Love Inspired May 2015 #2 (35 page)

Jared took the steps to her kitchen door two at a time to find a note taped to the door that said, “I'm on the back deck.” He tore it off and marched around back to tell her how dangerous putting the note there was, even in Paradox Lake. Anyone driving up to the house could have seen it. He rounded the corner of the house and saw her sitting in one of two matching lounge chairs. The way the moon cast a glow on her mesmerized him and drove away all inclination to reproach her.

“Jared,” she said. “I wondered if you'd decided not to come.”

“There were a lot of people, you know, wanting to congratulate me,” he replied, still stunned by the way the moonlight highlighted her perfection. He walked up the deck steps and lowered himself into the other lounge chair.

“It looks like you and your school are on your way to success.”

Did Becca think that's what the school was about, success, another trophy on his shelf? “The school won't be a success until we have some graduates prove it a success. It's for the kids, not for me.”

“Not a little for you?” she goaded him.

“Some for me, I guess.” He gazed at the stars in the inky background of the night sky. He could admit it to Becca. “To feed my pride in what I've accomplished with my life. To prove to the people here and to myself that I'm not like my dad. And to rebuild my family's tarnished reputation as a gesture to Josh and Connor and Mom for essentially abandoning them for my race career.”

“Then why did you abandon your brothers and Hope and us yesterday?”

She wasn't making things easy for him.

“For you. I meant it when I said that I'd never intentionally hurt you. You got the letter from Family Court. I thought my being here was hurting you and the kids, that staying here would only make it worse.” He swallowed. “I was falling in love with you. What I feel for you, I've never felt for any other woman. I thought I'd better leave, leave you alone before it got to the point where I couldn't leave.” His heart pounded against the wall of his chest. “But it was too late. I wasn't falling in love with you. I am in love with you.”

Becca looked at him but didn't say anything. His heart felt as if it was going to explode. He didn't want to hear her say she didn't feel the same. So, before she could he said the first thing that came to mind.

“So, what's with the Sheriff?”

* * *

If she hadn't still been processing Jared's declaration, Becca would have laughed at his sudden change of subject. He loved her. But the information in Bert's letter, Jared's reaction to it, could change the situation, make it impossible to build a successful relationship, despite their shared love.
Yes
. She loved him, had given up trying to fight it. She wasn't going to share that, though, not until she knew they had a chance at a future. Why give Jared false hope?

Becca retrieved Bert's letter from the table next to her chair. “Read this.”

Jared unfolded the sheet and she watched his gaze travel down the letter.

“Where did you get this?”

“I found it in the sideboard. It looked like it had slipped between one of the drawers and the wall of the sideboard before Bert could have someone mail it for him.”

“So the Sheriff knew my father wasn't driving and let him go to jail for the one illegal thing he didn't do. He hated Dad, my family, that much.”

Becca shivered in the muggy night air. Jared's voice was too calm, too modulated and the laugh that followed his words too harsh.

“No.” She held out her hand, not knowing if he'd take it. Relief and strength filled her when he did and gently stroked the top of her hand with his thumb. “I talked with him. The Sheriff didn't know until the week before Bert died, although he suspected shortly after your father got out of jail when Bert wrote a will leaving his property to Debbie. The Sheriff said Bert had made an offhand comment that had made him feel Bert named Debbie as his heir because he'd thought the Sheriff knew he was driving and had kept his mouth shut. Bert told him about the letter and what he was putting in it.”

“The Sheriff's reference to blood money makes sense now. He knew that Bert had made his bequests to us to try and compensate for what he'd done to Dad.” Jared pulled his hand from hers and threw himself off the lounge to pace the deck. He stopped next to her chair, loomed over her. “You talked with the Sheriff. What else did he say?”

“Sit down and I'll tell you.”

With obvious reluctance he did, tapping the arm of the chair closest to her with his fingers.

Becca recapped her confrontation with the Sheriff.

“The Sheriff and my mother,” he said when she finished. “I can't fault him for hating my father for the way he treated Mom. I did for a long time, too, until a pit pastor led me back to my faith.”

Becca released her pent-up breath.

“You trust the Sheriff, that he'll get Matt to drop the Family Court petition, and you're okay letting Ari and Brendon visit him and Debbie in Florida?” His eyes narrowed. “He's not forcing you to sign an agreement in exchange for making the Family Court petition go away?”

“No. It was my idea. I'm more comfortable with Brendon and Ari being with their grandparents than with their father, and they like spending time with Ken and Debbie. After we talked, I prayed long and hard for the strength to forgive the Sheriff for what he's done to my family and your family, and I found it in the knowledge that he has to live with what he's done. I also prayed that he and you would be able to have the peace I've found in forgiveness. Can you forgive him?”

A muscle worked in his jaw. “I have to or it will eat at me, affect our lives forever. But he can't move out of Paradox Lake too quickly for me.”

Becca laughed, breaking the tension.

Jared rose and offered her his hands. She let him pull her to her feet. For a silent moment, she looked at him framed by the night sky. A sense of rightness that she'd never felt before cloaked her. “I love you,” she whispered.

He looked down at her without saying anything, making Becca wonder if she'd spoken those words or only thought them.

Jared cleared his throat. “I know it's too soon to ask you to marry me, but this is fair warning that that's my plan.”

She squeezed his hand. “And this is my fair warning that I love you with all of my heart and that I'll be expecting that offer.”

A goofy grin spread across his face before his eyes and features grew soft. She tilted up her face and received what she wanted, a toe-curling kiss that sealed the promise of their future.

Epilogue

T
he following July

“W
e should have waited and taken our honeymoon after the opening. The ribbon cutting is in fifteen minutes.”

“We'll be fine if I drive right to the track.” Jared wasn't about to remind Becca that she was the one who'd set their wedding date and had chosen their Alaskan honeymoon cruise. As an old married man of ten days, he knew better than that.

“At least the weather is cooperating today.” She glanced out the side window at the clear blue sky. “If it hadn't been thunderstorming in Chicago, we would have been home yesterday. I should have factored in the possibility of weather delays and not booked the extra day in Vancouver after the cruise.”

Jared turned on to the newly constructed road to the Sinclair-Miller Motocross Racing School and Track, named for his mentor and Bert Miller. He smiled to himself. You'd think it was her baby, not his—and in a way it was. Without Becca, he never would have realized his dream, any of his dreams, including the ones he hadn't known he had. He reached over and rested his hand on her leg.

“I have it on good authority that they won't start until we get there. I texted Connor from the Albany airport. He said Emily and Drew will have Ari and Brendon at the track so we don't have to stop for them, and Josh is picking up Hope from Grandma's and bringing her along with Gram and Harry.”

“You had all that information and you let me fret on like that?”

“Yeah, I was enjoying your enthusiasm for the school. It's kind of cute.”

“Humph.” She crossed her arms.

“And for the record, as much as the racing school means to me, I wouldn't have given up a minute of our trip to be here sooner.”

“Me, either,” Becca said.

“Grab my cell and let Connor know we're here.”

Jared parked the truck in reserved parking and waited while Becca ran a comb through her hair and checked her makeup she'd freshened at the airport.

“You're beautiful,” he said, leaning over and giving her a quick peck. He'd never tire of having her beside him in every way. “Now, we'd better get in.” He opened the truck door for her, grabbed her hand and headed for the admissions gate, not realizing his longer stride was making her trot to keep up with him.

“Stop,” she said when they breezed through the gate with a wave to people selling tickets. “Let me catch my breath before we go out to the track for the ribbon cutting.”

He rolled on the balls of his feet while she took a couple of breaths.

“Who's the one who's excited now?” she asked.

He stilled his restless movement and made a point to shorten his stride as much as he could for the walk to the announcement stand adjacent to the course.

“And here's the man of the hour.” Connor spoke into the public announcement system as Jared climbed the steps to the stand.

Jared accepted the microphone from his brother and, with eyes only for Becca waiting by the blue ribbon strung across the start of the course, he welcomed the crowd. As the cheers wound down, he wrapped up with, “Here's Pastor Connor with a benediction before we cut the ribbon and officially open the Sinclair-Miller Motocross Racing School and Track.”

He tossed the microphone to Connor and raced down the steps to join Becca and Ari and Hope for the benediction. Behind him, Josh supervised Brendon and his friend Ian, who sat on matching school motocross bikes, engines idling, ready for their inaugural circle of the track.

“Dear Lord,” Connor began. “Thank You for giving us such a beautiful day for opening the Sinclair-Miller Motocross Racing School and Track. Bless the track and our youth program services that they will glorify You and lead those who need You to Your way. In Jesus' name, Amen.”

His brother signaled Jared, and he and Hope picked up one handle of a pair of comically over-sized scissors while Becca and Ari picked up the other. They snipped the ribbon, and Brendon and Ian took off across the line slowly and carefully as he'd taught them. Jared slipped his arm around Becca's waist and she around his, their other arms circling the girls' shoulders. Together, they watched the boys drive the modified, no-jump course.

Later, he and some of his friends from the circuit would demonstrate some of their racing moves, followed by a race with riders from throughout the region. But for now, it was Jared and Becca and the family he'd never imagined he'd be blessed with. Truly a day of answered prayers.

* * * * *

Keep reading for an excerpt from BACHELOR TO THE RESCUE by Lorraine Beatty.

Dear Reader,

I'm very excited to be returning to Paradox Lake to introduce you to the three Donnelly brothers, starting with Jared, the oldest. Growing up in a small town with a notorious alcoholic father was hard. Not surprisingly, the brothers all left town after high school. But now they're back.

I had fun writing about my reformed “bad boy” Jared, a retired international motocross champion, and the havoc his return to Paradox Lake wreaks on high school history teacher, Becca Norton's life. In my research about motocross, I discovered the Team Faith Ministry (
TeamFaith.com
). I used their mission—to lead extreme sports athletes to Christ and disciple them so that they will, in turn, lead others involved in or interested in the sport to Christ—as part of Jared's motivation for building his racing school.

I hope you enjoy the fireworks that ensue as Jared wrestles with pursuing his mission and Becca with wanting to do what's best for her family and her community.

Thanks so much for choosing
Winning the Teacher's Heart
. Please feel free to email me at
[email protected]
or snail mail me at PO Box 113, Selkirk, NY 12158. You can also visit me at
Facebook.com/JeanCGordon.author
or
JeanCGordon.com
or Tweet me at
@JeanCGordon
.

Blessings,

Jean C. Gordon

We hope you enjoyed this Harlequin Love Inspired story.

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