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“I try to. If I didn’t, my ma would sure be on my case. She’s taught Sunday school for as long as I can remember.”
“That’s nice.” Paige was so new to the church, she was still trying to understand the Bible and to live a Christian life “So you’ve always been a Christian?”
Jay rested his arm on the windowsill, hesitating a moment before he spoke. “After my wife died a few years ago, I had some trouble with God, angry at Him for letting Annie die. But He and I have worked it out.”
Sympathy and a surprising surge of admiration filled her chest. “I’m sorry for your loss.” She wished there was something more helpful she could say but she didn’t have the words. “Your wife must have been quite young. If you don’t mind talking about it, how did she die?”
His Adam’s apple bobbed, the muscles of his tanned neck flexing. “Childbirth. Our son died, too.”
She gasped. Her chest ached with regret that she’d been so nosy. “I’m so, so sorry. How in the world did you ever get past your anger? Losing your wife and child?”
He glanced in her direction. “I finally figured out the Lord must’ve known what He was doing even if I didn’t. I had to trust Him.”
Tears burned in her eyes. Paige had to give him extra points for experiencing such a huge loss and rebuilding his faith.
After turning off the main road, Jay asked, “So have you thought any more about Bryan and what you’re going to do?”
Relieved by the shift from such an intimate, painful topic, she said, “As a matter of fact, I spent several hours on my laptop last night. You were right. Based on Montana law, even with Krissy’s letter, I’ll have to file a bunch of forms with the family court in order to officially become Bryan’s guardian.”
“I didn’t think it would be easy. You can’t just drag a kid off to Seattle without some kind of government rigmarole.”
“Apparently that’s true.” Given the information she’d found online, it wasn’t going to be as easy as strolling into the court in Kalispell, handing someone Krissy’s letter and getting the whole deal sewed up in minutes, either. The process was going to take days, if not weeks.
“So what are you going to do? Head on back to Seattle tomorrow?”
“No. I’m not one to give up that easily. I’ll drive to Kalispell tomorrow, see if there’s a way I can expedite the necessary approval.”
He glanced at her. “What about your boss?”
“Guess I’ll have to do some fancy talking, won’t I?” As much as she liked the hotel manager, she knew he wouldn’t be thrilled to hear her trip to Montana had to be extended. Yet nothing critical would come up in the next day or two that her assistant couldn’t handle.
“Or you could forget the guardian business and leave Bryan where he belongs.”
She tensed and stared out the windshield.
Jay made the turn into the church parking lot, which was filled with pickups and SUVs, the favored means of transportation in Montana. The church itself was a simple one-story, whitewashed building with a steeple topped by a wooden cross. A welcoming place to worship the Lord.
“I can’t forget about Bryan. Krissy picked me to be his guardian. For years I turned my back on her. A few phone calls to see how she was doing. Occasional visits. Presents at the holidays. Turns out all she wanted was for me to love her.” Guilt rose in her throat like a boulder, cutting off her air. She swallowed painfully. “Taking care of Bryan is the one thing she’s asked of me. I’m not going to say no.”
He wheeled into a space next to an RV and braked hard. “Even though you know it’s not what Bryan wants.”
That wasn’t a question, and Paige didn’t respond. Somehow she’d make it work. Make Bryan see that moving to Seattle was a great opportunity. They’d develop a good relationship. A loving relationship, one she’d want with her own child if she was ever blessed with children.
And she’d have a chance to make up for the way she’d treated her sister.
Jay hopped down from the truck and went around to the passenger side to help Paige. He needn’t have bothered. She’d managed on her own.
Within a few steps, however, Jay could tell walking in high heels on gravel wasn’t so easy. Paige wobbled, and he caught her arm to steady her.
Slipping her arm through his, she blessed him with a tentative smile. “Thanks.”
“Don’t you own any shoes without high heels?”
“I have running shoes but I left them at home. I didn’t expect to be gone but a few days.”
He glanced at her sideways. “You run?”
“Every morning unless I’m working an early shift. I joined a twenty-four-hour gym so I wouldn’t have any excuse to miss my workouts. Not even bad weather.”
That news surprised Jay. Given her sophistication, he hadn’t expected her to do anything more athletic than polishing her fingernails.
He glanced at her hand on his arm. Slender fingers, soft hands and nails that were cut fancy and shiny with a clear polish. Not showy but nice.
She released her grip on his arm as they reached the double-door entrance of the church. Ward Cummings, a former marine who could arm wrestle and beat anybody in town, Jay included, greeted them.
Ward handed Paige a program, then extended one to Jay. “Good to see you, Jay. Sorry to hear about Krissy.”
“Yeah. Pretty tragic.” Not only for Krissy and her son, but for the horse she rode, as well. “This is her sister, Paige. Came in from Seattle for the funeral. Ward Cummings.”
“I’m sorry for your loss, miss.”
Paige thanked him politely before moving farther into the sanctuary.
Jay and Ward did a mock arm wrestle before shaking hands. “She’s one nice-looking lady,” Ward said. “How long is she going to be around?”
Jay frowned, watching Paige walk ahead of him. “Not long.”
“Too bad. She’d add a little class to Bear Lake.”
Yeah, maybe, he thought as he caught up with her. But classy Paige had made it clear she wasn’t about to hang around Bear Lake any longer than necessary, and she sure wasn’t the kind who’d have any interest in a horse wrangler who smelled of sweat and leather more times than not.
He followed her into a pew wondering what she’d meant when she’d said joining a church was the first time that she’d felt loved. What about her folks? Hadn’t they loved her?
Right! They sent their other daughter away just because she got pregnant. That didn’t sound like love to him.
He sat down and reached for a hymnal.
“This is a lovely little church. Very peaceful feeling.” She spoke in a soft whisper than made him lean toward her, and he caught a whiff of her sweet perfume.
“I suppose it is. But sometimes if I’ve got a serious problem to work out, I go to a special place I found in the forest. I think of it as God’s natural cathedral. Towering pines. A waterfall that ribbons down the mountain like threads of silver.”
She studied him a minute, her expression intent, before she spoke. “That sounds lovely.”
“If you stick around long enough, I’ll take you there.”
She held his gaze, her eyes a deep, warm brown. “I think I’d like that.”
The organ switched from the prelude, introducing the first notes of the opening hymn. The congregation stood as Pastor Walker walked on stage and held his arms up in welcome.
Jay mentally kicked himself as he searched through the hymnal to find the right page. Why had he offered to take Paige to the spot where he went when he needed to pray? His private place of contemplation. A place where he felt closer to Annie.
He didn’t want to take someone like Paige there, a woman who didn’t want anything to do with him or his beloved horses.
As he held out the open hymnal to Paige, he realized he didn’t have to worry. She would turn down the invitation the instant she learned the only way to get to his cathedral was on horseback.
* * *
Grandpa had been right about a storm coming.
By afternoon, clouds had filled the sky, bringing with them an early twilight. Rain spattered on the roof and dimpled the worn path from the barn to the house. Inside, a cozy fire snapped and crackled in the natural-stone fireplace.
Grandpa was reading a newspaper. Bryan lay sprawled on the floor in front of the fire playing a game on an electronic device.
Pondering how she could break through Bryan’s reticence and make a connection with him, Paige sat down at the upright piano. She ran her fingers over the keys, running up and down the scales. She’d taken lessons and played all through high school, often accompanying the choir or student musicals.
“Hey, Bryan,” she said. “Remember when we used to play ‘Chopsticks’ together?”
He turned to look at her. “Uh-uh.”
“Don’t you remember this?” Using two fingers, she tapped out the familiar tune. “You got pretty good at it.”
She had his attention enough that he took the ear buds out of his ears. A tiny bit of progress.
“You played the melody and I played the accompaniment.” She struck the appropriate chords, improvising a few swirling runs. “Come on. Let’s try it together.”
“I don’t remember how.”
“I’ll show you again.”
Grandpa folded his newspaper. “Go on, boy. Give it a try.”
Reluctantly, Bryan got up. He walked to piano and sat on the bench next to her. She caught a whiff of wood smoke and little boy sweat, and smiled.
“Watch the keys I play, and you play the same ones an octave higher. Like this.” She demonstrated slowly, then asked him to try. He came close to getting it right and they practiced again.
When she thought he was ready, she let him set the beat and added the accompaniment.
They made it all the way through the song. “Magnificent!” she cheered. She held up her hand for a high five.
He looked startled, then grinned and slapped her hand.
A beginning, she thought. From little things, big things can grow.
Glancing toward Grandpa, she discovered Jay leaning one shoulder against the kitchen doorway watching her. His brows were lowered in disapproval, his lips a straight line.
Jay didn’t believe she could make a good life for Bryan. She did. For Krissy’s sake, and with God’s help, she would.
Chapter Four
“You don’t have to walk me to the bus.”
Walk? Paige was having to run to keep up with Bryan, who charged ahead of her to catch the school bus.
“I thought it would be fun to see how you got to school.” Of all the things she hadn’t brought with her, the absence of her running shoes was, at minimum, going to cost her a broken ankle.
“What fun?” He increased his pace, his backpack slung over his shoulder. “It’s a yellow bus. Big deal.”
“Bryan, slow down.” This was not the way she had envisioned starting her first Monday morning as Bryan’s sort-of guardian. “Let’s walk together.”
He halted and whirled toward her, scowling. “Aunt Paige, don’t you know the guys are gonna rag on me if they see you walking me to the bus like I was a little kid?”
“Oh.” She stopped. Swallowed hard. “I guess I wasn’t thinking.”
“Yeah, I guess you weren’t.” He turned and continued down the dirt road.
She didn’t follow him. Thoroughly chastised, she called after him. “Have a nice day.”
He didn’t bother to acknowledge her good wishes.
Sighing, she turned back toward Grandpa Henry’s house. She strolled along the side of the road, in no hurry now.
It’s not like anyone had prepared her to be Bryan’s guardian. They hadn’t given her a how-to book either. This trial-and-error business was going to be painful for both of them.
As soon as she got Bryan settled in Seattle, she’d have to arrange for family counseling. The two of them needed to learn to communicate better. Bryan would probably need some help dealing with his grief and the changes in his life.
The storm had passed through last night, leaving only a few puffy clouds in the early morning sky. Residual rainwater puddled the dirt road and oozed into the depressions left by her high heels. Jay Red Elk wouldn’t have any trouble tracking her, if he was interested. Which was unlikely.
She’d have to call her boss in Seattle, Mr. Armstrong, and tell him about the newest life-changing event since the death of her sister. Then she’d drive to Kalispell and try to deal with the guardianship arrangement.
Pausing, she watched a bee flitting around a cluster of blue lupine in a sunny area. She remembered Grandma Lisbeth knew the names of all the wildflowers in the area but Paige hadn’t bothered to remember them. Now she wished she’d paid more attention.
She looked up and her breath caught. Off to the side of the road in the shade of a stand of pine trees stood two white-tail does and their fawns, who couldn’t be more than a few weeks old. They still had their spots like two young Bambi look-alikes. The does eyed Paige suspiciously then moved farther into the woods with their precious babies.
Their beauty and dignity, their natural mothering instincts, touched something in Paige’s heart. Could she learn to be that good a mother for Bryan?
She could only pray she would, in time, learn how to give him all the love he needed.
As she approached the corral, she saw Jay saddling a horse.
He tipped his hat to her. “So you saw Bryan to the school bus?”
“Not exactly.”
He quirked his lips in what had to be an I-told-you-so grin. “He wasn’t too pleased to have his buddies see you playing mama?”
“Something like that.” She cringed, realizing he’d seen her trailing after Bryan like a stray dog.
“Kids can be sort of touchy about adults hanging around them,” he said.
