Love Inspired May 2015 #2 (24 page)

Jared shifted in his seat, anxious to steer the conversation away from himself. “So you teach with Becca.”

“I work with Becca. I'm the high school guidance counselor. But the school had trouble getting a teacher for summer school math. I'm certified, so I agreed.”

“I could use your professional expertise with kids,” Jared said. “For a project I'm working on.” It might be easier to share his intentions for building the motocross school and track with Becca by telling Eli and the others about it.

“For your motocross track. I can't see how I could help.”

Jared took a moment to determine whether he'd caught an edge to the other man's voice or had imagined it.

“We were talking about that on the way over,” Jamie said before Jared could answer her husband. “And how it would impact the traffic on State Route 74. We live just off the highway.”

Anne leaned forward in her chair. “The traffic study GreenSpaces did as part of our environmental study showed minimal impact in your area. Most of the traffic would be coming north on US Route 9 or off the Northway Interstate and up 9.”

Jared leaned back in his seat. He'd lost his perfect segue into talking about helping kids and the community to a discussion of traffic patterns. He glanced at Becca, who sat tight lipped, listening. Traffic patterns that would bring more vehicles past her house.

“We're doing some further study,” his brother Josh added. “To see if a traffic circle will be needed at the corner of Conifer Road to handle the track traffic.”

Becca's eyes widened.

The traffic circle was news to Jared. He cracked his knuckles. Josh could have said something to him about it before now.

Anne's eyes narrowed. “That recommendation is very preliminary. There may be no need for a circle.”

Josh stiffened at his employer's admonishment, and Jared sympathized with him, even though a moment earlier he been ready to gag him before he said something else that might upset Becca. Josh never did anything halfway, or lost an opportunity to make himself look good. He was into his work and wanted to tell everyone what he knew.

“But you do expect the track to cause significantly more traffic up my way,” Becca said.

“It's a racing school, for kids, not a track,” Jared corrected, his irritation getting the best of him. Everyone, his brother included, seemed to be missing that detail.

The room quieted.

He had his opening. “Here's what I'm planning—”

Connor strode into the lounge, interrupting Jared midsentence. “Sorry to keep you waiting. We got sidetracked talking about some Administrative Council business.” He introduced the new arrivals who'd walked in with him. “Everyone ready to get started?”

“In a minute,” Eli said. “Jared was telling us about his plans for the racing school.”

“Yeah,” Connor said. “This might be something cool for you and Drew to get the Youth Group involved in.”

Connor gave Jared a nod-up that made him feel like a preschooler getting a “good job” from Mommy.

“Go ahead,” Connor said.

As if he needed his baby brother's permission to talk. Jared swallowed his annoyance and explained his plans for a racing school loosely based on the Boys & Girls Clubs. “It's not just about racing. It's about character development and having a safe place to learn.” As he made each of his points, he glanced at Becca, buoyed by the interest he read in her eyes.

“And good role models, particularly for teenage boys who don't have a father or other close male relative around,” he finished.

Jamie nodded. “I know how important that is.” She smiled at her husband. “I don't know where my son would be if Eli hadn't come back to Paradox Lake and taken the counseling position at Schroon Lake Central. Myles's father was killed in Afghanistan when Myles was in middle school.”

Jared tried to decipher the shadow that passed over Becca's face at Jamie's words. It wasn't as if Brendon didn't have a father. And his grandfather was in his life. Jared's personal dislike of Ken Norton aside, the man was well respected in the community and it seemed like he could be a male influence in Brendon's life.

“I'm sorry for your loss,” Jared said.

The tender look that passed between Eli and Jamie hit Jared square in the heart. He cleared his throat. “The most important lesson of many valuable lessons I learned from my racing mentor was that I had to take charge and have direction in my life both spiritually—” Jared smiled to himself when Connor raised an eyebrow to that “—and professionally.”

A hum of agreement buzzed around the room. That hadn't been too bad. Maybe the public hearing wouldn't be, either.

“Not every kid is going to be a motocross champion,” one of the men who'd come in with Connor said.

Jared fortified himself with a deep breath. “Not every kid who plays football is going to go pro or every Boy Scout will make Eagle Scout or every girl in the high school ski club will go on to win a gold medal. It's what they learn doing those things that prepares them for life.”

Jared did a fast check around the room to see if he sounded as sappy to everyone else as he had to himself.
Good.
No one was smirking. It
was
how he felt.

“That's reasonable,” the guy said. “How would your program work?”

As Jared ticked off the basic points of his program, he caught Connor and some of the others glancing at the clock. They probably wanted to get their meeting and game started. He wrapped up and waited for Connor to take over, feeling jazzed at the group's positive reaction to his vision for the racing school.

“Clear something up for me.” Becca's voice jarred him out of his bubble of self-satisfaction. “The racetrack is for the kids to practice on. That's it?”

From her hopeful tone, Jared knew what she wanted him to say, and he wanted to be able to say it. To have her behind the project with him. But he couldn't. “No. I hope to schedule some commercial races, maybe attract an American Motocross Association event or two.”

The hopeful light left her eyes.

He scrambled to recover his earlier excitement about people getting what it was he wanted to do. “That's the second prong of the project, economic development. The area needs more jobs. The track could provide some.” There it was clear and simple and, from the expressions on most of the people's faces, they agreed. Except for Becca. He had a sinking feeling he'd lost her again. If he'd ever had her. She was the only one here who'd be directly affected by the school's location. His mind churned. It wasn't too late to look at other property in the area.

Connor stepped to the center of the room. “We should get things rolling here. I'm sure Jared would be happy to answer any other questions about his racing school after our meeting.”

It had to be his imagination, but to Jared it looked like his brother was speaking directly to Becca. Was that Connor's idea of playing matchmaker? He shook it off. His brother wasn't matchmaking. The only one interested in matching him up with Becca was the remnants of his adolescent ego. Connor was cultivating the crowd as he'd told Jared to do. Second thoughts plagued him. Maybe the school wasn't the great idea he thought it was. Too many people to please. He could start a foundation instead and donate money. Clean, direct. Like hopping on his bike at the starting line and heading for the finish. No explanations needed. No crowds to please.

“It looks like we have enough couples and singles to pair up and compete in teams of twos. I assume the married couples want to compete together.” Connor made a comical face daring them to disagree. “To free me to play tonight, Tessa Hamilton has volunteered to be emcee for our competition.” He nodded at one of the women who had come in with him.

“All you single guys write your names on these slips of paper and put them in this coffee mug. Then, the women will draw partners.” He pulled the papers from his jeans pocket and passed them out along with a Sharpie marker.

Jared scratched his name on his slip and dropped it in the mug when it was passed to him.

Connor put his slip in last and handed the mug to Emily. “Hope you don't mind playing for the singles again.”

“Not at all if I draw you for my partner.” She pulled a paper from the mug and started to open it.

“No.” Connor stopped her. “Wait. Don't open it until everyone has drawn a name.”

The mug went around the room with Becca drawing last.

“Okay, open them.”

“Yes,” Emily said. “I pulled Connor. This will make it worth being a single again for the night.”

“I'll be sure to tell your husband that,” her brother said dryly.

She made a face at him. “We're going to be the pair to beat.”

“All I can say is I'm glad you're on our side,” Josh said as he switched seats to sit next to the little blonde who'd picked his name.

Jared vaguely recognized her as the younger sister of one of the guys in his high school class. He searched the faces of the three remaining woman. When his gaze reached Becca, a slow smile spread across her face. She waved the paper with his name at him and his pulse quickened. A couple of minutes ago she had been shooting holes in his plans. And now she was... What
was
she up to?

Chapter Five

T
he stunned expression on Jared's face said she hadn't lost it, at least not completely. She still could put a guy off his game if she made the effort. And she was going to. Tonight was her much-needed adult time, her fun for the week. Jared and his racetrack weren't going to take that from her. “Ready, partner?”

Without missing a beat, he matched her smile. “As ready as you are.”

The warmth of his smile radiated through her.

“Let's open with prayer,” Connor said. Everyone stood and clasped hands.

Becca bowed her head and tried to ignore Jared's warm and work-roughened hand encircling hers so she could concentrate on Pastor Connor's words.

“Dear Lord, thank You for bringing us together tonight for fun and fellowship. May our friendly competition help us learn more about You and Your plan for us. In Your name, Amen.”

“Amen,” Becca echoed. Jared squeezed her hand before he released it, sending a current up her arm. Or had she imagined the squeeze? She flexed her hand, and Jared grinned. She hadn't. Her thoughts scattered. He had her off balance again. She really needed to get out among grown-ups more before she completely forgot how to function as a rational adult in social situations. Her life had become totally centered on the kids and work with nothing just for her. She scooted back into her chair.

“Okay, everyone,” Tessa said. “Here are the rules Pastor Connor worked out. I read the question. You and your partner figure out the answer and write it on one of the index cards I'm passing out—along with the Bible book, chapter and verse—the answer is from.”

Groans came from a couple corners of the room.

“What did you expect?” Connor said. “It is Bible trivia. And with this group I told Tessa not to make the questions too easy.”

“Thanks, bro,” Josh said.

Tessa began moving around the room handing out cards. “When you have the answer written, raise your hand, and I'll call on you and come over and read your answer.” She surveyed the room. “Looks like I know everyone here. If you answer incorrectly, all the teams in the other group get to collaborate on the answer. For anyone who needs a pen, I have those, too, courtesy of the Strand,” Tessa said. “Advertising.”

“The movie theater. That brings back some memories,” Jared said.

“I inherited it from my grandfather,” Tessa said as she handed him a pen and a couple of cards. “You probably don't remember me. I spent a few summers with my grandparents here. Grandma is a friend of your grandmother's. We used to come over to her house.”

Jared's expression turned thoughtful, triggering a misplaced envy in Becca that Tessa had a past with him.

“One summer, when I was fifteen or sixteen, you were often there working on a bike.”

His eyes lit. “Yes, you were always asking me questions.”

“That would be me,” Tessa said.

The envy gnawed at her. She'd known Tessa for a couple of years, and Tessa had never said anything about knowing Jared. Becca bit her lip. She was being ridiculous. Why would Tessa have? It wasn't as if Jared had ever come up in their conversations.

“Did you ever get that bike running?” Tessa asked.

“I did. In fact, it still runs.”

“You still have it? Cool.”

“A man never forgets his first love.”

Tessa laughed and moved on.

Becca drummed her fingers on the soft armrest of the couch. Of course, Jared's first love would be a motorcycle. Something she couldn't have shared with him then or be a part of now. Bikes were what Jared did. Who he was. And she was afraid of them.

“How do you want to do this?” Becca asked, pointing to the cards Jared held.

“First, we can work together better if you move over here.” Jared slid to the left on the couch, leaving her space next to the end table.

Becca moved the short distance from the chair to the couch and sat as close to the armrest and table as possible without looking as though she was purposely trying to sit as far apart from Jared as she could. One side of his mouth tipped up and her stomach flip-flopped. She picked up the slip of paper with his name, perturbed at his ability to make her think and act like one of her freshman history students.

“Want me to do the writing?” she asked.

“Yeah, you probably noticed mine verges on barely legible.”

She studied the writing on the slip for a moment. “On the positive side, your penmanship is bold.”

“I hold my pen or pencil wrong,” he said. “That's what my elementary school teachers kept telling me.”

Becca had the distinct feeling that he'd continued to because they'd told him it was wrong.

“And I had more than one teacher both in school and Sunday school who told me I was too bold for my own good.”

She relaxed against the back of the couch as much as she could with him sitting inches away. “Do you have a problem listening to teachers?”

“Not all teachers,” he drawled, his gaze trained on her face.

She swallowed twice to relieve her parched throat. “That's good because I've scoped out the competition. Jamie and Eli are our biggest competition in the Couples Group. I know they try to do a daily Bible study with their kids after dinner. We need to work together if we're going to best them. No showboating.”

“Even if I didn't know you were a teacher, I'd know you're a teacher.”

Becca took that as a compliment. The thing about herself she had the most confidence in was her ability as a teacher. “Are you with me?”

“Definitely.”

His enthusiasm made her inch farther into the corner of the couch. What was she doing? It was only a game. He was talking about the game, not about her personally.

“How strong are you at knowing the Bible verses that go with the Bible stories?” she asked.

“I can pinpoint the book.”

“Good, then I should be able to find the verse. I speed-read.”

“A woman of many talents.”

Becca checked his expression for sarcasm, but what she saw looked more like admiration. She turned and lifted her Bible from the end table. “Connor and Emily are our strongest support in the Singles Group. If we're not certain of our answer, we may want to wait a second to see if they raise their hands.”

“I can hold my own against my brother.”

“But we're playing with him, not against him.”

Jared raised his hands in mock surrender.

“Any questions before Tessa reads the first question?” Connor asked. “No?” He looked around the room. “Then, game on.”

“First question,” Tessa said. “How many demons came out of Mary Magdalene?”

“Seven,” Becca wrote on a card without even having to think.

“Luke,”
Jared whispered in her ear. “Eight, I think.”

Becca turned right to
Luke
and skimmed the page. She shot her left hand into the air while she wrote
Eight: two
with her right.

“Becca.” Tessa recognized her, walked over and read the card. “Correct. Do you or Jared want to read the verse?”

Jared gave Becca a nod.

“‘And also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out.'”

“All right. Not to show my allegiance, but the Singles are on the board.”

Jared smiled. “See, I can be a team player.”

“True.” And she was enjoying him being on her team a little too much.

“Now, on to question two,” Tessa said.

That one went to Jamie and Eli for the Couples Group. They played on neck and neck with the Couples Group, taking the second-to-last question to make the game a tie.

“The deciding question is...” Tessa paused for drama. “At the battle of Gath there was a giant with 24 fingers and toes. Who killed him?”

“That's a tough one,” Becca said. “I have no idea.”

“I do.” Jared grabbed the last card from her and she handed him the pen. He scrawled
Jonathan
on the card, along with
1 Chronicles
.

Becca already had her Bible open. “Any idea what book?”

He grimaced. “Toward the end.”

“Got it.” She pointed to the page and he quickly wrote
Twenty: six and seven
before raising his hand.

“Jared, Josh.” Tessa swung her head from one brother to the other. “I don't know which of you had your hand up first. Good thing you're on the same team.”

Jared tensed when Josh looked at him. The room went quiet.

From her many boy cousins, Becca knew how competitive brothers could be. She suspected giving way to either of his younger brothers would be difficult for Jared. But, in Connor's case, it was likely he knew the right answer. He was the professional. She wasn't so sure about Josh, despite the expression of pure challenge on his face that seemed to say he knew he was right.

A muscle worked in Jared's jaw, causing her heart to beat double time. Men were so into proving themselves.

Jared motioned toward his brother. “Go ahead.”

A wide smile spread across Josh's face.

“Good call,” she mouthed, warmed that Jared had yielded.

“Assuming that he has it right. I read Connor the story enough times when he was little. Hope Josh was listening, too.” He scuffed the toe of his shoe against the edge of the area rug lifting it up and down. “We had this Bible storybook I used to read to them, mostly to Connor.” He shuttered the look of vulnerability on his face as quickly as it appeared, making her want to know more about the real Jared Donnelly, the man who wasn't a celebrity motocross champion. The man who, as a teen, had read Bible stories to his younger brother. Not that she expected he'd be quick to share.

* * *

“Josh has it. The Singles Group wins,” Tessa announced.

“Yes,” Jared said under his breath. It had been hard to step back and let Josh have the day, both because of his years of thriving on competition and because of the little-brother, big-brother family dynamics. The few times Jared had been home the past few years, Josh had seemed to begrudge him his success and been ready to challenge him at any opportunity. Sadly, he'd been all too quick to rise to the challenge.

He stood and rubbed the back of his neck, certain Becca had caught on to some of that. And he didn't like it. He'd gotten comfortable living behind his world-champion facade. A facade that hid and helped him control things such as the rage he'd felt when his father had told eight-year-old Connor that Bible stories were for girls and taken the book, saying he was going to burn it with the trash. Jared had never seen the book again. With a role model like that, it was no wonder he'd decided it was in the world's best interest that he not become a parent.

“That was fun,” Becca said.

“It was,” Jared agreed, thinking that if he couldn't escape behind the facade, he needed to find a way to escape physically without being rude.

Becca smiled. “It would have been even if we'd lost.”

He definitely needed to get somewhere he could collect his thoughts. He'd had too good of a time today, let down his guard with Becca and allowed himself to enjoy being with her without thinking of all the reasons he shouldn't, not the least of which were Brendon and Ari.

“I told you it would be fun.” Emily walked up beside Jared. “And it was even more fun winning. Now we have to have a playoff. What do you say, Connor?”

“What do I say about what?”

“A playoff.”

“No question. We need one,” Eli said, as he and Jamie joined the group, followed by Josh and the woman he'd been partnered with for the game.

Jared's lungs constricted until he had trouble drawing a breath. They had him hemmed in. Through the window, he spotted his bike. That was what he needed, a rip across his property on Conifer Road.

“Are you okay?” Becca touched his arm.

“Looks like the asthma attacks he used to have when we were kids,” Josh said.

Jared gritted his teeth. “I'm fine. I haven't had an asthma attack in twenty years.” He drilled his gaze into his brother's to gauge whether he was trying to make him look weak in front of Becca and the others or was actually concerned. The lack of malice in Josh's eyes shamed Jared for thinking the worst of him.

“We've got coffee, cold drinks and brownies, courtesy of Jamie, in the hall kitchen,” Emily said. “If that would help.”

If one more person fussed over him, he was going to explode.

Connor cleared his throat. “And if we want to get to those brownies, we need to wrap up here. Let's bow our heads in a closing prayer.

Thank you.
Jared didn't know if Connor had done that for him or because he had an early day and wanted to get home. Connor was driving an elderly parishioner the fifty miles up to the Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake where his wife was having early-morning surgery. It didn't matter. His intervention let Jared put things in perspective. The group wasn't hemming him in. Unlike the race crowds, they didn't want a piece of him. They were socializing. He could do this. He had to if he was going to pursue his dream.

“Amen,” he said when Connor finished, his voice rising above the others. He hung back while the group filed out of the lounge.

Eli was waiting in the hall for him. “I wanted to catch you in case you weren't staying for food. I want to hear more about your racing school. Let me know when you're free. The morning math class I teach finishes at eleven. If we met at noon at the Camp Sonrise lodge, Drew Stacey could join us. He's the director and camp is in session. But he must get a lunch break. I'll call him tomorrow.”

“I can do that. You can reach me at the parsonage.”

“All right.” Eli nodded toward the hall. “You should stay. I could be biased, but Jamie's brownies are as good as everyone says.”