The Hearts We Mend (22 page)

She turned a slow circle in the center of the room. “You've been doing this by yourself?”

“All that free time, remember?” Jack took a lap around the room, searching for water damage. “Zach helps me out once in a while.”

“Zach?”

“You met him a few days ago.”

“The one who offered to bring his crowbar.” The one who'd implied that
she
was the reason Jack had refused his help.

“Uh-huh. The kid knows the difference between a hammer and a screwdriver, but we're still working on his social skills.”

Evie would have dismissed the words as a joke if she hadn't remembered the way Jack had sent her and Lily upstairs so he could have a “minute” with Zach. “You've got your work cut out for you, that's for sure. With this room, not Zach,” Evie added.

Jack frowned up at the ceiling, where a flap of metal had come loose. “That doesn't look good.”

Evie followed his gaze. “Aren't you going to rip that one down anyway?”

“Rip—” Jack choked. “I spent about six hours researching that particular style and at least another four calling salvage yards, talking to dealers who might have some lying around. It dates back to the early 1900s, about the time Banister Falls was founded.”

Evie didn't even know what year that might be.

“The woodwork is original too.” Jack squatted down and scratched the layer of white paint on the base of the counter. “Do you see the edges? No nails. You don't see this kind of craftsmanship anymore . . .” He stopped, shaking his head. “Don't even get me started. Coop says I get a little carried away sometimes.”

The name sounded familiar. “Coop is . . .”

“He owns the construction company I told you about. I worked for him for about five years, and then he fired me.” Jack saw Evie's expression and laughed. “It was Coop's way of forcing me to go out on my own. I still subcontract for him when he needs custom-built cabinets and finishing work done, but restoration is kind of my specialty.”

His specialty.

But Jack didn't seem to mind that he'd walked away from something he loved because he loved his family more.

“My life isn't on hold—I'm just living it here. Moment by moment.”

Evie didn't do the living-moment-by-moment thing very well. She preferred to plan ahead.

Except where Jack was concerned. Then Evie found herself saying things—
doing
things—that were contrary to her nature.

“There's a kitchen back there, but I haven't done anything to it yet. I've been focusing all my attention out here.” Jack ran one hand along the beveled edge of the counter, almost like a caress, before rising to his feet again. “The landlord may want me to leave it alone in case he turns the first floor into another apartment.”

“There's a kitchen? Maybe it will attract someone who wants to open a coffee shop.”

“Like Marie's Bistro?”

When Jack put it like that . . .

“Or a café.”

“It's not big enough to be commercial grade, but I suppose someone who's motivated could knock out a wall and make it work.”

“Uncle Jack! Come here! I found something!” Lily's voice drifted in from somewhere in the back of the building.

“I'm almost afraid to look.” Jack strode toward the doorway his niece had disappeared through a few minutes before.

Evie didn't wait for an invitation. He'd offered her a tour, and she was going to take him up on it.

A narrow hallway branched out into two rooms. One was the kitchen, and Evie paused a moment to peek inside.

It was as small as Jack had claimed, with a two-burner stove and dorm-size refrigerator. The porcelain sink jutting out from the wall wore a faded gingham skirt. A shelf on the wall held a coffeepot, a loaf of bread, and a jar of peanut butter. It had the same dark paneling as the room that overlooked the street. A collection of plaques shaped like fruits and vegetables covered the walls.

In spite of the unusual artwork—or maybe because of it—the room exuded a certain amount of vintage charm.

Lily's squeal of laughter echoed through the building, and Evie went to investigate. A floor-length curtain hung across the doorway of the room opposite the kitchen. Evie swept it aside.

The first thing she saw was her reflection in the panel of mirrors that took up the entire back wall. Lily was in motion, arms lifted over her head, as she pirouetted around the room.

Jack was kneeling down, peeling back a corner of the stained carpeting. “Hardwood floor,” he said without looking up. “Really. They actually
glued
a piece of indoor-outdoor carpeting to a hardwood floor.”

The disbelief in his voice was tempered by a smile, giving Evie permission to smile back. “
They
being the same kind of people who would replace a tin ceiling?”

“Exactly.” Jack rose to his feet and dusted his hands off on his jeans.

“Twirl me, Uncle Jack!” Lily flitted over to them. “This is a dancing room!”

Banister Falls had never had a dance studio, so Evie decided a seamstress must have rented out the space at some point in time. It made sense now that she thought about it. With the promise of lower rent, small business owners who didn't have the money to lease the more desirable space on Main Street would have tried to make a go of it in Jack's neighborhood, not realizing it would put them in a catch-22. Rent in the neighborhood was affordable because people didn't want to make a special trip to Fairview for the things they could purchase on Main Street.

But of course Jack didn't correct Lily. Just took her by the hand and made it a dancing room. When he finally released her, Lily collapsed in a heap on the floor, breathless and laughing.

And then Jack held out his hand to her.

Evie started to feel light-headed before her fingers tangled with Jack's.

She should have felt self-conscious. There was no sound in the room—no music except for the rapid thumping of her heart as Jack spun her in a slow circle.

“Is anyone here?”

Jack's other hand instantly settled at Evie's waist, steadying her. And then he stepped away a split second before Ryan Tate appeared in the doorway. In uniform.

Under different circumstances, the shocked look on Ryan's face would have been comical. “Evie?”

The question in Ryan's voice and the ones Evie saw rising in his eyes made her feel like she'd done something wrong.

“Ryan . . . What are you doing here?”

“I saw a light underneath the door. We've had a few burglary complaints around here lately so I thought I should check it out.” Ryan's gaze cut back to Jack. “Do you live in this building?”

Instead of responding to the question, Jack reached out and drew Lily to her feet. “Lily, this is Officer Tate. Officer, this is my niece.”

Lily ducked her head and melted against Jack's side, the perpetual sparkle in her eyes overshadowed by fear.

Ryan must have seen it too, because he whipped off his hat, and his entire face flexed in a smile. “It's nice to meet you, Lily.”

Instead of responding, Lily locked her arms around Jack's waist.

Evie instinctively took a step closer to them and felt Jack stiffen.

“I live upstairs, but I'm doing some renovations for the landlord,” he explained.

“Then you just saved me a trip.” Ryan's smile didn't slip. “Because I planned to stop by Hope Community tomorrow and talk to you about . . . another matter. If you have a minute.”

It wasn't posed in the form of a question.

Evie wanted to protest, but Jack gently pried Lily's hands apart.
“It's okay, Peanut. Run upstairs and start getting ready for bed,” he murmured. “I'll be there in a few minutes.”

Lily's lower lip quivered and she cast an uncertain look in Ryan's direction. Evie was about to offer to go with her, but Jack didn't give her the opportunity.

“I'll see you tomorrow at church, Evie.” His tone was polite. Distant. “Thank you for dropping Lily off.”

Because they worked in the same building. Because helping people was part of Evie's ministry.

Evie wasn't sure if the carefully worded statement was meant for Ryan or for her. Or for himself.

But she knew when she was being dismissed.

“You better be calling to tell me you're on your way back.”

Jack wedged the phone between his ear and his shoulder, only slightly muffling Coop's rant as he reached for a hammer. “Not exactly.”

“You're killing me, Jack. You know that, right? I distinctly remember someone telling me they were going to be gone a month or two.”

“That was before Trav and Cheryl got arrested for drug possession last weekend.”

Coop's sigh rattled through the line. “Aw, Jack.”

It was one of the things Jack liked about Coop. He wasn't an I-told-you-so kind of guy.

“It sounds like they're not getting out anytime soon either. The judge set a five-thousand-dollar cash bond for Trav, and because of Cheryl's record, she won't get out until her trial.”

“Where's Lily?”

“With me.”

“Whoa.”

Yeah. That about summed it up.

“Nicki is trying to raise three kids on her own, and I wouldn't ask Roxanne and Carl to watch my pet goldfish for the weekend.”

“When did you get a goldfish?”

The knot in Jack's stomach loosened a little. He should have called Coop right away. “Scratch the goldfish. But Lily does have a guinea pig.”

“How is she doing?”

“Okay, considering she won't see her parents for a few months and she's stuck with an uncle who is better at hanging drywall than braiding hair.”

“You pick things up pretty fast.”

“So what's happening on your end?”

“I'm up to my eyeballs in the Waylon-Masters project, and we're not talking about me right now. How are
you
doing?”

“Confused.” The wood splintered around the nail as Jack tapped it into place. Great. His third casualty of the evening. “I came here because I wanted Travis to know he's not alone. I know he's responsible for his own actions, but I also know he's trying to cover up a truckload of pain.

“He lost his job at the factory last week and I could tell he was struggling, but I couldn't get him to open up. I told Evie that I'm here because I wanted Trav to know he was worth fighting for, but how am I supposed to do that when he's locked up in jail?”

Silence stretched across the line. Jack waited. Unlike a lot of people, Coop wasn't one to talk until he had something to say.

“You're forgetting one thing.”

“What's that?”

“Sometimes the best way to fight is on your knees.”

Jack expelled a slow breath. “You're right.”

“And if I remember correctly, God can get into places no one
else can. Just because things don't look the way you thought they would doesn't mean that coming to Banister Falls was a mistake.”

Jack wanted to believe that, but the “other matter” Ryan had wanted to talk about was Travis. The officer had been at the jail earlier that morning and heard from one of the jailers that Travis had gotten into a fight with another inmate. He'd returned from the hospital a few hours later with six stitches in his forehead.

The last time Trav needed stitches he'd been ten years old. He and a couple of friends had constructed a jump in the alley behind their apartment building, and Trav volunteered to be the first one to try it out. He ended up with a three-inch dent in the handlebars of his bicycle and another one in his forehead.

Jack had called their mother at work to tell her what happened, but her boss wouldn't let her leave.

“Take care of your little brother,” their mom had said.

So Jack had been the one sitting next to Trav at the clinic while the doctor stitched him up. And the words had stuck with Jack long after the stitches healed.

“I feel . . . helpless, Coop.”

“I've been there. But I have a feeling that God has Travis exactly where He wants him,” Coop said. “It wouldn't be the first time He spoke to someone in jail, you know. Think about it. God's got your brother's undivided attention, and Travis doesn't have access to the stuff that's messing with his head.”

“So you're reminding me to trust.”

“That's what it all comes down to, right? Believing in God means we
believe
Him. Things may not look the way we want them to—or the way we think they should—but God sees the whole picture. If you hadn't been in Banister Falls, what would have happened to Lily?”

“I hadn't thought about that.” But Jack knew the answer. She would have been shuffled back and forth between Nicki and her grandmother.

“Well, God did. Trust Him to take care of Cheryl and Travis, and you take care of the people He entrusted to you.”

Jack's memory instantly downloaded an image of Evie sitting cross-legged on the floor, singing a silly duet with Lily.