS AT STAKE
, and her parents should be guiding her in her decisions.” Catherine Compton stood proud and tall as she addressed the church council.

She'd rallied behind the meeting, even though she wasn't a member of the council. She'd arrived with Traci's parents and a belligerent-looking Jeremy in tow, ready to discuss the latest flaw in Jenn's character, as well as why Jenn's father was partially responsible.

Jenn scanned the conference room. Half of Rivermist had turned out to watch the show.

“Reverend Gardner and his daughter have no right interfering in this family's ordeal,” Catherine continued. “Simply because—”

“My father hasn't interfered with anything.” Jenn ignored her dad's look of warning. He was sitting with the council, of course. They'd known tonight was going to turn ugly, and he hadn't wanted her subjected to it. He'd tried to talk her into staying away, into bringing Traci back to the house and waiting for him there. “He—”

“He has no more control over you now than he did when you were Traci's age,” said the still-grieving mother who glowered at Jenn. “And now he's assisting you in ruining another teenager's life. How this council ever thought you'd be a good choice to work with our impressionable children, I can't begin to understand.”

“I've resigned from coordinating the teen outings,” Jenn said quietly, determined not to react to the growing tension in the room. Not to give anyone more reason to question her professionalism, or her father's for trusting her. “As soon as—”

“As soon as you decided you couldn't follow the dictates any qualified youth leader would.” Catherine shook off her husband's restraining hand and pointed to Traci's parents, who were sitting to her right. “These parents should have been informed immediately of their daughter's reckless behavior. Instead, they were kept in the dark until their child decided to move out of their home—and in with our good reverend's family. And I hear
she's spent today over at the Cain place, with that crazy old man.”

“Sit down, Catherine!” Mr. Compton tugged her back to her seat.

Everyone in the room looked to where Jenn was still standing.

She stepped into the aisle between the rows of folding chairs and walked toward the front of the room. Metal chairs screeched as legs and bodies shifted to allow her to pass. A council meeting hadn't garnered this much interest since…well, since the last time her father's job had been on the line.

Shaking, she faced the council, gifted her father with a silent
I love you
along with a look she hoped he'd take as an apology, and turned to face her community.

“If this meeting were simply to discuss Traci Carpenter's situation, I wouldn't be here without an invitation, particularly since I haven't attended church here regularly since I was a teenager. But Mrs. Compton was gracious enough to speak with me at the school today, about the council discussing disciplinary action against Reverend Gardner. And I couldn't let that happen without setting the record straight.”

She'd made her choices, wise or not. And she'd do exactly the same thing for any other child who needed her help. But her father had paid enough for her decisions. She scanned the sea of concerned
faces before her, determination overtaking her anxiety. If she wasn't strong enough to stand before this town and own up to what she thought was right, what had the last eight years been about?

“The only thing Reverend Gardner is guilty of,” she said in a firm voice she refused to let shake like the jelly her knees had become, “is putting other people's well-being before his concern for his job.”

The truth in the statement settled on her like a bulletproof vest. Her father had chosen her this time. He'd put what she thought was best first. Quietly, with no fanfare and knowing full well that it would cause him enormous headaches, he'd taken a stand firmly in the chaos of Jenn's world.

Standing there, as the church council chatted quietly behind her, she felt less alone than she had in eight long years.

“He's allowed you to take advantage of your role as youth leader,” Betty Carpenter said from her seat beside Mrs. Compton. Traci's mom turned disappointed eyes to Jenn's father. “Joshua, you let her keep working with the kids, knowing she was teaching them Lord knows what every Saturday. Certainly not what we as parents were trying to teach at home. Sneaking around. Lying. Premarital sex. Ab-abortion. My child wouldn't have considered doing any of those things if—”

“I've been doing those things for almost a year,
Mom,” a quiet voice said from the back of the room, where Traci Carpenter stood with a determined expression on her face. “And if Jenn hadn't listened to me a few day ago, instead of lecturing me, I'd probably still be doing them.”

“Sit down, young lady,” Bob Carpenter said as both he and his wife shot to their feet. “This meeting isn't about you. It's—”

“If it's not about Traci, then what are we all doing here?” Jenn's father asked, speaking for the first time since the meeting convened.

The quiet rumbling of whispers that had been a constant background for the proceedings blossomed into ten conversations at once. Several prominent members of the community stood, as if height alone would give stronger voice to their opinions, either in support of or against what had been said.

“Everyone, please—” Mr. Hastings said over the melee. He was the head of the deacons and in charge of tonight's meeting. “Please, take your seats. And let's try and limit our comments to those who are called on by the council, or we'll never get out of here tonight.”

When a veneer of order had returned, he focused his tired blue eyes on Traci. “Miss Carpenter, I think the reverend is right. Your insight into this matter is important. If you have something to share, we'd be happy to hear it.”

Jenn wanted to cheer as the girl bravely walked
through the room full of people who'd known her since she was in diapers. She seemed stronger, somehow. More confident. Less afraid by the minute of the mistakes she'd made and the decisions she still hadn't. An amazing change, even if Jenn didn't completely understand where it had come from so suddenly.

Her smile faltered as a shadow in the hallway caught her eye—a shadow very much the size of Nathan Cain, who'd promised not to allow Traci out of his sight while Jenn was gone. Please, don't let the man choose now to make a scene in front of the town he'd thumbed his nose at for so long.

Traci glanced at the council members, the direction of her gaze settling on Jenn's father. Then she turned to look at her own parents.

“Stop being mad at Reverend Gardner, Mom. He's not the reason I lied to you and Dad.” Jenn could tell the exact moment Traci spotted Brett Hamilton sitting in front of her parents. The girl's shoulders rose and fell, as if she were trying very hard not to cry. “He's not the reason I lied to everybody. Neither is Jenn—Ms. Gardner. She told me from the start I should tell you and Dad everything. She's the reason I finally decided to come clean…and to keep my baby….” She halted, as if the decision had just come to her as she said it. “To keep going to school, even though everybody knows by now, and they can't wait to talk about me. I'm going back tomorrow, Mom. I don't care how bad I feel.”

Jenn curled her arms around the teenager and hoped against hope that her parents were listening. That everyone else would keep silent long enough for the words to sink in.