Meeting Her Match (17 page)

She snapped her arms together across her chest and glared at him. She was trying to distance herself and he was standing there smiling at her, looking more handsome than any man had a right to look. It wasn't fair.

“How about a movie? Take me to a movie, Sheri.”

The man was insufferable. He knew exactly what he was doing to her and he didn't care. Not one bit.

It was true she was tempted to throw caution to the wind and do it…but until she knew what God wanted from her she was not caving in. It was for his own good.

“No. I can't. Look, Pace, was there something other than this that you wanted to talk to me about?” There. She'd managed to sound firm and in control.

“No, Sheri, this is it. I want to talk to you about us.”

Aww, man.
“There is no us.”

“So when are you going to let there be? I've made up my mind I want you.”

He wanted her! Sheri could have jumped for joy, instead she spun and stomped away from him. She had to put space between them. She wasn't ready.

“Sheri, you can't keep running away from this.”

She swung around. “I am not running.”

“Yes. You are. You're afraid.”

He was right about that. “Look, Pace, I've been very vocal on the subject of marriage and the fact that I don't hang around very long. That does scare me. It should scare you.”

“You can't speed-date forever.”

Ha! “That's really none of your business. I already told you that I'm done with that, too.”

“Sheri, you are not meant to live alone and you know it. You were really happy back there watching Sam and Adela.”

“Well who wouldn't be happy that Sam finally asked Adela to get married? Of course I was happy. That has nothing to do with you deciding to, to—”

“To what? Try and finish what you started. To try and convince you that we're meant to be together like Adela and Sam.”

“What I started was a ruse.”

“No. What you started was a romance under the guise of a ruse. I think you know as well as I do that something bigger than both of us was happening from the moment we first butted heads.”

Sheri crossed her arms and looked away from him because Mr. Smarty Buckaroo had a smug look in his
gorgeous eyes and she didn't think she could hide her feelings from him too much longer if she kept looking at him. Oh, why was she even bothering?

“Okay.” She met his smoky stare straight on. “Hope this makes you happy. It's true. I haven't ever felt like I feel when I'm around you. But, Pace, I can't count on it lasting. Take it from me, I know how I am. It may take a week, a month—hey, it could be a year or two, but in the end I'd be moving on. That's why I'm just calling it quits to all dating. I'm going to put all that energy into figuring out some kind of ministry I can do for the Lord. I'll never take a chance on marriage, kids and divorce.” She knew it was true. Her past suddenly came rushing at her, reminding her of all the reasons she would never marry. “The quicker you understand that the better for both of us.”

“So that's it? You're the last person I thought would accept defeat without a fight.”

She took three strides and glared up at him. “There you go judging me again when you have no idea what's going on inside my head. You don't know what it felt like to be handed off like I was the family pet. You don't know what it felt like to have absolutely no control over any aspect of my life.”

Pace stepped close to her, so close she could feel the warmth of him, but she was so overcome with the resentments she'd kept inside for so long that she couldn't move. She could only stare at the pockets of his shirt and battle the tears welling up inside her. She was breathing hard and when his arms went around her, to her horror, she crumpled against him. Just for a moment
she let him hold her up. He was a tower of strength and for a minute she let herself go.

“Sheri, everything is going to be all right. You don't need to keep running. Don't you know that God's been with you all along? Talk to me, Sheri. Tell me what you want. What you really want. Stop being afraid.” He stroked her hair, and she gripped his shirt tighter, felt his heart beating strong beneath her cheek.

She thought of Mr. Darcy striding across that moor. “I want the fairy tale! But I'm afraid.”

“Of what?”

“Of me. I've told you that. Pace, I'll drag you through the mud because I can't trust that next week I'm not going to get bored—that I'm going to let you down.”

“I'm not afraid of mud, Sheri.”

“No.”

“So you don't think our love is worth fighting for? Do you love me?” His voice was calm, patient, as it was with his horses. But his eyes were on fire, the steel-gray dark with emotions that seemed to glow like embers.

Sheri was nodding before she could stop herself. “Yes. Yes, I love you. I tried not to. I really did—but what do I know about love? Look what I came from.”

He took her chin, traced his rough finger along her cheek in a sweet, tender manner. “You know, you need to start believing in yourself. In the goodness and the beliefs that run true inside of you. Sheri, you are strong. You don't have to pretend it—you are. Christ lives inside of you, Sheri, and if you'd just trust Him you'd be surprised at what He'll do. You couldn't control your life
when you were a child left to the whims of your parents' foolishness. But you can control your choices now.”

“I can't. I can't be certain yet, of myself.”

“Yes, you can. Sheri, you have to stop letting your past be your crutch, or you're never going to be what God intended you to be.”

Sheri stepped away from him. She was trying to protect him. “You think that's what I'm doing?”

“Yes, I do. The same as I was doing. The same as Sam was—”

“It's not the same.”

“It is. The choices you made stemmed from your past. Sheri, step out on faith. Give it all to God. All of it. The hurt, the resentment. Decide not to let your parents control you for the rest of your life. Sheri, you are so wonderful, if only you knew it. As much as I want you to walk into my arms right now, to marry me, and I want that more than anything, I want even more for you to lean on Christ.”

She'd thought she was leaning on Christ. She'd thought taking time to figure out His will in her life was the right step to take…but was it really only her fears continuing to hold her back? She frowned, her thoughts colliding.

Pace suddenly tore his hat off and hung his head for a second. “Wait, what am I saying?” Meeting her gaze with troubled eyes, he reached to touch her hair again but let his hand drop. “God didn't give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power. I believe that. I see it in you. But I got carried away, all I came to say was that I love you and I'll be here if or when you want me. I'm going to go now and leave you alone.”

Sheri watched him step back and begin to walk away. He'd quoted the same scripture that Lacy had quoted her earlier. Sheri knew that wasn't a coincidence.

Australia.

The thought brought her up short. She was losing it. There she stood watching Pace, the tall strong man of her dreams walk away. With that little hitch in his stride and that special song in his spurs, and she was thinking about Australia. And how if she ever got the courage to ride a plane the endless hours it would take to get there she'd like to see it….

This was some sort of metaphor for her life. A parallel of different kinds of fear, she realized. She just didn't have the brainpower at the moment to make all the connections.

I did not give you the spirit of fear. Trust me.
The words whispered through her soul.
Trust me, Sheri.
Sheri gasped and looked up at the sky. Toward Heaven… God had just spoken to her. To her. Tears sprang to her eyes. It was her gift, her answer to prayers. Trust. Was her trust in herself? Or in God who lived inside her? She had made it all so hard. And it was really so simple.

“Pace.” Her voice was weak, but he heard her and spun around, hope shining brightly in his eyes. “For the last few days I've been going over this in my head,” she said. “I've been asking the Lord to speak to me. To show me what His plans are for me…all this time everyone, but me, could see it. And I was blind because I wasn't really trusting God.” She smiled; she never wanted Pace Gentry walking away from her again.

She met his gaze steady and strong. He stood still,
letting her turn loose a lifetime of fear. And see a lifetime of possibilities. She took a step toward him, holding his gaze as he waited. The way he waited on his horses. The way he gave them room to make a choice. A choice he wanted them to make.

She smiled. Smiled silly, big and wide, and took another step…

Pace opened his arms…and Sheri let go and stepped into her future, trusting God to lead the way.

P
ace moved quietly up behind Sheri. She stood on their porch, sipping her evening coffee as she watched the sun setting over the horizon. He slipped his arms around her waist and rested his chin in the crook of her neck, watching with her.

“How is Mrs. Gentry this evening?” He smiled when she leaned her head to rest against his and snuggled deeper into his embrace.

“Mrs. Gentry is awesome now that Mr. Gentry's arms are around her.”

“That's good to know, since I don't intend to ever let you go.” They'd been married two weeks. Sheri had insisted they get married immediately. Once she'd made up her mind, she went full speed ahead and he'd let her. It worried him at first that she might be acting out of fear, afraid she might get cold feet and back out. But she'd insisted that she felt free and that she didn't need to hang around for weeks or months when she knew
what she wanted now. Him. He'd believed her, because he felt the same way and the last two weeks with her as his wife had been the best of his life.

He'd been pleasantly surprised by how much joy she got from helping him with the horses. Her intense interest was a bond he hadn't expected, but he loved it.

“Do you know that I was praying when you snuck up on me?” she whispered against his temple.

He closed his eyes, turned his face to her neck and kissed her there, behind her ear. “About what?”

“About you, us. I was thanking God, one more time. Poor guy, He's probably getting tired of me by now ragging on His ear about how fantastic He is. But I can't help it, Pace. I am so happy. I mean I really am.”

She set her cup on the porch railing and turned in his embrace, linking her arms around his neck. “I can't imagine being any happier than I am now. Right this moment.”

Overwhelmed, Pace kissed her, his own feelings a mirror image of hers. “I love you, Sheri,” he whispered hoarsely, running his fingers through her hair while looking into her sparkling eyes. Then he cleared his throat. “I have something to discuss. Do you think you could take a couple of weeks off from work?”

“In a heartbeat for you. What's up? Another youth retreat?”

“That phone call I had just now was the rancher I worked for back in Idaho.”

“Oh yeah. And what did he want?” She nuzzled his neck and kissed his ear.

“He just bought a new ranch and offered me a job.”

“A job?” She leaned her head back to look at him.

“A quick job. He wants me to go out to his new ranch and take a look at his horses and work with his cowboys out there. Just for a couple of weeks. A few times a year. It's a good offer. I can still build my own business up here and continue to help Cort with the retreats we're lining up.”

“It sounds cool.”

He smiled. “Yeah, real cool. I'd just be going out there to make sure things are being done like Mr. Marks wants them done.”

“Great. When do we leave? I've wanted to see your Idaho ever since you started telling me about it. We will have so much fun. Can we camp out in a shack in the boonies? Just you, me and the coyotes?”

“Well, how about you, me and the dingoes?”

“What?” Her jaw went slack. “You mean
Australia?
”

“Yeah, I, we, don't have to go.” He was alarmed by the look on her face. “I know how you are about flying.”

She started laughing and crumpled against him, laughing so hard into the crook of his neck that he had to hang on to her. “What is so funny?” Relieved, he started chuckling, watching her laugh.

She stood up, got her breath and looked at him with dancing eyes. “Oh, Pace. God has the funniest sense of humor. You told me that if I would just trust Him, He would do amazing things.”

She started smiling that smile that filled every nook and cranny of his heart, and her eyes sparkled with mischief. The mischief that told him life with Sheri would never be boring.

“He hasn't failed me yet. He gave me you,” he said. “So what do you say? Think we can overcome your fear of flying?”

She ran her hand along his jaw, smiling. “With you and God on my side, I say, when do we leave? Australia—ready or not—here I come.”

Pace laughed, hugging her to him. Ready or not, would be a fitting way to put things.

Dear Reader,

I hope you enjoyed
Meeting Her Match
and spending time with me in Mule Hollow!

I loved writing Sheri and Pace's love story. Though I have to say Sheri gave me a hard time. What was I thinking? After all, I wrote the other books. I'd met the sassy gal, so of course I knew she wasn't going to give up her single status easily. However, I didn't know she wasn't exactly who I thought she was. She had a secret. Enter Pace Gentry. What a man! I love heroes who are rough around the edges, but whose hearts are true. And Pace was just the man to help Sheri face her fears and become the woman God intended her to be. And in doing so, he became the man God had set him on the journey to become. They completed each other.

I love that!

And I love that God has blessed me with the opportunity to tell these love stories. If you are enjoying the Mule Hollow books, then come back and celebrate Christmas with us in October 2007. In
Operation: Married by Christmas,
the matchmakers are going to have their hands full when runaway bride Haley Bell Thornton returns home and confronts her past.

As always I love hearing from readers. You can reach me through my Web site debraclopton.com or send a letter to P.O. Box 1125 Madisonville, Texas 77864 or c/o Steeple Hill Books, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279.

Until next time keep living, laughing and seeking Christ with all your heart!