A Promise to Protect (Logan Point Book #2): A Novel (35 page)
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Authors: Patricia Bradley
Tags: #FIC042060, #FIC042040, #FIC027110
H
ey, do you want to go fishing?” Ben asked. The twins had kept TJ company most of the day, but now it was just the two of them. They both were still exploring this new relationship. The amazing thing for Ben was that the panic attacks had almost disappeared. Occasionally anxiety would grab his heart, but one look from TJ’s admiring eyes, and Ben could let it go.
TJ tore his gaze away from the retreating taillights of Emily’s car to stare at him. “How about my cast?”
“No problem. I’ll take lawn chairs, and we’ll fish from the pier. Just you and me.”
TJ tilted his head then nodded.
Ben gathered the chairs and fishing tackle and loaded everything in his truck before he lifted TJ up into the seat. The boy had lost weight since he’d broken his leg, something Ben’s mom had tried to remedy this weekend.
When they pulled up to the pier, he breathed a prayer of thanks for the shade covering the end of the dock. After he had TJ settled, Ben took out a wrapped box, his heart swelling as he handed it to the boy. His first gift to his son.
“For me?” TJ’s eyes lit with excitement. “Cool paper.”
Ben smiled. He’d scrounged around in his mom’s recycled paper until he found last week’s comic pages. “It’s a fishing rod just like the one my dad gave me when I was ten,” he said, unable to wait.
The boy’s fingers stilled on the wrapping string. “Why didn’t you want me before now?”
Ben couldn’t speak for fear his voice would crack. He swallowed hard. “I didn’t know about you. Remember, your mom told you that.”
“I know,” he said. “But why didn’t she tell you?”
“It’s complicated, TJ.”
He seemed to consider what Ben had said. TJ looked sideways at him. “Are you going to marry her?”
Ben swallowed hard. “Uh, we, uh . . . I don’t know.”
“Are you still mad at her?”
“No.”
“Then you can marry her, and we can stay in Logan Point.”
“TJ, it’s not that simple. Sometimes people make mistakes that can’t be undone.”
The boy’s shoulders sagged.
Great. Now he’d made it sound like it was all Leigh’s fault. “It wasn’t just your mom who made a mistake. She did the best she knew how, and sometimes we just have to forgive people and put it behind us.”
TJ lifted his face, his eyes locking on Ben’s. “Do you forgive her?”
Ben searched his heart. Did he? What he’d said was true. Another thought niggled in his brain. Why hadn’t he gone after Leigh ten years ago? Because he was too wrapped up in himself, and if he admitted it, her rejection had made him angry. If he’d known about TJ, would he have done the right thing? Been the father the boy needed?
Shame for his hard heart pierced Ben. He’d made as many mistakes as Leigh.
“Do you . . . Dad?”
Dad.
The shell encasing his heart crumbled, and he swallowed the lump that almost choked him.
“Yeah, TJ. I do.” The words rasped from his lips.
“Good.”
Ben ruffled TJ’s hair. “I’m glad we have that settled. Now open your present so we can get to some serious fishing.”
For the next half hour, Ben showed his son how to use the rod and reel. For a short time his heart was lighter, then a weight wrapped around it again. Forgiveness was a choice. But so was receiving it. What if Leigh refused his forgiveness?
Ben scanned the water beyond their little cove. The water he’d feared for so long. What if Leigh believed she didn’t deserve forgiveness? Like he believed he didn’t deserve it for what happened to Tommy Ray? He had to make her understand that she did deserve it. That like he’d told TJ, it wasn’t all her fault. That people make mistakes, mistakes that had to be put behind them.
Isn’t that what God wanted to do for him?
If Ben could forgive Leigh . . . then why was it such a stretch to believe God could forgive his mistake?
“Dad! I caught a fish. Look!”
“Hey, that’s a catfish! You’re a natural-born fisherman.” When TJ reeled the fish in close enough, Ben scooped it up with a net. He glanced toward the lake once more. “You know, TJ, after you get that cast off, how about we do some lake fishing?”
“Really? I’ve never been on the lake!”
TJ’s shoulders slumped. “Oh, but I won’t be here. We’re moving to Baltimore.”
Ben had almost forgotten that. He pressed his lips together. He hadn’t found his son only to lose him. Or Leigh, either. “I hear there’s pretty good fishing up in that area. Maybe we can even fish on the ocean.”
Leigh unlocked her door and took the suitcase from Ian. “Thanks so much for everything.”
“Doing things for you is easy. Want me to come in and wait with you until TJ gets home?”
She shook her head. She’d called Ben on the drive from Ian’s private airstrip to let him know she was back. “I need a little time by myself. This weekend was a big step.”
“You made the right choice, Leigh.”
She sighed. “I know.”
He kissed her on the cheek, and she waited until he drove away before going inside. Maybe she could get unpacked before TJ got home. A car door slammed before she reached the foot of the stairs, and she set her bag down. Ben and TJ were early. She smoothed her blouse as the door opened, and he swung through on his crutches with Ben behind him.
“Mom! I caught a fish!”
She took a step forward as he hopped toward her. TJ sounded different. She knelt in front of him. Laughter was in his eyes. “Really? So you had a good time this weekend with your dad?”
“Yeah, and we’re going fishing in a boat as soon as I get this cast off. Dad said he’d come to Baltimore. He said he would move there!”
She lifted her gaze. Ben’s dark chocolate eyes were unreadable. Ben was willing to give up his dream of being sheriff? For them?
“Mom, why are you crying? That’s a good thing.”
She wiped her eyes with the back of her hands. “I know. But he’d be up there by himself.”
“What?” Ben and TJ stared at her.
She looked into Ben’s eyes. “I’m not taking the job at Johns Hopkins. I’m staying in Logan Point.”
Ben took her hands and pulled her up. “But I thought . . . I thought it was your dream.”
“So did I. But when I picked up the pen to sign the contract, I couldn’t. It was my dad’s dream. Logan Point is where I belong. Where TJ belongs.”
She didn’t have to practice at Johns Hopkins to prove her worthiness. Ben’s strong arms drew her close, and she laid her head on his chest, feeling the pounding of his heart. Or was it hers?
“Eww! You two are mushy. I’m going to my room to play a video game.”
She lifted her head. “Only fifteen minutes,” she called after him.
Ben cupped her face, and she shivered as his fingers traced her jawline.
“Are you sure?”
“Maybe he can play the game twenty minutes.” She gave him a teasing smile. “Yes, I’m sure.”
He bent toward her, and she raised her face to meet his lips.
She’d never been more sure of anything in her life.
Patricia Bradley
is a published short story writer and is cofounder of Aiming for Healthy Families, Inc. Her manuscript for
Shadows of the Past
was a finalist for the 2012 Genesis Award, winner of a 2012 Daphne du Maurier Award (1st place, Inspirational), and winner of a 2012 Touched by Love Award (1st place, Contemporary). When she’s not writing or speaking, she can be found making beautiful clay pots and jewelry. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Romance Writers of America and makes her home in Corinth, Mississippi.
