The Cowboy's Healing Ways (Cooper Creek) (17 page)

“I’m sure we can find it.” Laura smiled down at her daughter. “Can’t we?”

Abigail nodded and held tightly to her hand.

“It’s through the door, right over there.” He pointed. “To the end of the hall and then left. They meet in the fellowship hall for Children’s Church.”

“Thank you.”

Laura knew that everyone turned to watch them. She kept her eyes focused on the door, and Abigail hurried along behind her.

“Mommy, I can stay with you.”

“Do you want to stay with me?” Laura slowed her pace and whispered the question. “It’s up to you.”

Abigail chewed on her bottom lip and then shook her head.

“No, I want to meet other kids.”

“Okay, Children’s Church it is.” Laura hurried Abigail through the door and down the hall to the big fellowship hall with tables and chairs pushed up against the walls to make room for the kids who were already lined up and starting to sing.

“Abigail!” Jade Cooper hurried to greet them. Laura smiled at the young teen with the sandy-blond hair and big hazel eyes.

“Hi, Jade. I’m sure Abigail’s glad she picked Children’s Church now.”

Jade reached for Abigail’s hand. “I told her I’d be here helping the teachers today.”

Laura hugged her daughter one last time. “Be good for Jade.”

Another step that should have been easy but wasn’t. Letting go. Laura told herself to walk away. Abigail would be fine. They’d be together for lunch, and then Laura would take her back to the Coopers for another week. Soon she would have her every day.

“Laura, wait.”

Laura turned and smiled at the woman running toward her. Long brown hair, a sweet smile, long flowing skirt.

“Madeline, hello.” Jackson Cooper’s wife.

“Sit with me?” Madeline drew in a breath as she got close. “I know how hard it is walking into church, not knowing anyone or where to sit.”

Laura nearly sighed with relief. “It isn’t easy.”

Madeline linked an arm through Laura’s. “It gets easier. People are curious, but they want you here. And of course they want to know what’s going on between you and one of the most eligible bachelors in Oklahoma.”

Laura stopped walking. “But there’s nothing going on. Jesse’s leaving and I have Abigail to think about.”

“Laura, I get it, I really do. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“It isn’t your fault.” She managed a smile. “Let’s face the music.”

They walked through the door together. People were seated, and the music had started. Laura searched for an empty pew. There were a few at the back. Madeline seemed oblivious, and she had a strong grip on Laura’s arm.

“This way,” Madeline whispered. “The Coopers always sit in the front two pews.”

“I’m not a...” Cooper. But Madeline didn’t give her a chance to object.

“You’re an honorary member.” Madeline led her down the aisle. “And that’s a blessing, I promise.”

The Coopers stood as they approached, giving them a chance to squeeze in and take the empty spaces in the middle of the second pew. They were sitting, getting settled, when everyone stood again.

Laura grabbed her Bible and thought she’d move down or to the back of the church. Instead Madeline gripped her arm.

“Stay, there’s room. It’s just Jesse.”

Jesse slid into the space next to Laura, smiled and sat down. He looked tired. Whiskers shadowed his lean cheeks and his hair looked to have been brushed with his hands after sleeping in a chair all night.

“Glad you made it,” he leaned to whisper.

“Me, too.”

The choir went forward and the service started. Laura focused on the music, on the cross at the front of the sanctuary and then on the message about hope. She found herself in that message. Because hope was all she’d had for so long. Hope that she’d find a way back to her life. Hope that she’d get her daughter back.

Hope.

And in that hope, she’d found faith. The two were intertwined, keeping her steadfast in the darkest hours of her life.

Jesse reached for her hand, lacing his fingers through hers for a brief moment that seemed like forever. Intertwined. She drew in a deep, shaky breath and closed her eyes. Because this wasn’t real. Love wasn’t real. She’d grasped at it over the years, trying to hold it, to keep it. It had always evaporated like mist in the summer sunshine.

When church ended, she stood and looked for an escape route to go get Abigail. Jesse’s phone rang and he looked at it and headed for the door.

Surrounded, Laura couldn’t follow. She greeted people whose names she wouldn’t remember but whose smiles welcomed her into their community. Eventually she broke away, walking through the door that led back to the fellowship hall.

She closed the door behind her and leaned on the wall for a minute to get her bearings after the overwhelming surge of people. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

“Too much?”

She opened her eyes and smiled at Jesse. He still held his phone and she nodded. “A little.”

“I’m sure Mom is going to invite you for lunch.” He walked with her when she turned toward the room where it sounded as if kids were still in the middle of a lesson.

“I thought I’d go check on your grandmother.”

“She’s at the ranch with my mom.”

“She’s okay?” Laura’s heart squeezed at the thought of losing Myrna.

“I think so. We’re going to do more tests but thanks to you we’ve hopefully saved her from having a major stroke.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“What you did last night made all of the difference. If you hadn’t told me, Laura, the outcome could have been completely different.”

“I hope she’s forgiven me.”

“She’s forgiven you and then some. And this morning she had a visitor. Seems my grandmother has a beau. Winston James from down the road. I never suspected he was the one.”

Laura smiled but didn’t say anything. She’d known exactly what Myrna was up to and who she was seeing. She glanced toward the room where her daughter had just peeked out to look for her. Laura raised one finger and Abigail slipped back into the room with the other children.

“I need to get her.”

“Okay, and then head out to the ranch for lunch with the family. You’ll both enjoy it.”

“Jesse, they aren’t my family. It would feel strange without...” Heat flooded her cheeks.
Without him.
Why should he be her anchor with the Coopers?

From the end of the hall came a “pssst.”

Laura glanced that way and saw Abigail peek around the corner. “Mom, we’re not going to miss lunch at Cooper Creek.”

Next to her, Jesse chuckled. “I think you’re not getting out of lunch.”

When they had reached the fellowship hall, Abigail exploded with information and stories about the fun she’d had and what they’d done. Laura listened and looked at the pages her daughter had colored. When she turned to say something to Jesse, he was already gone.

* * *

Jesse hadn’t managed to get out of church as quickly as he planned. On his way out a side door he had gotten caught by Jason Bradshaw. The two of them were planning a canoe trip for the church youth and Jason had a question. When he finally walked out the front doors of the church, the parking lot was nearly empty. He saw their pastor, Wyatt Johnson, talking to a small crowd a short distance away. Jesse’s family had all left.

One car caught his attention. An old hatchback was parked next to Laura’s little blue sedan. The same hatchback he’d seen last night. A man got out and stood next to the car. Jesse walked down the sidewalk, keeping an eye on the man who leaned casually against the car.

The guy, in his early twenties, grinned and waved as Jesse got closer.

“Can I help you?” Jesse stopped in front of Laura’s car and aimed for a casual smile. He turned back toward the church and saw no sign of Laura. She must still be talking to one of the children’s ministry workers.

“I’m waiting for my sister.”

So this was Ryan. Jesse inhaled deeply to clear the anger that boiled up inside of him at the thought of what this man had done to Laura. There he stood, smiling as though it was any spring day and he just wanted a family reunion, but he was the guy who had put Laura behind bars and caused her to lose her daughter.

There was one thing to do with a man like Ryan, and Jesse knew what it was. Fortunately for Ryan, Jesse had never been the Cooper brother itching to fight. He’d always been the peacemaker.

But today the peacemaker in him seemed to be missing.

“I tell you what, Ryan, why don’t you get in that car and head on down the road?”

“Or what?”

“Well, I think I’d start by calling the police.”

Ryan eased back a step, his smile fading. “I’m just here to see my sister.”

“I don’t think you’re interested in a visit. What do you want from her?”

Ryan shrugged one thin shoulder. Jesse didn’t like the guy. He didn’t like his sallow face, his greasy hair or his baggy clothes. He looked like a guy who hadn’t quite come down from his last high.

“I need some money to leave the state,” Ryan admitted, his eyes darting to the road and then back to Jesse.

“Are you in trouble?”

“Listen, I just want to talk to Laura.”

“Laura isn’t going to talk to you. You aren’t going to call her again. You aren’t going to come near her.”

Ryan smirked and his eyes lit up. “What’s she to you?”

“A friend. And she works for me.”

“Yeah, right.” Ryan smirked a little more. “I’m sure that’s what she...”

Jesse took a fast step forward. “Don’t—not if you know what’s good for you.”

“I know what’s good for me. And I know what it takes to get Laura thrown back in jail and that cute kid of hers put back in foster care.”

Jesse stepped back from Ryan because it was the only sane thing to do.

Ryan stood for a long minute like a man weighing his odds and then he got back into the hatchback. After a few rattling attempts, the car started and then pulled away.

Jesse heard a child’s voice, light with laughter. He turned and smiled at Laura and Abigail. Laura’s smile faded and he knew that she’d seen the car leaving and she knew who was in it. She leaned to listen to her daughter’s story, pasting on a smile to let her little girl think that everything was okay.

He waited for them while Laura helped her daughter into the back seat of the car, making sure she was strapped in her booster seat. When she joined him on the sidewalk, her face had regained some of the color it lost when she saw her brother.

“I guess you know that was your brother.”

She nodded, her back to the car and Abigail. “He followed me to a convenience store last night.”

“He wants money.”

“I don’t have money. I’m not sure what more he can take from me.”

Jesse stepped close. “He isn’t taking anything else. We’ll make sure of that.”

“But what if he does something? I’m so close to having Abigail back.”

“He won’t take that from you.” He opened the car door for her. “Don’t worry.”

She nodded but he knew she would worry. Until he could figure this out, he would worry, too.

Once she was behind the wheel of her car, he closed the door. He waited for her to back out and get on the road before he climbed in his truck and followed.

When he pulled up in front of the house at Cooper Creek, Laura stood on the porch waiting for him. He got out of his truck and she walked down to meet him.

“You can go on in.”

“I can’t, Jesse.” She glanced over her shoulder at the big house. “You have the sweetest family in the world but they aren’t my family. For now they are Abigail’s.”

“My grandmother would be real hard-pressed not to argue with you on that. She considers you her honorary granddaughter. She’ll want you to visit with her at some point today. Might as well get it over with.”

“Get it over with? That sounds like a visit I could do without.”

“She does get some funny ideas.” Like a sapphire ring.

She looked down at the ground and then back up. “What do I do about my brother?”

“Several things. On my way here I called the police, so they can be looking for his car. I have a new phone ordered for you. It should be here tomorrow. Meanwhile, if he calls, you don’t answer. If you see him, you stay clear and call the police.”

“I’d love a simple life without drama, without worrying what will happen next.”

“Give it time.” He glanced at his watch. “I have to be at a meeting in an hour but let’s go inside and get lunch. I’ll be your buffer.”

“Thank you.” She looked from him to the house. “It’s going to be hard leaving her after being with her all weekend.”

“It won’t be long and you won’t have to leave her at all.”

Jesse led her into the house and through the living room to the dining room, where the tables had been set for Sunday lunch. His sister Sophie smiled at them as they walked through the room. She’d recently gotten married and they were already expecting a baby to add to the little girl that her husband, Keeton, had from a previous marriage.

The Cooper family was growing.

Laura paused at the door to the kitchen. He saw what she saw—Abigail surrounded by his family, smiling and telling stories. It didn’t take a child long to become part of the Coopers.

“Mommy, did you know that Jackson has a new baby? They adopted him.”

“I did know that.” Laura leaned to hug her daughter.

Abigail shot him a look and Jesse waved. The little girl grinned quickly but then gave her mom a serious look.

“You’re going to have lunch with us, aren’t you?” Abigail studied her mom’s face and then she gave him another look. “And Jesse, too?”

“Of course we’re staying,” Jesse answered for them both.

He turned to hug his mom and bumped into Jade. She grinned that grin of hers that, if he hadn’t known better, he would say she got from Jackson. Maybe she got it from being around him so much.

“What are you grinning at?” he asked as he reached for a glass.

“Abigail had a great prayer request today.” Jade smirked a little.

“A prayer request?” He wanted to be clueless, but he had a feeling he knew what a six-year-old girl prayed for.

“Yeah, so if God answers, congratulations. I think Laura and Abigail are great.”