The Cowboy's Homecoming (17 page)

J
eremy walked through his Tulsa dealership studying the way the manager had arranged motorcycles. It was late June and the weather was great. Several customers milled around, probably dreaming of the perfect day and a bike to ride country roads. Yeah, he knew that dream. He'd spent the last couple of weeks, since he'd left Dawson, taking advantage of as many days like that as he could.

Today the bikes looked perfect. They were polished until the paint gleamed and the chrome could reflect images. In the far corner were a few custom bikes, for customers who wanted something out of the ordinary.

“Jer, you got a minute?” Dane Scott walked out of his office, a big guy with bleached hair, a goatee and a heart of gold. He was raising his sister's two kids because she'd never been able to get her act together.

“I have a minute and we have a fresh cup of coffee.” Jeremy headed toward his own office and knew that Dane would meet him there with his mug that said THIS IS THE DAY THE LORD HAS MADE. Jeremy kind
of laughed because the mug and the man didn't match, not unless you knew Dane.

Dane walked into the office, holey jeans and a short sleeved button-down shirt, loose tie around his neck. He kicked the door shut, poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down. Jeremy stood behind his desk, waiting, because he had a feeling this was going to be good.

“Get out of here.” Dane's words were soft, easy, and pretty stinking determined.

“What?”

“You're driving us all crazy. I don't know who you left behind in Dawson, but man, I've never seen you like this. And it's starting to get on my nerves.”

“I don't know what you're talking about.” Jeremy loosened his own tie and sat down behind his desk. The big chair was leather and soft. It fit him like a glove. This office fit him. It got under his skin that Dane would tell him to leave his own business.

Dane leaned forward, muscled arms folded on the desk. He grinned big. “Buddy, I've known you for years. We team rope together. We play golf together. We chase women together. We're confirmed bachelors and we love it.”

“Right, that's us.” Jeremy leaned back in the chair and worked real hard at casual.

“Yeah, it
was
us. When was the last time we went out? When was the last time you had a date? Have you taken Paula out since you got back from Dawson?”

Paula. A woman busy with her career and not interested in long-term relationships. She was lively conversation at dinner and even played golf.

“No, because we've both been busy.”

“No busier than usual. As a friend, I'm telling you to
take care of whatever is eating at you. I think we both know that it has something to do with Dawson and that church you didn't tear down.”

“I told you, we're building on the five acres where my mom's trailer used to sit.”

“Right, that's a good location, not in a neighborhood. Perfect. What happened to the church?” Dane grinned and leaned back in this chair.

“You prayed for me and my plans fell apart. Thanks for that.” He sighed and shook his head. “I mean it, thank you.”

“Not a problem. God and I were looking out for you, keeping you from making a huge mistake. And now I'm telling you, don't make another decision you're going to regret. You have good people here. You have a manager who makes sure each location is on target. You don't have to live in this dealership.”

“This is my business.”

“And you're going to chase away the customers if you keep stomping around frowning. Look, playing the field is all good if it's what you want. But if you stop wanting that, if you start thinking of picket fences and baby cribs, then it's time to let it go.”

Jeremy laughed at that image. “Right, that's me, a picket fence and baby crib kind of guy.”

Dane shrugged. “Kids aren't all bad. I mean, girls, yeah, they're kind of a pain when they get all moody and emotional, but they have moments when you see the person they're going to be someday.”

“Right.” Jeremy stood up and stretched. He looked out a window that faced a busy street. In the distance he could see the downtown businesses, the tall buildings reaching up. He could watch planes take off.

He loved his place on the outskirts of Tulsa.

He had planned on living his life here, away from Dawson. He had planned on never settling down. Man, he had a lot of plans. And lately, none of the plans fit. His plans felt like cheap boots, a little tight, uncomfortable and ready to be kicked off.

The day he'd left Dawson he'd felt good about leaving. He'd been saving Beth from being hurt by him. He didn't do long-term relationships and he cared about her too much to play that game with her.

Today walking away felt like the worst thing he'd ever done, not the most chivalrous.

“So?” Dane still sat in the chair watching him, a cheesy grin on his face. “Do you need to go buy a ring?”

Jeremy glanced down at his friend. He thought a lot of things about Dane right then. Some of it wasn't too PG. And then he thought that not many people would sit him down and force him to look at his life the way Dane could.

“Yeah, I need to buy a ring.” Because he realized then that he'd played the field and never fallen in love because he'd been in love for years. With Bethlehem Bradshaw.

 

Back Street Church Community Center. Beth stood back and watched as Ryder Johnson helped her brother put the sign in place at the edge of the lawn. She smiled at them, and at the newly painted building. The church was no longer empty and forgotten.

It was now a place for the people of Dawson to gather for family reunions or special events. It was a shelter. It was a place for kids to hang out. Twice a week after
school snacks would be served and homework help provided. There were basketball hoops, volleyball nets and a homemade baseball field.

The community had something worthwhile, because of Jeremy Hightree. She glanced across the street at the empty barn, the forgotten foundation of the home he'd given up on. Only one family had left town after the tornado. One family, and Jeremy.

It hurt to think about that day, about watching him drive away.

“Kind of empty over there without his livestock.” Jason walked up, work gloves in his hand. He shoved the gloves into the front pocket of his jeans.

“Yeah, a little.” She smiled up at her brother. “I should have trusted him more.”

“Maybe. But sometimes we go by what we see even when we know that faith is evidence of things unseen.”

She nodded and wiped at eyes that overflowed far too easily these days. She had always loved Jeremy in some little way. She'd loved him as a kid because he'd been hurting and tough. She'd loved him as a teenager because he'd been that guy that always knew the right thing to say, the right way to smile and flirt.

As an adult? She loved him because he made her feel strong, not afraid. Because he made her heart feel a little less fragile. She loved him.

And because she hadn't trusted, he was gone.

“I keep praying that he'll come back,” Beth admitted. “I want him to see what I've done with the church.”

Jason laughed. “Yeah, that's the only reason you want him back.”

“I want to apologize for doubting him,” she admitted.
It wouldn't do any good to admit she was in love with Jeremy. He wasn't a man looking for a wife and a home to settle down in.

“Right. You keep telling yourself that, sis.” He hugged her. “I have to get home. Ryder already left. Andie called and said he had to get home and help her corral the twins.”

Beth nodded and her heart did a little dance thinking about those twin baby girls of Andie's and Ryder's. “I'm going to make sure the lights are off inside the church and lock up.”

“Will you be okay here alone?”

She looked at the church and nodded. “I'm fine here.”

He was asking because of Chance. But Chance had left again. His dad had driven up to the ranch and apologized for his son. He'd told Beth that Chance was moving to Oregon. He'd met a girl.

If only Beth could warn the poor thing. Online Chance was probably a perfect man. He was handsome, educated, wealthy. He was everything a woman wanted, online.

Online he could be whoever he wanted to be. In person he was a different story.

“I'll see you tomorrow.” Jason kissed the top of her head.

“Give Alyson my love.”

Jason nodded and walked away. She watched him leave and then she headed for the church. She remembered that day weeks ago when she'd walked through the doors of Back Street and felt lost and alone.

It was no longer a rejected, forgotten building. The inside glowed with promise. The windows were clean
and cobwebs were gone. The kitchen in the basement had been remodeled. One of the rooms was now a nursery and the pantry held emergency supplies.

She stood in the sanctuary and said a silent “thank you.”

“Bethlehem Bradshaw, I'll tell on you.”

The voice was velvety soft and a catch of emotion punctuated the words. She didn't turn, couldn't. Her heart froze and then hurried to catch up.

Finally she turned. He stood in the doorway, a cowboy in faded jeans, a T-shirt and worn boots. His hat was cocked to the side. When he smiled her world tilted a little.

“What are you doing here?”

He took a few steps forward. “I had some unfinished business here. By the way, I like what you've done with the place.”

She bit down on her bottom lip and waited to hear what his unfinished business was. Her gaze slid down, to the Bible in his right hand. Her mother's Bible.

Should she say she missed him? Or maybe ask if he wanted the church back? She should ask about his mother or if it was true that he was building his business where his mother's trailer had been.

Instead she stood there unable to say anything at all. He took a few more steps, his smile so sweet she wanted to melt into his arms and ask him to never let her go.

J
eremy didn't want to rush this. For two days he'd been thinking about what he'd say. He'd thought about it when he put his place in Tulsa up for sale. He'd thought about it when he bought the townhouse that would be his place to crash when he checked on his business in Tulsa.

He'd thought about it when he went shopping.

Now he had it all in his head, and even in his heart, but he didn't want to rush it. What if he was wrong and she wasn't interested? What if he was thinking that his bachelor days were over and she had no intention of settling down with a guy like him? A thousand “what-ifs” played through his mind, scaring the daylights out of him.

All of a sudden his plans were tossed out the window when one of his surprises came wobbling into the church, fat-bellied and short-legged. He knew it was there before he saw it because Beth's gaze dropped and her mouth opened and then turned to a smile.

“Aw,” she cooed.

He looked back and he was right. There it was, wobbling down the aisle. He reached to grab the German
shepherd pup before it peed on the newly polished floors of the church. It struggled a little and then went to town licking his face.

“It's adorable.”

He handed the puppy over to her. “I saw him in a pet store window and he looked like a guy that needed a bigger home.”

She took the puppy that looked like a bear cub and held him close. His licking went into overdrive. Jeremy watched, and he felt as if he'd done at least one thing right. Who needed a bouquet of flowers when they had a puppy? He'd actually thought about the flowers, but the ones at the convenience store in Dawson were pretty wilted and brown.

So now what? He'd stalled for at least three minutes. Beth looked up and her eyes sparkled a little. Was she glad to see him, or was it the puppy that put that smile on her face? For a guy who had dated his fair share of women he realized he really knew very little about them.

“Beth, can we talk?”

She raised her face. The puppy squirmed in her arms, still trying to zero in on her cheeks.

“Of course we can.” She bit down on her bottom lip. “Jeremy, you haven't changed your mind, have you?”

“My mind?”

“About the church. I mean, you left the letter and I ran with it. There were kids here every day, playing basketball, riding skateboards. I realized that there are churches in Dawson, but nowhere for the kids to hang out. People complain the teenagers in town are causing problems. I just thought if they had somewhere to go…”

He took her free hand and lead her out of the building. “Beth, I'm not taking the church from you. I gave it to you. It's yours to do whatever you wanted with.”

“Thank you.”

“I have other unfinished business.” He led her down the steps. He didn't know where they were going, but somewhere.

“Unfinished business?”

He kept walking. There was a bench under one of the big trees in the front lawn of the church. He led her there but they didn't sit down. Beth put the puppy down and it walked around the bench and then plopped down in the grass.

Unfinished business. She was far more than that. He held up the Bible that had been her mother's. Her gaze drifted from his face to the book he held. She shook her head.

“I don't understand. You didn't have to bring it back.”

He smiled, and he could no longer resist touching her. He touched her cheek and then slid his hand back. His fingers tangled in the silky strands of dark hair. Beth's eyes lowered and she moved closer.

“I missed you,” he whispered, and he couldn't imagine ever being away from her again.

 

Beth opened her eyes to those words. Her hands rested on his arms, as if they had a mind of their own. He had backed away, though.

She had missed him, too. But she didn't want to say it, not yet. She didn't want to go where she might get hurt. Living near the lake, she'd always been taught not to jump into the water unless you knew what was beneath
the surface. It was good advice. And in this case, she didn't know, not yet.

Jeremy held up her mother's Bible. He flipped through the pages and handed it to her, open to the back section.

“I've been reading and I found something that I think might be a problem.” Jeremy pointed to the page he'd opened to.

She shook her head because she didn't get it. This wasn't what she wanted, a discussion about her mother's Bible. She wanted to know that he was back to stay. She wanted to hear him say something about them.

“Jeremy, I don't understand.”

He grinned, his eyes sparkling with that old mischief and humor that she'd known since childhood.

“Look at this page, Beth. The page where weddings and births are recorded.”

“Right?”

“It isn't filled out.”

She looked down, wanting to understand because he obviously wanted her to get it.

“No, it isn't.” She sighed and touched the pages. She should write Jason and Alyson's wedding details on these pages.

And then she saw what he was trying to point out to her. The page was marked with the blue ribbon that her mother had used to keep the place where she was reading. Tied to the end of the ribbon was a ring.

Beth's breath caught and she didn't know what to do. Crying seemed good, or the laughter that bubbled up. Her heart couldn't catch up with Jeremy.

“Beth, your mother never got the chance to record weddings.” He grinned. “Or the births of new children.
I think we should take care of that for her. I think we should put our names on this page. Jeremy Hightree and Bethlehem Bradshaw, married…” He touched her cheek again and this time his lips touched hers and he held her close, as if he never meant to let her go. “I don't know, what day do you think we should write on the date line? It's getting close to the end of June. Maybe August. Or September?”

Her words refused to spill out in a way that made sense. She had an answer, she really did. He was smiling at her.

“Beth, I'm putting my heart on the line here.” He spoke softly, his mouth close to hers. “Do I need to kiss you again?”

That made perfect sense. She nodded and he captured her mouth with his, a persuasive kiss that explored what her heart had been trying to tell her for weeks. He pulled her close and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

She wanted this, forever. She pulled him closer and he kissed her more. And then he stepped back. He took off his hat and sighed.

“Bethlehem Bradshaw, will you please marry me?”

She nodded and tears flowed down her cheeks. “I will marry you, Jeremy. Today, if you want.”

He smiled that big cowboy smile of his and he lifted her up off the ground and twirled her. The puppy barked a fierce puppy bark and Jeremy set her back on the ground.

“I love you.” He kissed her again and she tried to whisper that she loved him back. She had always loved him and she always would.