A Husband To Hold

Mark stared, stunned. He hadn’t thought he would get that much when he’d requested it. He’d honestly thought Mitch would badger him into working half weeks or every other day.

“Six weeks,” he repeated, echoing Mitch.

Mitch nodded. “Yeah. Six entire weeks. I hope this is what you want and you’ll take time to find your heart while you’re out there, Mark. We’ll all miss you, but I really think this is God in the working.”

A spine-tingling sensation spread down Mark’s back at those words.

God in the working.

Those words echoed eerily inside him and as much as he wanted to deny what Mitch had said, he knew God’s ways were greater than his own ways.

“Whatever,” he said instead. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to run by the hardware store and then go make sure Leah knows I’ll be available starting tomorrow.”

Mitch grinned. “You do that. And give her my regards, too.”

Relieved the interrogation was over, Mark stood and strode toward the door. “You give your own regards, Mitch. I’ve got a job to do and that’s all I plan to do.”

Mitch’s deep rich chuckle followed him out the room, taunting him to keep that pledge of “business only” as he faced the sweet, gentle soul named Leah Thomas.

Chapter Three

“I hear you might have found someone to help you out?” Tessa said.

Leah glanced up at her best friend after shoving a camera into her backpack. “I suppose so. How’d you hear about Laura’s brother, though?”

Curiously she paused in the preparation of her knapsack to study the diminutive woman lounging on the couch, one leg lazily swinging back and forth over the arm of the cloth-covered sofa.

“The neighbor told me when I pulled up that Deputy Walker had been here the other day. I would think that was the only reason he’d be here, knowing how you like to keep to yourself.”

Leah sighed, understanding when Tessa was simply pumping her for information and that her dear gossipy neighbor wanted her to talk. “Mrs. Mulching tells all, doesn’t she?” Leah returned to stuffing her bag full of beef jerky, a full canteen and sunblock. She also tried to figure out just what to inform her dear friend Tessa.

Continuing to swing her leg as she reclined on the sofa, Tessa nodded, drawing Leah’s attention back to her. “From what I’ve seen, she does tell all. So, if you have someone to go with you and help you, why don’t you just wait and let him take you out to study the area instead of going on your own today?”

That was Tessa. She was pretty much to the point with Leah. Leah had obviously waited too long to tell her what she wanted to hear so she’d simply asked. Leah always knew where she stood with this woman. And Tessa hadn’t mellowed one bit now that she was married. “Where is Drake?” she asked mildly, trying to change the subject.

Tessa chuckled, giving Leah a knowing look. Running her fingers through her short brown hair, she shifted on the sofa and crossed her legs. “With his therapist. His limp is almost gone. When he’s done I’ll pick him up and give him the books I borrowed from you. Then I get to bully him into reading some more for me.”

Leah chuckled. Tessa’s husband, Drake, had been through an awful ordeal only a few months before. Many thought he wouldn’t make it, but he’d proven the town wrong. Systematically, day by day, Drake had pulled himself from the brink of death to where he was now. He’d met Tessa who was reteaching him to read after the accident that had caused so much damage. It had been love at first sight. Rarely did Tessa make it over to chat anymore. Except when something new was obviously in the air. Tessa seemed to feel so responsible for Leah.

She wondered if this concern was just natural for Tessa or if it was because Leah tended to be thought of as fragile by most people. “I can’t believe he is up to poetry by Burns,” Leah murmured before zipping the bag up.

“He sure is. Now, why don’t you answer my question, dear, and tell me why you’re on your way out to the desert when you have a perfectly good helper you’re going to be paying to do the dirty work for you?”

Leah lifted the bag and moved over across from Tessa. Seating herself on the sofa, she dropped the bag on her khaki-covered legs. Smoothing the pink top, she paused to push a strand of blond hair behind her ear. “I am perfectly capable of handling things myself, Tessa, and I can’t believe you said that,” she said carefully.

Tessa dropped her feet to the floor and leaned forward. “You know that’s not what I meant at all. I know how capable you are.”

Leah didn’t believe that. Her face said otherwise.

“I meant, get your money’s worth. Mark is a photographer and has been all over the area out there. Why not leave it to him and concentrate on the rest of the planning you have back here?”

Leah sighed. How did she explain that allowing another person to get close to her was not something she could accept? She’d thought she could, but in the end…

She couldn’t say out loud that she was afraid, without revealing too much of herself.

“He doesn’t know where I want the pictures. I thought I’d go out there and mark two or three of the areas I wanted, take some snapshots to give him ideas of the types of places I want and need, and then let him do the rest.”

Tessa nodded slowly. “That does make sense…. But you do realize there are snakes out right now? They’re especially bad this year.”

Leah interlocked her fingers, clasping her hands firmly. “They are always especially bad, according to everyone around here. Please, Tessa, I’ll be fine.”

Tessa nibbled her lower lip. “You’re sure?”

“If we can teach grade school, we can handle anything nature throws at us. You should know that.”

Tessa chuckled. “I do love teaching. Okay. Don’t forget, Drake said if you need to test wheelchairs and such out there, he’d be available to help out.”

“I’m surprised he is willing to get back in one of those things,” Leah murmured softly, with feeling.

Tessa’s gaze darkened a bit. “He still has his bad days when he has to use one. I imagine he will for a while to come. But I think…well…I think offering to help makes him feel useful. You know, he feels that being in the wheelchair gave him an opportunity to help someone else in need down the road.”

Leah’s gaze softened, a warm feeling filling her. “Can you still believe how much God changed Drake’s life?”

Tessa’s gaze changed from dark to a sweet dreamy smile. “If he hadn’t found Him, I wouldn’t be with him now. And he’s so fresh. I’ll tell you, Leah, his freshness is what restored my faith in God. I think I had forgotten just how wonderful and loving our Father is. Seeing it from a new believer’s point of view made me realize how lucky I really am and how the past doesn’t matter near as much as I thought it would.”

Leah’s bright smile faded a bit at the words. In some cases, a past certainly did matter. Her past did matter. Her entire life had changed because of it. She would definitely end up having her entire life changed if it ever became public.

Deciding it best to change the subject, Leah stood. “I am on my way out to the camping area near the Culpepper Ranch. If you need anything else, call.”

Tessa stood and hugged her. “Will do.”

Tessa had parked on the street, so Leah let her out the front door and locked it behind her. She turned and headed toward the back door and down the steps to her gray compact. Getting in, she prayed that perhaps one day Tessa’s words would prove true, that maybe she would find a place somewhere where her past wouldn’t matter.

However, she feared, that would only happen with Dan’s death.

“She’s not here.”

Mark paused by the door of his beat-up old Jeep. After slamming it shut, he strolled forward to where Tessa stood. There she was, near her car parked just in front of him, her hand on the door, two books tucked under the other arm. “I had thought to catch her so we could speak of a business arrangement,” Mark said, then remembering his manners he asked, “How are you doing, Tessa?”

She smiled. “Fine. I’d be doing a lot better if Leah hadn’t just left to go out looking for a site to camp.”

Mark leaned on the door of Tessa’s car. “She what?”

“She told me she hired you.”

“Word travels fast,” Mark muttered. “But what was this about a camp?”

Tessa flipped a hand up in a general gesture of airy carelessness. “I was on my way over here but stopped by the station. Your sister, Laura, told me you were going to be working for Leah over the next few weeks. Okay, well she hinted at it,” Tessa added tossing her head. “Anyway, when I dropped in to pick up the books Leah had told me I could borrow, I asked her if she’d found someone to take those pictures for her and show her around. Leah’s neighbor delighted in telling me the news when I arrived.” She cocked her head toward the house next-door where a curtain quickly fell back into place.

Mark shook his head, not used to small towns like this.

“Sure enough,” Tessa continued without a pause, “she was glad to have hired you but decided to go ahead and do some legwork herself.”

Mark ran a hand down his face. When Tessa got to talking, she really could talk, he thought wryly. “You didn’t happen to mention, chérie, that the snakes are bad this time of year?”

“I did,” Tessa said, grinning.

“Did you tell her there still might be vagrants wandering around after the trouble we had out that way a few months ago?”

“Actually, I didn’t, Mark. I figured if snakes didn’t scare her, men wouldn’t.” Eyeing Mark speculatively she added, “Though perhaps that would have been the right excuse to use after all.”

“I can’t believe she went out there…. She hired me,” Mark replied, worried. “Which way did she go?”

“Mrs. Culpepper’s,” Tessa replied cheerfully.

Mark tilted his head, studying Tessa. “And just why do you tell me this with such a buoyant attitude?” he queried, that Cajun accent slipping back into his speech.

Her grin widened. “Because I am hoping, Mark, that you’ll go out there and make sure she’s okay.”

“Does this entire town worry about that woman?” Mark asked, hands going to his hips, exasperated.

“We sure do,” Tessa replied drawing a reluctant grin from Mark. “You didn’t think you were the only one, did you?”

“She does tend to bring out that protective instinct, doesn’t she?” Mark replied softly.

“She sure does.”

“Okay, Tessa. I’ll go check on her. After all, it is what I am being paid for,” he replied. “To help her out on this project. And when I find her, we’ll restate just what we each expect from the other in this job,” he added.

Tessa chuckled her deep rich chuckle and replied, “You do that. She’s only got about a five or ten-minute start on you. I’m sure you’ll find her easily.”

“Thanks, Tessa. Tell Drake hi,” he replied.

He turned and headed back toward his Jeep wondering just why Leah had headed out on her own without contacting him.

If he had his way, he was about to find out.

After hopping into the Jeep, he quickly left behind the city limits of Hill Creek and headed out toward the west side of town where Mrs. Culpepper lived. At the fourth mile road, as they called them since the roads were laid out so straight, he turned right.

A nice popular camping area located about five miles up was where she’d most likely gone, Mark thought. The Culpeppers owned part of the land. The rest they donated to the county for the people of Hill Creek County. It wasn’t to be developed, simply kept there so that there would always be a place for people to camp and wander. Ten thousand acres. When Mrs. Culpepper’s husband had passed on she’d said that with no children, she didn’t want the land going to the state when she died. She had donated it instead with a provision for a specific use.

She was a town icon, someone that everyone enjoyed and visited. A bit eccentric, but a good old woman. Mark had a notion that she would have made a good mother. He’d gotten to know her through Wil Whitefeather who had been acquainted with the Culpeppers for years.

Driving past Mrs. Culpepper’s house, he continued until he reached the small dirt road that led to a parking area. This part consisted of boulders placed in a semicircle on the ground. The area would hold two or three buses and a dozen cars.

He had no trouble spotting Leah’s car. Spotting Leah, however, was a different matter.

“Ten minutes. How far could the woman be?” he muttered and killed the engine of his Jeep. Pushing open the door he swung his long legs out and stood, scanning the rocky, hilly area. The summer sun beat down on his head, causing him to lean in, grab his hat and slip it on his head. A wind blew, giving relief to the hot dry air. All was quiet except for the rustling of tree branches as the wind made its music.

Mesquite trees, scrub oaks and sagebrush dotted the vicinity enough to easily block the view of someone within shouting distance. He pulled out the small cylindrical container in his pocket and fished for another toothpick. He continued to scan.

“Leah!”

So he’d shout, he thought, disgruntled. Shouting wasn’t his way. But she sure wasn’t anywhere in the area. Slipping the toothpick into his mouth he shifted impatiently. The nearby river that crossed the land was an ideal place for people to camp. Perhaps she’d gone out that way.

“Leah!” he called again and started out toward the river.

“Mark?”

He nearly jumped out of his skin when her voice came from behind him. Whirling, he opened his mouth to rail at her and stopped, surprised. “Wil,” he said nodding to the old man who stood with her.

“We were scouting the area,” Leah said. “I found Mr. Whitefeather out here hunting. He was showing me the bird’s nest he’d found.”

The aged Native American, his dark weathered skin creasing with a smile replied, “I thought Ms. Thomas might like it for her class.”

“I’m sure she would. Thank you for being with her, though.”

Leah frowned.

Wil chuckled. “That talk, young one, will get you into trouble.”

“That’s right,” Leah replied. “I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.” Those words sounded so out of place with that soft-pitched voice.

Mark hadn’t planned to say anything in front of Wil, but Leah’s words were like waving a red flag in front of a bull. Throwing caution and concern to the wind, he asked, “Oh? Why did you hire me if you could take care of yourself, chérie?”

Leah sighed, amazingly still soft-spoken as she replied, “I thought to come out ahead and look over the area. I don’t need a bodyguard.” Some quick emotion passed across her face, one Mark couldn’t identify. It was gone so quickly Mark wasn’t sure if he had imagined it. Pausing, he considered her and thought he might have hit a nerve.

“Do you know there are snakes out here?” he prodded gently, thinking to drive home his point. This woman was just too helpless. She didn’t need to be out here like this. “And what about riffraff? Be glad it was Wil you ran into and not someone else.”

Leah bristled.

“I think, young one,” Wil said looking pointedly at Mark, “that you still have not learned patience and trust.”

Mark flushed. “Maybe not, Wil, but does she even know how to defend herself?”

“Please don’t talk over me like that,” Leah demanded firmly.

Guilt touched Mark at her words. “What would you do if a snake blocked your way?”

“Go around it,” Leah replied quietly.

With consternation, he realized she was right and because of that he hadn’t been able to make his point. So, he tried another track. “You can’t do that with people, or some animals. Just ask Drake, ma petite,” he said referring to the bull that had nearly killed Drake, Tessa’s husband.

“Sometimes you just have to put your trust in God,” Leah replied.

“Or know how to shoot a rifle, but I see you don’t have one with you. Just a backpack. Tell me, Leah, what would have happened if a coyote was out here, possibly with rabies?”

Leah finally flushed. She pushed a strand of blond hair back behind her ear then clasped her hands together. “I am trying to do what has to be done, Mr. Walker. I’m sorry if you don’t approve, but then, I’m not as helpless as I look.”

Hearing the distress and determination in her voice, he asked, “Is that so?”

“Yes.”

Women, he thought and would have rolled his eyes if she hadn’t been staring at him.

“Leah, I was nearly killed by a drug gang out in this area. I know you believe what you say, but with your small size, a man could easily overpower you.”

Slowly she shook her head.

Disbelieving at Leah’s stubborn insistence she could take care of herself out here in the wilds, he glanced at Wil. His face was perfectly blank as he stood there. “You aren’t going to comment?”

Wil shrugged. “If she says she can protect herself, I believe her.”

Mark sighed, exasperated. “You always were too trusting, Wil. You even took me in when you had no idea who I was.”

Wil grinned, his eyes crinkling up, that gray braid of his standing out in stark contrast against his dark skin. “I rely on God to lead me in some things, boy.”

There it was again. Wil had said that a lot to him while he’d been out there, telling Mark to let go of his distrust and anger, to trust God more, trust his fellow man.

“Well, let’s just see what you’d do if you were attacked, chérie,” Mark muttered and then, to prove a point, he ran straight at Leah intending to scare her when he grabbed her.

He hadn’t expected to go sailing through the air.

With a hard thud he connected with the ground. His head exploded with pain that ricocheted down his body to the tips of his toes.

He wasn’t sure how, except Leah held on to his arm, standing above him, still looking completely helpless.

Wil broke into cackles.

“I’m sorry. I hope I didn’t hurt you.” Leah flushed and released Mark’s hand. Stepping back she clasped her hands together in a purely nervous gesture.

When Mark recovered from his utter shock he realized he hurt—all over, not just from the initial pain that had flashed in him but from an ache. He wasn’t used to someone getting the better of him, especially not a woman—especially not a helpless- looking woman. Staring up at her from this angle, he thought she still looked utterly helpless. Except that he now lay on the ground feeling every crooked rock that poked him in the back. How had she done that? Wil moved into the picture cutting Mark’s view of Leah.

“Come on, young one, get up and take your medicine.” Wil reached down and with a strong hand helped pull him up until he was on his feet. Every movement reminded him he’d just been lying on the rocky ground.

Mark groaned realizing he was quite sore. “You knew, didn’t you Wil?” Mark asked grouchily when he realized Wil still grinned.

“It’s in the way she walks,” Wil acknowledged. “Always know your opponent,” Wil added.

Flushed and definitely put out over what had just happened, he turned toward Leah.

She stood, arms wrapped around her middle, one hand going up to push at her hair before clasping her other hand in front of her. “Are you okay?” She looked so innocent and serene standing there. It was the worry in her eyes that gave away her anxiety. She really was concerned about what she’d just done.

He laughed.

Wil chuckled, too.

Confused, Leah’s gaze went back and forth between the two. “I don’t understand,” she said carefully.

Mark smiled. “It’s time for me to eat crow, Leah.” Shaking his head he reached down, grabbed up his hat, and slipped it back on his head. “I owe you an apology.”

Relief wilted Leah’s shoulders and a soft gentle smile spread across her features. “I really am sorry. It’s just some classes I took…”

“Karate?” he speculated.

“Self-defense. The teacher was a black belt in judo.”

“Ah,” he replied and chuckled again.

“You aren’t angry?” Leah asked.

“The way I see it, chérie, I had that coming.”

“It was sorta reflex. That’s exactly how my teacher used to run at me to get me to defend myself. I apologize for not contacting you either, Mr. Walker. I just started thinking that maybe I should come out here on my own….”

He wasn’t buying it. The way her eyes slid away from meeting his told him she’d had another agenda. He wasn’t upset, though. Just being with her had a strange calming effect on him. But he had to make a point about how dangerous it could be out here, too. He didn’t like to think about a woman out here alone where she might get hurt. “Can you shoot a gun, Leah? Can you defend yourself against wild animals? Do you have a cell phone with you?”

“Well, no,” she finally admitted.

“No to one or all of them?” Mark gently prodded.

“No to all of them,” she confessed.

“Now that is not good, Ms. Thomas,” Wil chimed in.

“Please call me Leah, sir,” she said.

“And you can call me Wil. This young one over here does.” He grinned.

Mark shook his head. “Ignore him. He’s so ornery he wouldn’t let me call him anything else.”

Wil chuckled again.

“I’ll leave this to you two. Don’t forget Mary is having a potluck dinner for you young folks in a few days.”

“Mrs. Culpepper?” Mark asked, puzzled, having not heard of the latest get-together.

He nodded. “She and I are friends,” he said to Leah. “I knew her husband for years. He was one of the first settlers out this way.”

“I don’t want to intrude,” Leah protested worriedly.

Mark glanced at her, surprised, then remembered that as quiet and withdrawn as she was, she just might not know all the people around here. “I doubt it’ll be an intrusion. Mrs. Culpepper loves company. She hosts these things every so often. They build a big bonfire, and then sit around it and eat and sing and chat.”

“Something to think about,” Wil added.

“I’ll consider it,” she replied to both of them.

“Nice meeting you, Leah.” Wil waved, obviously having gotten the answer he wanted. He headed over toward the trees and only then did Mark see he had supplies resting over there.

“I like him,” Leah whispered softly as Wil headed off back through the trees.

“He’s a good old coot,” Mark replied.

“What did you mean he saved your life?” Leah asked.

Mark ran a hand over the back of his neck. “It’s a long story. I suggest we save it for dinner tonight.”

“Dinner?”

“I’m having dinner with Freckles and Julian. I’d like it if you came with me.” Mark paused, wondering how in the world he’d just asked her out to dinner like that when he’d only planned to help her in a purely businesslike manner.

“Will they mind? I mean if they don’t expect company…”

Mark grinned. “I have a cell phone with me. They’ll know you’re coming.”

As he stared down at the beauty before him he admitted what a jerk he’d been for thinking this woman helpless and fragile. Sometimes things just weren’t as they seemed. And he was finding that Leah Thomas certainly wasn’t what he’d thought—to his pleasant surprise.

He wondered just what Leah would think if she knew that he didn’t want to leave her side at all. “It’s the least I can do after the way I acted, chérie.”

Leah finally nodded. Dropping her hands to her sides she said, “Thank you very much…Mark. I’d love to see Freckles and Julian.”

And that was that, he thought. He’d just taken a step he had insisted he wouldn’t take here in Hill Creek. He’d just asked the teacher out on a date.

Chapter Four

What would he think if she told him she didn’t want to be away from him?

Leah couldn’t remember a time she’d enjoyed more than exploring the dusty rocky trails with Mark. They’d nearly been late for dinner and only realized it because the sun was dropping low in the sky. That and the fact both of their stomachs were growling.