The Promise of Home (Love Inspired) (15 page)

“I suppose that going along on a photo shoot is out of the question?”

Dev didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”

“Does it have something to do with the mystery surrounding the reclusive Dev McGuire?”

Dev smiled.

“I ask the questions, remember?”

Chapter Sixteen

“D
evlin actually agreed to the interview?” Gabby shouted the words, causing Jenna to wince and move the cell phone a little further from her ear.

“Yes, he did.” Jenna couldn’t believe it, either.

The elderly reporter chuckled. “I had a feeling he wouldn’t be able to turn you down.”

Jenna wasn’t going to touch that one. And she wasn’t going to mention Dev’s conditions, either. Logan had been ecstatic that he could go on the canoe trip, but Jenna had sensed Dev’s reluctance.

Why didn’t he want to be interviewed?

She stepped over the frontier town and walked to the window. Tori had set up a tea party under the oak in the front yard while Logan patrolled the perimeter, looking for animal tracks.

“We’ll be setting up a time to meet within the next few days.” Jenna’s stomach dipped at the thought of seeing Dev again. “I’ll give you a copy to proof before I turn it in.”

“That’s very sweet of you, but we both know it isn’t necessary,” Gabby said gently. “I skimmed through a few issues of
Twin City Trends.
God has given you a special gift, my dear.”

“Thank you.” Jenna had won several awards but for some reason, none of them had meant more to her than this woman’s praise.

“I have a doctor’s appointment in a few minutes so I better scoot. I’m glad you called and told me the news. It made my day.”

“Do you need anything else, Gabby?” Jenna hesitated. “I mean, do you have someone to drive you home from the hospital after your surgery?”

“Oh my goodness, you don’t need to worry about that.” Gabby chuckled. “I’m going to have meals brought right to my front door for the next two weeks and help with my housework and cutting the grass.”

“Your family takes good care of you.”

“I don’t have any family left. It’s my other family that’s chipping in to help.”

“Your other family?”

“The family of God.” Gabby sounded surprised that Jenna didn’t know what she was talking about. “We’re supposed to look out for one another. Bear one another’s burdens, you know.”

No, Jenna didn’t know. But she’d experienced it when Kate and her friends had shown up and helped transformed the dreary cabin into a home.

Apparently Gabby believed it, too. And so did Dev.

You don’t have to do this alone, you know.

“But I wouldn’t be against a visitor or two while I’m recuperating,” Gabby was saying. “I can’t wait to hear how the interview goes.”

“You’re incorrigible, Gabby.”

“Why thank you, dear.”

Jenna laughed and hung up the phone. Before she had a chance to put it down on the table, it rang again.

“Did you change your mind about proofing the article already?” she teased.

Silence stretched on the other end of the line.

“Jenna?”

Jenna collapsed into the closest chair before her knees gave out. “Shelly?”

A shaky laugh followed. “Yeah, it’s me. The counselor said you called.”

Three times,
Jenna was tempted to say. “I wanted to find out how you’re doing.”

“Okay, I guess.” Shelly sounded distracted. “The first few days were the worst. And they won’t let me smoke.”

“That’s probably a good thing.” Jenna’s gaze drifted to the colorful rug on the floor that Abby had put down to cover the burn.

“I guess.” There was an edge in Shelly’s voice that hadn’t been there before. “Where are you? In Minneapolis?”

The question confused Jenna. “No, I’m in Mirror Lake. With Tori and Logan.”

“I suppose you found that little bed-and-breakfast up the road? It’s probably more your style.”

Jenna let the comment slide. “We’re staying at the cabin. Tori and Logan are more comfortable here.”

Shelly snorted. “Not exactly the Ritz, is it?”

Jenna’s gaze settled on the rug that Abby had given her. The cotton candy-pink afghan that the Knit Our Hearts Together ministry had given to Tori.

“It’s got potential.” She repeated Abby’s words.

“How are the kids doing?”

“Would you like to talk to them?” Jenna offered. “They’re playing outside but I can call them in. I’m sure they’d love to hear your voice.”

“No, don’t bother them. I can call back another time.”

Outside, a peal of childish laughter pierced the air. Logan was giving one of Tori’s stuffed animals a piggyback ride around the yard.

You’re missing this, Shelly,
she thought.
And they’re missing you.

An awkward silence swelled between them. They should have so many things to catch up on. So much to say. It had been easier to talk to the cashier at the grocery store than have a conversation with her own sister.

“How long do you think you’ll be at New Day?”

“The counselor recommended I stay another week or two.”

Jenna drew in a breath. Released it. “Shelly, I’d like you to think about coming back to Minneapolis. All three of you. There’s a great school about a block from where I live and—”

“Didn’t we already have this conversation?” Shelly interrupted. “Like, seven years ago?”

“Yes, we did.”
And if you’d listened to me, maybe your life would have been different.
“I’ve been worried about you.”

“Look, I’m glad you came to save the day,” Shelly said with a weary sigh. “And I’m sorry for what happened. I know I messed up big time. Tell Logan and Tori that I promise things will be different when I get home.”

I promise.

Jenna closed her eyes. Didn’t Shelly realize she was parroting their mother’s favorite phrase. And nothing had ever changed. They’d still moved from town to town, driven by Nola’s restlessness and discontent. It was as if their mother had always been searching for some elusive treasure just beyond her reach.

“I’m glad you’re getting help,” Jenna said softly. “Logan and Tori need you.”

“Everyone needs something.” Shelly’s voice carried a disturbing undercurrent of bitterness. “Sometimes it gets to be too much, you know?”

“Shelly—”

“Listen, my time is up, and I have to make another call.”

Jenna didn’t have time to protest. To ask the questions that had continued to mount since she’d arrived in Mirror Lake. What had happened with Vance? What were Shelly’s plans for the future? For Tori and Logan?

Jenna hung up the phone and felt a tear slide down her cheeks. She’d dreamed of this moment for years. Reconnecting with the only remaining member of her family, the sister she’d once been so close to.

But the conversation was a harsh reminder that she didn’t know Shelly at all. It was almost worse than seven years of silence.

The cabin’s walls suddenly felt as if they were closing in on her.

Jenna slipped outside. The scent of rain weighted the air and gray clouds inched toward the sun, threatening to snuff out the sunny afternoon. Except that Shelly’s call had already accomplished that.

“Want some tea, Aunt Jenna?” Tori held up her toy teapot.

Jenna sat down beside her and accepted a plastic cup stuffed with blades of grass. “It smells wonderful.”

Tori smiled. “It’s got two sugar cubes in it. See?”

Jenna saw two acorns rolling around the bottom of the cup. “Just the way I like it.”

“I made something for you. You can wear it when we have our special tea next Saturday.” Tori pulled a bracelet from the pocket of her shorts. Three strands of yarn—pink, of course—loosely braided together.

“It’s beautiful.” Jenna pulled Tori into her lap and tickled her sides. “And. So. Are. You.”

Tori giggled. “Put it on!”

“You’re going to have to help me. Can you tie a bow?”

“Uh-huh. Logan taught me how. He’s a good brother.”

“Yes, he is.” Jenna felt a tightening in her chest as she held out her wrist so Tori could tie the ends together. She regretted letting Shelly end the conversation without talking to her about the children. Her sister had always been a “live for the moment” type of girl, while Jenna preferred to plan for the future.

How could she get Shelly to realize that her behavior wasn’t only affecting herself, it was affecting Tori and Logan, too?

Logan dashed up to her. “Can we go for a walk, Aunt Jenna?”

Jenna figured it was an excuse to play with Violet, but she didn’t want to interrupt Dev twice in one day. Or give him an opportunity to change his mind about the interview.

“How about a short one? I think it’s going to rain.”

They helped Tori pick up her toys and stash them on the porch. Jenna kept a wary eye on the tufts of dark clouds that drifted past, carried by the breeze that skipped over the lake.

Logan stopped several times to show her things that he’d discovered on one of his expeditions. A snail attached to a lily pad. A cocoon knit to the wooden post of the dock. A scattering of footprints in the soft ground near the edge of the woods, evidence that the doe and her twins had visited during the night.

One name kept popping up as Logan led Jenna and Tori on his treasure hunt.

Dev.

He’d been the one to point out those little things the night he’d taken them on that impromptu field trip. Jenna had assumed Dev’s attention to detail had been honed by living in the woods, never dreaming it was because he was a professional photographer.

A. Professional. Photographer.

Jenna closed her eyes.

It explained so many things. Why he traveled so much. Why he was so comfortable in the outdoors.

But it didn’t explain why an entire town had branded him a recluse. Jenna had been more concerned with sticking to boundaries than Dev had.

“Look, Aunt Jenna!” Logan rushed up to her, hands cupped, water draining from between his fingers. “I found it in the water.”

She drew back. “Is it alive?”

“Uh-huh.” Logan’s eyes were shining. “It’s a crayfish. A big one.”

Of course it was. Jenna was beginning to think that God had supersized every creature around here.

“They’re easy to catch. Do you want to try?”

Jenna hadn’t realized they’d wandered so far down the shoreline. In fact, they were closer to Dev’s cabin than they were to their own.

Lightning flickered in the underbelly of a dark cloud rolling toward the lake.

“I think it’s time to head back.”

Thunder rumbled in the distance and Tori clapped her hands over her ears. “I don’t like storms.”

“Come on.” Jenna made a decision. She took the children by the hand and they sprinted for the deck where she and Dev had had coffee that morning.

There were no signs of life. No lights in the windows. No Violet barking out a greeting.

“It doesn’t look like anyone’s home.”

Logan peered through the sliding glass doors. “Dev probably left already.”

Jenna brushed a raindrop off her cheek and looked at her nephew. “Left?”

“Uh-huh. He has to take some pictures but he’ll be back in a few days.”

The numbness spreading through Jenna’s limbs wasn’t caused by the cold rain pelting her skin. It was disappointment. She’d been hoping Dev would be home. Wanted to tell him that Shelly had called.

Jenna had been so afraid that Logan would come to depend on Dev that she hadn’t considered the possibility that she would, too.

* * *

“You might have to move. Mirror Lake is now officially on the map.”

“I have no idea what you mean, Talia, but talk fast.” Dev propped the phone against his ear as he set another tent stake in place while keeping a wary eye on the clouds boiling in the sky above him. “I’m about to get caught in a downpour and I can’t believe there’s cell phone reception here.”

“You always say that.”

“This time it’s true.” He’d just hiked ten miles into the heart of the national forest.

“Your little town is featured on a website this week. A friend of mine told me about it.”

“How did that happen?”

“It’s in
Twin City Trends.
A pretty cute article about a fish named Fred. There’s a picture, too. I’ll read the headline. ‘City Girl Goes Country.’ Jenna Gardner wrote it.”

Dev rocked back on his heels, the approaching storm momentarily overshadowed by a sudden turbulence inside of him.

“Jenna Gardner?”

“Have you met her?” Talia asked.

He must have been silent too long.

“Yes.” Met her. Laughed with her. Held her in his arms. “She’s only in town for another week or so.”

“Does she know who you are?” Talia demanded.

“She knows I’m a photographer.”
Thank you, Gabby Bunker.

“Are you sure?” Talia was no longer teasing. “How can she work for
Trends
and not know who you are?”

“I’m not Brad Pitt, Talia. What I am—” Dev grabbed another stake. “—is old news.”