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Right. He had forgotten about that.
And she seemed touchy about it, to boot.
He wanted to tell her that having siblings was fun, but it had its responsibilities and moments of hardship. Especially when he’d had to tell his sisters and foster brother that the ranch they had grown up on had to be sold because of his bad decision.
He pushed that memory aside. That was then. This was now. Only, now also included one last souvenir of Lila.
A little girl he’d never known existed until today.
Evangeline laid the stuff on the conveyor belt and chatted up the cashier as she rang the groceries through the till. A young couple waved hello as they walked past, and an older woman stopped to ask her a question about book club.
Denny felt a hint of melancholy as he watched Evangeline’s interactions. At one time he, too, had been part of a community. Had been able to go to town and talk with most anyone.
Now he was running around from job to job, trying to scrabble together enough money to someday settle down again.
He glanced over at Ella, who stared at him with solemn eyes.
He gave her a tentative smile, wondering how in the world he was supposed to untangle this particular knot in his life. Why hadn’t Lila told him?
Would you have believed her?
Probably not.
“We’re done here,” Evangeline said, looking over at Denny as the cashier bagged the groceries.
“Right. Sorry.” He pulled his wallet out and handed a couple of bills to the cashier.
As the cashier gave him the change, Evangeline’s phone beeped. She yanked it out of her purse but then, as she glanced at the screen, she seemed to deflate as if she’d hoped the caller would be someone else.
Andy maybe?
“Emma is waiting for us in the parking lot,” she said.
Denny shoved the change into his pocket and once again followed Evangeline out the door.
When they got near to where Denny’s truck was parked, a woman stepped out of a pickup beside his, waving at them.
“Hey, Evangeline. Over here.”
Emma, Denny presumed. She had long brown hair, dark brown eyes and an infectious grin. Her blue jeans had grass stains on the knees and her white T-shirt had streaks of dirt. Evangeline had mentioned she lived on a ranch, and she obviously did more than just keep house.
“Hey, Emma, great timing,” Evangeline said, pushing the cart toward the truck.
As Evangeline parked the cart, Emma walked around to the other side of her truck. She opened the door and wrestled out a large seat. As she pulled it, a strap got caught and she almost dropped it.
Denny hurried over to help her, earning him a bright smile. “Thanks. I’m guessing you’re Daddy?” Emma asked.
Denny felt a flush warm his neck as he took the car seat from her. “Apparently.”
Emma’s puzzled look bounced from him to Evangeline, looking for more information.
“Emma, can you help Denny put the seat in the back of the car?” was all Evangeline said.
Denny heaved the surprisingly heavy seat into his truck and strapped it down. As he buckled Ella into it, he thought back to when he and Lila were married.
A good friend of his, Lance, had stopped by with his boy. Denny remembered watching Lance buckle the little boy into the car seat parked in the backseat of his friend’s candy-apple-red truck. This was a vehicle Lance had spent hours waxing, polishing and babying. A truck Denny wished he had.
But crumbs from crackers and leftover papers from fast-food meals had littered the backseat of Lance’s pride and joy, and Lance hadn’t seemed to care. His little boy was his pride and joy.
And once again Denny had been envious.
Now he had his own fancy truck that he had scrimped and scraped to purchase. And now it had a car seat in it, as well.
But somehow it wasn’t the same situation.
He straightened, looking at Ella, who was staring back at him, her dark eyes so serious. Her expression so solemn.
“She’s a quiet one,” Emma said with a laugh.
“Yeah. She is.” It didn’t seem natural. He remembered his sisters at this age, laughing and squirming and getting into all kinds of mischief.
He closed the back door on Ella, then helped Evangeline load the last of the groceries into the other side of the truck.
When they were done he turned back to Emma, who stood by her own truck, her arms folded across her T-shirt.
“Thanks so much for the use of the car seat,” Denny said.
“Gotta keep the little munchkin safe,” Emma returned.
“Yeah. That I do.”
He pulled his car keys out of his pocket and opened the door for Evangeline.
She gave him a curious look, then stepped up into the truck, tucking her long, flowing skirt underneath her as he shut the door.
Emma was watching him, a bemused light in her eyes. “I heard you’re leasing Andy’s place,” she said. “My husband, Carter, and I run a ranch up Morrisey Creek. If you ever need help, we’re willing to lend a hand.”
“Thanks. That’s good to know.” Denny blew out a sigh, thinking about the work that lay ahead of him. “I might take you up on that offer.”
“Make sure you do.” Emma gave him a quick wave, then got into her truck and drove away.
As Denny sat behind the wheel of his truck he glanced at Ella again, who stared back at him.
“Is that normal?” he asked Evangeline as he started up his truck, worry digging at him. “She cried like crazy when she first came, but hasn’t given a peep since.”
Evangeline looked back at Ella, her own concern showing. “She’s probably confused and afraid. She doesn’t know who you are, so she’s going to be cautious.”
Denny shook his head as he pulled out of the parking lot. “I just wish I knew what I’m supposed to do. I’ve got a hundred things on my plate.”
“I’d start with feeding her.”
Denny nodded. Of course. That made sense. “And after that?”
“Bedtime.”
“And tomorrow?”
“Just do what comes next,” Evangeline returned. “That’s how I got through it all.”
Denny shot her a puzzled glance. He wanted to ask her what she meant by her cryptic comment, but when he saw her pursed lips and tight expression, he guessed she wasn’t sharing.
And why should she? She was as much of a stranger to him as he was to Ella.
His mind ticked back to Ella’s mother and his heart floundered.
Lila. Why hadn’t anyone told him?
Dear Lord, he prayed, give me strength to get through this. Help me do what Evangeline said. Help me to trust in You to figure out what comes next.
And what was next? Try to get hold of Lila’s parents somehow? Find someone else to take care of Ella? Get his trucking business moved?
Do what comes next? If only it was that easy.
Or that painless.
Chapter Four
“This book was too depressing.” Mia Verbeek tilted her head to one side, her dark eyes, emphasized by the pixie cut she favored, flashing as if challenging anyone else gathered in the back room of Shelf Indulgence to dispute her opinion. “I would not have read it if it wasn’t a book club book. After taking care of four kids all day, reading about this woman’s struggle to love was a downer.”
“I found it challenged my view of the romance of family life,” Angie, one of the newer members of the book club, said, slipping her green-rimmed glasses back on her face.
“I’m voting for depressing,” Jeff Deptuck said, leaning forward, his grin encompassing the entire group. With his light brown hair, high cheekbones and the faint cleft in his stubbled chin, he exuded charm and goodwill.
“Of course you would, Captain Sunny-Side-Up Deptuck,” Angie returned.
Evangeline held back a grin, watching the sparring between Jeff and Angie, the latest additions to the Hartley Creek book club that met at the bookstore.
Everyone in the book club knew that Jeff had a not-so-secret crush on Angie. Trouble was, Angie was very vocal about her resistance to any form of romance.
“I still say it was worth a read,” Renee Albertson replied, twirling a strand of her brown hair around her finger, closing the book on her lap and looking around at the other members. “It wasn’t as over the top as the police procedural Mia insisted we read last time.”
“I have to agree with Mia’s take on the book,” Sophie Brouwer spoke up, her blue eyes twinkling, her permed white hair bobbing as she nodded. “This book was dark and sad. I’m surprised you chose a story like this, Renee, given that your own life is in such a happy place right now.”
Renee just smiled as Evangeline stifled a flare of envy.
Renee’s fiancé, Zach, was the perfect hero. Kind. Considerate. Attractive in a cultured sort of way.
Just the kind of guy she would have loved to find and still hoped that she would. Someday.
A thump from the other side of the hallway caught everyone’s attention and made Evangeline sit up.
When she and Denny had returned from the grocery store, she’d seen he was at a loss for what to do. So she’d helped him feed Ella and get her sleeper and diaper on for the evening. While she’d given Ella a bottle, he’d set up the portable crib they’d bought at the hardware store. When she’d finally left, Ella was sleeping. Even so, she’d felt as if she was abandoning him, but she’d had her own schedule to keep.
And while she felt bad for Denny, he was a virtual stranger to her and on some level she wanted to keep some distance between them.
“Is that your new neighbor?” Mia asked, her eyes flashing with anticipation.
Evangeline clutched her book, her eyes riveted on the pages she had opened it to. She didn’t want to think about Denny moving into her father’s space across the hall. Two weeks ago she had told this same group, with much anticipation, how her father was coming back and soon this store would be hers.
Time to cash that reality check.
“He’s probably rearranging the furniture to make room for Ella’s crib,” she said, flipping a page of the book and looking up, ready to change the subject. “I found it interesting that it took the heroine half of the book to realize what she wanted.”
“I still can’t believe someone dumped a baby on him,” Angie said, obviously not ready to drop the topic of Denny. “Who would do that?”
“You don’t always know what a person is going through or why they make the decisions they do,” Renee said quietly, giving Angie a careful smile that spoke of tough choices Renee herself had made in her own life.
“That was kind of you to help him out with that little girl,” Sophie Brouwer said, patting Evangeline on her arm.
“I couldn’t leave him alone to figure it out.” Though she still felt bad for leaving him when she had. Trouble was, how much could she realistically do? She barely knew Denny as it was.
“Poor guy probably didn’t have a clue,” Mia said. “I have to say I’m crushed that you didn’t call to ask for my advice.”
“You’re way too busy with your shop and your four kids,” Evangeline returned.
“That’s the truth,” Mia said with a sigh. “I’m just thankful I could get Blythe to watch the kids tonight.”
“So what’s the deal with this Denny guy?” Renee queried. “I thought you said he was leasing the ranch?”
“Apparently he’s trucking and ranching. Just like my dad.” Evangeline couldn’t keep the faintly bitter note out of her voice. Her own feelings about her father were still a confusion of anger and disappointment. But simmering beneath this was a frustration that he still created this storm of mixed emotions. She’d thought, after all these years, she had insulated her heart from her father’s unmet expectations.
And he still hadn’t called her.
“What’s he like?” Mia asked, leaning forward in her chair. “Hero material?”
“He’s a trucker and a cowboy. Neither of which are my type, so have at ’im, girl,” Evangeline said with a dismissive wave of her hand.
“I’ve got a divorce behind me and four kids to raise. Not interested,” Mia said with a short laugh. “Though Kelly at Mug Shots says he’s got that rugged good-looking thing going,” Mia continued, as if trying to persuade her friend to give the guy a chance. “And apparently he has gorgeous eyes.”
“Why are you rhapsodizing over him if you’re not interested?”
“I was thinking of you. You’re always looking for a hero.”
“I’m a hero,” Jeff put in with a wink.
Evangeline laughed. “You’re a fireman. You’re everybody’s hero.”
“Only to some,” he said, cutting a quick glance Angie’s way.
