Heart of the Family (9 page)

“Yes. Paul was a great example of what a father can be.”

“Then why don’t you have one?” The urge to slap her hand over her mouth swamped her. She was digging a deep hole with her inquisitiveness.

He threw back his head and laughed. “I wish it were that simple. It takes two.”

Heat flooded her cheeks. She started to mention he was thirty-five, but this time she managed to keep quiet. “Oh, look at Gabe ride.”

On Saturday Hannah came to a stop near the small lake and hopped off her bicycle. Susie pulled up next to her while Jacob flanked her on the other side. “This is beautiful. We’ll have to come back in the spring when the trees are flowering. I see quite a few redbuds.”

“That’s our state tree.” Susie put her kickstand down. “We’ve been studying Oklahoma history in school.”

“I can see why it is. They’re everywhere.”

“Can we walk along the shore? We won’t go too far.”

“Make sure no one goes too close to the water.” Hannah took a swig from her water bottle.

“She told me Thanksgiving that she wanted to be a doctor like me.” After removing his ball cap, Jacob wiped his hand across his forehead. “I’d forgotten how much work bicycling is, especially that last hill.”

“I thought you went bike riding all the time.”

“When I was a child, I used to. I…” A frown carved deep lines into his brow.

“What?”

“My grandma gave me a bike one Christmas. I loved that bike. I would go all over the place. If I was quick enough, it became my way of escaping my mother when she went into a rage.”

“What happened to it?”

“During one of my mother’s rages, she ran over it with her car. I tried to fix it, but the frame was bent too much for me to do anything. I cried when the garbage man took it away.” His gaze zeroed in on her. “That was the only time I cried. Not crying used to make my mom madder. She used to shout I didn’t have a heart.”

Her stomach knotted as she listened to him talk about his mother so dispassionately as though she were a stranger. But she’d gotten to know him well enough to hear the underlying pain that his words didn’t reflect. “My mom and I had moved to a new town and I was desperate to impress the neighborhood kids.” Hannah sipped some more cool water. “I performed a few tricks with my bike. They were properly awed until the last one. I fell and broke my wrist. I never got back on it after that. I stopped riding for years until college when I took it up for exercise.”

“How did we get on a subject like this?”

“I don’t know,” she said with a shaky laugh.

“I know how.” He shifted toward her. “I find it easy to talk to you. I don’t tell others about my childhood. I prefer leaving that in my past.”

His words made her feel special. Surprisingly she found it easy to talk to him, too. Less than two months ago she’d thought of him as her enemy. Now she considered him a friend—a very good friend.

He inched closer, taking her hands in his. “I haven’t had much time in my life for dating. I made a promise years ago to become a doctor and that’s where all my energy has gone.”

Children’s laughter drifted to her, reminding her they weren’t alone. She peered at the group near the lake. Terry was showing Gabe how to skip rocks. Susie was scolding the two youngest boys to stay away from the water.

When she looked back at Jacob, the intensity in his gaze stole her breath. He bent toward her. Her heart fluttered in anticipation. He released her hands and cupped her face. He lowered his head until their mouths were inches apart. The scent of peppermint spiced the air.

Softly he brushed his lips across hers. “I think we should go out on an official date.”

“You do?” she squeaked out, her pulse racing through her body.

“Don’t you think we’ve skirted around this long enough?”

“What’s this?”

His mouth grazed hers again. “This attraction between us.”

She wanted his kiss. His eyes enticed her to forget who he was, to forget the past and grab hold of the future.

A drumroll blared. Hannah gasped and shot back.

Jacob’s eyes widened. He stared at her pocket as another drumroll sounded, loud and demanding.

She dug into her jeans. “That’s my cell.”

“A drumroll? What kind of ring is that?”

She pulled the phone out. “One I know is mine.” She flipped it open. “Hannah here.”

“I’m so sorry to bother you.”

The alarm in Meg’s voice alerted Hannah something was wrong.

“Nancy’s missing. I’ve looked everywhere and I can’t find her.”

H
eart pounding, Hannah raced up the steps and into the cottage with Jacob and the children not far behind her. Meg stood in the living room with Peter, Laura, Roman and a police officer. The older woman reeled around when Hannah came in. The anxious look on Meg’s face tightened a band about Hannah’s chest. She gulped in deep breaths, but she couldn’t seem to fill her lungs. Bending over, hands on knees, she inhaled over and over. She’d never ridden so fast before.

Meg touched Hannah’s shoulder. “She’s been gone for at least an hour. We’ve looked all over the farm, especially the barn.”

“You didn’t find her in the pen with the puppies? She’s taken a liking to one of them.”

Peter moved forward. “No, but now that I think about it, I didn’t see all the puppies. At the time I thought one was behind its mama in the back.”

“Is anything missing from her room?” Jacob strode in with the children.

Meg shook her head. “I don’t think so, but I’m not that familiar with what she has.” She snapped her fingers. “Except I know her blanket is gone. She had it with her while she was watching TV in here.”

“I’ll check her room. I know what she has.” Hannah headed down the hallway, her hands shaking so badly she had to clasp them together.

She opened every drawer and the closet, then inspected under the bed and in Nancy’s little toy chest. She finished her survey when Jacob appeared in the doorway.

“Anything?”

“Her doll she’d brought with her when she came to the cottage. I don’t think she’s been kidnapped. I think she’s run away.”

“Why? Where would she go?”

Her heartbeat pulsated against her eardrums. The constriction about her chest squeezed even tighter. “I don’t know and tonight they are predicting it will drop below freezing with rain or snow.”

“Let’s hope they’re wrong.”

“Or we find her before then.” Hannah welcomed Jacob’s calming presence. She saw apprehension in his expression, but above everything his strength prevailed. He was a man used to emergencies and knew how to handle them.

Back in the living room the police officer tucked his notepad into his front pocket then peered at Hannah. “Anything else missing?”

“Her doll.”

“I’ll call this in and get things moving. Where’s your phone?”

Meg pointed toward the kitchen. “I’ll show you.”

“We need to search the farm again.” Jacob placed his arm about Hannah’s shoulder. “Anywhere she really liked?”

“The barn.”

“Well, let’s start there and fan out.”

“How about us?” Susie came forward with the other children, unusually quiet, standing behind her.

“We’ll get Cathy and Roman to organize the children and search both cottages, the unfinished one and the surrounding area. Susie, you can help Cathy with the kids in our house.” Seeing terror on a couple of their faces, Hannah added, “Nancy will be found. She’ll be all right.”

“Let’s go next door where Cathy and the others are waiting.” Roman led the way with the children following.

“I’ll have Alexa and Sean meet us at the barn. They can help us search that area.” Laura left with Peter.

Hannah started forward. Jacob’s hand on her shoulder stopped her. She glanced back at him, such kindness in his eyes that tears welled up in hers. He drew her to him.

“We will find her and she will be all right.”

His whispered words, raw with suppressed emotions, fueled her tears. Forcing them down, she backed away from the comfort of his arms. “I don’t have time to cry. We only have a few hours before it gets dark.”

Two hours later Hannah paused near the creek that ran through the farm. Thankfully it wasn’t deep, the bottom easily seen. She peered at Jacob downstream from her. Fifteen minutes ago he found Nancy’s doll by a bush where it appeared the little girl had sat. With that they were now concentrating on this area. Nancy had to be near. Nightfall would be in another hour.

“Nancy,” Hannah shouted for the hundredth time, her voice raw. She heard the child’s name from the others intermittently.

Hannah forged forward into the thicker underbrush, so glad it was too cold for snakes. But there were other animals that could do harm to a small child. Thinking about that possibility, she again yelled the girl’s name and heard the frantic ring in her voice.

Only silence greeted her.

Her shoulders sagged as the minutes ticked away. She pushed farther into the wooded area, sending up another prayer for Nancy’s safe return.

In the distance she saw a glimpse of pink. Hannah squinted and picked up her pace, although it was slower than usual because of the dense foliage.

“Nancy.”

A sound caused her to stop and listen.

The breeze whistled through the forest. Disappointment cloaked her.
Just the wind.

She continued toward the pink. The little girl’s blanket was that color. “Nancy.”

Another noise froze Hannah.

A whimper?

“Nancy, honey, where are you?”

Hannah kept moving forward, straining to hear anything unusual, trying to be as quiet as she could so she could listen.

“Hannah,” a faint voice, full of tears, floated to her. From the direction of the pink.

“I’m coming.”

Hannah tore through the brush, bare limbs clawing her. A branch scratched across her cheek. She fumbled for her cell in her pocket to alert the others she’d found Nancy. She hoped.

“Nancy, say something.”

“I’m hurt.”

The nearer she got to the pink the stronger the voice. She reached the blanket, but Nancy was nowhere to be seen.

“Honey, where are you? I don’t see you.”

“I’m down here.”

Hannah stepped to the side several yards from the discarded blanket and looked down an incline. At the bottom lay Nancy with the puppy cuddled next to her, a ball of white fur.

“I see you. I’ll be right there.” Hannah flipped open her phone and punched in Jacob’s number.

After giving him directions to where she thought she was, she started down the hill, half sliding as it got steeper toward the bottom. With a tearstained face, Nancy struggled to sit up and watched Hannah’s descent. Abby began to yelp and prance around in circles.

When she reached the child, Nancy threw herself into Hannah’s arms, sobbing. “You’re okay now, honey.”

She stroked the child’s back, whispering she was safe over and over until Nancy finally calmed down and leaned back.

“Abby ran away from me. I went after her and fell down here. My ankle hurts bad.” Tears shone in the child’s eyes. “I tried to climb up the hill. I couldn’t.”

Hannah heard her name being called. “Jacob, we’re down here. Nancy’s hurt.”

“I’m coming. I see her blanket.”

The most wonderful thing Hannah saw was Jacob’s face peering over the top of the steep incline. “She fell. I think she did something to her ankle.”

Jacob descended as gracefully as she did, speed more important than caution. “I called the others. They’re coming.” He knelt next to them, his gaze tracking down the child’s length. “Which ankle hurts?”

Nancy pointed to her left one.

Jacob tenderly took her leg into his hands and probed the area. “I don’t think it’s broken. Probably a sprain. We’ll have to get an X-ray to be sure.”

“I don’t want a shot. I don’t want a shot!” Nancy’s voice rose to a hysterical level.

Hannah hugged her to her chest. “Honey, don’t worry about that. You need to calm down so we can get you back to the cottage.”

Nancy straightened, wiping her eyes. “Where’s Abby?” She scanned the surrounding terrain. “She’s gone again!”

Jacob reached behind him and picked up the puppy. “She’s right here, investigating a twig.”

“Oh, good.” Nancy sank against Hannah, grasping her as if she were a lifeline.

Hannah’s gaze coupled with Jacob’s. Everything would be fine now. He would take care of Nancy.

And he could take care of you.

The thought astonished Hannah. She looked away. Her feelings for Jacob were more than friendship.

“You aren’t mad at me?” Nancy snuggled under her covers with her doll tucked next to her.

Hannah smoothed the girl’s bangs to the side. “No. I think you realize how dangerous it can be to wander off by yourself, especially when no one knows where you are.”

“I thought I could take Abby for a walk. I thought if you saw how good I can take care of her, you’d let me keep her.”

“That’s a decision we’ll all make at the family meeting tomorrow night. There’s a cat Susie would like, and Gabe wants one of Abby’s brothers.”

“That’s great! Abby won’t be alone. She’ll have playmates.”

“No, it isn’t great. We can’t have a house full of children
and
pets.”

“Why not?”

“Well…” Hannah couldn’t come up with a reason Nancy would understand. The little girl wouldn’t accept the answer that a lot of animals running around wouldn’t work. All of a sudden Hannah wasn’t looking forward to the family meeting tomorrow night.

“How’s your ankle?”

Nancy plucked at her coverlet. “It still hurts a little.”

Hannah leaned down and kissed the child’s forehead. “Thankfully it wasn’t broken. You should be better in a week or so.”

“Yeah, Dr. Jacob told me that. I like him.”

So do I.
“Good night.” Hannah rose, tucked Nancy’s roommate in, then quietly made her way to the door.

In the hallway she heard Jacob talking to Andy and Gabe. Earlier he’d rounded up the boys and got them ready for bed while she had taken care of the girls. As though they were a team—a family.

Hannah crossed the large living room to the picture window and stared at the darkness beyond. In the distance she saw the lights of Peter and Laura’s house. Life was back to normal.

Who was she kidding?

There was nothing normal about her life at the moment. She’d discovered today she was falling in love with an enemy of her family—the man who was responsible for her brother’s death.

Among all the feelings tumbling around in her mind, guilt dominated. What would her mother say if she ever found out? Mom hadn’t mentioned Jacob Hartman in years, but Hannah could just imagine what her reaction would be.

Hannah shivered as if the cold weather that had swooped down on Cimarron City in the past few hours had oozed into the cottage, into her bones.

This was one problem she’d never thought she would have. How could they overcome the history between them. They both deserved a family—but together?

A sound of footsteps behind her warned her she wasn’t alone. In the pane she glimpsed Jacob approaching. She tensed. Then she caught sight of his smile and melted, all stress flowing from her.

He grasped her upper arms and pulled her back against him. “For the time being all’s quiet on the home front.”

The use of the word
home
in connection with Jacob sent a yearning through her she hadn’t thought possible where he was concerned. He had so much to offer a woman.

But how could she be that woman?

His breath washed over her as he nibbled on the skin right below her ear, undermining all the defenses she was desperately trying to erect against him.

“After the day we had with Nancy’s disappearance and our vigorous bike ride, I should be exhausted. But I’m not. I’m wide-awake.”

How could this man affect her with that husky appeal in his voice? When had her feelings for him changed? The moment she had forgiven him? Or before?

He rubbed his hands up and down her arms. “Cold?”

The humor in his question told her he knew exactly the effect he was having on her every sense. Goose bumps zipped through her, and if he hadn’t been holding her up, she would have collapsed against him. “It’s dropped at least twenty degrees in the last hour.”

“Outside. Not in here.”

He swept her around so she faced him, only inches from her. “I don’t think it’s going to snow.”

Why was he talking about the weather when his mouth was a whisper away from hers? She balled her hands to keep from dragging his lips to hers. “If it does, it won’t stick. The ground’s too warm.” And now she was discussing weather!

“Yes, too warm,” he murmured right before settling his lips on hers.

As her arms wound about him, he pressed her close. She soared above the storm, high in the sky. Nothing was important but this man in her embrace.

When he finally drew back slightly, their ragged breaths tangled, the scent of peppermint teasing her. She would never look at a piece of that candy and not remember his kiss.

“I’d better go. It’s been a long day, and I have to be at church early tomorrow.” His fingers delved into her curls, his gaze penetrating into hers.

“Yes, I’m helping out in the nursery tomorrow, so I need to get everyone moving earlier than usual.”

“You want me to come to the family meeting in the evening?”

She nodded, aware of his hands still framing her face as though leaving his imprint on her. “I’m new at the family-meeting stuff so I may need your help to get it right.”

“Say that again.” His mouth quirked into a lopsided grin.

She playfully punched his arm. “You heard me.”

“Yes, but I like hearing you say you might need my help to get it right. I may never hear that again from your lips.” The second he said the word lips his gaze zeroed in on hers.

She tingled as though his mouth still covered hers. When he lifted his regard to her eyes, a softness entered his that nearly undid her. In that moment she felt so feminine and cherished.

Pulling completely away, Jacob swallowed hard. “Seriously I’ll help you anytime you need it. Just ask.”

“I know.” Bereft without him near, she meant every word. He was a good, kind man who had made a mistake when he was young. She realized that she could forget the past now in addition to forgiving him. Peace blanketed her in an indescribable feeling, underscoring the rightness of what she was doing.

He backed farther away. “I can find my own way out. See you tomorrow.”

She watched him stride out of the room. Turning back to the window, she glimpsed him descend the porch steps and make his way to his car.