North Dakota Weddings (64 page)

Rayne had never heard herself speak in such a hateful tone. It hurt and yet felt good at the same time.
God, please help me. You brought me to this point
.
Now show me what to believe
.

Jack’s face contorted, apprehension flooding his eyes. “I’ve been trying to figure out how to tell you everything.”

Now she turned her back on him again, afraid to let him see how much he’d hurt her. Never again. “There’s nothing more to say. Go back to FountainTech.”

“I need a second chance. Please hear me out. After what happened, I went to church and met with Pastor Luke.”

Rayne frowned at his words, now compelled to listen. She said nothing, though, and waited for him to continue as she watched the tractors planting corn.

“He helped me work through all the hurt and frustrations I’ve held on to all these years so I could finally resolve that I blamed God for everything bad that ever happened to me.”

Rayne looked at the ground to her right, glimpsing Jack in her peripheral vision. “Go on.” She still wasn’t sure what this had to do with him firing her.

“This was all part of God’s plan, leading me to that church today, Rayne. And now I’m free from a lot of pain I’ve carried.”

Finally, Rayne turned to face him. She shrugged. “So, firing me was all part of God’s plan to get you to church?” Rayne gave him an incredulous laugh. “I’m glad you’ve reestablished your relationship with the Lord, Jack. But what does that have to do with me?” She hated the bite that still lingered in her voice.

“Don’t you see, Rayne? I’ve been avoiding a real relationship with anyone, not just God, for a long time, because I was afraid of being hurt, of being betrayed. When Harold said that you had given the design for my new pump to a competitor, all I could see was betrayal. It wasn’t within my DNA, within my power, to think anything else, though I wanted to. With everything in me, I struggled to believe that you could ever do such a thing.”

“And yet you did believe that.”

“It wasn’t until getting right with God that the skies cleared for me, so to speak. I saw with clarity that you couldn’t be the culprit. I tried to speak with Harold, but he was in a meeting. I drove directly here.”

Rayne wanted to believe Jack, but he’d made that very difficult. “Okay, so you found out who stole your design, and it turned out to be someone else. I’m still not coming back to work.” She turned her back to him again.

He only believed in her after he’d learned the truth. Where she came from, that didn’t count as trust.

M
oron. Jack was fumbling and badly. Rayne wasn’t buying. He fought to retain his composure, though everything in him wanted to melt into the ground like the spring snow.

Lord, give me the words… 
.

“No. That’s not it. I haven’t found out who sold the fountain pump design.”

Rayne’s shoulders stiffened. Maybe she would listen now.

“I just know, with everything in my heart, that it wasn’t you, because…”

Jack couldn’t believe it, but Rayne slowly turned to face him, tears brimming in her eyes. Her lips trembled.

“You believe that?” she asked.

Now’s the moment to be bold
. Jack nodded and took a step closer to her, sliding his hand against her neck, cupping her cheek. “How could I believe the woman I love could do such a thing?”

Her eyes grew wide before she squeezed them shut. “Oh Jack. To believe in me, to trust me like that, despite what it looks like. Well, it means everything.”

“Rayne, I love you.” Jack studied her face, watching her reaction.

She opened her eyes, and in them he saw the depth of her love in return. He saw what he’d hoped and prayed to see. “Will you forgive me?” he asked.

“Oh Jack. I love you, too. There’s nothing to forgive. Now, will you kiss me?”

Jack felt his grin nearly split his face. “Will I
kiss
you?” He covered her lips with his, pouring all the pent-up emotions into it, feeling her heart mingling with his. The world seemed a million miles away.

Then Jack’s cell phone chirped in his pocket. Rayne tried to tug free.

“Ignore it,” Jack murmured against her lips. He loved the feel of her arms around his neck, especially when she pulled him closer.

What he had with Kiera was nothing compared to this.

Oh…Kiera.

Jack gently ended the kiss then hugged Rayne to him, whispering in her ear, “I need to see who called.”

He tugged the phone from his pocket. “It’s Kiera. The call I was expecting.”

Rayne had a dreamy smile on her face. “Who’s Kiera?”

Jack considered what to say to Rayne. Bringing up that he was trying to find out who had passed on his design was bad enough, given that he’d just shared that he believed in her, regardless. But add to the mix that he’d contacted his ex-fiancé to do it probably wouldn’t go over well.

“I’m trying to get to the bottom of things.” He winked as he waited for his call to connect, thankful and surprised that he had two reception bars out here.

Kiera answered quickly. “Jack, I have only a second.”

“What did you find out?”

“Oh, I’m fine, and how are you?”

Jack surmised that someone was near Kiera that she didn’t want listening in. “It’s great to hear your voice, Kiera.”

“I can barely hear yours. Where are you, anyway?”

“You said you didn’t have much time, now give.”

“Okay, here’s what I’ve learned.” Kiera spoke softly.

Jack had to strain to hear and even stuck his finger in his other ear.

“Carvis just sent an offer letter to a guy named Simon Jeffers. My understanding is that Simon is bringing a design with him. Carvis wanted another creator but went with this Simon guy instead, for obvious reasons.”

Jack wanted to curse. He’d only recently started the laborious task of patenting his design, but would that matter if someone were bent on stealing it anyway? All Simon would have to do was change the wording on even a small element of Jack’s design to create his own patent. “Thanks for the information, Kiera. It means a lot to me. But Carvis is going to have to face the music. Simon, too.”

Harold had already contacted the company’s attorney. Jack was beyond relieved that Rayne wasn’t involved.

Kiera sighed. “I’m sorry. I know this is a blow to you. This business can be so cutthroat.”

Jack certainly didn’t need to hear that from Kiera, but he shoved his previous summation of her aside.

Harold had pinned the whole thing on Rayne just because another employee saw her talking to Carvis Clark. She was close enough to Jack and knew about the design. He wondered how Simon found out and if someone else was involved. Barb flitted to his mind—she and Simon were pretty close. But let the lawyers figure that one out.

Jack looked at Rayne and gave her a reassuring smile.

“You asked where Carvis got the design, and I’ve found that for you. I have to go now, Jack. Don’t be a stranger.”

And just like that, Kiera ended the call.

Jack sighed, feeling as if a weight had been placed across his shoulders again. He tried to tug Rayne to him, but she refused to budge.

“What’s going on, Jack?”

He scratched his head. Where did he begin? “Why would Harold think that you sold my design to the competition just because you were seen talking to Carvis? But then again…”

Rayne frowned and looked out over the fields. “Apparently he wanted me gone. But why?”

“You’re the company’s top creative genius. That wouldn’t make sense,” he offered. Jack tried again to hold her, and this time she stepped back into his arms. “Simon is going to work for Elemental Innovations. Carvis hired him because he’s bringing a new design with him. He obviously hasn’t given his resignation letter to Harold yet, because Harold didn’t accuse him. I wonder if Simon will even come back to work. Probably too scared.” In spite of the situation, Jack allowed a chuckle. “Simon was jealous of you though. And now he positioned himself to take a job offer meant for you. Now
that
makes sense.”

“I don’t want to think about it anymore,” she said and lifted her chin.

Jack answered her pleading lips, shoving thoughts of FountainTech far away.

With a cry, Rayne tore her lips from his. “I know why. The night I met with Carvis…” Rayne offered him a sheepish grin then continued. “I went to the FountainTech offices late to get my laptop, which I’d left in the conference room. Harold was there talking to someone on his phone. He must have thought I overheard something, because he looked like he wanted to skewer me alive. But honestly, since I hadn’t heard what he was saying, I didn’t think another thing about it.”

“Until you kissed me,” Jack said and grinned. Then he injected a serious tone into his voice. “That might explain things. He discovered the schematics stolen, saw you in the office late, heard about your meeting with Carvis.”

A knot grew firmly in Jack’s throat. Where did that leave him then? How could he work for FountainTech now, considering that Harold—though he’d misconstrued the circumstances—had asked Jack to fire Rayne? Considering that Jack had gone through with it?

Footfalls pounded and crunched through the trees until Paul appeared, breathless. “Fire…there’s a fire at the barn!”

Rayne sat in the center seat of the truck’s cab, squished between Paul and Jack, as Paul steered his truck over the unpaved and bumpy road. Her head struck the top of the cab at one point.

But she didn’t care. Fear coursed through her at the thought of the house burning. Too many things were crashing down on her at once. As Paul swerved the truck around a bend and onto a better road where he accelerated, Rayne wanted to ask him why he’d brought Jack to see her.

But her thoughts were smothered when she finally saw for herself the plumes of smoke spiraling into the sky. Rayne clasped her hand to her throat. “Lord, please keep my family safe.”

At her words, she recalled that Jack had lost his family in a house fire. A quick glance at his face showed her the deep lines there. She reached down and squeezed his hand. He’d called 911 for them because Paul couldn’t find his cell phone, and she wondered if it had brought back memories.

He squeezed back and then wrapped his arm around her, pressing her head against his shoulder. “Everything is going to be all right.”

“I’m not so sure. We live so far out. I don’t even hear the sirens yet.” Rayne untangled herself from Jack and gripped the dashboard as Paul yanked the truck into the circular drive behind Jack’s sports car.

Flames licked out the top and sides of the barn. “At least it’s not the house,” Rayne heard herself saying.

Paul, Rayne, and Jack were out of the truck in no time, running to assist her father, who had hooked up a water hose and sprayed the barn. He must have seen the smoke from the fields and come in.

This couldn’t be good for him. Rayne’s mother just stood there, sobbing, which surprised Rayne. She’d always seen her mother as a strong person. But then again her mother had carried a heavy burden since her father’s heart attack. He’d just recently begun working the farm in full force again. Rayne’s heart ached to see her mother like this.

Paul stepped forward. “Let me do that, Mr. Flemming.”

Rayne’s father fought him off. “I can do this.”

“Of course you can. I’m just giving you a break.”

“Please, Daddy,” Rayne offered with a soft smile. Finally, her father relinquished the hose to Paul and stumbled back. Rayne hugged him. “Fire trucks are on their way.”

“They won’t make it, Rayne.”

“We have to think positive; we have to pray.”

“Our only hope now is that flames or sparks don’t reach the house. I guess we could pray for rain.”

Rayne couldn’t stand to hear the sound of defeat in her father’s voice, but his comment reminded her of when her mother told her about her name. She’d been born during a severe drought, and they’d been praying for rain every day. The day she came into the world, it finally rained. Her mother said she’d been an answer to prayer, so they named her Rayne.

Her mother had then paraphrased a Bible verse from Acts. “He has shown kindness by giving us rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides us with plenty of food and fills our hearts with joy. You are my rain from heaven, child.”

Rayne couldn’t help but weep at the thought.
Lord, can You send Your rain now? Save my parents’ farm? I’m sorry for wanting more when You’ve already given me so much
.

“Oh honey.” Her mother handed her one of the ever-present tissues from her pocket and squeezed her. “Don’t cry.”

Rayne smiled at her mother, who’d apparently composed herself. This was the strong woman Rayne knew as her mother.
“A strong man is a man who gets back up after he falls.”
Her father’s words comforted her. Maybe her mother had recalled something that brought her strength as well.

While looking at her mother, understanding washed over Rayne: Despite her mother’s plain appearance, through the years it had been her mother’s inner strength that had supported them all.

She was the glue that held them together.

“It’s going to be all right,” her mother said.