Chapter Twenty-Four
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“I REALLY need to get your phone number,” a voice rumbled near Gwynn’s ear where she sat in the pew waiting for the church service to begin.
She looked up into Cash’s handsome face, inches from hers as he stood in the aisle, leaning toward her. His dark, unruly waves flopped over his forehead and curled behind his ears, and his eyes sparkled from the sunlight streaming through the windows. Her heart tripped.
“If I’d had your number last night,” Cash continued, “I could have let you know where I’d gone instead of letting you think I’d blown you off.”
“It’s okay,” she said, her voice breathy. He made quite the picture in his all-black attire, from his wool coat down to his cowboy boots and the Stetson in his hands. His maroon scarf was the one splash of color. “I heard you’d gone to the shop with a potential customer, so no harm done.” She scooted closer to Uncle Russ to let Cash join them in the pew.
“No harm done?” He slid beside her and teased, “I never got that kiss.”
Gwynn fanned her flaming cheeks with the church bulletin she’d been reading. “What are you doing here?” She looked behind them toward the entrance, where two elderly couples lingered and chatted. “Is this your home church?” For the last few years, the Davisons had been driving the half hour into Livingston each Sunday to attend this small congregation. Gwynn thought she wouldn’t be recognized, but if Cash had come all the way from Prospect … She whipped forward again. “Who else am I going to run into?”
“No one.” Cash settled his hat on one knee and unbuttoned his coat. “Miss Maude may have let slip yesterday where she and Russ attend services … and that you’d likely be joining them.” He winked. “Thought I’d check you—er, check it out for myself.”
Gwynn smirked. “Way to be transparent.”
“I have nothing to hide and a lot of time to make up for.”
She elbowed him in the ribs. “How’d it go last night? Did the customer like your work?”
“He did. Name’s Mark Hudson. He’s here visiting family but wants to showcase several of my pieces in his furniture store in Miles City.”
“That’s wonderful! Congratulations.”
Cash draped his arm along the pew behind her. “Now imagine if I had a partner who brought a whole new level of brilliance to my pieces with her painting.”
Gwynn’s nerves scrambled at his nearness, and she toyed with the bulletin, rolling it into a tube. “That would be quite the feat, considering your pieces are already brilliant.”
“Ah, but her talent offers a unique perspective.”
“She lives nearby, then?” Gwynn flattened the tube, pressing it against her thigh. “Or are you going to fly her out every time you want something painted?”
His thumb drew circles on her shoulder blade, and goosebumps peppered her skin beneath her shirt sleeves. “I’m in the process of convincing her to move.”
“You must work well together, for you to go to such lengths.”
“We do have great chemistry.”
With restless fingers, she mangled the top edge of the bulletin. “Sounds like a big risk to me.”
“I serve a big God.”
She stilled and looked at him. “You … you’re praying about this?”
“You’re surprised?”
Gwynn hmphed and crimped the bulletin in a fist. “Let me regain my memories before you and God unite against me. You might not like what I discover.”
* * *
Cash’s truck bounced over the rutted dirt road that cut through a narrow canyon outside the town limits. Gwynn clenched and unclenched her hands as she chewed on the inside of her cheek. Several new houses had sprung up between town and the AJ Ranch in the last decade. Life had pressed forward while a piece of her heart remained shuttered in the past.
A few minutes later, the mountains retreated and the land widened into a gradually sloping, snow-blanketed valley. Up ahead on the right, a massive log entrance came into view, and Cash turned off the road, steering his truck under the timber archway. An iron sign reading, AJ Ranch , hung at a crooked angle on the crossbeam.
“Someone’s been here recently,” Cash murmured, pointing to the set of tire tracks in the snowy driveway.
Gwynn’s breathing accelerated, and she put a hand on her churning stomach. “I don’t suppose anyone else in my family faked their death?”
Cash slowed the truck. “We don’t have to do this, Gwynn. If it’s too soon—”
“No. I need to remember. We need to know. And there’s money to be found.”
“It doesn’t have to be today.”
“My life has been on hold long enough. I just didn’t realize it until I came back.”
Cash pursed his lips, but Gwynn gestured for him to continue down the driveway, lined on one side by twisted cottonwood trees and a winding, partially frozen stream. “If someone’s at the house, we’ll explain the reason for our visit. Maybe they’ll invite us in for a tour.” Rotating in her seat, she glanced behind them at the mountains rising across the valley, a mixture of white snow and green pines. “I will admit one thing, though—I’ve missed this sight.”
“God’s handiwork on display for all to see.”
Gwynn faced front again as the truck jostled over channels washed out from years of neglect. She gripped the dashboard. Through a copse of bare aspen trees three hundred feet ahead, she could make out a faded yellow ranch house and a rotting gambrel barn. Her lip curled. “Man’s handiwork, on the other hand, leaves much to be desired.”
As they drove closer, the derelict state grew more apparent. Wherever the snow had melted on the roof revealed crumbling shingles. The barn’s roof, too, sported jagged holes and bowed in the center, and an outbuilding listed so far to the right, Gwynn wondered how it still stood. Weeds had died in autumn’s frost after overwhelming the front yard and pushing their way through the wooden slats on the front porch. A second-story window had been smashed and another boarded up, and faded paint peeled on the siding.
Despite the fresh tire tracks, the place looked deserted.
Cash parked by the barn. The rotting ambiance wove its tentacles from the house, along the driveway, and into the truck.
Gwynn shivered. “Home sweet ho—” She gasped and snapped around to stare at Cash, his own gaze fastened on the house. “I wasn’t thinking! The last time you were here, your dad …” She slapped her forehead. “Here I am trying to remember a nightmare that you can’t forget. I am so sorry. Let’s turn back. I’ll jog my memory a different way, or—”
“Gwynn, take it easy.” Cash refocused on her, a steely look in his eyes. “I already prepared for this. While your life has been on hold, mine has been haunted, and I believe God wants to give us victory. I’ll be darned if Satan steals that victory because we were cowards. We’re here, the place seems abandoned, and I promised I’d stand by you, no matter what.”
“But—”
“We’re doing this.” He hopped from the truck, jogged around, and opened her door.
“Stubborn man.” Gwynn scowled at his outstretched hand. “I don’t want you to stand by me out of obligation. That might not keep you from turning on me if we have to confront our ghosts. And I don’t need your help getting out of a measly truck.” Knocking his hand away, she climbed down—
Her feet slipped out from under her, and she landed on her backside in the wet snow.
Her mouth dropped. “ Seriously ?” She looked up at Cash, who struggled to hide a grin, and a laugh escaped her, dispelling the unease that hovered in the area. “I give up. I am appropriately humbled.”
Cash pulled her to her feet, shut the passenger door, and braced his hands against the truck on either side of her. His spicy scent wafted over her, comforting and familiar.
“Let’s get a few things straight,” he murmured, his crystalline gaze pinning her to the spot. “I’m not doing anything out of obligation. I’m standing by you because you have a good heart. You’ve always had a good heart, no matter what name you answer to. Did I always believe that? No. Had our paths crossed five years ago, I suspect I would have reacted in anger and bitterness.
“But God’s done tremendous healing inside me these last four years.” Cash’s expression smoothed into one of gratitude. “He cleared my haze of trauma and helped me think rationally again.” Cash dipped his chin, bending close. “Things went awry the night my dad and your parents died, but I do not blame you. Got it?”
Emotion clogged her throat, so she simply nodded.
“Now, as to helping you from the truck, I told you before—it has nothing to do with a woman’s capabilities. It’s about honor and respect.” Cash swept a lock of hair over her shoulder then skimmed his hand along her back to rest at her waist. “If you ask me, woman is the pinnacle of creation, and it’s one of man’s greatest pleasures to take care of his woman.” He gently urged her closer. “I wish you’d let me honor you, without protesting. I wish you’d give me a second chance to cherish you.”
The rejections that had been building on her tongue fizzled. She felt undeserving, yet Cash found her valuable. She was inadequate, yet Jesus gave her worth. Alex had labeled her a disappointment in the past, yet who was he to influence her in the present?
The blood in her veins did not dictate her decisions—her depth of faith in Jesus did that.
What a fool she’d been for letting her parents’ behaviors and lies cast lengthy shadows over her life. She’d used them as excuses to hamper her ability to heal and mature. No more. The excuses stopped today.
Forgive me, Lord, for listening to the lies more than the truth. Help me reject the fears and honor You with my decisions going forward.
A lightness spread across her shoulders and down the length of her body. Resting a hand on Cash’s chest, she whispered, “Okay,” rose on her tiptoes, and softly touched her lips to his.
His eyebrows shot up, and his teeth flashed in a grin. Cupping the back of her neck, he slanted his lips across hers and captured her mouth in a proper kiss. His other arm wrapped around her waist, crushing her to him. Heat curled in her belly as something dormant awoke within her, an emotion she’d kept buried for almost ten years, and she yanked off a mitten to thread her fingers in his hair and deepen the kiss.
How she’d missed this man—her friend, her champion, her complement.
Too soon, they broke away, their breathing labored as though they’d completed a morning run. Cash kneaded her lower back through her peacoat. “Finally,” he growled. “I can tackle a whole legion of ghosts after that kiss.”
Gwynn trailed her fingertips along the scruff on his jaw. “Then let’s get this over with before our courage fades or we’re charged for making out on someone else’s property.”
“Good idea.” Cash gave her one last sound kiss. “We can go make out at the Plane & Knotty, instead.”