A Place to Call Home (17 page)

“I
haven’t been stood up since fifth grade, when Tammy Higgins didn’t meet me at the monkey bars during recess like she promised.”

Quinn flicked an impatient glance at the man sauntering up to him. “I forgot.”

Matt Wilde grinned. “I believe you. But only because you know that lying is bad.”

“Tell me about it,” Quinn muttered.

The pastor propped a hip against the woodpile, where Quinn had been taking out his frustration on a helpless cord of oak in the backyard.

“Maybe you should tell
me
about it.”

“No, thanks.”

“Why not?”

“I’m not, how do you say it? A member of your flock. Not anymore, anyway.”

“If you know that expression, there’s a good chance you are.” Matt grinned. “So, spill your guts, O’Halloran.”

Quinn speared him with a look. “Are you sure you’re a minister?”

“Yes, but let’s put that little detail aside for the moment and pretend I’m your friend.”

Quinn winced. “You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?”

“Tell me what’s going on and I’ll tell you if I’m doing it on purpose.”

“I don’t know where to start.”

“You can start by telling me why you didn’t show up at the café this morning. Leaving me at Kate Nichols’s mercy, by the way.”

“Better you than me.” Quinn picked up the ax and attacked another log. So what if it was only the end of July? Winter came early in northern Wisconsin.

Without asking, Matt picked up another ax and joined in. For a few minutes, the only sound was the dull thwack of the two axes turning logs into kindling.

“Abby Porter.”

The second Matt Wilde said the name out loud, Quinn’s ax missed its mark and sank into the ground.

“There.” Matt’s smile was smug. “I started. Now it’s your turn.”

“You don’t give up, do you?”

“Do you?” Wilde neatly turned the tables on him.

Quinn’s frustration fled, replaced by relief. “You talked to Abby.”

It had been difficult enough to leave the day before. More difficult knowing that she had to sort through everything alone. The way things stood with Alex, Quinn didn’t think she would talk about it with him. Her friendship with Kate Nichols probably hadn’t reached the point where Abby would consider her a confidante, either. Which meant that Abby was alone.

“No.” Matt denied it. “As a matter of fact, I haven’t seen Abby since Sunday, when the two of you came to church together.”

“Then how…” Quinn stopped when he saw the wry look on the other man’s face.

“I took a guess.” The pastor propped the ax against the woodpile and clipped Quinn on the shoulder. “And I was right. That means you owe me a cup of coffee.”

“Well?” Quinn stopped pacing long enough to aim the question at Matt. He wasn’t a pacer by nature but he’d practically worn a rut through the floors of his house over the past twenty-four hours.

After Abby ordered him off her property, he’d loaded up his things, put Lady in the truck and went home. He hadn’t even made an appearance at the office to let Faye know he was officially back to work.

“Well what?”

“I stopped talking. Isn’t this when you tell me everything will be all right?”

Quinn had spent the last hour telling the pastor everything that had happened. Spilling his guts, just like Matt had encouraged him to do. He’d heard that confession was good for the soul but Quinn didn’t buy that anymore. If anything, saying the words out loud—telling someone what he’d done—had only made him feel worse.

Matt blew out a sigh. “I don’t know that it will be. She found out that two people she cared about—two people she trusted—weren’t honest with her. That’s a lot to process, especially considering what Abby has been through. She needs people to encourage her to move forward, not try and hold her back.”

Quinn didn’t need the reminder. When his imagination wasn’t tormenting him with images of Abby’s expression when she’d handed him the phone, it was conjuring up pictures of her as a child, taken away from her home and family.

“Why didn’t you tell Abby that you came back after her brother told you he didn’t need you anymore?”

“It wouldn’t have mattered.” Quinn knew it was true.

Weighed against the rest of the things he’d done, why would Abby believe him if he told her the reason he’d gone back to the lodge that day?

Matt considered that. “So, what happens now?”

“You’re the pastor. I was hoping you could tell me.”

“Are you going to give her some time to cool down and then talk to her?”

If Matt had heard Abby’s parting comment, Quinn thought, he wouldn’t even ask that question. It had found its mark. Knowing he’d deserved it kept the wound from healing.

“I can’t.” He didn’t deserve her forgiveness. It was the reason he hadn’t tried to make excuses or explain that he’d agreed to Alex’s terms because he’d wanted O’Halloran Security to be a success.

It was more important to him now that Abby was successful.

“Do you think her brother’s concerns are valid?” Matt asked carefully.

Quinn had asked himself that same question at least a dozen times. And every time, he came up with the same answer. “No. I think some of Abby’s doubts about herself, some of her fears, were actually magnified because of the way her family treated her after the abduction. She told me that God changed her. I don’t know why her brother can’t see it.”

“Unfortunately, we see what we want to.” Matt’s expression clouded slightly.

“Abby wants to have the inn ready for the Thomases’ anniversary party. Alex won’t try to get Daniel Redstone to come back because he wants her to fail. Unless she hires a
crew, which is going to be difficult around here on such short notice, she’ll have to tell them it won’t be ready.”

“Alex might not try to get Daniel to come back early but that doesn’t mean
you
can’t.”

Quinn stared at him, turning the idea over in his mind before rejecting it. “Daniel does great finishing work but he isn’t fast. If I could clone the guy, maybe.” A thought suddenly occurred to him.

“What? I see the wheels turning in there.”

“Nothing. I doubt it would work.”

Matt leaned back and laced his fingers behind his head. “Humor me.”

“Abby goes to your church. The congregation is supposed to help each other out, right? What if a group of volunteers showed up at the lodge this weekend for a workday?”

Matt smiled. “That’s a great idea. You can bring it up tonight at the leadership meeting.”

“Me?”

“It’s your idea.”

“But that kind of stuff is in
your
job description,” Quinn pointed out. And he doubted people would listen to anything he had to say.

Matt was already shaking his head. “You’ve been out there. You know what needs to be done. If you make the appeal, I’ll take it from there.”

“Fine.” At the moment, Quinn would have agreed to walk up and down the sidewalk in front of the Grapevine Café holding a sign if it meant getting Abby the help she needed.

“If we get this organized, are you going to be there?” Matt asked.

“I don’t have the right to set foot on her property,” Quinn
said. He wouldn’t blame Abby if she called Sergeant West to haul him away, either.

Abby had trusted him and he’d taken advantage of it. Of her. She’d shocked him to the core with that kiss. That was the moment he’d realized exactly what was at stake if she found out who he was and why he was there.

Everything.

He’d tried to put some distance between them over the next few days but Abby had only seen him pulling away from her, not the reason he had to.

“She doesn’t know how you feel about her, does she?”

He opened his mouth to deny it, but Matt cocked an eyebrow.

Lying. Bad. Remember?

Quinn gave in. “I wasn’t honest with her about anything else. Why would she believe me if I told her that?”

“You know the saying. Actions speak louder than words.”

“I know. That’s why she won’t believe me.” Quinn paused in front of the kitchen window and drummed his fingers against the sink. “I’ll call Daniel and ask him if he’ll come back. I’ll show up at your meeting this evening, too. But I can’t do anything else.”

“Fair enough.”

“I appreciate you coming over.” Quinn stretched out his hand.

Matt ignored it.

“Not so fast.” The pastor pushed one of the chairs away from the table. “We talked about Abby. Now it’s time to talk about you. And then, I suggest we talk to God.”

The sound of a vehicle coming up the driveway sent Mulligan on a mad dash to the front door.

Abby resisted the urge to follow him.

It wasn’t Quinn. She would have recognized the ragged purr of his truck.

But you wish it was.

Abby pushed the thought away. Now that she knew the truth, she understood why he’d started to avoid her after she kissed him.

After Quinn walked out the day before, Abby had plenty of time to sort through the pieces and put them together. Alex had told her that he’d pushed Quinn into accepting the job. She knew why he’d agreed. O’Halloran Security. Her brother had obviously made Quinn an offer he couldn’t refuse. One that made him turn back to his former career.

As a bodyguard.

Alex had hired him to watch her and she’d unknowingly crossed a line. A professional boundary. He’d operated within the parameters of the job. In her naiveté, she hadn’t.

Mulligan began to whine, and Abby could almost feel the dog’s disappointment. Instead of his friend, he must have realized the vehicle belonged to Zach and Tim Davis.

When she’d talked to the boys the day before, they’d agreed to put in extra hours at the lodge whenever they were free. As much as Abby appreciated their willingness to help out, she’d already decided to call Lydia Thomas and explain that although she was still willing to provide refreshments after the vow renewal at the chapel, she wouldn’t be able to host the anniversary party for the entire weekend.

Mulligan clattered into the kitchen, tail wagging, as if to question why she wasn’t at the door yet to greet their company.

“I know.” Abby dried off her damp hands on a towel, turned the music down and stepped onto the porch.

Zach and Tim waved a greeting. So did the four other teenage boys that bailed out the side door of the green minivan parked in her driveway. Cody Lang was one of them.

“You brought reinforcements this morning,” Abby said. “That’s great.”

Tim grinned. “This is nothing.”

Cody offered a shy smile of his own. “Yeah. We just got here first.”

“First?”

Zach pointed and Abby saw the wink of sunlight striking chrome. Another car cruised down the driveway. Followed by another.

“What’s going on?”

“We’ll let him tell you.”

“H-him?”

“Pastor Wilde,” Zach said. “He told everyone to be here at eight o’clock Saturday morning. So here we are.”

Abby recognized the pastor in the driver’s seat of the second car. He gave her a friendly salute as he hopped out and opened the passenger door for Kate Nichols.

“Morning!” Kate waved a lime-green feather duster in Abby’s direction.

“What are you doing here?”

“Reporting for duty, of course,” Kate sang out.

“You don’t mind a few extra hands today, do you?” Matthew asked in a low voice as a caravan of vehicles began to line the driveway.

A few extra hands? The number of people gathering on the lawn reminded her of the volunteer crews that her favorite home makeover show drew. Abby recognized some of the people from church, but others were complete strangers.

“Mind?” Abby echoed. “I can’t believe it. How did you know? Why would you—” Her voice broke off when she caught sight of a familiar figure making his way through the crowd.

“Daniel!” Abby rushed up to him. “What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be on vacation!”

“Fish weren’t biting that great.” His eyes twinkled. “’Sides that, I missed your cooking.”

“Is that so.” His wife, Esther, swatted Daniel’s arm but gave Abby a warm smile.

By the time everyone was assembled on the lawn, Abby estimated there were fifty people who had put aside their own Saturday to-do lists to check something off hers.

Humbled by the unexpected gift, Abby didn’t know what to say as the chatter subsided and everyone looked to her for direction.

“Here. Maybe this will help.” With a mischievous wink, Kate presented Abby with a bright yellow ball cap with the words
I’m the Boss
embroidered on it.

“That belongs to her, you know,” someone said in a stage whisper.

Abby put it on and blushed when the noisy crew began to applaud.

Matt stepped up and put a hand on her shoulder. “Let’s dedicate this project—and this day—to the Lord.”

Abby would have thought her tear ducts would be completely dry by now. She was wrong. While Matt prayed, the grass blurred at her feet.

This morning, she’d felt completely alone.

God had just reminded her that she wasn’t.

“Amen.” Matt lifted his head and turned to Abby. “Okay. Put us to work!”

With Daniel’s help, Abby divided everyone into smaller work groups and put one person in charge of each project. Matt had spent a summer on a roofing crew in college, so he
pulled some of the older teens from the church youth group together to help him tear shingles off the cabins.

Esther Redstone and some of the older women in the congregation took over Abby’s kitchen, filling pitchers with cold drinks and making sandwiches.

As the official foreman, Abby moved from crew to crew throughout the morning, taking time to answer questions, give instructions or hand out bottled water until it was time for lunch.

She and Kate were hauling coolers to the picnic tables when Kate suddenly paused and gave a low whistle. “Who is that?”

Abby followed the direction of her friend’s finger as it traced the path of the silver Viper cruising up the driveway.

Abby folded her arms across her chest.

“That,” she said, “is my brother.”