A Family for the Farmer (12 page)

“With me?”

“So he says. I'll keep an eye on the twins for you.”

“Okay. Thanks.” She walked toward the porch, where Pastor Stone was talking easily to her children. When he saw her approaching, the minister straightened up and smiled.

He had a nice smile. When you added in the dimples that carved deep brackets around his mouth and his slightly untamed-looking mop of curly blond hair, he presented quite a package. It was no wonder that Pine Valley Community Church was attracting record numbers of young single women these days.

Jacob Stone wasn't just eye candy, though. Emily had heard him preach a few times when she went to church with the twins, and the man had a gift. His sermons married spiritual and practical concepts so well that you never saw the seam between them. But none of that explained why he was waiting at her door. Or why he was looking more than a little uncomfortable.

“Emily, I sure hope I haven't come at a bad time.”

“Not at all. Abel said you wanted to talk to me?” She left the sentence hanging on a question mark.

“I do.” Jacob Stone nodded several times, ran one hand through his hair and glanced around uneasily. “In private, if that wouldn't be too much of an imposition.”

Emily felt a twinge of nervousness. This couldn't be good. “Sure. Come on in. Grandma's got a parlor that's been entertaining ministers for decades now. In fact, you've probably spent more time in it than I have.”

Stone laughed as he followed her through the screen door into the living room. They took a left into the small parlor with its stiff Victorian furniture and carefully placed knickknacks. Emily cringed when she saw the film of dust on the varnished tables. Another thing she hadn't found the time to do. That list was getting lengthy.

Stone closed the door not quite shut behind them. Emily felt a little surge of amusement mingled with pity. She imagined that a good-looking minister like Stone would have to be more careful than most. Shutting himself up with a single woman in any room would be an invitation for the church gossips.

Especially when the woman had an unmarried pregnancy in her past. The thought sneaked past Emily's defenses, but she tilted her chin up a notch and forced a smile as she motioned for the minister to have a seat in the pleated armchair across from her.

She'd made her peace with her past and with God. What other people thought about it was really none of her business.

Jacob Stone shifted on his chair and coughed. “I don't want to hold you up any longer than I have to, so I guess I'd better get to my point.”

“All right.” She nodded and braced herself, wondering what on earth was going on.

“I'm afraid your name's been tangled up in some gossip. I was hoping it would die down, but instead it seems to be gaining momentum. It's been worrying me a good bit. I've been praying about it, and I think it'd be best all the way around if you and I deal with it head-on.”

“Gossip about me?” Emily blinked. “I haven't heard of it. And I honestly can't think what it could be about. All I've done since I got here is try to manage these crazy animals and keep the farm going, nothing that would start any tongues wagging. I've barely even been to town except to buy groceries and animal feed. Unless...” A thought occurred to her, and a chill settled over her heart. “Does this gossip concern my past?”

The minister met her gaze squarely and nodded once. “It does.”

“I see.” Emily tilted her chin up another notch. “Then the story you've been hearing is true. I got pregnant when I was nineteen. I was living here with my grandmother for the summer, and I had a romance with a local boy. We were both young and foolish, and we paid the price for that. Or I did. He and his family didn't choose to be involved.”

“That must have been hard for you. But—” Pastor Stone began.

Emily interrupted. “That was before I found my own faith. Of course now I see things differently, and I make different choices. But you should know I'll never regret having my twins no matter how they came to me. I've made plenty of mistakes in my life, but I don't count my children among them.” Her voice wobbled a little at the end, and two fat tears splashed down her cheeks. She dashed them away quickly. She would
not
cry about this.

“No.” The pastor's eyes drifted toward the window. White Priscilla curtains were looped back on either side of the glass framing a view of the front yard. Paul and Phoebe were busy chasing each other around the yard playing some twin-invented version of tag. “They most certainly are not mistakes. In fact, I think they're beautiful examples of what God can do when we trust Him with our challenges.”

Emily nodded. He was right. Trusting God hadn't come easily to her, but she was slowly learning that God always worked things out for good. Just as she started to relax a little in her seat, a male voice spoke tightly from the doorway.

“If you're done upsetting Emily, Stone, maybe you can think of something back at the church that needs your attention right about now.”

“Abel!” As Emily stared, Abel pushed the door wide open and stood on its threshold, his blue eyes icy hard.

She'd only seen him this angry once before, and that had been years ago when he caught two of the town's rowdier teenagers chucking rocks at an injured dog on the side of the road. He'd had the same look on his face that afternoon that he did now, and Emily understood why the boys had turned tail and run when they saw Abel getting out of his pickup that day.

Abel took a step into the room, his expression dark. “I'm going to speak plain because I don't want any misunderstanding between us. I don't generally make a habit of listening at doors, preacher, and I don't think much of people who do. But I'm not sorry I heard what I did, not if it puts a quicker stop to it. You're upsetting Emily by raking up the past, and I'll not stand here for it, not for a minute. I'll not see her judged by you or any other man.”

Stone detached his stunned gaze from Abel and turned to face her. “If I upset you, Emily, or made you feel judged, please accept my apologies. It surely wasn't my intention.”

“Of course not! No apology necessary. Abel, you should mind your own business.” Emily felt flustered and uneasy.

Abel spoke quietly, but there was something in his gaze when he looked at her that made her cheeks flush hotly red. “You can get mad if you want to, Emily, but like I said, I'm not about to stand by and let any man, preacher or not, come in here and worry you.” Abel looked back at Stone, his lips thin. “Am I making myself clear?”

Stone met Abel's hot gaze calmly. It seemed the preacher had a little backbone of his own. “Why don't you come in and sit down, Abel? You obviously care about Emily, and believe it or not, so do I. In any case, you might as well stop glowering at me. I've come out here to get this out in the open so it can be dealt with, and I plan to do just that.”

“You've said your piece, and I've said mine. I don't see what else there is to talk about.” Abel kept his place by the door.

“Abel,
stop it.
” Emily glared at him before turning her attention back to Jacob Stone. “I'm so sorry about this.”

“Don't worry about it. You're a blessed woman to have such a loyal friend, even if he is awfully busy barking up the wrong tree at the moment. Now, if you'll both let me finish, here's the thing. You jumped the gun on me, Emily. The gossip that's going around town doesn't have anything to do with your pregnancy years ago. At least—” the minister paused, appearing to think a moment before continuing “—not directly. As it happens, it's about something very different.”

Emily frowned, momentarily distracted from Abel's behavior. “I don't understand.”

“You may not, but I think I do.” Abel came in the parlor and shut the door behind himself a little harder than seemed absolutely necessary. “If you'd come to me, Stone, I could have told you it was all a bunch of nonsense. There was no need to bother Emily with it.”

“Bother Emily with what?” Emily looked from one man to the other. “What's a bunch of nonsense? What's going on? What are people saying?”

The pastor flicked an uneasy look from Abel's face to Emily's before he answered, “An...individual...has been telling people in town that you have a criminal record for theft. They've been warning store owners not to extend any sort of credit to you.”

Emily's heart sank down to the pit of her stomach and sat there like a lump of concrete. Certain subtle little things slipped tellingly into place. “I see.”

“They've been pretty convincing, I'm afraid. As a matter of fact, I'm surprised you haven't noticed the backlash from it in town.”

Emily remembered the wary looks she'd been given at the grocery store and the cashier's reluctance to accept her out-of-town debit card. “I have, actually. I just didn't recognize it for what it was.”

“Anybody with a grain of sense would know this is nothing but a mess of lies, and I don't think much of your coming out here to badger Emily about this, Stone. You'd have been better off paying a call on the person who's spreading this nonsense. And I can tell you one thing for sure and certain. If you don't speak with them soon, I will.”

“Abel.” Emily spoke more sharply than she meant to. Her mind raced as she tried to decide what to say and how to approach this unexpected development. She wasn't coming up with any particularly attractive options at the moment. “I've told you before I can handle my own problems.”

“I've already spoken to the individual in question. Well,” the pastor amended, “actually the individual spoke to me because Emily has been attending church with us for the past few weeks. Something I very much hope you'll continue to do, by the way.” He smiled at her. “This person and I had a very...uncomfortable conversation in my office yesterday. I'm afraid I didn't react quite as I was expected to. The...individual was quite upset with me.”

“You're being mighty charitable about not putting a name to all this lying, Stone. I think Emily has a right to know who's spreading this garbage about her.” Abel speared Stone with a sharp look. “Seems only right to me.”

“I really don't think—” Stone began, but Emily interrupted, holding up one hand.

“That's all right. I already have a pretty good idea. And if it's who I think it is, you've certainly got your hands full. Please don't cause yourself trouble on my account, Pastor Stone.” She swallowed hard. “Especially since there's some truth in what she's telling people.”

“Well, she's stretching whatever truth she's telling.” Abel frowned. “I've known you since you were fourteen. I think I know you well enough to know you're no thief, and I understand better than Stone how gossip works. There's been plenty of talk about me and my family over the years, and whatever truth there was to it always got spiced up a good bit in the telling.”

She glanced up at him and winced. He looked so sure.

This was harder than she'd thought, but that didn't matter. She still had to do it. And maybe she could kill two birds with one stone and douse those sparks kindling between them now, too.

That would be a good thing. Wouldn't it?

She took a careful breath. “You don't know me as well as you think you do, Abel.”

Chapter Eight

T
he room instantly fell silent. The only sounds Abel could hear were the ticking of a clock and the happy shouts of the twins out in the front yard.

“I don't believe it,” he said finally. He didn't. He knew Emily Elliott, and he was convinced that she would never take anything that wasn't legally hers. She wasn't that kind of woman.

She couldn't be.

“You might as well believe it, because it's true.” Emily's face was pale with those two bright red spots burning high on her cheeks like they always did when she was ruffled. “It's not something I'm proud of, but I'm not going to lie about it.”

“You don't owe us an explanation, Emily,” Pastor Stone said quietly. “You're not in the wrong here. Whatever mistakes you made in your past, God's forgiven you for them. Someone who calls herself a Christian has no business trying to hurt you with them.”

Emily sighed. “Lois Gordon doesn't want me back in Pine Valley—even temporarily. I guess she's doing her best to make sure I don't stay any longer than I have to. Sorry, but we all know who's behind this. Mrs. Gordon took a dislike to me when I dated her son, Trey, and it got worse after...after the twins.”

Pastor Stone didn't bother to deny the accuracy of her guess. “Lois has been through a lot of tragedy these last few years. She never got over losing Trey in that accident. Unfortunately she's the kind of person who's the hardest for me to help, mainly because she doesn't believe she needs any.” Jacob Stone sighed and ran a hand through his hair, standing it up on end. “She's in pain, and hurting people are always the ones who hurt others.”

“Well, there's some truth in what she's telling people no matter what her motivation might be.” Emily met Abel's eyes squarely. “Six years ago I was arrested in Atlanta for shoplifting. It wasn't the first time I'd done it, either. It was just the first time I got caught.”

The twins' yelling outside had shifted from playful to angry, and Abel gratefully took the escape route it offered him. “I'll go see to the twins and let you two finish your talk,” he said and left before either of them could argue.

Phoebe and Paul were squabbling over the rules to their tag game. Abel listened for a few minutes, then helped them strike a bargain that seemed to work well enough. They ran back off to play, and Abel lowered himself onto the step and watched them, grateful for a few minutes alone.

He felt a little stunned and more than a little ashamed at the way he'd taken on the preacher and Jack Lifsey about Emily. He'd been so sure that she was innocent. There hadn't been a shred of doubt in his mind.

It looked like he'd been wrong about her, and that spooked him a little. He'd never thought he was a man who'd make a fool over himself about a woman because he couldn't see her clearly enough. He remembered trying to talk sense into his brother, Danny, when he fell hard for Missy Wyatt in twelfth grade. Abel knew Missy well enough to know that the girl was nothing but trouble in a real pretty package, but Danny sure hadn't been able to see it until he'd caught her in the school parking lot kissing his best friend. By that time, everybody had known what was going on except for Danny himself, and they'd tried to tell him. He just hadn't been willing to listen.

Abel remembered some of the sharp words he'd been throwing around and winced. He came from generations of hot-tempered men with big mouths and shady ideas of right and wrong, and he'd had to work hard to shake off the reputation they'd saddled him with. He wanted to be known in Pine Valley as a man who told the truth, whose handshake was as good as a legal paper and who could be relied upon to be reasonable and fair. Acting foolish over a woman wasn't going to help him with any of that.

The trouble was that all of this mattered way too much to him—what Emily had done in the past, what kind of woman she was now, how she thought and what she felt. They mattered because those were the kinds of things a man had to consider when...well, when he looked at a woman the way he'd started looking at Emily.

Abel didn't know which thing shook him up more: the fact that the rumors about Emily had turned out to be at least partly true or that somehow he'd gotten to the point that he was thinking about Emily Elliott the way a man thought about the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his days with.

The door opened behind him, and Emily and Stone came out on the porch. Abel got to his feet but kept his eyes focused on the twins, who were running circles around the oak tree in the front yard.

“I don't know.” Emily's voice sounded strange, and Abel darted a quick look over at her face. She was still pale except for those bright red spots on her cheeks, but there was something new in her face now, a kind of worried sparkle. “I'm still not sure this is a good idea.”

“I think it's a great idea.” Stone sounded confident. “In fact, I think it's more than that. I believe in God, not coincidences. You've got experience working in a coffee shop, and the church just started a brand-new one that's floundering. It's perfect.” The preacher flashed a grin at Emily. “To tell you the truth, I've got a personal reason for being excited about it. Grounds for Faith is my baby. I thought a church-sponsored coffee shop would be a great opportunity for outreach and fellowship, and I've got a lot of friends pastoring churches in other areas who've done similar things with great results. But a lot of the older members of the congregation have some serious reservations about the whole idea, and the fact that the shop hasn't really taken off hasn't helped. I think you're an answer to some pretty desperate prayers.”

“It sounds awfully tempting.”

“Well, spend some time thinking and praying about it and give me a call in a day or so to let me know what you decide. And don't fret yourself between now and Sunday. You're doing the right thing.”

Emily worried her lower lip with her teeth. “Do you really think it'll do any good?”

“Who knows? One thing I've learned in this job is you never know what God will do if you put all your eggs in His basket. Now, I'd better be getting on back to the church before my secretary sends out a search party.” He turned to Abel and held out his hand. “Whitlock.”

Abel shook it firmly. “I'll walk you to your truck,” he said. Stone raised an eyebrow but nodded.

When they were out of Emily's earshot, Abel spoke. “Looks like I owe you an apology.”

“Not the way I figure it. You were just looking after Emily.” The pastor shot him a thoughtful look. “You've got your reasons for that, I guess. You do seem to have kind of a hair trigger where judgment is concerned, though.”

“I have my reasons for that, too, I reckon.”

“So I gathered. Funny. Everybody I know around here speaks highly of you. You've got yourself a fine reputation in Pine Valley.”

“You've not been here long. It wasn't always that way.”

“Maybe not, but it is now. Could be I'm not the only one raking up the past around here. You could stand a dose of your own advice.” Stone clapped him on the back. “See you both on Sunday.”

Abel walked back to the porch, and he and Emily watched as Stone slowly navigated his truck down the bumpy gravel driveway. The twins headed for the barn, taking their chicks and their chatter with them. Abel felt like a coiled spring, as if he was about to jump straight out of his skin. He couldn't look at Emily, but he was aware of exactly where she stood beside him.

“Pastor Stone wants me to help them get the church coffee shop established,” Emily told him, “but don't worry. If I decide to do it, it's only part-time. I'll be home in plenty of time to cook supper, so I can keep up our end of the deal. And the twins can go to the summer day care program the church is running for free since I'd be a church employee.”

She obviously expected him to say something. “Sounds like something you'd be good at.” He didn't like the idea, he realized. Not only would it mean Emily would be spending a good chunk of time away from the farm, but she'd be seeing a lot more of Jacob Stone into the bargain. He liked Stone well enough, but women flocked to him like bees to honeysuckle. Abel didn't much like the idea of the preacher and Emily working together.

Emily was gazing over the fields thoughtfully. “It almost sounds too good to be true. It kind of worries me.”

Everything worried Emily. Abel let a few uncomfortable seconds of silence pass. “Green beans need picking,” he said finally. “I'd best get on that.”

“Could it wait a few minutes? I think maybe we need to talk.” He felt her hand reach out and touch his arm, and he jumped. This woman had every nerve he owned on edge.

“Abel, would you look at me, please?”

He raised his eyes to meet hers. The hopeful look he'd seen on her face a few moments ago had faded. Now her gray-green eyes looked troubled and tired, and the hurt he saw lurking there flopped his heart right over.

“I owe you an explanation.” She swallowed and tilted her chin upward, and something about that familiar, brave little gesture pushed him right back over the edge he was teetering on.

This was Emily. Nothing else mattered much. “You don't have to explain anything to me.”

“I think maybe I do. Pastor Stone said you've been standing up for me all over town.” She swallowed, and he saw a suspicious shimmer in her eyes. “You're probably regretting that right about now.”

“Nope.” He realized the truth of it as he spoke. He reached out and took both her small hands in his. “I'd do it again. I
will
do it again if I hear any more of this foolishness.”

“What they're saying about me is true. Lois may have her own reasons for broadcasting it all over, but I'm responsible for what I did. And I did do it, Abel.”

He nodded. “I heard you. And I won't deny that it threw me for a minute, but I'll tell you why it did. Whoever you were back then, you're not that person anymore. The Emily I know would no more take something that didn't belong to her than I would. God's seen to that. So whatever happened in the past doesn't matter.” He was speaking to himself as much as he was speaking to her. Maybe the preacher had a point.

“It means a lot to me that you think that way.” Emily swallowed hard. As he watched, a single tear streaked down her face, and she reached up to scrub it away impatiently with the back of her hand.

The tear did it, that and the tiny quiver of her lips. It was that combination that pushed him past whatever reserve he had left where Emily Elliott was concerned. He stopped thinking, leaned over and covered her soft mouth gently with his own.

He kept the kiss simple, then drew back slowly, gauging her reaction. She looked stunned. Whatever she'd been expecting him to do, it hadn't been that.

He couldn't say the thought of kissing her had never crossed his mind before, but he was pretty sure it was a new idea for her.

As far as he was concerned, though, it was perfect. As he looked down into her face, he felt a flood of possessiveness wash over him. He'd never wanted anything as much as he wanted this, all of it, this woman, her twins, this brambly old farm. This was every hope he'd ever had wrapped up in one sweet package.

“Abel.” Emily's voice came out a little uneven, and his lips quirked up. He'd flustered her. He kind of liked that.

“Mmm?”

“I think...” Emily started, then stopped.

He raised his eyebrows at her and waited. She swallowed, moistened her lips and tried again.

“I think you should go pick those green beans now.” She nodded firmly and retreated into the house, letting the screen door flap shut behind her with a loud bang.

* * *

On Sunday Emily sat nervously in her pew as Pastor Stone welcomed visitors and went through a lengthy list of announcements. Only he and Emily knew that the special testimony listed in the church bulletin would be hers.

Even Abel didn't know. He was sitting next to Phoebe, and she was grateful for her daughter's squirmy little body between them. Ever since that kiss on the front porch, she'd been keeping her distance. So far she'd been successful. Abel hadn't made any effort to close the gap, but there was something in his face that told her that sooner or later he would.

She wasn't entirely sure how she felt about that. Not that the kiss hadn't thrilled her all the way to her toes. It definitely had. The problem was she wasn't sure how she felt about that, either.

The woman in front of her coughed, bringing Emily abruptly back to the present. She couldn't believe she was sitting here in church thinking about kissing Abel. She felt a blush stain her cheeks, and she darted an uneasy look in his direction. He caught her eye, and the corner of his mouth twitched as if he knew exactly what she was thinking. As if maybe he was thinking something along the same lines himself.

That didn't help. Emily quickly looked back down at the paper bulletin in her hands. It was trembling slightly, and she didn't know if that was because she was going to get up and speak in front of this whole congregation in about two minutes or because she couldn't decide if she wanted the man sitting between her twins to kiss her again or not.

This was all so complicated. Emily felt a rush of longing for her tough, straightforward Atlanta life. Since she'd come to Goosefeather Farm, everything felt twisted and hard to figure out. It wasn't just the farming thing, either, although she sure wasn't getting much better in that department. It was even more than her confusion about Abel.

Here in Pine Valley, the past she desperately wanted to put behind her kept looping around and jostling the present. Now the future had started whispering promises that she couldn't bring herself to believe. Happily-ever-afters just weren't that easy to come by. She'd learned that the hard way. She rubbed at her eyes and sighed. This whole situation made her tired.