Lost & Found Love (10 page)

Jenny stared at Tabby for such a long time she began to feel uncomfortable. At last her sister took a deep breath. “You ever heard the phrase ‘physician, heal thyself?’”

“Yes,” Tabby replied, drawing the word out warily, wondering if she had overstepped her bounds.

Jenny stood, putting a hand to the small of her back. “I think you should drive me to the hospital. I’ll call Evan on the way.”

She gave Tabby the keys. Tabby helped her into the SUV before running around to the driver’s side. Just before she put the big vehicle in gear, Jenny touched her arm.

“Thanks.”

An hour later, Tabby sat wide-eyed in the waiting room on the maternity floor. She had spent more time than she cared to remember as a child being shuffled around to one emergency room or another so that as an adult she went out of her way to avoid hospitals and doctors. Except now she had a sister who was a doctor and, right now at least, also a patient. Evan was in the labor and delivery room with Jenny where they had gone ahead and induced after confirming preeclampsia.

“Tabby?” She looked up at the sound of her name. Jake Allred stood there, looking big and comforting at the moment. “Holly said I should come sit with you. You okay?”

Tabby’s chin trembled a touch, but she nodded. “How did Holly know?”

Jake shrugged. “I think Jenny or Evan called her, but sometimes Holly has feelings about things. You know?”

Tabby’s eyes widened. “She does?”

Jake nodded. “Yeah. Like last Christmas. Noelle’s biological father kidnapped her. Holly kept insisting everything was going to be fine. Sure enough, the woman who was engaged to him walked into the Christmas Eve service carrying Noelle. Isn’t that the damnedest, ’scuse me, I mean the darnedest thing?”

Tabby wiped a finger below each eye. “Yeah. It is.”

Jake sat next to her and took her hand. “A lot of folks wanted to talk about Holly when she first got here. Unmarried. Pregnant. But Holly has a way about her. Everybody loves her.”

Tabby slipped her hand from Jake’s. “I don’t seem to have that same effect. In fact, pretty much the opposite.”

Jake patted her knee. “You will. Sometimes it takes a while for Mountain Meadow to welcome you, but it will. Be patient.”

* * * *

Joe had been coming up with reasons to see Tabby again all day long. He finally stopped by her house on his way to church to invite her over to watch a movie after the service was over. Her car was in the driveway, but there was no answer to his knock. He thought he’d heard voices earlier so he walked around to the front porch, but no one was there. Tabby’s school bag sat there, though. Joe walked back to the kitchen and stuck his head in the door.

“Tabby?”

The cat dashed between his legs and into the house, but there was no sign of Tabby. Joe flicked back his cuff to check his watch. He might have time to call Jake once he got over to his office. In the end, though, he didn’t need to. Sometimes, it seemed the ladies’ worship committee grapevine worked in his favor.

“Did you hear, Pastor Joe?” Betty Gatewood was the first to greet him when he arrived. “Doc’s gone into labor a month early. She’s at the hospital right now. Came over to see the new school teacher, she did, and now she might lose the baby.”

“Ladies,” Joe said, trying to keep his voice calm when he was tempted to snap at them instead. “I’m sure there’s no connection between Doc’s visit to Miss MacVie and a slightly early labor. Just coincidence.” He was beginning to feel as though he’d booked a front row seat at the Mountain Meadow witch hunt.

He had seen something similar last year when Holly came to town, but not like this. What was the difference? Was it him? Joe sighed. He’d been warned in seminary that a single pastor had a target on him. Everyone pictured ministers as married, so a single one just screamed “I need a wife.”

Was all this animosity over Tabby just because he’d shown an interest in her, or was there more? Did it have something to do with her artwork?

Joe prided himself on taking time to talk to his parishioners after services, but on this night, he was doing his best to rush them out the door. When he saw there were still no lights on inside Tabby’s house, he went straight to his Mustang and drove to the hospital.

Tabby stood near a window in the waiting room, staring out into the near darkness. She turned when he came into the room, as if she’d sensed him there. The loneliness and fear in her expression nearly undid him. They met in the middle of the room. Joe wrapped his arms around her and rocked her gently back and forth. He stroked her back and pressed his face into her hair. It overwhelmed him that she would let him get this close to her. As her shaking eased, he whispered, “Are you all right?”

“Yes. How did you know I was here?” Shadows lingered in her golden eyes.

Joe touched the tip of her nose and sighed. “The church lady grapevine. I managed to piece enough truth out of the gossip to put two and two together. You want to talk about it?”

She nodded, but before she could say anything, Evan strode into the room, hair disheveled, his eyes searching for her, and his expression betraying no surprise at all when he saw her in the arms of the Baptist minister.

“Excuse me, Pastor,” Evan said and pulled Tabby into his arms before he gave her a kiss on each cheek and laughed. “I have a healthy baby boy and a wife who’s already barking orders at nurses after one of the quickest labors on record. If you ever need me for anything, Tabby, I’m there for you. You are a part of our family. Remember that.”

Joe arched a brow. “So Jenny’s okay with that?”

“Damn man!” Evan laughed. “She’d be crazy not to be. Look at those eyes. They’re the spitting image of Jenny’s. God, Tabby! I told Jenny there was something about you, but she wouldn’t believe me, and damn if you didn’t already know what was going on before she did.”

Tabby tugged urgently at Evan’s sleeve. “Stop. Don’t talk so loud. It was a lucky guess, and you’re—stop swearing!”

Joe kept Tabby’s hand firmly clasped in his own. “I guess God will forgive a man who’s just become a father.”

“Damn right,” Evan agreed. “Come on in. Jenny wants to see you. You go, too, Pastor. I’m going to find a cup of coffee.” He was already ushering them both down the hall.

Jenny cradled the baby in her arms. Joe wouldn’t exactly say she was barking orders. She looked tired and a little overwhelmed, but when she saw Tabby, she held her hand out and smiled. Joe saw the resemblance and wondered why he hadn’t noticed it sooner. Maybe it was the difference in the height and the hair color, but the eyes were amazingly similar. Tabby wouldn’t turn loose of his hand, so he came right along with her, a sheepish grin on his face.

Jenny looked at their clasped hands, smiling faintly before she frowned and said, “Pastor, I feel it fair to warn you this baby’s Presbyterian, so no birthing room conversions or baptisms.”

“Now, Doc, you know we Baptists don’t take to sprinkling babies. We like to dunk ’em once they’re old enough to admit they’ve done wrong. The more they were wrong, the longer I hold ’em under. I almost drowned at my own baptism.”

Jenny laughed before her eyes went back to Joe and Tabby’s entwined hands. “I see you didn’t waste any time.”

“Evan already snapped up the prettiest girl in town, but fortunately for me,” Joe said, his eyes going over Tabby’s face, “her beautiful sister moved in next door.”

Tabby blushed and looked at the nurses still tidying things up. They were taking in every word. As if she knew it would be all over town in no time, she shifted uneasily. Joe wanted to stake a claim, but he didn’t want to make her uncomfortable.

Jenny held the baby out and said softly. “Hold him, Tabby. He might not be nearly as healthy if it weren’t for you opening my eyes to what I should have already seen. I guess it’s true that we often can’t see what’s right there in front of us.”

Tabby glanced around in a panic, but the nurses had left and shut the door quietly behind them. With a sigh and a nervous swallow, she took the swaddled baby and held him close to her, nestled in the crook of her arm. She closed her eyes, and the expression on her face made his heart skip a beat. She needed family. She needed to feel close to people. Her stepfather had a lot to answer for.

Jenny’s head tilted. “How does it feel to be an aunt?”

“You have no idea how relieved I am that you are both all right. He’s beautiful, Jenny,” Tabby whispered and looked at her sister before glancing at Joe. His gut twisted seeing her with the baby cradled so protectively in her arms. He composed his own personal mental painting—Tabby holding a baby they created together.

Their eyes met. As if she’d read his mind, her lips parted. If they’d been anywhere else, Joe would have hauled her in his arms so she could feel how much he wanted her in that moment. He blinked, unsure how he’d fallen so hard, so fast. But it was there, and they would eventually have to deal with it.

Jenny cleared her throat. “There will be none of that in here, you two.” Tabby blushed, and Joe cleared his throat a little uneasily. “I think you both need to come to dinner at our house sooner, rather than later. Though I would never have guessed in this day and age, I suspect you could benefit from a little counseling.”

Tabby shifted and Joe shifted his gaze to stare at the ceiling. Was their inexperience that obvious? If the church ladies had any idea how virtuous he truly was, Joe was sure their attempts to match make would have been that much more intense. Single, a minister, and a virgin. He was surprised there wasn’t a neon wedding ring flashing over his head.

“Jenny?” Tabby questioned. “If you’re tired, I can get a nurse.”

Jenny shook her head and opened her eyes. “I want to ask you about this afternoon, Tabby.” She glanced at Joe. “Is this something we should talk about in private?”

“No. Joseph knows about the letter.”

“I have to tell you, that surprises me.” Jenny’s gaze raked over him. “It also shows me how high the level of trust already is between you.”

While Tabby pulled a chair near the bed, Joe hovered next to the window to give them space and some measure of privacy. Jenny stretched her hand out, and Tabby took it. Joe’s chest tightened. Tabby needed this sense of family—of normal family. If a sister was all she could have, then so be it. They needed that chance to bond.

“Did Mama ever talk about her life here?” Jenny asked.

Tabby shook her head. “Until she had me write the letter for you, she never said a word.”

“Evan said he first saw you up at the top of the hill above the old home place.”

“I went there to find you. That was the address Mama had given me.”

“Instead you found the gravestone.” Jenny captured Tabby’s hand. “Neither one of us have had an easy life. Do you have any idea who your real father might be?”

Tabby shook her head. “Mama would never say a word about him.”

Jenny squeezed her hand. “Well not only will my baby have a mama and daddy to love him, he’ll have an aunt too. That is if you can forgive me for the way I acted to begin with.”

“There’s nothing to forgive. You’re my sister.”

“And we’re overjoyed to have you in the family,” Evan said as he walked in the door. His head swiveled to Joe. “Hey, Preacher.”

As Evan’s sharp gray stare became speculative, Joe felt his cheeks flush. Evan laughed. Joe stepped forward. “Maybe I should run you home, Tabby, so Evan and Jenny can have some time together.”

Tabby smiled at him, and Joe’s heart lifted. He had worried she might be overwhelmed by the sudden welcome into a family, but she seemed okay. He decided to ignore Evan’s knowing look as they left.

Joe wanted more time with Tabby, but it was too late to watch a movie. Tabby needed to get up early for school. He thought about ways to get what he wanted without depriving her the whole way back to their houses. In fact, he’d thought of little but Tabby since the kisses and caresses they’d shared the previous night. When he parked the car around the back of the house, he was still no closer to coming up with an excuse to spend time with her when Tabby unexpectedly helped him.

“Joseph? W-would you sing for me before I go home? You have a guitar, don’t you?”

He could have kissed her in sheer relief that she handed him the means to keep her with him.

“Yeah. Come on in.” He brought her to the living room, closed the drapes, and turned on a single lamp. “Sit on the couch. I’ll get us some sweet tea and be right back.”

After handing her the glass and setting his down, he took off his tie and loosened his collar before rolling back his sleeves. Tabby sipped her tea and closed her eyes. He could almost see the tension ease from her.

“Play for me, Joseph.”

He would do anything for her. The sudden realization startled him but didn’t disturb him. He set his glass aside, lifted his guitar, and sat cross-legged on the floor in front of her. He checked the tuning, then began to play. As his voice joined the music, he watched Tabby sigh with pleasure. Joe wasn’t sure how long he played. When he stopped, she was asleep. He didn’t take it as an insult. It was not a commentary on his music or his singing as much as it was a sign of her trust. She felt secure enough to fall asleep. He eased down next to her and cradled her head against his chest.

He loved her.
The thought slipped into his brain quietly and peacefully. He had always figured it would be some sudden and overwhelming revelation. Instead, it simply was. He hadn’t looked for it, and it didn’t matter they had known each other for just days. He felt complete when he was with her.

Loving Tabby wouldn’t be easy. Joe was enough of a realist to know that. She didn’t fit other people’s image of a preacher’s wife. That was one factor, but the biggest obstacle might be Tabby herself. Marrying a minister, even dating one, wasn’t on her list. Somehow, someway, he would convince her to trust him enough to marry him. In the meantime? Lord help him, he didn’t know if he could wait. He ached to touch her and caress her, to hear her gasps and moans of pleasure for him, only for him.

As he studied her face with its long, sooty lashes, dark winging brows, and narrow, straight nose, he decided those must be features she’d inherited from her father. The eyes and the mouth she definitely had in common with Jenny. His thumb lightly brushed her full lower lip. Joe couldn’t help it. That mouth of hers was incredibly sexy, making him ache in ways he’d never had trouble dealing with before, but this was different. All the reasons he’d given to other couples about waiting for intimacy suddenly jumped up and bit him in the butt. It was a whole lot easier to preach it than practice it. He knew his body wouldn’t be satisfied until he could touch and kiss her everywhere. Even then, he suspected he would only crave more of her.