Читать книгу A Colorado Match - Deb Kastner - Страница 11

She belatedly realized she shouldn’t have added that last part of the statement because he was going to grasp at any excuse he could to block her directive. With her response, she’d just unintentionally handed one right to him.

She was really going to have to watch her mouth around him, that was for sure. He was an intelligent and quick-witted man. He knew how to take it as well as he gave it. She definitely needed to be on her guard with this guy.

“As a matter of fact,” Vince jumped in, without missing a beat, “Jessica should be here any moment, so I’m afraid we simply won’t have time just now to start on your project.” He emphasized the last word just enough to make her want to grind her teeth.

“Jessica?” she queried, wondering if she was somehow supposed to recognize that name, and then deciding he was purposefully baiting her.

“Jessica is Nate’s fiancée,” he explained, his voice lowering and becoming a bit more gravelly.

His gaze deflected for the tiniest moment, and his lips twitched and one corner pinched together. She had the distinct feeling there was something going on behind the scenes in Vince’s mind, and she wondered what it was.

Probably how much he disliked what she was trying to do here. Or maybe how much he disliked what she stood for. Or, possibly the most likely scenario of all, how much he disliked her in general.

As if on cue, a pretty blond-haired woman with a wiggling baby bundled in her arms came sweeping in the door of Vince’s office. If she was surprised to see that Vince was not alone, she didn’t show it. She flashed Melanie a shy but genuinely friendly smile and turned her gaze toward Vince.

“I hope it’s okay that I brought Gracie along,” Jessica said, propping the baby in an empty chair to remove her snowsuit. “Nate had to go to Denver for a couple of days to get some supplies for the lodge.”

Vince’s brow creased for just a moment, but once his gaze alighted on the baby, he was all smiles.

As soon as baby Gracie was free of the restrictive clothing, she wiggled around onto her tummy and scooted off the edge of the chair, kicking her legs as she dangled. Melanie didn’t know if she’d ever seen a more adorable baby than the curly-haired little girl; especially when Gracie reached the floor, propped herself into a standing position using the chair for balance, and gave her Uncle Vince a full, cheeky eight-toothed grin.

Vince chuckled and came around the desk, giving the baby a big, smacking kiss on the cheek. “You know I’m always happy to have Gracie here.”

He turned to Melanie. “Nate is adopting Gracie, so she’s my niece.”

The woman smiled at Melanie. “I’m Jessica Sabin, by the way. I’m the day care director here at Morningway Lodge. Or at least, I was. In the interim, I’m working behind the front desk.”

She paused and gave Vince an encouraging smile. “But I’m sure that won’t be for long. The ministry the Morningways do here for the families of patients staying at the RMPR Hospital can’t be replaced, but buildings sure can be. God will bless us.”

“He will,” Vince agreed.

Melanie was keenly aware of her sudden, involuntary intake of breath, and she tensed, hoping the other two hadn’t heard it. She’d already heard Vince refer to Morningway Lodge as a ministry, so she supposed she should have been prepared for it, but God talk, as she thought of it, made her incredibly uncomfortable, bringing to mind other times and other situations she would rather not dwell upon.

“And,” Vince continued, thankfully not appearing to notice the change in Melanie’s demeanor or breathing pattern, “Jessica forgot to mention she’s the local heroine around here. She rescued several children, and even Gracie here, from the fire at the day care center. There would be a lot of grieving parents, my brother included, if it were not for her brave efforts.”

Melanie studied the woman with renewed interest. Her gaze had dropped to her feet and she was shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot. Jessica might be a local celebrity, but if the bright pink stain on her cheeks was anything to go by, Melanie thought the poor woman must not care much for the spotlight Vince was beaming her direction.

“I’m Melanie Frazer,” she said, knowing how uncomfortable she felt when Vince put her on the spot, and wanting to give Jessica a way out of it. “My life story is not nearly as glamorous as yours, but I’m glad to meet you. I’ll be staying at the lodge for about six weeks, so I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other around.”

“Oh?” Jessica asked. “I assumed you were a new employee, since you’re in the back office and all.”

Vince barked out a dry laugh. “Hardly. Melanie is the business consultant Nate hired for me.”

When Vince turned away, Jessica rolled her eyes at Melanie in silent woman-to-woman communication. Clearly she was aware of the animosity between the two brothers, but to Melanie’s surprise, Jessica didn’t try to defend Nate or push the tender subject with Vince.

“You said Nate took off again?” Vince asked with a huff, addressing Jessica, though his back was still turned on her. He whirled around, using one of his crutches to center himself and the other to keep from toppling over.

“Yes, he did. Why?” Jessica smiled patiently. She was being a lot more tolerant with Vince’s attitude than Melanie would have been, given the same circumstances.

He pushed his glasses up his nose and scoffed. “It figures.”

What was wrong with the man? Melanie thought. Something was certainly stuck in his craw and was eating him away. His Jekyll-and-Hyde disposition was unlike anything Melanie had ever run across in all her years on the job. What was underneath all that bluster?

Maybe that was exactly the question she needed to be asking. As far as her business services went, Melanie found it was helpful to get to know the person she was working for—although to be fair, that was not exactly applicable in this case, because Nate had hired her, and not Vince.

And Vince and Nate did not get along. That much was patently clear.

It was no wonder she and Vince had gotten off on the wrong foot, what with Nate bringing her in behind Vince’s back and without his knowledge.

But she thought it might be partially her fault things had gone downhill from there. Maybe she’d pushed him too fast in her hunger to get the job done. Maybe if she’d given him a bit more time to get used to the idea, they wouldn’t be butting heads so ferociously.

She couldn’t help but think maybe she could still turn things around for them and make their working relationship less contentious. If she could figure out a way to bridge the gap; and that was a big if.

“I was planning to visit the burn site tomorrow morning to see how the cleanup is going,” Vince told Jessica. “The youth group from the church is going to help, so I wanted to stop by and thank them. But I guess that won’t be happening because I won’t have Nate’s help. I can’t drive my truck with this stupid cast on. It’s a standard transmission.”

Melanie couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity—time with Vince, out of the office, visiting the grounds of a family business that was clearly important to him—even if he did resent the thought of change.

She cleared her throat to remind both Vince and Jessica that she was present, if not exactly part of the conversation.

“No problem. I’ll drive you.”

By mid-morning the next day, Vince and Melanie were on their way to the burn site. “The clutch is a bit sensitive,” Vince commented as the gears made a slight grinding sound when Melanie shifted from first to second gear. He gave her a sidelong glance out of the corner of his eye.

Her gaze was firmly on the road as she maneuvered the truck up a steep incline. From the way her forehead was creased and her lips were pursed, she was obviously concentrating ferociously.

That, or she was upset about something. It didn’t matter either way. Even with her face all scrunched up, she was one pretty lady. He couldn’t help but admire her from his peripheral vision.

As they crowned the hill and the blackened remains of the day care came into view, Vince’s focus immediately changed. His breath stung in his throat and he swallowed it back. He’d never get used to looking at the razed, utterly desolate land. He imagined it was a bleak sight even for Melanie, who had no vested interest in the place.

Even with the area teeming with life in the form of teenagers with garbage bags doing what they could to clean up the site, it was still heartbreaking to see. And while he appreciated all the help the youth groups from combined churches in the area were giving him, it was only a scratch on the surface of what needed to be done.

Vince closed his eyes. God was with him, and God was good, he reminded himself. No matter how stark the reality of the situation looked from a human perspective, God was in control. Vince had to believe that.

He did believe that.

It was a necessary reminder, and an internal conversation Vince used with himself on a regular basis, especially since the crisis with the day care.

Melanie hit a rut that bounced Vince out of his seat. He automatically reached for the bar over the door and braced himself, although the road wasn’t any worse than the usual winter washboard.

“Oh, dear,” Melanie said softly, as she cruised the rest of the way down the hill and parked the truck not far from the burn site. “I’m hurting your leg with my bad driving, aren’t I?”

Vince opened his eyes and turned his gaze toward her. She was staring back at him with wide, blinking copper-penny eyes and concern lining her face.

“Not at all. I’ve lived in the mountains all my life. A little washboard can’t hurt me.” Surprisingly, the smile he flashed her didn’t feel forced, even though his spirit had plummeted the moment they’d driven up to the site.

“Well, I’m sorry, just the same.”

“Don’t be,” he said softly.

“Who are all these teenagers?” she asked, clearly eager to change the subject.

“They are a combined youth group from some of the local churches. When they heard about the fire, they offered to help clean the debris.”

“For free?”

Despite his melancholy, he smiled. “That’s what Christians do. Support each other in times of need.”

She snorted. “Not in my experience.”

His eyebrows raised in surprise at the vehemence of her denial. “No?”

She shook her head fiercely but didn’t offer any details. He was reluctant to push her if she didn’t want to talk about it, but he was wondered what kind of Christians she’d been around to cause her to feel so much animosity.

“Jessica seems nice,” she commented, clearly eager to change the subject.

His smile faltered as a dark cloud briefly passed over his heart.

“What?” she asked. He wondered if that was concern and empathy on her face, or merely curiosity.

“Nothing. It’s nothing.” He shook his head. He was not the kind of guy who liked to talk about it.

“You won’t tell me what you were thinking just now?” She was pushing him, but the words were spoken gently and with respect, and Vince suddenly found himself opening up, which was a revelation in itself.

“I was thinking about my mother,” he admitted hesitantly.

“Oh? Does she live here at the lodge?”

“She died when I was a teenager.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry about,” Vince assured her, shaking his head. “It’s just—”

He paused and pursed his lips. She didn’t speak, but her expression was open and caring, so he continued.

“My mom always fussed over Nate and me. Now Nate has Jessica to care for him. It makes me more aware than ever that I don’t have anyone like that in my life.”

“You’re lucky that you had her,” she whispered. “I never had anyone who cared enough to fuss over me. Not in my whole life.”

“No one?”

She looked away, her gaze taking on a distant quality. He hoped he hadn’t stuck his foot in his mouth and inadvertently hurt her with his words. He felt like a heel, and Melanie’s emotional withdrawal only highlighted his mistakes.

He noticed her hand was still resting on the gear shift. Her skin looked soft and delicate, reminding Vince once again that he shouldn’t make sweeping judgments about someone before getting to know them first. Holding his breath, he took what was maybe the biggest risk of his whole life—he placed his hand over hers.

He thought she’d probably pull away, but she didn’t. Instead she turned her hand over and squeezed his.

She’d obviously been through a lot in her lifetime, and he wondered why there’d been no one there to protect her and care for her. It went against every fiber of his being that someone or some circumstance had caused lasting inward scars on this outwardly beautiful woman, wounds that had stayed with her into adulthood. He silently prayed that her future would hold the love and peace she hadn’t found in her childhood.

She still wouldn’t look at him. The conversation had taken a much more personal tone than either of them had expected, and he sensed she was even more uncomfortable than he was with it.

He squeezed her hand one more time and, thinking to give her a moment of privacy in which to collect herself, he let himself out of the truck, struggling for a moment with his crutches before he found his balance.

As he approached what was left of the day care facility—which was nothing—Vince leaned heavily on his crutches and sighed. Despite the well wishes of the teenagers who approached him, he still felt the enormity of the burden before him. He’d come down with the intention of personally thanking the teens for all their assistance. Now he found himself wishing he could help them, even if it was just a little bit, and was frustrated by the fact that he was so confined by his stupid cast.

What was he going to do, kick around the ashes with his one good leg? A fat lot of help he was going to be.

He closed his eyes, wishing it all away. If only this were a bad dream and he would soon wake from his sleep. But of course when he opened his eyes again, nothing had changed.

Reality check.

The fire had consumed every inch of the building and every bit of the equipment that had been inside. It was all gone. Completely and utterly destroyed, turned into bags upon bags of worthless debris in the blink of an eye.

And yet it could have been so much worse, he re minded himself. He had much to thank God for.

None of the kids had been hurt. Or his brother. Or Gracie. Or Jessica.

People couldn’t be replaced. Buildings could.

Except in this case, Vince didn’t know when it would happen. Or more to the point, how. The ministry was barely making it financially as it was. There’d been no way to predict such a disaster, and even if he had, his budget constraints wouldn’t have been able to have changed much.

He sighed again and made absent circles in the ash with the end of one of his crutches. He heard Melanie exit the truck and slam the door shut, but he didn’t turn to look at her as she approached.

Instead, he closed his eyes once again, this time centering his heart on heaven and the throne of grace. Silently, he pleaded with God for the strength and wisdom to deal with this new trial.

Most of all, he prayed for the faith to believe God would get him through this, for he had never felt as utterly alone and abandoned as he did at this moment.

In his head, he knew he couldn’t let his feelings dictate his faith, but his heart was not so quick to catch up.

“What are you doing?” Melanie asked, abruptly putting an end to Vince’s agonizing prayer.

Reluctantly, he opened his eyes and turned to face her. “Praying.”

Her copper-penny eyes widened noticeably. “Seriously? I thought maybe you were looking for something there in the ashes.”

“In a way, I guess I was,” he answered with a twisted smile. “Guidance.”

Melanie shook her head. “Excuse me?”

“From the Lord.”

She didn’t look convinced. Her right eyebrow twitched upward in that compelling way she had, and then her eyes narrowed and she locked her gaze on him. He fought with a powerful urge to look away from her and, with effort, managed to maintain eye contact with her.

“I hope I don’t sound insensitive, but it seems to me this place needs a lot more than a prayer.”

“I’ll do what I can,” Vince replied softly, thinking of how little he could do. There wasn’t enough money to renovate, much less rebuild.

Her gaze widened, but she didn’t speak.

“As I can,” he continued. “When all is said and done, asking God for guidance is the first and most important thing I can—and should—do.”

And the only thing he could do right now, he added silently. He was out of options, humanly speaking, anyway.

“I’m curious,” she said, “what you think God is going to do for you. He didn’t stop the fire from happening. Why do you think He’s going to help you now?”

He winced internally, but hoped it didn’t show on his expression.

“You don’t sound like you believe in God,” he commented in a low tone. “Do you?”

Vince knew the exact moment Melanie shut down. He thought he glimpsed a moment of anger before the steel barrier dropped over her eyes and her expression became blank and neutral.

“If you mean the big guy in the sky who tosses out thunderbolts to fry all of us poor sinners every time we do something wrong, then no. I don’t believe in God.”

She tried to make it sound like a joke, but Vince didn’t buy that for an instant. She’d unconsciously crossed her arms in front of her and was standing defensively, whether she realized it or not. She clearly had unresolved issues in her life, but what that had to do with her belief in—or in this case, animosity toward—God, he couldn’t guess.

His heart hurt for her. Even with the awkwardness of his crutches and his cast, he very much wanted to reach out to her, maybe give her a reassuring hug, but something held him back. Maybe it was that he couldn’t quite let himself forget that she didn’t like him very much to begin with, and nothing they’d talked about recently would have done much to have changed her opinion about him.

He gripped the handles of his crutches until he’d tempered the need to comfort her, knowing it would probably only distress her further.

“This may sound a bit cliché, Melanie, but God is love,” he commented softly.

She snorted and shook her head adamantly. “Yeah. I’ve heard that before. I’m not buying.”

Vince wondered just what she had heard and from whom. Certainly she hadn’t been exposed to Jesus, the loving and forgiving Savior whose Spirit Vince carried within his own heart.

“Anyway,” she continued, “I haven’t been struck down by lightning yet. I guess that counts for something.”

There was no way to counter that statement—either yes or no would put him in equally hot water—so he changed the subject, vowing silently that by the end of the six weeks of their acquaintance, he would find out the truth about Melanie Frazer; and hopefully, he prayed, she would find out the truth about God.

“This is pretty much a disaster,” he said, gesturing across the piles of blackened ash with his crutch. “The truth is, I don’t have the money to rebuild.”

Brilliant. Not exactly the smoothest change of subject in the history of the world.

He only now realized how foolish it was to lay out his financial troubles out to the very person who’d been hired to change everything. He’d been thinking of Melanie as a woman and not as a business consultant, and hadn’t even considered that he might later come to regret what he was telling her.

Way to get in hot water.