Second Chance Courtship

“Then give Lindi a call next week. You haven’t had a chance to catch up with any of your friends. Been too busy taking care of your feeble old mom.”

“That’s what I’m here for, Feeble Old Mom,” she teased, then drained the last of her orange juice. “In case you’ve forgotten, if I wasn’t helping you I wouldn’t even be in town.”

Her mother’s lips tightened and Kara’s heart sank. She’d said the wrong thing again. If only she could get along with Mom as well as her friend, Meg McGuire, got along with her. Every time she saw them together, laughing and on the same wavelength, jealousy stabbed. But then, Meg was everybody’s sweetheart.

“Nevertheless,” her mother continued, “with Lindi running for city council, you have lots of catching up to do. She’s a dream candidate, even as young as she is—sure to give Jake Talford a run for his money. Her granddad’s about to pop his buttons. You two girls make your families proud.”

That was debatable.

She stood, then carried her plate and glass to the sink where she rinsed them off. The only time Mom was proud of her was when she was doing exactly what Mom wanted her to do. Like coming back to Canyon Springs.

She glanced at her watch. Seven-thirty. “Guess I’d better brush my teeth and head over to the Warehouse. With fresh snow, the more adventuresome types may look for outdoor activities. Maybe ski rentals will do a good business today.”

“We can hope. The recession’s lingering effects have hit the high country hard.”

Kara frowned. Her mother and an accountant in Show Low looked after the books for Dix’s Woodland Warehouse. Kara didn’t have a clue about anything on the business side of her mother’s store. “We’re doing okay, though, aren’t we? I mean, turning an adequate profit, right?”

Mom smiled. “Tightening the belt a bit. But don’t go worrying about that.”

“Well, you don’t need to be worrying about stuff like that either. Did you sleep okay last night? You look tired.”

While her mom had only turned fifty-six last month, she’d gradually put on excessive pounds through the years. Which led to borderline diabetes and knee damage, and put her on a walker on bad days. But she’d lost considerable weight in the aftermath of her November heart attack and no longer had the round, merry face all had grown accustomed to. When Kara returned at Thanksgiving, it had been like coming home to a ghost of her mother.

Which scared her.

“I’m fine, doll.”

“You have to be honest with me, Mom.” She folded her arms in an attempt to feel in control, when all she wanted was to slip into the comfort of her mother’s arms like she’d done when she was a little kid. Everything coming all at once— Mom’s illness, taking leave from her job, Trey’s return… It was too much. “If you’re not feeling well, we need to get you checked out before things get out of hand again.”

“I’m fine. Goodness knows you’re not letting me do anything around here.” Her mom chuckled. “Between both you and Meg helping, I’ve plumb become a lady of leisure.”

“Take it easy today, okay? Get some rest. Going to that tea isn’t a priority.”

“Does me good to see everybody. Laugh a little.”

She fixed a glare of mock reprimand on her parent. “Catch up on gossip?”

“Mercy me, at a church event?”

Laughing with Mom felt good. Why couldn’t it be like this between them all the time?

“Speaking of gossip—” She paused, preparing to ask if her mom was aware that Trey Kenton had returned to town. Then she thought better of it. Should her mother confess, it would only lead to an argument. “Never mind.”

If God had the time and inclination to take mercy on her, she’d be out of town in a couple of weeks and never have to see Trey again.

Trey kept his voice low as he spoke into his cell phone.

“Sure wish you’d stop talking about my love life in front of the girls, Reyna.”

His sister-in-law’s whoop echoed in his ear. “And what love life would that be?”

He pictured the wide smile of his brother’s pretty, plump wife. White teeth flashing in contrast to her creamy Hispanic skin tone, her dark eyes dancing. Not only lovely, but her husband’s number one fan, a great mom and a woman of deep faith. How’d his little brother rate such a catch? Must have extra pull in the heavenly realms.

“Very funny, Rey. But I’m serious.”

“Ooh, serious, huh?” She giggled. “As in you’re going to do what if I don’t stop?”

“If you want me to stay here like you keep saying you do, knock it off. Mary’s too young to be fixating on kissing and romance and marriage and stuff.”

“Kissing and stuff?” Reyna giggled again. “Were you dealing with birds and bees issues this week, Uncle Trey?”

Fighting a smile, he walked sock-footed across the cabin’s hardwood floor to the living room, then pulled back one of the insulated drapes. Still snowing. “Put Jason on, will you?”

His sis-in-law laughed again, then he could tell she’d covered the mouthpiece to bring his younger sibling up to speed. They were in Tucson for a pastoral retreat, enjoying cactus and warm sunshine. Lucky dogs.

“Yo, bro.” The voice of Jason Kenton, pastor of Canyon Springs Christian Church, greeted him. “Reyna giving you a hard time?”

Trey’s smile broadened as he continued to stare at the wind-shaken ponderosa pines. “Is there ever a time she doesn’t?”

“So, what’s up?”

“Just checking in. You still planning to get home tonight?”

“Last session’s over around noon. Hope to be home before dark.” Jason paused. “But we’re willing to stay another night if you’ll cover the worship service tomorrow morning. And devotions at the care facility in the afternoon.”

“Dream on, preacher man.” His brother had been on his case for months to take a more active role in the family “business.”

“Unless, of course, you think your congregation can ferret out a deeper meaning in a ridin’ and ropin’ demonstration.”

Jason chuckled, and Trey envisioned him scrubbing a hand alongside his neatly clipped beard, facial hair he’d grown in recent months in hopes of looking more mature.

“So, the girls behaving themselves this morning?”

“Still in bed.” Trey raked a hand through his sleep-matted hair. “Hey, while I have you on the line—I was wondering if you remember the name of a guy who was in your graduating class. The one with the big ears and funny laugh. Couldn’t even wait to get off school property before he’d pull out a cigarette and light up. Was always wanting to borrow my lighter.”

“Pete. Pete Burlene.” Jason paused for a moment. “Why? You think he’s the one?”

“Grasping at straws is more like it.”

“You know, Trey—” His younger brother let out a huff of air, then continued in his best pastoral tone that for some reason always irritated Trey. Even after four years in ministry in Canyon Springs, it remained a stretch for Jason to sound older and wiser than his twenty-eight years. “You have to ask yourself, bro, is it worth it? Worth getting tied up in knots trying to uncover the real culprit’s identity?”

“Look, Jason—”

“If this is what it’s going to do to you, maybe settling back in Canyon Springs isn’t the best move after all.” He lowered his voice. “In spite of what my wife thinks.”

Trey’s jaw tightened. Jason still didn’t get it. “I don’t think there’s any harm in trying to clear my name.”

“But look what it’s doing to you. And you’re no closer to finding out who left your lighter at the scene of that fire than when you first hit town. Face it. It’s been twelve years.”

“Every man needs a hobby.”

Jason scoffed.

“Look, Jas, injury cost me my livelihood. Then my new job brings me back here. You’re the one who’s always saying there’s no such thing as coincidence. Doesn’t it sound to you like God’s providing an opportunity for resolution? Justice?”

“’Fraid I can’t speak for the Man Upstairs on this one, dude.”

What he meant was he thought his big brother was chasing after something better left alone. Well, he could think whatever he wanted. He wasn’t the one locals looked at with suspicion. Nobody questioned his honesty. His integrity. They didn’t whisper behind his back.

“It’s a shame,” Jason continued, “that you were such a loner—and that our folks had taken me to Phoenix to catch a plane for that spring break mission trip. You didn’t have anyone to confirm you were nowhere near Duffy’s place when the property caught fire.”

Trey’s lips tightened. It didn’t do you any good to have a rock-solid alibi if your star witness refused to come forward.

“Well, Jas, I’ll let you get back to your retreat. I have to pick up my toys, then hit the shower before the girls wake up.” He glanced around at the cabin strewn with kid stuff. A diaper bag toppled on its side. Stuffed animals and dolls in various stages of dress piled on the sofa. Pint-size shoes and socks under the coffee table. Yesterday’s dishes still in the sink. How’d it get to be such a disaster in only three days?

Jason barked a laugh. “Why do I have a feeling the girls will have lots to tell us when we get home?”

Trey groaned. “Yeah, well, just remember you owe me one.”

“You got it, buddy.”

“Take it easy coming up the mountain. Snowing.”

“Will do.”

Trey shut off the phone and again stared out the window at the swirling, wind-whipped flakes, making no move to wrestle his surroundings to order.

He shook his head as memories he’d fought all night resurfaced. Kara Lee Dixon. If he wasn’t mistaken, she’d been as surprised to see him last night as he’d been to see her. Maybe more so. Hadn’t she known he was back in town? Not from the look on her face. The fear in her expressive eyes.

What did she think he’d do after all these years? Chew her out on a public street? Make a spectacle of himself in front of the girls? Call the cops? No, he’d long ago forgiven her.

He hadn’t handled their reunion well. Caught off guard, he’d been every bit as tongue-tied around her as he’d ever been as a teen. Practically threw Missy in the truck, then climbed in and hit the gas. That must have impressed the former girl of his dreams.

But like it or not, he and Kara needed to have a little chat.

Chapter Three

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you went out with Trey Kenton last fall.” Kara looked up from where she knelt mopping a front corner of the Warehouse floor and leveled a disbelieving stare at her old college roommate.

Meg McGuire, soon to be Mrs. Joseph Diaz, had stopped by mid-afternoon Saturday to collect a trunk full of flattened cardboard boxes. Now here she stood, handing Kara another old bath towel and delivering the dismaying confirmation that Trey was indeed considering moving back to town. He was heading up a renovation of Duffy Logan’s old horse facility, a property that had closed and fallen into disrepair almost a decade ago when Duffy suffered a debilitating stroke and his wife moved him out of town for better medical care. But why would Trey come back here of all places? Right smack-dab on top of the scene of the crime that drove him from town as a teenager?

“How would I know you had any connection to Trey?” Meg’s eyes narrowed with interest beneath the fluffy bangs of her short, brunette hair. “When your name came up one time, I couldn’t tell if he even remembered you.”

Oh, he remembered her all right.

“He definitely recalled that old car of yours,” Meg continued with a teasing tone.

Kara’s memory flashed to the infamous ’63 Mustang. The sporty, cream-colored car her daddy had lovingly restored and left behind when he took off for new adventures. He’d had the gall to transfer the registration to her as a sweet sixteen birthday gift. It still sat in the garage behind her mother’s house.

“I sense a story here.” Meg’s eyes sparkled with a speculative gleam. “Were you and Trey sweeties? Hmm?”

Warmth crept into Kara’s cheeks as she wiped the wooden floor with a fresh towel, then got to her feet. She’d told her mom about the leak last spring, yet the trickle again coursed down the wall from ceiling to floor. From the looks of the warped plaster and paint discoloration above, the summer monsoon season had added to the damage. Now the snow. So much for the expertise of repairmen.

“Trey and I were friends. Sort of.” How could she explain the mixed-up adolescent relationship she didn’t even understand herself?

“Friends, huh? Your mom mentioned you had a crush on my Joe once upon a time, but she never mentioned Trey.”

Kara laughed. “Mom talks too much.”

She crossed the rustic, wood-beamed room to spread soppy bath towels on the bricked portion of the floor in front of the woodstove. “Joe was my crush of the moment in middle school—when I found out his mom walked out on him like my dad did me. Besides, there wasn’t anything to mention about Trey—except Mom didn’t like him.”

She lifted an insulated carafe from its perch next to the coffeemaker and poured a mug of spiced cider for Meg. She’d kept her more-than-friends feelings for Trey a secret from the world those many years ago. Seemed strange to be openly teased about him now. And why did her heart tap-dance at the mere mention of his name, just like it had at sixteen?

“She didn’t like him because of the cowboy connection? Because of your dad?” Meg cupped the mug in her hands and inhaled the fragrant brew. “Or because, you know, of that other thing?”

Kara stiffened, the carafe poised above another mug. “You’ve heard about that?”

Meg nodded, her expression curious.

“Mom always said cowboys were trouble.” Kara filled the second mug to the brim. “But he didn’t do it. So don’t believe anything you hear to the contrary.”

“I didn’t learn about it until after I went out with him. But I wasn’t about to believe it. I’m glad my instincts were on target.” She took a sip of cider. “So, then, if you weren’t sweethearts, why are you all bent out of shape that he could be moving back to town?”

“I’m not bent out of shape.” Kara met her friend’s gaze, doing her best to keep her voice from betraying the turmoil inside. Meg wasn’t trying to be nosy. They’d been open with each other in college, sharing all the secrets young women held dear. Except the one having to do with Trey. “I’m surprised, that’s all. Didn’t expect to run into him last night. You might find this hard to believe, as enamored as you are with Canyon Springs, but he hated this town.”

“He’s never mentioned that to me.”

“You’ve talked a lot?”

“Some.”

Was Meg being deliberately obtuse, trying to draw her out? To get her to say more than she had any intention of saying?

“He’s so sweet,” her friend rambled on, a playful twinkle in her eye. “And single. Never married.”

“If he’s such a great catch,” Kara fired back with a grin, “why aren’t you marrying him instead of Joe?”

She couldn’t picture Meg and Trey as a good match, but nevertheless a fleeting tingle of envy pierced her consciousness. After all, Meg had dated him not long ago. What had that been like? Trey, all grown up. A man.

“I was falling for Joe by the time I met Trey.” Meg’s eyes went dreamy, so at least she hadn’t been forced to come to a heartrending decision between the two men.

“Just remember, Meg—” she took a sip of cider before setting down the mug “—if you want to make it to your wedding day alive, don’t even think of trying to set me up with him.”

“Vannie Quintero, the teen who works at my future father-in-law’s campground, is thrilled to be teamed up with an ex-cowboy.” Meg winked. “Maybe you would be, too.”

“Don’t count on it.” Kara gave in to a smile and tossed her ponytail over her shoulder. She’d hardly believed it when Meg had told her Trey agreed to mentor a high school kid. Or that no one, considering his own teenage track record, voiced objections. “Besides, there’s no such thing as an ex-cowboy.”

“You never can tell. With the right woman…” Meg gave her a mischievous poke in the arm. “Now that I’m going to be more than a temporary resident of Canyon Springs, I wish you’d move back, too. Think of all the fun we’d have.”

“Fun?” she countered with a grin of her own. “Like watching you and Joe cuddling up on the sofa, eyes glued to each other like at the New Year’s Eve party a couple of weekends ago?”

“Hook up with Trey,” Meg said, wiggling her eyebrows, “then go thou and do likewise.”

Kara shook a finger at her. “I’m warning you—”

Her friend had all but bubbled with happiness since she and Joe got engaged. Must be nice. Not that she resented her friend’s good fortune to find a guy like the ex-navy corpsman with a cute kid. Meg more than deserved a happily ever after. But if Kara had the misfortune to return permanently, she’d likely seldom see her old friend. With Meg’s full-time teaching job, a soon-to-be husband, new stepson—and probably future kids—that didn’t leave much time to hang out.

Besides, Canyon Springs wasn’t in her future. Never had been. Never would be.

She held up her hand, thumb and forefinger pressed together. “I’m this far from that promotion. And I’m sure my supervisor wouldn’t appreciate my ditching him right now. Not after he’s gone out of his way to cover for me while I’m checking in on Mom. I promised to be back in two more weeks, and I take my promises seriously.”

Her memory flickered to the last conversation she’d had with her supervisor and mentor, Spencer Alexander. He’d laughed, but not in a derogatory way, when she’d let it slip that her father had been a rodeo cowboy. He’d called her his “little cowgirl.”

“And don’t forget,” she continued. “I came back here for a few weeks last spring when that new medication got Mom’s system all out of whack. And when she fell last summer. Unpaid time off isn’t helping my professional reputation—or my savings account. I’m still covering my quarter of the rent and utilities on the apartment even when I’m not there. Making car payments, too.”

Meg gave an exaggerated sigh. “I’m thrilled you’re getting a chance to live your dream. But I can dream, too, can’t I?”

“Dream away. But don’t hold your breath.”

Meg glanced at her watch, then set her mug down before snatching her jacket off the back of a nearby chair. “Thanks for helping me load the boxes. I’d better get going. Have a few things to finish up before we start carting things over to the new place tonight. Joe’s dad let us store my Phoenix furniture at the RV park’s rec center until we got the house livable.”

With another twinge of unexpected envy, Kara recalled the cute little place Meg and Joe bought last month and where Meg would now be living prior to the wedding. She’d helped her spruce up the kitchen last week. A little paint and a lot of elbow grease. New floor tile laid and curtains hung.

“You’re still having a move-in party tonight? Even with the snow?”

“Yeah. It’ll be messy, which is why I want to cut up boxes to protect the hardwood floor.” Meg zipped her coat and dug gloves out of her pockets. “Joe starts official paramedic training Monday and he wants me settled in before he leaves.”

Kara motioned to the ceiling. “Even though you weren’t in the upstairs apartment for long, I’m going to miss you.”

“I’ll miss you, too. It was great not to have to spend the past six weeks in the RV. Your mom wouldn’t even take rent money—said to consider it an engagement gift. Can you believe it? But I’m sure she could use a paying tenant.”

“She wouldn’t have offered it if she’d needed the money.”

Meg’s smile widened. “Now I have a wedding to finish planning, don’t I? Spring break will be here before we know it. Speaking of which, Joe’s Aunt Rosa started sewing your maid of honor dress. Hopefully she’ll be far enough along for a final fitting before you leave.”

Bells above the store’s front door tinkled, sounding merrier than Kara felt, and the pair glanced at a bundled-up couple entering the welcoming warmth of the general store.

“Looks like I’d better let you get back to work.” Meg stepped forward to give her a hug. “Good luck on getting the leak fixed. See you tonight?”

Kara nodded, but it was with a heavy heart that she watched her friend out the door. Even though Meg didn’t seem to sense it, she didn’t like the invisible wall that reared itself between them with Trey’s return. But there was no way she’d attempt to explain to her what she’d done to him. Meg was so enthralled with Trey, she’d never understand. She’d certainly think far less of her college friend if she knew.

Already dreading an evening where Trey might show up, Kara grabbed a dust cloth and gave the checkout counter a swipe, then paused to gaze around the familiar expanse of the Warehouse. The paned windows. Plank floors. Well-stocked grocery items and other general merchandise. Displays of mountain country souvenirs and outdoor gear.

The knot in her stomach tightened. Why hadn’t her cousin Lindi alerted her to Trey’s return? Lindi. The reason she couldn’t tell Trey the truth. Beg his forgiveness. It was twelve years ago this very spring that her confused and scared, barely sixteen-year-old self had made the promise. Pledged that she wouldn’t tell a soul her best-friends-forever cousin had confessed to accidentally setting the forest on fire.

By the time she’d found out Trey had been accused…it was too late. She’d already made that impulsive vow that still reached out to haunt her. Just one more sign that while God may have set her world in motion, kept it spinning, he was most often off in another sector of the universe.

“Hey, Trey!” Meg grabbed his snow-covered, jacketed arm, hauling him and his nieces off the porch and into the house she and Joe would soon be calling home. “You’re just in time for pizza.”

He stepped onto the rug by the door, Missy in his arms and Mary clinging shyly to his leg. He gazed around a room full of people helping themselves to the savory, mouthwatering contents of cardboard delivery boxes. He glimpsed a few familiar faces—Meg’s fiancé and his dad and son. A dozen or two others he guessed to be church friends or teacher pals of Meg. Some of Joe’s buds.

Recognition flickered in the gazes of several guests. That was to be expected in a small town. Warm interest reflected in the smiles of a few of the younger women. That was usually to be expected as well—wherever.

But no Kara.

Thank you, Lord.

He almost hadn’t come, thinking she might be here, that it might be awkward, but he hated to back out on Meg. The perky newcomer to town had held a special place in his heart ever since they met last September. If it wasn’t for that hotshot Diaz guy, it might be him settling down with the pretty schoolteacher. Or at least that’s what he told himself on poor-pitiful-me days. But by the time he’d gotten her to go out with him, she was already falling for the ex-navy guy, one of Reyna’s cousins. Meg hadn’t realized it yet, but Trey had, and he backed off.

“Sorry I’m late, Meg. I’ve been babysitting the past few days and Jason and Reyna still aren’t home yet.”

A chorus of soft aahs echoed from female throats and inwardly he chuckled. It hadn’t taken long to figure out that if you wanted to score interest with the local ladies, babysitting by far outweighed the classic walking-the-pup routine.

“Yeah, yeah,” Joe’s father, Bill Diaz, taunted, his mustached mouth widening in a smile. “Timed it just right so all the heavy lifting’s done.”

“Guess you cowboys aren’t as dumb as you look.” The dark-eyed Joe cast him an appraising glance, a look he’d become accustomed to during the months Joe’d been courting Meg and keeping an eye open for rivals.

Relax, dude. She’s all yours now.

“Don’t listen to them, Trey,” Meg said as he toed off his boots at the door. “You can make yourself useful bringing in the sodas—which my loving fiancé forgot to do.”

A slice of pizza halfway to his mouth, Joe made sounds of protest.

“Consider it done.” Trey would rather do something constructive than stand around making small talk with people he didn’t know. People who may have formed judgments about him based on rumor. Coming back to Canyon Springs held more than its share of challenges. But God opened doors and he was gonna be man enough to walk through them no matter what it took.