The Promise of Home (Love Inspired) (11 page)

“I like this place.” Tori’s eyelids fluttered. “Can we sleep here tonight?”

The question instantly propelled Dev and Jenna to their feet.

“I think we better be heading back.” Before she finished the sentence, Dev was already packing up his gear.

They followed the path to the cabin in silence. Dev carrying Tori in his arms, Jenna holding tight to Logan’s small hand and Violet padding alongside them.

She shoved a hand in her pocket and fumbled for the key as they climbed the steps to the porch. Jenna wasn’t sure if she could blame the sudden trembling in her fingers on Logan’s grip or her close proximity to Dev.

She opened her mouth to say goodbye when he took the key, unlocked the door and walked inside.

“I’ll take care of Logan while you get Tori ready for bed.”

Jenna was too tired from battling her own emotions to argue.

Dev flipped on the light and everyone trooped inside. Jenna guided Tori to the bedroom and folded the comforter back. She’d already decided to replace the worn bedding before Shelly returned, something that would coordinate with the pink walls.

On the other side of the door, Jenna could hear Logan chattering on about the constellations, his voice an excited soprano against the low rumble of Dev’s bass.

By the time she finished combing the tangles from Tori’s hair and returned to the living room, Logan and Dev were on the floor, picking up pieces of the frontier town and putting them back in a plastic storage crate.

It brought back memories of a saucy wink and teasing smile.

And the way Dev had reacted when she’d told him that she worked for
Twin City Trends.

“Time for bed now.” Time to put some distance between her and Dev.

“’Night.” Tori pulled on Dev’s hand until they were eye to eye. “Guess what?”

“What?”

“The North Star’s my fav’rite, too.”

“Sweet dreams, sunshine.”

“I will.” Tori flitted toward the bedroom.

“Thank you for inviting us along.” Jenna put on a polite smile. “It was very…educational.”

Dev’s elusive smile surfaced. “Didn’t I promise you’d enjoy it?”

That was the problem. Jenna had enjoyed it. Too much.

And she wasn’t used to people keeping their promises.

Chapter Twelve

“J
enna! Over here!”

Kate’s smiling face was the first one Jenna saw when she walked through the doors of Church of the Pines the next morning. Standing beside her, one arm wrapped around her slim waist, was a man who could have easily made the cover of
Twin City Trends.

“Alex!” Logan and Tori had no qualms about rushing to his side.

Alex Porter’s cool, jade green eyes instantly warmed a few degrees as he bent down to hug them.

Tori wriggled free, forehead pleated in a frown as she carefully looked him over, small hands planted on her hips.

“You’re all better!” she announced.

“I sure am.” Alex winked at her. “No more spots.”

“Do you like my new dress?” Tori clasped a handful of the yellow ruffle circling the hem and twirled around. “Aunt Jenna bought it for me. Pink is my favorite color but yellow is my second favorite.”

“It’s beautiful,” Alex said promptly. “You look like a daisy.”

Judging from the smile on Tori’s face, he couldn’t have paid the little girl a greater compliment.

Jenna watched the exchange in bemusement. She could hold her own in different social situations—it came with her job—but even she had been a little intimidated by Alex Porter. In Chicago, he and Abby had moved through the upper levels of the social stratosphere like royalty.

The family’s small chain of luxury hotels were well known throughout the Midwest. Porter Lakeside had even been featured in the travel section of
Twin City Trends
the previous year.

Jenna had met with Alex briefly following his release from the hospital to thank him for coming to the children’s rescue.

Alex had listened, polite but aloof, and then proceeded to question Jenna about her plans. Was she going to stay in Mirror Lake? Take the children back to Minnesota? Whatever Jenna had said must have satisfied Alex because she’d been allowed to leave.

Kate had pulled her aside later and explained that Alex had become rather attached to Logan and Tori while they were staying with her. What she’d witnessed was the man’s unique— Jenna was sure Kate had added the word “highhanded” below her breath—way of expressing concern.

“Good morning, Alex.” Jenna resisted the urge to fidget when that pair of jade eyes zeroed in on her.

“Jenna. It’s nice to see you again.” His manner had thawed considerably since the last time they’d met.

“We’re so glad you came this morning.” Kate pulled Jenna in for a hug. “There’s a picnic after the service this morning. I hope you and the kids will be able to stay for awhile.”

Jenna hesitated. She hadn’t planned to attend church but Tori had bounced on her bed, awake before the birds and already dressed in one of the outfits Jenna had had shipped from one of her favorite boutiques.

“We have to go to church, Aunt Jenna,” she’d informed her. “Kate says that God likes to see his children together.”

Church attendance had never been encouraged in Jenna’s family. Once, when Jenna was about Logan’s age, a teenage girl had knocked on the door and handed her a flyer advertising a weeklong vacation Bible school being held at the church she attended.

Jenna had taken it to her mother, excited at the possibility of attending, but Nola had barely given it a cursory glance before tossing it in the wastebasket.

“No sense keeping it,” her mother had said. “We’ll be gone by then.”

And that had been the end of it.

“I’m not sure about the picnic.” Jenna searched for a reasonable excuse. “I didn’t bring a dish to pass—”

Kate waved aside Jenna’s protest. “There’s always plenty of food.”

“Kate and Abby singlehandedly make sure of it,” Alex murmured.

“Abby bakes to relax,” Kate explained. “Alex arrived yesterday and we now have three dozen muffins, two pans of cinnamon rolls and a lemon Bundt cake. I won’t comment on any correlation between the two.”

Instead of appearing offended by her teasing, Alex grinned. “All I told Abby was that I planned to move here before Christmas.”

“Exactly.”

The couple smiled at each other and Jenna felt a twinge of envy.

She wouldn’t have thought that Kate, a woman who’d never ventured beyond the border of her home state would have anything in common with a high-powered executive like Alex Porter, and yet it was clear the two were deeply in love. Abby had mentioned that her brother planned to make Mirror Lake his permanent home.

A few weeks ago, she would have thought he was crazy. But now…Jenna pulled her thoughts in line.

Not going there.

Music drifted through the foyer. Through the narrow windows in the doors of the sanctuary, Jenna could see Zoey at the piano.

Kate chuckled. “There’s our cue.”

Logan took Jenna by the hand. “I’ll show you where we sit.”

Several people smiled at them and greeted the children by name as they made their way down the center aisle. To Jenna’s surprise, some of them greeted her by name, too. The woman who had waved to them on Main Street used her pink cane to brake next to the pew. She peered down at Jenna.

“Delia Peake,” she bellowed, thrusting out a hand.

“Jenna. Jenna Gardner.”

“I know who you are.” The rubber tip on the end of the cane thumped the floor. “Saw your name on the list of new members a few days ago.”

“What—” Jenna didn’t have time to finish the sentence.

“I’ll see you at our next meeting.” Delia dipped into a purse that had gone out of style twenty years ago, handed Logan and Tori some Hershey’s Kisses and continued down the aisle.

Jenna felt a light tap on her shoulder and turned to see the Sutton family sitting behind them.

“Don’t worry,” Emma whispered. “Delia has that effect on everyone.”

“Do you know what she’s talking about?” Jenna whispered back. “I didn’t sign up for anything.”

“Unfortunately, that’s never been a prerequisite around here.” Jake interjected with a wry smile that softened the line of his jaw and made him seem more approachable.

“Ask Kate.” Emma handed a hymnal to Jeremy. “She might know.”

“Know?” Jake echoed. “She’s probably the one who put Jenna’s name on the list.”

Emma batted her husband’s arm. “Be nice.”

The prelude ended and the pastor strode up the narrow aisle, pausing to greet people along the way.

Matthew and Zoey exchanged a smile as he approached the pulpit, and Jenna saw several of the older women nod in approval. The congregation had obviously given the couple its blessing.

Bypassing the simple oak podium, Matt came to stand in front of the congregation.

With a smile as easygoing as his attire, khaki pants and a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled back to reveal his muscular forearms, the man didn’t fit Jenna’s mental image of a pastor. The first time they’d met was in the small chapel of the hospital, when Jenna had brought the children to visit Alex.

Matt had joined hands with Kate and Zoey in prayer, the three of them linked together by friendship and their shared faith.

Jenna had waited in the doorway, once again feeling as if she were on the outside looking in.

She didn’t understand why it seemed so easy for them to put their trust in something they couldn’t see. Even Tori and Logan said bedtime prayers, their simple faith stirring emotions in Jenna that had been dormant for years.

Tori snuggled against Jenna’s side. If it weren’t for her niece and nephew, she wouldn’t be sitting in church this morning.

“God wants us to come to him with the faith of a child,” Caitlin had told her once.

Maybe that was part of the problem. From an early age, Jenna had been in charge of the family. Taken care of Shelly and their mother. Managed the household and the secrets.

If you’re here, God, if you’re listening…could you let me know?

The simple prayer rose out of her heart and took wing on its own volition, born from a need that Jenna hadn’t known existed until now. She looked around almost guiltily, afraid for a moment that she’d spoken the words out loud. But everyone was looking at Matt as he leafed through the pages of a worn leather Bible.

“The heavens declare the glory of the Lord. The skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech. Night after night they display knowledge.

There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth. Their words to the ends of the world.”

“This is our call to worship this morning.” Matt’s smile swept over the congregation, as warm as the sunlight streaming through the stained glass windows. “Let’s pray.”

Everyone bowed their head, but Jenna didn’t hear what Matt was saying. Everything around her disappeared.

All Jenna saw was night sky stretched over her head. And the faint glow of Polaris, Dev’s favorite star.

“It’s the one you can trust to always be there, to help you keep moving in the right direction.”

Jenna’s breath knotted in her lungs as the verse unfolded in her heart.

The heavens declare the glory of God.

As unbelievable as it seemed, God had just answered her prayer.

* * *

Dev swiped at the beads of sweat collecting on his brow with the back of his hand. He’d spent the better part of the afternoon scraping the old finish off his grandfather’s canoe, a project that had slowly worked its way up his summer to do list.

The project kept his hands busy but unfortunately, his thoughts kept straying to the woman who lived next door. It was becoming a habit.

Violet streaked past him and Dev caught a glimpse of something dangling from her mouth.

“Hey, you. Get back here.”

Of course she didn’t listen.

Dev wiped his hands off on a rag and followed Violet to the willow that bowed over the shoreline, her favorite place to hide contraband.

Violet, crouched over whatever treasure she’d found, gave him a bright “hey, Dev, what’s happening” smile as he swept the boughs aside.

“Okay, what did you find—” Dev bit back a groan when he saw the coonskin cap between her paws.

Somehow, his lug of a dog had managed to steal Logan’s favorite hat. Leaving him no choice but to return it. It was as if Violet and Logan had worked out a plan to keep him and Jenna together.

“You did this on purpose, didn’t you?” Dev picked up the hat to assess the damage. Wet tail. No holes. “You didn’t see your buddy all day, so you figured out a way to invite yourself over.”

Violet barked at him. A “right back at you” bark, reminding Dev that he was the one who’d taken Jenna and the kids on a field trip to watch the stars the night before.

“That was different,” Dev muttered. “Sutton deputized me. It’s not like I had a choice. Someone had to make sure that guy didn’t come back.”

Violet rolled to her feet and flipped her tail as she trotted past. The canine equivalent of “talk to the hand.”

If Talia saw him now, arguing with his four-legged roommate, she’d stage an intervention.

Dev glanced at the setting sun, wondering if he should wait until the following morning to return the hat. But knowing how important it was to Logan, he decided to leave it on the porch for Jenna to find.

Then turn tail and run home like the coward you are.

He wasn’t running away from Jenna. He was giving her what she wanted. Space. She was the one who’d drawn the line in the sand. Was it his fault that Violet and Logan pretended as if it didn’t exist?

Great. Now he was arguing with his conscience.

Halfway to Jenna’s cabin, Violet veered off course and forged a new path through the woods. Dev didn’t bother to whistle. If the dog was following a scent trail, he’d have more success if he followed
her.

He found Violet planted at the base of a gnarled oak, fifty yards off the path. Looking up at the branches.

“Leave it alone, Violet.” She might not have cornered a skunk this time but the chances that she’d sent a porcupine lumbering up the tree for cover were high enough to send Dev swiftly to her side.

“Let’s go before you get someone riled up.” As he took hold of her collar, he heard rustling in the leaves.

Dev glanced up, expecting to see a raccoon or a disgruntled porcupine clinging to the trunk of the tree.

What he saw was a small tennis shoe dangling above his head.