Gold in the Fire and Light in the Storm (6 page)

“Here, I’ll give you a leg up.” Joshua pushed himself
to his feet, a groan escaping his lips. “I don’t think I should have sat down. That was a big mistake. My muscles are protesting.”

“If you aren’t used to riding, that certainly can happen.” Darcy took her reins and grabbed hold of her saddle to hoist herself up.

Joshua rolled his eyes, his first few steps toward Sean rigid. “
Now
you tell me.”

“You just have to work the stiffness out, Joshua.” Her father mounted his stallion and waited.

Sean vaulted into his saddle with Joshua’s help. “Can we go faster on the way back to the barn?”

“Sure, once we hit the meadow—” her father paused and threw her a glance “—that is, if it’s okay with your mom.”

Shocked that he’d asked her opinion, Darcy nodded. While Sean and her father headed back through the woods toward the pasture, she watched Joshua pull himself into his saddle, a grimace on his face.

“Are you that sore?”

“Afraid so. I keep in shape, but obviously a whole different set of muscles is involved in riding.” He stared after the disappearing pair. “Do me a favor?”

“What?”

“Let’s take it slow and easy.”

Darcy suppressed her laugh. “I can handle that.”

But could she handle a man like Joshua? Each day she was around him she grew to like and care about him more and more. Against her nature she was finding her
self confiding in him, which should be setting off alarm bells in her mind. But it felt so natural and right….
We’re just friends
, she thought—and was afraid she was lying to herself.

“Come in. Crystal has been so excited since you called.” Tanya Bolton stepped to the side to allow Darcy and Sean into her house.

Sean cradled his new puppy to his chest. “At church Wednesday night Crystal told me she loved dogs. I wanted to show her my new one.”

“She’s back in the den. Why don’t you take your puppy back there and show her?” Tanya pointed toward the hallway. “While he’s doing that, would you like something to drink? I have sodas, iced tea, water?” She walked through the dining room into the kitchen.

“Water is fine.” Darcy noticed the stack of dirty dishes in the sink and some pots with dried food in them left on the stove. Two houseplants on the windowsill over the sink were wilting and turning brown.

After pouring some iced water from a pitcher in the refrigerator, Tanya indicated a chair at her oak table in front of a large picture window that offered a view of the small backyard.

“Since the accident Crystal hasn’t had too many of her friends over. We’ve been pretty tied up and haven’t even had a chance to go to church until a few weeks ago.”

“Sean said Crystal is in his summer Sunday school class that Joshua teaches for the upper elementary grades.”

“She’ll graduate to the next level next summer. She starts the sixth grade next fall—that is, if she goes to school.”

Darcy lifted the glass to her lips, the cool liquid sliding down her dry throat. “Why wouldn’t she?”

“Tom doesn’t want her to go to school now that she’s in a wheelchair.” Tanya dropped her gaze to her hand that held the drink. “In fact, he isn’t too happy that I’m taking her to church. He wants—” She looked at Darcy, tears in her eyes. “He thinks she’s better off being home-schooled and staying here. I won’t hide my daughter. I can’t—” Tanya cleared her throat and took a large gulp of water. “I don’t know what to do.”

Darcy’s heart ached for the woman sitting across from her. She reached out and covered Tanya’s hand with hers. “All we can do is what we think is best. As long as I’m here, I’ll help you any way I can.”

Tanya choked back a sob. “Thanks. I feel so alone lately. I’ve lost touch with my friends. After the accident I spent every waking moment with Crystal. I’m trying to get my old life back together but—” she cleared her throat “—it’s difficult sometimes, especially when I can’t seem to stay on top of things that I know I should.”

Darcy could relate to this woman. Making changes in one’s life was never easy. “Remember, if you need help, I’m just a call away. Maybe Crystal can come visit the farm.”

Horror flitted across Tanya’s features. “No. Tom
would get so angry if I brought her out to your farm. I’m not even going to say anything to him about your visit.”

“Well, then, we can always bring Lady over to see Crystal again if she wants.”

“We’ll see—” They heard a noise coming from the front of the house, and Tanya jumped, fear widening her eyes. She shot to her feet and hurried from the kitchen, saying, “I’ll be back in a sec.”

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Bolton. Lady got away from us.”

Darcy followed the sound of her son’s voice and found him in the entry hall with Tanya. Crystal had wheeled herself down the hallway. A trash can lay on its side with crumpled papers scattered over the tile floor.

“Mom, Lady likes trash cans. Isn’t that funny?” Crystal patted her lap and Sean put the puppy where she indicated. “Can we go outside? Sean says he’s gonna teach her to fetch.”

“Crystal, you know we haven’t made the deck and backyard handicap accessible yet.”

Crystal pouted. “But Dad promised he would last month.”

“He’ll get around to it. For the time being you’ll have to be satisfied with the den. But no fetching in there.”

As Sean walked behind Crystal toward the den, Tanya sighed, tears springing to her eyes again. “I hate disappointing her. But she needs several ramps built in order for her to go out back. And to tell you the truth, Tom’s always working. He’s rarely here anymore, so I don’t know when they’re going to be built.”

“Maybe Joshua knows someone who can build them.”

Tanya’s eyes grew round. “Oh, no. Tom would be furious if anyone else did it. He wants to do everything himself. He’ll get to it sometime.”

When they were back in the kitchen, Tanya asked, “I understand from Reverend Collins that you’re just visiting for the summer, that you live in Panama City. What do you do down there?”

Darcy told Tanya about her job and the purchase of her very first house not on a Navy base, while Tanya talked about her volunteer work before her daughter’s accident. The mention of the accident brought tears to Tanya’s eyes and again Darcy comforted the woman, not sure how to help her. Tanya’s emotions seemed so close to the surface.

Suddenly Tanya glanced at the clock over the stove and stood. “I hate to end this, but Tom will be home in an hour and I need to start dinner. Thank you so much for bringing Sean and his puppy by. Maybe he can visit another time.”

Five minutes later Sean and Darcy were ushered from the house. Sean spun back to wave goodbye to Crystal, who had wheeled herself to the glass door. The forlorn look on the child’s face tore at Darcy.

After the summer horse auction at the fairgrounds, Darcy decided, she would make it a point to get more involved with Crystal and Tanya. Crystal needed a friend, and Tanya needed…Darcy wasn’t sure what, but the woman was close to falling apart. She intended to talk with Lizzy about Tanya Bolton. Maybe Lizzy had some suggestions to help her with the woman.

On the ride back to the farm Sean held Lady in his arms and stared out the side window. His silence was so unusual that Darcy asked, “What’s wrong?”

“I’m thinking about Crystal. She doesn’t leave the house much and she misses her friends. She wants a puppy like Lady.”

“You know what might be nice for Crystal is a therapy dog. I’ll do some research on them and say something to her mother.”

“Mom, I’d like to visit again. When can I?”

“Let me see after the horse auction. My time is going to be pretty filled with that coming up. We’ll be auctioning off fifteen horses.”

“Can I help?”

“Sure. The more we do, the less Grandpa will have to do. It’s at the end of next week.”

When Darcy pulled into the farm, she headed the truck toward one of the broodmare barns. “I’ve got to check on the new mare. Why don’t you go on up to the house and tell Lizzy we’re back so she’ll start dinner?”

“I’m hungry. Maybe I can get a snack.” Sean hopped from the truck and let Lady down.

As he started running toward the house, Darcy shouted, “Don’t spoil your dinner. No cookies or sweets.”

He turned and jogged backward, Lady at his heel. “Aw, Mom.”

“You heard me, young man. You can have one piece of fruit.”

“He reminds me of you when you were a child.”

Darcy gasped, spinning around to face Jake.

“You had quite a sweet tooth if I remember correctly.”

“I still do. How’s the new mare adjusting to her new home?”

“Fine. She’s out in the pasture right now.” Jake walked toward the barn. “I put her up next to Butterfly at the end.”

“Dad thinks she’ll be a good breeder.”

“Your father’s rarely wrong.”

When it came to horses that was true, but when it came to people…She moved toward the back stall to check the mare, while Jake headed for the tack room. The scent of fresh hay gave her a feeling of having come home. She’d missed the horses and the farm—she hadn’t realized how much.

“I like being a librarian,” she muttered to herself, closing the door to the stall. “I like working with children.”

“Should I be worried about you talking to yourself?”

Darcy peered toward the rafters, then slowly turned toward Joshua. “There are several mares within earshot.”

“Oh. That makes all the difference.”

She placed her hands on her waist and cocked her head. “Are you making fun of me?”

“I won’t answer that. Not if I want you to do me a favor.”

“What?”

“I need a date for next Thursday night.”

A date? Oh, my! All her alarm bells sounded.

“Y
es, a date.” Joshua grinned, his blue eyes glinting. “With all that has been going on I forgot about the awards dinner.”

“What awards dinner?” Darcy asked.

Joshua actually turned a nice shade of red. “I’m being given an award for rescuing a woman and child from a burning house.”

“What an honor!”

The blush deepened. He looked away, his thumb rubbing across his fingers. “I shouldn’t have gone into the house, but I couldn’t let the woman and her toddler die. I was lucky. I got them and myself out without anyone being too seriously injured. My captain was not happy about the risk I took, but the governor is giving me an award.”

There was that word again—
risk
. Darcy was beginning to hate it.

“God was looking out for me that night.”

“Well, I’m glad someone was.” Her mouth set in a taut line, she started for the entrance.

Joshua fell into step next to her. “Why are you upset? Everything worked out okay.”

“I’m not upset,” she said, then realized that wasn’t the truth. “One day it might not work out. Have you ever really stopped and thought about that?”

Clasping her arm in the middle of the yard, he stopped and turned her to face him. “What would you have me do? Stand by and do nothing while someone was trapped in a burning building? I had to try and get them out.”

Her anger deflated. “No.” Her gaze dropped to the ground. “I would have tried, too.”

He placed his finger under her chin and lifted her head. His gaze locked with hers. “You did do the same thing when your barn was burning. You went in to get the horses out because you couldn’t stand by and watch them burn.”

She closed her eyes for a few seconds, the image of the frightened horses imprinted on her mind. When she stared into his eyes again, she felt lost in the vivid blue of his gaze. Time fell away, leaving only them.

She didn’t want to care about Joshua Markham, but she did.

“Yes, I’ll go. What time will you pick me up?”

“Six. We have to drive to Lexington.”

“How should I dress?”

“I have to wear a suit.”

“You make it sound like a sentence.”

“I don’t particularly like to wear a suit and tie.”

“Then I guess I won’t wear my jeans and boots.”

His chuckle danced up her spine. “In horse country that wouldn’t be too far-fetched, but since the governor and other dignitaries are going to be there, you’d better don a dress.”

“The governor? This must have been a big deal.”

Joshua plowed his fingers through his hair and peered over her shoulder with a wry grin on his face. “The woman I rescued was a niece of the governor’s.”

“So you have friends in high places.”

“The only one that counts is God.”

Darcy started again for the main house. She wished she had his strong faith. But doubts plagued her.

“Dinner’s gonna be ready shortly. Do you want to stay?”

“Sure. Why else do you think I waited until this time to ask?”

She glanced at him, his face full of laughter. “You know, underneath it all, I think you’re serious.”

“For a man who hates to cook and isn’t very good when he has to, you’re probably right.”

“So I should expect you to appear on my doorstep around seven whenever you aren’t working?”

“Is that an invitation?”

The eagerness in his voice produced a laugh from Darcy. “I shouldn’t encourage you.”

“But I’m so adorable when I’m begging.”

She shook her head and entered the house through the kitchen. Lizzy glanced up from stirring something on the stove.

“Dinner is in fifteen minutes.”

“I’ve invited Joshua to join us again. Can I help you with anything?”

“You can get another place setting down for him. Joshua, Shamus and Sean are in the den. Will you tell them dinner is almost ready?” After Joshua left, Lizzy added, “You can also get the salad out of the refrigerator.”

Darcy took a deep breath, delicious aromas enticing her. “What are we having?”

“Chicken stew. Nothing fancy, but something on your father’s diet.”

Darcy removed the salad from the refrigerator along with some bottles of dressing, all low fat, she noticed. “Now that Joshua’s gone, what did you want to talk to me about?”

Lizzy wiped her hands on a towel tucked into the waistband of her apron. “Tanya Bolton. We’ve known each other too long to beat around the bush on anything. Be careful, child. Tanya is dealing with a lot of issues.”

Reaching for another plate, Darcy stopped and dropped her arm to her side, spinning about to look at Lizzy. “I know she has a lot of issues. Her husband for one, her daughter’s accident for another. What are you not telling me?”

Lizzy sighed heavily, leaning back against the counter and folding her arms across her chest. “Tanya is bipolar.”

The room seemed to tilt for a few seconds. Darcy gripped the edge of the counter and steadied herself.

“She’s been on medication for several years and was doing fine until her daughter’s accident. Everything has turned upside down for Tanya. I’ve tried to help when I can, but her husband denies there’s a problem with his wife and prefers the family not be involved with the community.”

“Not a nice man if you ask me, and I haven’t even met him.”

“Tom has had a difficult road. A lot has happened to him in the past few years. He was doing all right until Crystal got hurt. He used to come to church regularly. He used to be involved in the community. Now he stays to himself.”

“Crystal needs to be around friends. He doesn’t even want her and Tanya to come to church.”

“Sound like someone we know?”

“Dad.” The name was wrenched from Darcy’s soul, bringing back all kinds of memories of what happened after her mother died. She had so needed her father to help her to understand her loss. Her legs weakened, and Darcy slid to the floor, burying her face in her hands.

The housekeeper squatted next to her. “Now you know why I needed to warn you to be careful. Maybe you shouldn’t help Tanya.”

Tears stung Darcy’s eyes. Memories continued to flood her. She was a teenager again, desperately trying to figure out why her mother had killed herself, need
ing her father’s comfort. Instead, she’d received anger and coldness. He had rejected the Lord and turned away from the church, just like Tom. Tanya and her situation weren’t the same, but there was a connection. Her mother had suffered from manic depression too.

“But she’s so alone, Lizzy.”

“You’re going to be gone in a few months. Do you really want to get involved in something like that? I was hoping I wouldn’t have to tell you about Tanya because I knew how it would affect you.” Lizzy hugged her as she had when Darcy had been trying to make sense of her mother’s death.

“I couldn’t help my mother, but maybe I can help Tanya now that I know what she’s going through.” Tears coursed down her cheeks. “I’ve got to try.”

“I figured you would say that. It isn’t your battle, and you have more than enough to handle with your father right now.”

Darcy shoved herself to her feet. “I can always count on you to look out for me.”
Is God giving me a second chance through Tanya to understand what drove my mother to kill herself? Would understanding Tanya’s situation help me to understand my father?
Questions bombarded her that she had no answers to.

“Child, I’m here if you need to talk.”

“I know.” Darcy turned back to the cabinet and retrieved a plate and glass for Joshua. “I’ve always been able to count on you.”

“But not your father?”

“Do I have to answer that question?” Darcy opened the drawer and selected a fork, spoon and knife.

“No. Your father can be one of the stubbornest men I’ve known.”

“And you still work for him.”

“Someone’s got to watch out for him. He certainly isn’t doing a very good job of it.”

Seeing the slight coloring in Lizzy’s cheeks made Darcy think back over the past few weeks to when the housekeeper and her father were together. Lizzy could get away with saying things to him that no one else could. He argued with her, but he also listened to what she had to say. Was there more going on between them? Lizzy had put up with him for as many years as her mother had.

“Joshua has been spending a lot of time with you and Sean. Is there something you would like to tell me?”

“Are you trying to change the subject?”

“Yes, is it working?”

Darcy laughed. “Joshua and I are friends. He’s wonderful with Sean, and Sean likes to be around him.”

“Just Sean.” Lizzy sent her a sharp, appraising look.

“Okay, I like to be around him, too, but as you just pointed out to me, I’ll be leaving in less than two months, so nothing is going to happen beyond friendship.”

“If you say so.” Lizzy reached for the serving bowl and a spoon. “Please set the table.”

Darcy went into the dining room and arranged a place setting for Joshua, then headed for the den to see
what was keeping the guys. When she entered, she heard her father and Joshua talking about the fires. Stopping at the entrance, she searched the room for her son. He wasn’t there.

“All four of the fires are connected, sir. So far no one’s been injured, but several horses died and a great deal of property has been destroyed.”

“If I get my hands on the person responsible for doing this, he’ll regret the day he was born.”

“That’s not looking very promising right now, unless we catch him red-handed. Arson cases can be difficult to solve, and when there’s no obvious reason, it’s even harder. Sometimes we find the arsonist likes to watch the fire he sets, but in this case, because of the isolation of the barns, that isn’t happening. At least, where we can see him. The only crowds gathering are the people who live on the farms who are trying to rescue the horses and help put the fire out.”

“What if he’s hiding?”

“That’s possible. Everyone’s busy with the fire, so it would be hard to tell.” Joshua exhaled a deep breath. “At least everyone in the area has hired additional guards to protect their barns and horses. I think that’s one reason we haven’t seen another fire in several weeks since the Colemans’. Maybe there won’t be any more.”

Her father shifted in his overstuffed chair, caught sight of her and waved her into the room. “Did you take a look at Angus Feehan? I heard he was fired from an
other stable a few weeks back. Pretty hotheaded man when riled.”

“Riled enough to burn barns?”

Her father rubbed his chin and thought for a moment. “The more I think about him, the more it seems a strong possibility.”

“We have checked him out. He doesn’t have good alibis for the fires. He lives by himself and says he was home sleeping. No one to say one way or the other.”

“You’d better keep an eye on him. He’s got shifty eyes if you ask me.”

Joshua chuckled. “The police can’t arrest everyone who has shifty eyes.”

“I know, but I never trusted him or Mike Reynolds. Both have reason to burn my barn.”

“But the others?”

“I know Mike worked for the Andersons before coming to work for me. So he’s worked for three of the four farms hit. A mighty big coincidence.”

“Dad, where’s Sean? Dinner is ready.”

Her father labored to stand. When he saw Darcy frowning at him, he said, “I probably should get another chair to sit in. That one is getting harder and harder for an old man to get out of.”

“That’s the first time I’ve heard you refer to yourself as old.”

Her father’s gaze pinned her. “How would you know? You haven’t been around much in the past ten years to know what I say or think.”

Darcy felt as though her father had slapped her in the face. She automatically took a step back, her hand coming up to her throat.

He stalked past her, muttering, “Sean took Lady outside to…go. I’ll get him.”

“Sean named his dog Lady?”

Joshua’s question reminded her that she wasn’t alone and that she needed to regain her composure quickly or she would find herself breaking down in front of him.

“Yes.” She averted her head as though she were watching her father leave, when in actuality she didn’t see much through the sheen of tears.

“That was what I called my first dog.”

She blinked the tears away before facing Joshua. “I know. Sean didn’t think a girl dog should be called Joshua, but he liked the name Lady so he calls her that because of you.”

Joshua approached her, his gaze connected to hers. “I’m sorry, Darcy.”

“About what?” Her throat thickened again, and she felt the walls of the den close in on her.

Joshua gestured toward where her father had disappeared. “What I just witnessed between you and your father.”

She attempted a smile that wavered about the corners of her mouth and faltered. “It’s not a secret our relationship is rocky at best.”

“And the added tension with the fires makes everyone on edge.”

“Don’t make excuses for him. The fires have nothing to do with it.”

“Then what does?”

Aware of the compassion she saw in the blue depths of his eyes, she wanted to tell him everything—starting with her mother’s illness and suicide. The words wouldn’t come out. Instead she pressed her lips together and pivoted, heading for the dining room before she did confide in him.

What good would it do? Her mother would still be dead. Her relationship with her father would still be awful. And Joshua would own a part of her that she didn’t share with others. Even Lizzy, who had been around, didn’t know the depths of her agony over finding her mother and the suicide note.

Darcy ran her hand over her ice-green silk dress for probably the hundredth time since leaving the farm for Lexington. Her nerves were strung so tight she was afraid they would snap. A date! She hadn’t been on one in years and wasn’t sure what to do. She hoped it was like riding a bicycle because she was working herself up into a frenzy over it.

She glanced at Joshua, his large, strong hands on the steering wheel, his gaze trained forward on the highway, and wondered why she had accepted this date. It was a complication she didn’t need.

But a welcome distraction
, a tiny voice inside her said. The past few days at the farm had been hectic
with getting ready for the horse auction. The bite of her father’s words still stung from earlier today: she hadn’t had all the paperwork done the way he had wished. No matter that she had never done it before and was learning—