Picket Fence Pursuit (10 page)

“So, they break up to. . . ?”

“To talk about the items we need to collect for our specific purposes—so that we can plan what we want to do and how we want to go about doing it.”

“Oh, okay.”

Kylie found a seat in the already made circle beside a large woman with an infant on her lap. “Hi.”

“So, what are you going to be doing in Belize?” the woman asked.

Kylie shrugged. “I don’t have any special talents. I can hold a baby, though.”

“Ya want to start now?” The woman’s face broke into a large grin. “I’m supposed to be making coffee for the group, but my husband couldn’t get off work in time to watch Suzanna.”

“Sure.” Kylie reached for the baby then turned Suzanna around to face her.

“My name’s Candy.” She pulled up the baby’s falling shoe. Suzanna smiled up at Kylie. “I think she likes you. You’ll do just fine.”

Kylie peered down at the baby. “I have four nephews and three more babies on the way.” Of course, Kylie had hardly ever held any of them. She’d been too busy to visit much. A pain stabbed her heart as Suzanna reached for her necklace. Sudden longing for her family nestled inside her as she inhaled the sweet scent that belonged only to babies.

“She’s a cutie, isn’t she?” Ryan sat beside her.

“Yes.”

“She’s such a blessing for Candy and her husband. They had five miscarriages. Candy couldn’t seem to carry a baby to term.”

“Really?” Kylie caressed the baby’s soft, chubby hand.

“Yeah. Candy and Michael looked like the perfect couple. Great jobs. Nice home. Both loved the Lord. But they hurt on the inside because they wanted a child so badly.”

“I’m happy God allowed Candy to have her.”

“Suzanna’s adopted.”

“She is?”

“Yeah.”

A man at the front of the circle motioned for the meeting to begin.

Ryan leaned over. “Sometimes God gives us a different route. It may not be the one we expect, but it’s still perfect.”

Kylie kissed Suzanna’s cheek. She tried to focus on the plans the group started to make, but she hashed over Ryan’s words in her mind. She’d marked her destination as a high-school teen. Mapped out the perfect route and followed it to exactness. She was sure God had guided her decisions. Logically—practically, her plan made sense.

She glanced at Ryan. Not only was he fun to be around, his heart was also big, so generous—she’d never met anyone like him. And integrity. He didn’t kiss her when she gave him the chance. She knew he wanted to. Her destination—graduation and a good job—was so close, only months away. Studying Ryan, she knew her heart longed for a detour.

God, my route is a good one. I want to be able to help my family. Surely I am following Your will. She glanced down at the Suzanna. Her heart wasn’t convinced. Even her mind couldn’t form solid confirmation. And peace evaded her completely.

❧

Ryan stuck a french fry into his mouth, then swallowed a gulp of pop. “So, whaddya think about Belize?”

“I can’t wait to go.”

“I’m telling you, Ki, there is nothing better than to see those children’s eyes light up when we come. They know we’re bringing balloons and candy and toys, and they know more about Jesus than a lot of churchgoing adults I know.”

“I don’t think I could dress up like a clown or anything like that.”

“Hold the babies, huh?”

“Yep.” She grinned, and crimson flooded her cheeks and neck. “Or help in any way I’m needed.”

“You’ll do wonderful taking care of babies.” He thought of Suzanna, wiggling in her arms. Contentment had flooded her face, and for a moment, Ryan imagined Kylie holding their child, their daughter.

He longed to take Kylie in his arms. Before the meeting, he’d almost done it. She’d closed her eyes, welcomed his kiss. But she wasn’t ready. He knew she wasn’t. He didn’t want to risk her shutting him out completely.

He shoved another fry into his mouth as Kylie nibbled on a piece of salad. They really were different. Kylie ate a chicken salad with light dressing while he devoured a hamburger and french fries drenched in ketchup. She was a classic beauty sitting with a Richie Cunningham look-alike. She was steady; he was fly-by-night. Quiet Kylie. Outgoing Ryan.

And yet, she was right.

Everything about her drew him, especially their differences. He just had to wait for her trust issues with God to be resolved. God, in His perfect, humorous way, chose to work on Ryan’s lack of patience at the same time.

“Have you already raised the money for the trip?” Kylie’s question interrupted his thoughts.

Now would be the perfect time to tell her the truth. Vanessa’s face flooded his mind. The expensive outfit she’d bought and handed him the receipt for the day after he’d shared the truth with her. She’d fawned on him, tried to manipulate him, and his heart had shattered. No, he couldn’t tell Kylie. Not yet. “Uh, I haven’t raised any money.”

“Well, what kinds of things can we do? I just don’t know how I’ll ever come up with enough.”

“You know about the craft fair in early November. That always goes over well.”

“Yes.” Kylie twirled a piece of salad with her fork. “I’m making Christmas-colored hair bows for that, remember? Do we do anything else as a group?”

“A bake sale, I know.”

“That sounds good.” She pushed a cherry tomato to the side of her plate. “Money. It’s a constant pain in my side.”

“God always provides.”

“Yes. That’s true.” Kylie pinned him with her gaze. “But it’s a lot easier for some than others. Like you. How in the world do you work for an amusement park and not think anything about the cost of doing this type of thing?”

Tell her now. This is your chance. Trust God with her response. “Well, I—”

“Does your grandfather pay for it? I guess since you live in his house, you can save up or something. Are you still working at the park on weekends until it closes?”

She thinks I’m a moocher. I need to tell her right now. Ryan sat still, unsure how to say the truth. “Just spit it out,” Gramps would tell him, but it wasn’t that easy. He probably did appear irresponsible in her eyes. Jim’s words about a woman needing to feel safe and settled replayed in his mind. “The truth is—”

“I’m sorry, Ryan.” Kylie pushed her salad away. “That was so unkind of me. And not my business at all. I have a big project due and a test coming. Brad called last night wanting to have another ‘getting acquainted’ dinner. I—I think I’m just stressed. Could you take me home?”

Brad Dickson. Just the mention of his name sent a wave of revulsion through Ryan. He remembered the way Brad had looked at Kylie as if she were dessert after the main course. The man had been condescending and rude, but Ryan hadn’t missed that Brad also viewed Kylie as a physical beauty. Ryan also recalled Kylie’s kindness toward the snake. “Sure, I’ll take you home.”

Ryan drove back to her apartment. He watched as she went inside, waved hesitantly at him, then shut the door. He couldn’t fault her for believing he depended on Gramps. In her eyes, he worked at Holiday World. Soon he’d be unemployed.

His heart stung at the thought of her feeling he took advantage of others, but he had to put his pride to the side, had to wait until she loved him for the man he was and no other reason. His ego had to step aside and wait.

He turned the ignition as thoughts of Vanessa and Brad whirled inside his mind. Maybe it is about my pride—only in a different way.

❧

I’m such a jerk. Kylie flung herself onto her bed. I can’t believe I said those awful things.

A tear slid down her cheek. How can I be so attracted to him? She cuddled her pillow. This is worse than falling for a man who works in the coal mines. Ryan doesn’t even have a real job.

She allowed the spilling of tears. She needed a pity party. Ryan Watkins made no sense. Her love for him didn’t either. She sat up. “I can’t love him.”

Her perfect job destination, her graduation route flooded her mind. She didn’t want to take a fall-in-love-with-Ryan-Watkins detour. She’d end up worse than her twenty-one-year-old sister, Amanda, who was married to a coal miner and pregnant with twins.

A vision of herself barefoot and pregnant, kissing Ryan—clad in his Holiday World uniform—filled her mind. Gramps sat on the front porch holding a red-haired toddler while another child played at his feet.

God, that is not the detour You want me to take. I don’t believe it. I won’t.

“I just thought—I mean. . .”

Ryan wanted to groan. His age made her think him even more of a loser. “I was wondering,” he interrupted before she said something they’d both regret, “if you would go out to dinner with me to celebrate.”

“You really want me to?”

“Yep. Can you be ready in about three hours?”

“Sure.”

“Okay, see you then.” He snapped his phone shut, drove to the restaurant, and picked up a gift certificate for Neal and Melissa. Afterward, he made his way to the mall in Evansville. He finished at the service center then walked past a glass shop. From the window, he spotted a single, long-stemmed, yellow rose. He thought of Kylie.

What would she think if I bought her a small gift? The desire to buy her the rose grew. It’s my birthday. She can’t say a thing.

He smiled as he lifted it off the shelf and took it to the clerk. The college-aged woman rang up the price. “This is my favorite piece,” she said as she wrapped it in tissue.

“It is?”

“Yeah. Yellow roses are my favorite. They mean peace and friendship.”

“They do?”

The lady laughed. “I think so. I get the colors and their meanings all confused sometimes, but I’m almost positive I’m right.”

Ryan laughed out loud. “We’ll just say you are.”

She put the wrapped rose in a bag and handed it to him. “I hope she likes it.”

Ryan lifted his eyebrows. “I never said that this was for a woman.”

“What man buys a rose for himself? At the very least it’s for your mom.”

Ryan laughed out loud again. “Not my mom, and I hope she likes it, too.”

❧

“Kylie, this is Neal and Melissa Nelson.”

Kylie offered her hand in greeting at Ryan’s introduction. She skimmed the room, laden with aged furnishings. Three children sat on the floor beside an enormous, panting mutt.

Ryan leaned over and petted the dog’s head. “This is Mutt.”

Kylie didn’t squelch her giggle in time.

Melissa shook her head. “The kids couldn’t agree on a name, so we didn’t give him one. Now he’s just Mutt.”

“It fits him well.” Kylie bent down and petted the dog’s head.

“Me.” The youngest girl pointed to her chest.

Ryan grinned and tickled her chin. “This is Heidi. How old are you, Heidi?” She held up three fingers.

“You’re a big girl,” Kylie chimed in.

“I’m Dana.” The older girl stood, grabbed the hem of her skirt, and twirled it back and forth. “I’m five, and I’m in kindergarten.”

“Hello, Dana.” Kylie turned toward the older boy. “And you are?”

“Evan.” The preteen’s cheeks turned scarlet as he grabbed her hand.

“It’s nice to meet you.” Kylie smiled then quietly clasped her hands in front of her. She had no idea why Ryan had brought her here. He said they were going to dinner for his birthday—not that she minded meeting this family. They were nice, but she didn’t know what she was supposed to do.

“You’re pretty.” Dana grabbed a wisp of her hair and shoved it in her mouth.

“Thank you.”

“Today is Neal and Melissa’s thirteenth wedding anniversary.”

“Lucky thirteen,” Neal bellowed in an exasperated tone, then wrapped his arm around Melissa’s shoulder.

“You’re lucky I’m with you.” Melissa poked him in the ribs.

“Yes, I am.” Neal kissed her forehead.

Kylie smiled at their banter. Their love for one another was evident. She nudged Dana. “Are they always like this?”

Dana pursed her lips and shook her head. “Always.”

They laughed at the seriousness in Dana’s tone. Ryan smacked his thighs, then knelt eye-to-eye with Dana. “I have a surprise for you guys.”

“Yea!” Dana jumped up and down, clapping her hands. Heidi watched and then mimicked her sister.

“Yes.” Evan made a fist, pumping his elbow next to his side.

“I’ll be right back. Kylie’s going to help me.”

Kylie followed him to the car. He popped the trunk, and she gasped at the gifts filling it. “All of those are for them?”

“Yep. It’s the best birthday gift I could get.”

Kylie studied Ryan as he placed several presents in her hands then filled his own. Her parents were generous. They’d give the shirts off their backs to help someone in need. She’d never met anyone as giving as they were. Until Ryan.

Speechless, she followed him inside and helped distribute the presents. She watched in awe as the children squealed over their toys and as tears filled Melissa’s eyes when she opened the restaurant and mall gift certificates.

“When do you want me to come get the kids so you can go?”

Kylie’s mouth dropped open. Ryan actually watched the children when they went for their date that he’d paid for. He’s perfect. He’s sickeningly perfect, and he doesn’t work. Her gaze skimmed the room. Who paid for these things?