Reclaimed (23 page)

He flipped his cell and sent the call. Six rings later, her voice tickled his ear.

“This is Suzanna. I’ll call you back later.”

Yeah, she would. He hung up and hit
Resend
. Same drill. He called her three times before her house came into view.

Paul parked and left the vehicle with a cloud of dust billowing around him. He set off toward the garage and opened the side door. Relief. Her Jeep sat next to her Honda. She was home.

He shut the door and moved to the house. Suzanna didn’t answer his knock. He tried the front door. She didn’t respond to the doorbell, either. He took a turn about the house. Nothing. Maybe she was in the basement.

Probably not.

Sleeping?

Didn’t matter. He wasn’t waiting.

Paul pushed on the side door, and it gave way.

“Suzanna?” He leaned against the frame as he called into the house.

Silence. Good grief, that woman was stubborn. He had a love-hate appreciation for that little quality of hers.

“Suzanna Wilton!” He stomped into her kitchen. “I know you’re here.”

Something rustled down the hall. Paul stopped and leaned against the counter.

“Come on, Suzie.” Did his voice just crack? “Talk to me.”

Hinges squeaked from the hallway, and her footfalls muffled against the wood floor. She appeared after five steps, her lovely, curled hair tousled around her shoulders, and her blue eyes red rimmed and bloodshot.

Looking at her hurt. It actually hurt. She’d been crying, and she was a total mess. Paul closed the space between them and pulled her close.

“I’m so sorry, Paul.” She trembled, and her voice was ragged. “I’m so, so sorry.”

His arms tightened. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

It was Chuck. All Chuck.

Her warm tears seeped through his cotton shirt. Setting aside his indignation, he smoothed her hair. “It’s going to be all right. Just let this ride, Pickle, and it’ll be okay.”

She pushed away, shaking her head. She raked a hand through her hair, setting the curls into a loose frenzy. Paul itched to run his fingers through the same path.

Not now. It could make everything worse.

He lifted his eyes and took in the house beyond the kitchen.
What the—?
Her computer was gone. Cords were left sitting on her desk, looking like mouseless tails in some kind of bizarre collection. Boxes were scattered across the wood floor, and her coat closet stood open like an empty tomb.

“What are you doing?” He waved to the mess.

She sighed. “Does your offer still stand?”

“What offer?” His heart skipped, and his skin grew cold.

“I know you’ll give me a fair price, Paul.”

She stepped away. He snagged her by the elbow and pulled her back. She looked up into his eyes, those sad blue puddles begging him to understand. This was hard, too hard. It was selfish to ask her to stay.

“You’re tougher than that.” Okay, so maybe Chuck wasn’t the only selfish man in this county.

She lowered her gaze. “You’re an honorable man, Paul. No one will question your integrity when I’m gone.”

This was for him? His heart dissolved into warm goo. He slid his hand down her arm until he found hers and then squeezed. “I’m fine, Pickle. Honest. I knew this was coming, and I’m okay.”

Her head snapped up. “You knew?”

Uh-oh. Yep, he should have warned her. He nodded, certain he looked like a kid caught in a lie.

She pulled her hand away. “Why didn’t you say something?”

Good question. He’d hoped, unreasonably so, Chuck was bluffing. He’d hoped nobody would listen. He’d hoped it wouldn’t touch her. He’d hoped for a whole lot of foolishness.

Paul shrugged.

The spark of anger in her eyes dwindled. It didn’t matter now. She turned to face her packing disaster, once again moving out of his reach. “I can’t stay here and ruin the life you’ve reclaimed.”

Paul rubbed his neck. What would she do if he stepped behind her, wrapped her in his arms and begged her to stay? For him.

Probably not helpful at the moment.

“Let me ask you something.” Paul forced his hands to stay at his side. “Why didn’t you sell before?”

Suzanna spun on her socked foot, facing him with a bewildered expression. “I didn’t want to.”

“Why? You had several offers—some pretty good ones from what I hear. Why were you so set on staying?”

She held his gaze for a breath, and then her attention drifted to the window. The fields were brown, dormant as they waited for winter’s blanket of white. The big cottonwood in her front yard stood against the cool blue November sky, its branches a skeleton without leaves. Not much appeal this time of year. What would a city girl see in a place so remote and vacant?

“My daddy found peace here.” Her voice cracked. She pulled in a shaky breath. A sob.

Paul watched the strength of a determined woman fracture under the weight of rejection. A weight he’d known well.

His throat felt thick; a whisper was all he could manage. “And you wanted it too?”

She nodded, her lips quivering. “I was mad at him. Mad that he could be happy again. But…”

But she ached to be happy again. Paul moved close enough to take hold of her shoulders. “I think God has you here for a reason, Suzanna Wilton. And I’m praying you’ll find that the Great Physician specializes in peace.”

She searched him, perplexity in her eyes. “What does that mean?”

“Means I’m not buying your land.” His thumbs traced circles on her shoulders. “If you want to sell, it’ll have to be to Chuck.”

Life reentered her expression. “Not happening.”

“Good.” Paul dropped his hands against his will. “I kind of like having you for a neighbor. It’s like having my own personal coffee shop.”

A smile lifted her mouth, followed by a laugh. A laugh. Paul could have kissed her.

Not now. Small steps. He’d take a smile.

TWENTY-TWO

“What is that one?”

Suzanna moved to her kitchen table and leaned against Kelsey’s shoulder, following the girl’s finger to the printed picture in the nursery stock catalog.

Prunus fruticosa x Prunus cerasus

“It’s a cherry bush. Carmine Jewel.” Suzanna smiled down at her friend. “A fruit grower named Dr. Bors has been working on some new varieties of sour cherries. They’re supposed to be quite cold-and-drought tolerant, and sweeter than most pie cherries.”

“Are you going to grow some?”

“I was thinking about it. What do you think?”

Kelsey tapped her chin with her finger. “Yes.” She tipped a definitive nod. “Grow lots of them.”

Suzanna laughed. She’d been in town, trying to make herself as inconspicuous as possible when she’d run into Andrea. Kelsey had just finished with piano, but Kiera still had lessons. Suzanna offered to take Kelsey home with her, suggesting Andrea pick her up when they were done.

Suzanna couldn’t express what it meant to have Andrea stop to talk to her in the middle of the store, out in the open where all of the town could see them. She couldn’t put words to what it did to her heart to have Andrea trust her with Kelsey. To have her publicly uphold their friendship in spite of the chatter buzzing in the streets.

Paul had said it would blow over, but her ears had been burning for two weeks now. The storm done raged on.

Done raged. Suzanna grinned. She’d started talking, thinking like Andrea. She liked that.

In the middle of the storm, Paul’s constancy anchored her. He stopped by his “personal coffee shop” almost daily. He’d been doing some more research on the cattle Daddy had been looking into, and they talked beef, pastures, fencing, and anything else related to the topic.

And lots of things unrelated.

“If I guess your favorite color, you owe me a donut from Big Bat’s.”

Suzanna had laughed at his out-of-the-blue audacity.

He grinned with confidence. “Green.”

“How’d you know that?”

“You studied horticulture, right?”

Clever. She laughed again. “How much is a donut?”

He crossed his arms and shrugged. “Don’t know—depends on what I’m hungry for.”

She stood and opened a drawer near her refrigerator. “Here’s five dollars. Certainly that will cover enough donuts to make you sick.”

Paul’s mouth sagged. Clearly, that wasn’t what he had in mind. And honestly, she would have loved to go with him, even if it was only to the local gas-and-shop. But public appearances together were out of the question.

“I’ll bet I can teach you to lasso,” he quipped another morning. “You’ll be swinging a lariat in less than an hour.”

Suzanna shrugged while she tried to swallow a laugh. He’d become adorably random. Had he always been so quirky?

“Okay.”

“Okay?” He leaned on his elbows. “That was a bet, darlin’. Whatcha got?”

“What do I have?”

“Quit with the college grammar. Toss me something. What do I get when I done show you how to rope?”

Suzanna raised an eyebrow. “My admiration?”

Something light and deep flashed in his eyes, like maybe that was what he was going for. He shook his head. “Nope. Tangible.” He snapped his fingers. “Lucky Charms.”

“I do
not
buy Lucky Charms.”

“You bought me a donut two days ago.”

“Did not.” She shook her head. “You done bought that yourself.”

Paul chuckled and scooted from the table. “Let’s go. It’s on. I teach you to rope, and then we’re off to town for a box of Lucky Charms.”

He caught her gaze before he turned for the door. Swallowing hard, she shook her head. Disappointment oozed from his pores as he silently held her gaze. His ploy surfaced.

“Don’t live like this, Pickle.” He stepped back to the table and leaned on the back of his chair. “Don’t let him lock you away. You’ve got nothing to be ashamed of.”

She couldn’t. Just couldn’t do it. Not to Paul Rustin. Talk would never die down if she were always traipsing around town at his side.

“We were roping, right?” She forced a smile, certain he knew how fake it was. “I’ll go to town tomorrow for your yucky cereal.”

Which was why she had been in town today. Buying Lucky Charms.

“Uncle Paul says you’re looking into cattle.” Kelsey thumbed through the pages of Suzanna’s catalog. “Why aren’t you going to grow these instead?”

Suzanna shrugged. Opportunity spread right outside her front door, and fear had slithered around her ambition.              

Dreams are the food of envy and the sustenance of discontent.
A strange comment coming from her mother. It never left Suzanna’s memory though.

“Well,” she said, her hand going to the ring beneath her tee shirt, “those cherries have been successful in Canada, which is quite a ways north. No one really knows how they’ll do in this climate, with the summers being so hot and quite a bit longer.”

“Would it hurt to try?”

Simplicity in logic. A child’s gift.

“Mama always says she’d rather be wrong than to never know.” Kelsey smiled. “I think she read that somewhere. Says they’re words to live by.”

Such a different perspective. Failure was the worst possible outcome in the Wilton home. Never mind their family was a total failure.

A cloud of dust billowed on the road, its tail visible from the window. Suzanna stood, painting a smile. “Must be your mama. Don’t you tell her I spoiled your dinner with Lucky Charms.”

Kelsey grinned, and laughter bubbled in Suzanna’s chest. Ha! Paul thought he had her pinned, but she could play ornery. Step one: give away the fuel for his sugar addiction. Step two—okay, she hadn’t gotten that far. Something would hit though. Just give her time.

“Hey, Pickle,” Paul called from the doorway, “got my cereal?”

What was he doing here?

Kelsey’s mouth spread with a sassy grin. “That was for me, Uncle Paul.”

His boots smacked against the tile in Suzanna’s entry, announcing his approach. “Were not.” He stomped into the kitchen, his shirt peppered with dust and his hat rimmed with sweat. “You better not have given away my Lucky Charms, woman.”

Kelsey giggled. “I done ate them all. They were gooood.”

Paul feigned a glare, first at Kelsey and then at Suzanna, his mouth twitching with mirth. “That’s it. I’ve a mind to paddle you both. Starting with you.”

He stuck a finger in Kelsey’s face, and she squealed as she spun away. Kels tore off toward the front door, and Paul took off after her, winking as he passed Suzanna.

Her stomach fluttered. Flirting? Was he actually flirting with her? Had he been flirting this whole time?

Suzanna watched him as he ducked through the front door. A grungy cowboy, built tough but loved tender. She could see it in how he treated his sister. How he treated his nieces and nephew. They adored him. Due in large part because he loved well.

Could he love her? Suddenly, it seemed possible. Except… except there were parts of her he didn’t know. Secrets she couldn’t bring herself to share.

Paul caught Kelsey before she cleared the front gate. He hauled her in both arms and dipped her upside down. She squealed like a toddler tossed into the air. Laughter erupted from his belly. Kelsey normally didn’t squeal. She didn’t roughhouse or cut loose like Kiera and Keegan. She wasn’t that kind of kid.

But when she was with Suzanna… well, she was a kind of normal the rest of the family didn’t see. Something special bonded them.

Warmth spread through his chest. Two little puppies, sweet and vulnerable. They needed each other. How good of God to set the match.

“Suzanna…” Kelsey called between giggles. “Suzanna, help!”

With one eye on the lookout for Kelsey’s backup, Paul tickled her neck, and she began to squirm like a calf.

“No, Uncle Paul!” she gasped, pushing at his hands. “No tickling! Suzie, help!”

He glanced at the front door. No assailant. Where was she?

“Looks like you’re on your own, kiddo. The Pickle’s afraid of me.”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a pair of arms flung around his shoulders from behind.

“Am not.” Suzanna threw herself full force at his back.

Caught off guard, Paul rocked forward and then to the side. Balance gone, he tumbled to the ground, and Kelsey wriggled free. She popped to her feet and then flew against Paul, laughing so hard she cried.

Gravel stirred from the dirt road, and a honk from Dre’s white pickup ended their tussle. Too bad, it was about to get interesting.

Suzanna pulled her leg free from where he’d landed on it and pushed him away. He glanced over his shoulder to catch her expression. She smiled, but she wouldn’t meet his eyes as she moved farther from his reach, her retreat looking almost like humiliation.

Paul’s heart suddenly felt smaller.

“What are you doing?” Dre slid from her pickup and popped her hands on her hips, but her smile betrayed amusement.

“Your daughter done stole my cereal.” Paul hopped to his feet and messed up Kelsey’s hair. He kept track of Suzanna out of the corner of his eye, hoping she’d regain the confidence to be a part of this family. To live in delight.

“Did not.” Kelsey grinned back at him. “Wasn’t yours. They were Suzanna’s, and she gave them to me.”

“Nope. They’re mine.” Paul crossed his arms and aimed a wink toward Suzanna. “Won them fair and square. Now you owe me, Kels.”

Kelsey laughed and pushed him away.

Dre giggled, pulling Kelsey close under one arm. “What are you doing here, anyway, Paul?”

Paul bent to snag his hat that had come loose when they’d all gone down. “I stopped to get my Lucky Charms.” He shoved it on his head and turned his eyes to Suzanna.

She lifted her gaze to meet his, soft pools of blue timidity. Shy? Was that why she’d retreated? Air jammed in his lungs. Paul imagined taking her hand, pulling her close. Telling her she was wanted. Kissing away apprehension.

Bad timing. She wasn’t allowed to look at him like that when they had an audience.

“Well, what the hay bales were you thinking?” Dre yanked him back to earth, her natural sass cutting off the deliciously awkward moment. “Don’t you know better than to go calling on a woman looking like you’ve been wrestling cattle all day?”

Good grief, Dre. Paul felt heat race up his neck and dump into his face. Unable to resist another peek at Suzanna, he found her eyes on him, still soft and so alluring. A wonderful pink touched her smooth cheeks, and her shoulders moved with a silent giggle. Humiliation worth suffering.

Suzanna shifted her attention to Dre. “Situation normal. He’s always the rough cowboy.”

Paul’s mouth opened, and he grabbed his chest as though it hurt. “Ouch. Poisoned by my sister’s impertinence.” He dropped his hand and lunged for Suzanna. “That’s not going unpunished.”

She yelped as he snatched her by the legs, tossing her over his shoulder without much more effort than he’d used with Kelsey.

“Paul Rustin, put me down!” She pushed against his back, trying to right herself.